Building on AMIDEAST’s mission of strengthening mutual understanding and cooperation between Americans and the people of the Middle East and North Africa, AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World help develop mutual understanding through programs for young people to study the Middle East and North Africa, improve their Arabic language skills, and interact with the peoples and cultures of the region, especially local families, organizations, and students. At the same time, AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs strive to develop students’ intercultural and global competence and provide students with safe, secure, and healthy living and learning environments. The programs are academically rigorous, intellectually free, personally challenging, and focused on intercultural learning.

Core Principles of AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World

AMIDEAST’s Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World are built on a set of core principles. These principles include

• Instilling in students an understanding of and respect for local cultural norms
• Giving back to the local community through engagement with community organizations and institutions in a variety of contexts
• Acting ethically in all dealings with students, faculty, staff, local and U.S.-based academic partners, and the community in which programs take place.

Furthermore, AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs are

• student centered
• designed to serve small cohorts of students in order to assure quality student support, valuable discussion, and opportunities to interact with peers in the host society
• structured to maximize students’
  • achievement of greater Arabic language proficiency
  • knowledge of the host country and region, and
  • intercultural learning through ethical and informed engagement with the host culture.

Distinctive Features

While each program has its own unique character, heavily influenced by the national and local characteristics of the country and city where it is located, all AMIDEAST programs include a set of distinctive features:

• Arabic language instruction in both Modern Standard and Spoken Arabic
• Program-related excursions
• Facilitated dialogue sessions with students from local universities
• Activities to develop student intercultural and global competence
• Management by an AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program staff member who is familiar with the local environment and who coordinates housing, orientation, excursions, issues discussions, and other program-related activities