Dr. Kim Jarvis, assistant professor of history at Doane College, is one of 14 people nationwide selected to participate in the 2009 Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad Program called "Middle East Neighbors," which includes travel and activities in Oman and Jordan from June 17-July 25.
The Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad Program provides opportunities for overseas experience to educators and administrators with responsibilities for curriculum development in fields related to humanities, languages, and area studies.
Topics and host countries vary each year. Each seminar provides a broad and introductory cultural orientation to a particular country.
Jarvis will have the chance to meet with journalists, government officials, economists, activists, entrepreneurs, and educators. She will be educated on a variety of views concerning differing realities and approaches to such issues as the role of women, balancing continuity and change, economic and educational reform, the management and exploitation of natural resources, environmental preservation, conflict and refugees, and regional and international relations, including those with the United States.
Islam and its role in society will also be addressed.
According to Jarvis, the knowledge she returns with will be valuable to Doane and its students.
Doane consistently seeks ways to expand its international programming offerings, in part to better serve students who come from rural areas. Recent examples include a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation used, in part, to create culture classes (given in English) about Latin America and the Middle East. The grant also allowed training for Doane's first Director of International Programs.
Jarvis will be able to share knowledge gained on the trip in her classes and advising sessions with students interested in studying in the Middle East.
"My actual experience in Jordan and Oman will place my students and community audiences only one step away from an otherwise mysterious and misunderstood region of the world," Jarvis said.
Jarvis' courses at Doane include the history course "The United States and the Middle East" and an Islamic culture course in the Doane Honors Program. The upcoming time in Jordan and Oman will help her design new courses, possibly on women in the Middle East.
On Doane's Lincoln campus, Jarvis teaches current K-12 teachers who are seeking a master's degree in education . Her course "Teaching About the History and Culture of the Middle East" directly impacts their ability to interpret this region of the world to children and parents in their communities.
"The results (of the Fulbright-Hays Seminar) will have ripple effects that extend beyond my department and the academic setting itself," she said.
While in Jordan and Oman, participants will visit key archaeological sites. Arranged cultural events will provide participants with the broadest possible exposure to contemporary society.Each participant will spend at least one day with a family to learn first-hand about aspects of everyday life and culture and exchange personal views and experiences. They will also attend events that enable interaction with Jordanian and Omani colleagues.
More information on the program can be found at http://www.ed.gov/programs/iegpssap/postsecseminars.html#jo .