Area & Arabic Language Studies in Jordan (Semester/Academic Year)
Amman, capital of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is an ancient city facing distinct modern challenges. Built on seven hills, Amman has expanded in size and population from a quaint sleepy town at the close of World War II, to the bustling, multicultural metropolis it is today. Jordan is deeply enmeshed in the international relations of the region, sharing land borders with Iraq, Israel, Palestine and Saudi Arabia. It is one of only two Arab countries to have open borders with Israel, thus it remains a key player in Arab-Israeli affairs. Over the past several decades it has absorbed refugees from Palestine, Kuwaitis who left Kuwait after the Iraqi invasion in 1990 and most recently, Iraqi refugees. These new inhabitants have transformed Amman and brought new life to its local culture.
Under King Abdullah II and his father King Hussein, Jordan has made great strides in education, health care and economic reform while creating a distinctively Jordanian democratic structure. Nonetheless, Jordan faces many challenges that students can study and observe first hand – the effects of regional conflicts, social change, lack of natural resources, environmental concerns, and delivering on the promise of economic development to its citizens.
Students on our Area & Arabic Language Studies program in Amman have the opportunity to study both Modern Standard Arabic and Jordanian Arabic and learn first-hand from leading faculty from the Qasid Institute about the critically important Middle East region.
In addition to academics, students benefit from the following program components:
• in-country orientation
• opportunity to live with a Jordanian family or in a shared apartment
• structured opportunities to meet and interact with local students
• organized excursions to strikingly beautiful historic locations around Jordan such as Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea.
Academic Information
Students enrolled in AMIDEAST’s Education Abroad Program in Amman will have opportunities to study all of these fascinating topics and more in a program based at AMIDEAST’s facilities in Amman’s Abdoun district. AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program courses in Amman are taught by a select group of Jordanian professors from a variety of institutions in and around Amman. These lecturers possess a strong instructional experience in English-speaking environments. All faculty members have received post-graduate degrees from North American or European universities, or have spent considerable time at English-medium institutions as students, faculty members, visiting faculty or visiting researchers.
Students in the AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program in Amman carry a 14-17 credit hour course load per semester. All students enroll in Arabic (8 credits: Modern Standard and Colloquial Jordanian Arabic) and two or three other elective courses (depending on the student’s preference) from offerings in Middle East and North African studies in a variety of disciplines taught in English including anthropology, art, history, economics, environmental studies, media Arabic, Middle East and North Africa studies, political science, religion, sociology, studio art, and women's studies. In addition to academics, our students benefit from an on-site orientation, opportunity to live with a Jordanian family, structured ways to meet local students, and organized excursions to mind-blowing locations around Jordan.
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