UME academics

The University of the Middle East Project is a not-for-profit academic organization registered as the Center for Higher Education in the Middle East, Inc. The long-term vision of UME is to establish a network of interconnected learning centers throughout the Middle East and North Africa.

Currently, academic programs at UME are short-term, intensive, graduate-level courses held in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East and North Africa. All academic programs are designed to be interdisciplinary, intellectually rigorous, and inclusive.

UME does not offer degree programs, although it may do so in the future. Participants in UME programs receive a Certificate of Participation.

UME's curriculum begins with its flagship introductory program, the Teacher Education Institute (TEI), which has convened more than 200 secondary school teachers since 1999 and affects the lives of thousands of new students annually. The TEI's unique interactive method shares the best of teaching theory and practices with Middle Eastern and North African educators, offering them training in skills to incorporate critical and creative thinking, constructive dialogue, and cross-cultural perspectives into their lesson plans.

Follow-on Programs: UME regularly implements follow-on programs for alumni of the Teacher Education Institute. These programs are developed in order to respond to educational and civic needs in the region as identified by our alumni. Building on the firm practical and theoretical groundwork laid by the TEI, sessions like the Civic Engagement Workshop (CEW) and Seminars on Identity and Education (IDEA) offer participating teachers a chance to explore critical topics in more depth through seminar-style discussion and hands-on practicum.

Currently offered programs include:

• Teacher Education Institute (TEI) – Convenes 25-30 teachers in Boston, MA for four weeks of interdisciplinary, graduate-level training in education. The TEI has been implemented every July since 1999.
• Civic Education Workshop (CEW) – Gathers TEI alumni and American guests within a single country to develop curricula for civic education and after-school programs. The first CEW took place in Rabat, Morocco in 2006. UME is currently seeking funding to implement additional CEWs across the Middle East and North Africa.
• Seminar on Identity and Education Across the Mediterranean (IDEAmed) – The IDEAmed Seminar was held in 2006 in Sevilla, Spain, and included TEI Alumni from several Middle Eastern and North African countries, as well as European educators. Seminar participants explored how issues such as class, religion, gender, and ethnic or cultural narratives can affect classrooms across the Mediterranean.
• Collaborate Art Initiative (CAI)– Brings together teachers, youth leaders, and young people from three continents in the spirit of artistic expression to create sacred public spaces and collaborative art where mindful interaction, open dialogue, and collaboration become possible and tangible.
• Train the Trainer Workshop (TTW) - Strengthens regional alumni associations while seeking to refine participants’ understanding and practice of pedagogical strategies to design, improve, deliver and assess a workshop on a topic of their choice to promote collaboration and social justice in their schools and communities.

For current events, please refer to our blog at http://umep.wordpress.com.

Since its inception, UME has implemented fifteen advanced-level institutes in Boston, USA; Casablanca and Rabat, Morocco; and Sevilla and Toledo, Spain. The UME institutes have focused on teacher education, sustainable development, children's health, governance and public policy. UME has also hosted two alumni reunions, in Rabat in 2000 and in Toledo in 2004. More information about past programs is available here.

All UME programs planned for the near future will be institutes and workshops related to the Teacher Education Institute described above.

Students

UME program admissions are highly selective. Approximately nine percent of applicants to UME programs are accepted. Admissions are need-blind and based principally on merit. The selection process is a multi-step process which involves written applications, essays, and interviews. UME makes every effort to represent all countries of the MENA region without prejudice to race, ethnicity or religion. Need-based financial scholarships are available to all successful candidates.

Faculty

Our faculty team is made up of academics and professionals from a wide variety of disciplines. UME regularly welcomes new faculty members to its network, and the teaching team for each program is assembled according to the requirements and goals of the program in question. UME maintains especially close but unofficial relationships with Harvard University, Boston College, and Roger Williams University.