Arts and Cultural Expression

Through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation’s Program in Higher Education and Scholarship in the Humanities, Columbia Global Centers | Amman has established a fellowship program starting on January 1, 2019 that offers 12-month fellowships for emerging displaced scholars interested in the humanities to continue and further develop their scholarly pursuits.

The Institute for Religion, Culture and Public Life (IRCPL) at Columbia University in collaboration with the Columbia Global Centers | Amman and co-sponsored by our partners in Europe, are organizing a conference entitled - Untangling Popular Power: Rhetoric, Faith, and Social Order in the Middle East.

In conjunction with Columbia’s Office of Global Programs and Columbia Global Centers | Paris, the Amman Center held the eighth offering of the annual Arabic language program and the fourth offering of the Columbia MENA Summer Institute in May – June, 2018.

Columbia Global Centres in Amman on Friday organised a lecture titled “From Destruction to Documentation: a Talk by Sheila Canby”, which saw the attendance of a number of academics and experts in heritage preservation, in the presence of Tourism Minister Lina Annab.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in partnership with Columbia University, will be holding the third regional cultural heritage workshop, The Future of the Past: Addressing the Cultural Heritage Crisis in Iraq and Syria.

 A conference titled “Muslim Women and the Right to Choose Freely” was held on Wednesday at the Columbia Global Centres (CGC) in Amman, by noted Anthropologist Lila Abu Lughod who presented a “new way to think about the choice of Muslim women”. 

But Professor Peña served as the program director of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, as the Professor of Professional Practice at the School of The Arts at Columbia University, and as Chairman of the Selection Committee of the New York Film Festival. Singing his praises are the likes of Michael Moore and Olivier Assayas. He is an expert on directors like Egypt’s Youssef Chahine, Iran’s Abbas Kiarostami, and France’s Sacha Guitry.

Believing in the power of cinema and the role it plays in people’s everyday lives, Richard Peña has been tracing film history all over the world and has been spreading knowledge about the industry. ...Peña, professor of Professional Practice at the School of The Arts at Columbia University in New York City, held courses over the week at the Columbia Global Centres in Amman named “On the Margins of American Cinemas”.

Provost John H. Coatsworth has announced the fifth round of grants from the President’s Global Innovation Fund (PGIF) on June 1, 2017. 11 projects received awards this year after being selected by a review committee of senior faculty drawn from both the Morningside and medical campuses.

The power of arts and culture to speak about the human condition is a primary motivation for director Iara Lee, who has recently finished her sixth film, tackling subjects as diverse as human rights, psychology, wildlife protection and education.

How can universities ensure that they stay relevant in an increasingly globalised world?

 Is water a human right or a commodity? This is the question British filmmaker Laila Khan set out to answer in her latest documentary, “Stolen Water”. Khan’s short documentary sheds light on water theft in Jordan and the measures that authorities are taking to curb violations on the water network. 

Historic waves of migration, unprecedented digital activism, challenges to religious pluralism: amid all of these developments in the Middle East, Columbia Global Centers – Columbia University’s network of eight education and learning centers around the world – are exploring the implications of these changes on culture, health and safety, and politics in the region.

NEW YORK, Sept. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- "With civil conflict, terrorist threats, and major health crises causing unprecedented disruption in communities all over the world, universities must step up to a new level of globalism in our outlook and in our activities," says Professor Safwan M. Masri, Executive Vice President for Global Centers and Global Development at Columbia University. 

The Amman Center hosts regular public talks for members of the local community to engage with scholars and learn more about a wide range of topics, from current affairs, to history, to the arts.

Results for the fourth President’s Global Innovation Fund (PGIF) round this year were announced on May 6, 2016.

Every culture is a unique answer to a fundamental question: What does it mean to be human and alive? Wade Davis led us on a thrilling journey to celebrate the wisdom of the world’s indigenous cultures.

Columbia Global Centers | Amman presented the Columbia University public screening of the film Theeb on April 29, 2016.

This travel seminar explored the urban development of the city of Amman through its two major archaeological sites – the ancient buildings of the Roman city of Philadelphia, with its amphitheater, Odeon theater and the Nymphaeum, and the Qala'a (Citadel) – the Umayyad Palace. 

Middle East and North African religious leaders have developed a regional strategy to counter incitement to violence and agreed on steps for its implementation, according to a UN official.

You  can now listen to the podcast of Living Through Innovation - A Talk by Hayat Sindi here

Columbia and New York University may both lead the pack when it comes to developing a presence abroad, but they have markedly distinct ideologies that have informed their global campus footprints.

There are many campuses that claim to be, and no doubt are, environmentally friendly to one degree or another. Which universities and colleges stand out, though? What does a campus do to make their grounds and carbon footprint greener than the next school?

Professor Safwan M. Masri and Ipek Cem Taha met with Columbia University alumni in Greece on June 21, at a lunch reception held in collaboration with the Columbia Alumni Club of Greece, which is led by Maria Karageorgeou and a dedicated team of alumni leaders. 

The Columbia Global Centers | Middle East continues to hold the Columbia Experience Overseas Program (CEO), in partnership with the Center for Career Education at Columbia University. CEO is a unique eight-week internship offered for the fifth time in Amman on June 10 - August 8, 2015. The program was organized in coordination with Jill Burya, Associate Director, Center for Career Education. 

The Center, in conjunction with Columbia’s Office of Global Programs, is holding the sixth offering of the annual Arabic language program and the second offering of the Columbia MENA Summer Program in May-August 2015.

In conjunction with Columbia College and the Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability, the Center is offering the fifth iteration of the Summer Ecosystem Experiences for Undergraduates (SEE-U) Program in May-June 2015.