To Understand Economic, Artistic and Societal Cultures in the USA

Dubai, June 29, 2009 - Twenty-one students from the American University in Dubai (AUD) recently spent ten days in New York City (NYC) and Washington D.C. as part of the yearly Study Tour Program, under the guidance and tutelage of Professors Amira Van Loan and Roberto Lopardo, who have been organizing and guiding the AUD Study Tour trip to New York for the past four years.

Chair of the Visual Communication Department and Assistant Professor of Photography Roberto Lopardo explains:

"The aim of the tour is to bring students to an intriguing set of world destinations with University educators who deliver academic instruction throughout the overseas experience. The Study Tour was designed to provide students with the opportunity to earn academic credit, but more importantly, to learn and understand the economic, artistic, and societal cultures of the host country. One of its primary objectives of the Study Tour program is to develop the student's ability to comparatively evaluate a range of international cultures and devise strategies for understanding and succeeding in new cultures."

NYC, one of the few genuine culturally diverse cities in the world, is the undisputed center of the contemporary art world and has a pluralistic character that seeps into every facet of social life. The participating group explored those societal differences and compared and contrasted them with the artistic and economic norms of their own cultures. This was accomplished through meetings with business leaders and professionals working in the arts and business fields, and visits to Smith Barney, Microsoft, J. Walter Thompson, Turner Construction, Polytechnic Institute, New York University, and the School of Visual Arts, through which the students developed an understanding of NYC's commercial and cultural environment and how this global city interacts with the rest of the world. In order to gain more insight into the contrasts and contradictions within the visited society, they also visited Rockefeller Center, The Brooklyn Bridge, American Museum of Natural History, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim etc. In addition, the group enjoyed a trip to Washington D.C. to visit the White House, the Washington Monument and the National Air and Space Museum.

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About AUD:
The American University in Dubai is a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning founded in 1995; it serves UAE nationals and international students who seek world-class career-oriented education. It is accredited by the Commission on Colleges (COC) of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) to award Bachelor's and Master's degrees.

AUD is officially licensed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the United Arab Emirates. The Ministry has accredited the university's programs in Business Administration (both undergraduate and graduate), Communication and Information Studies, Engineering, Information Technology, Interior Design and Visual Communication.

The Bachelor of Science programs in Civil, Electrical, and Computer Engineering are accredited by the Engineering Accreditation Commission of ABET, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.

AUD holds an Agent's License issued by the District of Columbia Education Licensure Commission (Washington, DC, USA). AUD is approved to operate by the State of Georgia Nonpublic Postsecondary Education Commission (NPEC). www.aud.edu.

For more information, please contact:
Ms. Tanya Kassab
Marketing Communications Officer
T. +971 4 3183 112
E. tkassab@aud.edu

© Press Release 2009