Americans in the Middle East

A study abroad programme brings 15 students from the US to the region. Four of them tell Manal Al Afrangi how the media back home feeds misconceptions about the region.

- A better understanding of the Middle East.
- Get to know the local community.
- Experience the culture of the region.
- Learn Arabic.

T hese are among the collective thoughts of a batch of American students (and one Mexican) who visited Abu Dhabi recently to attend a conference at the Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR). Fifteen in total, the students come from all over the US: Texas, Minnesota, Washington D.C., New York, Florida and Pennsylvania.

They belong to a study abroad programme - in this case Oman - run by the World Learning Institution (WLI), which has operated study abroad programmes for US university students since early in the last century.

The School of International Training (SIT), which is the programme unit of WLI responsible for sending students to study abroad, offers two other Middle Eastern destinations - Morocco and Jordan.

Elizabeth Langston, the Oman programme coordinator, said: "This 15-week study programme aims to improve intercultural understanding."

So what makes Oman special?

Langston said: "To begin with, not many Americans come to the Gulf in the first place except for work. This programme offers the only learning opportunity in this part of the region."

And through Oman, students get to travel to other GCC countries. This trip has offered the students a chance to visit the UAE. Langston says the trip to Abu Dhabi to attend the 11th ECSSR conference on Current Transformations and their Potential in Realising Change in the Arab World provides a good comparative opportunity for the students - especially in terms of development.

Is there a transformation in the attitudes of American students after the programme?

"Yes and no," she said. While the programme is effective, she says it would be "more effective" if the students had more time. This is because of the huge cultural difference between the US and the Middle East.

AMERICAN THOUGHTS

James Paul O'Mealia, 20
Georgetown University
Major: Culture and politics

"My first impression of the Middle East was that it's a tranquil place. Everyone seems to be pretty content and relaxed."

Prior to coming here, James thought this region was "an incredibly interesting region with a lot of culture that had unfortunately been put in the news because of a few extremists that manipulated Islam to their gain".

He said: "People think the region is a place of instability and violence... they view it as one block as instead of separate countries within the region."

He said Abu Dhabi is very "American".

"Walking around here, I feel like I could be walking around any American city."

Samira Abdul Karim, 21
Wesleyan University
Major: Anthropology

"I honestly came with a blank slate." Because Samira had visited eastern parts of Africa, she thought Muscat might have a similar experience when it comes to development projects. Not so, she said: " Muscat is a very modern city."

The 21-year old said there are misconceptions about the Middle East in America. "From what we see on TV it ends up being a ball of constant confusion and tension in a war-torn area. People lose the human aspect of the Middle East and if humans are mentioned it's to emphasise oppression."

Why this programme?

Initially, Samira wanted to learn Arabic. But after having studied in Africa, and learning of the relationship that the region had with Oman, she thought this would be a great supplement to her studies.

Gregory Smith, 21
Miami University
Major: Diplomacy and foreign affairs

Gregory said: "The US media is a commercial venture. It doesn't treat most things fairly."

He explained that this is because they are more concerned with "producing news that people are going to read, such as hate stories". As a result, Americans are misinformed when it comes to the GCC region.

One of the main reasons why Gregory came to the region is to try to understand it. He reckons neither the West nor the East currently understand one another.

He hopes to become a foreign service officer or work in the field of American-Middle Eastern affairs.

Morgan Proctor, 21
University of Redlands
Major: Political ethnography

Prior to coming here, Morgan wanted to learn as much as she could to eliminate stereotypes in America. She said the Middle East is "grossly misrepresented in our media". The region is viewed as one big country with homogeneous lifestyles, which Morgan finds unfortunate.

Morgan wants to go to graduate school to study either anthropology or journalism. She aims to establish an independent media centre devoted to disseminating information about political change in different areas of the world. Eventually she hopes to live in the Middle East.