Knowledge Society
On 15 March 2020, during the spring semester, the University of Central Asia (UCA) campus in Naryn closed abruptly, to stop the spread of Covid-19. Students and teachers were faced with a challenging question: how to continue classes and learning, when everyone had been asked to stay at home?
At The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS), more than 50 students arrive in London every autumn at the start of the academic year to embark on a voyage of discovery. For those studying at the IIS, there is a deep sense of pluralism inherent in the student experience.
Seeking knowledge is inextricably linked to faith and spirituality in the Muslim tradition. In his address during the foundation laying ceremony of the Aga Khan Academy in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Mawlana Hazar Imam spoke of the intersection of education and faith. He said that, “The Holy Qur’an sees the discovery of knowledge as a spiritual responsibility, enabling us to better understand and more ably serve God’s creation.”
The 20th century writer William Arthur Ward once wrote that “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.” On the occasion of World Teachers’ Day 2021, we celebrate the teachers and educators in our Jamat that continue to inspire us week after week, and thus help to positively shape the future of humanity.
Mawlana Hazar Imam will deliver a virtual address at the University of Central Asia’s first-ever convocation on 19 June. The ceremony will honour the first class of undergraduate students at the School of Arts and Sciences and will be livestreamed from the University campuses in Khorog, Tajikistan and Naryn, Kyrgyzstan.
In today’s global environment, engineers, scientists, and inventors from different backgrounds collaborate on a global scale to create the technologies that impact human life on a daily basis. Against this backdrop, the Ismaili Council for the Southwestern US is collaborating with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to host an In-flight Education Downlink live from the International Space Station with Expedition 65 astronaut Megan McArthur on 17 May 2021.
I always saw the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) as a daunting exam; nevertheless, the fact that so many students would be taking it with me physically gave me some sense of moral support, even if that support was coming from strangers.
As the global community faced unforeseen challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, schools and universities were required to quickly implement remote learning in order to maintain social distancing and other Covid-19 safety protocols.
Take any highly successful person and chances are that person had a mentor to guide his or her journey, but when Kenyan-born Azan Virji set out to obtain a world-class medical education in the United States, he didn’t know whose path he could follow.
“Education is an equalizer. All of us who are in education, we’re not in there for money. We’re there for impact,” said Shehnaz Wadhwania, currently the founding principal for Abram Agnew Elementary School in California’s Santa Clara Unified School District. Before becoming a school leader, Shehnaz followed a unique career path in education, where she felt she could make the greatest impact.
Everything is made of something. Materials science is the study of what objects are made of – from metals to ceramics and polymers – and why certain materials function the way they do. It is the science that explains why your phone charger is made of the insulator polycarbonate or why a car contains the fireproof material fiberglass in its bumpers, doors, roof, and wheels. Though materials science and engineering (MSE) is not often studied in schools, it is the foundation of all objects in our world.
Across the world, education has been one of the most severely disrupted areas in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Through the introduction of various online initiatives, the Aga Khan Economic Planning Board (AKEPB) in India has invested in upskilling for teachers, to help them navigate the new world of online education.