Ball State Assists Tikrit University in Iraq

Ball State University will receive $1 million from the U.S. Department of State to help transform an Iraqi university's curriculum and its faculty members' teaching style, reports the BSU news bureau. The three-year grant is part of the U.S. Department of State's Iraqi university linkage program, which provides technical and curriculum assistance to Iraqi institutions — in this case, Tikrit University.

Ball State faculty members will work closely with Tikrit University to review its current curriculum and teaching style, which is more of a traditional lecture method, and help it develop a more student-centered, interactive pedagogy.

Ball State professors will also teach courses in English, accounting and computer science via the Web and videoconferencing to 25 of Tikrit's top sophomore students from each of the three academic areas.

Additionally, the grant will afford some Tikrit University faculty members the opportunity to visit Ball State and receive professional development.

Ball State to Help Iraqi University

The U.S. Department of State has awarded a $1 million grant to help Ball State University revamp the curriculum at Tikrit University in Iraq, reports Inside INdiana Business. Faculty from Ball State will help develop a more student-centered approach at the Iraqi institution. Ball State professors will also utilize internet and videoconferencing technology to teach Tikrit students.

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Lotus Festival: World Music & Arts

The Lotus World Music & Arts Festival, set for 24-27 September in Bloomington, has so much going on it's hard to settle on just one aspect.

For example, here are just some of the performers scheduled to appear:

# Rahim AlHaj / Friday
Virtuoso Iraqi oud

# Bajofondo / Saturday
Electrotango from Argentina

# BLK JKS / Saturday
Psychedelic, Afro-futuristic rock from South Africa

# Cara Dillon / Friday, Saturday
Irish traditional song

# Forro in the Dark / Saturday
Northeastern Brazilian party music

# Hanggai / Saturday, Sunday
Folk music from Inner Mongolia & China

# Huun Huur-Tu & Carmen Rizzo / Friday
Electronica meets throat-singing from Tuva

# Kinobe & Soul Beat Africa / Friday, Saturday
Ugandan song, dance, & drumming

# Srinivas Krishnan & Madras Broadcast / Saturday, Sunday
Indian fusion

# Little Cow / Thursday, Friday
Ska/rock/funk/Gypsy fusion from Hungary

# Los de Abajo / Friday, Saturday
Salsa, punk, and rock from Mexico

# The Megitza Quartet / Friday
Roma and East European world fusion

# Occidental Brothers Dance Band International / Friday
Central & West African dance music

# Orchestra of Tetouan / Friday, Saturday
Traditional vocal & instrumental music of Andalusia & North Africa

# Parno Graszt / Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Hungarian Gypsy music

# Salaam / Saturday
Middle Eastern & North African traditional music

# Väsen / Thursday
Contemporary instrumental folk music from Sweden

# Vishtén / Saturday, Sunday
Acadian traditional music, song, and dance

# Watcha Clan/ Friday, Saturday
Global fusion from France

# The Zolfonoon Ensemble of Iran / Saturday
Classical Persian

Did you know that the festival honors Lotus Dickey (1911-1989)? The folk singer, songwriter, and musician from rural Orange County, Indiana, wrote tunes and songs that drew from his family and community, as well as from country singers and fiddlers he heard on the radio. Each year, the Lotus World Music and Arts Festival honors Lotus Dickey's memory with a set of music or an interactive workshop that introduces new audiences to his music and the old-time traditions of the United States.

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University of Evansville to Welcome Iraqi Students

Iraqi officials this morning announced the University of Evansville as one of only 22 colleges and universities across the nation participating in the first year of the new Iraq Education Initiative, reports Inside INdiana Business.

The project, which was announced in Washington, D.C., this morning by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, was created as part of an effort to help rebuild Iraq by offering its citizens access to quality education in foreign countries. Among the goals of the Initiative is to send up to 10,000 Iraqi students per year over the next five years to the U.S., U.K., Canada, and Australia to complete their higher education studies.

The program will kick off in 2009/10 with 500 students going to the 22 universities announced this morning, including the University of Evansville. It is not yet known, however, how many of the students will attend UE.

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Images from Iraq

An array of still and moving images from Iraq are on display at the Art Institute of Indianapolis, 3500 Depauw Boulevard, Suite 1010, Indianapolis, beginning with an opening reception today (14 August).

They're the work of Robert Sheer, a photojournalist for The Indianapolis Star, who traveled to Iraq with the Indiana National Guard's 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team in April.

The exhibit will remain on display until 14 September.

For more information, call 317:613-4800.

Iraqi College Students Will Come to Indiana

Indiana's Manchester College will host one of several Iraqi students being brought to the United States next school year by a group of educators and activists in the U.S. and the Mideast, reports the Associated Press.

The Iraqi Student Project, founded last year, will bring about 20 Iraqi students to 15 American universities to continue their educations.

Three other Indiana institutions -- Holy Cross College and St. Mary's College in South Bend and the University of Evansville -- also are participating.

About 7 percent of Manchester's 1,070 students are from abroad.

Humanitarian and Cultural Exchange Journey Underway

International Interfaith Initiative's humanitarian and cultural exchange journey to the Middle East returns to Indianapolis on Friday (27 June).

A group of 15 representing Muslim, Jewish and Christian faith communities departed on 13 June to build a Habitat for Humanity home for a needy family, carry medical and educational supplies to Iraqi war refugees in Jordan and visit the holy shrines of each of their faiths in Israel. See the blog about their journey.

If you'd like to know more, contact Charlie MacDonald, 317:283-2730.

Purdue Biomass Refineries in Iraq

According to the Associated Press, the United States Army is preparing to deploy to Iraq two four-ton biomass refineries designed to turn piles of trash into electricity. Each can run for 20 hours on a ton of trash, producing enough power to light a small village.

The novel machines were built by defense contractors and Purdue University scientists, the AP reports, as part of the Army's push to reduce troops' diesel fuel use in Iraq.

Iraqi Scouting Initiative to Benefit from Indiana Popcorn

DHL and Trail's End Popcorn Company of Indiana have joined forces to help raise money for the Iraqi Scouting Initiative, according to Inside INdiana Business. DHL is donating its shipping services to transport 2.5 tons of Trail's End popcorn to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. The sale of the popcorn will raise as much as $25,000 for the purchase of supplies for youth scouting activities across Iraq. Iraq’s youth scouting program reemerged in 2004 through the efforts of the Green Zone Council, a volunteer group of U.S. civilian and military personnel in Iraq. From DHL’s facility in Indianapolis, hundreds of cases of microwave popcorn, caramel corn, and kernels, donated by Trail’s End Popcorn Company of Indiana, will be transported via a 53-foot tractor-trailer to DHL’s primary air and ground hub in Wilmington, Ohio, where it will be flown to JFK airport and onwards to the Middle East.

A Constitution for Iraq?

Feisal Istrabadi (right), Deputy Permanent Representative of the Iraqi Mission to the United Nations, will talk about "Crafting a Constitution for Iraq" from 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Monday (2 April) in Wynne Courtroom of Indiana University School of Law at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

For more information, contact Nandini Mascarenhas (International Law Society).

Feisal Istrabadi is Deputy Permanent Representative of the Iraqi Mission to the United Nations, which position he has held since 2004. In 2004 he was also appointed as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary at the Iraqi Ministry for Foreign Affairs. As a legal advisor to the Iraqi Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. al-Istrabadi negotiated U.N. Security Council Resolution 1546 (June 2004). He was also a principal legal drafter of the Law of Administration of the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, i.e. the transitional constitution of the country (2003-2004) and author of the bill of Fundamental Rights. Before engaging in the reconstruction of Iraq, Mr. al-Istrabadi had been a practicing barrister in the United States for 15 years, with approximately 70 jury and bench civil trials in federal and State courts, and numerous administrative hearings. He is a Senior Fellow for Legal Reform and Development in the Arab World, the International Human Rights Law Institute, College of Law, DePaul University, Chicago. Ambassador Istrabadi holds a JD degree from Indiana University School of Law - Bloomington and a Master of Laws degree from Northwestern University. Sponsored by the International Law Society.

Iraq in Fragments: film to play in Indianapolis

"IRAQ IN FRAGMENTS" will have a brief run at Key Cinemas beginning on Friday (23 February).

Nominated for an Academy Award, it's a documentary film in Kurdish and Arabic with English subtitles, directed by James Longley and released 10 November 2006 (Running time: 94 minutes).

Key Cinemas is located on the southwest corner of South Keystone, Hanna and Carson Avenues in the Keystone South Shopping Center at 4044 South Keystone Avenue, Indianapolis.

Showtimes are 1:30, 3:30, 5:30, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday (23-24 February); 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. Sunday (25 February), and 1:30, 3:30 and 7 p.m. Wednesday (28 February).

According to the publicity release, "Iraq in Fragments" illuminates post-war Iraq in three acts, building a vivid picture of a country pulled in different directions by religion and ethnicity. Filmed in verité style, with no scripted narration, the film power fully explores the lives of ordinary Iraqis: people whose thoughts, beliefs, aspirations, and concerns are at once personal and illustrative of larger issues in Iraq today.

After the 7 p.m. showing 28 February, a group of Iraqis and Middle East experts will lead a discussion of the film. If you would like to see the film and to participate in a discussion but can't attend that screening, please contact John Clark at Sagamore Institute for Policy Research, 317:472-9666. "If there is a big enough demand, we might set up a discussion on the afternoon of Saturday the 24th, or Sunday the 25th," he writes.

In addition to its Oscar nomination for Best Documentary, the film won Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Editing awards in the 2006 Sundance Film Festival documentary competition, and the Grand Jury Prize at the 2006 Full Frame Documentary Film Festival.