w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / m e s p
Walking through Cairo, one WILL encounter people of all varieties...
MESP
a program of the
. . . and a myriad of shops and stands displaying the elaborate handiwork of Egyptian artisans. Streets are filled with buses, taxis, donkey-drawn carts camels, and brand-new Mercedes. Calls to prayer, high-pitched Egyptian exchanges, and music fill the air while the smells of vehicles, animals, food stands, bakeries and incense greet the senses. Strangers to BestSemester 321 8th St. NE Washington DC 20002
Cairo will find Egyptians ready to help, reflecting the hospitality of their country. Located at the head of the Nile River Delta, Cairo is one of the world’s largest cities with a population of nearly 20 million people. Program participants live in furnished apartments close to the MESP center in an area called Agouza, just minutes from downtown Cairo and within easy walking distance of local shopping centers and cultural sites.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/overview/
Based in Cairo, Egypt, this program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / MES P
Middle East Studies Program
Still want to know more?
CAIRO
T H E
Recommended
Credits Introduction to Arabic Language Islamic Thought and Practice Conflict & Change in the Middle East Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits
Total Credits 16 CREDITS The program recommends that students be granted the equivalent of 16 hours of credits by their home institution.
H O M ES T A Y S
the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an
As part of the culture component of the program, students will have a week long homestay. Most students are placed with a Muslim family. Each family has a contact person of the same gender as the student and an English speaker. This allows a student to communicate their needs, ideas and feelings. The homestay is a positive and necessary experience, in order for MESP students to appreciate the genuine nature of life in Egypt.
informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
Service Opportunities
East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ academics/
Students participate in service projects every Tuesday, except when traveling. Opportunities include working with orphan babies, Sudanese refugees, disadvantaged children of Garbage City and the elderly. *Service projects may be subject to change.
C u l t u r e a n d L a n g u a g e E x ch a n g e The Culture and Language Exchange program is designed to build person to person relationships between MESP students and their Muslim and Christian Egyptian friends. Individuals meet early in the semester, exchange email and phone numbers, and meet occasionally for informal discussion about topics of interest. Through the CLE program, MESP hopes to encourage relationships between young people that lead to meaningful and candid discussions.
T r av e l MESP students have traveled throughout the Middle East and have visited: Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, as well as various Egyptian sites outside of Cairo. However, please note that all travel is subject to change based upon safety considerations.
TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST... ... and have tea in the desert with Bedouins. Bargain in Cairo’s market, Khan al Khalili souk, to test out your most recent Arabic lesson. Listen to the concerns of Israeli and Palestinian youth and be transformed by an entire culture infused with a spirit of hospitality to strangers. Experience life lessons in ways that mere book learning can never replicate. You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly OR you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel and Old Cairo. The Middle East Studies Program awaits you.
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural educational experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. MESP includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Egyptian students, guest speakers and service project personnel. Students will experience Egyptian life, language and hospitality. A range of activities is designed to meet the spiritual needs of students during the semester, including morning devotionals led by staff and students. While church is encouraged and the options are available, weekend and other travel components make student initiated fellowship and devotionals a primary means of worship. Students are asked to take ownership of devotional time, whether sharing a lesson, a song, a word of encouragement or other forms of expression.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ student_life/
Naturally, after an intense experience engaging the culture, language and
people of the Middle East, many MESP alum seek ways to bridge the worlds of faith and vocation by returning to the region. You may find alum working with NGOs, Development Organizations and the US State Department. Others pursue further language or academic study as graduate students, Fulbright scholars, business entrepreneurs, teaching as primary and secondary educators and ESL instructors. Some have taken their interest in refugees to the home front, where they have assisted local US authorities in the process of serving newly arrived, Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. Whatever careers they end up with over the long term, MESP alum no doubt carry an important legacy of their experience, education, and relationships to any future endeavor, domestic or international.
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / m e s p
Walking through Cairo, one WILL encounter people of all varieties...
MESP
a program of the
. . . and a myriad of shops and stands displaying the elaborate handiwork of Egyptian artisans. Streets are filled with buses, taxis, donkey-drawn carts camels, and brand-new Mercedes. Calls to prayer, high-pitched Egyptian exchanges, and music fill the air while the smells of vehicles, animals, food stands, bakeries and incense greet the senses. Strangers to BestSemester 321 8th St. NE Washington DC 20002
Cairo will find Egyptians ready to help, reflecting the hospitality of their country. Located at the head of the Nile River Delta, Cairo is one of the world’s largest cities with a population of nearly 20 million people. Program participants live in furnished apartments close to the MESP center in an area called Agouza, just minutes from downtown Cairo and within easy walking distance of local shopping centers and cultural sites.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/overview/
Based in Cairo, Egypt, this program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / MES P
Middle East Studies Program
Still want to know more?
CAIRO
T H E
Recommended
Credits Introduction to Arabic Language Islamic Thought and Practice Conflict & Change in the Middle East Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits
Total Credits 16 CREDITS The program recommends that students be granted the equivalent of 16 hours of credits by their home institution.
H O M ES T A Y S
the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an
As part of the culture component of the program, students will have a week long homestay. Most students are placed with a Muslim family. Each family has a contact person of the same gender as the student and an English speaker. This allows a student to communicate their needs, ideas and feelings. The homestay is a positive and necessary experience, in order for MESP students to appreciate the genuine nature of life in Egypt.
informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
Service Opportunities
East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ academics/
Students participate in service projects every Tuesday, except when traveling. Opportunities include working with orphan babies, Sudanese refugees, disadvantaged children of Garbage City and the elderly. *Service projects may be subject to change.
C u l t u r e a n d L a n g u a g e E x ch a n g e The Culture and Language Exchange program is designed to build person to person relationships between MESP students and their Muslim and Christian Egyptian friends. Individuals meet early in the semester, exchange email and phone numbers, and meet occasionally for informal discussion about topics of interest. Through the CLE program, MESP hopes to encourage relationships between young people that lead to meaningful and candid discussions.
T r av e l MESP students have traveled throughout the Middle East and have visited: Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, as well as various Egyptian sites outside of Cairo. However, please note that all travel is subject to change based upon safety considerations.
TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST... ... and have tea in the desert with Bedouins. Bargain in Cairo’s market, Khan al Khalili souk, to test out your most recent Arabic lesson. Listen to the concerns of Israeli and Palestinian youth and be transformed by an entire culture infused with a spirit of hospitality to strangers. Experience life lessons in ways that mere book learning can never replicate. You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly OR you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel and Old Cairo. The Middle East Studies Program awaits you.
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural educational experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. MESP includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Egyptian students, guest speakers and service project personnel. Students will experience Egyptian life, language and hospitality. A range of activities is designed to meet the spiritual needs of students during the semester, including morning devotionals led by staff and students. While church is encouraged and the options are available, weekend and other travel components make student initiated fellowship and devotionals a primary means of worship. Students are asked to take ownership of devotional time, whether sharing a lesson, a song, a word of encouragement or other forms of expression.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ student_life/
Naturally, after an intense experience engaging the culture, language and
people of the Middle East, many MESP alum seek ways to bridge the worlds of faith and vocation by returning to the region. You may find alum working with NGOs, Development Organizations and the US State Department. Others pursue further language or academic study as graduate students, Fulbright scholars, business entrepreneurs, teaching as primary and secondary educators and ESL instructors. Some have taken their interest in refugees to the home front, where they have assisted local US authorities in the process of serving newly arrived, Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. Whatever careers they end up with over the long term, MESP alum no doubt carry an important legacy of their experience, education, and relationships to any future endeavor, domestic or international.
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / m e s p
Walking through Cairo, one WILL encounter people of all varieties...
MESP
a program of the
. . . and a myriad of shops and stands displaying the elaborate handiwork of Egyptian artisans. Streets are filled with buses, taxis, donkey-drawn carts camels, and brand-new Mercedes. Calls to prayer, high-pitched Egyptian exchanges, and music fill the air while the smells of vehicles, animals, food stands, bakeries and incense greet the senses. Strangers to BestSemester 321 8th St. NE Washington DC 20002
Cairo will find Egyptians ready to help, reflecting the hospitality of their country. Located at the head of the Nile River Delta, Cairo is one of the world’s largest cities with a population of nearly 20 million people. Program participants live in furnished apartments close to the MESP center in an area called Agouza, just minutes from downtown Cairo and within easy walking distance of local shopping centers and cultural sites.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/overview/
Based in Cairo, Egypt, this program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / MES P
Middle East Studies Program
Still want to know more?
CAIRO
T H E
Recommended
Credits Introduction to Arabic Language Islamic Thought and Practice Conflict & Change in the Middle East Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits
Total Credits 16 CREDITS The program recommends that students be granted the equivalent of 16 hours of credits by their home institution.
H O M ES T A Y S
the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an
As part of the culture component of the program, students will have a week long homestay. Most students are placed with a Muslim family. Each family has a contact person of the same gender as the student and an English speaker. This allows a student to communicate their needs, ideas and feelings. The homestay is a positive and necessary experience, in order for MESP students to appreciate the genuine nature of life in Egypt.
informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
Service Opportunities
East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ academics/
Students participate in service projects every Tuesday, except when traveling. Opportunities include working with orphan babies, Sudanese refugees, disadvantaged children of Garbage City and the elderly. *Service projects may be subject to change.
C u l t u r e a n d L a n g u a g e E x ch a n g e The Culture and Language Exchange program is designed to build person to person relationships between MESP students and their Muslim and Christian Egyptian friends. Individuals meet early in the semester, exchange email and phone numbers, and meet occasionally for informal discussion about topics of interest. Through the CLE program, MESP hopes to encourage relationships between young people that lead to meaningful and candid discussions.
T r av e l MESP students have traveled throughout the Middle East and have visited: Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, as well as various Egyptian sites outside of Cairo. However, please note that all travel is subject to change based upon safety considerations.
TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST... ... and have tea in the desert with Bedouins. Bargain in Cairo’s market, Khan al Khalili souk, to test out your most recent Arabic lesson. Listen to the concerns of Israeli and Palestinian youth and be transformed by an entire culture infused with a spirit of hospitality to strangers. Experience life lessons in ways that mere book learning can never replicate. You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly OR you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel and Old Cairo. The Middle East Studies Program awaits you.
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural educational experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. MESP includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Egyptian students, guest speakers and service project personnel. Students will experience Egyptian life, language and hospitality. A range of activities is designed to meet the spiritual needs of students during the semester, including morning devotionals led by staff and students. While church is encouraged and the options are available, weekend and other travel components make student initiated fellowship and devotionals a primary means of worship. Students are asked to take ownership of devotional time, whether sharing a lesson, a song, a word of encouragement or other forms of expression.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ student_life/
Naturally, after an intense experience engaging the culture, language and
people of the Middle East, many MESP alum seek ways to bridge the worlds of faith and vocation by returning to the region. You may find alum working with NGOs, Development Organizations and the US State Department. Others pursue further language or academic study as graduate students, Fulbright scholars, business entrepreneurs, teaching as primary and secondary educators and ESL instructors. Some have taken their interest in refugees to the home front, where they have assisted local US authorities in the process of serving newly arrived, Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. Whatever careers they end up with over the long term, MESP alum no doubt carry an important legacy of their experience, education, and relationships to any future endeavor, domestic or international.
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / m e s p
Walking through Cairo, one WILL encounter people of all varieties...
MESP
a program of the
. . . and a myriad of shops and stands displaying the elaborate handiwork of Egyptian artisans. Streets are filled with buses, taxis, donkey-drawn carts camels, and brand-new Mercedes. Calls to prayer, high-pitched Egyptian exchanges, and music fill the air while the smells of vehicles, animals, food stands, bakeries and incense greet the senses. Strangers to BestSemester 321 8th St. NE Washington DC 20002
Cairo will find Egyptians ready to help, reflecting the hospitality of their country. Located at the head of the Nile River Delta, Cairo is one of the world’s largest cities with a population of nearly 20 million people. Program participants live in furnished apartments close to the MESP center in an area called Agouza, just minutes from downtown Cairo and within easy walking distance of local shopping centers and cultural sites.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/overview/
Based in Cairo, Egypt, this program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / MES P
Middle East Studies Program
Still want to know more?
CAIRO
T H E
Recommended
Credits Introduction to Arabic Language Islamic Thought and Practice Conflict & Change in the Middle East Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits
Total Credits 16 CREDITS The program recommends that students be granted the equivalent of 16 hours of credits by their home institution.
H O M ES T A Y S
the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an
As part of the culture component of the program, students will have a week long homestay. Most students are placed with a Muslim family. Each family has a contact person of the same gender as the student and an English speaker. This allows a student to communicate their needs, ideas and feelings. The homestay is a positive and necessary experience, in order for MESP students to appreciate the genuine nature of life in Egypt.
informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
Service Opportunities
East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ academics/
Students participate in service projects every Tuesday, except when traveling. Opportunities include working with orphan babies, Sudanese refugees, disadvantaged children of Garbage City and the elderly. *Service projects may be subject to change.
C u l t u r e a n d L a n g u a g e E x ch a n g e The Culture and Language Exchange program is designed to build person to person relationships between MESP students and their Muslim and Christian Egyptian friends. Individuals meet early in the semester, exchange email and phone numbers, and meet occasionally for informal discussion about topics of interest. Through the CLE program, MESP hopes to encourage relationships between young people that lead to meaningful and candid discussions.
T r av e l MESP students have traveled throughout the Middle East and have visited: Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, as well as various Egyptian sites outside of Cairo. However, please note that all travel is subject to change based upon safety considerations.
TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST... ... and have tea in the desert with Bedouins. Bargain in Cairo’s market, Khan al Khalili souk, to test out your most recent Arabic lesson. Listen to the concerns of Israeli and Palestinian youth and be transformed by an entire culture infused with a spirit of hospitality to strangers. Experience life lessons in ways that mere book learning can never replicate. You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly OR you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel and Old Cairo. The Middle East Studies Program awaits you.
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural educational experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. MESP includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Egyptian students, guest speakers and service project personnel. Students will experience Egyptian life, language and hospitality. A range of activities is designed to meet the spiritual needs of students during the semester, including morning devotionals led by staff and students. While church is encouraged and the options are available, weekend and other travel components make student initiated fellowship and devotionals a primary means of worship. Students are asked to take ownership of devotional time, whether sharing a lesson, a song, a word of encouragement or other forms of expression.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ student_life/
Naturally, after an intense experience engaging the culture, language and
people of the Middle East, many MESP alum seek ways to bridge the worlds of faith and vocation by returning to the region. You may find alum working with NGOs, Development Organizations and the US State Department. Others pursue further language or academic study as graduate students, Fulbright scholars, business entrepreneurs, teaching as primary and secondary educators and ESL instructors. Some have taken their interest in refugees to the home front, where they have assisted local US authorities in the process of serving newly arrived, Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. Whatever careers they end up with over the long term, MESP alum no doubt carry an important legacy of their experience, education, and relationships to any future endeavor, domestic or international.
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / m e s p
Walking through Cairo, one WILL encounter people of all varieties...
MESP
a program of the
. . . and a myriad of shops and stands displaying the elaborate handiwork of Egyptian artisans. Streets are filled with buses, taxis, donkey-drawn carts camels, and brand-new Mercedes. Calls to prayer, high-pitched Egyptian exchanges, and music fill the air while the smells of vehicles, animals, food stands, bakeries and incense greet the senses. Strangers to BestSemester 321 8th St. NE Washington DC 20002
Cairo will find Egyptians ready to help, reflecting the hospitality of their country. Located at the head of the Nile River Delta, Cairo is one of the world’s largest cities with a population of nearly 20 million people. Program participants live in furnished apartments close to the MESP center in an area called Agouza, just minutes from downtown Cairo and within easy walking distance of local shopping centers and cultural sites.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/overview/
Based in Cairo, Egypt, this program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / MES P
Middle East Studies Program
Still want to know more?
CAIRO
T H E
Recommended
Credits Introduction to Arabic Language Islamic Thought and Practice Conflict & Change in the Middle East Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits
Total Credits 16 CREDITS The program recommends that students be granted the equivalent of 16 hours of credits by their home institution.
H O M ES T A Y S
the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an
As part of the culture component of the program, students will have a week long homestay. Most students are placed with a Muslim family. Each family has a contact person of the same gender as the student and an English speaker. This allows a student to communicate their needs, ideas and feelings. The homestay is a positive and necessary experience, in order for MESP students to appreciate the genuine nature of life in Egypt.
informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
Service Opportunities
East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ academics/
Students participate in service projects every Tuesday, except when traveling. Opportunities include working with orphan babies, Sudanese refugees, disadvantaged children of Garbage City and the elderly. *Service projects may be subject to change.
C u l t u r e a n d L a n g u a g e E x ch a n g e The Culture and Language Exchange program is designed to build person to person relationships between MESP students and their Muslim and Christian Egyptian friends. Individuals meet early in the semester, exchange email and phone numbers, and meet occasionally for informal discussion about topics of interest. Through the CLE program, MESP hopes to encourage relationships between young people that lead to meaningful and candid discussions.
T r av e l MESP students have traveled throughout the Middle East and have visited: Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, as well as various Egyptian sites outside of Cairo. However, please note that all travel is subject to change based upon safety considerations.
TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST... ... and have tea in the desert with Bedouins. Bargain in Cairo’s market, Khan al Khalili souk, to test out your most recent Arabic lesson. Listen to the concerns of Israeli and Palestinian youth and be transformed by an entire culture infused with a spirit of hospitality to strangers. Experience life lessons in ways that mere book learning can never replicate. You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly OR you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel and Old Cairo. The Middle East Studies Program awaits you.
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural educational experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. MESP includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Egyptian students, guest speakers and service project personnel. Students will experience Egyptian life, language and hospitality. A range of activities is designed to meet the spiritual needs of students during the semester, including morning devotionals led by staff and students. While church is encouraged and the options are available, weekend and other travel components make student initiated fellowship and devotionals a primary means of worship. Students are asked to take ownership of devotional time, whether sharing a lesson, a song, a word of encouragement or other forms of expression.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ student_life/
Naturally, after an intense experience engaging the culture, language and
people of the Middle East, many MESP alum seek ways to bridge the worlds of faith and vocation by returning to the region. You may find alum working with NGOs, Development Organizations and the US State Department. Others pursue further language or academic study as graduate students, Fulbright scholars, business entrepreneurs, teaching as primary and secondary educators and ESL instructors. Some have taken their interest in refugees to the home front, where they have assisted local US authorities in the process of serving newly arrived, Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. Whatever careers they end up with over the long term, MESP alum no doubt carry an important legacy of their experience, education, and relationships to any future endeavor, domestic or international.
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / m e s p
Walking through Cairo, one WILL encounter people of all varieties...
MESP
a program of the
. . . and a myriad of shops and stands displaying the elaborate handiwork of Egyptian artisans. Streets are filled with buses, taxis, donkey-drawn carts camels, and brand-new Mercedes. Calls to prayer, high-pitched Egyptian exchanges, and music fill the air while the smells of vehicles, animals, food stands, bakeries and incense greet the senses. Strangers to BestSemester 321 8th St. NE Washington DC 20002
Cairo will find Egyptians ready to help, reflecting the hospitality of their country. Located at the head of the Nile River Delta, Cairo is one of the world’s largest cities with a population of nearly 20 million people. Program participants live in furnished apartments close to the MESP center in an area called Agouza, just minutes from downtown Cairo and within easy walking distance of local shopping centers and cultural sites.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/overview/
Based in Cairo, Egypt, this program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / MES P
Middle East Studies Program
Still want to know more?
CAIRO
T H E
Recommended
Credits Introduction to Arabic Language Islamic Thought and Practice Conflict & Change in the Middle East Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits
Total Credits 16 CREDITS The program recommends that students be granted the equivalent of 16 hours of credits by their home institution.
H O M ES T A Y S
the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an
As part of the culture component of the program, students will have a week long homestay. Most students are placed with a Muslim family. Each family has a contact person of the same gender as the student and an English speaker. This allows a student to communicate their needs, ideas and feelings. The homestay is a positive and necessary experience, in order for MESP students to appreciate the genuine nature of life in Egypt.
informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
Service Opportunities
East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ academics/
Students participate in service projects every Tuesday, except when traveling. Opportunities include working with orphan babies, Sudanese refugees, disadvantaged children of Garbage City and the elderly. *Service projects may be subject to change.
C u l t u r e a n d L a n g u a g e E x ch a n g e The Culture and Language Exchange program is designed to build person to person relationships between MESP students and their Muslim and Christian Egyptian friends. Individuals meet early in the semester, exchange email and phone numbers, and meet occasionally for informal discussion about topics of interest. Through the CLE program, MESP hopes to encourage relationships between young people that lead to meaningful and candid discussions.
T r av e l MESP students have traveled throughout the Middle East and have visited: Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, as well as various Egyptian sites outside of Cairo. However, please note that all travel is subject to change based upon safety considerations.
TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST... ... and have tea in the desert with Bedouins. Bargain in Cairo’s market, Khan al Khalili souk, to test out your most recent Arabic lesson. Listen to the concerns of Israeli and Palestinian youth and be transformed by an entire culture infused with a spirit of hospitality to strangers. Experience life lessons in ways that mere book learning can never replicate. You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly OR you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel and Old Cairo. The Middle East Studies Program awaits you.
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural educational experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. MESP includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Egyptian students, guest speakers and service project personnel. Students will experience Egyptian life, language and hospitality. A range of activities is designed to meet the spiritual needs of students during the semester, including morning devotionals led by staff and students. While church is encouraged and the options are available, weekend and other travel components make student initiated fellowship and devotionals a primary means of worship. Students are asked to take ownership of devotional time, whether sharing a lesson, a song, a word of encouragement or other forms of expression.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ student_life/
Naturally, after an intense experience engaging the culture, language and
people of the Middle East, many MESP alum seek ways to bridge the worlds of faith and vocation by returning to the region. You may find alum working with NGOs, Development Organizations and the US State Department. Others pursue further language or academic study as graduate students, Fulbright scholars, business entrepreneurs, teaching as primary and secondary educators and ESL instructors. Some have taken their interest in refugees to the home front, where they have assisted local US authorities in the process of serving newly arrived, Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. Whatever careers they end up with over the long term, MESP alum no doubt carry an important legacy of their experience, education, and relationships to any future endeavor, domestic or international.
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / m e s p
Walking through Cairo, one WILL encounter people of all varieties...
MESP
a program of the
. . . and a myriad of shops and stands displaying the elaborate handiwork of Egyptian artisans. Streets are filled with buses, taxis, donkey-drawn carts camels, and brand-new Mercedes. Calls to prayer, high-pitched Egyptian exchanges, and music fill the air while the smells of vehicles, animals, food stands, bakeries and incense greet the senses. Strangers to BestSemester 321 8th St. NE Washington DC 20002
Cairo will find Egyptians ready to help, reflecting the hospitality of their country. Located at the head of the Nile River Delta, Cairo is one of the world’s largest cities with a population of nearly 20 million people. Program participants live in furnished apartments close to the MESP center in an area called Agouza, just minutes from downtown Cairo and within easy walking distance of local shopping centers and cultural sites.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/overview/
Based in Cairo, Egypt, this program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / MES P
Middle East Studies Program
Still want to know more?
CAIRO
T H E
Recommended
Credits Introduction to Arabic Language Islamic Thought and Practice Conflict & Change in the Middle East Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits
Total Credits 16 CREDITS The program recommends that students be granted the equivalent of 16 hours of credits by their home institution.
H O M ES T A Y S
the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an
As part of the culture component of the program, students will have a week long homestay. Most students are placed with a Muslim family. Each family has a contact person of the same gender as the student and an English speaker. This allows a student to communicate their needs, ideas and feelings. The homestay is a positive and necessary experience, in order for MESP students to appreciate the genuine nature of life in Egypt.
informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
Service Opportunities
East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ academics/
Students participate in service projects every Tuesday, except when traveling. Opportunities include working with orphan babies, Sudanese refugees, disadvantaged children of Garbage City and the elderly. *Service projects may be subject to change.
C u l t u r e a n d L a n g u a g e E x ch a n g e The Culture and Language Exchange program is designed to build person to person relationships between MESP students and their Muslim and Christian Egyptian friends. Individuals meet early in the semester, exchange email and phone numbers, and meet occasionally for informal discussion about topics of interest. Through the CLE program, MESP hopes to encourage relationships between young people that lead to meaningful and candid discussions.
T r av e l MESP students have traveled throughout the Middle East and have visited: Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, as well as various Egyptian sites outside of Cairo. However, please note that all travel is subject to change based upon safety considerations.
TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST... ... and have tea in the desert with Bedouins. Bargain in Cairo’s market, Khan al Khalili souk, to test out your most recent Arabic lesson. Listen to the concerns of Israeli and Palestinian youth and be transformed by an entire culture infused with a spirit of hospitality to strangers. Experience life lessons in ways that mere book learning can never replicate. You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly OR you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel and Old Cairo. The Middle East Studies Program awaits you.
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural educational experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. MESP includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Egyptian students, guest speakers and service project personnel. Students will experience Egyptian life, language and hospitality. A range of activities is designed to meet the spiritual needs of students during the semester, including morning devotionals led by staff and students. While church is encouraged and the options are available, weekend and other travel components make student initiated fellowship and devotionals a primary means of worship. Students are asked to take ownership of devotional time, whether sharing a lesson, a song, a word of encouragement or other forms of expression.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ student_life/
Naturally, after an intense experience engaging the culture, language and
people of the Middle East, many MESP alum seek ways to bridge the worlds of faith and vocation by returning to the region. You may find alum working with NGOs, Development Organizations and the US State Department. Others pursue further language or academic study as graduate students, Fulbright scholars, business entrepreneurs, teaching as primary and secondary educators and ESL instructors. Some have taken their interest in refugees to the home front, where they have assisted local US authorities in the process of serving newly arrived, Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. Whatever careers they end up with over the long term, MESP alum no doubt carry an important legacy of their experience, education, and relationships to any future endeavor, domestic or international.
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / m e s p
Walking through Cairo, one WILL encounter people of all varieties...
MESP
a program of the
. . . and a myriad of shops and stands displaying the elaborate handiwork of Egyptian artisans. Streets are filled with buses, taxis, donkey-drawn carts camels, and brand-new Mercedes. Calls to prayer, high-pitched Egyptian exchanges, and music fill the air while the smells of vehicles, animals, food stands, bakeries and incense greet the senses. Strangers to BestSemester 321 8th St. NE Washington DC 20002
Cairo will find Egyptians ready to help, reflecting the hospitality of their country. Located at the head of the Nile River Delta, Cairo is one of the world’s largest cities with a population of nearly 20 million people. Program participants live in furnished apartments close to the MESP center in an area called Agouza, just minutes from downtown Cairo and within easy walking distance of local shopping centers and cultural sites.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/overview/
Based in Cairo, Egypt, this program offers students a unique opportunity to explore and interact with the complex and strategically important world of the modern Middle East. Students explore diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples through interdisciplinary seminars. They also study the Arabic language and may work as volunteers with various organizations in Cairo. Through travel in the region (typically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey), students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the local culture. At a time of tension and change in the Middle
w w w. b e s t s e m e s t e r . c o m / MES P
Middle East Studies Program
Still want to know more?
CAIRO
T H E
Recommended
Credits Introduction to Arabic Language Islamic Thought and Practice Conflict & Change in the Middle East Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
4 credits 4 credits 4 credits 4 credits
Total Credits 16 CREDITS The program recommends that students be granted the equivalent of 16 hours of credits by their home institution.
H O M ES T A Y S
the Muslim, Eastern Christian and Jewish worlds in an
As part of the culture component of the program, students will have a week long homestay. Most students are placed with a Muslim family. Each family has a contact person of the same gender as the student and an English speaker. This allows a student to communicate their needs, ideas and feelings. The homestay is a positive and necessary experience, in order for MESP students to appreciate the genuine nature of life in Egypt.
informed, constructive and Christ-centered manner.
Service Opportunities
East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ academics/
Students participate in service projects every Tuesday, except when traveling. Opportunities include working with orphan babies, Sudanese refugees, disadvantaged children of Garbage City and the elderly. *Service projects may be subject to change.
C u l t u r e a n d L a n g u a g e E x ch a n g e The Culture and Language Exchange program is designed to build person to person relationships between MESP students and their Muslim and Christian Egyptian friends. Individuals meet early in the semester, exchange email and phone numbers, and meet occasionally for informal discussion about topics of interest. Through the CLE program, MESP hopes to encourage relationships between young people that lead to meaningful and candid discussions.
T r av e l MESP students have traveled throughout the Middle East and have visited: Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco and Turkey, as well as various Egyptian sites outside of Cairo. However, please note that all travel is subject to change based upon safety considerations.
TRAVEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST... ... and have tea in the desert with Bedouins. Bargain in Cairo’s market, Khan al Khalili souk, to test out your most recent Arabic lesson. Listen to the concerns of Israeli and Palestinian youth and be transformed by an entire culture infused with a spirit of hospitality to strangers. Experience life lessons in ways that mere book learning can never replicate. You can sit at a desk and experience the head rush of answering a test question correctly OR you can experience another kind of rush that comes with seeing and touching thousands of years of history at ancient sites like the Sphinx, Al Azhar Mosque, the Citadel and Old Cairo. The Middle East Studies Program awaits you.
An integral aspect of any cross-cultural educational experience is time to interact with citizens of the host country. MESP includes excellent opportunities for interaction with Egyptian students, guest speakers and service project personnel. Students will experience Egyptian life, language and hospitality. A range of activities is designed to meet the spiritual needs of students during the semester, including morning devotionals led by staff and students. While church is encouraged and the options are available, weekend and other travel components make student initiated fellowship and devotionals a primary means of worship. Students are asked to take ownership of devotional time, whether sharing a lesson, a song, a word of encouragement or other forms of expression.
www.bestsemester.com/mesp/ student_life/
Naturally, after an intense experience engaging the culture, language and
people of the Middle East, many MESP alum seek ways to bridge the worlds of faith and vocation by returning to the region. You may find alum working with NGOs, Development Organizations and the US State Department. Others pursue further language or academic study as graduate students, Fulbright scholars, business entrepreneurs, teaching as primary and secondary educators and ESL instructors. Some have taken their interest in refugees to the home front, where they have assisted local US authorities in the process of serving newly arrived, Arabic-speaking immigrant communities. Whatever careers they end up with over the long term, MESP alum no doubt carry an important legacy of their experience, education, and relationships to any future endeavor, domestic or international.