Middle East Initiative Mosaic 2013

The Mosaic is the annual newsletter of the Middle East Initiative. The entire newsletter can be downloaded as a PDF here.

A message from our Director:

We are excited to report on the many activities and accomplishments of the Middle East Initiative (MEI) during the 2012-13 academic year.

‘Transformation’ continued to be our watchword during the past year as the unfolding events related to countries in the Middle East gave us much to study and learn. MEI focused its work on serving four constituents – the Harvard student body, Harvard faculty, the general public, and partners in the Middle East. Through working with these groups we developed a range of new programs and projects. Among the highlights of new programming for 2012–13: we convened the Syria working group; expanded our internship database for student opportunities in the region; increased support for student research and travel to the region; and held a workshop on civil society in the Arab region at the Radcliffe Institute. Our many events also brought the larger Boston based community to our campus.

Through our renewed Kuwait program we welcomed our first Visiting Scholar Ellis Goldberg during the spring semester, re-launched our faculty research grants, and awarded our first degree fellowships to two incoming students from the region. In addition, executive education programs continued to be a staple of the Kuwait programming and were well attended by diverse and distinguished participants.

We thank all of you who participated in our programming and the supporters who make our work possible. We look forward to welcoming newcomers and returning students in the fall and hope you will engage with us and our work.

--Hilary Rantisi, Director, Middle East Initiative

Download the full Mosaic here: