Welcome

The Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies promotes understanding of the Middle East through teaching, research, and community outreach. Our center is distinguished by its cross-regional approach to Middle East studies, one that breaks down area studies barriers in order to track global flows of ideas, commodities, and people.

The Center is part of the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, a collaboration between Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Persian Studies    Turkish Studies    Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies    Conflict Management Initiative

Latest News

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  Analyzing Ancient Animal Remains

  Animal teeth excavated from Bronze Age cities may answer fundamental questions about how early urban centers operated. From left, graduate student Christine Mikeska and Associate Professor Benjamin Arbuckle from the College of Arts & Sciences’ department of anthropology. (Photo by … Continued

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  UNC and Duke Area Studies Centers Support Globalizing Curricula Across Minority-Serving Institutions and Community Colleges

    Educators from minority-serving institutions (MSI) and community colleges across the southeast led panels about how they utilize resources from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke area studies centers to advance global scholarship and integrate global … Continued

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  African Studies Center and Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Joint Statement on the Delay to Vote to Tenure Nikole Hannah-Jones

  The African Studies Center (ASC) and Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies (CMEIS) value and uphold the principles of academic freedom. This freedom is necessary for us to conduct research, teaching, and service that furthers the interests of the … Continued

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  Give Me the Mic and Sing: Teaching about the Middle East and North Africa through Women’s Hip Hop.

  by Kristin Waterbury Song, particularly hip hop, provides women with a unique platform to amplify their voices, combat stereotypes, and address social issues. The importance of music to women around the world is reflected in the lyrics of Palestinian artist … Continued

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  Virtual Cultural Festival Promotes Intercultural Education in K-12 Classrooms

    Carolina Navigators, a service-learning and global education outreach program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, took K-12 classes around the world in its 14th biannual Virtual Cultural Festival on Friday, April 23.  A total of 27 … Continued

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  Journalism in the Classroom: Teaching About the Middle East through Underreported Stories

  What are underreported stories, and where can we find them? What more do we learn, and connect with, by exploring underreported stories? On April 22, 2021, the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor’s … Continued

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  Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Spring 2021 Newsletter

  Our annual newsletter highlights center activities from the 2020 – 2021 academic year. Read to learn more about programming, highlights from our affiliated faculty and students, and K-14 outreach events. Click on the image below to view the newsletter, or … Continued

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  UNC Area Studies Centers Host Panel on Women’s Leadership in the Federal Government

    Women have long been underrepresented in key sectors of the United States federal government, particularly in positions of national security leadership, and this is especially true for women of color. In Spring 2021, the area studies centers at the University of North Carolina … Continued

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  Beyond Words on a Page: Senses as the Way into the Middle East

  How to Teach about the Middle East — and Get it Right: Experiential Learning about the Middle East through the Senses The five major senses of touch, sight, hearing, smell, and taste provide creative and memorable opportunities for engaging students … Continued

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  University of North Carolina Alum Radhika Arora and Angela Chin Win Prestigious Rangel Fellowship

    Following a highly competitive nationwide selection process, Radhika Arora and Angela Chin were awarded a 2021 Charles B. Rangel International Affairs Fellowship. The Rangel Fellowship, funded by the U.S. Department of State and administered by Howard University, supports extraordinary … Continued