Jordan Times
Friday, December 10, 2004
12 American undergraduates
spend fall semester in Jordan
By Jumana Bississo
AMMAN — It is not an everyday occurrence for college students to take an active
role in better understanding the social, political, economic and cultural ins
and outs of a nation far removed from their own.
But for 12 American undergraduate students taking part in the School for
International Training's (SIT) Study Abroad programme, that is exactly what they
had the opportunity to do.
Working with an academic director under the theme “Jordan: Modernisation and
Social Change,” the group of juniors and seniors, who came together from various
universities across the US, spent their fall semester immersed in the Kingdom's
way of life in order to formulate a comprehensive, research-based paper and
presentation covering various topics related to the Kingdom's modern history and
development.
Researching a vast array of topics from the issue of Iraqis who took refuge in
Jordan — captured through a photojournalistic take — to the role of art in
critically analysing culture, the students were able to get to the heart of the
matter.
“There is only so much you learn through books. We were able to experience
firsthand what we could only typically read about,” said Ryan, an articulate
junior at Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, and the only male in the group,
who did his research on the training of Iraqi police and its implications.
“This definitely was a labour of love... you learn a lot by conducting research
the traditional way,” he added.
“The course provides a means of understanding culture and observing development
as well as attaining personal growth and co-operative learning focusing on
field-based ethnographic studies,” explained Norma Nemeh, academic director of
SIT's Jordan branch.
“Each student has something important to contribute, and as expected some do
better than others,” Nemeh added.
Each of the students was assigned a local expert to help guide their research
and discover whether their initial perceptions matched the reality.
“I found that there isn't a public dialogue about the peace process... or the
establishment of a confederation between Palestinians and Jordanians,” said
Rebecca, a senior studying international relations at the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, who researched the status of Palestinians in Jordan.
“I was surprised to hear of the role the US needs to play in attaining peace
because although the general consensus was that the US is very biased and unfair
[towards Palestinians] and many don't trust the US, at the same time there is
this feeling that nothing can be done without US intervention,” she explained.
Sarah, who wrote about the establishment of the first knowledge station in
Safawi in the Eastern Badia, is a senior majoring in Middle Eastern studies at
George Washington University in Washington DC. She observed other realities.
“The Safawi centre shows how Jordan is on the path towards development and
economic autonomy. I expected to find bureaucratic problems that would hinder
the centre's development but people were very excited to have technology at
their fingertips,” she said.
“But I believe the indirect goals of such a programme gave women more of a role
in the society in terms of providing an increased freedom of movement for the
women and the opportunity for gender-mixing, which did not really exist before,”
she added.
Katie, a senior at Boston University's school of communication, who is majoring
in photojournalism, revealed her research in a stunning collection of
photographs of Iraqi refugees.
The students had a rigorous schedule set out for them when they arrived in the
Kingdom on Aug. 31.
The programme, which counts for 16 college credits, is divided into four main
components: A one-week rural homestay with a Jordanian family; a field-study
seminar to teach the students how to conduct fieldwork and cross-cultural
communication; a thematic seminar to help the students prepare for the
independent study project (ISP) by bringing to light the political, social and
economic realities of the Kingdom through the help of local experts; and the ISP
which consists of the research paper and minute oral presentation.
Arabic classes were also mandatory during the semester stay.