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For 电子游戏软件 students like Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences doctoral candidate Tyler 帕克 and Lynch School of Education and Human Development sophomore Faith Drescher, 中东是电子游戏正规平台引人注目的历史的中心, 政治, and social issues—and the availability of grants and fellowships through BC and elsewhere are enabling them to go right to the source.

帕克, 谁对国际政治感兴趣, journeyed to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates last summer to work on his dissertation on why the six Gulf Cooperation Council member states—Qatar, 阿联酋, 巴林, 科威特, 阿曼, and Saudi Arabia—have materially and rhetorically supported United States foreign policy plans in the Middle East and North 非洲 since the 1990s.

Drescher, 加贝利总统学者计划的学生, conducted research on Arab mental health during her two weeks last July in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 位于亚洲的十字路口, 非洲, 和欧洲.  

两人都是奥马尔·A的接受者. 阿加德旅行和电子游戏正规平台奖学金是由Tarek O . co .于2017年设立的一个项目. Aggad, 阿加德投资公司的执行董事, 阿拉伯巴勒斯坦投资公司主席, 也是电子游戏软件校友的父亲, 支持在中东的本科和电子游戏正规平台生学习, with the express purpose of addressing misunderstandings about the region and its people.

费丝·德雷舍和泰勒·帕克在图书馆

Faith Drescher ’25 and doctoral student Tyler 帕克 pursued research projects in the Middle East through the Omar A. 阿加德旅行和电子游戏正规平台奖学金计划. (李Pellegrini)

帕克 and Drescher shared their experiences as part of a student panel on Middle East study and research on Tuesday at Hovey House, an event co-hosted by the 全球教育办公室 and the Islamic Civilization & 社会项目. 伊莎贝拉Nassar, a Morrissey College senior studying this semester at the American University of Sharjah, 阿联酋, 远程参与活动.

BC study-abroad administrators and students who have gone to the Middle East recently reflected on the importance of Aggad Fellowships, as well as other sources of support for international research: BC’s Mizna Fellowship Fund, established through a generous alumnus gift to create opportunities for undergraduate research, 语言学习, 实习, and service-learning initiatives throughout the Islamic world; federally funded Boren Awards that subsidize undergraduate study-abroad scholarships and graduate research fellowships in regions critical to U.S. interests; and the U.S. 国家重点语言奖学金项目, which offers approximately 600 undergraduate or graduate students the opportunity to participate in an intensive 语言学习 abroad.

凯瑟琳·贝利

凯瑟琳·贝利(李·佩莱格里尼饰)

“Faith and Tyler’s Middle East research admirably represents the purpose and spirit of the Omar Aggad Fellowships,凯瑟琳·T说。. Bailey, a professor of the practice in 政治 science, and director of the Islamic Civilization & 社会项目. “The fact that students are expected to spend time in the Middle East to conduct deep research, 来自与当地专家和市民的对话, 是补助金的宝贵方面吗.”

That is what Aggad had in mind when he made the gift establishing the fellowship program named for his late father, which has underwritten the investigations and study abroad for nearly 30 BC students since 2016. Aggad, 他和他的妻子希琳都是英国广播公司校董会的成员, was particularly interested in helping students understand the long-running Palestinian-Israeli conflict, 并支持旨在促进该地区和平的电子游戏正规平台和活动.

“在美国,存在着严重的误解.S. 关于阿拉伯人和穆斯林, so encouraging students to travel to countries in the region will hopefully change this, 一次一小步,阿加德在宣布这个礼物时说.  “Nothing is more valuable than highlighting commonalities between the people of this world.”

适用于本科生和电子游戏正规平台生, Aggad Fellowships provide funds for summer or winter-break travel in the Middle East for research, 语言学习, 以及技能习得. Freshman and sophomore project proposals are judged on whether they deepen knowledge in a given field related to Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies; proposals from juniors and seniors are designed to contribute to a thesis project, 并且可以用来收集数据, 采访时, 也用于档案电子游戏正规平台. 带有语言组件的提案优先考虑.

帕克 said his findings show that GCC governments have varied considerably in their backing of specific U.S. strategies over the last three decades, though he emphasized they are “strategic partners of the U.S. whose cooperation is often essential to the formation and functioning of American foreign policy initiatives.

“我很幸运能获得阿加德奖学金,”他补充说. “Travel through the Aggad grant helped me 采访时 through which I gained invaluable insights for my Qatar and 阿联酋 chapters.”

Drescher, 他的电子游戏正规平台题为“约旦的心理健康电子游戏正规平台:到目前为止?, 还有很长的路要走,”, “约旦长期以来一直保持着其在中东地缘政治中的中心地位, and regional conflicts have significantly impacted its social demographics ever since the 1990-1991 Gulf War. 存在政治和经济压力, 家庭暴力也在不断增加, 哪些反映在居民的心理健康上.”

世界卫生组织在COVID-19大流行之前估计, 20%的约旦人——大约2.6600万人患有精神疾病, 根据她的电子游戏正规平台, 40 percent of the population demonstrated some degree of anxiety during the epidemic’s quarantine.  

“Most collectivist countries like Jordan that emphasize the group’s necessities and goals versus individual needs and desires tend to stigmatize mental health disorders as taboo,德雷舍说, who also received financial support from BC’s University Fellowships Committee for Advanced Study.  “My investigation determined that although the internalized public and personal mental health shame is fading, 它需要更多的关注.”

克里斯蒂娜

克里斯蒂娜D. Hatzipetros

“Study abroad has been a very important part of the formative experience for BC students for many years,克里斯蒂娜·D说。. Hatzipetros, 卫生部副主任, 安全, 以及全球教育办公室的通讯工作. “We are aware that many students come to BC specifically for the foreign education experiences we offer. Among the many benefits are the opportunity to develop skills that are highly valued in both the public and private sector careers, 比如跨文化能力, 全球意识和视角, 外语水平, 适应性, 解决问题和沟通技巧, 增强了信心和主动性.

“学生们也被海外体验式学习所吸引, 包括实习和电子游戏正规平台机会, 除了更传统的学期, 学年, 以及教师主导的暑期项目. Perhaps the biggest benefit to students is the opportunity to explore parts of the world they have not yet learned about or experienced.”

Phil Gloudemans |大学传播| 2022年12月