King's Academy

Firsthand experience living and learning in Jordan enables students to gain a comprehensive understanding of Arab cultures, the Middle East, and the region's relationship with the rest of the world. Through site visits, research, and coursework, students gain the theoretical and historical knowledge to put their experiences in cultural, historic, international, and academic context.

While abroad, the program is housed at the newly established King's Academy, in Manja, Jordan, on the outskirts of the capital city of Amman, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world.

King's Academy opened in fall 2007 and is the first coed boarding school in the Arab world. It was established by His Majesty King Abdullah II, who modeled the school after Deerfield Academy, the Massachusetts prep school that he attended in the late 1970s. The king invited Deerfield's former headmaster, Eric Widmer, to oversee the school and brought several Deerfield teachers to join the academy's faculty.

The innovative environment and curriculum of King's Academy's aims to support and reflect the history and culture of Jordan, to promote principles of peace and global citizenship, and to foster deep respect for and devotion to learning.

Jordan is a politically stable country that traditionally has had close relations with the United States and the United Kingdom. It's the center of a geographically and culturally diverse region, home to some of the world's most important historical and religious sites.