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BIDDEFORD, Maine

UNE agreement with Euro-Arab Foundation Institute expected to foster cultural exchanges and research with the Spanish and Arab worlds

The University of New England Center for Global Humanities and the Euro-Arab Foundation Institute, a world-renowned Spanish organization based in Granada, Spain, signed an agreement on Feb. 3, 2012 to collaborate on reaching both organizations' cultural objectives.

Those objectives include encouraging dialogue and collaboration between teachers and researchers as well as the examination and discussion of ideas that are critical to the present and future of humanity, including those of the Arab and Muslim worlds.

The Euro-Arab Foundation Institute was founded by the government of Spain and the Arab League in 2008 to enhance cooperation between the Arab world and Spain.

Anouar Majid, Ph.D., UNE associate provost for global initiatives and director of the Center for Global Humanities, explained that the Euro-Arab Foundation Institute has close ties to a number of cultural and educational institutions in Spain and the Arab world, including the University of Granada, which is a partner institution.

Cultural Exchanges and Research

UNE currently has a semester abroad program for UNE undergraduate students at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville, Spain. Majid expects the collaboration with the Euro-Arab Foundation Institute will allow UNE to expand opportunities for cultural exchange, especially with the University of Granada, an institution of 80,000 students that has programs - similar to UNE - in pharmacy, dentistry, medicine, social work, and sport sciences, as well as a great number of research programs.

This collaboration could allow UNE to establish seminars and other programs in Spain involving our students and faculty, Majid said. UNE could also provide a venue for University of Granada and other Spanish and Arab cultural programs in the U.S.

Partner Institutions

Partner institutions of the Euro-Arab Foundation Institute include the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, the League of Arab States, Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Local Government of Granada, Provincial Government of Granada, the Andalusian Autonomous Government, the College of Management and Technology, and the University of Granada.

About the University of New England

The University of New England is Maine’s largest independent university, with two beautiful coastal campuses in Maine, a one-of-a-kind study abroad campus in Tangier, Morocco, and an array of flexible, accredited online degrees. In an uncommonly welcoming and supportive community, we offer hands-on learning, empowering students to make a positive impact in a world full of challenges. The state’s top provider of health professionals, we are home to Maine’s only medical college, Maine’s only dental college, a variety of other interprofessionally aligned health care degree programs, as well as nationally recognized programs for marine science degrees, natural and social sciences degrees, arts and humanities degrees, and business degrees.