About...the
Gilman
The Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship is funded by
the U.S. State Department in order to foster "mutual understanding between
the people of the United States and the people of other countries to promote
friendly, sympathetic, and peaceful relations." It is awarded to college
students who are eligible to receive the Pell Grant and enables hundreds of
students to study abroad every year. Part of the requirements for receiving the
Gilman is to complete the Follow Up Service Project. I have decided to talk to
elementary school kids upon my return. This is a portion of my approved
proposal:
I was eight years old when the September 11th attacks occurred. I remember
sitting on the couch watching my Mom’s eyes tear up and hearing the newscaster
talk about the Middle East. I started associating the Middle East with terms
like “terror,” “dangerous,” and “war.” It was not until high school that I
started discovering that most of my preconceived notions about this area were
incorrect. For my follow-on project I wish to take my experience in Cairo,
Egypt and use it as a catalyst for promoting peace and for truthful education
of the Middle East. Since many of these ideas are formed in our youth, I wish
to mainly reach out to elementary students.
I will be presenting on my experiences, introducing students
into different aspects of the Cairo cultures, and facilitate discussions
about about peace and international misconceptions.
I am immensely thankful to have received this award
and excited to see what it has in store for me.
About...The King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies
(From their website)
About...The King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies
(From their website)
"The King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies is an interdisciplinary program in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East and the geo-cultural area in which Islamic civilization prospered, and continues to shape world history.
Faculty members associated with the Center are rooted in degree-granting departments in Fulbright College and the broader University of Arkansas. We specialize in history and politics, literature and popular culture, religious and secular practice and interpretation, human engagement with the environment and ecosystem in contemporary times and antiquity. We work in diverse media: poetry and fiction, public archives, film and music, television and oratory, curricular instruction and cartography, the detritus of the past and the cultural production, classical and colloquial, artistic and vulgar, of the present.
The Center offers an undergraduate co-major linked to regional language study and supports the best of our undergrads with scholarships. Many of our undergraduates go on to graduate study in area studies programs and related professional work in public and private spheres. At the graduate level the Center supports students working in key disciplines towards the MA and PhD. Our graduate students have received highly competitive fellowships to support research and foreign language study, and have presented their work at annual professional meetings and specialized academic conferences. Many are now teaching at academic institutions here and abroad, and are affiliated with research institutes or government agencies."
I am extremely grateful to them for their generous scholarship to support my travels. It would not have been possible without them.
About...AMIDEAST
Learn and Serve
The Learn and Serve program allows students to study Egyptian
Colloquial Arabic in a classroom setting while also being placed in a volunteer
placement in the community in order to practice language skills and interact
with the community first hand. The volunteer placement is part of a course
entitled Community Based Learning in the MENA (Middle East North Africa)
Region. This is part of the course summary from the AMIDEAST website:
The course enables students to examine social
issues from multiple perspectives, read relevant texts, participate in projects
related to the fields of education, human development, human and civil rights,
journalism or social services, engage in direct service with partner agencies,
and reflect academically on their experience.
I will be working towards nine credit hours during my study
abroad; three in Egyptian Colloquial Arabic and six
in Community Based Learning.
About...Cairo
Estimated population of metropolitan area: 19,439,541
(NYC:18,897,109)
It is the largest city on the African continent
Became the capital of Egypt in 1168 AD/CE (over three hundred
years before Columbus sailed the ocean blue)
Is on about the same latitude as Austin, TX, Baton Rouge, LA,
and Jacksonville, FL
Is on just about the same longitude as Arua, Uganda funny
enough. Must be my lucking longitude :P
Cairo is seven hours ahead of Fayetteville, AR
About...Egypt
Smaller than Alaska but bigger than Texas
Boarders the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea
The Nile spills out into the Mediterranean Sea in the Nile
Delta in northern Egypt (this area includes Cairo and Alexandria)
90% Muslim, 9% Coptic, and 1% other Christians
Currency: Egyptian Pound (approximately 7 pounds to the
dollar)
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