AY 2007-2008 Projects - Europe/ Eurasia

Country                       Serbia
City                              Novi Pazar
Host Institution           International University of Novi Pazar

Project Description
In collaboration with host institution faculty members, the EL Fellow will develop and teach language skills courses for academic purposes, with a particular focus on communication skills. These courses should be based on experiential approaches that provide learners with opportunities to use the language in meaningful ways. Critical thinking skills, and American society/civic education content should be incorporated into all the courses. Since the host institution is one of the newest universities in country (in existence for only 4 years), the EL Fellow will also dedicate one third of his/her time to working with his fellow colleagues and teaching assistants on improving their teaching skills and developing new course materials.

Project Objectives
To help develop and teach interactive-experiential oriented skills courses and work with the faculty on helping them do the same; to improve the local community’s understanding of U.S. culture and society via university courses; and to support a progressive, open-minded faculty in their efforts to develop the optimal course curricula.

About the Host Institution
International University of Novi Pazar is the newest institution of higher education in Serbia. It was established through private funding in 2002 in Sandzak, southwest part of the country, where the majority population consists of Bosniak Muslims. It is a very progressive school, with a very young faculty, and they need much assistance in curriculum development and training of their staff.