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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  Newly Renamed ‘Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies’ Reflects Breadth of Teaching and Research

  As of July 1, 2020, the Department of Asian Studies (DAS) is changing its name to the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (DAMES). The faculty voted unanimously in the fall of 2019 to change our name to more … Continued

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  Statement Against Racism and Omar Ibn Said Initiative

  The Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Duke University Middle East Studies Center, the Duke Islamic Studies Center, and the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies stand with the … Continued

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  ‘Impossible Documents’ — How An Enslaved Muslim Scholar Illuminates Southern Identity

  By GRANT HOLUB-MOORMAN & FRANK STASIO     In the 1700s, approximately 5% of the pre-colonial United States was Muslim. Most of them were enslaved, and one of the foundational figures of early American Islam lived in North Carolina. Omar ibn Said has … Continued

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  Eyre Award for Excellence in Global Studies Honors Aisha Jitan for Paper on Syrian Women in Zaatari Refugee Camp

  Each year, the Curriculum in Global Studies presents the Douglas Eyre Award for Excellence to the Global Studies major who produces the best senior honors thesis.  We are proud to recognize Aisha Jitan as this year’s recipient of the Eyre Award. Aisha’s thesis, New … Continued

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  Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Spring 2020 Newsletter

  Our annual newsletter highlights exciting center activities from the 2019-2020 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 download … Continued

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  Animals that Fueled the World

    When an archaeologist uncovers an artifact, while likely enthralled by the piece, they are more interested in what it can teach them about human behavior. Zooarchaeologists have a similar goal. UNC researchers Benjamin Arbuckle and Heather Lapham use ancient … Continued

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  The 17th Annual Duke-UNC Middle East and Islamic Studies Graduate Student Conference

  The 17th Annual Duke-UNC Middle East and Islamic Studies Graduate Student Conference was held at UNC on 29 February 2020. The theme for this year was – Who Speaks for Islam? Approaches to Authority within the Academy and Beyond. The … Continued

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  Global and Area Studies Centers: Seven Hubs for International Education

  The FedEx Global Education Center is home to seven global and area studies centers that provide the UNC-Chapel Hill community with essential services and resources for instruction, learning and research related to global issues, world regions and modern foreign languages. The … Continued

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  Event Explores Peace vs. Justice in Syria

  On February 11, the Center for the Middle East and Islamic Studies (CMEIS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill hosted a public talk on peace and justice in Syria. The event featured Mohammad Al Abdallah, Executive Director of the Syria and … Continued

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  New research reconsiders writings of a Muslim slave and scholar

  (RNS) — He was a slave from Senegal who wrote in Arabic. Or was he an Arab prince? He was a scholar who memorized vast passages of the Quran and mastered numerous Islamic texts. Or were his writings unintelligible? He … Continued