Study Abroad Programs

NES strongly encourages students to consider spending a semester or year in the Middle East for language and area study. Students interested in studying abroad should consult with the Office of International Programs and with the Department of Near Eastern Studies’ language instructors, who can offer valuable advice on current programs in Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, and Turkish.

In recent years, Princeton students concentrating in Arabic have studied in Jordan, Oman and Morocco. Dr. Greg Bell maintains a website with detailed information on current Arabic summer and year-long study-abroad options.

Students of Persian may deepen their knowledge of the language at several summer language programs below and through intensive courses taught inside the United States:

Tajikistan

• Link: https://www.clscholarship.org/languages/persian
• Link: https://www.americancouncils.org/programs/critical-language-scholarship-program

India

• Link: http://hmiindia.org/
• Link: https://www.indiastudies.org/language-programs/

Armenia

• Link: http://www.aceurasiaabroad.org/
• Link: https://armacad.info/armacad--2017-12-02--persian-language-summer-school-08-jul-18-aug-42-days-or-29-jul-18-aug-21-days-2018-yerevan-armenia

Students concentrating in Turkish may attend summer or year-long language programs at Istanbul’s Boğaziçi University, as well as an eight-week summer program in Cyprus.

Several summer programs in Turkey also offer intensive training in Ottoman Turkish. 

• Link: https://anamed.ku.edu.tr/en/ottomansummerprogram 
• Link: http://ottomanstudiesfoundation.com/iotss/ 
• Link: http://www.yildiz.edu.tr/etkinlikler/5721/T 

For students concentrating in Hebrew, several university programs in Israel offer summer and year-long language programs, including:

Hebrew University

• Link: https://overseas.huji.ac.il/academics/hebrew-and-other-languages/study-hebrew-language-at-the-hebrew-university-of-jerusalem/summer-programs/
• Link: https://overseas.huji.ac.il/academics/hebrew-and-other-languages/study-hebrew-language-at-the-hebrew-university-of-jerusalem/ulpan-semester-courses/

Tel Aviv University

• Link: https://international.tau.ac.il/Intensive_Hebrew_Ulpan

Haifa University

• Link: http://overseas.haifa.ac.il/index.php/2014-03-10-14-00-25/intensive-hebrew-summer-ulpan
• Link: http://overseas.haifa.ac.il/index.php/2015-09-07-10-23-52

Ben Gurion University 

• Link: http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/Global/Pages/OSP/Hebrew_Ulpan.aspx

Travel Funding

Summer study abroad: The Department of Near Eastern Studies and the Program in Near Eastern Studies have funds available to help undergraduate students finance intensive language study in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish in the summer.

All students interested in applying for summer language funding must complete an application via the University's Student Activities Funding Engine (SAFE). When you enter the SAFE system, you will need to search opportunities in the Department of NES under Summer Study Abroad (also used for summer study programs in the US on a case by case basis). You are also required to submit a request for all University-sponsored overnight travel (domestic and international) in Concur (exceptions: travel to New York City and Philadelphia). For more information on the travel request process for University-sponsored travel and related policies, please consult the undergraduate travel checklist.

As funding is limited, you are strongly encouraged to also seek funding from other sources on campus.

The SAFE portal is located here:  http://www.princeton.edu/studentfunding/.

For more information, please contact the department’s business manager, Ms. Angela Bryant, at [email protected].

Research travel: The Department of Near Eastern Studies has a limited amount of funds to support NES seniors who would like to conduct senior thesis research abroad over the summer and/or during the academic year.

Eligible students should submit via the SAFE (Student Activities Funding Engine) website an application for funding via email in March of their junior year for summer funding and in late October/early November of their senior year for academic year funding. Students who did not receive summer funding will receive preference during the academic year. See this year’s precise dates.

An application should consist of two parts: a) a statement of 500 words or less briefly describing the thesis and its significance and explaining the need for funding; b) a budget outlining total expected costs and the availability of other funding (e.g., funds award by the Office of Undergraduate Research).

Because resources are limited, no guarantee of funds can be made and students are advised to apply to all potential funding sources.

For more information, please contact the department’s business manager, Ms. Angela Bryant, at [email protected].

Office of Undergraduate Research Senior Thesis Funding: This is the main source of funding for thesis research. Students can apply for funds for travel and other research expenses. OUR invites two rounds of applications, one in the spring for rising seniors to conduct summer research and the other in the fall for academic-year research.  Further information can be found on the Undergraduate Research website.