In an attempt to promote the social inclusion of persons with disabilities, the Faculty of Al-Alsun and Mass Communication Community Service Committee paid a visit to “Friends of Bright Tomorrow Association for Special Needs” on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022.

The visit aimed to explore ways of joint collaboration between the Faculty and the Association to provide the Association residents with the necessary educational and recreational tools.

“Friends of Bright Tomorrow” offers its residents suitable education and training on photocopying, printing on ceramics and handicrafts, such as wickerwork, embroidery, knitting, etc. The Association also trains people with autism and prepares them to be integrated in the society.

The Faculty Committee members offered the Association some educational and recreational materials designed for special needs learners by Al-Alsun students in addition to coloring pencils and coloring sheets designed by Mass Communication students. The Committee also provided painting materials and tools for the special needs learners’ activities.

At the end of the visit, members of the board of directors answered a questionnaire regarding the services the Faculty can offer to meet the future needs of the Association.

Faculty of Al-Alsun brings real life experience to students. Moving from theory to practice, TEFL students visit several renowned international schools, such as NIS, New Generation and Egyptian Language School, as part of their training pre-requisite. Under the supervision of experienced teachers, they perform assigned tasks in teaching and are introduced to school systems and various school departments.

Training at international schools prepares Al-Alsun students for the professional field of teaching, which opens the door for outstanding job opportunities as soon as they graduate. 

The Faculty of Al-Alsun is proud to announce the start of its MA program in Translation and New Technology. This is an interdisciplinary program designed to respond to the advances in computer technology which have revolutionized translation studies and practice. The program aims to graduate specialists in translation and interpreting who are up-to-date with the latest technologies and applications including translation memories, machine translation, computer-aided translation (CAT) tools, and collaborative translation management systems.

The Faculty of Al Alsun & Mass Communication organized a workshop on “Writing for Publication” on August 9, 2022.  The workshop, led by Prof. Laila Galal Rizk, Faculty Dean, addressed a number of issues, including selecting a journal, structuring a manuscript, responding to reviewers’ comments and publication misconduct.  It also focused on academic language and features of academic writing.  The workshop was attended by Faculty members and teaching assistants. 

The Faculty of Al-Alsun and Mass Communication organized a two-day visit to Al Salam  Children’s Library affiliated with Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development. Professor Hanan Kilani, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environment Development, together  with a number of Faculty members, conducted several workshops on two consecutive days, July 25 and 26, 2022.

Dr. Ingy Emara, Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department of Al Alsun presented a workshop on reading nutrition terms and labels in Arabic and English, in addition to providing useful information on proper nutrition. Dr. Maha Hamed, Assistant Professor of Linguistics led two workshops, one on presentation skills to all attendees, and another one on storytelling in Arabic for children.  Two Al-Alsun teaching assistants, Nouran Zayed and Hana Mahgoub, conducted a workshop on macrame cord crafts for children.    

On the second day, Professor Hanan Kilani conducted a brief seminar on the importance of education and the benefits of work for girls.   She also gave a handicraft workshop on making beaded bracelets to the girls who designed their own bracelets at the end of the workshop.  Mass Communication Department teaching assistant, Sara Magued led a workshop on the principles of photography for the boys. 

Four students from the “Camera Techniques” course filmed the activities of the second day under the supervision of the course instructor, Professor Amr Galal. The best video produced will be presented to Egypt’s Society for Culture and Development.

At the end of the visit, the Faculty Community Service and Environment  Development Committee members handed children’s stories translated into Arabic and English designed by Al-Alsun students, posters designed by Mass Communication students to raise awareness of proper nutrition and the importance of education, in addition to a collection of books in English for the library.  Committee members also distributed questionnaires to the library supervisors asking their opinion regarding the essential services that the Faculty may offer in future visits.

Al-Alsun third-year TEFL students visit ELS from 20- 24 /3/2022. Mrs. Mervat Bassiouni, ELS Superintendent, and Mrs. Iman Eleish, ELS Quality Assurance Board Member welcomed MIU students to the school and introduced them to the school system and different departments.

The visit aimed to provide 18 TEFL students with the practical experience of becoming a co-teacher in the National and British Departments. Students were able to shadow ELS experienced teachers in their classes and perform some tasks assigned for them by their supervising teachers.

At the end of the week, students were sad to say farewell to their supervising teachers and school students.

After the end of the Fall 2021 semester, Al-Alsun senior and junior students engaged in various field training programs, from February 5^th till February 17^th, with our worthy partners.

A group of 50 students joined a 30-hour internship program at the Middle East News Agency (MENA). Two different courses were held. In the International Organizations Translation Program, 24 students practiced translation of documents issued by international organizations, specifically the UN while a group of 26 students joined the Journalistic Translation program. Students became more aware and up-to-date with the global news and were familiarized with the editorial style of prominent news agencies. They also had the chance to try their hands on translating different journalistic text types.

Another group of 25 students joined an online internship at iTranslate. Students were divided into two groups and they received training on legal translation. They were first introduced to the nature of legal documents and what it entails. Then, they became familiar with the terminology of this specific field of translation and they got the chance to translate multiple legal contracts.

Trainers praised MIU Al-Alsun students for their commitment and eagerness to learn new skills.

The Department of Al-Alsun initiated a new Field Training Program in collaboration with Caritas-Egypt, Support, Education, Training for Inclusion Center (SETI), which provides management training, rehabilitation programs, and vocational training aimed at the inclusion of children with mental disabilities. 

 A group of 19 students attended an online training internship on behavior modification strategies and ways of dealing with problematic children, with the aim of preparing them to become future co-teachers and teachers.

The program was conducted by specialized trainers from the organization and tackled the issues of why children misbehave and how to deal with negative behavior such as stubbornness, violence, and lying.

Al-Alsun third-year TEFL students spent an active week of class visits and teacher shadowing, at New Generation. 19 TEFL students visited the school from 12-16 December 2021. They started their visit with an orientation session with the Elementary and KG managers to introduce them to the school system and help them identify the key roles of a Teacher Assistant. Students enjoyed their time in classes, and were praised by their supervising teachers for their punctuality and reliability.

In a new collaboration between MIU Al-Alsun Department and the Egyptian Language School (ELS) Fourth year Al-Alsun TEFL students started a field-training visit to the school from 12-16 December 2021.

Students first met with Mrs. Mervat Bassiouni, ELS Superintendent, and Mrs. Iman Eleish, ELS Quality Assurance Board Member, who welcomed them to the school and discussed the school system and different departments. During the week, students observed classes in the National and British departments and were able to get a hands-on experience of the work of a Co-teacher.

ELS Teachers were happy to share their experience with the 23 MIU students and praised their commitment and dedication.

Hopefully, this will mark the beginning of successful cooperation between ELS and MIU.