During the graduation ceremony of Al-Quds – Bard College for Arts and Sciences which was held on January 26th, at Al-Quds University campus in Abu Dis for the second class of students receiving bachelor’s degrees and the fourth class of students receiving a Master of Arts in Teaching Methods, the president of Bard College in NewYork, Prof. Bostein expressed his pleasure for the growing success of AL-Quds-Bard College in the past few years, and he discussed with Al-Quds University President Dr. Imad Abu Kishik the future plans for developing the cooperation between them.

Professor Bostein said. “It’s a real opportunity for our faculty and staff to work in a different culture, a different country and a different education system”.

Professor Bostein also expressed his gratitude and his acknowledgment to the funders, who have allowed this partnership to flourish with their support, and especially the USAID, Consulate General of the US, besides many other American and European foundations.

As to future plans, Professor Bostein talked about plans to expand the program of Liberal Arts in the teaching of sciences and engineering, besides establishing a program of teaching the Arabic language to non-native speakers. Most importantly “This is the most difficult place in the world, in which to prove the proposition that language is as powerful as violence, so we all must collaborate to use the power of language to eliminate the violence” Bostein said.

Dr. Abu Kishik noted that, “We look forward to deepening our partnership with Bard College through establishing a Palestinian center for language and thinking, which will address one aspect of development in higher education in Palestine”.