IPS is a community of public scholars and organizers linking peace, justice, and the environment in the U.S. and globally. We work with social movements to promote true democracy and challenge concentrated wealth, corporate influence, and military power.

As Washington’s first progressive multi-issue think tank, the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) has served as a policy and research resource for visionary social justice movements for over four decades — from the anti-war and civil rights movements in the 1960s to the peace and global justice movements of the last decade. Some of the greatest progressive minds of the 20th and 21st centuries have found a home at IPS, starting with the organization’s founders, Richard Barnet and Marcus Raskin.

The Master of Arts in Islam combines the study of classical Islam with the study of the contemporary Islamic world. This approach is premised on the assumption that an understanding of today’s Islamic world cannot be achieved without a thorough grounding in the history of Islamic religion and civilization, an assumption often overlooked by scholars and analysts.

The curriculum is constructed with this dual focus in mind. Students are expected to take a number of core courses in the Religion Department that provide familiarity with Islamic religion throughout the centuries, alongside courses in other departments and schools at GW that provide insight into current politics, society, and culture in the Islamic world. Most prominent among these departments and schools is the Elliot School of International Affairs which offers a wide array of courses on the contemporary Islamic world.

The Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS), is the oldest institute in the world devoted exclusively to documentation, research, analysis, and publication on Palestinian affairs and the Arab-Israeli conflict. It was established in Beirut in 1963 and incorporated there as a private, independent, non-profit Arab institute unaffiliated with any political organization or government. It is led by a Board of Trustees composed of scholars, businessmen and public figures from across the Arab world, and by a volunteer Executive Committee elected by the Board.