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11. TechWomen Evaluation Report Year 7

Author:
Institute of International Education
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:
This report presents findings from a TechWomen program evaluation conducted in 2018 by IIE’s Research, Evaluation, and Learning team. The evaluation assessed change in participants’ professional skills and capacities. The evaluation team utilized Social Network Analysis methodology to measure development of the participants’ professional networks with each other and with STEM professionals in the U.S. The report also outlines how the program impacted participants’ and mentors’ cross-cultural understanding and exchange of professional best practices. Finally, the report highlights program’s impact on participants’ and mentors’ communities and specifically on women and girls. TechWomen is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs implemented by IIE. Launched in 2011, the program supports the United States’ global commitment toward advancing the rights and participation of women and girls around the world by enabling them to reach their full potential. TechWomen empowers, connects and supports the next generation of women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East by providing them the access and opportunity needed to advance their careers, pursue their dreams, and inspire women and girls in their communities.
Topic:
Education, Government, Science and Technology, Culture, Women, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Africa, South Asia, Central Asia, Middle East, North America, and United States of America

12. Reshaping Dominant Narratives through Film

Author:
Isabel Roemer
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
Three MAAS grads share how careers in documentary filmmaking have enabled them to give voice to untold stories and reshape dominant narratives.
Topic:
Arts, Culture, Film, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arab Countries, and United States of America

13. A Place to Gather

Author:
Vicki Valosik, Isabel Roemer, and Nancy Howar
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
A profile on A. Joseph Howar, the CCAS benefactor behind one of Washington’s most iconic cultural and religious institutions. A. Joseph Howar, an immigrant from Palestine who became one of the most prominent Arab- Americans of the early 20th century, touched the lives of countless people during his 103+ years. A talented real-estate developer with an uncanny instinct for location, Mr. Howar was determined to give back to both his adopted country and his homeland. A proponent of education, he built a school and mosque in Palestine, and was the catalyst behind the creation of the Washington Islamic Center, which remains an important cultural and religious icon on Washington’s Embassy Row. Even closer to home, Howar’s legacy continues at Georgetown’s Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, where for more than 25 years, the Howar family has generously funded a scholarship in Joseph’s memory for students of the Master of Arts in Arab Studies program.
Topic:
Religion, History, Immigration, Culture, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Middle East, Palestine, North America, and United States of America

14. Ancient Inspiration for a New Marketplace of Ideas

Author:
Azza Altiraifi
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
Inspired by a seventh-century model, a new “souq” at CCAS brings together thinkers and scholars to discuss current regional events within their historical and global context. During the fall semester, the CCAS launched a new roundtable discussion series called “Souq Al-Fikr”, meaning “marketplace of ideas.” The title of the monthly series is a play on the name “Souq Okaz”, a market in what is current-day Saudi Arabia where Arab leaders from across the peninsula gathered during the sixth, seventh, and eighth centuries to discuss politics and culture, and—most famously—to host poetry competitions. Although many important historical developments can be traced to Souq Okaz, one of the most notable is the formalization of the rules of Arabic grammar and syntax.
Topic:
Trump and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Middle East, Arab Countries, North America, and United States of America

15. For the Love of Music

Author:
Isabel Roemer
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
MAAS alum combines language skills, industry savvy, and a bit of “wasta” to bring Arab musicians to Washington audiences. In 2003, MAAS alum David Chambers (‘88) received a call from the family of the late Munir Bashir, the celebrated Iraqi musician widely regarded as “King of Oud.” Chambers had spent much of the 1990s in the entertainment industry in the Arab world—notably, for the Showtime Arabia satellite TV network. Now back in Washington, D.C., he faced a challenge: how to arrange a gig for Omar Bashir, Munir’s son, in the nation’s capital?
Topic:
History, Culture, Higher Education, and Music
Political Geography:
Iraq, Middle East, North America, Washington, and D.C.

16. Speaking Truth to Power, Giving Voice to the Voiceless

Author:
Tithi Patel
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
Growing up in California, Dena Takruri, Senior Presenter and Producer at AJ+, the digital news channel of Al Jazeera Network, always knew she wanted to be a journalist. Summers spent in her parents’ native Palestine made an early and lasting impression about injustice in the world, while watching the nightly news with her family left her seeking better on-screen representation. As an Arab-American woman, she developed an early awareness of how marginalized communities are often misrepresented in the media. “As a minority in America, you see how people are reported on and how they’re often dehumanized and not given their fair shake,” said Takruri in an interview with Nieman Storyboard. “Seeing the really negative portrayal of Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians, which I also am, I wanted to correct that.”
Topic:
Media, Journalism, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Middle East and Palestine

17. MESA and the Muslim Ban

Author:
Beth Baron and Judith Tucker
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) recognized early on that the “Muslim Ban”—so called for its banning of individuals from predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States—posed specific threats to its mission and its commitments to academic freedom, intellectual exchange, and the fostering of scholarly research. As the current and past presidents of MESA, we take great pride in the fact that the association decided to take a clear and active stand against all iterations of this ban.
Topic:
Government, Border Control, Courts, Trump, Borders, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Middle East, North America, and United States of America

18. Preserving a Genre under Duress

Author:
Brittni Foster
Publication Date:
12-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
How a class assignment led to MAAS alum Dan Walsh’s lifelong passion for preserving Palestine’s visual heritage. When Dan Walsh (MAAS ’11) was serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Marrakesh in the early 1970s, his language tutor encouraged him to practice his budding Arabic and Moroccan Darija skills by translating the posters that papered the buildings around town. Walsh, now the curator of the world’s largest collection of posters on Palestine, remembers how grateful he was for the break from verb conjugations but says he never could have imagined how that assignment would change the course of his career. He credits his hours spent walking the streets of Marrakech and Rabat reading posters—Arabic dictionary in hand—with not only improving his language skills, but also igniting what has become one of his life’s passions.
Topic:
Culture, Media, Peace Corps, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Middle East, Israel, Palestine, North America, and United States of America

19. Q&A with Journalist Ada Mullol (MAAS ’18)

Author:
Ada Mullol and Vicki Valosik
Publication Date:
04-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS)
Abstract:
Ada Mullol was well on her way to a career in journalism when she decided to pursue her Masters in Arab Studies at Georgetown. She first honed her reporting skills as an undergraduate at Autonomous University in Barcelona, where she studied journalism, wrote for the university magazine, and received an investigative reporting award for her work on the Syrian regime’s suppression and surveillance of Syrians in Spain. Mullol went on to pursue training at the London School of Journalism and a master’s degree in International Relations from the Barcelona Institute of International Studies, and to publish articles in national and international magazines. She had long been interested in the Arab world, though, and knew that developing regional expertise and improving her Arabic skills would enable her to better tell the stories she cared about. In 2016, she joined MAAS, where she is writing her thesis on the intersection of media, public opinion, and foreign policy. This March, Mullol participated in a competitive journalism fellowship program called “The World in 2030,” which was sponsored by the International Center for Journalists and the United Nations Foundation and included three days of intensive career training.
Topic:
Media, Research, Journalism, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Middle East, Spain, Syria, and United States of America

20. Transformational Leaders and Social Change: IFP Impacts in Africa and the Middle East

Author:
Judith Kallick and Andrea Brown Murga
Publication Date:
09-2018
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute of International Education (IIE)
Abstract:
The fourth report from our 10-year tracking study of the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program (IFP), Transformational Leaders and Social Change provides important insights into the personal, organizational, community, and societal impacts of IFP alumni in Kenya, Nigeria, Palestine, and South Africa, drawn from the perspectives of 361 IFP alumni and local stakeholders. The results of this study show that the program had a positive impact on participants, with alumni saying that their IFP experience increased their confidence, awareness, self-identity, commitment, leadership, career advancement despite challenges upon re-entry at the end of the fellowship. Some alumni returned to face career barriers endemic to their community and home region, such as high unemployment rates and other labor market challenges. At an organizational level, alumni and community stakeholders said that these organizations now have a stronger work ethic, consistency, transparency, and accountability since alumni returned to their home communities. Stakeholders also said that the alumni they work with are more reliable and committed to getting the job done.
Topic:
Education, Labor Issues, Employment, Leadership, Accountability, Transparency, Unemployment, and Higher Education
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Middle East, South Africa, Palestine, and Nigeria