AMIDEAST Past and Present, Enter Our Photo Contest!

Current and previous students, enter our photo contest! The guidelines are below, and we look forward to seeing your best shots!

Photo Contest Guidelines 2012

Eligibility

1. All contestants must be current or previous students on an AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program in the Arab World.

2. All previous students must register with the AMIDEAST Alumni Association in order to be eligible.

Guidelines:

1.  Photo submissions must be images taken during the time of the contestant’s AMIDEAST Education Abroad Program and within the host country (i.e. a picture from a spring break trip to Turkey will not be accepted).

2. Each contestant may submit up to three photos.

3. Photos should represent meaningful and unique moments that occurred during the contestant’s education abroad experience with AMIDEAST.

4. Photos should fall into one of the following categories:

Adventure: Photos could show AMIDEAST students on program excursions throughout the host country or visits to notable sites in the AMIDEAST host city. Adventure photos demonstrate the off-the-beaten-path aspect of education abroad in the Arab world. These photos do not necessarily have to include students, but can instead focus on a work of art, architecture, ruin, or other striking aspect of the host country.

Culture: Photos should show AMIDEAST students interacting with their local community, host families, or new friends from the host country.  Alternatively, culture photos could show traditions, rituals, rites, food, or cultural activities unique to the host culture.

Challenge: These photos show AMIDEAST students in unfamiliar environments or situations such as learning and using the Arabic language, interning with refugees, bargaining for goods, navigating a city, or rolling the perfect couscous balls.

Winning Photos:

1. AMIDEAST staff in Washington D.C. will select a group of semi-finalists from the submitted photos. The semi-finalist photos will be posted on the AMIDEAST Facebook page (Study Abroad in the Arab World) for two weeks. The photo which receives the most ‘Likes’ will be selected as the 2012 AMIDEAST Photo Contest Winner.

2.  The winning photo will be featured on the AMIDEAST Study Abroad in the Arab World Facebook Page as the cover photo.

3. The winning photo will be framed and hung in the AMIDEAST Washington D.C. Office.

4. The winning photo will be featured in the 2013 AMIDEAST Catalog.

Timeline:

Deadline for Submission	June 15, 2012
Voting	June 22-July 6, 2012
Winner Announced	July 9, 2012

Entry Details:

1. This contest is open to current or previous AMIDEAST students.

2. Each photo submission must be high resolution (minimum 600KB)

3. Each student or alum can enter only three photos per contest.

4. Photos must be submitted as an attachment via e-mail to DocsEdAbroad@amideast.org 

5. The title of each submitted photo should be in the following format: Last name_First name_Location of Photo_Year of Photo_Number of Submission (ex. Doe_John_Jordan_2012_1)

6. In your e-mail, please provide

- Your name and home institution

- The location, term, and year of your AMIDEAST program

- The title of each photo and a brief description or caption.

IMPORTANT RELEASE: By submitting photos to the AMIDEAST Education Abroad Programs in the Arab World Photo Contest, you authorize AMIDEAST to use your photographs on their Facebook, website, or in other marketing locations. You acknowledge that you will receive no financial compensation for the use of any of these photographs. Whenever possible, AMIDEAST will credit you as the photographer.

Questions:

Please contact edabroad@amideast.org for any questions about the photo contest.

Wherefore Art Thou?

Alice Nadeau, a junior at Grinnell College, is studying with AMIDEAST in Amman, Jordan for her spring 2012 semester. She recounts some of  her experiences in her traditional Islamic art class. This post was originally published on February 27, 2012.

I’m talking a course on traditional Islamic art, and it is one of the best classes I’ve ever taken (and my favorite in Jordan).  The course is taught at the Institute for Traditional Islamic Art and Architecture (ITIAA), which I visited with my program during orientation.  The instructors are incredible; they are extremely passionate about their art and want you to share in their passion with them.

The course is studio based so instead of learning about Islamic art, I get tocreate Islamic art.  After only five weeks, I’ve already learned a great deal and progressed so much.  The first half of the course focuses on geometry in Islamic art (yay math!); we have learned how to create patterns, outline them, and color them.  Some examples of my work:

Geometry that a pattern is built on

Fully colored design of the above geometry

Inspiration of the above coloring (Ixtapa, Mexico)

A "pathway" coloring

 

Another "pathway" coloring

The second half of the course focuses on a specific craft of Islamic art.  We were able to choose from calligraphy, illumination, miniature painting, wood inlay, zillige, or gypsum carving.  Calligraphy, illumination, and miniature painting are taught at ITIAA in Amman, but wood, zillige, and gypsum are taught at ITIAA’s workshop in Salt.  Three students and I chose crafts taught at the workshop and this past week was our first time at the workshop learning the craft.

Besides a small misunderstanding on our way up to Salt¹, the trip was amazing.  We are learning the crafts from Masters in the craft, and since I’m the only one learning zillige, I get one-on-one instruction.  My Master is extremely patient with me; it took me half an hour to sketch the outline of my project and when I made a slightly major mistake on the first real line I tried to make, she helped me start over from the beginning.  I’m so mabsoota (مبسوطة: extremely happy) for my future trips to the workshop.

Creating my first zillige mould

 

At ITIAA with the zillage instructor.

Siwa, So Nice

So Nice, Siwa, a photo by amideastabroad on Flickr.

On the last excursion of the semester, some Spring 2012 Cairo students smile for the camera in the Siwa Oasis, in the remote western region of Egypt.

(c) Ahmed Elkhalawy

Photography: A Beautiful Day in the Maghreb

David Schwartz, a junior from Tufts University, is currently studying with AMIDEAST in Rabat, Morocco for the Spring 2012 semester. Below, David shared some fantastic photos of the AMIDEAST excursion to Marrakesh.

Click a photo to enlarge.

The gardens of Marrakesh are well known, and beautiful in spring.

The sun peeks out from one of Morocco’s distinctive minaret towers.

Morocco and the Maghreb are known for their incredibly ornate doors and doorways.

The famous Katoubia Mosque in Marrakesh.

Follow more of David’s Moroccan adventures at his blog, Morocco’s Modern Life.

Photography: Misr Alqadeema (Ancient Egypt)

Some of our staff in Egypt have sent us a few more photos from some of the excursions the Spring 2012 students are taking around Egypt. Click a photo to see a larger image.

Students take a break in the shade in Luxor.

Some students learn about one of the archaeological sites at Luxor, or Thebes in ancient times.

The Cairo Spring 2012 students visit the “Cave Church”, a church inside a giant cave and one of the oldest Coptic churches in Egypt.

A momentary break from studying and adventuring on a balcony in Cairo.

Photography: Ah! Real Morocco

David Schwartz, a junior from Tufts University, is currently studying with AMIDEAST in Rabat, Morocco for the Spring 2012 semester. Below, David shared more excellent photos of his experiences in Morocco with us.

Click a photo to enlarge.

You can never have too many olives, or zeetun, in Morocco.

The beautiful mountainside village of Chefchaouen, known for its blue and white buildings.

Someone’s got your goat, or jdee (Goat in Moroccan Arabic.)

Follow more of David’s Moroccan adventures at his blog, Morocco’s Modern Life.

Photography: All Egypt, All the Time

Eric Spioch, who previously contributed these fantastic photos to us, is a junior from McDaniel College and currently studying with AMIDEAST in Cairo, Egypt for the Spring 2012 semester. Below, Eric shows off even more of Egypt and why it is such a visually stimulating place to study abroad.  Click one of the photos to see a larger image.

Taking a break on a dune to admire the stunning views in the Black and White Desert

Wandering the moon-like landscape of the Black and White Desert.

The incredibly elaborate mausoleum of as-Saleh Nagm Ad-din Ayyub

One of the many minarets around the gates of Cairo’s old city, or Islamic Cairo.