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 Old Cairo, Mt Sinai, the Old City of Jerusalem, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Biblical Ephesus, or the ‘Straight' street of Damascus, to name only a few. Whether sharing stories with Israeli and Palestinian youth, bargaining in Cairo's Khan al Khalili or the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, or simply joining the locals in service projects that make the world a better place, you realize that experiences like this embed life lessons in ways that mere book learning never can. Are you ready to give it a try?
The Middle East Studies Program (MESP), currently located in Jerusalem, seeks to prepare students to live the Christian life in a world that is religiously and culturally pluralistic. The program allows CCCU students to explore the complex and strategic world of the modern Middle East. The interdisciplinary seminars give students the opportunity to explore the diverse religious, social, cultural and political traditions of Middle Eastern peoples. Students also study the Arabic language and work as volunteers with various organizations. Students experience intense encounters that manifest different worldviews while living in a supportive MESP community. Through travel, MESP students are exposed to the diversity and dynamism of the region. At a time of tension and change in the Middle East, MESP encourages and equips students to relate to the Muslim world in an informed, constructive and Christ centered manner. The program includes extensive speaker options, site visits, internal weekend travel, and cross-cultural events with the locals. Students earn 16 semester hours of credit.
Why is MESP unique to programs in Israel?
- First, unlike the typical biblical studies or holy land experience to Israel, MESP engages the Arab-Muslim world in addition to Israeli Jews and Christian Arabs-as guests, we seek to learn from all the children of Abraham.
- Second, encountering regional conflict in its Israeli-Palestinian context is an essential part of faith and learning on the MESP program, especially as it relates to controversial issues like religion and politics and the attempt to apply Christian faith to the Muslim, Jewish, and Eastern Christian other. Students struggle together for answers as ‘iron sharpens iron'-the program avoids partisan identification with either side, student satisfaction with simplistic answers, or idealistic solutions that ignore real human consequences.
- Third, while academic learning is intense at times, the program focuses on experiential learning through encounters with local Palestinians, Israelis, home-stays, speakers, service projects, and Biblical site visits that seek to foster better understanding, empathy, and friendships.
- Fourth, unlike many programs that take weekend trips across the border, MESP typically travels the region for nearly a month. While regional conditions in the past allowed travel to Syria and Lebanon, MESP travel currently focuses on places like Turkey, Tunisia, Jordan, and Egypt if conditions permit.
Location:
Since spring 2011, MESP has been located in Jerusalem and is based at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, a facility located at the crossroads of two Jerusalem suburbs, Israeli Gilo and Palestinian Bethlehem, with breathtaking views of the Judean hills, the distant Jordan valley, and the Arab Christian communities of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour. The Institute, managed by the University of Notre Dame, offers a secure haven from any potential local turbulence in addition to a serenely quiet place in which to reflect, write, think, or worship.
