Jonathan StoneyJonathan Stoney, an international studies major in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s College of Arts and Sciences, will spend four months studying at the American University in Dubai during the fall after he was awarded the William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship.
Ten United States students are selected for the program each semester. The program is designed to expose students to culture in the Middle East and places an emphasis on those who are interested in being exposed to the Arab world for the first time. Recipients of the Clinton Scholarship receive full tuition and housing for one term.
“I never would have known about this scholarship if it weren’t for the faculty at the Office of Education Abroad, and they have been incredibly helpful throughout the process,” Stoney said. “Dr. Madelyn Cook, Professors Renato Corbetta, Erika Rinker and Sameh Asal, and my employer Bruce Ayers have all played pivotal roles in preparing me for this opportunity through education, mentorship and all around support. I would not be where I am today without them.”
Stoney plans to pursue a career as an international diplomat, ambassador or negotiator.
“I’m still very much on the path of preparation and keeping an eye out for opportunities as they come,” Stoney said. “This is why my professors and advisers have been especially helpful in pointing me in the right direction and even just making me aware of programs like the William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship.”
While in Dubai, Stoney will continue to study the Arabic language, the history of Middle Eastern civilizations, and the Quran’s text, meaning, and impact on Middle Eastern cultures both past and present. He will also take a course that will focus on the state of Iraq following the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War.
The William Jefferson Clinton Scholarship at the American University in Dubai aims to continue the goals of the Clinton Presidential Foundation to increase the number of people in the United States and throughout the world who want to work to meet the struggles of global relations. The program will give Americans based in the United States the chance to broaden their educational and cultural experience by studying in the Arab world.