IC-TBR Forum with Middle Eastern and Tampa Bay Women Political Leaders

During USFSP's International Week events, I was privileged to moderate a discussion about Women and Politics in the U.S. and the Middle East. 

The delegation of Middle Eastern women community, business, and government leaders (from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, the Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia) was hosted by the International Council of the Tampa Bay Region (IC-TBR).

The panel consisted of women from countries throughout the Middle East and a bi-partisan representation of political leaders from Tampa Bay.  Our local leaders were

Councilwoman Leslie Waters (former Speaker Pro Temp of the Florida House of Representatives)

Mayor Kathleen Peters (candidate for Florida House of Representatives)

Former Councilwoman Rene Flowers (candidate for Pinellas County School Board)

USFSP Student Government President Courtney Parish

I was pleased that several of my students who are working on research projects about Women's Rights in the Middle East were able to attend this session and listen in on the exchange about challenges and opportunities for women in the U.S. and throughout the Middle East. Students also met key contacts in the countries they were studying, and the women leaders corresponded with them after returning to their home countries.

You can learn more about the International Council here

http://www.ic-tbr.org/

THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE TAMPA BAY REGION, INC. is the official partner of the United States Department of State for professional programs & cultural activities for global emerging leaders under the Department’s “International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP)” in Florida's seven-county Tampa Bay Region.

Since its founding, The International Council has hosted in excess of 3,500 international visitors from more than 160 countries.

Global Classroom: Videoconference to Review Research Paper Proposals

Students submitted research paper proposals, outlines, and preliminary bibliographies.

These were uploaded to the dropbox folders, so that mentors in the Middle East could review and provide feedback to the students as well.

Today we skyped in class with our key contact from the Women Lawyer's Group who provided feedback and answered student questions one-on-one.

This time we used my iPad for the skype videoconference, which made it much easier to move around the classroom for individual students to have a turn asking questions.

Soon we will be able to share students' research findings.