Old About MESPI

MESPI is a curated interactive platform for Middle East Studies resources, specifically tailored for the needs of teachers, researchers, and students. It is a one-stop-shop for course design on the macro level, lesson planning on the micro level, and for scholarship vis-a-vis specific topics, countries, and disciplines. The MESPI project strives to reorient the way educators and students research, learn, and teach the Middle East.

In Cooperation with The Middle East Studies Program at George Mason University (GMU), The Center For Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, The Asfari Institute For Civil Society And Citizenship at the American University in Beirut, the Center for Global Islamic Studies at GMU, we are launching he Middle East Studies Pedagogy Initiative (MESPI) to provide critical, user-friendly, and informative pedagogical material and instruction to educators in the field and beyond. MESPI will build on at least four counts: a) create and grow a community/network of educators; b) make available to them and to researchers, journalists, and students a wide array of resources; c) provide in good time a robust syllabus-building tool; and, finally, and most critically, d) MESPI will build partnerships with research centers, organizations, and projects that will constitute its evolving decision-making body.

MESPI’s community based projects include the following modules and databases in complete form and in progress:

Syllabus Building Tool                                                  Essential Readings Module
Syllabus Library                                                             New Books Module
Teaching the Survey/Intro Course Module              Essential Texts Module

Films in the Classroom                                                 Archives Module
Novels in the Classroom                                              Maps/Documents Module

Language Program Database                                      Wiki-Like Input Interface
Degree Programs Database                                        Community Discussion List

Peer-Reviewed Articles Review                                  Secondary Education Unit
Book Reviews Database                                               Textbook Corrections Project

Modules on Essential Topics and Themes
Modules on Teaching Methods

For further information about MESPI and MESPI partnerships, please email us at info@mespi.org

  MESPI Team

Bassam Haddad, Co-Director
Ziad Abu-Rish, Co-Director
Nadya Sbaiti, NEWTON Editor
Rosie Bsheer, MESPI Editor
Sherene Seikaly, MESPI Editor
Rochelle Davis, MESPI Editor
Huseyin Yilmaz, MESPI Editor
Mekarem Eljamal, MESPI Associate Editor
Jacob Bessen, Essential Readings Editor
Shakeela Omar, Peer-Review Articles Review (PRAR) Editor
Claire Christensen, PRAR Co-Coordinator
Maddie Vagadori, MESPI Website Editor
Jonathan Adler, Engaging Texts and Essential Readings Editor
Willa Hart, PRAR Co-Coordinator
Kylie Broderick, ASI Liaison