Near and Middle Eastern Studies Commons^™

Building A Society Of Trust: Innovation And The Future Of Youth Employment In Jordan, Pierre Cativiela

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The word startup is perhaps an unlikely word that comes to mind when discussing shifting dynamics in the Middle East – this is rapidly changing. In the past two decades, Arab entrepreneurs have emerged from across the region as key players in the paradigm of national economic visions. Within these plans, innovation will become the epicenter for public-private partnerships. Such collaboration will contribute to tackling youth unemployment, the region’s most pressing contemporary problem, as well as diversifying local economies. The research delves into the complexities and history of entrepreneurship in Jordan as one of the region’s pioneering nations, examining the …

Diary Of An Afghan Woman Collection - September 2021

TSOS Interview Gallery

Four women share with us their daily lives in Afghanistan. Join them as they express their love for the country, the people, and each other; and as they share with you their deepest fears and most intimate moments.

They refuse to be silenced as they journey through this new, uncharted chapter in Afghanistan's history.

We at TSOS are honored to provide a platform for their voices to be heard. We will post entries as we receive them. For safety purposes, names have been changed and only avatars (designed with input from each woman) will be used.

ZOYA

Zoya is a …

Shurooq, Shurooq, Brandi Kilmer, Sherianne Schow, Nicole Taylor, Sasha Sloan

TSOS Interview Gallery

Shurooq fled Iraq and came to the United States when she was 12. Iraq was a beautiful place full of family and celebration. Her brother passed away from leukemia 1 1/2 years prior to coming to the States. Prior to his death, their father took him to Syria to for treatment. He passed in Syria. Although the family had applied for a medical visa to the United States, upon Shurooq’s brother’s passing, they received threats and knew they could not stay. The call came for the visa and all but her mother were able to come. Thankfully her mother arrived …

Ziba, Ziba, Sherianne Schow, Brandi Kilmer, Heather Oman

TSOS Interview Gallery

Ziba, a promising medical student, fled Afghanistan in 2018 due to instability and for her safety. Life was difficult upon arrival in the United States. In Afghanistan Ziba was involved in national and international poetry, math and science competitions. Ziba went from having everything to starting completely over in a new country. Her anxiety and depression became extremely difficult to deal with She reminded herself who she was, what her passions were and in January 2019 started medical school while working part time as a cashier. Her hope for future arriving refugees is to have a mental health network established …

2020 Children's Story Cards, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Arif: "I like being in school again."

Norina: "We laugh a lot but I also worry."

Nooda: "I came on a boat. It was a big boat!"

Madina: "I just want to live in a safe place..."

Shurangez: "Sometimes we didn't feel safe at school."

Alex: "I'm from Nigeria. Coming to Italy was very difficult-very, very difficult, a real struggle."

Danial: "I want to be a useful person and follow my dreams."

Firoz: "I am 13 years old and I am worried about my family."

Ali: "Ali lived in Afghanistan. One day while walking to school a bomb exploded near …

Moroccan Society’S Educational And Cultural Losses During The Years Of Lead (1956-1999), Brahim El Guabli

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

In this article, I argue that political repression during the Moroccan Years of Lead (1956-1999) engendered myriad losses in the fields of education and culture. However, the scholarly focus on the embodied effects of state violence on former prisoners and forcibly disappeared individuals has overlooked the intangible damages both education and culture sustained during this period. In investigating the imbrication of political conservatism, educational reform and censorship, the article opens a more critical space for the conceptualization of the broader implications of the Years of Lead for education and culture. Drawing on several primary sources in Arabic and French, including …

Education For Peace-Building And Preventing Extremism, Paul Haidostian

The Journal of Social Encounters

In this essay, I reflect on my life story as an Armenian-Lebanese, and analyze my experiences with war and peace in terms of the Armenian Genocide, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and Lebanon’s civil war. In light of these experiences, I concluded that the message and example of peace, which I had learned at home, church, and school, were in severe contrast with each other, and difficult to reconcile. During the earlier periods in my life, I knew that providentially my disappointment was with human nature, and that the frame of peace had to be larger, and its reach had to be …

Women’S Divorce Rights In Jordan: Legal Rights And Cultural Challenges, Helen David

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research aims to examine women’s divorce rights in Jordan examining the topic both through their legal rights as well as through the cultural challenges and stigma that divorced women face. The research is focused specifically on the rights of Muslim women, who have to file for divorce through the Shari’a court system, in Jordan that are Jordanian nationals. The literature used in the research provides background insight into Jordan’s tribal system, family law in Jordan, and psychological theories that relate to group therapy and self-efficacy in divorced women. The researcher hypothesizes that despite the many socio-economic and legal reasons …

An Examination Of Perception Gaps In Educational Access For Syrian Refugees In Amman, Ramya Prabhakar

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research aims to explore the underlying reasons of educational access gaps of Syrian students in host communities in Amman, Jordan and the effectiveness of the Government of Jordan and international organizations in addressing these gaps. Through interviews, surveys, and a literature review, the researcher explores current perceptions of educational access, gender-based access gaps, and barriers to education at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. This research draws on the concepts of supply and demand and cost/benefit analysis to analyze why so many Syrian students do not attend school. The researcher hypothesizes that perceptions of access and barriers diverge as …

Education: Developing Self Reliance For Female Syrian Refugees In Host Communities, Mathilde Geannopulos

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Syrian refugee crisis has displaced millions of Syrians, leaving them without homes, resources, or any means of re-establishing self reliance. Given the immediate need for survival, education has become a luxury for many families. Issues of accessibility, quality, and societal resentment from Jordanians avert Syrians from seeking an education. This inhibits female children from productively developing their intellectuality and culminates in being susceptible to detrimental practices, like child marriage.

This study looks at the reason for low enrollment rates of Syrian female refugee children into the Jordanian education system. The research specifically interviews daughters and their guardians about their …

Layla, Layla, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Layla left Ethiopia 10 years ago to look for work opportunities. She left behind a father and three brothers. She went to Syria on a three-year work contract. She worked in a house and learned Arabic. She then went to Turkey by boat and then went on to Greece for 5 years. She worked and learned the Greek language. When she became pregnant she had to stop working. She travelled to Serbia to Macedonia to Austria all on foot. Then the Red Cross moved Layla and her daughter to Giessen, Germany where a roommate periodically beat her baby. Seeking safety …

Katja, Ketevahi 'Katje', Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Ketevahi “Katja” is from Georgia. She’s in her late 40’s. She grew up on a farm in the country and became the financial support for her family after her mother died and her father became “emaciated.” When Putin came to power, diplomatic ties deteriorated between Georgia and Russia, which eventually led to war. She fled her country using forged documents and first worked in Turkey but has now lived in Naples for nine years and regularly sends money home to her brother, who cares for their father.

Katja expresses her feelings about war, government, liberty, and what it means to …

Leonard Bagalwa, Leonard Bagalwa, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Leonard was forced to join the military at the age of 17 in his home country of the Congo. A Catholic priest smuggled me out of the country and I lived in refugee camps in several different countries until 2004 when he came to the United States.

In 2005, a couple came to Leonard when he was homeless in the Provo library. They found out that he needed help and offered to let me live with them. They ended up paying my tuition for my education and I went to college for five years.

Leonard uses his experiences to teach …

Madina, Madina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Madina is from Afghanistan where she had a good life as a hairdresser. She loved her business and was very well off. She faced a great deal of opposition and persecution since she was a woman who owned a business. She faced violence and threats often. Eventually they were forced to sell their possessions and flee with the help of traffickers and had a dangerous and painful journey. Multiple times they were turned away at borders in Greece, Turkey, and Iran. Madina now lives in Oinofyta refugee camp with her husband and 6 children. Her husband has a disability due …

Sangar & Nasira, Sangar, Nasira, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Sangar and his family are from Iran but are originally Turkish. In Iran they faced a psychological war and many problems that stemmed from discrimination. He points out how many are oppressed or discriminated against, but he and his family were singled out for their ethnicity. There was no hope for a bright future, and they decided to flee the country for the benefit of their children.

They fled to Greece through Turkey and had many issues with human traffickers, robbery, a treacherous journey across the sea, and problems in Moria refugee camp where his wife couldn’t get the care …

Bahar And Zarrin, Bahar, Zarrin, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Bahar and Zarrin are friends living in Oinofyta Refugee Camp. They are both from Afghanistan but fled very different circumstances. Bahar lived in Iran with her husband until he passed, and she was rejected by her family. As a single woman she faced a life with little rights. Despite major health complications she fled to Greece in a boat. She now lives in the camp, struggling with repeated hospitalizations.

Zarrin left a life of comfort and privilege in Afghanistan and misses home greatly. Her husband was a wealthy businessman and Zarrin taught school. Thinking back on what they lost causes …

Kamaria Bakes, Kamaria, Twila Bird, Lindsay Silsby, Yasmine Kataw, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Amina is from Aleppo, where she was a math teacher. She is married with four boys. Her family fled to Turkey from Syria after losing their home in the war. Amina and her youngest son then sailed on an inflatable boat to Greece. Using cars, buses, and trains, they traveled from Greece to Macedonia, then on through Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria before finally arriving in Germany. They stayed for two months in Camp Hamburg before being transferred for a short time to Lemberg. Lemberg was followed by another camp for three and a half months and then to Eisenberg …

Hamed, Hamed, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Hamed and his family are from Afghanistan where he worked as a diplomat and interpreter for the U.S. Army after having studied international relations and diplomacy. As the situation with the Taliban worsened it became too dangerous for Hamed and his family to stay in Afghanistan. They began the difficult journey with the help of smugglers, first to Iran, then Turkey, and then to Greece in a dangerous, overfilled boat.

Hamed explains the despair and frustration faced by many refugees. They feel as though very little is actually done for refugees once they’re admitted, and explains they need more assistance. …

Bahram & Camila, Bahram, Camila, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Bahram tells the story of the Afghanistan's 1992 government collapse and subsequent civil wars that destroyed the city of Kabul. "There was war in every alley, every house, every area and every village. 60,000 people were killed." Their family emigrated to Pakistan and after living there for some time, some relatives of a friend from their village travelled to Pakistan and required lodging so they stayed with Bahram's family. In some developing and under-developed countries, the custom of arranged marriage to child and infant daughters is practiced. These house guests demanded their one-year-old daughter be given in marriage to a …

Educating Global Citizens: Moroccan University Students’ Global Awareness And Perceptions, Julia Ohanyan

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Globalization has affected the world in many ways: socially, economically, and culturally. It has also affected the education system as well as the daily life of individuals across the world, including the Kingdom of Morocco in North Africa. This paper will explore the success of a globally focused education in the Moroccan context, as well as, analyze the affect that globalization has had among the Moroccan youth, specifically university students. Additionally, how aware are the students of the current events that are unfolding in our global community. How has globalization affected their preferences and their perceptions towards global issues and …

Salman, Salman, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Salman and his family are from Afghanistan, where he worked as a doctor. He worked for fifteen years for a mining institute, and before that he worked in various hospitals with Americans and Germans for another combined 15 years. The family ran into problems with the Taliban, who threatened violence if he didn’t close his drugstore. During that same time, his son witnessed a suicide bombing at his school. Their daughter was forced to abandon her education when the Taliban poisoned the water at her school. They fled in attempts to live a normal life again and escape the threats …

Faroosh And Elina, Faroosh, Elina, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Faroosh was a cameraman for a private television program in Afghanistan working on a documentary about the Taliban. When he and his crew were discovered, the Taliban attacked them and he and his wife fled to Turkey, walking 12 hours to get there. Upon arrival the police arrested and harassed them. Turkey was not a safe place. After several suicide bombings in the area, they decided to move on to Greece, where they are in a refugee camp without any progress in their situation. They have no money to move forward and no ability to work and the economic situation …

Fawad And Zakeela, Fawad, Zakeela, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

Fawad and his wife, Zakeela, have three children. Zakeela was a beautician, and Fawad was a singer in the Baghlan district in Afghanistan. The music he produced was not in accordance with the strict restrictions of the Taliban. They threatened his life and assaulted him many times, so he decided to leave with his family to Kabul. Fawad’s day job was as an FM radio producer; at night, he moonlighted as a singer and musician. He produced music for ceremonies and weddings, often performing for the women’s part, which the Taliban did not accept. Eventually, his life was again threatened, …

Aarash, Aarash, Tsos

TSOS Interview Gallery

As an anti-corruption journalist in Afghanistan, Aarash’s family’s life was threatened by warlords. His car was shot at, their guesthouse was bombed, and later when they were threatened at gunpoint, they tried to make a new life in India. But in India, they discovered difficulties in obtaining permanent visas so they had return to Kabul where they hid at a friend’s house for 20 days while obtaining documentation to flee to Turkey. Once in Turkey, they learned that Afghan registries had been closed since 2010. They determined that they needed to either apply for asylum in Turkey or leave for …

From Text To Context: Literacy Practices Of Native Speakers Of Arabic In Arabic And English, Ghada Gherwash

Open Access Dissertations

Previous studies that looked at the written product of native speakers of Arabic in their second language (L2), English, have identified traces of Arabic rhetoric (L1), mainly Classical Arabic, in their writing (e.g., Atari, 1983; Kaplan, 1966; Ostler, 1987). These studies focused primarily on the L2-written texts, where the written product is used to make inferences about the rhetorical structures of the writers’ L1. The results from these studies portrayed the native-Arab writer’s text as highly influenced by Classical Arabic. This was evidenced by “foreign” rhetorical structures that Arab writers employ when producing texts in their L2 that are considered …

Peace Building Through Education Reforms Case Study: Objectives And Philosophy Of Jordanian Educational System, Megan Mckeown

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

In the field of peacebuilding, education reform is the most tangible way to propel forward and build positive change. Access to schooling is not the only factor that will eradicate structural violence and inequality in our world. This can be seen with violence and inequality increasing even though educational enrollment has reached upwards of 90% in developing areas. We must begin a movement to learn from educational systems already in place, to pinpoint their strengths and expand on them, discover possible themes to change, and suggest diverse avenues to overcome obstacles for achieving social justice and peace. The ensuing research …

Gauging The Gender Divide In The Middle East’S Educational System: Causes, Concerns, And The Impetus For Change, Nadia B. Ahmad

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Teachers' Perceptions Toward Implementing English As A Foreign Language At Kindergarten: What Can We Learn From The Case Of Kuwaiti Kindergarten Teachers?, Kawthar M. Habeeb

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The teaching of English as a foreign language has a promising outlook in the nation of Kuwait. Recent policy reflects language development theories that see early childhood as an especially good period for the learning of a foreign language. Thus, English is now taught at 30 public kindergartens in Kuwait. However, the program apparently was implemented quickly, with little consideration for how teachers and other stakeholders would respond to it. This paper explores that program in the context of the perceptions and views of teachers affected by it.

A review of the existing curriculum points towards deficiencies, and investigation of …

Bedouin Women In The Naqab, Israel: Ongoing Transformation, Marcy M. Wells

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Since its inception in 1948, the state of Israel has based development plans on an agenda of nation-building that has systematically excluded Palestinian Arab citizens such as the indigenous Bedouin. Policies of relocation, resettlement, and restructuring have been imposed on the Bedouin, forcing them from their ancestral lands and lifestyle in the Naqab (or Negev, as it is called in Hebrew) desert of southern Israel. The rapid and involuntary transition from self-sufficient, semi-nomadic, pastoral life to sedentarization and modernization has resulted in dependency on a state that treats the Bedouin as minority outsiders through unjust social, political, and economic structures. …

Women And The New International Economic Order, Karima Korayem

Faculty Book Chapters

The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of the New International Economic Order (NIEO) on women in the Arab World. We shall discuss this impact in two steps: First, the implications of the NIEO for the economies of the Arab countries. Second, and on the basis of that, the impact of the NIEO on the educational and employment profiles of Arab women. However, to find out what effect the NIEO will have on the educational and employment profiles of Arab women, one should first get acquainted with these profiles as they stand. Therefore, the paper will be …