<p>Preferably a place like Dubai, a safe place in the Mesopatamian/Gulf area...not Egypt.</p>
<p>Are there any colleges out there that offer this for the time being? Or are they all quivering in fear of terrorism/civil unrest?</p>
<p>i know many people from conn college who studied abroad in morocco (yes, i know not the gulf area), egypt, syria, israel, lebanon. im sure there are many other colleges that will let you go wherever you want to go.</p>
<p>i have a friend currently studying in egypt with people from colleges all over the united states. he just spent his spring break in palestine... a new twist on spring breaks, for sure.</p>
<p>you shouldnt have any problem going to the uae from any school that encourages students to study abroad.</p>
<p>emory has programs in egypt, israel, and turkey</p>
<p>Don't let the bombing in Egypt scare you. The crime rate is very low there, if anything, you will actually be safer there. To put things in perspective, there is something like 14,000 homicides in the US every year. Egypt's rate is 14.5 times lower, for a population 4 times smaller. It's 3 times safer than Canada in terms of homicides. In order for the homicide rate in Egypt to catch up to the US', something like 2,000 people would have to die from explosions every year, so the impact of a few blasts is marginal.</p>
<p>The Middle East is actually a very, very safe place. Unless you're going to very select parts of Israel or Lebanon, don't let the worry of safety even cross your mind.</p>
<p>Egypt has had problems in the past- in 1997, terrorists gunned down 70 tourists at the Temple of Hatshepsut. That hasn't stopped tourists, and I'm still planning to study abroad in Cairo. </p>
<p>The Department of State keeps an updated list of dangerous/unstable countries.
<a href="http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html%5B/url%5D">http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_1764.html</a></p>
<p>1997...that's nine years ago, correct?</p>
<p>I wonder if people from other nations refrain from visiting the US because of the 9/11 attacks or Hurricane Katrina. </p>
<p>See how ridiculous that would be? Honestly, most of the world is a very safe place. Haha.</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon has a secondary campus in Qatar (pretty safe).</p>
<p>Well Cornell actually opened a medical School in Qatar so I'm guessing they might have programs that you might be looking for,</p>
<p>Places like Qatar and the other oil emirates in the gulf are totally uninteresting, culturally speaking. You might as well go to Arizona State. No history, no museums, not much culture.</p>
<p>In my experience, most areas of the middle east are very safe. In 10 years of living in the Middle East, I have never known any attack, theft or mugging occur to my family or any of our friends.</p>
<p>Some of the less educated arabs are condescending and blatantly racist towards asians, but almost sycophantic towards whites.</p>
<p>If you are a white female you will probably be goggled at at public places all the time.</p>
<p>If you have any intention of doing any sport, dont go in the summer, it is horrendously hot (around 50 C in peak summer). The winter climate is perfect, around 15-20 C and cool winds. Perfect weather for anything except watersports (theyre quite popular in the ME).</p>
<p>I live in Bahrain, a tiny island in the Middle East. Some people have descibed it as "being in a coma."
I strongly suspect Qatar might be similar, but Dubai might be different.</p>
<p>Hey there...</p>
<p>I was born and brought up in Dubai and moved to the US a few years ago.. Am originally Indian and I would say that Dubai is pretty safe for expatriates as long as you respect the local culture and use common sense. Its a very cosmopolitan environment with expatriats making up 60% of the countries population. Lots of Westeners, South Asians,etc... </p>
<p>Visit Dubai only in the winter, from October to March as the summer is very oppressive ( 120F is not very nice ). There's quite a lot to do in Dubai for the few months you'll be there and am sure you'lll have a lot of fun.... Dubai has the American University of Dubai ( <a href="http://www.aud.edu%5B/url%5D">www.aud.edu</a> ) which I believe is affiliated with certain universities here in the US.</p>
<p>I'd be glad to answer any questions you have about Dubai.</p>
<p>P.S: I know Carnegie Melon recently opened a campus in Qatar and offers its students an oppurtunity to go there.. Although this option is only available for certain majors and not all.</p>
<p>Just so you know, if you really want to experience true Middle Eastern culture and understand why we are where we are now with these countries, you're not going to get it in Dubai or Qatar. Those are both places where the rich relax in townhouses and Americans come to take a more "exotic" vacation. You're going to have to go to Lebanon, Israel, Syria, Egypt, etc.</p>
<p>America has the American University in Dubai.</p>
<p>Dubai is so westernized now. Very nice place, but if you're really going for that authentic Middle Eastern culture, I would suggest Al Sham (basically Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria) or North Africa (Egypt--Tunisia, Libya, Morocco and others' cultures cross the line of "Arab" sometimes).</p>
<p>My parents are from Lebanon. So I am biased to urge you to study at the American University in Beirut. IT'S GORGEOUS! It has a nice urban feel to it but when you're walking around on campus you feel like you're in a southern French village. </p>
<p>It's right in the middle of Al Hamra, which is the biggest shopping district of Beirut, so you won't run into many low ignorant Lebanese hillbillies...there is a ton of diversity in Downtown Beirut as well.</p>
<p>I personally don't feel threatened in Lebanon. We visit every other year and we consequentially did not visit the year Hezbollah and Israel were figthing. Yeah, it was REALLY bad that summer, but for the most part, nothing is going to flare up. The summer before in 2005 was about 4 months after the PM was assassinated and there were 2 bombing while we were there...one very very close to where we were staying. I honestly thought it was a thunderclap.</p>
<p>Lebanon is absolutely beautiful. I would definately recommend to study over there. The only problem is finding a study abroad program that will allow students to go to Lebanon. I'm a high school senior and I have yet to find one; but I would be shallow to study abroad in a country that I visit every other year...I'm leaning towards Turkey or Greece or Italy for my study abroad experience.</p>
<p>Hope that helps!
If you think in terms of safety, no where in the Middle East is as ridiculously dangerous to Iraq. The countries can't even compare. So I REALLY wouldn't worry :)</p>
<p>Females, watch out. Middle Eastern males dig fair-skinned women. In Lebanon, there are plenty of them so the guys aren't as vicious and their looks aren't as piercing as some other countries (AHEM SYRIA!).</p>
<p>Middle East is incredibly safe! Not for ONE minute did I ever feel unsafe during my seven months in Israel- I lived in Jerusalem. Israel is very heavy on security- exactly what the US Patriot Act would be if it was actually in effect in the US. It's a bit bothersome but once you realize that security checks takes less than 15 seconds, you wonder why it seemed like a big deal in the US. Security is everyone's #1 priority here unlike in the US.</p>
<p>Israeli universities generally have a Middle Eastern Studies program as part of their overseas so you'll meet other students interested in the same thing, mostly in the Arab-Israeli conflicts. You'll definitely have to learn Hebrew no matter where you go in Israel but there's also opportunities to take Arabic on top of it. A lot of people take trips to Cairo and to Petra for breaks. But I warn you that if you ever want to visit in Israel, GO before you go to Syria or Lebanon because they won't let you pass through the passport control if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport.</p>
<p>These areas really teach you to cinform to the society and be part of it because of the vast differences in manners and culture. In Jerusalem, the Ultra-Orthodox and Muslims are everywhere so I had to make sure that I wasn't wearing short skirts or strappy tanks (unless I was going to the more secular areas). I didn't allow myself to run outside because the Orthodox have a primitive way of attacking you if you're not up to their standards- by throwing rocks. Silly, I know, but it's the reality. It's really not a huge pain because you learn to appreciate and outside of Jerusalem, the rest of Israel is pretty much Western with very strong Israeli flair. The only time I ever felt like I was back in the States was probably hanging out with my American friends in our apartments, making food together (pasta or Mexican, what else?). Otherwise, everything that I did was Israeli. Even when I stayed with my American immigrant families, the Israeli culture and manner were still very strong (kibbutzim anyone?)</p>
<p>I planned on studying abroad in the United Arab Emirates next year. I still have time to decide, so I have a few questions to ask. Based on all of your experiences, would you say a racist attitude extends towards all people of color who travel to the Middle East? Or does it just extend to certain areas such as the Levant and the Gulf States? Also I planned on studying at the American University of Sharjah which is similar to AUD in the UAE in order to continue with undergraduate courses in Middle Eastern Studies and International Relations. Could I get that higher level of coursework at a university such as Al Akhawayn in Morocco? Thanks.</p>
<p>there's really no way of being able to tell in terms of academic challenge. I really haven't heard of anyone (than my own school's programs) forcing their students to work super hard in order to maintain good GPAs. So just go with an open mind. If it all becomes pretty easy, well, then look at it as an opportunity to go out and explore the culture instead of being holed up in your room or the library.</p>
<p>Racist attitude? As in anti-American? Of course there are going to be anti-American sentiments but the locals will certainly take people case-by-case basis based upon their first impressions of you. Act stupid and unrespectful in manners and clothing, might as well stay within your campus' gates. On the other hand, if you show curiosity, dress respectfully (and modestly, including the clothing brand/quality, they won't be impressed with Polo or Abercrombie), then you're in the society. Learn what their priorities are and adjust your own. That was the biggest thing in Israel. They don't think like we do: Where is that cute shirt come from? How much did it cost?</p>
<p>They think: Looks good, I wonder if they care about the security or economy in this country?</p>
<p>If you want a much better (IMO) experience, look into the School of International Training's programs. Rather than be boring and just attend classes, you travel, do homestays in a variety of different locales and different families, and do your own research projects- all combined with intense language training. There are programs in Morocco, Tunisia, Oman, and Jordan... and also the summer after next will have a program to Israel/Palestine researching water issues.</p>