<p>Back to the OP’s original question: There is a huge difference between area studies programs like Middle Eastern Studies, which involve learning a foreign language as an integral part of the major/minor, and the race, class and gender studies majors and minors offered through the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. The former can be extremely academically challenging, the latter,often less so. The Middle Eastern Studies department at NYU has several nationally known professors and offers instruction in five middle eastern/south asian languages—Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Hind,i and Urdu—all extremely challenging to learn. If you major in MEIS you are required to take at least a four course progression in one of the above listed languages, as well as courses covering the history, religion, culture, and literature of the Middle East. If you choose to minor instead, you can either choose a language progression track or a history/culture/literature track. Here is a link to the MEIS website: [NYU-Middle</a> Eastern and Islamic Studies Department](<a href=“http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/mideast/]NYU-Middle”>http://www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/mideast/)
There is currently a tremendous demand in the job market for applicants who speak/read/write middle eastern and south asian languages. If future employability is your goal, the MEIS department would be an excellent choice. One caveat however: the department is highly politicized.</p>