Maine Perspective Front Page
Topics Course Links Students in the U.S. and Middle East
A Web-based topics course on the United States and the Middle East has linked 15 students on campus and throughout Maine with eight of their peers in Egypt, taught by UMaine Associate Professor of Political Science Bahman Baktiari, who is at the American University in Cairo on a visiting professorship this academic year.
In many ways, POS 359 is a demonstration of the dynamics of distance education.
"In this course, Maine students had the opportunity to participate in on-line discussions with students in Egypt," says Baktiari, an internationally recognized specialist on parliamentary politics in the Mideast, with a major focus on Iran. "Topics included U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East; the role of Western media and reporting of news from the Middle East; U.S. Congress and the Middle East, U.S.-Iraq confrontation in 1990-1991, and the quest for peace between Israelis and Palestinians."
Last semester, students from Baktiari's class at the American University in Cairo engaged in a discussion over the causes of the EgyptAir crash, and how the U.S. media was reporting it. In addition, in the Bulletin Board of the course's Web page, there are more than 100 postings on subjects ranging from air pollution in Cairo to U.S. presidential elections.
Baktiari has taught the UMaine topics course since 1998, and first offered it as a Web course last year. He is again teaching POS 359 through the Division of Lifelong Learning this semester from Cairo, returning to UMaine this fall.
Baktiari has received a grant from the Ford Foundation to organize two workshops on Renewal in Moslem Societies. More than 15 prominent Islamic thinkers will take part in two days of discussions, comparing their national experiences.