Douglass Students and Staff Travel to Kuwait

This past month, Douglass students and staff traveled to Kuwait! While abroad, students took part in educational and service-learning experiences centered around the feminist topics they study and research as part of the Douglass Global Leaders program.

The Global Leaders program at Douglass offers students a unique path towards a fully funded study abroad opportunity. As part of the program, students take two credit-bearing courses and conduct research on issues affecting women and girls internationally. Over winter break, they travel together with their Douglass instructors on a study abroad trip to learn deeply about a country’s culture and immerse themselves in a global experience. Upon their return, they connect what they learned abroad to the New Brunswick community. The competitive, year-long program is part of a sequence of global initiatives offered by the College. Students who are selected to be a part of Global Leaders must first complete the Global Village program or a feminist advocacy course, both of which are led by the Director of Global at Douglass, Dr. Hasnaa Mokhtar. Global programs at Douglass strive to remove traditional barriers to study abroad while giving students one-of-a-kind, hands-on learning experiences that offer diverse perspectives on gender equity at home and abroad.

While abroad, Douglass students visted historic markets, the Kuwait National Museum, and the Gulf University for Science and Technology. Additionally, they learned about traditional Bedouin weaving culture, took part in a traditional Kuwaiti dance workshop, and met with Kuwaiti artists at Safat studio.

Students also continued their coursework while in Kuwait. They connected with students and staff studying English Literature at the American University of Kuwait for a joint class session. Together, the two cohorts discussed literary and feminist theory, gender roles in the United States and the Middle East, and more. Read more about their experience here!

The trip was made possible by the Rodkin Endowment for Global Village International Service-Learning Scholars. 

See photos from the entire trip below!