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Akkasah: Illuminating History Through Photography

Posted on December 11, 2023 by Maxine P

This summer, Akkasah, the photography archive at NYU Abu Dhabi’s al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art, released 1,500 digitized photographs from across the Middle East, with some photographs dating back to the 19th century. Located within the NYU Abu Dhabi Library, this remarkable collection houses a treasure trove of images that chronicle the history, culture, and transformation of the Middle East and beyond.

An example from the archive: Taken in 1949 by Ibrahim Omara, this image of Egyptian actresses Aziza Helmy and Laily Fawzy in the back of a car is available in the Samir Farid Collection.
Reference ID: ref34_000002

Origins of the Archive

This fascinating collection of the photographic heritage of the Middle East was established in 2014 by Professor Shamoon Zamir, who still serves as its director. “When I joined NYU Abu Dhabi, I very much wanted to make some kind of contribution to work in the region,” says Professor Zamir. After noticing a lack of Middle Eastern photography archives, he designed Akkasah to be completely accessible, both online and in person.

Akkasah acquires photos from donations, family albums, studios, and even flea markets. They also work with people who allow Akkasah to digitally archive their collections while they retain the physical copies of their photographs.

Once collected, each photo is individually cataloged with any available metadata, such as the subject matter and location. Although most archives catalog their collections folder by folder, Akkasah catalogs each photograph. It’s a time-consuming process, but the extensive metadata and easy searchability put Akkasah in a class of its own.

Scholarly Impact

With its diverse collection of roughly 40,000 images spanning the late 1800s to the present, Akkasah provides a unique window into the past. Anthropologists, historians, and social scientists from around the world have access to this invaluable resource, offering insights into education, religion, fashion, and more.

“There are both amazing surprises and expected things in there,” says Professor Zamir. Some subjects provoke questions, for instance, two women kissing in a Cairo photobooth in the 1940s.

Beyond its role as a scholarly resource, Akkasah opens its doors to students and the wider community by hosting exhibitions, seminars, and lectures. They have taught workshops on skills such as archiving and constructing photo books. And anyone can browse the archive in person or online.

“Anyone, academic or nonacademic, can make an appointment and see whatever they want to see,” says Professor Zamir. “In fact, we very much welcome it.”

Professional Development Opportunities

For students who want to learn even more about archiving, Akkasah offers paid internships. Undergraduates can gain valuable experience in photography, digitization, and curation.

A studio portrait of a seated woman wearing a dark dress

An example from the archive: This studio portrait of a seated woman comes from the Kadikoy Foto Aile in Turkey and is available in the Ozge Calafato Collection.
Reference ID: ref263

Emily Broad, a Raleigh, North Carolina, native who graduated from NYU Abu Dhabi in 2022 with a degree in Art and Art History, is one former intern. “Akkasah is one of the reasons why I applied to NYU Abu Dhabi,” says Emily. “I was able to develop my interest in photography not only as a practice but also as an academic discipline.”

As part of a summer research project, she cataloged a collection from the granddaughter of Butti Bin Bishr who worked closely with Sheikh Zayed, the United Arab Emirates’ founder. “I spent the whole summer talking with her and going through each image, dating them and writing descriptions. That was a unique experience because I got to work with someone who was high-level in the UAE as well as form a relationship with her through the archival work.”

Building on the skills she learned, Emily went on to do an internship at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is now pursuing her PhD in Visual and Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester.

A Cultural Reservoir

Perhaps one of the archive’s most important roles is the preservation of cultural heritage. It documents traditions, customs, and art forms, helping safeguard the rich cultural tapestry of the Middle East. Anyone can stop in to reconstruct narratives, explore societal changes, and gain insights into the past.

Emily encourages students to take advantage of the unique resource. “Akkasah gives you a different look at the region than what people are used to, especially if you’re an American student,” she says. “I feel like we have preconceived notions about the Arab world that working with Akkasah really changed for me.”

Written by Kelsey Rexroat

Homestays as Language Immersion

Posted on November 20, 2023, modified on November 20, 2023 by Maxine P

One of the many benefits students gain from homestays is the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in the local language. Here, a few students share their experiences learning, growing, and perfecting their language skills with their host families.

Fiona sitting on a music box in front of a microphone

Fiona practicing with her host family’s music ensemble

Fiona Cantorna, an Environmental Studies and Spanish dual major at the College of Arts and Science (CAS), chose to live in a homestay because she “wanted to connect more to the Porteño (Buenos Aires, Argentina) community.” That’s exactly what she did: her host family was a part of a weekly music ensemble, and Fiona had the chance to join them in making music. “My homestay was instrumental in improving my Spanish,” she says. “It provided a casual environment to practice my listening and speaking skills, in which I learned lunfardo (Argentine vocabulary) and even picked up the local Rioplatense accent!”

Chloe Bouquet Brown, an NYU Gallatin School of Individualized Study student, lived with host Mina and her son, Xach, in Paris’ 10th Arrondissement during her time studying away. “My French transformed enormously throughout my year with Mina and Xach,” Chloe recalls. “They pushed me to practice French around the house. It was difficult at times, being tired from classes and yearning for home, but in the end, my confidence grew with their positive encouragement in the sanctity of the homestay. I interned at a local art gallery and could ask them about professional terminology and French work customs.”

Justin Strong takes a selfie in front of a boat

Justin visiting Venice while studying at NYU Florence

Justin Strong, a Business major at NYU Stern concentrating in marketing and management, chose to live in a homestay at NYU Florence because he knew the impact it would have on his Italian. “The homestay experience was phenomenal for my Italian,” Justin shares. “I told my host mother that I didn’t know any Italian, but I wanted to speak and learn as much as possible. Throughout the semester, we persisted in Italian, and it really paid off. Soon enough, we were having full conversations. I was really grateful for the homestay experience. By the end of the term, I was chatting with numerous locals without needing to switch to English.”

Sam Husemann-Erickson, a CAS Politics major, says he decided to live in a homestay “not only because of the lower cost, but also because it was an excellent way to improve my Spanish and get to know Argentine cuisine and culture in depth.” His hosts were a retired couple who helped him navigate Buenos Aires and loved to cook.“My host parents were more than happy to teach me Argentine expressions and more natural ways to express myself, and our discussions over dinner and breakfast were a great way to practice my Spanish throughout my stay.” His host mother even kept track of the recipes he liked and, at the end of the semester, wrote them down so he could take them home.

Two students sitting at a table with their host family for dinner

Sam eating dinner with his housemate and host family

Devyn Costello-Henderson, a Vocal Performance major concentrating in classical voice at NYU Steinhardt, had studied French for years before deciding to study away at NYU Paris. She couldn’t pass up the chance a homestay gave her to improve her language skills. “Staying in a homestay forced me to become comfortable speaking the language,” Devyn continues. “I didn’t feel the need to speak perfectly, but I could communicate well with the family. My host family loved to chat with me, and it was very helpful to listen to their everyday conversations in French. I found I could quickly understand almost everything they said, even if my own vocabulary was not as complete. I had fluid conversations in French without needing to pause often to search for words. I still made mistakes, but I had a higher comfort and confidence level speaking the language.”

Student Reporting in Buenos Aires

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Katie L

Maureen Zeufack

When Maureen Zeufack, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development Class of 2023, researched options for studying away, she wanted to explore somewhere new and was immediately drawn to NYU Buenos Aires. A Media, Culture, and Communication major, Maureen found the opportunity to immerse herself in Argentina’s unfamiliar yet vibrant and multicultural lifestyle too good to pass up. “I wanted to go somewhere I didn’t have a connection to, somewhere completely out of my wheelhouse,” Maureen explains. “Academically, I wanted to improve my Spanish. Plus, the media classes aligned with my major, so it really was the perfect fit.”

The daughter of Cameroonian immigrants, Maureen has family in Africa and Europe, and she lived in Asia as a child. What she didn’t expect while studying in Buenos Aires? Finding a slice of home in a place she’d never been.

Maureen was intentional about her class selection, especially when it came to choosing Santiago O’Donnell’s course Reporting Buenos Aires. “I took the class because I knew the semester would go by quickly, and I wanted to have an excuse to explore the city, get more familiar with the culture and the people, and dive into everything,” says Maureen. O’Donnell, a former staff writer at both the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post, assigns students stories that require them to engage with the surrounding city. This way they learn more about the city’s culture by putting themselves in new situations, observing their Argentine neighbors, and meeting people they may not otherwise encounter. “Since I’m Cameroonian American, I was interested in seeing what the African diaspora is like in Buenos Aires and, if there are Africans in the city, what’s going on in their communities,” says Maureen.

Maureen poses for the camera in El Buen Sabor Africano restaurant

Maureen inside El Buen Sabor Africano restaurant

For one of the class assignments, Maureen was tasked with writing a restaurant review. She was surprised to find there was only one African restaurant in all of Buenos Aires. Even more surprising? The owner and head chef, Maxime Tankouo, is also from Cameroon. And not only that—he and Maureen are from the same tribe.

“I thought, ‘What are the odds that in this country, where there aren’t many Black people or Africans in general, that not only is he Cameroonian, but he is also from the exact same tribe and the same part of the country as me?’” Maureen says with a laugh. “That was something we really bonded over.”

While sitting inside the walls of Tankouo’s restaurant, El Buen Sabor Africano, Maureen says she “immediately felt at home.” Although she was far from her familial home, there were pieces of it right there in Buenos Aires, from the music Tankouo played to the decor that filled his restaurant’s walls. She enjoyed a full meal—grilled corvina fish bathed in orange and red African spices, perfectly cooked sweet plantains, and a dish of spicy sautéed red beans and vegetables—all under the gaze of a large, painted lion, Cameroon’s national symbol, on the restaurant’s wall.

A plated meal of fish, plantains, onion, sauteed beans and vegetables

A filling meal of African flavors at El Buen Sabor Africano

Maureen gained more than just a good story for her class. “I know now that I’m especially interested in exploring the African diaspora experience in Argentina,” she says, which is what she focused her final class project on. She adds, “I realized the world is a lot smaller than you think. For something like this to happen while I was there, in a place where sometimes you don’t see a lot of people who look like you, it was necessary and refreshing. It was nice to see a familiar face and know that someone there had a similar background as me.”

Written by Kelly Stewart

Diversity and Inclusion in the NYU Global Network: Chijioke Obasi Named Director for Global Programs Inclusive Engagement

Posted on October 31, 2023, modified on November 13, 2023 by Maxine P

When Chijioke Obasi joined NYU earlier this year as director for global programs inclusive engagement, she brought a wealth of experience to the role. Dr. Obasi, who is based in London, began her higher education career as a communication support worker for deaf students who use sign language. Since then, she’s held various faculty and administrative roles in both social work and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). And she’s found that the two areas are more connected than one might think at first. “Valuing lived experience and cultural humility is transferable across both areas,” she says. “Working with difference and developing good intercultural communication skills are essential to both.”

Dr. Chijioke Obasi

Dr. Obasi’s doctoral research at the University of Central Lancashire centered the experiences of Black women and culturally Deaf women at work in the UK. She notes that her previous experience and research are directly applicable to her new role. “My work for the Office of Global Programs has made me think about how accessible our study away programs are for students from many different backgrounds,” she says. “It would be great to increase access for students with physical disabilities, for example, but this would need to be done in a way that promotes a truly inclusive environment, where students feel a true sense of belonging. I am keen to work with students and other colleagues to look at how we might best do this.”

Given how different DEI is across the world, it’s no small feat to ensure students from all backgrounds feel this sense of belonging and are able to realize their full potential while studying away. “Because of all the wide-ranging histories, legislation, and cultural practices across the world, we are not looking for a one-size-fits-all approach,” says Dr. Obasi.

It takes time to adjust to the culture, language, and even climate in a new country. Dr. Obasi offers students opportunities to tap into all the resources they have available for intercultural learning and communication. “From their predeparture to their return and beyond, our office ensures that all students have the chance to engage with their personal issues of identity and self-awareness as well as wider issues of global inclusion.”

To further their mission, Dr. Obasi and the Office of Global Programs now hold an online mixer where students from across the NYU global network can build community and discuss DEI issues. She also hopes to work closely with students currently studying away to make a series of videos about the global sites and student experiences within particular affinity groups. In addition, her plans to work closely with NYU staff and develop intercultural competence extend the scope of the typical global programs audience. The hope is that every community member can help make the NYU global network an even more diverse, welcoming, and vibrant place than it is already.

Written by Kristin Maffei

NYU Madrid: A Day in the Life

Posted on October 23, 2023, modified on April 8, 2024 by Katie L

Gabby, a Global Liberal Studies major concentrating in art, text, and media, learns about Spanish culture. Her day starts at her favorite coffee shop, then the Prado Museum, Retiro Park, and her internship at el Chico, an art gallery, and it ends at the NYU Madrid academic center where she attends her evening class on Spanish cinema.

NYU Buenos Aires: A Day in the Life

Posted on October 9, 2023, modified on October 10, 2023 by Maxine P

Jida, a College of Arts and Science sophomore, shares what a typical day is like for her at NYU Buenos Aires, offering insights on her experiences volunteering, living with her host mother, and soaking up the opportunity to live and study at the NYU global network’s southernmost site.

NYU Los Angeles: One Day, Two Lives

Posted on September 18, 2023 by Maxine P

Angel, a junior majoring in Politics with a minor in Business of Entertainment, Media and Technology, and Mariajose, an NYU alum, share their experiences at NYU Los Angeles. Their stories especially focus on the required internship component that is designed to enhance classroom learning and prepare students for careers in entertainment and media.

NYU Tel Aviv Welcomes a Simulation That Prepares Students for the Next Global Public Health Emergency

Posted on June 14, 2023 by Katie L

In a humanitarian crisis, the World Health Organization’s Strategic Health Operations Centre (SHOC) in Geneva, Switzerland, leads the response and offers coordination, information, monitoring, and other critical services and resources to the international community. At NYU Tel Aviv, Dr. Inon Schenker provides a unique opportunity for students to gain experiential understanding of SHOC through the War on Epidemics simulation. First launched by Dr. Schenker at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, the simulation has been a training ground for hundreds of students at Israeli universities. Now at NYU Tel Aviv, the War on Epidemics is part of the course Epidemiology for Global Health, though Schenker welcomes any students eager to participate.

Realistic Scenarios Bridge Theory and Practice

In a room modeled on the SHOC’s setup, students work together to develop real-time responses to an unfolding crisis. This year’s simulation was based on the 2004 tsunami that devastated over a dozen countries in Southeast Asia. Students were briefed with real footage, then charged to consider emerging issues like sanitation, care for the injured, information communications, and the potential for the displaced populations to experience health risks such as infectious diseases, mental health conditions, and trauma. As the simulation progressed, the team was notified that a group of 1,000 young people were trapped on a mountain without shelter or food. Throughout the simulation these scenarios were on the clock, giving students a sense of real-life urgency.

During the simulation, Ansley Fiorito, a Biology and Global Public Health major, was the UNICEF adviser on youth in emergency situations. She describes learning how operation centers support teams on the ground through their ability to take a different perspective on the situation. “Both roles are valuable, but when you’re in the midst of chaos, it can be challenging to make decisions that benefit everyone in the long run.” Sejal Porter, a Biology and Global Public Health major on the prehealth track, echoes the importance of a variety of experts. “As an epidemiological adviser, my role was to prevent a future threat of disease instead of focusing on the current, pressing impacts of the crisis.” Ansley adds, “It was incredible to see everyone work together toward a common goal.”

Dr. Edan Raviv, assistant director of academics at NYU Tel Aviv, notes that experiential learning is an important bridge between intellectual and practical knowledge. “This is especially critical in a field like public health,” he says, “which requires students to understand complex technical science on the one hand and the public, socioeconomic, and political causes and implications of public health on the other.”

When Learning Leads to Impact

Simulations like these can even transform future, real-time outcomes. Dr. Schenker offers one illustrative example: In 2015 a cyclone was approaching Chennai, India, the hometown of one of his former Ben-Gurion University of the Negev students, Sri Janani. Having participated in the War on Epidemics simulation just a few months earlier, Janani knew how to organize an operations center and bring together members of her community and local nongovernmental organizations. Through the spread of information, organization of supplies, and evacuation of those in vulnerable areas, Janani estimates they helped over 170 families.

Dr. Schenker anticipates the next War on Epidemics simulation at NYU Tel Aviv will run in the spring of 2024. “Every NYU student can benefit from participating in a simulation like this. It is highly educational but also a fun way to build real-life experience and skills,” he says.

Dr. Schenker is happy to work with NYU campuses and academic locations on adapting the simulation to their local contexts. His contact email is is2760@nyu.edu.

Written by Auzelle Epeneter

A Universal Language at Every Age

Posted on May 15, 2023 by Maxine P

Through internships, volunteer opportunities, and class projects, NYU study away students can make a positive impact on the children in their local communities while also gaining valuable, real-world experience they can apply to their future careers.

While studying at NYU Prague last spring, Joey Duke, a junior majoring in Music Education at the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, found there is more to his field of study than he could have imagined. Through the class Foundations of Music Education led by Professor Klára Boudalová, he had the opportunity to work with the Prague Symphony Orchestra to help make classical music accessible to children in the Czech Republic.

Seven people pose for a camera on the orchestra stage

Concert planners and participants pose for a photo onstage at Smetana Hall after the orchestra performance. Pictured from left to right are: Jaime Patterson, Jair Gonzales, director Klara Boudalova, Joey Duke, actress Veronika Kubarova, Jahnvi Seshadri, and conductor Jan Kucera.

“We worked on the Orchestr na dotek, which means ‘the orchestra to listen,’” Joey says. After a semester of learning from the orchestra, the class’ final project was to organize an orchestra completely on their own. “It’s their program created just for young audiences, and it was a game changer for me. It showed me there’s a lot more you can do with music education.”

Joey and his classmates “took a part in everything” when it came to creating the orchestra. They chose composers, selected and cut the music, wrote a storyline, and worked with the musicians and performers to ensure the performance went off without a hitch.

“We knew we would be these kids’ first impressions of the composers, and we wanted to make sure we selected the right pieces and cuts,” explains Joey. Their orchestra focused on the works of Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, which they intertwined with a story about pirates. “The music really couldn’t be more than three minutes at a time, so we had to select the most important parts. That took a lot of score reading and musical knowledge. Then for the story, Debussy features a lot of ocean music and Ravel features a lot of Spanish music, so we were like, ‘We’ve got it! We’re getting on a ship, we’re venturing across the sea, we’re going to islands.’ It was this big, fantastical process, and once we got past the blank canvas, the possibilities were endless.”

Similarly, at NYU Florence, Anika Istok, a junior majoring in Psychology at the College of Arts and Science and minoring in both Italian Studies and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies (CAMS), had the chance to connect with children through music.

“Music is so important for kids,” says Anika who spent the fall of 2022 volunteering with NPM Bambini in Movimento, an organization that provides support, therapy, and inclusive recreational activities for children, adolescents, and their families to help improve their health and wellness. “It’s an important way for kids to express themselves, especially if they’re nonverbal, shy, or don’t initiate interactions. It’s amazing because, through something simple like playing our community drum together, they were able to bond in a way that, even with words, you can’t accomplish.”

Photo of Anika wearing an NPM Bambini in Movimento polo shirt

Anika Istok in her NPM Bambini in Movimento shirt

Volunteering with NPM Bambini in Movimento was fulfilling for Anika on multiple levels. It not only advanced her work in psychology and CAMS but also helped her become fluent in Italian. She noted volunteering as part of the culture at NYU Florence, so she knew she would get involved somewhere. Still, it was important for her to find an organization where she could really make an impact, and at NPM Bambini in Movimento, she was able to do just that.

“We weren’t necessarily teaching music; rather, we were experiencing music together,” Anika adds. Anika helped teach two after-school classes, one for children between 2 and 5 and one for children between 6 and 8 years old. “A lot of the kids we worked with had either a disability or some sort of special need, and a lot of them were too young to be in school full time or had some trouble in school. Connecting with them outside of their normal educational environment was really important.”

Both Joey and Anika returned to New York City after their semesters away with newfound knowledge and appreciation for their selected fields of study. “This opportunity showed me that I could not only aspire to do something like this but do it. And then we watched it happen,” says Joey. “At the end of the day, music is who we are as a people. It carries all of our cultural meaning, it carries a message, and for kids to understand the music from where they are is for them to participate in their communities. For me, I realized there’s so much more we can do. That semester really opened my eyes to the impact we can make through music.”

Written by Kelly McHugh-Stewart

10 Years in Two Dynamic Cities

Posted on April 25, 2023, modified on April 25, 2023 by Maxine P

During this academic year, two NYU global locations arrived at an important milestone: 10 years as part of the NYU global community. NYU Shanghai and NYU Washington, DC, celebrate their accomplishments of the last decade.

NYU Shanghai

Last month, NYU Shanghai, one of NYU’s three degree-granting campuses, celebrated its 10th anniversary, beginning with a ceremony held on the school’s newly opened New Bund campus. Guests included founding partners from NYU’s New York City campus and East China Normal University as well as local government officials. NYU’s President Andrew Hamilton took the opportunity to reflect on the important role academic research plays in cultural democracy:

NYU Shanghai has blossomed into a thriving, remarkable university whose international faculty and student body epitomize NYU’s innovation and ambition. It is not only an important part of NYU, but the research and learnings that faculty and students take part in contribute enormously to cultural understanding across the globe. (NYU Shanghai News and Publications)

(pictured from left to right) Vice Chancellor of NYU Shanghai Jeffrey Lehman, NYU President Andy Hamilton, NYU Shanghai Chancellor Tong Shijun

The ceremony was the first in a series of events celebrating the momentous anniversary. For example, Visiting Professor of Music and Composition and Distinguished Artist in Residence Bright Sheng conducted the concert, The Friendship of Two Cities: Shanghai–New York, featuring pianist Ming Xie and violinist Kelly Hall-Tompkins. Two pieces were carefully curated for the program, “Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto” and “Rhapsody in Blue,” to represent Shanghai and New York City. The weekend also marked NYU Shanghai’s first-ever alumni reunion, and over 200 alumni attended celebratory and networking events including an alumni panel discussion and the Dean’s Open House and Faculty Salon.

NYU Shanghai’s student body president Stephanie Anderson ’23 and vice president Peirong Li ’24 gave inspiring remarks at the opening ceremony, encouraging students to bring positive change to the world: “Let us in true NYU Shanghai fashion, rise to meet the challenges of our new, post-pandemic world and contribute to empower our community.”

NYU Washington, DC

Andy Hamilton talking to smiling people in suits

President Hamilton speaks with alumni at the NYU Washington, DC, 10-year reception.

Celebrations for the 10th anniversary of NYU Washington, DC, one of the University’s global academic centers, began last fall with a reception for over 200 DC-based alumni. President Hamilton provided the keynote address and current students studying at NYU Washington, DC, joined the celebratory reception. The site also launched an inaugural film series with the theme Empire. Each month, a film related to the theme is screened at the Abramson Family Auditorium, followed by a discussion with a faculty moderator. The theme and related films provide an opportunity for students to reflect on the complexities inherent in history as well as international relations and politics today, taking advantage of the site’s location on the doorstep of international diplomacy.

Kari Miller speaking at a podium that says "NYUDC at 10"

NYU Washington, DC, Program Director Kari Miller speaks at the 10-year reception.

Director Kari Miller attributes the site’s success to several factors, including the Constance Milstein and Family Global Academic Center’s incredible facility and its central location downtown. Offering students the chance to take courses near the White House and the National Mall, the center’s proximity to a multitude of government agencies and organizations provides ample opportunities for students to gain practical experience through internships.

And what does Miller hope the next 10 years bring to NYU Washington, DC? “We hope to elevate the visibility of NYU Washington, DC, among our faculty and students at all degree-granting campuses, so that the site provides access to all of the teaching, learning, meeting, and research opportunities available in Washington, DC.”

Global Dimensions