Cambridge University Iraq Society
projects to help rebuil Iraqi Universities
The Cambridge
University Iraq Society was set up in the summer of 2003 to
represent
the new free Iraq, raise awareness and also help in the
rebuilding of
Iraqi universities. I was in Baghdad over the Christmas
period trying
to establish these projects further and made contact with
many people,
including the British council, the Ministry of Higher
Education and
Scientific Research (MHESR) and the Principal of Baghdad
University
The first project is 'books for Iraq' appeal. As
you know, University
libraries are in dire need of textbooks due to
looting and vandalism
after the collapse of the regime in April.
Also, due to sanctions, the
majority of the books and journals are
outdated. Therefore, we hope to
collect a substantial amount of
books to send to Iraq to be distributed
in the university
libraries. I have made arrangements with the British
Council, and
they will handle the shipping of textbooks to Iraq from the
UK, and I
have discussed the distribution of books within Iraq with the
MHESR and
they will handle that aspect of the project. What is left is
the
collection of textbooks. We have had requests for textbooks in
the
following fields:
Reference
books,
Dictionaries,
Computer Science and Computer
engineering,
Data and data management,
Medical and Veterinary
science,
Physical Sciences,
Biological
sciences,
Mathematics,
Engineering,
Management and
Business
studies,
Social
Sciences,
Linguistics;
English language and
literature;
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.
How to learn"
books (especially Dunleavy's book on how to write a PhD)
The other
requests which were made were the following:
1) English Literature
Professor required: The English Language department
in Baghdad
University was built in 1940. The department was always staffed
with
British and American lecturers until 1991. The department is now
seeking a British/American lecturer who could teach English Literature.
An
arrangement can be worked out where housing is provided free of
charge.
This position will be most suitable for a lecturer embarking
on sabbatical,
and therefore can spend that time in
Baghdad.
2) Stranded PhD students: Science and Engineering PhD
students are facing
serious problems with regards to their PhD
studies, as a great deal of
their laboratories and facilities have
been looted and damaged. Therefore,
these students are stranded and in
a state of limbo, not being able to
carry on with their research. It
would be extremely beneficial for these
students to be sent to
universities abroad for a period of 6 months to
carry out their
research, returning to Baghdad at the end of their allotted
time. A
great deal of the PhD students are not financially capable to
support
themselves for 6 months abroad, and therefore some help with room
and
board from the receiving university will be greatly appreciated.
3) Academic Staff links: It would be extremely beneficial for academic
staff in Cambridge to maintain dialogue over email with their Iraqi
colleagues in the same academic field. The Cambridge staff can act as
mentors to the Iraqi staff, helping out with any queries the Iraqi
staff
might have. This can also apply to heads of department who can
discuss
management issues, college masters, bursars, deans etc.The
Oriental studies
department will be the ideal place to kick-start this
project.
4) A similar dialogue can be established
between British professional
institutions and Iraqi institutions (e.g.
Institute of Materials (IoM),
Institute for Electrical and Electronic
Engineers (IEEE), Institute for
Mechanical Engineers
(IMechE))
If you can help us with the above projects, then please
drop us a line at
iraq@cusu.cam.ac.uk
Thank
you
Raeid Jewad
President
Cambridge University
Iraq Society