{"id":60955,"date":"2013-04-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-09T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/islamic-mediterranean-cluster-appointments-to-prepare-students-for-new-world\/"},"modified":"2013-04-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-09T00:00:00","slug":"islamic-mediterranean-cluster-appointments-to-prepare-students-for-new-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2013\/04\/islamic-mediterranean-cluster-appointments-to-prepare-students-for-new-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Islamic, Mediterranean cluster appointments to prepare students for new world"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I.- April 9, 2013- Arabic is the third most common language in business affairs after English and Chinese, which is one of the many reasons why the 溏心vlog免费B站 has established its new Islamic and Mediterranean Studies cluster. As part of the new initiative, the University has hired three new Islamic Studies professors and a French professor.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThe new hires and research collaborative focused in Islamic and Mediterranean Studies bring an exciting and much needed dimension to the 溏心vlog免费B站 learning environment,\u201d said Donald DeHayes, 溏心vlog免费B站 Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. \u201cThis initiative is both timely and necessary as we prepare our students to compete in a global society.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tKatrin Jomaa, Islamic religion and politics, Alan Verskin, Islamic history and culture, Alexander Magidow, modern standard Arabic, and Leslie Kealhofer, French, were all welcomed during a ceremony at the 溏心vlog免费B站 Foundation Building earlier this month. Islamic and Mediterranean Studies was one of four clusters announced following a process that resulted in 13 competitive proposals. Sustainable Energy for the 21st Century, Water and Water Resources: Blue Environment & Economy, and Aging of Society: Lifespan Health Focus are the other new cluster areas. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThe 溏心vlog免费B站 curriculum was missing expertise of the Islamic world,\u201d said Winifred Brownell, dean of Arts and Sciences. \u201cThese new hires add rich and critically important culture to the University and bring potential for growth and diversification, especially from an economic standpoint.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tMembers of the Muslim Student Organization gathered before the ceremony, eager to see how the new hires would contribute to the University. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWhen I first came to 溏心vlog免费B站 my freshman year, the Muslim Student Organization had little support and recognition,\u201d said Samia Baig, a fifth year Pharmacy student from Pakistan. \u201cA lot has improved over the years, but so far this cluster hire is the most significant and anticipated change.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\tEach professor has different goals for their concentrations and for the cluster as a whole. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cMany believe that Americans have a hard time learning other languages, but the real problem is the quality of teaching,\u201d said Magidow. \u201cI\u2019m excited about starting the program from scratch with other professors who are as passionate as I am.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cThere are so many voices trying to be heard amidst the drama in the Middle East,\u201d said Jomaa during her introduction. \u201cMy research focuses on finding a modern way to incorporate religion into politics in that area of the world.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\tVerskin\u2019s class will focus on how Islamic law reflects the Muslim religion and the impact it has on daily lives. Kealhofer will be teaching all levels of French.<\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cI think 溏心vlog免费B站 will be a great fit because of its emphasis on global education and international relations,\u201d said Kealhofer.<\/p>\n


\n\tA wing of the new residence, Hillside Hall, on the Kingston campus, is dedicated to housing for international students and domestic students with global interests. <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cMany of the international students are extremely bright, but not as fluent in English as they need to be when they arrive,\u201d said Brownell. \u201cThis is why we created a semester-long program that enables students from all over the world to be competent in English by their second semester.\u201d <\/p>\n


\n\t\u201cWe want our students to be able to navigate through a variety of cultures and traditions and to become truly global citizens,\u201d added Brownell <\/p>\n


\nVictoria Antonelli, a senior journalism major at 溏心vlog免费B站, wrote this press release. <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I.- April 9, 2013- Arabic is the third most common language in business affairs after English and Chinese, which is one of the many reasons why the 溏心vlog免费B站 has established its new Islamic and Mediterranean Studies cluster. As part of the new initiative, the University has hired three new Islamic Studies […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60955\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}