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 North Carolina Consortium for Middle East Studies, a collaboration between Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Persian Studies    Turkish Studies    North Carolina Consortium for Middle East Studies    Conflict Management Initiative

Latest News

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  N.C. Arabic Teachers Explore DEIA In The Classroom Through FIKRA Conference

  Educators working to expand Arabic as a language offering to North Carolina students gathered recently at UNC-Chapel Hill to explore diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility in the language and cultures classroom. FIKRA, The second annual conference of the N.C. Arabic … Continued

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  Cristen Conger & Claudia Yaghoobi on podcast: Unladylike (Ep168) Feminist Revolution

    Dr. Claudia Yaghoobi, Director of the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies, was invited to have a discussion with host Cristen Conger on her national podcast Unladylike. The episode, titled “A Feminist Revolution in Iran” covers why Iranian women been burning … Continued

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  Iran’s Feminist Social Revolution Rages On

    Protests against compulsory veiling are the latest examples of female resistance in the Islamic country, says Middle East expert Claudia Yaghoobi.   Emily Padula, The Well, Friday, October 28th, 2022 Protestors take part in demonstration in front of the Iranian … Continued

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  Preserving Endangered Manuscripts

    Setting up digitization equipment in Thana, Malakand. Inside the Mahabat Khan Mosque in Peshawar. Waleed Ziad (second from left) interviewing an elder of the Naqshbandi Sufi order in Thana, Malakand. Late night kabobs with the MEAP digitization team.   … Continued

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  Claudia Yaghoobi Expands Global Connections for Carolina Students

    As the new director of the UNC-Chapel Hill Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies (CMEIS), Claudia Yaghoobi is eager to expand upon existing opportunities for students studying Middle Eastern and Persian studies, and to expand global partnerships with universities abroad. … Continued

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  Welcome from Claudia Yaghoobi

  Dear Colleagues,   As I begin my new role as the Center for the Middle East & Islamic Studies director, I would like to express my gratitude to all of you for providing me with the opportunity to serve.   … Continued

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  UNC-Chapel Hill Area Studies Centers Awarded $12 Million in Federal Education Grants

  The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill area studies centers will receive approximately $12 million in competitive federal Title VI funding over the next four years to support language and area studies coursework, global programming and events, and outreach … Continued

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  Excavations Uncover Mosaic Floor Panels in Ancient Galilean Synagogue

  The intricate panels, nearly 1,600 years old, include the first known depictions of two biblical heroines and an episode in ancient Jewish art.   A team of specialists and students led by Carolina professor Jodi Magness recently returned to Israel’s … Continued

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  Preserving endangered Islamic manuscripts

    Scholars from the department of African, African American and diaspora studies and a University Libraries digitization specialist traveled to Senegal and Mali to preserve and digitize 6,000 pages of handwritten Islamic manuscripts.   Samba Camara sits in his office … Continued

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  UNC Arabic Summer Students Engage with Refugees

  This summer, Intermediate Arabic students at UNC put their language learning to the true test of connection with a special visit from Saeed, a 34-year-old Syrian refugee and language partner from NaTakallam. NaTakallam hires displaced persons & their host community … Continued