This FYS class will provide an overall introduction to geographic, cultural, and economic aspects of the Middle East, with relevant bits of history intertwined to provide the forum for introducing research methods, collegiate level writing and critical thinking skills. The geographic portions of the course content will cover demographics, ethnic diversity, and important points in political history that brought the Middle East to where it is today. Students will familiarize themselves with political systems and tribal social organization in the midst of urbanization and how the two impact each other and are influenced also by cultural expression. The cultural aspects of the course will cover popular trends in the Middle East such as comedy shows, music, cinema and food. It will also touch on introducing popular and well-known Arabic literature covering the works of famous Arab poets and novelists. In doing so, students will familiarize themselves with the commonly held norms and beliefs that create the foundation for the Arabic cultural identity. Participants in this class will screen films, taste culinary samples of various Arabic countries, explore humor in its various localized forms, as well as become acquainted with various music forms and artists from Fayrouz to Kadhum Al-Saher to Um Kalthoom. Finally, students will be introduced to the concept of “rentierism” and how it influences economic development of Middle Eastern countries. This course is a first-year seminar (FYS). It fulfills the FYS requirement of the 2015 University Studies Program (USP). As such, students taking this course will learn to examine and evaluate evidence, claims, beliefs, and points of view about meaningful, relevant issues. Students will also be introduced to active learning, inquiry of pressing issues, and individual and collaborative processing of ideas through the FYS course. These are skills that students then continue to build and reinforce throughout the rest of their college years.