Iran and Beyond

 

TCNJ has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) to fund the project, Iran and Beyond: Strengthening the International Studies and Foreign Language Curriculum in Middle Eastern and Central Eurasian Studies. The project was designed and is directed by Jo-Ann Gross, Professor of History and Deborah Hutton, Associate Professor of Art History. The two-year project, which begins in Fall 2008, strengthens three interrelated components of international studies – foreign language, curriculum development, and study abroad—through a series of interdisciplinary initiatives. These initiatives focus on two critical world regions in the International Studies Program: Middle Eastern Studies and Central Eurasian Studies, and on two critical languages: Arabic and Persian. As part of the project, TCNJ will expand the modern language program in Arabic to include additional instruction at the advanced level. The College will also implement a two-year language program beginning in Fall 2008 in Persian through an innovative arrangement with Rutgers University Center for Middle Eastern Studies that makes use of Internet2technology. The grant also will expand the curriculum in Middle Eastern and Central Eurasian Studies. A series of faculty development workshops led by scholars in the fields of Iranian and Central Eurasian Studies will be held over the two years. A group of faculty from the School of Culture and Society, the School of the Arts and Communication, and the School of Business, will attend these workshops, and out of those experiences, they will develop 18 new courses. Two new study abroad/exchange programs are being developed in conjunction with the program: one in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and one in Istanbul, Turkey. Additionally, a special seminar on Central Asia will be offered in spring 2010, and the seminar will be linked to a 3-week student-faculty study tour in May 2010 to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Finally, the project will involve a special campus-wide cultural event held each year to broaden awareness and appreciation of the arts and literature of these regions. The two featured speakers at the fall 2008 faculty workshops are Parvaneh Pourshariati, Department of Near Eastern Langauges and Cultures, Ohio State University, who will speak on “The Idea of Iran,” and Hussein Kamaly, Department of Middle Eastern and Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University, who will speak on “Iran and Shi’a Islam.”

 

For more information please contact Dr. JoAnn Gross