INSITE Middle East and Islamic Studies is part of the North Carolina Consortium for Middle East Studies
After the tragedies of September 11, 2001, UNC established a Planning Group to bring together faculty, students, and administrators to review the University’s resources in Middle East Studies and to chart a course for future development. The Center grew out of this planning process and was founded in 2003. In 2019, the Center was renamed from the “Carolina Center for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Civilizations” to the “Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies.” Due to administrative decisions in December 2025, the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies, along with the other UNC Area Studies Centers, were brought together under a new umbrella organization: International Program for Scholarship, Innovation, Teaching and Engagement (INSITE)
INSITE is an interdisciplinary university hub of teaching, research, and service that develops expertise in six world regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, East Europe and Eurasia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Our mission is to leverage extensive regional, interdisciplinary networks to prepare students, faculty, and the North Carolina workforce to engage in mutually respectful intercultural collaboration to solve contemporary global issues.
Our approach at INSITE Middle East and Islamic Studies represents a fruitful hybrid between traditional area studies approaches and cross-regional Islamic studies.
Our People
Membership in the Center is open to all UNC students, faculty, and staff. To become a member of the Center, e-mail mideast@unc.edu.
For media inquiries, please contact Natalie Vizuete, Associate Dean for Communications, College of Arts & Sciences at nvizuete@unc.edu or at 919.962.1165.
