The Northeast Ohio Consortium for Middle East Studies
NOCMES is a unique mode of collaborative public education dedicated to teaching and research on the modern Middle East. It is the collective product of local faculty at public and private universities in Northeast Ohio.
Bringing Middle Eastern Scholarship to Northeast Ohio
The Northeast Ohio Consortium for Middle East Studies (NOCMES) was founded by local university faculty to enhance teaching and research on the modern Middle East. It brings together private and public universities in Northeast Ohio and actively seeks to link our campuses with our communities. Initial support for our activities came from the Carnegie Foundation and the Social Science Research Council. Subsequent funding has come from the British Council’s Our Share Future program as well as from our own universities.
Partnerships and Community Involvement
Dedicated to collaborative public education, NOCMES is built on a web of community and media partnerships, a particular advantage in Northeast Ohio. By bringing some of the best scholars on the Middle East to our community, we hope to enhance broader education on this important region of the world and also expand our own classrooms to include our students in public conversations.
A National Stage for Middle America
NOCMES has partnered with The City Club of Cleveland, the oldest free speech venue in the United States, and The Civic Commons, an innovative platform dedicated to extending conversations and fostering public engagement around shared issues, to provide national stages for our speakers and conversations in traditional and electronic media. Since 2011, we have brought nearly 30 scholars and intellectuals to Northeast Ohio.