The delegation was headed by Ms Penelope Mitchell, PARC Executive Director; and included 12 academics from different American universities and different backgrounds and interests.

Ms Mitchell expressed her delight for visiting An-Najah again and thanked the university representatives for their hospitality and kindness. She talked about PARC’s fellows in Palestine especially in applied sciences and that the centre aims at building academic links with Palestinian institutions and learning more about the Palestinian culture and history.

Dr. El-Amleh welcomed the delegation and started by introducing them to An-Najah’s history, students, faculties, academic programmes and campuses stressing the importance of mutual cooperation between An-Najah and PARC. He also talked about university’s goals and accreditations especially the ABET accreditation and political and social obstacles that encounter higher education in Palestine.

Dr. Naser talked further about An-Najah scientific centres which focus on scientific research and are in direct contact with the Palestinian community. He also discussed the academic links with national and international institutions that offer the university students’ practical training through the continuing education centres.

Ms Alia Gilbrecht, Coordinator of the American Coroner Nablus of the International briefed the guests on the American Corner’s programmes and projects and discussed possible research cooperation and academic exchange.

Dr. Alia Assali, Dean of the Faculty of Educational Sciences and Teachers’ Training thanked the delegation for their interest in Palestine and said that the university also focuses on Community Based Learning (CBL), a strategy that connects theory with practice. She also said that An-Najah currently offers 80 CBL courses and then discussed the women studies programme and the gender issues related to the Palestinian religion, culture and traditions.

After the welcoming meeting, the delegation moved to the library where they had group discussion with professors from An-Najah in the relevant fields such as literature, law, politics, sociology, religion, environment engineering and education.

Notes:

The meeting was also attended by Ms Karam Abu Ghazaleh and Ms Dalal Radwan from the international Office and Ms Shatha Jararaa from the Public Relations Department at An-Najah.

PARC aims at improving scholarship about Palestinian affairs, expanding the pool of experts knowledgeable about the Palestinians, and strengthening linkages among Palestinian, American and foreign research institutions and scholars.