seminar

  Dr. Lynn Rose, Professor in the Social Sciences Department at American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (AUIS), delivered two international virtual seminars on Universal Design for Learning during the month of April for participants in Saudi Arabia and Iraq.    On April 1, 2023, she presented a seminar (via Zoom) for students, faculty, and administration at Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia. This workshop was at the invitation of the University’s Cognitive Science Research Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning.    On April 8, 2023, she presented “Universal Design in the Context of Disability Studies,” the first in a series of virtual seminars organized by MegaMind Plus Academy for Education Training and Consultancy, based in Erbil. The seminar, at the invitation of Dr. Himdad Muhammad of Salahaddin University, was attended by participants from universities throughout Kurdistan, Iraq, and India. Dr. Lynn emphasizes the role of disability activism in Universal Design for Learning, which, she says, “Emerged from the rich history of disability justice and disability rights. Simple and sensible ideas can help us build a better educational system and a better world.”    Dr. Lynn joined AUIS in 2016 and has offered courses in disability studies since the spring semester of 2022.

  As part of its Fall 2018 calendar of events, the AUIS IT Department, in cooperation with the non-profit organization Re:Coded, hosted a seminar and a workshop on blockchain technology on October 30 and November 10, 2018, respectively. Ehsan Ibrahim, a blockchain specialist and trainer from Re:Coded led both the seminar and the workshop. Ehsan provided an introduction to blockchain technology during the seminar, explaining key terms about the topic, and how it is used in the IT industry from a non-technical perspective. The workshop followed the seminar, in which Ibrahim delivered a more technical presentation on blockchain, with examples, hands-on practice, and coding. During the second part of the workshop, AUIS students in attendance were guided through a practical session with a virtual network called Ethereum using Ganache, then students uploaded their own code to the virtual blockchain. Dr. Hemin Latif, Assistant Professor and Chair of the IT Department at AUIS stated, “Creating and maintaining an intellectual link between the IT faculty and the IT practitioners from the industry is vital to the success of education.” “In a field such as IT, neither industry nor university alone can give the full breadth of the knowledge to the students,” Latif continue. After the workshop, student participant, Kamaran Ashraf said he anticipates this new technology will change the way people look at connections on the Internet. “The concern lies in saving milliseconds on transaction times and having reliable point-to-point security, essentially eliminating mediators,” he said. The blockchain events were just one of several seminars and workshops arranged by the AUIS IT Department this semester as part of an effort to introduce students to trending topics in the tech world.