Jerome B. Bookin-Weiner, Ph.D. 

Director of Education Abroad    

At AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World, we are committed to providing financial assistance to students participating on our programs in the Middle East and North Africa. AMIDEAST currently awards two types of scholarships:

1) AMIDEAST Education Abroad Need-Based Scholarships

2) AMIDEAST Blog Abroad Scholarships

In addition to information regarding these scholarships, this page also includes:

AMIDEAST is strongly committed to providing students of Arabic with the highest quality programs that are challenging, rigorous, and consistent. AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World has designed its own Arabic Language and Culture Curriculum, based on the most up-to-date approaches to language teaching. This approach to Arabic language instruction is:

• Functional
• Communicative
• Proficiency-based
• Culturally rich

To implement its Arabic Language and Culture Curriculum, AMIDEAST has created a system that focuses on:

• Selection of the best possible teachers
• Development of clear guidelines for each course at each level in the curriculum
• Creation of new materials (where necessary) to effectively integrate the cultural component into the Spoken Arabic courses at each program site
• Observation and feedback to the teachers on an ongoing basis throughout the semester by AMIDEAST’s Arabic Studies Consultant
• Continuous needs assessment and in-service training for the teachers to assist them in delivering AMIDEAST’s Arabic Language and Culture Curriculum

Each AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program includes the following Arabic courses in its curriculum:

Arabic 101 – Modern Standard Arabic I
Arabic 102 – Modern Standard Arabic II
Arabic 201 – Modern Standard Arabic III
Arabic 202 – Modern Standard Arabic IV
Arabic 301 – Modern Standard Arabic V
Arabic 302 – Modern Standard Arabic VI
Arabic 401 – Studies in Arabic Language and Culture

Arabic 1X1 – Spoken Arabic I
Arabic 2X1 – Spoken Arabic II
Arabic 3X1 – Spoken Arabic III

AMIDEAST’s Education Abroad Programs benefit from the advice and quality assurance of an Academic Consortium, a group of 20 higher education institutions that comprise a cross-section of U.S. higher education. Each member institution is represented by an education abroad professional and two faculty members — one of whom teaches Arabic and one of whom teaches in Middle East and North African Studies. 

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.

AMIDEAST'S Roots

Academic Consortium

Building on AMIDEAST’s mission, AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World help develop mutual understanding through programs for Americans to study the Middle East and North Africa and interact with the peoples and cultures of the region, especially local university faculty members and students.  At the same time, AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs strive to develop students’ intercultural and global competence and provide students with living and learning environments that are academically free and stimulating, intellectually rigorous and challenging, interculturally open and accepting, and physically safe.

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 are that all programs are