Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies
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 China
The 8-week Duke in China summer language program is based at the prestigious University of International Business and Economics in Beijing (UIBE). UIBE is located in the Chaoyang District of Beijing, which is convenient to downtown, and has a modern, well-designed, picturesque campus.
Duke in the Arab World
Based in Morocco, 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 while enabling them to improve their Arabic language skills.
Duke Kunshan University - Undergraduate Global Learning
Duke Middle East in Europe
The Duke Middle East in Europe Term II summer GEO program is a six-week, two-course, two-credit global education program that rethinks key concepts and premises linking and dividing Europe and the Middle East. Within an interdisciplinary and interregional framework that includes policy, gender studies, history, migration, film and literature, the program attempts to excavate the legacies of the Middle East in Europe in an inclusive way that aims to do justice to their entanglements. Our goal is to create an undergraduate learning community around historical and current issues that address the history of Muslims in Europe, particularly German Turks and Syrian refugees.
The co-directors of the 2018 summer program will be Erdag Göknar (PI, AMES, DUMESC) and Banu Gökarıksel (UNC Cultural Geography, Duke Women’s Studies).
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.