Giving
It is clear that our mission to promote informed understanding of the Middle East is more critical than ever. We need your help. Please consider supporting our rigorous academic programs, our necessary educational outreach, and our significant community engagement. We welcome your financial contributions, opportunities for students, and participation in our events.
With your help, our department will continue to carry out its mission of training students who have specialized knowledge and broad understanding of the Middle East. Your gift will help us produce leaders and critical thinkers who make a difference in the world.
How to Make a Gift
You can submit your gift online through our secure online web form or we welcome the opportunity to meet with you and seek your guidance in assisting the department or center. If you would like to send in your gift, please mail your gift to:
Middle Eastern Studies
The University of Texas at Austin
204 W 21st St. F9400
Austin, TX 78712
Your check should be payable to The University of Texas at Austin with "MES" in the memo section of the check.
Donations of $100 or more will be recognized in the Center newsletter. Named sponsorships begin as low as $1,000. Please contact Gregory Levine for more information.
Areas of Need
We are very proud of our undergraduate and graduate students working in Middle East studies. Their expertise will contribute to future leadership and engagement. However, funding cuts have reduced our level of student support as well as our ability to support student research and professional development. Your support can help fund a student's advanced study of Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, or Turkish; to study abroad in the region; to conduct research on critical subjects; or to present original research at academic conferences.
Translations are expensive, as is layout and design of new texts. Financial support will help continue our work in bringing voices from the region into the US through translations and publications, as well as supporting language instruction through creating relevant and effective textbooks.
Our extensive public engagement program supports the development of K-12 curriculum materials and educator development in area studies across the curriculum. We also work with Minority Serving Institutions and two year college to seed language programs and help faculty content courses on the region, utilizing local talent as well as MES graduate students at the ABD level and MES faculty. Our students are also heavily involved in working with Arabic and Persian speaking refugee students placed in Austin schools. Financial support will help provide resources for our partner institutions, professional opportunities for our top level graduate students, and to support our students who volunteer their free time to fulfil a pressing social need.
While our Middle East Studies and Hebraica/Jucaica collections at the University of Texas at Austin offer a strong, comprehensive archive of publicly accessible resources in English and Middle Eastern languages, library funding has shrunk over 60% in the last few years. Our library's film and media collection is among the most extensive in the southwestern United States, but funding cuts impact our ability to keep our collection current. And supporting the push toward digital resources will help make rare resources available online to researchers worldwide.
