The Master’s program in Arab and Hebrew Cultures: Al-Andalus and the Contemporary Arab World attempts, first and foremost, to offer highly specialized, quality training that enables graduates to perform research and professional activities in those fields related with knowledge about the historical, material and intellectual heritage of the Arab and Hebrew legacy within the context of Al-Andalus, as well as profound knowledge of the cultures and social and political dynamics of the contemporary Arab world, including the processes linked to what are known as the “Arab Springs.” Both the curriculum and the faculty are clearly multidisciplinary, which is due to the need to offer specialized training on the Arab and Hebrew cultures to students of different disciplines, in both the humanities and social sciences, with educational objectives that are clearly interdisciplinary. In this sense, the Master’s program was designed in such a way that the option of creating different study paths is envisaged, based on specific thematic areas (the legacy of Al-Andalus, the contemporary Arab world, or both), and on the basis of academic disciplines (cultural studies, political science and sociology, anthropology, literature, etc.).

At the same time, the Master’s program stands out for using the most up-to-date methodological approaches in the different realms within the specialization, including such areas as post-colonial and gender perspectives, as well as going further in-depth into opening up a career path for students by introducing external internships at prestigious institutions and centers related with the Master’s program’s fields of knowledge, which makes it a unique point of reference within the context of graduate studies related with the Arab and Hebrew cultures, both in Spain and at the international level.

The design of the modules and subjects in the Master’s program was created in response to an innovative spirit of renewal, by dividing the credits into two large sections (Al-Andalus and the Contemporary Arab World). In turn, each of these is arranged into modules made up of various subjects. A required methodology module is also proposed, as well as a module on the classical Islamic and Jewish legacy. The courses are broken down in this way in order to get a good focus on each of the major fields of specialization through  different approaches.