Welcome to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Studies Research Guide. Utilize the tabs above or the links below to access the guide and find information and access resources related to your research. If you need further assistance, do not hesitate to reach out to the library to schedule a Research Consultation, or contact us via Chat.
Use these quick links to access the Gordon Library's research databases, journals, magazines, blogs, assets, books & ebooks.
The concept of a region called the “Middle East” is a relatively recent and unstable construction. Since the term was first coined at the beginning of the 20th century, it has been applied to different sets of countries and territories. To complicate matters further, territories which have at times been categorized as “Middle East” have also attracted other designations: Near East, western Asia, eastern Mediterranean, the Arab world, and so on.
For more on the history and significance of these regional designations see "Where is the Middle East?" from the UNC Center for Middle East & Islamic Studies.
The following countries are considered part of the MENA (World Integrated Trade Solution/World Bank) region:
The three main religions practiced in the MENA region are:
Please visit Related Guides and other MENA Research Guide tabs above for additional resources on these religions and the geographic area.
Other religions practiced in the MENA regions can be researched in resources like:
Print and eBook Sourcesheld at Gordon Library
Online Calendar Converters
Calendar Converters (Fourmilab, Switzerland)
Hijri-Gregorian Converter (IslamiCity.org)
The Islamic Calendar (Calendars through the Ages; while this online-exhibit and tool is maintained by IDEA.org, it has lots of ads so be sure to scroll through and not click ad buttons!)
The Jewish Calendar (Calendars through the Ages; while this online-exhibit and tool is maintained by IDEA.org, it has lots of ads so be sure to scroll through and not click ad buttons!)
Other In-Use Calendars (Calendars through the Ages; while this online-exhibit and tool is maintained by IDEA.org, it has lots of ads so be sure to scroll through and not click ad buttons!)
Other Ancient Calendars (Calendars through the Ages; while this online-exhibit and tool is maintained by IDEA.org, it has lots of ads so be sure to scroll through and not click ad buttons!)
2009 Central Intelligence Agency Map of Northern Africa and the Middle East, courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Many computers are equipped with dual-alphabet keyboards (English QWERTY and Arabic) to assist you with your research.
To use/enable the Arabic keyboard on a Windows 11 machine:
You will now see an EN to the right of the toolbar at the bottom of the screen. You can click it to switch between EN (English) and AR (Arabic).
To use/enable the Arabic keyboard on a Mac:
The Library of Congress provides many Romanization Tables, which you will need to search library catalogs in different languages. Some examples are:
This guide was first conceptualized by Mackenzie Harrington, Research & Instruction Librarian, and has elements and structured content borrowed from the following helpful MENA guides compiled by other colleges and universities:
