President Tolmacheva Visits Dartmouth College

President Marina Tolmacheva recently traveled to Hanover to visit Dartmouth College for the first time during her tenure at AUK. Dr. Marina met with President James Wright, Provost Barry Scherr, and members of the Dartmouth-AUK working group.

With AUK-Dartmouth's Memorandum of Agreement up for renewal in 2008, President Tolmacheva said it was important to "lend an air of official administrative support on both sides."

Other official business included delivering an official invitation to Provost Barry Scherr requesting his participation as Keynote Speaker at AUK's upcoming Commencement Ceremony.

Two other AUK staffers were at Dartmouth at the same time. Librarians Anna Al-Omari and Hana Kaouri spent time at Dartmouth being mentored by Associate Librarian John James.

At the Dickey Center for International Understanding, President Tolmacheva gave a talk about Liberal Arts education in the Middle East. She highlighted the strengths and challenges of such a style of education in the region. She said that because the concept was unfamiliar, there is a difficulty in translating terms and concepts, and that although private universities were established as an alternative to government-run institutions, they are still tightly controlled by government.

Among attendees at her Dickey Center talk were past interns who had spent time at AUK, and a future intern who will be joining next fall.

She described Dartmouth College as having a pleasant location by the water, in a typical New England setting, where all life centered around the college.

Photo by Kawakahi Kaeo Amina, Dartmouth Class of 2009