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SCHOLARSHIP
HELPS HAVERFORD BUILD BRIDGES WITH THE ISLAMIC WORLD
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| Nora
Hussein and Siham El Bouaychi |
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About a year after Sept. 11, 2001, Professor
of Astronomy Bruce Partridge was meeting with close friend and Haverford
alumnus Jim Kinsella ‘82 in London. Both bemoaned the poor
relations between the Islamic and Western worlds—particularly
the United States—and wondered what Haverford might do to
help counteract the growing hostilities. They came up with the idea
of a scholarship that would bring Islamic students to Haverford,
where they would see a different, more positive side of America.
The result of this brainstorm is the Islamic Scholars
program, which provides a year of additional education for recently
graduated students from a college or university in an Islamic country.
All expenses are paid, thanks to a generous donation from Kinsella:
“The students, Haverford community and I are so grateful to
him for all he’s done,” says Partridge.
In addition to allowing the scholars to take classes
at Haverford, the program also pays for any English lessons they
may need and encourages them to attend graduate school in the United
States. “We wanted to make it easier for them to continue
their education here,” says Partridge. “It’s very
hard to apply to school in the United States from many foreign countries,
especially ones in the Middle East.”
Partridge worked with resident Middle East experts
Doug Davis, professor of psychology, and Michael Sells, former professor
of religion, to craft a proposal that was submitted in the fall
of 2004. In the first year the College used Davis’ contacts
in Morocco (he and his wife, Susan, once taught at Al Akhawayn University
in the city of Ifrane) to promote the scholarship. In the second
year, Sells’ connections in Syria were used to advertise the
program, and Partridge also contacted Iraqi professors in exile,
asking them to locate potential scholars in their home country.
In the fall of 2005, Moussa Taifi from Al Akhawayn arrived on campus
as the first recipient of the scholarship.
Although the program had originally been intended
to fund one student per year, two Islamic Scholars were selected
for 2006-2007: Siham El Bouaychi from Al Akhawayn and Nora Hussein
from the University of Technology in Baghdad, Iraq. “We need
to do as much as we can to build bridges with the Islamic world,
and we were glad to get a green light from [President] Tom Tritton
to admit both students,” says Partridge.
The scholars are chosen, he adds, based on their ability
to “do work at Haverford at a high level, as well as on the
fit between their interests and what we offer.” The selection
committee includes Partridge, Dean of Admissions Jess Lord, and
Donna Mancini, associate dean of the College and dean of international
programs, who serves as the scholars’ dean throughout the
year.
“They certainly enrich our community,”
says Mancini. “We’re so delighted they’re here.”
The Islamic Scholars program continues a Haverford
tradition of reaching out to students in global areas of warfare
and political turmoil. In the ‘80s and early ‘90s, students
from South Africa came to study at the College (one of these pupils
is now a high-ranking government official in his home country) and
in the mid-90s, Michael Sells helped bring scholars from Bosnia
to campus. In the future, Partridge hopes to see more international
students from countries like Iran, Turkey, or Indonesia, alternatives
to what he calls the “usual suspects” of Western Europe,
China, and Japan.
Regarding the Islamic Scholars program, Partridge
sees positive repercussions not only for the scholars themselves,
but also for the Haverford community. With ever-increasing tensions
between the U.S. and the Islamic world, it’s useful for students
from the Middle East to act as ambassadors for their countries and
answer any questions members of the Haverford community may have.
“It also gives Haverford students the chance
to be ambassadors themselves,” he says.
* * *
Moussa Taifi, the first recipient of the scholarship,
studied computer science at Haverford and remembers his professors
as much more than teachers. “In fact, some of them should
really consider the entertainment or political scene,” he
says. “They made me love the subjects I was taking, and doing
the homework or the projects became internal challenges.”
Taifi was delighted with the students’ warm
interest in Moroccan culture: “I had a wonderful time explaining
that ‘tagine’ is more the name of a Moroccan cooking
utensil than a meal in itself.” He dined often at the homes
of many students and faculty members—he is particularly grateful
to his faculty advisor Doug Davis, who with his wife, Susan, prepared
for him several Moroccan meals. These dinner visits, he says, gave
him a better understanding of “the way families are structured
and the myriad differences that exist in every home.”
He was active in campus extracurricular life, singing
with both the Haverford Chorale and the Chamber Singers and planning
cultural events with the International Students Association. “The
ISA created an ambience of camaraderie,” he says. “We
shared the same concerns and we helped each other get the best of
our time at Haverford.”
Currently, Taifi is pursuing an international master’s
degree in information technology at Lappeenranta University of Technology
in Finland, and reflecting on the rewards of his year at Haverford.
“I learned optimism, goal-setting, self-confidence, superior
spoken English, and social and intellectual skills that are priceless
for me,” he says. “My future is brighter, and I know
I can make it the way I want it to be.”
* * *
Siham El Bouaychi’s culture shock was not as
severe as it could have been when she arrived on campus in August;
the system at her Moroccan University is similar to that of the
United States. New to her, however, were the numerous student helpers—resource
representatives, Customs leaders, Honor Code Orienteers—on
hand to make her Haverford experience more amenable. “It’s
impressive, all of these people here to take care of us,”
she says. “It makes it much easier to adapt.”
She’s learned to burn the midnight oil like
a good ‘Ford, balancing a heavy course load that includes
several in her major, political science: Global Civil Society, Comparative
Democratization, and The Idea of Self-Reliance in America. Back
at Al Akhawayn University, she studied political science with a
concentration in American politics and a minor in communication
studies. Her academic field was a recent addition to her school’s
curriculum. “We were told that people who studied it would
be privileged in the job market,” she says. But she found
herself passionate about the subject and the issues it raised: “You
never feel that you’ve learned everything there is to know
about political science. You can always study more.” El Bouaychi’s
faculty advisor, Professor of History Emma Lapsansky, was instrumental
in helping her choose the right academic path to prepare her for
the future, which she hopes will include work with international
organizations like USAID, groups that deal with politics and human
rights.
This is El Bouaychi’s first visit to the United
States. Though she had befriended American exchange students in
Morocco, she worried about her reception here: “I was afraid
that as an Arab person, I’d find difficulties and harassment.”
She couldn’t be happier to find exactly the opposite at Haverford.
“People here—it doesn’t matter
to them where I’m from,” she says.
* * *
Now that Iraq is open to the rest of the world after
so many years of sanctions, it’s been possible for people
like Nora Hussein to pursue educational and professional opportunities
in other countries. “So many talented people who wanted to
improve themselves were not able to study abroad,” she says.
“Now they have more communication with the world, and are
more ambitious.”
At Haverford, Hussein is continuing her studies of
architecture, hoping to someday apply her training and skills to
the rebuilding of Baghdad and teach at the city’s universities.
Before returning home, though, she wants to try practicing her craft
in the U.S., to build on what she’s learned in her undergraduate
and post-graduate coursework. “I want to prove myself here
and develop my abilities,” she says, “and have good
knowledge and experience to bring back with me.” With the
guidance of advisor and Professor of Anthropology Laurie Kain Hart
(herself an architect), Hussein is taking classes at both Haverford
and Bryn Mawr, including Techniques of Smart Growth Cities, Environment
and Society, Techniques and Materials in Sculpture, and Documentary
Film.
The freedom to choose any classes she likes is a
departure from her college experience back home at Baghdad’s
University of Technology. “The courses were chosen for you,”
she says. “In architecture, you had to take all of the major
classes, no skipping or dropping.” She balanced 10 classes
a semester for five years, the average amount of time needed to
earn a bachelor’s degree at her school, and graduated fourth
in her class.
Aside from adjusting to academic differences and
missing her family back home, Hussein loves her time in the United
States and at Haverford: “It’s like a little family
here, and it makes being away from home easier.” She plans
to study as much as she can, meet prominent people in her field,
and visit some of the country’s famed architectural wonders.
“I want this to be a rich year for me,”
she says.
— Brenna McBride
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