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Research

Oman Khayyam statue on the University of Oklahoma campus.

Research Centers and Programs

The David L. Boren College of International Studies is home to 10 research centers and institutes that engage with scholars from all over the world and promote cross-cultural collaboration throughout the university. These centers provide learning opportunities for students, faculty and the community alike, hosting events and guest speakers as well as other initiatives.

CIS has also recently launched a MENA at OU webpage, which serves as a home base for Middle East and North Africa studies, research and programs at the University of Oklahoma. 

African Studies Institute

The African Studies Institute (ASI) at the University of Oklahoma is an emerging, interdisciplinary center dedicated to research and the study of Africa, as well as building a community of those interested in Africa in the state of Oklahoma.

Learn more about the African Studies Institute

Center for the Americas

The Center for the Americas is dedicated to enhancing programming at the University of Oklahoma in several areas of the Western Hemisphere. Its major focus in Latin America, but it also promotes activities on the Caribbean, Canada and global U.S. foreign policy.

Learn more about the Center for the Americas

Center for Brazil Studies

The Center for Brazil Studies is a hub for teaching, research and outreach relating to Brazil at the University of Oklahoma. The Center works in cooperation with other OU programs/centers, departments, and colleges, as well as with Brazilian institutions, academics and professionals, to provide the OU faculty and students with opportunities to develop language skills (Portuguese), to develop substantive knowledge on/professional experience in Brazil, to engage in contemporary Brazilian debates and to engage in research in, about and with Brazil.

Learn more about the Center for Brazil Studies

Center for Middle East Studies

The goal of the Center for Middle East Studies (CMES) is to enrich Middle East programming at the University of Oklahoma. CMES brings three distinguished speakers to the University each semester, sponsors informal "brown bag" lunches, and supports Middle East events on campus.

Learn more about the Center for Middle East Studies

Center for Peace and Development

The Center for Peace and Development (CPD) builds on OU’s longtime work with communities in northern Uganda. CPD brings together faculty and students from across the University’s varied disciplines to build collaborative partnerships with communities affected by conflict.

Learn more about the Center for Peace and Development

Center for the Study of Nationalism

The Center for the Study of Nationalism (CSN) engages OU faculty and students in the empirical and theoretical aspects of studying nationalism and related cultural and political issues, including: cultural authenticity and reinvention; self-determination and secession; ethnic conflict and civil war; immigration and citizenship; globalization, development and inequality; minority rights, accommodation and nation-building.

Learn more about the Center for the Study of Nationalism

Cyber Governance and Policy Center

The Cyber Governance and Policy Center is dedicated to enhancing research-based understanding of policy and governance issues pertaining to modern information and communications technology, broadly understood to include cyber-physical systems. The center serves as a focal point for research on such issues at the University of Oklahoma, facilitating collaboration among faculty and graduate students across a range of disciplines including International Relations, Political Science, Law, Communications, Economics, Business, Engineering and Computer Science.

Learn more about the Cyber Governance and Policy Center

European Union Center

The European Union Center at OU was founded in September 2001, when University of Oklahoma became one of 15 national universities to host a center for European Union studies. Activities during the Center's first three years were supported by a grant awarded through a national competition by the Commission of the European Communities. The Center seeks to advance knowledge of the European Union at OU as well as throughout the local community, the state of Oklahoma, and the southwestern United States. The European Union Center at the University of Oklahoma has established a network of affiliates at universities throughout the southwest providing the program opportunities for reaching a broad regional audience.

Learn more about the European Union Center

Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian & Persian Gulf Studies

The Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies aims to coordinate a variety of curricular, research and outreach activities at OU that explore the history and culture of Iran and the Persian-speaking world. These activities include lectures, conferences, film screenings, exhibits, concerts and other programs.

Learn more about the Farzaneh Family Center

Institute for U.S.-China Issues

The Institute for U.S.-China Issues at the University of Oklahoma was established in August 2006 with the generous financial support of Harold J. & Ruth Newman. The Institute seeks to enhance the understanding and management of U.S.-China relations by simultaneously addressing two sets of interrelated issue clusters — the security, technology, economic, environmental, public health and political (STEEPP) issues, and the instrumental role culture plays in shaping how the two nations perceive and engage each other. To achieve this goal, the Institute works along parallel tracks through public programming, research, publications, symposiums and teaching to tackle both the STEEPP and cultural issues confronting the two nations.

Learn more about the Institute for US-China Issues

MENA at OU

The College of International Studies has launched a new "MENA at OU" webpage to serve as home to Middle East and North Africa studies, research, and programs at the University of Oklahoma. MENA covers peoples, cultures, and lands that relate to the Middle East, the Sahel and West Africa, East Africa, North Africa, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and their diasporas.

Learn more about MENA studies, research and programs

Student Academic Journal

From 2009-2019, the David L. Boren College of International Studies published an independent, online student research journal, the Journal of Global Affairs. We publish undergraduate research papers that engage with global affair from a variety of fields in the humanities and social sciences. 

Explore the Journal of Global Affairs