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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  Virtual Exchange Program Encourages Teachers in the United States and the Middle East to Collaborate Across Borders

  The Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies and the University of Arizona Center for Middle Eastern Studies (UA CMES) have collaborated to establish the Teachers Collaborating Across Borders Program (TCAB), a unique opportunity for educators from the United States and teachers from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region to engage … Continued

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  Internationalized Courses Provide Students with Virtual Connections to Iran

  The Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is participating in Connecting Carolina Classrooms with the World (CCCW), an initiative launched by the Office of the Vice Provost of Global Affairs in May 2020, in collaboration … Continued

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  Viewpoints on Resilient & Equitable Responses to the Pandemic. Michael Figueroa on Arab American Music During COVID

  Part of the series “Viewpoints on Resilient and Equitable Responses to the Pandemic” from the Center for Urban and Regional Studies at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The COVID-19 pandemic is causing people around the world to question how … Continued

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  Haydar on the Radar: Resisting Orientalism and Global Patriarchy

  Sophia Rekeibe ’21 | Department of Music   Raised in Flint, Michigan, Mona Haydar is a Syrian-American Muslim who defines herself as a rapper, poet, activist, practitioner of Permaculture, meditator, composting devotee, mountain girl, solar power lover and a tireless God-enthusiast (Haydar 2015). She … Continued

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  Virtual Symposium Explores Love and Desire in Modern Iran and the Diaspora

    The Persian Studies program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently hosted a virtual symposium entitled “Revisiting Discourses of Love, Sex, and Desire in Modern Iran and the Diaspora.” Originally scheduled as a one-day, in-person symposium in … Continued

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  18th Annual Duke-UNC Middle East and Islamic Studies Graduate Student Conference Call for Papers

  What Does Race Have to Do with Religion? Racialization and Worldwide Islam The Islamicate Graduate Student Association invites papers for our 18th Annual Duke-UNC Conference, one of the longest running graduate student Middle East & Islamic Studies conferences in the … Continued

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  Eminent Peace Studies Book Translated into Arabic by Noor Ghazi

  Considered one of the most important books in Peace Studies, Preparing for Peace by Dr. John Paul Lederach has recently been translated into Arabic by Noor Ghazi, a member of the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies. The title is … Continued

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  CMEIS Faculty Profile: Dr. Youssef Carter

  The Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies is excited to welcome Dr. Youssef Carter to as a center member. Dr. Carter joined the Department of Religious Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill in July 2020 as Assistant Professor and Kenan Rifai … Continued

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  CMEIS Faculty Profile: Dr. Ana Vinea

  The Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies is happy to welcome Dr. Ana Vinea as a CMEIS member. Dr. Vinea joined UNC in January 2020 and is currently teaching a first year seminar on ‘Popular Culture in the Arab … Continued

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  Seminar for K-12 Teachers Provides Multifaceted View of the Middle East

  Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies   The Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, a partnership between the UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies and the Duke University Middle East Studies Center, hosted a five-day, virtual seminar for K-12 teachers across the country from August 3-7. The seminar, “Diversities of … Continued