The vice president for Students Affairs and External Relations, Dr. Fawwaz Al-Abed Al-Haq met the president of Gaziantep University (Turkey), Dr. Ali Gur to discuss possible avenues of cooperation between the two sides.

At the beginning of the meeting, Al-Abed Al-Haq stressed the keenness of YU to cooperate with regional and international universities, which offers educational and research opportunities for YU students and faculty members as well, pointing to the academic reputation that Turkish universities enjoy.  Al-Abed Al-Haq further stated that YU welcomes cooperation with Gaziantep University in terms of establishing joint academic programs and invited Gaziantep students to join the Arabic language for speakers of other languages program offered by the Languages Center and which receives hundreds of students from around the world on an annual basis.

For his part, Gur stated that Gaziantep University has 54 thousand students and 14 faculties and that Turkish, English and Arabic are used as mediums of instruction, pointing that Arabic is used as a medium of instruction for 12 programs.  Gur also pointed that Gaziantep University has international students representing 108 countries adding that the university is a center of excellence for medicine and engineering. He finally expressed his university willingness to expand cooperation with Arab universities in general, and with YU, confirming their willingness to establish joint programs. 

The meeting was attended by the Dean of the Faculty of Arts Dr. Mohammed Bani Doumi, the Director of International Relations and Projects Dr. Mwaffaq Otoom, Dr. Ayman Hayajneh from the Department of Political Science, and the vice president of Gaziantep University, Dr. Shimis Demir, and several officials from both universities.

YU received a fund of €110,000 from the Agence française de développement (ADF) to carry out a research project on "Economic and Social Inequality within the Host Communities of Syrian Refugees in Jordan."

The project manager, and the head of the Economics department, Dr. Abd Al-Baset Athamneh said that the proposed project will last for eighteen months and covers Amman and Irbid governorates. He added that the project includes four stages and at the end of each stage, a specialized seminar will be conducted to announce the results. Then, at the end of the project, a specialized international conference will be held.

 Athamneh pointed that the research project aims at increasing awareness of the consequences of economic and social inequalities within the refugee-hosting communities and the factors behind that, in addition to investigating the role of asylum in decreasing/increasing the consequences of inequality.

The research team, which is headed by Dr. Athamneh, includes Dr. Mahmoud Hailat from the Department of Economics, the director of the Refugees, Displaced Persons and Forced Migration Studies Center, Dr. Ayat Nashwan, and Dr. Rana Jawarneh from the Department of Geography, and will be implemented in accordance to the agreement signed between YU and the AFD.

The AFD is a public financial institution that was founded in 1941 and implements the policy defined by the French Government. It works to fight poverty and promote sustainable development. 

Official Opening of Um Qais Water Tunnel

Deputizing for his royal highness Prince Al Hassan bin Talal, the chairman of the board of trustees of Yarmouk University Dr. Khaled Al-Omari attended the opening ceremony of the water tunnel in the city of Um Qais (Jadara).

Al-Omari conveyed the greetings of His Royal Highness Prince Al Hassan and expressed his appreciation for the prince's continuous support to the various activities that YU carry out. He added that this project, which is implemented by the Faculty of Archeology, is a proof of YU keenness to support research, pointing that the American embassy has always been a main supporter of the Higher education sector in Jordan. He further stressed the importance of the historical site of Umm Qais, and invited decision makers to give it the proper attention it deserves and to include it in the UNESCO World cultural heritage list.  Al-Omari also referred to the excavations, maintenance and renovation works which the faculty of archaeology have carried out in various archeological sites in Jordan, adding that the discovery of the water tunnel in Jadara city enhances sustainable development in Irbid city and in Um Qais archaeological site.

President Dr. Zeidan Kafafi expressed his pride of YU for accomplishing the project in one of the most important archaeological sites in Jordan in cooperation with the Department of Public Antiquities, and with the financial support of the US Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation. He added that many archaeological sites in Jordan are subject to destruction, whether by people searching for treasures or by natural causes and invited all parts to cooperate to protect them.   The president also encouraged YU faculty to attract international development projects that benefit the university and the community.

The cultural attaché at the US embassy, Peter Neisuler , stated that the American Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation seeks to protect cultural sites and all forms of traditional cultural expression around the world, pointing out that Jordan has received grants of more than 2 million dollars, since 2001,  support 18 projects that aimed at preserving cultural heritage in several areas in Jordan, including Petra, Al-Bayda, Um Jamal, Abella, the Jordan Valley, and downtown Amman, pointing that such archeological sites are proof of the past human civilizations. Neisuler praised the efforts of YU and the Department of Antiques for their efforts in the discovery, maintenance and restoration of heritage sites, which positively reflects on the tourism and economic sectors in Jordan. At the end of his speech, he expressed the pride of the United States for their partnership with Jordan and emphasized on the US intention to continue to support Jordan to develop the tourism sector.

For his part, the project manager, Dr. Ziad Al-Saad, welcomed everybody and thanked them for attending the ceremony. He then stated that the project was part of an integrated plan developed by the Faculty of Archeology as a translation for the YU strategic plan in terms of community responsibility towards preserving the diverse cultural heritage of the archaeological city of Jadara. The plan included doing excavation works, archaeological studies and implementing maintenance, restoration and rehabilitation projects, describing this project as the first fruit of their work. He added that there are other similar projects to be done in other sites in Umm Qais as those that aim at maintaining the Roman Market, the main fountain (Nymphaeum) and the columns street. Al-Saad further stated that the choice of Jadara Tunnel to be the first project stems from its historical and technical importance, especially that it is part of an integrated water system that  enabled dragging fresh water from distant places (up to 170 km) through mountains and valleys using only the power of gravity, making this site a proof of the architectural genuineness  and creativity of the Roman period.  The tunnel, he added, is 94 km long and is considered as the longest ancient water tunnel in the world, which is considered as an addition to the diversity of Jordan's cultural heritage.  

The project team included Dr. Mustafa Al-Nadaf, Dr. Ahmed Abubakar, Dr. Abdul Rahim Ahmed, Dr. Abdulrahman Al-Serugi, Dr. Wasef Alsakhaineh, Dr. Sahar Khasawneh, engineer Fandi Al-Wakid, Mohammed Jaradat, Musa Al-Sarbel, Muwafaq Al-Bataineh, Hussein Dibaja, and Mohamed Rababba'.

The opening ceremony included a tour in the water tunnel during in which attendees got to know the stages of rehabilitation and renovation of the tunnel.

The ceremony was attended by Vice President Dr. Fawwaz Al-Abed Al-Haq Abdel Haq, dean of the Faculty of Archaeology, Dr. Hani Hayajneh, director of Bani Kenana district Ahmed Olaimat, Mayor of Khalid bin Alwaleed Municipality Hussain Malkawi, and Deputy Director of the Dept. of Antiquities Yazid Elayyan, director of the Irbid Tourism Directorate, Masha'el Khasawneh, and several officials from the U.S. Embassy in Amman and the university.

The President of YU, Dr. Zeidan Kafafi, sponsored the graduation ceremony of the Arabic as a Foreign Language program offered by the Languages Center.

Kafafi congratulated the graduates and emphasized that the graduates are now part of the YU family who will represent it wherever they go. He also expressed his hope that the students have achieved the goals they joined the program for, which include learning Arabic and knowing the Jordanian people and culture. The president also stressed on the keenness of YU to provide all possible means to ensure that students from different foreign and Islamic countries benefit from the program.

The graduating students thanked YU for the attention paid to them while studying at the center, and thanked the Languages center's administration for providing them with the qualified instructors, language labs, and extra-curricular activities that contributed to their integration with other students on campus and with the local community. Students added that the program provided them with the opportunity to learn about the history of Jordan by visiting historical and touristic sights, and they spoke of the reasons that encouraged them to choose the languages Center at YU to learn Arabic.

During the ceremony, a short film was presented on the extracurricular activities the students participated in during their study, in addition to some folklore performances that reflected the different cultures of the participating students.

At the end of the ceremony, Dr. Kafafi gave the completion certificates to the 32 students from the USA, France, Spain, Australia, Belgium, Turkey, China, Malaysia, Romania, Singapore, and Korea.

It is noteworthy to mention that the languages center has 150 students from several foreign and Islamic Countries studying Arabic.