The Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies encourages students to take advantage of international opportunities while at Duke. Several of these Duke programs—some of which are jointly administered by the Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies—are offered through the Global Education Office for Undergraduates, as well as DukeEngage.
Some courses taken through study abroad may count toward the requirements of the major, with approval of the Director of Undergraduate Studies. Study away courses may also fulfill Trinity foreign language requirements for graduation. (Please consult with the DUS for specific details and courses.)
Listed below you will find some of the study abroad options currently available. For more details about each program, including dates and registration information, please visit the Global Education Office and DukeEngage.
Global Education
Duke in the Arab World
Based in Morocco and Egypt, this program provides students with the opportunity to explore not only the socio-political development and intricacies of the Arab world, but also to gain real life experiences through interaction, observation, field visits and homestays. Additionally, the program exposes participants to aspects of continuity and changes, communalities and differences within different cities in Morocco and Egypt while enabling them to improve their Arabic language skills.
Duke Kunshan University
A world-class university offering a range of academic programs for students throughout the world. DKU’s campus in Kunshan connects the border of Shanghai and Suzhou, giving students access to the full spectrum of life in China, spanning modern metropolises and historical water towns.
National Tsing Hua University- Huayu BEST (summer)
National Tsing Hua University (NTHU), a top-ranked comprehensive university based in Hsinchu, is offering full scholarships to students from select universities to study Chinese language in Taiwan. The scholarship program, titled the Huayu Bilingual Exchange of Selected Talents—or simply Huayu BEST—provides opportunities for students to enhance their language proficiency and cultural understanding by attending 15 hours of formal language classes at NTHU each week while also participating in up to 3 hours of weekly service-learning activities, such as teaching English to local youths.
DukeEngage
DukeEngage in China—Beijing
This DukeEngage program takes students into the everyday lives and struggles of migrant workers—the millions of rural residents who have moved to China’s largest cities in the last 20 years. The children of these migrant workers are at the center of our work. Because the majority of migrant families lack the residential permit that grants access to the state education system, as well as the financial resources necessary to pay the steep tuition of private schools, more and more migrant youth now attend the “unofficial” schools that have sprung up in the last 10 years through the extraordinary efforts of Chinese and international education and social activists. Our program works with one of the more successful of these schools, the Dandelion Middle School (Pugongying Zhongxue), located in Daxing District, Beijing.
DukeEngage in China—Zhuhai
This program involves partnering with a middle school to provide arts education and English lessons, with a focus on creativity, leadership development, and self-discovery and personal growth.
Service through teaching in addition to the immersive experience of living with host families will provide DukeEngage students with great opportunities to build a reciprocal relationship with the Zhuhai community; they will learn true culture of Chinese citizens and gain insight into a new way of living while they concurrently share with a Chinese society the important value of education.
DukeEngage in South Korea
This program engages challenges and opportunities arising from shifting demographics and the changing fabric of South Korean society with refugees from North Korea and economic migrants from Russia, China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and elsewhere. It focuses on engaging the everyday reality of this shifting dynamic, recognizing and apprehending the complexity of the situation and building friendships and working towards mutual transformation of both engagers and the communities.
DukeEngage in India—Kochi
During their 8 weeks in Kerala in the South of India, students will be involved with assisting a number of Global Vision International (GVI) partner organizations meet their objectives by providing opportunities for learning, attaining skills and providing much needed stimulation for disadvantaged communities.
DukeEngage in India—Kolkata
This project will focus on working with nonprofits dedicated to underserved children and individuals with special needs. The program will support participants as they learn about management at such organizations in a developing country. The program is intentionally designed to foster understanding of methods and organization of selected NGOs in Kolkata, India. It seeks students who are interested in supporting these ideals and willing to reach out to these groups.