Center for Higher Education in the Middle East

The University of the Middle East Project (UME) builds bridges through education between the Middle East/ North Africa (MENA) region and the rest of the world. UME's theory of change is rooted in the belief that education plays a major structural role in shaping new societal patterns capable of initiatiating and sustaining positive change. As such, UME specializes in working with educators, individuals who have the capacity to disseminate critical intellectual tools to future decision makes during their most formative years. UME connects educators from the MENA region to their counterparts from the US, Europe, and Japan in teacher training programs designed to promote peaceful societi... read more The University of the Middle East Project (UME) builds bridges through education between the Middle East/ North Africa (MENA) region and the rest of the world. UME's theory of change is rooted in the belief that education plays a major structural role in shaping new societal patterns capable of initiatiating and sustaining positive change. As such, UME specializes in working with educators, individuals who have the capacity to disseminate critical intellectual tools to future decision makes during their most formative years. UME connects educators from the MENA region to their counterparts from the US, Europe, and Japan in teacher training programs designed to promote peaceful societies. At these programs, UME teachers live and work together in a rich cross - cultural environment and empower themselves with cutting edge educational, leadership and organizational skills that make a concrete and tangible impact on their students. UME has implemented 45 academic programs in Egypt, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia and the United States with the support of prestigious institutions such as UNESCO, the UN Alliance of Civilizations, the US Department of State, and the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These programs have benefited over 2000 educators and community leaders and hundreds of thousands of students. Throughout its history, UME has implemented programs in locations that respond to the political conditions of the Middle East region and the world. Following programs in the US, Spain and five countries in the Middle East, UME launched its first program in Japan in 2016. During an era of worldwide instability, Hiroshima has proved to be the ideal location for UME's renewed peacebuilding efforts. The unique quality of UMEP's programming, which blends both affective and academic learning, has attracted national and international media exposure. UMEP has been featured in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, the Providence Journal, Philadelphia Inquirer, and USA Today. International attention has also come from Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun and NHK World, Germany's Die Zeit, the Netherlands' NRC, Spain's El Pais, Lebanon's Daily Star, Jordan's Al-Arai, Gaza's Al-Hayat al Jadida, and Morocco's Le Matin and L'Opinion.