The Center is part of the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

UNC’s approach represents a fruitful hybrid between traditional area studies approaches and cross-regional Islamic studies. The concept of a region called the “Middle East” is a relatively recent and unstable construction.

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.”

Center Activities:

• Calendar of Local Events | The most comprehensive listing of local events related to the Middle East or other parts of the Muslim world! Contains events sponsored by the Center in addition to many others at UNC, Duke, and elsewhere in the Triangle.

• Programs of Study | The Center supports a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs on various aspects of the Middle East and Islamic studies.

• Center Resources | In addition to event funding and small grants for faculty, the Center provides guides to library resources and maintains pages with current job postings in the field of Middle East Studies, as well as career and internship opportunities for students.

• Visiting Scholars | The Center assists visiting scholars with visa paperwork, library privileges, and study space.

Campus & Community Connections:

• Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies | Bringing together the strengths of both institutions.

• Carolina Seminar on Middle East Studies | A program of periodic lectures and other events supported by the Carolina Seminars at UNC.

• Islamic Civilization and Muslim Networks | A UNC Press series co-edited by Center director Carl W. Ernst and Duke University’s Bruce Lawrence.

Past Activities:

• Global Music | Monthly radio program on WXYC 89.3 FM from 2006-2014. Each month’s show featured music from a particular world region with commentary by guest scholars. Archives are available online.

• ISLAMiCommentary | Provides scholarship-based information to its target audience, which includes people in media, public policy, NGOs, other academic centers and news offices, and members of the general public looking for information about Islam and Muslims. The grant supporting this site ended on June 30, 2016; archives are available online.

• Transcultural Islam Research Network (TIRN) Scholars | Designed to facilitate scholar interaction and to connect scholars with each other.

Contacts:

Address: 3023 FedEx Global Education Center, 301 Pittsboro St, CB #7582, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7582, USA

Telephone: +1 (919) 962 2034

Fax: +1 (919) 843 2102

Email: mideast@unc.edu

Website: http://mideast.unc.edu/