2013-14 Tuition and Fees*:

AMIDEAST - Education Abroad in Jordan

The program is managed by AMIDEAST/Jordan in conjunction with AMIDEAST headquarters in Washington, D.C. AMIDEAST works collaboratively with the Qasid Institute to oversee the academic curriculum and implementation of the program. It also manages all logistical elements of the program, including the on-site orientation, host family placement and supervision, arrangements for optional travel excursions, and the planning of special events and extra-curricular activities. Finally, AMIDEAST provides comprehensive support to both participants and administrators in the event of any problems or unusual circumstances.

Orientation

Upon arrival in Amman, AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program students participate in an in-depth, week-long orientation designed to introduce them to Jordanian culture and daily life and familiarize them with program logistics. Students stay in a hotel in Amman during orientation, and move to their accommodation for the semester at the end of the first week. The orientation combines structured informational sessions with organized activities and free time to familiarize participants with Amman. Topics such as safety and health, Jordanian family life, cultural adaptation, program regulations, participant responsibilities and other essential information are all discussed during orientation. During the on-site orientation students also meet their professors, take language placement tests, and become familiar with the program’s IT environment.

The Qasid Institute for Classical and Modern Standard Arabic is the partner for AMIDEAST’s Education Abroad Program in Amman.

The Qasid Institute has developed a reputation as one of the leading programs in the Middle East for Arabic language learning. Its comprehensive curriculum begins with the proper pronunciation of Arabic letters and continues through to a high degree of proficiency.

The word qasid is used to describe a path that is direct and smooth. This is the way the Qasid Institute believes the Arabic language should be taught. The term qasid is also used to describe an individual who strives forward with a direct, specific intention, and clearly defines the kind of student that Qasid attracts to its programs.

Dr. Salam Khalid Al-Mahadin (Academic Coordinator and Professor of Contemporary Jordanian Culture)
Dr. Salam Khalid Al-Mahadin is Associate Professor of English at the American University of Madaba.  She earned her MSc in Translation and Interpreting and her PhD in Text-Linguistics and Discourse Analysis from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland.   Dr. Al-Mahadin has over 14 years of teaching experience in cultural studies. Her research interests have focused on various aspects of politics of national identity, media studies, women's issues in Jordan and the Arab world and children's literature. She has translated several works into English and Arabic.

Peoples and Cultures of the Middle East (Anthropology 301, 3 credits)

This interdisciplinary course presents a general introduction to the contemporary Middle East, a region that has come to carry diverse and multiple meanings to Westerners.  It will highlight the multiple and the complex cultural and socio-political life in the Contemporary Middle East, challenging some of the assumptions and stereotypes about the history, cultures, religions and politics associated with this particular region.  It will introduce the various Middle Eastern groups as they vary in language, religion, subsistence economy and other cultural variables.  The genealogical relationships between dialects, sects, and modes of subsistence w

Arabic Courses on AMIDEAST Programs

Arabic is a diglossic language. That is, there are two varieties of Arabic, one for reading and writing and another for speaking. The textbook series used in Arabic courses in all AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World, Al Kitaab fii Taallum al Arabiyya, introduces both from the beginning to help students engage easily in their host country and learn the language as its native speakers learn it. However, in the AMIDEAST programs separate courses address two the different varieties of Arabic – Modern Standard Arabic and the local dialect.