AA, JAIC, CC, CC, CC, TFC

Classes, activities, organizations, things:

1. America and the Arabs

I can't remember if I posted my decision on here or not, but I chose to take America and the Arabs - sorry, Environment and Politics of Water and Contemporary Islamic Thought. So far, I think that's been a good choice. The rumors about the water class have apparently been true, at least from what I heard about their first day of class. They went over the concept of "air." Next will be earth, followed by fire, wind, water, and heart! (Ten points if you understand the reference.)

This class is taught by Dr. Zubi Zubi - for real, that's his actual name. I was apprehensive about his teaching the class, because what I found online made him out to be a professor from the Faculty of Business who had taught about ten business-related classes and one foreign policy course. Oh, but no, maybe that's the wrong Dr. Zubi Zubi... nope, right one. As it turns out, he studied business because he got a good tawjihi score (the end-of-high-school placement test that pretty much determines your career) and was able to enter into business. Good scores enable you to study medicine, engineering, business, etc. All the things that actually get donations and funding at VCU. Hmph. Personal grudge. Anyway, his decision to go into business wasn't one of personal interest - he's always been fascinated by foreign relations and grew up in a very politically-minded family.

The class is reading intensive. In fact, that's almost all there is. Grading in Jordanian classes is different from the US. We have a 10% participation grade, just to make sure we attend class. Ten percent on a 2-4 page response/opinion paper and accompanying presentation. Thirty percent on the midterm exam, and 50% on the final exam. That's it. Read well, take good notes, learn as much as you can and hope hope hope that test day is a good day for you.

As far as the material goes, we haven't really gotten into it yet. We've gone over the structure of Arab societies, and we'll take a look at the formation of independent states in the Middle East post-WWII. After that, we can get into the real meat of Arab-American relations. The class is chronological, so we'll be doing a decade or so each week, moving up into the present day by the end of the semester.

Unlike what the program orientation prepared us for, Dr. Zubi encourages class discussion. He does not want to stand at the front and lecture for eighty minutes twice a week. He also encourages dissenting opinions, and acknowledges that his opinion is not law. He wants us to argue, to participate, to be involved. How wonderful!

He's also planning to bring in outside speakers to the class. He'll definitely be able to get some UJ students to come in and talk with us, and he's also confirmed the participation of the former Jordanian ambassador in Tel Aviv. So cool. Dr. Zubi, in going over the class rules, said that we're not allowed to tape his lectures. Reasoning? If the things that he said in class were to get out as being publicly related to his name, he would be in trouble. Excellent. I can't wait to find out what all these controversial things are.

Summary: things look really promising now, we'll check back in a few weeks and see. I'm excited.

2. Jordan and the Arab-Israeli Conflict

I had apprehensions here, too. Same as before, in fact. This class, although listed as being taught by TBA in room TBA for a long time, was finally assigned to Dr. Zubi, in the same room as America and the Arabs. That means three hours in the same room with the same professor on two similar subjects. I worry about overlap between the two classes - our reading for the first night was the same for both classes - but they should diverge quite a bit as we get into the material. Even now, they're quite different.

Let me elaborate further on my fears regarding Dr. Zubi's being in the business field. I took a class called The Arab World at VCU last spring. It was taught by Patricia Cummins, a French professor. She was awful. I mean beyond awful. She, too, cultivated a personal interest in the subject, except hers was accompanied by a serious lack of knowledge and a horrible approach to teaching. And she looked like Beaker from the Muppets. On the other side of this, I took Human Rights in Literature with (surprise!) another VCU French professor. She, too, had a deep interest in the course material, even though it wasn't her particular specialty at the university. She executed the course quite well - it was meaningful and rewarding. I'm incredibly grateful that Dr. Zubi turned out to be more like Professor Overvold than Professor Cummins.

But back to class (let's call it JAIC). A lot of the things I wrote about America and the Arabs (let's say AA) (not Alcoholics Anonymous) hold true for this class, too. The grading scale, for one, is exactly the same. Ditto for the speakers that he plans on inviting in. For one or both classes, we're going to take a field trip to the Political Museum, which he says is an incredibly interesting experience. So far we've just gone over the basic facts about Jordan and the history of its formation, beginning in the late Ottoman Empire. King Abdullah I pretty much waltzed into Transjordan and told the British that he was going to go ahead and have a country there. Kthx, bye. What a cool dude. Moving on.

3. Calligraphy Club.

CIEE offers four clubs a week - Calligraphy, Ten Forms (which is apparently some kind of grammatical structure that I haven't even come close to touching yet), Conversation, and Culture. This is the first week of clubbing, and today was the first Calligraphy Club meeting.

For anyone who's gone through Alif Baa with the DVD (okay, just Thomas, then), it's just like watching the guy write out all the letters. We learned alif and baa and taa today, and learned how to write baabaa - baa + alif + baa + alif. By the end of the semester, we should be doing fancy things - like the demonstrations of different styles of calligraphy at the end of Unit 10.

Club attendance is factored into our Arabic participation grades - we're expected to attend one a week. Calligraphy is a cumulative thing, so long-term participation is required. Other clubs are on a week-by-week, come-if-you-want basis. Calligraphy should fulfill my club requirement. Cool. So I don't need to do anything else. But...

4. Conversation Club

Conversation club just sounds so fun. It met right after Calligraphy today, and a good number of us from Calligraphy decided to go over there. We discussed Arab dating conventions, engagement, and marriage. The coolest part was probably Salsabeel's opinions and her presence there - she's getting married in just a week! The conversation topics change each week, so I may or may not go all the time. I'm really glad that I came today, and not only because of the chocolate-cream filled long john. Free donuts for club participation!

5. Culture Club

This one's not until Tuesday, but I think I'll be going to it, too. This week's topic: traditional Arabic dance. I can't wait until we get to a week where the subject is food. Yum.

6. Ten Forms Club

Just kidding. Bump that, I'm not going to club where I can't even understand the name.

I really should get to work instead of writing this. To give you an idea of the reading load, I have to read 102 pages for JAIC by tomorrow - but a paltry 55 for AA! Then I have to write a conversation/paragraph in colloquial Jordanian using the food vocabulary we learned last Wednesday, based on pictures that we drew in class. My picture? El Rodeo. Regular combo, two chicken enchiladas with rice and beans. Plus chips and salsa, and a sweet tea. Mmm. Shay ma' sukar. Nectar out of heaven.