The National Resource Center (NRC) on the Middle East at Georgetown University has since 1997 represented Georgetown in the community of US Department of Education-sponsored National Resource Centers focusing on the Middle East region. The National Resource Centers, housed in major universities across the nation, form the backbone of US language and area expertise. Today’s NRCs, funded through the Title VI program, include a strong elementary and secondary (K-12) outreach component and service to professional schools, greater emphases on integrated global forces and their regional impacts, as well as less commonly taught languages of these regions. Georgetown’s NRC/ME, utilizing the expertise and resources of various University departments, focuses on a multi-disciplinary approach to international studies with a strong emphasis of the languages of the region, specifically, Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, and Persian.

In addition to the NRC functions, Georgetown also offers fellowships under the Foreign Language and Area or International Studies (FLAS) program. FLAS Fellowships, also a part of federal Title VI program funding, support graduate training programs at many NRCs. These fellowships provide opportunities for intensive study of less-commonly taught languages and world areas both domestically and abroad during either the summer or academic year. Through the FLAS Fellowship program, many Georgetown students have taken advantage of these resources to support their in-depth study of the region, specifically language study in Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, or Persian.

Georgetown University is proud to announce that it has received Title VI funding for an additional four year grant cycle. The new funding will allow for an expansion of outreach programs to the local educational community, a yearly conference on language proficiency testing, and a new teaching position in Persian language and culture.