Center for Middle East Studies
Resources for Students
From Morocco to Jordan, from Oman to Turkey, University of Denver students are more interested in working, studying and travelling in the Middle East than ever before in our school's history. We aim to encourage and support this student interest by providing relevant and timely resources.
For up to date, reputable news coverage of the ISIS crisis, the most recent Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch report on Syria, or the best academic and journalistic writing on Islam and liberalism, please visit our various resource pages for the most up to date research and resources from around the world.
For on campus resources, please find on this page an aggregation of organizations with relevant internship opportunities, study abroad opportunities that are external to our school's abroad programs, as well as some of the best academic journals on the Middle East. If you would like a physical copy of any of these journals, please visit our suite in the Sie Complex!
You can also access our annual presentation on Internship, Study and Travel Opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa here:
Finally, each quarter we will compile a list of every undergraduate and graduate course being taught on the Middle East across all departments on campus.
As always, please stay connected with us through social media to find out about our latest events, special travel or internship opportunities, and our most recent publications. To be added to our e-mail list, please e-mail our Program Manager, Gina Jannone, at [email protected]
Graduate Student Trip to Israel & the West Bank
CMES is excited to announce our upcoming student trip to Israel and the West Bank in June, 2018.
This trip is open to all Korbel graduate students, and partial funding is available. Early consideration applications are due on November 30, 2017. Final application deadline is January 19, 2018.
For all information, please visit this page.
Student Funding Opportunities
Liebich Family Fund for Middle East internship Support
Thanks to Don and Marcia Liebich's dedication to making a positive impact and improving their community and the world, a fund has been established to support Korbel MA student internships in the Middle East and North Africa.
This fund will go to students with an un- or under-funded internship based in the region, and awards go up to $2,500. For more information please read this and visit the OCPD portfolio site.
For questions, please e-mail: [email protected]
Graduate international internship grant
As part of the RenewDU initiative, the Office of Graduate Studies has funding available for Graduate International Internship Grants (GIG). These competitive grants are available to graduate students at the University of Denver who meet certain application criteria. Click here for more.
INTERDISCIPLINARY GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN RELIGION & INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
CERTIFICATE CO-DIRECTORS
Nader Hashemi – Director, Center for Middle East Studies, Associate Professor, Josef Korbel School of International Studies
Andrea L. Stanton – Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
APPLICATION PROCESS
Interested students from the Religious Studies or the Korbel School of International Studies MA programs will submit an application consisting of a
*500-word personal statement
*CV
*undergraduate and graduate transcripts (unofficial are fine)
Applications will be reviewed by a committee composed of Religious Studies and International Studies faculty. Enrollment is limited and competitive.
Final applications for students starting this certificate in 2016-17 will be due Thursday, December 1, 2016.
For more information, visit this page.Internships
Institute for the Study of War
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is seeking undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students for a variety of internship openings.
From their internship page: "Why work for ISW: ISW believes ground realities must drive the formulation of strategy and policy. In pursuit of this principle, ISW conducts detailed, open-source intelligence analysis to provide the most accurate information on current conflicts and security threats. We offer interns a chance to train on work with cutting-edge technologies employed in business and in the intelligence community. Interns at ISW will have an unparalleled opportunity to conduct research that directly informs policy-makers on some of the most pressing issues facing American national security. Our interns work directly with analysts and have many opportunities to engage with Institute leadership on the subjects of their research. ISW offers its interns to be at the front lines of military research and policy, tackling the issues that are in the headlines. ISW has published the work of its interns and hired many onto its staff."
international Organizations
- International Monetary Fund
- World Bank
- World Health Organization
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United Nations
- United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
- UN Development Programme
- UN Headquarters New York
- UN Office on Drugs and Crime (Palestine)
- UNICEF
- href="https://careers.un.org/lbw/home.aspx?viewtype=SJ&exp=All&level=0&location=All&occup=0&department=3984&bydate=0&occnet=0" target="_blank">Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Khartoum, Abu Dhabi)
- UN Refugee Agency
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UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Mid-East (Amman, Beirut, and Jerusalem)
NGO’s and Non-Profits
- America's Unoffial Ambassadors Mosaic Program
- The Arab-American Language Institute in Morocco (Meknes, Morocco)
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (Cairo)
- Carnegie Middle East Center (Beirut)
- CDRF Global (Jordan)
- Columbia University Global Centers – Middle East (Amman)
- Columbia University Global Centers – Turkey (Istanbul)
- Freedom House (North Africa)
- Human Rights Watch (Beirut)
- Heinrich Böll Foundation – Middle East Office (Beirut)
- International Peace Institute (Bahrain)
- Oxfam International (Sudan, Egypt, Jordan)
- Global Practice Bosnia (through DU's Graduate School of Social Work)
- Palestinian American Research Center (Palestine)
Middle East Internships in Washington, DC
- American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Research Institute
- American Enterprise Institute
- American Islamic Congress
- American Studies Institute
- Amnesty International
- Atlantic Council
- The Brookings Institute
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
- The Carter Center
- Center for Strategic and International Studies
- Council on Foreign Relations
- Foreign Policy Research Institute
- Henry L. Stimson Center (Middle East and Southwest Asia)
- Hudson Institute
- Institute for Policy Studies
- The Jerusalem Fund: Palestine Center
- National Democratic Institute
- National Council on US-Arab Relations
- New America Foundation
- Project on Middle East Democracy
-
Middle East Institute
- The Syria Institute
- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
- The Wilson Center – Middle East Program
Study Abroad
There is no shortage of opportunities for the study of Middle Eastern languages, culture, and politics both overseas and in the United States. Here, we provide a listing of the top programs available to students broken down into Area Studies, Arabic, Turkish, Persian (Farsi), and Hebrew. Whether summer, semester, or year-long, each program is designed with one thing in mind: to enrich the lives of students through study of this region. We hope you will take advantage of them!
non-language area studies
PalesTime - Summer in Palestine
Beirut Exchange - Short Term Trips
arabic
AMIDEAST - Egypt, Jordan, Morocco
Arabic Language Immersion Institute, University of Wisconsin - USA
Arabic Language Institute in Fez (ALIF) - Morocco
Arabic School, Middlebury Language Schools - USA
Center for Arabic Study Abroad, Harvard University - Jordan
Center for Cross-Cultural Learning (Rabat, Morocco)
Center for International Learning – Oman (Muscat)
CIEE Summer, Semester, & Year-long Programs - Jordan, Morocco
Critical Language Scholarship Program - Jordan, Morocco, Oman
Institute for Intensive Arabic Language and Culture at the Lebanese American University (Beirut)
Moroccan Center for Arabic Studies - Morocco
Qasid Arabic Institute - Jordan
SWSEEL Summer Language Workshop, Indiana University - USA
Yemen College of Middle East Studies (Sana'a)
hebrew
Hebrew and Israeli Culture Program, Hebrew University - Israel
Intensive Hebrew Study Program (Ulpan), Ben Gurion University - Israel
Brandeis University-Middlebury School of Hebrew - USA
persian
Critical Language Scholarship Program - Tajikistan
Persian Language Immersion Institute, University of Wisconsin - USA
Persian Summer Language Institute, University of Texas - USA
SWSEEL Summer Language Workshop, University of Indiana - USA
Turkish
Critical Language Scholarship Program - Turkey
SWSEEL Summer Language Workshop, University of Indiana - USA
Turkish Language & Culture Program, Boğaziçi University - Turkey
Turkish Language Immersion Institute, University of Wisconsin - USA
Research Journal
Below you will find links to, and descriptions of, the best scholarly journals published on subjects relating to the history, politics, and culture of the Middle East and broader Islamic world.
Note: Access to journal articles is available only when using the DU network. Library permissions will not be granted otherwise. For physical copies, please visit our suite in the Sie Complex!
Middle east politics & policy
Middle East Policy
A journal dedicated to the study and analysis of contemporary Middle Eastern politics with a heavy emphasis on its relation to U.S. foreign policy. Strong current events focus.
The Middle East Journal
A journal focused on political and economic development in the Middle East and the implications for Western policy. Strong current events focused.
Middle East Research & Information Project (MERIP)
Policy and current event analysis geared towards the media and general public. Focused on non-specialist consumption and generating public awareness.
Middle east history
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies
Journal of the British Society of Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES). Strong emphasis on modern cultural, religious, intellectual, and political history.
International Journal of Middle East Studies
The journal of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). Arguably the most prominent journal in the field. Heavy emphasis on cultural, religious, intellectual, and political history from the modern period.
Journal of North African Studies
The journal of the American Institute of Maghrib Studies. Primarily focused on the modern history of North Africa, frequently publishes pre-modern historical research.
Middle East Critique
Critical examination of contemporary Middle Eastern political, economic, social, and cultural history.
Middle Eastern Studies
Journal of modern historical research with an emphasis on political, economic, and military history.
Area studies
Arab Studies Journal
Journal focusing on the modern histories of Arab societies.
Contemporary Arab Affairs
Focused on contemporary social, economic, and political/policy affairs within the Arab world.
Iranian Studies
Journal focused on the modern history of the Persianate world (Iran, Central Asia, Northern India, and the Caucuses), with particular emphasis on Iranian society and politics.
Israel Affairs
Focused primarily on contemporary Israeli politics and policy
Turkish Studies
Focused on post-Ottoman Turkish political, social, and economic history, in addition to contemporary policy debates.