During the 2012 NAFSA Conference and Expo, the GoAbroad Team was pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 Innovation Awards. As part of a continued effort to recognize the hard work and dedication this year’s nominees, GoAbroad will be sharing individual features of the 2012 GoAbroad Innovation Awards finalists over the coming weeks. This week, we are thrilled to bring you the Innovative New Program, Study Abroad Award finalists!
Please join us in congratulating the following Finalist of the Innovative New Program, Study Abroad Award:
Bard College
Institute for International Liberal Education
“Al-Quds Bard Study Abroad Program in West Bank”
Bard College is an innovator and risk taker in the field of study abroad. All of Bard’s study abroad programs are based in deep partnerships with a local university who share a commitment to the theories and practice of liberal arts education. Bard’s new study abroad program in the West Bank, created in 2011, continues this tradition. In many ways, the West Bank location alone boldly sets the program apart in the field of international education. There are very few options, if any, for students to study in an academically rigorous semester program in the West Bank. Even less opportunity exists to study today’s tough global challenges alongside Palestinian students.
In contrast, the Al-Quds Bard Study Abroad Program allows students the opportunity to spend a semester studying side-by-side with Palestinian students at the newly founded Al-Quds Bard College for Liberal Arts and Sciences. Through this dynamic and innovative new study abroad program, students with a desire to academically engage with Palestinian students and experience life in the West Bank first-hand now have a structured and immersive outlet to do so.