AFIC Information:

Opportunities for Students

Description of Fellowships

Future Initiatives

Additional Information

The AFIC Project is a new initiative in the field of Arabic study, funded by the National Foreign
Language Center (NFLC) at the University of Maryland, and directed by Professor Terri DeYoung at the University of Washington. 
Current members of the steering committee advising
the Project include:
Dr. Richard Brecht (NFLC),
Dr. Gerald E. Lampe (NFLC),
ProfessorMahmoud Al- Batal (Emory University), Professor Roger Allen (University of Pennsylvania),
Professor Mahdi Alosh (Ohio State University), Professor Kirk Belnap (Brigham YoungUniversity), and Professor Karin Ryding (Georgetown University).

The purpose of the AFIC Project is to promote new methods and approaches to the study of
Arabic at higher levels of proficiency (Advanced and Superior) with special emphasis on  developing models for effective teaching of interpersonal and presentational modes of communication. 
 

Opportunities for Students

In order to further its goals, in 2003-04 the AFIC project has directly sponsored four (4) full- year fellowships to the CASA program. In addition, it has worked closely with the Flagship Fellowship Program at the Academy for Educational Development (www.aed.org), in partnership with the National Security Education Program, to make four (4) additional fellowships to CASA available to interested and qualified students.

All these fellowships were awarded expressly
to students who were interested in taking advantage of special opportunities within the regular
curricular options of CASA to enhance their skills in Listening Comprehension and Speaking.

For the 2004-05 academic year, AFIC will continue sponsoring four (4) Fellowships to the American University in Cairo, through the Academy for Educational Development. In addition, there will be four (4) other Fellowships available to study at the Arabic Language Center at the University of Damascus.

Students must submit three sets of applications to apply for these Fellowships: 1) to the Academy for Educational Development , 2) to the Center For Arabic Studies Abroad (CASA), in order to register for the CASA exam, which all prospective AFIC fellows must take, and 3) to the AFIC Program Office at the University of Washington.

Subject to the availability of funding, AFIC may offer fellowships to the ALC at the University of Damascus for the 2004-05 academic year. If you are interested in applying for one of these fellowships, click here.
 
 
 

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Description of Fellowships

The AFIC Fellows, during their tenure in Cairo, will be working closely with the AFIC Project Director, the Academic Director of CASA, and the Executive Director of CASA in Egypt to
plan and implement a tailored set of courses and/ or tutorials in the Spring semester of 2004
designed to focus on the enhancement of their interactive communication skills. They will also be
required, at the end of their tenure in CASA, to take a special set of exams, designed to measure
their progress in Reading, Listening Comprehension and Speaking. Upon the successful
completion of the AFIC fellowship, they will be awarded a certificate of distinction recognizing
their participation and contributions to the AFIC project and its goals.

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Future Initiatives
 

AFIC is committed in 2003-04 to expanding, first and foremost, opportunities for Arabic study abroad at the advanced level. To this end, we plan on continuing and enhancing our connection with the CASA and the American University in Cairo. We have also begun a separate effort to work with the new Arabic Language Center at the University of Damascus. In the future, we hope to expand opportunities at equally qualified institutions in other areas of the Arabic-speaking world. More information will be available on this website as these projects become finalized.
 
 

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Additional information

If you would like to know more about AFIC and its ongoing intiatives, please feel free to:

 Last Updated: 12/29/03