While housed in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic Studies is envisioned as a multi-disciplinary and multi-regional field of study. Therefore, the program allows students the flexibility to choose from a broad selection of courses related to Islam and Muslim societies offered in a variety of other departments as well, such as African and African-American Studies, Asian Studies, History, Sociology, Anthropology and Art History, taught in rotation by approximately twenty faculty across the University.

The Yale University Ph. D. Program in Islamic Studies is devoted to comprehensive research on the religion of Islam and to training superior students for academic careers in that field. Students accepted into the program are offered full scholarships along with a multi-year stipend. Islamic Studies is one of ten fields in the Department of Religious Studies, where students and professors researching different religious traditions interact. In addition to Prof. Gerhard Bowering and Assoc. Prof. Frank Griffel, students also have the benefit of professors in the Near Eastern Studies, History, and Political Science Departments.