By Ryan Cole, The Daily Iowan
2/14/2011
Abdullah Azkalany knew something important had happened when his phone started ringing the morning of Feb. 11. Friends and family kept calling.
When the University of Iowa freshman and native of Egypt answered the phone, he got news he never thought he’d hear: Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had stepped down.
By Mark Geary, The Gazette
2/11/2011
University of Iowa Political Science student Dan Olinghouse, 25, watches Al-Jazeera TV on his laptop computer at his home in Ankeny. Photo credit: Erik Arendt
By Lee Hermiston, The Iowa City Press-Citizen.
2/11/2011
Last year, University of Iowa student Dan Olinghouse left for Egypt to study political science.
He ended up taking part in political history.
After returning to Cairo on Jan. 21, the Ankeny native took part in the protests that led to President Hosni Mubarak’s departure. From Iowa on Friday, he shared in the Egyptian people’s victory.
From University News Services
By Lois Gray
2/10/2011
University of Iowa political science major Dan Olinghouse was sitting in a café in Tarhir Square in downtown Cairo when the Egyptian protests erupted Jan. 25.
This article, which appeared in The Brown and White, a student newspaper at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, mentions the well-establish study abroad programs at The University of Iowa.
By Kathryn Suma
2/7/2011
Lehigh students, along with college students across the country, are now able to visit the one island previously off limits to Americans – the once forbidden Cuba is now an option for study abroad.
This talk took place January 25, 2011. To learn more about the presentation, visit here or contact Denise Filios at denise-filios@uiowa.edu.
By Lois Gray
Photo by Tom Jorgensen
This feature story about Autumn Tallman appeared in fyi, The University of Iowa’s faculty and staff electronic newsletter. See the original article here.
2/2/2011
A University of Iowa student studying in Egypt is safe, and he has decided to stay in the country, even as protests continue, UI officials said Tuesday.
The student, who is enrolled at the American University in Cairo, has spoken with his parents, who subsequently contacted UI staff, said Downing Thomas, the dean of International Programs.
Facebook is doing more than letting people connect with old friends these days. It’s facilitating a revolution. And it’s allowing one Tunisian woman living in Iowa City to keep up with the tumultuous politics at home.
On Tuesday, Asma Ben Romdhane, who teaches Arabic at the University of Iowa through the yearlong Fulbright Language Teaching Assistant’s exchange program, spoke to more than 80 people about the events of the last month in the northern African nation.
The University of Iowa has stepped up international recruitment in recent years, with the vast majority of foreign students coming from China. Now, they are looking for potential Hawkeyes in the country with the world’s second-largest population — India.
Fewer than 1 percent of the UI’s international students come from India, and now UI officials believe they have found a cost-effective — though historically controversial — way to reach out.
During the first day of class, I asked students enrolled in my survey course on the Islamic civilization to think of an important event from around the world. The first student to speak pointed out the return of a dictator to Haiti. The second student said that China flying its first Stealth airplane was a very significant event. Three other students spoke, pointing out various events, before a student mentioned the ongoing Tunisian revolution.
I asked how many students had even a vague idea about what has happened in Tunisia since Dec. 18, 2010; around 10 percent of them raised their hands.
The public is encouraged to attend the next recording of “WorldCanvass,” when guests will discuss the counterculture of the ’60s and ’70s. This free program will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday in the Senate Chamber of the Old Capitol Museum.
The program will examine the social history of the U.S. during the ’60s and ’70s, a time when youth culture rejected traditional views on everything from patriotism and government to sexuality and recreational drugs. Guests will discuss the movement’s influence on film, theater, art and pop culture in decades to come.
University of Iowa students could soon have the chance to study abroad in once off-limits Cuba because of recent federal policy changes.
President Obama’s administration lifted restrictions on study abroad programs to Cuba on Jan. 14, overturning limits put in place by then-President George W. Bush in 2004.
Instead of staring at a PowerPoint presentation, Introduction to International Relations students could soon be gazing onto the beaches of Normandy.
University of Iowa students will no longer have to wade through all their general-education requirements in classrooms overlooking the Pentacrest. Instead, they’ll have the opportunity to take in London, Paris, or Florence.
WASHINGTON – Most Americans are barred from traveling to Cuba, but Iowa college students soon may be packing their bags to visit the island. President Barack Obama’s recent decision to ease travel restrictions for academics and church groups prompted Iowa’s colleges to plan new programs for study in Cuba.
