Cultural exchange: Lincoln Corner at IIUI for 3 more years

IIUI and the US Embassy signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) to continue the ongoing Lincoln Corner partnership.

ISLAMABAD: Students at International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) will continue to have access to the United States (US) Embassy’s resources on English language and US history for three more years. IIUI and the US Embassy on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to continue the ongoing Lincoln Corner partnership.

The MoU was signed by the US Embassy Counsellor for Public Affairs Mark Davidson and IIUI President Dr Anwar Siddiqui in a ceremony in Islamabad.  Davidson said, “Our four Lincoln Corners in Pakistan provide access to English language resources and computers, as well as accurate information about US history, government, society, and values.”

He added that this partnership will help build mutual understanding between the two countries.

In 2010, more than 10,000 students visited the Lincoln Corner at IIUI, which also hosted 33 programmes “providing intellectual enrichment at the university,” said a press handout.

More than 50,000 students have used the facility since it opened in 2006.  As part of the agreement, the embassy provides funding, software, computer equipment, and other support while the university supplies the space, personnel, collection maintenance, and other basic services.

Davidson added, “These corners offer the resources Pakistan’s young people have told us they want and need.  They are a concrete manifestation of President Barack Obama’s vision of building new partnerships with people in Pakistan and Muslim communities around the world.”

Other Lincoln Corners are located in Karachi, Peshawar, and Muzaffarabad. The embassy also maintains four Reading Rooms in the Islamabad/Rawalpindi region.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2010.