By Samar Yahya
Saudi Gazette
JEDDAH — The United States has long and short-term educational and cultural programs with about 140 countries worldwide, a senior US official has said.
These programs go a long way in bridging the gaps between different cultures and nations, US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Evan Ryan said during her visit to Safeya Binzagr Museum, University of Business and Technology (UBT) in Jeddah at the weekend.
Ryan toured different sections of the museum listening to explanations from Safeya Binzagr on traditional costumes, locations and events of diverse regions in the Kingdom.
She also toured the UBT’s women campus where she delivered a speech and had an open discussion with the staff and the students.
Ryan said educational and cultural programs between United States and other countries help in understanding each others. “When I visit Saudi Arabia of course I will leave with better understanding of the country, culture, history. And likewise if you come to United States, you will understand us better and the result of this is understanding is bridge-building one another as two countries,” Ryan said.
On the impression on Saudi women after her visit to Saudi Arabia, Ryan said to Saudi Gazette: “I had the opportunity today to meet all sorts of women. Women in Jeddah are very engaging and passionate about their work. The students I met thought that the norm would be women as part of the working force and that more and more women will be in leading positions. The women whom I met with I with found them very interesting, distinct and wonderful.”
On the main cause of her visit, Ryan told Saudi Gazette: “When I travel I try to meet with alumni of the programs, I also try to show how you can strengthen ties between countries through arts, culture, education and music and how important these cultural bonds are to understand one another. I also meet with students and I try to highlight the mutual programs that we have that they might be or might not be aware of.”
Ryan also said: “What I saw of Saudi women through my visit to the Kingdom is amazing level of knowledge, ambition and culture. This has created a positive and wonderful impression of Saudi women that I have found forward-looking, and has a lot of achievements in various fields, and the field of education in particular, as I saw during my visit to the University of Business and Technology, students are inspired and they love science and knowledge.”
In response to the stereotype image of Saudi women undermining their role and contribution to nation-building, Ryan said that there have always been false images about women in general. “It is important not to circulate this mistaken image to describe a whole country, and if there are segments of a society suffering from something we cannot generalize it to all of society.”
Evan Ryan assumed her position as Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) in September 2013. In this capacity, she oversees a wide range of academic, cultural, private sector, professional, youth, and sports exchange programs to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries and promote peaceful relations.
ECA exchange programs engage youth, students, educators, artists, athletes, and emerging leaders from the United States and in almost every other country and territory throughout the world. ECA has had over one million program participants to date, including more than 75 Nobel Laureates and nearly 450 current and former heads of state and government.
