The U.S. Department of Education has awarded the Department of Middle Eastern Studies a grant of $133,266 per year for the next three years through the Graduate Assistance in Areas of National Need (GAANN) program. The funds will support five Middle Eastern Language fellowships for doctoral students who are preparing for careers as teachers and researchers in Middle Eastern Studies, with a preference for students who are studying two Middle Eastern languages. Supported students from the department of Middle Eastern Studies will specialize in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and/or Turkish language and culture—all critical needs languages as defined by the U.S. government. The GAANN program addresses the severe lack of qualified instructors in these areas, and aims to train a new generation of diverse, U.S.-born Middle Eastern language faculty. Combining departmental and federal funding, Middle Eastern Studies will use these resources to back up its commitment to graduate twenty PhDs in these languages within the next five years.
