U.S. Department of Education recognizes GW as a National Resource Center on the Middle East.
Less than two years after it received a $1 million gift from the State of Kuwait, GW’s Institute for Middle East Studies has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education with a $1 million grant.
The grant, which will be spread out over four years and supports the institute’s research and teaching, comes with the designation of the institute as a National Resource Center. According to the department’s website, other resource centers recognized for their work on the Middle East include Columbia University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, New York University, University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University and Yale University.
“This grant is a testament to the strength of the GW Institute for Middle East Studies,” says GW President Steven Knapp. “The funding will expand the Institute’s impact by extending its outreach to include teachers, journalists and veterans.”
The designation of GW’s Institute for Middle East Studies as a National Resource Center is a testament to its outstanding programs on this vital region,” says GW President Steven Knapp.
The grant will help the institute expand its research and publications and benefit students, professors, policymakers, faculty, journalists and veterans.
According to Marc Lynch, director of the institute and associate professor of political science and international affairs, the grant will allow GW to develop its programs in Arabic, Persian and Turkish and to increase the funding of the Middle East and North Africa Resource Center, housed at Gelman Library.
The new funding will also bolster the newly-launched Project on Middle East Political Science, Dr. Lynch says, and will help GW launch an outreach initiative for Iraq War veterans and training programs for journalists and primary and secondary school teachers.
“In the three years since its launch in 2007, the Institute for Middle East Studies has already become one of the premier research centers in the world focused on the modern Middle East,” says Michael E. Brown, dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs, which houses the institute.
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