Partnership News
Below are updates and items of interest pertaining to the Al-Quds/Brandeis partnership and exchange. If you have any questions or want to learn more about a particular item, contact Bryan McAllister-Grande.
Updated May 22, 2008
New Partnership Activities in Effective Teaching, Administration and Finance, and Continuing Education
In April, Sybil Smith and Perry Hanson (Brandeis) traveled to Al-Quds to consult on projects in administration and finance, and continuing education. In May, Brandeis faculty joined with Al-Quds faculty to design and facilitate a new two-day workshop on student assessment as part of the Effective Teaching Exchange. Partnership coordinator Bryan McAllister-Grande also visited Al-Quds to work on documentation of the partnership.
2007 Summer Institute Featured in Brandeis Alumni Magazine
In "Destination Istanbul," writer Sue Rardin captures the difficult dialogues - both inside and outside the classroom - from the Summer Institute in Turkey.
Brandeis and Al-Quds Undergraduates Selected to Participate in 2008 Summer Institute in Turkey
Congratulations to the sixteen Al-Quds University and Brandeis undergrads selected to participate in the 2008 Summer Institute in Turkey. During this institute, eight undergraduates each from Brandeis and Al-Quds will meet in Istanbul in late August to embark on an intellectual journey together, exploring questions such as “What makes a good society?” The students will study and discuss common texts, explore Istanbul, and get to know each other intellectually, culturally, and personally. The 2008 Institute follows a successful joint project last summer.
'Islam in Our Times: A Determined Moderate Emerges from the Shadows'
Zeina Barakat, one of the Al-Quds graduate student participants in the American Studies exchange, recently authored this article on another partnership participant, Mohammed Dajani. Professor Dajani (political science) is the director and founder of the American Studies Institute at Al-Quds, and the leader of the new Palestinian movement "Wasatia."
2007 Summer Institute Students Meet with Brandeis Alumni
During a pre-lunch conversation in downtown Boston organized by Sharon Rosenberg (Alumni and University Relations), Brandeis undergraduates Hilla Shimsoni '10 and Jessica Kent '09 discussed their experiences in the 2007 Summer Institute in Turkey with Brandeis alumni.
Planning Future Projects
The Al-Quds and Brandeis teams are in the planning stages for the next phase of the partnership, covering January 2008 - December 2009. In early January, Brandeis project director Daniel Terris traveled to Al-Quds to meet with his counterpart Khuloud Khayyat Dajani and other Al-Quds faculty and administrators involved in partnership planning. Among the new projects being discussed are faculty exchanges and short-term research residencies; a major international conference; additional projects for the effective teaching workshop and exchange; a second undergraduate exchange seminar; and a number of administrative exchanges designed to look at registration, information technology, and library services.
"Starting the Conversation"
Read an article by Garrett Nada '10 about last summer's undergraduate exchange.
