The AUW Board of Turstees meets in Chittagong. Read more.
The AUW announced the winners of the Cherie Blair Fellowships for 2011-2012. Read the article.
(Image credit: The Daily Star, Metropolitan, December 9, 2011)
Masooma Maqsoodi and Mursal Hamraz recently joined a presentation by the US-Afghan Women's Council.
Pictured from left to right: Kamal Ahmad, AUW Founder; Irina Bukova, UNESCO Director General and AUW Patron; Mursal Hamraz, AUW Student; Melanne Verveer, US Ambassador for Global Women's Affairs; Masooma Maqsoodi, AUW Student; and Dr. Phyllis Magrab, Vice Chair of the US-Afghan Women's Council.
The Asian University for Women is pleased to annouce the Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor Fellowships at AUW. Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor is an AUW Patron, and the wife of Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak. Read the article
The Asian University for Women is now part of United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI),
a global alliance of institutions of higher education and research. As a member,
AUW pledges to undertake at least one activity every year in support of principles relating to the power of education to transform societies and effect change.
"As the first woman Director-General of UNESCO, I am all the more committed to
advancing the rights of women and encouraging their full participation in political,
economic and social development... I am very honoured to join other
eminent personalities on the Asian University for Women's Council of Patrons. I will do my utmost to lend my voice to the noble ideals of your institution."
-Irina Bokova
Ms. Irina Bokova, the first woman Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is now a Patron of the Asian University for Women. Ms. Bokova previously served as Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to France and Monaco, among other distinguished positions. She is the
Founder and Chairperson of the European Policy Forum.
The AUW Council of Patrons is chaired by the Honorable Prime Minister Sheikh Kasina Wazed and co-chaired by Madame Lone Dybjkaer of the Danish Parliament. Other members include Ms. Anson Chan from Hong Kong, Dr. Condoleezza Rice from the US, and Ms. Emma Bonino from Italy.
Project Director Mushtaque Habib (left) assists Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina lay the foundation stone, as AUW Chancellor Cherie Blair, World Bank Managing Director Dr. Ngozi N. Okonjo-Iweala, and Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni look on.
On April 26, Asian University for Women held a foundation stone laying ceremony at the its permanent campus site in Pahartoli with the Hon'ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the Chief Guest. AUW Chancellor Cherie Blair chaired the ceremony. The special guests were Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni, Education Minister Nuruk Islam Nahid, and World Bank Managing Director Dr. Ngozi N. Okonjo-Iweala.
Below are some excerpts of the speeches delivered that day.
The Hon'ble Prime Minister:
"I am pleased to observe that the Asian University for Women has been functioning well in terms of imparting excellent education. I am sure once the campus premises are completed the results would exceed all our expectation.
...Indeed, the Asian University for Women captures the common desire of women of not only Asia but of all women worldwide to contribute to their nations and to humanity."
Dr. Okonjo-Iweala:
"Let us work together with all governments in Asia to create opportunities for women to take their rightful place in society. Today, the Asian University for Women takes a significant step in that direction, and I am delighted to be a witness to this historic moment."
Founder Kamal Ahmad:
"When people ask me what traits do you look for in your students, I often say that we look for three things beyond academic excellence: We look for a demonstration of courage, for how can you be a leader without courage; we look for a measure of outrage at injustice, for how can you change anything unless injustice troubles you; and we look for a measure of empathy, for a person who does not care about others cannot bring about the change this world needs."
Many AUW students attended the event that celebrated their future campus.
Student Government President Nawra Mehrin:
"At the Asian University for Women, we believe that education is a fundamental human right, but that this right comes with a responsibility to make a difference. It is our belief that education is not a luxury but a responsibility that society owes to itself. With immense optimism, we are working not just to create for ourselves a bright future but to rewrite the history of women and show the world that when women thrive, all of society benefits and succeeding generations are given a better start in life."
Hon'ble Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni:
"We know the heart of any real university is its students and faculty. Its pulse is in the rhythm of learning and knowing. The excitement is in the discovery of knowledge. The inspiration is in finding ways to channel that knowledge in a way that serves humanity in the best possible way.
...What has been envisioned for the Asian University for Women is truly remarkable...It will demonstrate that education of the highest quality is not a monopoly of any one region of the world. In fact, intelligent people anywhere can come together and build places of learning that can be as good and as enduring as any others."
Other notable guests included Ellen Goldstein, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh (right), and several ambassadors.
Professor Joanne Janssen and the students of her Banned Books course invite everyone to exciting activities in celebration of Freedom of Expression Week.
Special guests: Bangladeshi filmmakers Tareque and Catherine Masud, makers of the Cannes Award-winning The Clay Bird, will be interviewed by Banned Books students on April 10, 5-6 pm, on the 20G rooftop.
The Masuds will then host an hour-long session to show some film shorts and excerpts and discuss their work, starting at 7:30 pm in the 20G basement.
Film screening: The Lives of Others, April 11, 7:30 pm
Each month, the Asian Studies major organizes an academic seminar around the work of a faculty member or an AUW guest. This month, we feature Professor Se-Woong Koo, Stanford Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at AUW.
Date/Time: Thursday, April 7, 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
Location: 20G Café space
"West/East: Imperial Ambition and Ideas of Asia"
Even if "Asia" is a concept as ancient as Greece and Rome, the conception of global geography consisting of the enlightened West and the blighted East can be traced back to the age of imperial ambition. Under the rule of Western civilization Asia was deemed a "dark," "backward," and "spiritual" place in dire need of modernization. "The West" was invented as a bringer of light, and civilization and modernity it was seen to embody were increasingly articulated using the metaphor of radiance in the elite discourse of both metropole and colonial space. The emergent Asian empire of Japan likewise appropriated light as the symbol par excellence of its civilizing capacity. The Chrysanthemum Throne in Tokyo assumed the reign name "Meiji" – the Enlightened Rule – declaring that Japan was the origin of the sun, a source of light equal in brilliance to that of the modernized West. Embedded in such assertion was an idea of Asia as already civilized and alight by Japan, a new regional hegemon.
All are welcome!
Journalist Misha Hussain discusses why he left behind the comfort of Europe to come back and work in his native Bangladesh. We follow Misha's journey from Sylhet, Bangladesh to the east end of London where his family struggled like many other Bengalis to give him an education. However, like an increasing number of British-Bengalis, Misha decided to come back to Bangladesh after completing his studies, and more importantly to give back in an attempt to reverse the "brain drain." In this TALE talk, Misha talks about the living in the west, the importance of knowledge sharing and capacity building, and why Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries need their students now more than ever before.
"Why tell the stories other people don’t tell?"
Photojournalist Amy Helene Johansson worked as a fashion designer for a decade before becoming a photojournalist. Moving to Bangladesh in 2006 to work in the garment sector changed her life. She got to know a country so much more diverse than the media in Sweden had showed her, and she felt the urgency to show people Bangladesh through her eyes.
By showing images of her own as well as other female photographers' work, Amy will also briefly talk about the advantages of being a woman in a male dominated business.
Date: 24 February, Thursday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
The AUW Debate Club extends its invitation for the very first intra-university debating tournament to be held on March 1- 4, 2011. The tournament will feature three rounds with four teams consisting of three members each: one from the Access Academy, one from UG1, and one from UG2. Each batch will compete against their own batch; for example, a UG1 debater will be up against another UG1 debater.
The schedule is as follows:
March 1, 2011 |
|
7:30-8:30 PM |
UG 2 (Team A vs. B)- Round 1 |
8:30-9:30 PM |
UG 2 (Team C vs. D)- Round 1 |
March 2, 2011 |
|
7:30-8:30 PM |
UG 1 (Team A vs. B)- Round 1 |
8:30-9:30 PM |
UG 1(Team C vs. D)- Round 1 |
March 3, 2011 |
|
7:30-8:30 PM |
AA (Team A vs. B)- Round 1 |
8:30-9:30 PM |
AA (Team C vs. D)- Round 1 |
March 4, 2011: Grand Finale (time TBA)
Please join us in making this event a success!
AUW students at the karate competition in Dhaka, with their instructor, Ms. Maria Chakraborty (second from right)
Eight AUW students competed in the 2011 World Union of Karate Do Federations Fajilatun Nesa 3rd Intercontinental Asia WUKF Karate Championships in Dhaka. They competed with participants from Bangladesh, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Srilanka, Brazil, and Iran. The students earned 6 Gold, 5 Silver, and 2 Bronze awards. Congratulations!
In September 2011, AUW will host an international conference, "Changing Nature of Forced Migration: Vulnerabilites and Responsibilities in South and Southeast Asia." AUW invites submissions based on five themes: (1) Climate change, development and security; (2) Legal and policy frameworks; (3) Coping mechanisms; (4) Gender dimensions of forced migration and migrant work; and (5) Politics of belonging, incorporation, settlement and identity.
Go the the conference web page
Following her journey through time, places and works, we see how lives lived unseen before us and around us impact our own. Kashfi Mahmud will describe how the arc of her life brought her back to Chittagong to set up an education program for slum children 500 meters from where her grandfather had built a school for underprivileged children half a century ago.
Date: 10 February, Thursday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
Why photograph? Why live as an artist? Visiting photographer Claudio Cambon will discuss his 20-year career as a documentary photographer in an effort to convince as many young minds as possible of the purposefulness of engaging in an activity that is difficult, complicated, frustrating, inefficient, unstable, unpredictable, and non-remunerative!
Date: 3 February, Thursday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
Humanities Professor Sangita Rayamajhi will discuss how she balances life on the trapeze of marriage, education, career and children. Her presentation will be a pastiche of memories, a collage of life put together as through the lanes of school, family life, education, through the palace gates, outside the country, inside the country, and finally, AUW.
Date: 27 January, Thursday
Time: 5:30 PM
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
Click here to read Professor Rayamajhi's profile.
Click here to read about the recent symposium!
This week's guest speaker is Ms. Sumitra Sinha, Senior VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) Architect at telecommunications giant AT&T. Ms. Sinha has worked at AT&T for over 20 years. She is also an adjunct professor of Computer Science Department, Brookdale Community College. Come join us for this special T.A.L.E. session!
Date: 18 January
Time: 9:00 AM
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
World Pulse,
a global media and communication network devoted to giving voices to women, published a testimonial letter
by first year undergraduate Parwana Fayyazz, who comes from Ghazni Province in Afghanistan. Parwana's letter is part of a campaign to support the International Violence Against Women Act. In the letter, Parwana describes the situation in Afghanistan, and her hopes for her country's future.
Sreymom Pol, a second year undergraduate from Cambodia, is the second AUW student to earn a black belt in karate. She received the top grade in her exam at the
Honke Shotokan Karate Do Association. Congratulations to Sreymom!
Read Sreymom's student profile
The AUW Creative Writing Club
will hold their first Reading Day, entitled "Break Away." They will be joined by an Access Academy teacher as they read aloud their writings, including poetry, fiction, and non-fiction pieces. The entire AUW community is invited to this event!
Date: 23 November
Time: 5:20 pm
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
The On Campus with Women section of AAC&U (Association of American Colleges and Universities) has published an article entitled, " Female Education in Bangladesh: Promising Present, Challenging Future," by Professor Faheem Hussain and Ms. Fabiha Naumi, Assistant Director of Student Affairs.
On November 4, AUW Professor Amber Wise will discuss some of her career highlights, and her adventures with translating science to a wide variety of audiences, including children, undergraduates, elite scientists in academia, policy makers and the general public. Same time, same place!
This week’s TALE is the story of how two young women experienced Croatia and Bosnia and how those experiences led them to AUW. Ms. Katie Rucker’s time studying in Croatia and Bosnia piqued her interest in human rights violations and the ethnic cleansing that happened in her lifetime. Meanwhile, Ms. Kelsey Bristow was inspired to write her university thesis on youth’s unique potential to build peace in Bosnia.
Date: 21 October
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
Professor Brenda Kranz will discuss the links between studying the evolution of insect reproductive behavior, how human babies are exposed to heavy metals, implementing quarantine in the Indian Ocean and managing Food Security programs in the Australian desert, and finding her way to AUW.
Click here for Professor Kranz's profile.
Date: 14 October
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
Professor Shahirah Majumdar, AUW Lecturer in Writing, will talk about the journeys we take, the stories we tell, and how being a writer is always about trying to better understand the world that we come from.
Click here for Professor Majumdar's profile.
Date: 7 October
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
Dr. Spase Karoski from the Sydney Institute and University of Wollongong in Australia will give a talk entitled, "Towards understanding men." Dr. Karoski will discuss men’s movements, gender, masculinity, femininity, and power, and encourages participants to bring pen and paper, as this T.A.L.E. will be interactive!
Date: 28 September (Tuesday)
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
Mr. Alam Khorshed, Director of Bishaud Bangla, will present a talk entitled, "Engineering redefined: a tale of an unwilling engineer." He will tell the story of his twenty years of working as an engineer in the corporate world before eventually pursuing his passion for the arts and culture, language and literature, people and politics, and in the process redefining the whole notion of engineering itself.
Date: 23 September
Time: 5:00 pm
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
The Daily Star Campus published an article written by an Umme Mahbuba, an AUW undergraduate. Umme discusses her participation in the United Nations Youth and Students Association of Bangladesh (UNYSAB), a voluntary youth and student movement for the United Nations that aims to convey the thoughts of the youth about current global issues.
Read the article on the Daily Star Campus
Newsweek Education, of the U.S.-based magazine Newsweek, interviewed AUW Founder and Acting Vice-Chancellor Kamal Ahmad. Mr. Ahmad discusses his past experience with education, the diversity of our students, and their commitment to giving back to their communities.
Read the article on education.newsweek.com
This week's T.A.L.E. is entitled, "Andrea's Adventures with Turtles and Froga," and it's about Prof. Andrea Phillott's experience volunteering as a research assistant in the Great Barrier Reef. Come to her talk to find out more!
Click here for Professor Phillott's profile.
Date: 16 September
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
This week's T.A.L.E. (Thursday Afternoon Learning Extravaganza) will be a talk entitled, "Neuroscience and society: a tale of two worlds," by Professor Lucina Uddin. She will talk about regional problems and global solutions, coincidences and consequences, science and society, and ultimately, following your heart and trusting your brain.
Click here for Professor Uddin's profile.
Date: 2 September
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: 20G Cafe/G101
Sunita Basnet, a second-year AUW undergraduate, shares her experiences running a one day free health clinic in rural Nepal. Sunita was able to offer the clinic through a grant from the International Women's Health Coalition Young Visionaries 2010.
