Duke students will have the opportunity to study in new global territory next summer.
The Global Education Office for Undergraduates recently added four new programs to be offered Summer 2012. The new programs include Duke in the Arab World, which will take place in Doha, Qatar and Cairo, Egypt and focus on Arab culture, language and socio-political development; Duke Intensive Spanish in Alicante, an immersive language program in Spain; and Duke in Montreal, a course taught in French focusing on marketing and Canadian cultural studies. The fourth is an improved Duke in Turkey program, which will offer courses in gender studies and geopolitics. The additions bring the total number of summer programs to 19.
“These programs will expand our portfolio into regions that have been currently underserved by our existing [ones] and with subject matter that would serve an audience for which there is a high demand for courses,” Margaret Riley, director of the Global Education Office for Undergraduates and an academic dean in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences, wrote in an email Wednesday.
Three of the four programs—those based in Montreal, the Arab World and Alicante—will be led by Duke faculty. Duke in Turkey will be jointly led by faculty from Duke and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Riley said.
Duke in Turkey has been offered in the past but will now provide a different set of courses. Riley said she hopes there will be increased interest in the revised Turkey program.
In 2010, Duke in Turkey was not offered because it was lacking faculty resources, but it was reinstated Summer 2011, said Erdag Göknar, assistant professor of Turkish cultural studies. Göknar will serve as the co-director of the revamped program. Starting in 2012, this program will also be offered Fall.
“The timing is right with regard to Turkey’s growing regional profile at the intersection of Europe, Eurasia and the Middle East and we now have the faculty resources to make the program permanent.”
In addition to these developments, the Global Education Office added a course on gender politics to the Turkey program—a unique element from other current study abroad programs.
“This is a rare and very exciting opportunity as gender has been central to the operation of politics [in the Middle East],” said Banu Gökariksel, assistant professor of geography at UNC-Chapel Hill, who will co-direct the program and teach the course.
Junior Ayan Salah, who participated in the Duke in Turkey program this last summer, said she was very impressed in both the academic and cultural aspects of her experience and confident in the continued success of the new program.
“[It was] a definite enhancement to the cultural component of my academic studies,” Salah said. “I would definitely recommend this experience to my friends.”
The Global Education Office boasts high percentages of student participation in global education programs, Riley added. Of the Class of 2011, 43 percent studied abroad.
“We strive to keep our offerings relevant to the interests and needs of our faculty and students and anticipate we will continue to facilitate global education opportunities for nearly half of our graduating class,” Riley said.
Riley noted that she does not anticipate significant changes in these numbers with the advent of these programs, however, provided there is relative stability in the economy and the global political climate.
“There are always variables that contribute to the slight ups and downs we have experienced such as the economy, global issues relating to safety and security and new global offerings Duke has developed that also meet the interests of our students to have an international experience,” Riley said.
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