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The Princeton Review held a presentation on standardized testing and college application preparation at AUK. High school students from across Kuwait came to the information session presented by the Vice President of the Princeton Review, Michael Gamerl.

Opening the presentation, U.S. Ambassador Lawrence Silverman and AUK President Tim Sullivan offered their advice to high school students interested in studying in American-style universities like AUK and universities in the United States. Ambassador Silverman shared stories about his own children's experience with college, saying, "You have to find the school that is the right fit-what do you want in a college? My own daughter wanted a small school like I did, but my son wanted to go to the University of Virginia, which has tens of thousands of students."

Gamerl emphasized Ambassador Silverman's advice throughout the session, framing the college application process as a 'search' rather than a 'competition'. When it comes to the competitive part of the application process-primarily test scores-the Princeton Review offers a wealth of services, preparation books and courses, and other resources that can help students adequately prepare and improve their scores, which can open doors to elite universities in the United States.

Two students seemed enthusiastic about the college application process, and both were interested only in universities in the United States. One girl, in her second year of high school, gave testimony to the confidence that the Princeton Review imbues in students, "I want to go to Yale, which is a very competitive university in the U.S. but I think that with the help of the Princeton Review, I can increase my chances of getting in."

This is the third consecutive year that AUK has hosted the Princeton Review to present and advise future college students on the best path to finding the right schools.
 

AUK - Dartmouth College Student Internship Program received a 2018 Best Practices in International Education Award from the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) International Education Knowledge Community (IEKC) during the NASPA Annual Conference in Pennsylvania, USA.

Since 2005, the AUK-Dartmouth internship program has offered over 70 students from both institutions the opportunity to gain valuable overseas experience in an up to ten-week non-academic credit program at the partner institution. The program is designed to assist both American and Kuwait-based students with personal and professional growth opportunities through on-campus placements in academic and administrative units. Past interns have returned to the Middle East and the US respectively as Fulbright Scholars or on other academic programs, and some have returned post-graduation to work as faculty or staff at their respective alma maters, including five former interns currently employed at AUK.

Accepting the award on behalf of their respective universities were Tadd Kruse, AUK Assistant to the President for Institutional Planning and Effectiveness and Dale F. Eickelman, Ralph and Richard Lazarus Professor of Anthropology and Human Relations Emeritus; Relationship Coordinator for the American University of Kuwait-Dartmouth College Program.

Tadd Kruse, who coordinates the program at AUK, commented that it "offers experiential learning for both American and Kuwait-based students, enhancing their cultural awareness and professional skills and building personal bridges between the two university communities." His Dartmouth counterpart, Dale F. Eickelman, stated that "Our reciprocal undergraduate intern program enables participants to overcome often media-inspired preconceptions about the two host countries and gain awareness of what a Liberal Arts education means in significantly different settings."

The NASPA selection committee unanimously endorsed the AUK-Dartmouth Student Internship Program as a best practice that could inspire similar work among other institutions. Dr. Ken J. Guan, Chair of the NASPA IEKC Best Practice in International Education Awards Committee stated, "We, as the selection committee, believed that the American University of Kuwait and Dartmouth College's Student Internship Program deserves public recognition for its longevity, fidelity, and impact, especially for its effort in dealing with the challenges of rapidly shifting educational, economic and political issues in the Middle East and the United States over the past decade."

Other institutions receiving 2018 Best Practice Awards included Michigan State University, Old Dominion University, University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Federation University in Australia. AUK President, Dr. Earl (Tim) Sullivan offered his congratulations and support, "The American University of Kuwait is pleased to receive this award for the American University of Kuwait - Dartmouth College Student Internship Program. This program has benefited students from both institutions, and it is our hope that similar partnerships can be initiated with other universities. I would also like to congratulate all universities whose programs have been recognized with the Best Practices Award."

The program currently has AUK hosting two interns from Dartmouth College during the spring 2018 semester, and will be hosting two more starting in September. Additionally, AUK will be sending several students to Dartmouth College over the summer to intern in the Office of Communications and the Tuck School of Business.

In the ten years that the NASPA IEKC has been recognizing best practices in international education, AUK has now been recognized twice. AUK's Student Affairs Graduate Student Summer Internship Program previously received the NASPA IEKC 2011 Best Practice Award for International Exchange Programs. Both accolades signify AUK's ongoing success and commitment to supporting its students' personal and academic growth.

For more information on the award, visit the NASPA IEKC website:
https://www.naspa.org/constituent-groups/posts/2018-iekc-best-practices-award-winners
 
For further details on the American University of Kuwait (AUK) - Dartmouth College Student Internship Program visit each institutions' website:
http://www.auk.edu.kw/academics/ip_dartmouth_auk_main.jsp
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~aukproject/
 

AUK and Sciences Po in France have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to establish cultural and scholarly interactions between their students. Sciences Po is a leading international university in the fields of humanities and social sciences.

Dr. Vanessa Scherrer, Vice President for International Affairs at Sciences Po acclaimed the partnership, saying, "Sciences Po is thrilled to renew the student exchange agreement with the American University of Kuwait, which contributes highly to our thriving network in the region. A long lasting partner of the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) and a member of the recommended institutions abroad by Kuwait's Ministry of Higher Education, Sciences Po is committed to further build the bridge of shared knowledge and higher education between Salmiya and Paris."

The MOU establishes an exchange program between the two institutions whereby a student each year may enroll as an undergraduate in the other institution for up to two semesters.

This program enables students to join classes and language courses to earn credits in their home institutions, in addition to experience a different culture and approach of study. The MOU was signed by AUK President, Tim Sullivan and Sciences Po President, Frederic Mion for a length of three years.

AUK President Earl (Tim) Sullivan praised the exchange program as a valuable experience in which students can grow personally and professionally. "Expanding our student exchange programs has been one of our goals in the past years. It comes as part of our commitment to producing global citizens who are culturally competent and capable of seeing the opportunities behind every world challenge. We are delighted to enter into an agreement with Sciences Po, and we look forward to a mutually beneficial relationship between the two institutions."

About Sciences Po
Established in 1872 as the École Libre des Sciences Politiques, Sciences Po is generally considered one of the world's most reputable and prestigious schools of social sciences. Sciences Po covers political science as well as economics, history, sociology, law, finance, business, communication, social and urban policy, management and journalism.
 

 
Al-Multaqa Prize Competition announced that it has received 197 short story collections for its third cycle. The Prize was launched in December 2015 by the American University of Kuwait (AUK), in partnership with the Cultural Circle's Founder and Manager, Mr. Taleb Al-Rifae. As per the competition’s rules, submitted collections must be published between the 1st of January, 2017 and the 31st of March, 2018; and the received submissions are as follows:
 

 

 

The competition Board of Trustees and Advisory Board also announced the following names as the jurors for the 2017-2018 cycle:

- Dr. Suad Al-Anezi / Kuwait- Head of Jury Committee
- Dr. Abdeldaem Al-Salami / Tunis - Jury Member
- Mr. Amir Taj Al-Sur / Sudan - Jury Member
- Dr. Najem Abdullah Kathem / Iraq- Jury Member
- Mr. Mohammed Al-Abbas / Saudi Arabia - Jury Member

In support of the regional literary culture, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have collaborated for the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair event where members of the AlMultaqa jury are to present a lecture entitled, Literary Awards and Creativity on the 25th of April, 2018.

Members of the jury will announce the first shortlisted authors for the prize which consist of 10 short story collections in the beginning of October, 2018; while the second shortlist will be announced in the beginning of November with 5 short story collections. The competition winner will be announced in December, 2018 during a ceremony organized by AUK where the winner will receive the cash prize of $20,000, in addition to a certificate of appreciation, and the translation of the winning short story collection to English.

Dartmouth College and the American University of Kuwait (AUK) renewed their institutional cooperative agreement that promises to build on the success of a 15-year relationship.

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by AUK founder and Chair of the Board of Trustees, Sheikha Dana Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, and Dartmouth College President Phil Hanlon '77 during a ceremony at Dartmouth attended by Amal Al Binali, AUK Vice President for Admissions and Public Affairs; Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi, Director of the Kuwait Cultural Office in Washington D.C.; and Dr. Dale Eickelman, Ralph and Richard Lazarus Professor of Anthropology and Human Relations and Relationship Coordinator/Director of the Dartmouth-AUK Program.

Chair of the AUK Board of Trustees Sheikha Dana Nasser Al-Sabah commented, "We are really proud to be associated with Dartmouth and honored to have your commitment to our growing liberal arts university halfway across the globe. Our biggest challenge is to lead and not to follow as we adapt to the inevitable changes in our societies. In the 15-year partnership between the two institutions, Dartmouth has provided advice on curriculum planning, faculty hiring, and research collaboration. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with Dartmouth, a partner in our evolution and in our ongoing efforts to establish a liberal arts culture in Kuwait's higher education. Dartmouth has educated us and has educated our community in the meaning of liberal arts. I want to extend my special thanks to Dale Eickelman for his 15 years of collaboration in developing the partnership. His insight into our reciprocal complex cultures has been instrumental in creating a common ground on which we've shared our liberal arts vision and built our relationship."

Under the terms of the agreement, first signed in 2003, Dartmouth and AUK collaborate on numerous programs, including mutually beneficial faculty and student exchanges. Dartmouth experts in engineering, information technology, library sciences, communications, the arts and sciences, university governance, and other fields regularly visit Kuwait and vice versa. Dartmouth also provides a wide range of administrative and academic consulting services to AUK.

"We recognize that the young people at our institutions-the world's future leaders-face unprecedented challenges and unlimited opportunities. The liberal arts training they receive at Dartmouth and at AUK will prepare them to meet those challenges and boldly pursue those opportunities as they work to advance knowledge for the betterment of humankind," said Dartmouth President Phil Hanlon.

As part of their ongoing collaboration, the two institutions are now developing an exchange program in which students can gain academic credit. This will exist alongside the internship exchange program where students gain experience in interning at the other institution's academic and administrative units.

For her part, Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi affirmed that this agreement between Dartmouth and AUK "is a great successful example for the bilateral relationship between Kuwait and the U.S. in higher education. This relationship enhances AUK's vision to provide high quality of education to produce future leaders and innovators for the Kuwaiti society."

This renewal marks the fourth agreement signed by the two universities during the course of their 15-year relationship.

Founded in 1769, Dartmouth is a member of the Ivy League and consistently ranks among the world's greatest academic institutions. Dartmouth has forged a singular identity for combining its deep commitment to outstanding undergraduate liberal arts and graduate education with distinguished research and scholarship in the Arts & Sciences and its three leading professional graduate schools-the Geisel School of Medicine, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business.
 

Back Row, left to right:
Amal Al-Binali, Vice President for Admissions and Public Affairs at AUK; Dr. Aseel Al-Awadhi, Cultural Counselor and Director of the Kuwait Cultural Office at the Kuwait Embassy, Washington DC; Dale F. Eickelman '64, Lazarus Professor of Anthropology Emeritus and Relationship Coordinator, Dartmouth College-American University of Kuwait Program, Dartmouth College.
Front Row, left to right:
Sheikha Dana Nasser Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, founder and chair of the board of trustees of AUK; Philip Hanlon '77, President, Dartmouth College

Photo courtesy of Eli Burakian, Dartmouth '00
 

The Center for Gulf Studies at AUK hosted Froilan T. Malit Jr., who delivered a lecture called, "The Philippine-GCC Migration Corridor: A New Era of Labor Migration Diplomacy".

Malit is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Research at Zayed University, Dubai. His lecture focused on the question "Why do countries enact policies that are detrimental to all parties-countries and workers?" This lecture followed the recent tragic death of a Filipina domestic worker in Kuwait which prompted the Philippines to ban its citizens from migrating to Kuwait for domestic work.

Malit began the lecture by outlining the four main points he wanted to make-international diplomatic cooperation and accountability are key in governing temporary labor migration; most labor-sending nations are bound to fail in securing labor rights and protections for their laborers; countries sending labor forces are defined by their economic interests (remittances) as it reflects on their approach to foreign policy; and strong political action to address domestic unemployment can be an important tool to reduce migration tension. These points, which Malit offered as the most important information to take away from the lecture, were then rigorously defended throughout the rest of the lecture.

One particularly interesting aspect of his talk was his discussion of global migration trends. In the past twenty-seven years, over 250 million workers have migrated to find work abroad. Because of the GCC's lower labor standards and looser policies-compared to developed countries-the GCC countries are attractive to lower skilled workers. Kuwait has the third highest foreign labor share in the Gulf, with 3.8 million foreign laborers, constituting 69% of the labor force. Malit warned that these numbers are quite daunting to officials, as they present a regulatory and logistical issue. However, these numbers also present a reality that migrant labor is becoming an important facet of the developing economies that are sending laborers. Last year, migrant laborers contributed $450 billion in remittances, and this year that number is expected to grow to $600 billion, $100 billion of which come from GCC countries.

To answer the original question he had posed, Malit offered the answer, "Both skilled and unskilled markets matter. While unskilled workers face many workplace risks, skilled labor is still protected. The Philippines wants to keep skilled labor exports and the remittances they bring, and thus the Philippines will keep sending workers despite risks."

Froilan Malit Jr. is a migration researcher and an Associate at Gulf Labour Markets and Migration Programme (GLMM). He has extensively worked as a technical consultant on labor migration policy issues for the ILO, UN-IOM, UAE Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratization, Abu Dhabi Dialogue Permanent Office, and the Philippine government. He has published peer review articles, book chapters, technical and policy reports on labor migration topics in the Middle East and North Africa. He holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from Cornell University and the University of Oxford and a migration certificate from the European University Institute.
 

Members of the AUK community-consisting of students, faculty and staff-visited the National Library of Kuwait (NLK) where they were well-received by the staff at NLK who provided a guided tour of the various halls and departments at the library. The first stop was at the children's area, which the library created in order to encourage children to be further engaged with the educational space. A group from a local high school surprised the AUK students with a creative and original performance about the social costs and individual dangers of drug use. The AUK students enjoyed the performance, and its anti-drug message resonated with them deeply.

The group then visited the Kuwaitna Hall which holds the Kuwaiti collections as well as other archives and rare books-some written in English, others in Arabic-about the history of the Arabian Peninsula and the Middle East. The beautifully designed space had an elegant wooden ship as its centerpiece. Another stop was at the personal collections hall where more than fifteen personal libraries were donated by prominent Kuwaiti figures: Dr. Suad Al-Sabah, the poets Ahmad Al-Saqqaf and Ahmad Al-Adwani, Shaikh Abdullah Al-Nouri, and many others. Students visited the digital lab, where they could see how books are digitized for the purpose of preservation and online accessibility.

AUK students expressed their gratitude to NLK and the University for organizing the educational and fun field trip. One student, Chloe Ramey, said of the trip, "From Pre-Kuwait British archives to newspaper publications during the Gulf War, being surrounded in historical literature was the highlight of the Kuwait National Library field trip. While I was having the opportunity to see rare personal library collections, I could only imagine who was the last person to read these books, what annotations where left in between the pages? These books are truly gems received by the library and they are here for us to learn and share for generations to come."