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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  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

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  How did one stuck ship hamper global trade?

  The Ever Given is underway again, but the global supply chain is reeling from the Suez Canal closing. A UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School professor explains why.     On March 24 the container ship Ever Given ran aground and blocked … Continued

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  Carolina Hosts Virtual Global Career Night

  Brent Van Vliet ’20 The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Area Studies Centers and the UNC Curriculum in Global Studies hosted Global Career Night virtually on February 24. The annual panel event features Carolina alumni in globally focused … Continued

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  Voices From The Field – U.S. Department of Education International and Foreign Language Education Newsletter

  Virtual Exchange Program Encourages Cross-Border Collaborations Between Teachers in the United States and the Middle East The Duke-University of North Carolina (UNC) Consortium for Middle East Studies and the University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies (UA CMES) have collaborated to … Continued

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  Middle East National Resource Centers Train Teachers about Charisma, Contact, and Continuity in Middle East History

  On February 25, over 80 educators at the middle, high and community college levels explored teaching practices and historical perspectives in the second installment of the webinar series, “How to Teach About the Middle East—and Get it Right!” The webinar featured Allen Fromherz, professor of history and director of the Middle East … Continued

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  UNC-Chapel Hill Announces New Partnership with American Academy of Diplomacy

    The American Academy of Diplomacy (AAD) and UNC-Chapel Hill are collaborating on the production of The General and the Ambassador, a well-recognized podcast series that focuses on how senior U.S. military leaders partner with senior U.S. ambassadors on national security challenges … Continued

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  Global Supply Chains: An Interconnected World

  by Reo Aono, International Society of Business and Foreign Affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill On February 23rd, the Duke UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies sponsored a virtual event titled Global Supply Chains: An Interconnected World. The event aimed to inform … Continued

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  Raleigh man is now first Yemeni-born judge in US

  Rashad Hauter can remember his father shaking him awake at 2 a.m. inside their one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment, prodding him from sleep to learn the alphabet as a 3-year-old. At that early hour, his father, Ahmed, would just be getting home … Continued