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Marketing and University Communication UW-Green Bay, CL 815 2420 Nicolet Drive Green Bay, WI 54311-7001 (920) 465-2626 E-mail: hildebrs@uwgb.edu Last update: 10/4/06 |
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In
the News Archive - Year:
September 29, 2006 Journey to Jordan broadens connection 3 area students studying Arabic language, culture By Kelly McBride
Currently enrolled in French, German and Spanish classes at Green Bay Notre Dame Academy, the 16-year-old started taking noncredit Arabic at St. Norbert College last school year.
So when Dolson's Arabic instructor mentioned a chance to travel — for free — to Jordan during the summer, the high school junior wasted no time in applying.
"I like learning about other cultures, so I was pretty excited to go to the Middle East," Dolson said. "I was a little bit nervous to see how their culture was."
Dolson was one of 14 students from across the country — including three locals — to go abroad this summer as part of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's Journey to Jordan program.
The program's inaugural year was made possible by a new U.S. State Department grant designed to enhance connections in specific parts of the world, said Jay Harris, UWGB's coordinator of international projects. UWGB pursued Jordan, in part, because of its relationship with Ibtesam Al-Atiyat, a 2005-06 Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the university.
Students spent six weeks in Jordan, taking an intensive schedule of Arabic language courses and experiencing culture and travel. They stayed in an off-campus apartment within a quick walk of the language center.
Rachel Bradley, a Green Bay Preble High School senior currently in her sixth year of French language instruction, helped develop her interest in Arabic through the Jordan program, she said. Through relationships and meeting new people, Bradley learned about culture as much as language, she said.
"The way people interact with each other, the relationships," are different than at home, Bradley said. "It's hugely dictated by tradition and religion. For instance, women and men rarely interact at all in public."
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The chance to learn language and culture firsthand is invaluable in and of itself, Harris said, but the students' Jordanian experience also could have practical benefits.
"International education is becoming more and more important on campus," said Harris, who accompanied the students to Jordan. "It's safe to say it's become a higher priority lately because of what's happening in the world and the need for learning nontraditional languages. ... I think things like that are on the increase."
The local students who went to Jordan — Dolson, Bradley and Bay Port High School graduate Stacey Kreise — also got an unexpected glimpse of home during their return trip.
The group found itself in London's Heathrow Airport Aug. 10, the day British authorities foiled an air terror plot on U.S.-bound planes. Bradley recalls sitting at Heathrow and watching President Bush's first public address on the plot — made from the tarmac at Austin Straubel International Airport in Ashwaubenon.
But the group returned safely, with a greater knowledge of Arabic and an appreciation for Jordanian culture, Bradley said.
"Before I left, people were telling me, 'oh, be careful — they hate Americans,'" Bradley said. "It was so completely untrue. ... I'd be walking down the street ... and (people) would say, welcome to Jordan!"
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