English Department (Herat): 2011

Six English professors from Herat University in Afghanistan have spent the past month at the University of Hartford taking part in a variety of professional development activities, including workshops and classroom observations.

The six educators – three men and three women – will head back to Afghanistan today (March 1) following a very busy four weeks in Hartford.

Their visit here was funded by a grant from the U.S. State Department, through the U.S. Embassy at Kabul. It is part of an ongoing partnership between the University of Hartford and Herat University. Through the original partnership, engineering faculty from Herat University have earned master’s degrees at the University of Hartford’s College of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (CETA), and CETA faculty have traveled to Afghanistan to help strengthen Herat University’s engineering curriculum.

While the partnership has focused on engineering, English also is an important component, because the engineering students at Herat University use English-language textbooks in their courses. The visiting English professors from Herat University teach English majors as well as students majoring in such disciplines as engineering, economics, and computer science.

The visiting faculty members spent their first two weeks at the University of Hartford in classes and workshops learning methodology, including such topics as incorporating technology into the classroom and designing syllabi. For the last two weeks, they have been observing classes.

Muzhgan Azizy, one of the visiting Herat University English professors, said she and her colleagues will return home with many new strategies for “active learning.” Much of their current teaching involves “passive learning,” where the faculty members lecture and the students listen, Azizy said. Through their professional development at the University of Hartford, they learned a number of ways to more actively engage students.

They also learned about educational technology, including a number of useful websites. The faculty members do not have Internet access in the classroom, but they do have access to the Internet in a center for teachers at Herat University.

Beth Richards, director of Rhetoric and Professional Writing at the University of Hartford, obtained the funding and did much of the leg work to bring the six Herat University English professors to the University of Hartford. Richards has traveled to Afghanistan during the past two summers to teach English to engineering students at Herat University.

During their month-long stay in Hartford, the six visiting English professors worked closely with Richards, as well as with Martha Crane, director of the University’s English Language Institute(ELI), and ELI instructors Fiona Eytan, Kim Schrader, andHarriet Nirenstein. CETA Professor Saleh Keshawarz, a native of Afghanistan who played a key role in creating the partnership with Herat University, also spent time with the visiting Afghani educators.

For five of the six visiting English professors, this was their first trip to the United States. They found time to do some sightseeing – including New York City and the Mark Twain House in Hartford – and to learn about American culture. Azizy said that they will now be able to share with their students firsthand knowledge of things that the students had only read about – things like American expressions and even American food.

Homira Baher said that she and her colleagues found Americans to be very friendly and kind. The common perception in Afghanistan is that Americans are always so busy, “they do not even have time to speak to you,” she said. “We found that yes, people in America work very hard, but they are also very social and friendly.” Baher said she also was impressed by the number of different countries and cultures represented at the University of Hartford.

Azizy said that she and her colleagues are very grateful to the faculty and staff members at the University of Hartford who spent so much time with them over the past month.

http://www.hartford.edu/daily/Articles.asp?Mainid=10120&Category=1

English Department (Herat)

Monday, April 11, 2011

Find us on Facebook:

Faculty Search

Hartford University Hosts English Professors From Afghanistan