The British Council has as one of its goals to develop long-term relationships between the academic community in the United Kingdom and Iraq. To this end they have allocated £150,000 to BUIC to administer. This was available to member Universities so they could fund projects which help build up the capacity of the Iraqi academic community. The British Council suggested activities such as the development of new teaching materials, courses and curriculum; the development of joint research programmes and publication of findings; staff development; activity that strengthens management and administration links between HE institutions in the UK and Iraq; or the development of realistic joint project proposals for external funding.
The purpose of the project was to introduce staff in Iraqi universities to the potential for enhancing teaching and learning through the use of technology. A series of 'webinars' covering a broad range of topics and scenarios were developed to provide an understanding and examples of the different ways in which technology is being used to support HE in the UK and to demonstrate how it could be similarly used to support HE in Iraq. Fifty two staff from 9 universities in Iraq registered for the sessions and were provided with support materials and asynchronous discussion boards. Subjects covered included the role of the virtual learning environment, using learning technologies to support practical outdoor vocational courses, the use of online audio, implementing an online digital repository, capturing lectures, course genie, and developing learning accommodation for a 21st century university. The webinars were very well received and have been made available online to enable ongoing support.
The project used the existing apparatus of the Cambridge Hospitality scheme to support mentored visits by five Iraqi academics and to support costs associated with one student. The Iraqi visitors were introduced by a volunteer mentor to colleagues both in colleges and relevant departments, and used the opportunity to discuss areas for possible collaboration or assistance. They also had access to resources such as laboratories, libraries and on-line access.
The project was led by the Archaeology Department at Durham University and aimed to ameliorate the professional isolation and loss of resources facing Iraqi academics by encouraging collaboration between staff at Durham and Iraqi universities. The funding contributed to the organisation of a three day international workshop entitled 'Nineveh in a new era', which was hosted at Durham in December 2007, and brought together over 40 archaeologists from Iraq, Europe and the USA. The workshop and enabled participants to share information and to define goals, needs and opportunities for future research, collaboration and publication on both individual and institutional levels. A key outcome of the project was the creation of a community of colleagues through the renewal of professional and personal linkages between Iraqis and others with a keenness for ongoing collaboration.
The grant has been used to develop an on-line training programme for up to 40 young Iraqi scholars and prospective research students in the humanities and social sciences. The training will be provided in a bilingual environment and format. The students are recruited through the recommendation of Iraqi researchers already working in the country, and the training is due to comence in Autumn 2009.
The project was designed to support the development of existing links between the University of Glasgow and the University of Basrah in the areas of Medicine and Engineering. The aim of the project was primarily to assist with curriculum development in Basrah but also had more specific aims, for example, in relation to the establishment of a hypertension clinic in Basrah and the need for training in antiepileptic drug monitoring. The project has supported the visit of two senior academic staff members from the College of Medicine in Basrah to spend time in the Pharmacology Department at Glasgow.
IOE and Surrey collaborated in providing a short training programme for senior staff from Kerbala University, Iraq. The programme provided an insight into the theory and practice of higher education management. It was originally planned for nine participants from Kerbala but difficulties in Iraq resulted in there being only three - the President, Vice President and Editor of the Medical Journal. The first part of the programme was held at IOE over a three day period and involved sessions drawn from the MBA in HE Management which gave a broad, theoretical overview of leadership and governance in UK institutions. The second part of the programme took place at Surrey over a three day period and involved structured sessions which enabled the participants to gain an insight into the practical issues of managing a large institution. The programme was well received and considered to be very relevant in the context of reform in Iraqi HE.
The BC funding was used by Nottingham to host a 2 week capacity building programme for 25 senior staff from Iraqi universities. The costs associated with the delivery of the programme were covered by Nottingham and the BC award was used to support the travel and subsistence costs of participants. The aim of the programme was to provide an insight into UK HE provision, planning and management in order to inform and improve practice in Iraqi universities. Participants included University Presidents as well as three Ministry officials and a representative of the British Council.
The project sought to bring together key senior academics from Al-Qadissiyah University, Iraq and UCL for a series of meetings to identify possible areas of collaboration, initially in the field of archaeology. The four Iraqi participants included the President and three academics from the Department of Archaeology at Al-Qadissiyah. The meetings took place in London over an eight day period. The Iraqi participants also attended the annual conference of the British Association of Near Eastern Archaeology at Liverpool University where they made valuable links with participants from other institutions. As a result of the meetings a draft Statement of Intent is under consideration by UCL and Al-Qadissiyah which will lead to long term engagement.
Following on the success of work supported by previous grants to Durham University and University College London over the past two years, additional funding was provided for this joint project, which aimed to strengthen institutional and individual linkages, extend collaborative relationships through training and data-sharing, and increase the educational and professional capacities of Iraqi archaeologists and their home institutions. The framework of this project was the fostering of a network of individuals in the UK, Iraq, and the US. Durham University and UCL have both been able to consolidate existing linkages and to establish significant new trajectories for future Iraqi-UK collaboration by such activities as sponsoring the participation of three Iraqi archaeologists to attend the British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology conference, as well as individual visits by Iraqi archaeologists for extended discussions concerning current work and future planning for Iraq-UK collaboration in the departments of Archaeology at Durham and UCL.
UCL-Protecting the cradle of civilisation in ancient Iraq
British Institute for the Study of Iraq - Newsletter No. 21
Nineveh Digital Archive Project
Funds have been used for payment for our administrator and for website development and maintenance. This appointment has enabled us to create a single point of contact for MOHESR, the British Council, universities in Iraq and the UK and prospective students.