PHONE: (313) 593-5518
DATE: November 8, 2004
UM-Dearborn will partner with Al-Quds University in
West Bank to improve American Studies
DEARBORN---The University of Michigan-Dearborn is one of seven American
universities chosen to partner with a university in the Arab world through
a cooperative program of American universities supported by a federal
grant.
UM-Dearborn faculty and students will work with faculty and students
at Al-Quds university in the West Bank on a program titled "Connecting
Jerusalem and Dearborn: Developing Collaborative American Studies Programs
in the Arab World and the United States."
In Dearborn, the project will be directed by Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi, director
of the campus's Center for Arab American Studies, the first such center
at any American university. UM-Dearborn will receive a $100,000 grant
to support the partnership.
"By focusing specifically on the discipline of American studies,
the project addresses a field that has been identified by educators and
students in the Arab world as one of the most important areas of study
that exists today," Abdulhadi said. "It is in a field that is
in the process of growing and developing at many colleges and universities
throughout the region."
But the project also could enrich American studies in the United States
as well, Abdulhadi said. "Here there is the potential to develop
a greater emphasis on the history, experience and cultural productions
of Arab American communities," she said.
Al-Quds University has a well-developed program in American studies and
offers a master's degree in the field. UM-Dearborn offers an undergraduate
concentration in American studies and is developing programs in Arab American
studies. "These two institutions thus have the potential to establish
a truly reciprocal and sustainable partnership," Abdulhadi said.
The program is part of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI)
through the Association Liaison Office (ALO) for University Cooperation
in Development.
MEPI was founded to expand economic, political and educational opportunity
for people in the Arab world through linking Arab, American and global
businesses, non-governmental organizations, civic groups, and educational
institutions.
ALO assists the nation's six major higher education associations help
their member institutions foster cooperative development partnerships
with colleges and universities abroad.
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