Tag Archives: Education Initiative

Fulbright UIUC presentation on Egypt at Franklin STEAM Academy in Champaign, Illinois

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS at Urbana-Champaign Fulbright students Abel Vera Iglesias and Amira Elsherbiny present this Monday January 28, 11 am– 1:15 pm, “This is Egypt: where it all begins.”

The event will take place at Franklin Middle School, located at 817 N. Harris Ave, Champaign, Illinois 61820.

After traveling through Asia (Indonesia) and South America (Brazil and Peru,) Vera Iglesias and Elsherbiny take their outreach activities to the African country of Egypt.

Through a partnership with Franklin STEAM Academy Middle School in Champaign, students will witness the formation and development of the Egyptian culture from 3400 B.C. to nowadays. This presentation will showcase interesting aspects of the Egyptian heritage, its cuisine, religion and traditions that make Egypt one of the most interesting countries and tourism magnets in the entire world.

Our Egyptian Fulbrighters and international friends will be leading this presentation aimed to enrich the international cultural perspective of all participants, among them the students at Franklin Middle School.

Bring the World to the Classroom, in español

Elio Leturia talks to the second section of Spanish students at Ogen International School

Elio Leturia talks to the second section of Spanish students at Ogden International School of Chicago. One of them asked: “What is Fulbright?”

By Cristina Sisson—FIFTH GRADE SPANISH students at Ogden International School of Chicago, a Chicago Public School, enjoyed a visit from Fulbright Chicago Chapter vice president, Elio Leturia on Friday, April 25th.

Elio Leturia and Cristina Sisson outside of her classroom

Elio Leturia and Cristina Sisson outside of her classroom

This is the second time Leturia has visited my Spanish classes. In this opportunity, students from three sections prepared questions for Leturia about his profession and background in conjunction with their current Spanish unit of study about professions.

Students inquired about Elio’s career in journalism, graphic design, academia, photography, and acting. Leturia answered questions in Spanish such as, “What do you like the most about your job?” and “What is most difficult about your job?” as well as “What is your favorite place in Chicago and Peru?”  and “What is your favorite food?” He also highlighted the importance of learning new languages and the opportunities he has had to travel and interview people around the world.

This past January, Leturia took 15 Columbia College Chicago students to Peru, his country of origin, for a travel writing course.

If you are a Fulbright Alumni or current Fulbright student and would like to visit a classroom to share about your profession or travels abroad as part of the “Bring the World to the Classroom Initiative,” please contact Cristina Sisson at acsisson@hotmail.com.

First round of books arrive to Egypt

Dr. Gil-García met with Dr. Penn and some of his students during the donation of 45 books for Menoufia university.

DR. EVERETTE PENN, A MEMBER of the national board of the Fulbright Association, traveled to Cairo earlier this month with a group of students from Texas, and brought 45 English literature books to donate to Menoufia University, a public higher education institution in Egypt.

Dr. Ana Gil-García, leading the Fulbright Chicago Chapter book project, will be delivering Dr. Penn’ s books to Menoufia University along with 110 books she collected from Northeastern Illinois University faculty during her most recent visit to Chicago last week.

Book donation for Menoufia University in Egypt

During her year in Egypt, Dr. Ana Gil-García, who is currently teaching at American University in Cairo, has conducted workshops and delivered presentations to several institutions. Here, working with a group of fellows at Menoufia University, two hours away from Cairo.

AS PART OF OUR ONGOING Book Initiative Donation Program, Dr. Ana Gil-García is currently working in Egypt, more specifically, with Menoufia University.

Along with Dr. Osama Madany, chairperson of the Department of English Literature and Language, and a fellow Fulbrighter, we are asking you to donate a book to provide his department with needed materials in the following areas:

1. American Literature (Fiction, Drama, Poetry) from 18th C. to present day.
2. British Literature (Fiction, Drama, Poetry) from 16th C. to present day. 
3. American and British Literary Criticism to present day.
4. American and British Culture/Civilization to present day.
5. Essay Writing
6. Linguistics / Applied Linguistics
7. Grammar
8. English Language Courses (TEFL, TESOL, TOEFL)
9. Audio/Visual material related to above fields.
10. English as a Second Language
11. Educational leadership
12. Bilingual-bicultural education
13. Multicultural education
 

Dr. Gil-García will be in Chicago for a week, June 6 -13. If you could donate any new or used book on those areas will be greatly appreciated. Dr. Gil-García will take the books to the Department of English Literature and Language of Menoufia University in Egypt.

Please, contact us at fulbrightChicago@gmail.com to schedule a pick up of your donation.

Visit to Cairo, Egypt: Binational Fulbright Commission and The American University in Cairo

Left to right: Dr. Abdel Moneim, Elio Leturia, Dr. Ana Gil-García, Sahar Ramadan, Ahmed Salama and Safaa M. Abbadi at the Fulbright Commission in Cairo.

DURING A RECENT VISIT to Cairo, Egypt, Fulbright Association Chicago Chapter President Elio Leturia met with board member Dr. Ana-Gil García, who is currently teaching at The American University in Cairo. They visited the  Binational Fulbright Commission, the oldest and largest program in the Arab world, to talk about our Book Donation Initiative to Egyptian universities.

They were welcomed by Dr. Bruce Lohof, Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission in Cairo, and then met with Safaa M. Abbadi, manager of Alumni Affairs and Special Projects.

Elio Leturia, President of the Chicago Chapter of the Fulbright Association and board member and past president, Dr. Ana Gil-García

Part of the discussion revolved around how to optimize alumni communications. In Egypt, the alumni are organized in what they call “Circles” according to their areas of expertise. At this meeting, that took place on March 26, 2012, participated Ahmed Salama, FLTA alumnus and leader of the Teachers’ Circle for 2012; Sahar Ramadan, FLTA alumna and active member of the Teachers’ Circle and Dr. Abdel Moneim, Professor at the Department of English of Menoufia University. We also had Dr. Ossama Madany, Chairman of the English Language Department at Menoufia University, who joined the discussion, via Skype.

The book donation will be, at this time, to Menoufia University. This institution is one of the largest universities in Egypt, which has two campuses: Shibim El Kom, located 47 miles from Cairo and Sadat City, 60 miles from Cairo.

Dr. Gil-García's International and Comparative Education graduate students with Elio Leturia after a presentation at American University in Cairo

During this visit, Dr. Ana Gil-García invited Elio Leturia to present in one of the classes she teaches at the graduate program of International and Comparative Education at The American University in Cairo. In his presentation, Leturia, a native Peruvian who teaches at Columbia College Chicago, did a comparative analysis on the educational systems in Peru and the United States.

With “Bringing the World to the Classroom” Initiative Fulbrighters visit CPS schools

Fulbrighter Baqar Sayed from Pakistan talking to Westinghouse College Prep students

“Bringing the World to the Classroom” is a unique outreach program that started in August of 2010. The Chicago Chapter of the Fulbright Association, in partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Institute of International Education (IIE,) matches Fulbright students with CPS teachers in order to promote the Fulbright program and provide opportunities for authentic cross-cultural exchanges. Fulbrighters foster mutual understanding and respect for world cultures and motivate students to become engaged global citizens.

This past year five high schools, one elementary school and over two hundred students from Chicago area schools took advantage of this program. Board members also presented at four CPS professional development seminars to promote Fulbright programming to teachers. Fulbright students from Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Colombia, Greece, Japan, Bulgaria, among others have participated in this program.

This ongoing program was originally developed by Fulbright Association, Chicago Chapter board members Monica Swope, Cristina Sisson and Lisa Vásquez (now in Washington D.C.) This year, Jason Romano is the new addition to the team.

Fulbrighter Farida Abdulhafizova from Kyrgyzstan sharing her experiences with Northside College Prep High School students

Colombian Fulbrighter Andrés Gómez and his wife, Ana, visited Westinghouse College Prep

Fulbrighter Orestis Omran Koukouvitakis from Greece surrounded by a group of High School students

Fulbrighter Tetsushi Imatomi talking to Ogden High School students and sharing Japanese culture