Episode #140. Saturday February 18, 2023, 11:00 am Eastern
Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021, higher education has become increasingly limited for young women and often suspended and banned. According to a January 24, 2023 article in Inside Higher Ed, Reviving the College Dreams of Afghan Women, by Liam Knox, there are several initiatives currently underway to help Afghani women get access to educational opportunities, from online experiences at the University of the People to residential ones at higher education institutions in the United States like Arizona State University (see “61 young Afghan women arrive to begin new life as Sun Devils” ASU News, December 16, 2021 and the ASU Foundation for Afghan refugees). Enter the Asian University for Women in which has opened its doors to Afghani women to come to Chittagong, Bangladesh and enroll in a Master’s of Arts in Education. The Asian University of has Women Teaching Women, Women Learning from Women (WTW-WLW) initiative that is intended to nurture the next generation of woman leaders through a network of secondary schools for young women and girls who are refugees and located in displaced communities (website).
The Asian University for Women (AUW) Masters of Arts in Education is a unique program launched with aspirations to empower women in education, particularly the brightest young female reformists/educational entrepreneurs dedicated to creating an impact through educational development and their leadership in society. The majority of the students are Afghan evacuees and/or belong to minority communities seeking reform in education. As Israt Jahan Oeeshi, a Teaching Fellow in the Graduate Program in Education at AUW, explains, “I chose this particular program to begin my academic career because it allows me to improve my pedagogical skills and provides me with a purpose: assisting an exceptional cohort of students.” Attend this episode of Silver Lining for Learning and learn firsthand from the Founder of AUW, Kamal Ahmad, as well as one of the instructors, Dr. Stefanie Panke, and three Afghani graduate students who had been evacuated with the help of Asian University for Women in 2021 and are currently in a Master’s of Education program in Chittagong, Bangladesh. All their bios are below. They will discuss their class project with Dr. Panke which was a Pressbook titled “Strong Schools.”
Strong Schools, Afghani Women, Asian University of Women: https://pressbooks.pub/schools/
AUW master’s degrees: https://asian-university.org/academic-programs/masters-programs/
Asian University for Women (AUW) Master’s in Education and new Women Teaching Women, Women Learning from Women (WTW-WLW) initiative:
https://asian-university.org/2021/10/29/masters-in-education/
Reviving the College Dreams of Afghan Women, Liam Knox, Inside Higher Ed, January 24, 2023
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2023/01/24/helping-afghan-women-back-higher-ed
“61 young Afghan women arrive to begin new life as Sun Devils” ASU News, December 16, 2021
https://news.asu.edu/20211216-global-engagement-afghan-women-arrive-new-life-asu
Kamal Ahmad, Founder, Asian University for Women
President & CEO, Asian University for Women Support Foundation
Kamal Ahmad is the Founder of the Asian University for Women (AUW) and leads its strategic planning and fundraising operations as President & CEO of the Asian University for Women Support Foundation. AUW is located in Chittagong, Bangladesh and draws students from 18 countries across the region. It offers a residential, undergraduate program in the liberal arts and sciences with plans for the establishment of a number of graduate schools. Kamal has served on the staffs of the World Bank, Rockefeller Foundation, UNICEF, and the General Counsel of the Asian Development Bank. He is a recipient of a number of awards including the United Nations Gold Peace Medal & Citation Scroll, given by the Paul G. Hoffman Awards Fund; Time magazine College Achievement Award; World Economic Forum Global Leader for Tomorrow Award; and the John Phillips Award from the Phillips Exeter Academy. He is a trustee of Harvard-Yenching Institute; Leadership Board Member of the Beth Israel Deaconness Hospital at Harvard University; and a Member of the Council of Luminaries of Yidan Education Foundation in Hong Kong. He holds a B.A. from Harvard College and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.
Dr. Stefanie Panke is an educational technology specialist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is native German and holds a PhD in Applied Linguistics and Literature from the University of Bielefeld, which she completed in 2012 with summa cum laude. Her research interests comprise social media, informal learning, open educational resources, and design thinking. As social media coordinator for AACE she is responsible for the blog AACE Review. Stefanie is an adjunct professor for teacher education at the Asian University for Women. She also teaches Web Science at Cologne University of Applied Sciences and Design Thinking at Münster University of Applied Sciences. She can be contacted at panke@sog.unc.edu.
Zulikha Malekzai completed her undergraduate degree in Public Policy and Administration at Kabul University in 2017. From 2018 to 2019, she held the position of Research Assistant Intern at the Ministry of Finance before being promoted to Research Assistant in 2020. In this most recent role, Zulikha was responsible for preparing work plans, conducting reviews, arranging meetings, and analyzing primary and secondary data. Her research interest comprises blended learning models, different models of learning in schools with a strong interest in STEM education for women. As a passionate individual for bringing reform in her country’s school curriculums, she is learning many forms of teaching methodologies and educational policies to get better understanding of what works better for education policies.
Fatima Nasiry is currently studying for an MA in education at the Asian University for Women. She completed a Bachelor of Technology in Civil Engineering from SVNIT Surat, India, in May 2021. She worked with CARE International in Afghanistan as a site engineer. Now she is a research assistant intern at Books Unbound and teaches digital literacy at Education Bridge for Afghanistan to Afghan students who are banned from going to school. She is interested in integrating civil engineering with education by designing a curriculum and conducting research on WASH awareness in schools and the impact of infrastructure on students’ academic performance.
Upon graduating from Sourya High School in 2014, Zainab Mirzaie completed her Bachelors in IT, Computer Engineering and Informatics at Kabul Polytechnic University in 2017. Upon gaining experience as an English Trainer and School Teacher, Zainab has expanded her data entry, analysis and management skills in various roles at the Ministry of Higher Education, UN-Habitat, BRAC Afghanistan, and AKDN Agency for Habitat (2017 to 2021). She has also completed workshops on gender, safeguarding, and communication. Zainab is extremely interested in connecting technology with education and embedding it in the context of my learning and teaching context.