Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Pembroke
Pembroke has a long association with Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and the College is keen to maintain this reputation. There is an internal fellow in AMES and the College often hosts seminars and lectures that enhance our students’ learning experience. Applicants are accepted for Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Hebrew, and Persian.
Courses in AMES cover the major languages and cultural history of East Asia and the Middle East, broadly defined. On the Middle Eastern side of the Faculty, Arabic, Hebrew and Persian may be combined with each other or with a modern European language. The department also offers Hindi and Sanskrit as options to Part IB and Part II students, respectively. Chinese and Japanese are ordinarily studied separately, but may be combined with each other at Part II level. Korean is offered, subject to availability, to Part II students studying Japanese. All subjects in the Faculty involve intensive study of the language or languages taken and a range of courses on the literature, culture, and history of East Asia or the Middle East.
In recent years Pembroke has had a strong academic record in the Tripos. The College aims to take two or three undergraduates a year, or more if the quality of the field allows. For full details of the Tripos see the Faculty website.
Admissions
We are seeking to admit students from all backgrounds, who have in common an interest in the subject. No prior knowledge of any of the languages offered is assumed (though it helps if applicants have learned the alphabet of the language before coming into residence); knowing too much in advance is sometimes a disadvantage, so check before deciding to spend your summer with your nose in a grammar book! Having an A Level (or equivalent) in a foreign language is desirable, suggesting a proven ability to cope with language work, but applicants have been accepted from a wide variety of academic backgrounds. If you are applying to combine Arabic, Hebrew or Persian with a European language, an A level (or equivalent) in the European language is required.
Interviews consist mainly of general questions and discussion of applicants' A Level (or equivalent) work. Applicants to Pembroke will not be asked to take an at-interview assessment, unless you are applying for a European language. AMES applicants wishing to study a European language are required to take the relevant MML at-interview admissions assessment. Please see the MML course page for information on the assessment format.
Pembroke AMES Teaching Staff
Dr Assef Ashraf - Director of Studies
Assef Ashraf is a historian of Iran and the Persianate world.
Much of his current research centres on questions of imperial formation and governance. His book Making and Remaking Empire in Early Qajar Iran (forthcoming with Cambridge University Press) focuses on the formation of Qajar Iran and on the governance practices which over time, constructed, consolidated, and ultimately exposed the limits of Qajar political authority. Rather than narrating a potted political history or explaining state formation through the lens of institutions and capacity building, the book explores the connections, networks, and practices that kept a political order in place.
Dr Ashraf received his PhD from the Department of History at Yale University in 2017 and began teaching at Cambridge in 2018. He lectures and supervises in a variety of papers on the history and culture of Iran, the Middle East, and the Persian-speaking world.