Dr. Amatalrauf Al-Sharki

Words of Wisdom

Posted on March 16, 2009 - Permalink
Audiences: Alumni Current Students Faculty and Staff HomePage Research Trustees

Bridgewater State College was proud to host Dr. Amatalrauf Al-Sharki (also known as Raufa Hassan), who visited campus recently as a Fulbright Scholar from her native country of Yemen in the Middle East.

Dr. Al-Sharki came to BSC at the end of January and returned to her homeland in early March. During her six weeks here, she lectured extensively both on- and off-campus, sharing her thoughtful discourse on such topics as women's rights, ending global violence, freedom of the press and human rights. Her opinions are forthright and forged from sometimes difficult and intense personal experiences.

A professor of gender, social change and development, and development communications at Sana'a University in Yemen, Dr. Al-Sharki hopes her scholarship will help facilitate increased dialog between her university and BSC, resulting in mutually beneficial international projects, a goal shared by BSC faculty and administrators.

Dr. Edward Minnock, vice president for external affairs, emphasized the importance of global exchanges. "Increasing our students' awareness of global issues through exchanges like the Fulbright Scholarship personalizes our communications. At the end of the day, everyone who was touched by Dr. Al-Sharki's insights and humanity has gained a deeper knowledge and understand of the other."

Those touched by Dr. Al-Sharki's visit include not only BSC students, but also area middle and high school students, members of regional Rotary Clubs, the members of the Ousamequin Woman's Club and students at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, to name only a few of the many venues where the scholar shared her insights.

Dr. Jabbar Al-Obaidi, professor of communication studies and coordinator of the Middle East Studies Program, said of Dr. Al-Sharki, "It was an outstanding opportunity to have Dr. Al-Sharki with us. She contributed a lot to the intercultural communication, pedagogical discussion and interfaith dialog, and illustrated to our students, faculty, librarians and community the ways and means to connect with other cultures and communities outside our own comfort zones." (Story by Karen Booth and photo by Rob Matheson, both Institutional Communications)