I also follow my father's footsteps who is my motivation [and] example. I used to watch him teaching with happiness and...
AQB MAT Alumna Awarded Best Teacher in Palestine
Al-Quds Bard College has been eager to keep a connection with its alumni community. In this issue of the AQB E-newsletter, we are featuring the AQB distinguish alumna from the MAT Mathematics Track: Rania Suboh, class 2012. She has recently been awarded the Palestinian Ministry of Education’s Annual Award of the Best Teacher in Palestine.
AQB Alumna Rania Suboh Receiving the Award of the Best Teacher in Palestine, 2020
Rania earned her Bachelor's degree in Mathematics from Bethlehem University in 2004, and upon graduation, she took a full-time job teaching in west Bethlehem’s countryside schools. Rania reflects on her career, “[t]eaching has always been my ambition [and an] endeavor which I like and respect. I also follow my father's footsteps who is my motivation [and] example. I used to watch him teaching with happiness and pride that his students gave him all love and respect. My father frequently said, ‘[a]s we leave the world, we leave our good deeds behind us.’”
Rania has chosen the MAT to advance her pedagogical skills and unfold new layers in her math discipline. As a mother of two daughters and a full-time teacher, she challenged herself to come up with progressive teaching methods inspired by her educational experience in ABQ's rigorous liberal arts program. Rania states, “[m]y MAT degree encouraged me to take my math classroom to a level of invoking knowledge, creation, and enjoyment, as well as to keep students engaged without boredom.”
On December 15th, 2020, Rania was granted the Annual Award of the Best Teacher in Palestine, which is a very prestigious Palestinian national award. Rania competed with 33 applicants from different Palestinian governorates, where the Award Committee reviewed criteria such as innovative classroom projects, incorporating technology, and enrollment in civic engagement activities.
AQB Student Reflects on her Internship in the Human Rights Field
AQB Human Rights Student, Dana Ghoul, 2021
Dana Ghoul is a second-year student majoring in International Law and Human Rights at Al-Quds Bard College. This semester, she is interning with Al-Quds Community Action Center in East Jerusalem in their Advocacy Unit. She sheds light on Human Rights Violations in East Jerusalem, including discriminatory urban planning, forced displacement of the Bedouin Community in West Bank, and denial of building permits for Jerusalemites.
One of Dana's projects is the translation of testimonies from Arabic to English collected from the Bedouin Community in the West Bank that is at the risk of forced displacement.
Another project that Dana is involved in is the publication of a report on the academic freedom of expression in Palestine and its criminalization for purposes of suppressing Palestinian Human Rights, thus obscuring Israel's oppressive policies against the Palestinian population.
According to Dana, "my experience as an advocacy intern has been very enriching and eye-opening. It has exposed me to the practical nature of working in the Human Rights field, especially when it comes to issues related to advocacy and public speaking, which are skills that will serve me well in the future as an Advocacy Officer."
AQB Academic Resources Center Provides Distinguished Support for Students
AQB Students in a class.
The Academic Resource Center (ARC) at Al-Quds Bard College is an integral part of AQB as it provides students with English language support by focusing on a less formal way of teaching. This can be done through conducting workshops and giving one on one tutoring sessions either face-to-face or online. The ARC strives to help students at all levels with different topics, whether it is writing or presenting their ideas. It is worth mentioning that the AQB ARC is the only of its kind in Palestine as it is modeled after the academic resource center at Bard College in New York.
The ARC recently published its revamped web-pagewith abundant materials and documents that benefit first and second year students, as well as offers great assistance to juniors and seniors. The new page contains documents and links representing the full range of services the ARC provides, including tutorials, workshops, writing resources, research databases, moderation and senior project guidelines, program checklists, and career development resources. Students use the ARC webpage to schedule private/group tutorials, join workshops via Zoom, view recordings of past workshops, and more. Many AQB faculty benefit from the updated page as well, since they may refer their students to the useful documents addressing various writing techniques and skills, research guides and databases, all of which will enhance their in-class assignments.
AQB is Present in Bard/OSUN Get Engaged Conference 2021
Get Engaged 2019, Budapest, Hungary.
On April 10th & 11th, 2021, Bard and the Open Society University Network (OSUN) concluded the Eighth Annual Get Engaged Conference, which took place virtually, hosting a total of 145 participants from all over the Bard and OSUN Networks.
As always, Al-Quds Bard took part in organizing and participating in this ambitious event. Shadin Nassar, ABQ's Global Fellow, was a leading figure in the conference, presenting her experience as a Get Engaged Alumni and a project leader herself. Shumoo Alayasseh, the Debate Club Leader at AQB, took the stage to present her work in training and organizing debates during Covid and beyond. Hakam Abu Laban, the Civic Engagement Coordinator at AQB, was a member of the Organizing Committee.
All participants received certificates for attending various valuable workshops and managed to achieve a milestone in creating a network of beneficial connections with their peers and instructors from all over the Bard and OSUN Sphere.
