Overview

The mission of the Middle East Studies Center is to serve our students, city, and world through the creation of a diverse, inclusive community and the promotion and sharing of scholarship on the Middle East, North Africa, and Southwest Asia. The Center's core responsibilities are academic: to help sponsor conferences, speakers, training programs, and other relevant events and activities related to Middle East studies. The Center further seeks to guide and train students who plan to make a career in this field. To support these initiatives, the Center will work, as necessary, with academic and administrative units across campus, and devise strategic plans, both for strengthening and developing Middle East studies at Portland State and for building academic and administrative ties to the Middle East itself. As an outgrowth of these core responsibilities, MESC will also conduct outreach activities with local, national, and international educational and community organizations.