American Studies Center
at the University of Bahrain
Report on the American Studies Field Trip
to the
American University in Cairo, Egypt
April 21-25, 2007
A group of five students was selected competitively from among those minoring in American Studies to participate in a field trip to a regional American Studies Center. Originally the Center for American Studies and Research (CASAR) at the American University of Beirut was chosen, but because of political tensions and potential disturbances, the American University in Cairo (AUC) was selected and Dr. Jerry Leach, the newly appointed director kindly arranged a program for the University of Bahrain (UOB) students. The five students chosen (on the basis of transcript and essay) were Mariam Al-Khawaja, Marwa Hijji, Kawthar Al-Arab, Yara Talal, and Mohammed Majed, accompanied by Dr. John Hillis, Director of the American Studies Center at UOB.
Among activities the group participated in during their three days at the American University of Cairo were
an orientation session with Dr. Leach
campus tour
individual meeting with Dr. Tim Sullivan, Provost
individual meeting with Dr. Ann Lesch, Dean of the College of Social Sciences
individual meetings with other professors
International Day festivities
interactive class session
documentary screening of “Capitol Crimes” by Bill Moyers
lecture on the state of American newspapers by Steven Franklin of the Chicago Tribune
video-conference discussion with students at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois
In addition, the students gave a Power Point presentation of the program and activities of the American Studies Center at UOB which generated interesting discussion and questions from the audience.
In the orientation session given by Dr. Leach on the first morning, the differences between the American Studies program at the University of Bahrain and that of the American University in Cairo became clear. As an essentially American institution (all English language instruction following a typical American university curriculum and taught by a fairly even division of American and non-American—predominantly Egyptian—professors), all AUC students are engaged to some extent in American studies. A core course taught by Dr. Leach covering American history, government, religion, economy, culture, etc., is required of all students who are thus all exposed to an introduction to American Studies. Consequently, there is less motivation for students to enroll in the American Studies minor which, in any case, consists of a minimum of five courses, in contrast to the ten required at UOB. As a result, the American Studies program at AUC concentrates largely on public lectures, documentary screenings, conferences, and the like.
For the UOB students, highlights of the trip were opportunities to engage students in discussion about their educational experience, especially following attendance at a required philosophy class taught by visiting Fulbright professor Lisa Portmess, and participation in a video-conference discussion with Illinois State University (ISU) students, arranged as part of an AUC history course taught by Professor Mike Lattanzi. The topic of the discussion was “Is Hezbollah a terrorist organization?” Although the UOB students attended as guests of the class and had no preparation for the discussion, they were invited to participate and took full advantage of the opportunity. Enthusiastic response from ISU Professor Stewart Winger (formerly at AUC) came in the form of email several days later:
It is always hard to know what effect teaching has, but from our little debriefing, the effect here was in some cases profound. For our students, most of whom will be high school history and social science teachers and most of whom have never had a passport, this little exercise was eye opening. Our students have little idea that people elsewhere in the world are very much people like they are. Many of their comments suggested that they were particularly impacted by the chance to talk with people from the Middle East who were THEIR OWN AGE. Several of them expressed interest in study abroad coming out of the session. Even this narrow little window let in a lot of light.
Professor Winger further suggested the possibility of a video-conference with UOB students in the coming academic year as well as the prospect of team-teaching a course. In addition, the possibility of arranging a video-conference with AUC was recommended. These opportunities were perhaps the most beneficial results of the field trip and will have the most lasting effects as the UOB American Studies Center plans for future video-conferences. In addition, trips to other regional American Studies Centers are envisioned as well as visits from such centers.
A presentation of the Field Trip is to be made in the UOB American Studies Center on May 14, 2007 at 11:00 a.m.
Contact the American Studies Center
(973) 17438746
