Fulbright to Syria and Turkey

GROUP PROJECT ABROAD: TURKEY AND SYRIA

Religious Pluralism as Exhibited in Two Secular Muslim States
MCCA and the Center for International Community College Education at UMSL have submitted a grant proposal to the US Department of Education to send 15 community college and secondary school faculty to study and travel in Turkey and Syria during the summer of 2007. This four and a half week program will begin on June 7^th in St. Louis with an orientation, and end with the return to St. Louis on July 8^th. We are now soliciting

applications from community college and high school faculty who would like to participate. Please distribute this announcement and the attached itinerary and application information throughout your institutions and to high schools in your region.

This travel-study experience will examine the cultures, practices, belief systems and interactions between the principle religious communities in Turkey and Syria. The planners have confirmed with the US Department of State that travel is approved for U.S. citizens in Syria, and travel in these countries is considered safe under current international conditions. Selection of final participants will be made based upon:

1. Demonstrate commitment to the goals and objectives of the project;
2. An interest in traveling in the Near East, with little or no prior experience in the region;

1. Demonstration of the value of the experience to their area of instruction, and commitment to developing a course module based on their experience and study. 

1. Diversity and balance on the team; with emphasis on discipline, gender, ethnicity, region, college/secondary balance;.

1. An expressed commitment to participate in follow-up activities upon return, including development of curriculum units, participation in local, regional and/or national forums, short-term seminars, lectures and interviews, distribution of acquired materials, encouragement of students to study abroad, and compliance with priorities of the grant;

1. US citizenship or permanent resident alien status;

1. Evidence of good health, sufficient to withstand the rigors of travel, and of commitment to willingly and enthusiastically participate in the expected activities of the project, with an understanding that this will involve the routine challenges of working, living, and socializing in different and unfamiliar environments. 

    

For Information, contact Kent Farnsworth at UMSL, 314-516-6528 or by e-mail at

farnsworthk@umsl.edu. Participants will be selected by the end of February, 2007 through an application and interview process. (Interviews may be by phone.) 

Application deadline: January 31, 07      Anticipated Applicant Notice:  Mar 1, 07

What Interested Parties Should Consider When

Applying

1. The project will include two weeks travel and study in Syria, and two weeks in Turkey. Individuals may not obtain a Visa to enter Syria if they have traveled to Israel or Egypt on their current passport. (A new Passport could be obtained.)

1. The group will be directed by three individuals experienced in travel and group direction in this part of the world, two of whom are native to these countries.

1. Out-of-pocket expenses will total about $300 for passports, insurance, gifts, etc. Participants must also cover travel to St. Louis for the program, and from St. Louis home. They will also be expected to cover expenses for lodging, meals, etc. before leaving the country, but these will be kept at a minimum. All international expenses, aside from personal items, will be covered by the grant, if funded.

1. During the program, participants will live with a roommate (of the same gender), and this is not optional. Family, friends, and others not selected as part of the applicant process may not accompany the participants.

1. Travel will include a fair amount of walking, will involve spending a few days and nights with villagers in rural areas, and participating in the normal activities of Near Eastern life. Applicants should be comfortable with some rigorous exercise, and with interacting with different cultures in unfamiliar circumstances.

1. Participants will be interacting with representatives of diverse Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities, and are expected to approach these interactions as learning experiences, rather than as opportunities for debate or evangelizing.

1. In addition to the requirement to develop a curriculum module appropriate to the participant’s discipline, each member will be expected to make a minimum of three presentations to civic, church, educational or other groups upon their return, including one to an elementary or secondary school audience.

1. MCCA/CICCEL may not receive this grant, and applicants may go through the entire selection process, only to learn in April that the project has not been funded. This process should not involve expense to the applicant. Those selected must be committed to go, however, if funding is received.

All this being considered, this project will provide participants with once in a lifetime opportunities to visit some of the most significant sites in Jewish, Christian and Muslim history, including Ephesus, Damascus (the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world), the home and tomb of the great Sufi Poet Rumi, to meet the Grand Mufti of Syria, to stay in an Eastern Orthodox Convent, and to enjoy the hospitality of Turkish and Syrian villagers.  (See daily itinerary, attached.)

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