About

Our Mission

The Middle East Studies program and the Middle East Center seek to strengthen an understanding of the Middle East in all sectors of American society through training and research at the University of Washington, as well as through delivery of outreach programming across the nation.

About Middle East Studies

The Middle East Studies program offers an undergraduate minor as well as graduate and professional school training culminating in a Masters degree. The emphasis of the program is on the contemporary Middle East, and depending on students’ own research interests, may include North Africa, Turkey, the Levant, the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan. The program’s faculty from the Jackson School is complemented by faculty from across the disciplinary departments, with particularly notable contributions from Political Science, History, Anthropology, Sociology, Near Eastern Languages and Civilization, and Law. Students also have the opportunity to work with eminent diplomats and government officials, as well as visiting foreign scholars.

Students interested in an M.A. degree emphasizing literature and other humanistic aspects of the Middle East should inquire about the program in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization. Additionally, the University of Washington Library’s Near Eastern Section contains a wide body of literary and reference materials.

Faculty Research

Spanning the region of the world from North Africa to Afghanistan, faculty research at the UW pertaining to the Middle East is rich and varied. Selected current faculty expertise and research includes: Arab political identity, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Arab cinema, women’s rights in Iran, Israeli legal system, nascent legal systems in Afghanistan, water and security in the Middle East, international law and the Middle East, Indo-Iranian Sufism, the Turkish Republic, Ottoman culture and society, social media and democracy in the Middle East, politics of the Arab Spring, political Islam, Sufism and sainthood in Islam, and the Qur’an.

Student Research

In fulfilling the requirements for a Master of Art’s degree in Middle East Studies, students have produced theses on issues of critical importance in preparation for entering careers in high-demand fields seeking Middle East expertise. Recent thesis topics have included: sustainable energy and water strategies in the UAE; the Green Movement in Iran; the Gulf War and the role of state leaders; challenges and opportunities for the Women’s Movement in Turkey; US foreign policy towards Iran; competing visions for modern Zionism; ethnic conflict in Iran; tribal identity in Saudi Arabia, water inequality in Israel and Palestine, and social networks and political activism in the Middle East.

The Middle East Center

The Middle East Center has affiliated faculty drawn from departments and programs across the UW campus and from area colleges.  The Center also serves as the conduit for partnerships beyond the University that enhance and strengthen Americans’ understanding of the Middle East.

Beyond the University

The Center is very active in strengthening community college faculty expertise on the Middle East organizing workshops and institutes to improve Arabic language instruction and increase general knowledge about the Middle East.

The Center is a founding member in a partnership with the Seattle non-profit OneWorld Now!, which for over a decade has offered Arabic language and global leadership training to minority and disadvantaged high school students in the Seattle public schools.

To strengthen K-12 teacher understanding of the Middle East, the Center conducts annual intensive summer institutes focused on important issues in the Middle East. Recent institutes have been explored the topics of: Iraq, U.S. foreign policy and the Middle East, modern Iran, and the history of Christians in the Middle East.

At the state and federal level, the Center offers briefings to educate our Congressional delegation and policy makers on issues vital to the trade and national security in the region.

HISTORY OF MIDDLE EAST STUDIES AT THE UW, ONE OF THE OLDEST MIDDLE EAST PROGRAMS IN THE NATION

1909: Middle Eastern languages first taught at the UW at what would become the Jackson School

1967: Middle Eastern historian position established

1968: Department of Near Eastern Studies established

1974-to present: U.S. Department of Education funded National Resource Center-Middle East

1991: Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Near & Middle Eastern Studies established

WHAT DO MIDDLE EAST STUDIES STUDENTS DO AFTER GRADUATION? (LAST TEN YEARS)

32% pursue careers in the U.S. government

20% continue their studies (Ph.D., Law)

18% pursue careers in domestic or international non-profits

10% pursue careers in higher education (faculty, administrator)

8% pursue careers in the private, for profit sector