| |
|
Bureau
of Educational and Cultural Affairs
 ECA
NEWS
Home >
ECA News >
NEWS ARCHIVE - 2006Home >
ECA News
Students from the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia Convene
at PLUS Program Enrichment Seminar in Washington, DC
| 
PLUS students from Morocco, India, and Yemen meet for the U.S.
Department of State luncheon. |
The Partnerships for Learning (PLUS)Program Enrichment Seminar, held January 26-29, 2006, in Washington
D.C., gathered 168 students from the Middle East, North Africa, and
South Asia, who are completing their undergraduate degrees on college
and university campuses across the United States. This unprecedented
event incorporated a series of sessions on leadership development, diversity,
and public diplomacy. Thomas A. Farrell, Deputy Assistant Secretary
of State for Academic Programs, and special speakers, Ambassador Edward
Gnehm, and Adil Embarch, Economic Counselor in the Embassy of Morroco,
welcomed the students. Professors from several prestigious U.S. universities
also gave presentations. Seated amongst their peers, the students shared
their experiences and their views on American education and culture,
English proficiency, and the new opportunities available to them in
their home regions.
| 
PLUS students from Morocco and Syria display their traditional
dress at the cultural fair.
|
In addition to the lecture and discussion sessions, the U.S. Department
of State and its partner organization, the Academy for Educational Development
(AED), organized a night tour of Washington DC, a cultural fair, an
award ceremony, and a professional development workshop for the PLUS
students. Not only did the students express their gratitude for the
experience in the United States, but they also displayed an eagerness
to relate their stories to friends and family in their home countries.
A PLUS student from Egypt attending Grinnell College, said, "So
far from my experience with the PLUS program, I discovered that we came
here to learn not only about the American culture but also about ourselves.
I learned that even though we all belong to the Arab World, and most
of us speak one language, still we have different cultures and different
situations in our countries that one has to have had first hand experience
about them.” He added, “Being a PLUS student, one has the privilege
to have experienced the situation in my home country, to have been out
of Egypt for a long enough period to look at that situation from an
outsider's perspective and think about a vision for my people and my
country."
Back to the top
|
