Amideast to Open Study-Abroad Programs in Arab Countries

[Harold F. Schiffman]

Amideast to Open Study-Abroad Programs in Arab Countries

In an effort to expand undergraduate study-abroad opportunities in the
Arab world, America-Mideast Educational and Training Services Inc., more
commonly known as Amideast, will offer programs in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait,
Morocco, and Tunisia next year.

The nonprofit organization, which has decades of experience in the Middle
East, will offer year-, semester-, and summer-long programs. While
intensive Arabic-language instruction will be a component of each, the
programs will also include Middle East and North African studies, said
Jerry Bookin-Weiner, who is in charge of the project. Both beginning and
advanced Arabic speakers will be able to participate.

Students interest in the Middle East has grown rapidly in recent year.
More than 2,500 Americans participated in study-abroad programs in the
region in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available, up from
about 1,000 two years earlier.

Amideast has long worked with other study-abroad providers in the region,
such as the School for International Training and the Council for
International Educational Exchange, said Mr. Bookin-Weiner. But the new
effort will mark the first time it will directly run such programs. The
first opened last fall in Morocco, with 16 students, and the rest will
open in 2009. He said the programs should eventually be able to absorb as
many as 700 students.

The programs are being operated in partnership with language institutes or
universities in the countries in which they are located, he said, and will
be developed with the help of an Arabic-language advisory board and a
consortium of 17 American colleges and universities with programs in
Arabic and Middle East studies. Beth McMurtrie

http://chronicle.com/news/article/4698/amideast-to-open-study-abroad-programs-in-arab-countries

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