Middle Eastern Studies | College of Liberal Arts
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In June 2024, we are partnering with Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO) for an educational tour of Jordan! 

For the past several years, MES outreach has organized short-term educational programs for K-12 educators to travel to the Middle East.  In addition to visiting sites under the guidance of an experienced, credentialed guide, groups are accompanied by an academic escort from the University of Texas who helps participants process the experience for their classrooms. 

Educators have the opportunity to apply for grants after the trip to develop standards-aligned digital resources based on their learnings. 

For more information, contact CMES Outreach.

Previous destinations have included:

  • 2023: Qatar
  • 2022: Moorish Spain
  • 2019: Oman & Qatar
  • 2018: Morocco
  • 2016: Moorish Spain
  • 2013: Heart of the Silk Route
  • 2012: Morocco
  • 2011: Egypt (cancelled)
  • 2010: Egypt
  • 2009: Turkey

Other programs:

Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO)
Global Exploration for Educators Organization (GEEO) is a non-profit organization that helps and encourages educators to travel abroad. GEEO hopes to make America more outward-looking by helping teachers travel and then giving them an effective way to share these experiences in their classrooms. We have worked with GEEO on the spring break in Peru and Uzbekistan programs in 2013, and are planning additional future collaborations with them.

National Geographic Student Expeditions
Designed for high school students, these active, hands-on expeditions combine education and adventure with "on assignment" projects that allow students to focus on a particular area of interest—photography, writing, culture, or conservation. With dynamic group leaders and a visiting National Geographic expert, students will spend three weeks exploring fascinating places like Costa Rica, Peru, Tanzania, China, India, Belize, or Spain. 

Studies Abroad for Global Education
SAGE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to changing lives through educational travel.  We work directly with teachers to design an experience abroad that matches the curriculum and interests of your class.  Further your study of apartheid in the classroom by working with a South African nonprofit dedicated to promoting peace through live music.  Work with indigenous populations in Guatemala; volunteer at a fair trade cooperative in the Dominican Republic; or study globalization by visiting a call center in India. SAGE's extensive network of contacts and resources in each location allows us to offer custom-designed itineraries and cultural immersion experiences that meet the unique needs of each individual group.

Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program
The Teaching Excellence and Achievement Program (TEA), a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State, provides secondary-school teachers from Europe, Eurasia, South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Western Hemisphere with unique opportunities to develop expertise in their subject areas, enhance their teaching skills, and increase their knowledge about the United States. U.S. secondary teachers have the opportunity to take part in a two- week reciprocal visit to a participating TEA country where they will be hosted by a TEA fellow.  The US teachers’ program overseas combines opportunities to work with their foreign peers and learn about the host culture – lessons that they can use to promote mutual understanding in their US classroom.  Applications are usually due in late October for the following spring and summer.