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Year of Middle East & North Africa (2019-2020)

Purpose

Ramapo College of New Jersey launched a Strategic Plan for Comprehensive Internationalization in Fall 2015. In addition to specific targets, each academic year will also have a specific region of focus. Through these regional foci, our goal is to increase global awareness and the multitude of opportunities and initiatives the College is involved. Below, you will find specific details about some of these initiatives, plus an extensive calendar of events.


Opportunities for Students

International Program Opportunities in the Middle East & North Africa

Featured Programs in the Middle East & North Africa: 

[New Programs Coming Soon]

Study Abroad Scholarship for the Middle East & North Africa
(other scholarships can be found here: https://www.ramapo.edu/study-abroad/scholarships/)

Fall 2019 Course options with a focus on the Middle East & North Africa:

AFST 202 – Introduction to African Studies – Description here

ARAB 101 – Foundations of Arabic I – Description here

ENST 209 – World Sustainability – Description here

INTL 214 – Islam, Politics & International Relations – Description here

LAWS 201 – Global Legal Order – Description here

LAWS 329 – Law and Globalization – Description here

SOCI 250 – International Migration and Human Rights – Description here

You may also view the 2019-2020 course catalog

Spring 2020 Course options with a focus on the Middle East & North Africa:

ARAB 102 – Foundations of Arabic II – Description here

HIST 289 – Islamic Art and Architecture – Description here

[More Coming Soon]

You may also view the 2019-2020 course catalog

Related LANGUAGE HAPPY HOURS (all take place in ASB123, unless otherwise noted):

French: (Dates/Times Coming Soon)

Arabic: (Dates/Times Coming Soon)

The following is a list of student clubs of potential interest:

Culture Club

Diversity Action Committee Student Club

Enactus

French Club

Hillel

History Club

International Student Organization (ISO)

Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship

Model U.N. Club

Muslim Student Association

Newman Catholic Group

Nursing Student Organization

Social Work Club

Veterans Student Organization (VSO)


Opportunities for Faculty

Site visits

(organized visits in either groups or as an individual, to partner institutions with subsidized expenses. The following links below provide you with details on available group visits and how to apply.) 

[Coming Soon]

*If Faculty are interested in visiting any of our overseas partners,please contact the Roukema
Center for International Education and the Director can help coordinate this for you.

Faculty Development Seminars

faculty-only seminars on specific topics held overseas

Integrating Experiential Learning into Faculty-Led Programs Abroad
Amman, Jordan
January 5-14, 2020
Using Jordan as a case study, examine best practices in experiential learning for study abroad programs and build skills to ensure effective curriculum integration, design impactful programs, and navigate common challenges. Learn first-hand about SIT’s approach to field-based learning and consider how experiential pedagogy can enhance students’ experiences on faculty-led programs abroad. More details at SIT Faculty Seminars Abroad website or by e-mailing facultyseminars@sit.edu. Organized by SIT Study Abroad.


Book Club

The George T. Potter Library will be hosting a book club with a focus on the Middle East & North Africa.

Fall Semester Book: Girls of Riyadh

Author: Rajaa Alsanea

Description (paraphrased from back cover): Girls of Riyadh follows the lives of four upper-class young women in Riyadh: Gamrah, Michelle, Sadeem and Lamees as they negotiate their love lives; their professional successes; their rebellions and ultimately their place–somewhere in between contemporary Western society and their Islamic home.

Discussion Dates, Locations and Section Selections:

    • Thu, October 17, 1:10-2:00pm, Potter Library, Chapters 1-19 (pgs. 1-119)
    • Thu, November 14, 1:10-2:00pm, Potter Library, Chapters 20-38 (pgs. 120-212)
    • Thu, December 5, 1:10-2:00pm, Potter Library, Chapters 39-end (pgs. 213-281)

The first 15 students to sign up at the Potter Library Circulation Desk will receive a free copy of the novel. Contact Sam Wittenberg (switten1@ramapo.edu) and Hilary Westgate (hwestgat@ramapo.edu) to join and for additional information. Refreshments will be served.

Hosted by the George T. Potter Library; Sponsored by the Roukema Center for International Education.

Spring Semester Book: The Map of Salt and Stars

Author: Zeyn Joukhadar

Description: The Map of Salt and Stars is the story of Nour, a Syrian American girl reeling from the recent loss of her beloved Baba (father) to cancer. After returning to Syria before the war breaks out, Nour and her family then must flee across the Middle East and North Africa in a desperate and dangerous search for safety. Her journey intertwines with the story of Rawiya and the legendary mapmaker al-Idrisi who made the same journey nine hundred years before in their quest to map the world. This rich, moving, compelling, and lyrical debut novel is the first to bring the headlines about the Syrian crisis to life, placing our current moment in the sweep of history.

Discussion Dates, Locations and Section Selections:

    • Thu, February 20, 1:10 – 2:00pm, Library Conference Room #212, (pgs. 1-146)
    • Thu, March 26, 1:10 – 2:00pm, Library Conference Room #212, (pgs. 147-257)
    • Thu, April 23, 1:10 – 2:00pm, Library Conference Room #212, (pgs. 258-352)

The first 15 students to sign up at the Potter Library Circulation Desk will receive a free copy of the novel. Contact Sam Wittenberg (switten1@ramapo.edu) and Hilary Westgate (hwestgat@ramapo.edu) to join and for additional information. Refreshments will be served.

Hosted by the George T. Potter Library; Sponsored by the Roukema Center for International Education.


Calendar of Events

September 2019
Sep. 25
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

October 2019
Oct. 02
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

Oct. 09
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

Oct. 16
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

Oct. 23
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

Oct. 24
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

A talk by Dr. Taieb Belghazi, Academic Director of the SIT Study Abroad Program – Morocco: Multiculturalism and Human Rights

Taieb BelghaziTaieb earned his PhD in 1993 from the Centre for Critical and Cultural Theory at Cardiff University, where he was a Chevening scholar. He held a Fulbright postdoctoral scholarship at Duke University and was a member of the UNESCO-sponsored International Panel on Reading for All. He was director of the Centre for Doctoral Studies: The Human and Space in the Mediterranean, and professor of cultural studies and history of the present at the Faculty of Letters in Rabat. He has been visiting professor at universities including Duke; the University of California, Irvine; and the Ferguson Centre for African Studies and Asian Studies at the Open University, England.

Taeb has consulted for projects including the Diaspora as a Social and Cultural Practice and the UNESCO project on reconceptualizing Mediterranean dialogues. He is a member of the editorial boards of Time and Society (England), Current Writing (South Africa), and Al Azmina Al Haditha (Morocco). He has researched and published on the politics of recent uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East and on experiential learning. His publications include Time and Postmodernism; Dialogues Khatibi Weber (editor); and International Education and Global Justice: Rethinking the Politics of Sustainability (co-editor with Said Graiouid).

This event has a video call.
Join: https://meet.google.com/jdt-rbki-xis
+1 413-853-0118 PIN: 601412858#

Oct. 30
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

November 2019
Nov. 06
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

Nov. 13
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

Nov. 14
01:10 pm - 02:00 pm

Year of Middle East & North Africa Book Club
‘Girls of Riyadh’ Pages 120-212

Nov. 20
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

Nov. 21
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

December 2019
Dec. 05
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

[ASB-123]
Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!
For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.

Dec. 05
01:10 pm - 02:00 pm

Year of Middle East & North Africa Book Club
‘Girls of Riyadh’ Pages 213-281

Dec. 05
06:00 pm - 08:00 pm

The beauty of the world lies in its diversity. Join us to learn how and what people from Italy, Taiwan and Morocco celebrate. Food will be served. Email rberling@ramapo.edu for information.

Dec. 09
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

 Diversity is an aspect of human existence. For this reason, it is something that we should cherish and celebrate daily. Join us to learn about how diversity is perceived in Morocco and Egypt and what ordinary people do to celebrate difference. Cultural items from both countries will be displayed and free North-African Middle Eastern food will be served. Email ssafhi@ramapo.edu for information.

Dec. 12
12:00 pm - 01:00 pm

Would you like to learn and practice your Arabic language skills? The Roukema Center for International Education offers Arabic Language Happy Hour every Wednesday from 12-1pm in ASB-123. All levels are welcome. Come join us!For more information, please email goabroad@ramapo.edu or call ext. 7533.


For more information, please contact the Roukema Center for International Education in ASB-123, by calling x7533 or e-mailing international@ramapo.edu.