Iraq

Iraq Programs: Supporting Conflict Resolution and Human Rights through Education

Iraq Higher Education Reform

In its continuing effort to help rehabilitate the Iraqi higher education sector, the Education program at the Instiitute completed a weeklong program of workshops with Iraqi academics on conflict and peace analysis, curriculum development, and small group management. The workshops were conducted in Jordan on July 11-15, 2005, and were attended by representatives from the Iraqi Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and professors from seven universities around the country.

Designed to help education professionals working on higher education reform issues in Iraq, USIP co-hosted a workshop in April 2004 with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars entitled "Educating Iraq: Perspectives from University Experts." The all-day workshop featured a rich assortment of education experts and practitioners—including the U.S. senior adviser for the Coalition Provisional Authority, presidents from three universities in northern Iraq, a professor from the University of Baghdad, and the Iraqi deputy minister of higher education and scientific research. Organized by USIP's Education program, the workshop sought to help participants come to terms with the past, discuss issues related to education and the rebuilding of Iraq, develop as teachers, scholars, and leaders, and engage, or reengage, Iraqi education professionals with their regional and international counterparts.

In September 2004, USIP's Vice Presdent of Education Pamela Aall and Senior Program Officer Imad Harb convened a meeting with five Iraqi university administrators and faculty members from the University of Baghdad in Amman, Jordan. Designed to provide an informal forum to exchange information on the current education and political climate in Iraq, issues discussed at the session included the status of university curricula on areas such as conflict resolution, democracy, women's studies, human rights, and the rule of law as well as teacher training needs. USIP will use feedback from the session as it moves forward with its planned Education programming in Iraq for 2005.

• Learn more about the work of USIP's Education program.

Conflict Resolution Curriculum Development

Building on the belief that educators are essential participants in disseminating knowledge of conflict resolution and that students constitute a vital network of present and future beneficiaries of civic peace, the initial focus of USIP's education-related programming in Iraq will be to launch a curriculum project to support a broad transformation in the teaching of conflict resolution in higher education. The project will work to identify or develop curricula and curriculum materials in relevant disciplines and then prepare, print, and disseminate resource materials in Arabic and Kurdish to educators across Iraq. Designed to help impart needed knowledge and skills on peacebuilding to educators and students, the project seeks to promote a curriculum emphasizing conflict resolution and peace studies. Other topics include democracy-enhancing and sustaining issues such as academic freedom, institution building, civil society development, rule of law, women studies, religious and ethnic diversity, and human and civil rights.

• Learn more about the work of USIP's Education program.

College and University Faculty Workshops

USIP's Education program seeks to design a series of faculty seminars to directly engage professors in universities and colleges across Iraq, as has done in Romania, the Philippines, Malaysia, South Asia, and the Middle East. Targeted primarily at professors of the humanities, social sciences, and the law, the workshops are designed to explore methods, techniques, and challenges to teaching subjects vital to the development of a healthy civil society, such as democratic theory, comparative governance, human rights, conflict analysis, and the practice of conflict resolution.

Led by educators and relevant area experts, the workshops will expose faculty members and university administrators to both theory and policy relevant to enriching their teaching. In addition, the workshops will introduce participants to new teaching methods such as discussion groups, team projects, case studies, and simulations that will engage students in learning how to think critically and strategically. In combination with USIP's curriculum development project, these workshops will promote the creation of innovative courses or programs on a wide range of topics from democracy and the media to ethnic diversity and the rule of law.

• Read a related report: "Grappling with Peace Education in Serbia."