Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center
The mission of MEMEAC is to promote the production and exchange of knowledge on and with the Middle East and Middle Eastern Americans.

Since 2001, the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center (MEMEAC) at the CUNY Graduate Center has been promoting the study of the Middle East and migrants from the region. Bringing together a critical mass of more than eighty affiliated faculty members from throughout the CUNY system, MEMEAC serves as a magnet for doctoral students at the GC who focus on the Middle East and North Africa from different disciplinary perspectives and a hub for our own Master’s students. With growing interest in the Middle East, the Center launched a Master’s Program in Middle Eastern Studies in 2008 that draws students from across the country and around the world. MEMEAC regularly sponsors book conversations, manuscript reviews, works-in-progress seminars, dissertation writing groups, and workshops. The Center functions as a resource for both the CUNY community and the public at large.
Beth Baron is Distinguished Professor of History at the City College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York and Director of the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center at the CUNY Graduate Center. From 2009 to 2014, she edited the International Journal of Middle East Studies, and from 2015 to 2017, served as president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America. Her most recent book, The Orphan Scandal: Christian Missionaries and the Rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, appeared with Stanford University Press in 2014. Earlier works include Egypt as a Woman: Nationalism, Gender, and Politics (University of California Press, 2005) and The Women’s Awakening in Egypt: Culture, Society, and the Press (Yale University Press, 1994). She co-edited Women in Middle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender (Yale University Press, 1991) with Nikki Keddie and Iran and Beyond: Essays in Middle Eastern History in Honor of Nikki R. Keddie (Mazda, 2000) with Rudi Matthee. She is currently working on a book on the history of medicine, disease, and reproduction in colonial Egypt.
Jeremy Randall is a PhD Candidate in History at the CUNY Graduate Center and Assistant Director of the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center at the CUNY Graduate Center.
Visit Middle East AND MIDDLE EASTERN AMERICAN CENTER WEBSITE

M.A. Program in Middle Eastern Studies
The Center is a magnet for doctoral students in Anthropology, Art History, History, Music, Political Science, Sociology, and other disciplines. With growing interest in the Greater Middle East, the Center launched a Master’s Program in Middle Eastern Studies in 2008. Visit the Middle Eastern Studies Master’s Program page for more information.
Learn about the Master's ProgramLatest News
Aug 5, 2021
The MESA Global Academy Connects Displaced Middle East Scholars in a Time of Crisis
The new joint initiative of the CUNY Graduate Center and the Middle East Studies Association, supported by Carnegie Corporation, offers an intellectual home for scholars from the Middle East and North Africa.
- Student News
Oct 14, 2020
Professors Beth Baron and Mandana Limbert Awarded Mellon Grant for Race and Middle East/North Africa Seminar
The Sawyer Seminar, hosted by the Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center (MEMEAC), will be awarding a postdoctoral fellowship and two dissertation fellowships.
- Faculty News
Feb 10, 2020
A $400,000 Carnegie Corporation Grant Goes to The Graduate Center's Middle East and Middle Eastern American Center
The funds bolster a joint initiative to support scholars of the Middle East and North Africa region whose careers have been adversely affected by developments in their home countries.
- Faculty News
Jan 9, 2015
Op-Ed by MEMEAC Researcher in The Washington Post
Cracks in the Hezbollah Monopoly The Washington Post, 'Monkey Cage,' 1.8.15
- Press Coverage