Sunday, Jun 13, 2010
by Meaghan Haugh
Rider University welcomes Professor Ekhlas Mohsin, a former Fulbright Fellow from Kufa University in Najaf, Iraq, who will teach a unique Summer Session II course entitled GLS 295: The History, Culture and Media of Iraq. The course will begin on Wednesday, July 7, and meet in the Fine Arts Building on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:30 to 9: 30 p.m. for the duration of Summer Session II.
The former head of Intercultural Affairs at Kufa, Mohsin is already a somewhat familiar figure to a number of Rider students through her role in The Student Global Village® course, in which students on the Lawrenceville campus interact with their counterparts from Kufa, 6,000 miles away, via a videoconferencing link. Each group is led by a facilitator, such as Mohsin, but the conversation is virtually free-form, with students wanting to know how the others view a host of subjects as serious as American-Iraqi relations to as whimsical as their fast-food of choice.
“It’s an attempt to create a campus climate open to discussion about difficult themes, while empowering students with the knowledge that governments are not the only means of creating linkages, or even making peace, among different people,” said Dr. Roberta Fiske-Rusciano of the Department of Global and Multinational Studies, who facilitated the videoconference on Rider’s end.
Dr. Frank Louis Rusciano, professor of Political Science, sees this new History, Culture and Media of Iraq course, taught by Mohsin, as a way of extending that connection, as well as further globalizing the curriculum at Rider. He heartily encourages students, faculty and staff to register. “We encourage anyone interested to sign up, as we are very pleased and privileged to have her visiting here,” said Rusciano of Mohsin, who teaches English at Kufa. “It’s an amazing educational opportunity from a fascinating visiting scholar.”
For more information, please contact Dr. Roberta Fiske-Rusciano at ext. 5761.