The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ 2016 Rocky Mountain Model Arab League was held March 4-6 in Denver, Colorado.
Some pictures from the conference are available below.
Author Archives: NCUSAR
Founded in 1983, the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations (NCUSAR) is a non-profit, non-governmental, educational organization dedicated to improving American awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the Arab world.
U.S. Crude Oil Production 1973-2015
Summer 2016 Intensive Arabic Language Study Abroad Opportunities
Summer Intensive Language Program at The Arab-American Language Institute in Morocco
The National Council, in collaboration with The Arab-American Language Institute in Morocco (AALIM) for the summer of 2016, is pleased to announce a Summer Language Program in the Kingdom of Morocco. Students will spend six weeks in historic Meknes, Morocco taking part in intensive Arabic language instruction. Students at all levels of Arabic proficiency are encouraged to apply. The AALIM center is a host to a community of Arabic learners throughout the summer, providing for a fully immersive program. Those selected will also gain direct personal expertise in Moroccan culture, history, and society through a variety of day excursions, local outings, workshops, and demonstrations.
For more information, visit: http://ncusar.org/study-abroad/aalim
2016 AALIM Application (.pdf)
Students should submit completed applications to the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations. Applications are due by April 10, 2016.
Summer Institute for Intensive Arabic Language and Culture at the Lebanese American University
The Summer Institute for Intensive Arabic Language and Culture (SINARC) is a multi-faceted language and cultural immersion program that welcomes students from all over the world at the Lebanese American University (Beirut Campus). In business for over 17 years, SINARC has quickly become a top choice for Arabic language learners looking to not only improve their language skills but also to gain a true understanding of the cultural and social dynamics in the region. SINARC offers courses in Arabic language and culture at various levels of proficiency. Formal language instruction is enriched by immersion in an authentic cultural context. Cultural activities include weekly lectures on topics related to Arab and Lebanese politics, history, society, and culture. In addition, students partake in a series of excursions to historical, cultural and tourist sites throughout Lebanon.
For more information, visit: http://ncusar.org/study-abroad/lau
2016 LAU Application (.pdf)
Students should submit completed applications to the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations; students will be admitted on a rolling basis.
Intensive Arabic Language Programs at the Center for International Learning in Oman
The National Council is pleased to offer students an opportunity for intensive Arabic language study with our partner organization in Muscat, Oman, the Center for International Learning (CIL). Comprised of Americans and Omanis with PhD and Masters Degrees, the CIL faculty facilitates experiential education, cultural exchange, and comparative studies to deepen understanding, promote common interests, and explore the shared aspirations of people from different cultures. CIL offers all three levels of Modern Standard Arabic (beginner, intermediate, and advanced), as well as Omani dialect, media Arabic, and skills classes.
For more information, visit: http://ncusar.org/study-abroad/cil-oman
For more information:
If you have questions or need more information about any of the National Council’s summer language programs you can contact Kaylee Boalt, Director of Student Programs (kaylee(at)ncusar.org).
Dr. Khalid J. Al-Jaber Joins NCUSAR as Fellow
NATIONAL COUNCIL ON U.S.-ARAB RELATIONS WELCOMES DR. KHALID J. AL-JABER AS DISTINGUISHED INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS FELLOW
Al-Jaber Joins Collective of National Council Scholars Contributing Analysis on the Arab World and U.S.-Arab Relations
Washington, DC: The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations [ncusar.org], founded in 1983, is pleased to announce that Dr. Khalid J. Al-Jaber has been named a National Council Distinguished International Affairs Fellow.
In announcing the appointment, National Council Founding President and CEO Dr. John Duke Anthony said, “We are delighted to welcome Dr. Al-Jaber to this important position. His extensive experience as a journalist in Qatar and thoughtful and incisive academic scholarship on media in the Arab world, particularly in the Gulf, is necessary to the understanding of mass communication, public diplomacy, and news in and on the region. Dr. Al-Jaber will be a vital resource as the Council works to strengthen and expand its publications and bridge-building efforts.”
Al-Jaber is Editor-in-Chief of The Peninsula, Qatar’s leading English language daily newspaper. Previously, he served as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al Sharq (“The East”), the sister Arabic daily of The Peninsula. In addition, he is Principal at Global Media Consultants in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
Among his additional responsibilities, Dr. Al-Jaber is Assistant Professor of Political Communication in the Gulf Studies Program (GSP) at Qatar University. The GSP, established and led by Dr. Abdullah Baabood in conjunction with College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dr. Eiman Mustafawi and University President Dr. Hassan Rashid Al-Derham, and for which Dr. Anthony serves as a member of its advisory board, is in the process of becoming the world’s foremost center for Gulf studies. It is also the GCC region’s first accredited university program for Gulf studies offering Master’s and Ph.D. degrees.
Al-Jaber’s scholarship has appeared in academic and professional journals such as International Communication Gazette and the World Press Encyclopedia. He holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of Florida, USA, and a Ph.D. in political communication from the University of Leicester, UK. He has also conducted postgraduate studies at Fordham, Stanford, and Georgetown Universities.
About the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations: Founded in 1983 and based in Washington, DC, the National Council is an American non-profit, non-governmental, educational organization dedicated to improving American knowledge and understanding of the Arab world. Information about the Council’s program, projects, events, and activities can be found at ncusar.org.
Twentieth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program — February 17 – March 2, 2016
Applications Now Being Accepted for the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’
Twentieth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion Program
February 17 – March 2, 2016
The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations is pleased to offer, through its Joseph J. Malone Fellowship in Arab and Islamic Studies Program, the Twentieth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit to the Sultanate of Oman, February 19 – March 2, 2016. Fellows are required to participate in and complete a pre-departure orientation in Washington, D.C. to be held on February 17-18. This unique opportunity will provide a privileged first hand exposure to one of the Arab world’s most demographically, geographically, and socially diverse countries.
The National Council is currently accepting applications to participate in this study visit. APPLY NOW!
American professionals in academia, government, the military, non-governmental organizations, business, religious institutions, the media, civic associations, as well as the fine arts, humanities, and the social sciences are invited to apply.
The Twentieth Annual Oman Cultural Immersion study visit will provide participants an educational experience that few Westerners and even fewer Americans have had. The program is choreographed to provide Malone Fellows an unparalleled diverse exposure to Oman — one of the most historically and culturally rich of all Arab and Islamic societies. Until relatively recent times, the Sultanate languished in its status as one of the most forgotten corners of all Arabia. Anyone in doubt about the extraordinary opportunity that being able to visit Oman in this manner presents need only consult any of the several National Geographic Magazine features on the country in the past two decades.
End Pictures: inlaid Islamic niches at the Grand Mosque in Oman’s Capital Territory; Middle Pictures: Bedouin Omani girls in the Sharqiyyah Sands.
Stars of the National Council’s Model Arab League Head to Qatar
National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations Founding President and CEO, and U.S.-GCC Corporate Cooperation Committee Founder, Board Member, and Secretary Dr. John Duke Anthony, presently in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to attend the annual GCC summit, spent the past ten days in Doha, Qatar. He did so as leader of a delegation participating in a cultural study visit sponsored by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The National Council’s Model Arab League delegation takes in a sunset along the corniche in Doha.
The visit was a reward for a delegation of five American faculty advisers and ten U.S. university and armed forces institutions students. The participants were Outstanding Award Winners in the National Council’s Model Arab League Program (MAL), which began in the early 1980s and presently has 38,000 alumni.
The Models are conducted for some 2,500 university and secondary school participants 20 times a year at a nearly equal number of U.S. universities. The Council has also helped to establish Model Arab League Programs conducted yearly in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, with Bahrain and Oman in the process of establishing their first-ever programs this year and Qatar’s Gulf Studies Program (see below) intending to organize the first-ever MAL devoted exclusively to the six GCC member countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
During their time in Qatar, the delegation members visited and had briefings at the Qatar Foundation, the Museum of Islamic Art, the National Human Rights Committee, Al Jazeera, Katara Cultural Village, the Qatar National Museum, and various branch campuses of blue-ribbon American universities. They also spent an evening with a Qatari family at their farm and sailed on an Arab dhow – a traditional “sundowner” experience, with Doha’s glittering skyline of modernist buildings as the backdrop for photography.
“Oman Reborn: Balancing Tradition and Modernization” Book Discussion
On December 8, 2015, the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations and the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center hosted a book launch luncheon and discussion for Oman Reborn: Balancing Tradition and Modernization by Linda Pappas Funsch.
Oman Reborn traces the narrative of a little-known and relatively stable Arab country whose history of independence, legacy of interaction with diverse cultures, and enlightened modern leadership have transformed it in less than fifty years from an isolated potentate to a stable, dynamic, and largely optimistic country. At the heart of this fascinating story is Oman’s sultan, Qaboos bin Said, friend to both East and West, whose unique leadership style has resulted in both domestic and foreign policy achievements during his more than four decades in office.
The author, Linda Pappas Funsch, is a specialist in modern Middle East studies and Islamic history. She has studied, worked, and traveled extensively throughout the region. A freelance writer, consultant, and educator for more than forty years, she lectures frequently about Oman at scholarly symposia and institutions such as the World Bank, the World Affairs Council, and Georgetown University.
Funsch was re-introduced to the Sultanate through the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ Annual Malone Oman Cultural Immersion Program in 2006, 32 years after her first visit. After the National Council study visit she published a series of articles about Oman in the Frederick News-Post. Funsch has subsequently served as a scholarly escort as well as a lecturing specialist at pre-departure orientations for this annual Council cultural program in Oman.
NCUSAR’s Summer 2016 Washington, DC Internship Program – Applications Due February 26
Opportunity for Students:
Washington, DC Summer Internship Program
May 23 – July 29, 2016
The National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations’ Washington, DC Summer Internship Program offers undergraduate and graduate students a ten-week professional, academic, and career opportunity internship in the nation’s capital. The program features a demanding mix of professional involvement, intellectual challenge, career exploration, and cultural encounters designed to provide interns with a rich and varied experience during their time in Washington.
- Professional workplace experience: Interns are placed with one of over a dozen Near East and Arab world-related organizations in Washington, D.C., where they are expected to work 35-40 hours/week under the direct supervision of their host organizations.
- Academic seminars: Interns take part in twice-weekly seminar sessions designed to provide them with greater depth of knowledge about the Arab world, to underscore the cultural, economic, and political diversity of Arab states, and to explore the intricacies of Arab-U.S. relations. There will be a particular emphasis, though not exclusively, on Arabia and the Gulf.
- Site visits: Interns receive a behind-the-scenes look at many of the central institutions of federal government, national security policymaking, international diplomacy, and international business.
About the Program
The National Council’s Summer Internship Program offers professional work experiences combined with twice weekly evening seminars that bring academic experts and experienced foreign policy practitioners to meet with the interns in candid off-the-record discussions and freewheeling question and answer sessions. Our goals are: (1) to provide a realistic Washington, D.C. work experience that will pave the way to career development; (2) to provide interns with first-hand experience behind-the-scenes of the foreign policy analysis and advocacy process in Washington, D.C.; (3) to provide a strong academic component dealing with U.S. political, economic, and cultural relations with Arabia and the Gulf region; (4) to help participants begin the process of career networking by introducing them to working professionals in government, business, journalism, and NGOs; and, (5) to highlight the wide range of career opportunities awaiting those who aspire to work in the field of U.S.-Arab relations as well as to provide counseling on the graduate school and fellowship application processes.
As complements to the program, interns will also be exposed to D.C. in a less formal manner via films, cultural events, embassy and museum visits, off-the-record conversations with former diplomats, group dinners, and suggestions for exploring the sights and sounds of Washington, D.C. This allows students not only to experience living and working in the city but also encourages them to appreciate the cultural diversity of the urban environment and the exciting cultural, educational, and recreational opportunities available in the nation’s capital.
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