TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – A group of University of Alabama administrators and students recently visited the United Arab Emirates to attend a “Women as Global Leaders Conference” at Zayed University in Dubai, UAE, and participate in a Web-CT-based cultural fluency project with students at United Arab Emirates University in Al-Ain, UAE.

The trip came about after Dr. Jane Stanfield, director of UA’s Capstone International Center, was invited to speak at the conference. UA students were already communicating with students at United Arab Emirates University through a Web-based course, and Stanfield was able to combine the two projects in bringing a delegation to UAE.

The Web-CT project allows students at UA and UAEU to take part in a joint course on global cultures. The project features streaming video interviews and enables students literally half a world apart to interact via live chat. The project is an outgrowth of a U.S. State Department Bureau of Public Diplomacy initiative.

The conference, a gathering of 1,000 women from more than 40 countries, centered on women’s leadership roles. “It looked at how one educates for and about leadership in an increasingly complex world,” Stanfield said. Representatives included students, faculty, consultants and representatives from international groups such as Oxfam.

“Everyone was eager to introduce themselves, share interests and exchange ideas,” said Dr. Fran Oneal, director of UA’s International Honors Program and a member of the UA delegation.

“I’ll remember the intermingling of women from six continents to share ideas, inspiration, information and skills,” Oneal said. “I’ll remember the words of an Emirati businesswoman who runs an enterprise of 3,000 employees. Addressing Arab women in particular, she said ‘Let them know that under the veil, you have a brain’.”

Lauren Housand, an undergraduate student in UA’s Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration, was impressed with both the city of Dubai and the UAE students’ interest in other cultures. “It almost seemed like a cross between Las Vegas and Disney World,” she said of the city. “And the students there were just as interested in learning about our culture as we were in theirs.”

In addition to Stanfield, Oneal and Housand, the UA delegation included Martha Morgan, professor of law, and students Karyl Davis, School of Law; Kristin Davis, College of Arts and Sciences, and Lauren Oswalt and Genny Maness, both students in the Culverhouse College of Commerce and Business Administration.

Stanfield said plans are already underway for UA students to make presentations at next year’s conference in Abu Dhabi as well as to expand the current Web-CT project. “The unofficial project motto is ‘many countries – one world.’ The participation of The University of Alabama in the Women’s Global Leadership conference is an important first step in making this motto a reality,” she said.