To improve teaching and strengthen the universities' capacity to provide youth the skills needed in today's workforce, IREX paired three prestigious US universities with three in Iraq. Together these institutions are sharing new teaching methods, revising outdated curricula, and engaging in joint research projects.
Through each partnership in the Iraq University Linkages Program (ULP) [7] IREX coaches faculty to develop new curricula, leads in-person and online capacity building trainings for faculty and university staff, and supports Iraqi institutions' progress toward accreditation.
Georgia State University & University of Baghdad
[8]
[9]
• English
• College of Education
• College of Language
• College of Liberal Arts
[10]"We are working with people who are developing the future of Iraq and that is an honor."
- Eric Friginal, GSU professor and linkage co-leader [11]
Michigan State University & University of Duhok
[12]
[13]
• Biology
• Computer & Electrical Engineering
• English
"[We are working to] review and revise course curricula, explore alternate teaching styles, collaborate on research and generally exchange ideas and foster long-term relationships between the two institutions."
- Karin Dillon, MSU program manager [14]
University of Missouri at Colombia & University of Technology in Baghdad
[15]
[16]
• Renewable Energy
• Industrial Engineering
• Nanotechnology
[17]"We will help rebuild Iraqi educators' capacity to train tomorrow's engineers...The MU group will benefit too. In the modern world, engineering programs must be international or they become irrelevant."
- Vladislav Likholetov, MU assistant professor of chemical engineering and linkage leader [18]