GSM 590 - Cross-cultural Comparative Studies of Women Leaders UAE (Dubai, Abu Dhabi) Program Description
Join SOM Professor Lynda Moore and current SOM students in the United Arab Emirates March, 2010. The purpose of this course is to examine women’s leadership in an international and comparative context, focusing on two very different regions of the world, the Middle East and North America. The course will explore the status of women's leadership in both the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the United States. Students will learn theories of leadership, the cultural context of leadership, and the role of gender in leadership. A comparative analysis of US models of leadership with those of the UAE will provide an opportunity to understand the role of cultural and gender attribution in leadership effectiveness.
Course Highlights
Learn about the challenges around gender and leadership in the UAE. Meet expatriate faculty teaching the region.
- Network with the women students from the local universities, and learn about their gender and leadership journeys and aspirations, and the role of families, universities, society, and the government; engage in cross cultural discussions and establish peer cross cultural mentoring.
- Meet women leaders and entrepreneurs from both profit and not-for-profit sectors including representatives from professional women's association, chambers of commerce, government ministries, United Nations, and/or US embassy office.
- Experience the culture of Dubai. Visit the ancient palace of Sheikh Saeed, the Dubai Museum at Al Fahidi Fort, and Dubai's only mosque open to non-Muslims - Jumeirah Mosque; the Creek – the historical focal point of life in Dubai, and dinner aboard the traditionally shaped wooden dhows; cultural heritage villages, souqs and experience the iconic modern architecture of Dubai.
- Experience Abu Dhabi .Visit the Palace, Heritage village, Al Husn Fort, and Cultural Foundation.
Program Details
Travel dates: March 4-15, 2010
Class dates: Saturday, February 20, 27, March 27, and April 10, 2010
(1:00 to 5:00 p.m. – Simmons campus)
Costs: $5,000 includes tuition fee (double occupancy; single occupancy supplement: $500), international airfare, visa fees, lodging, meals, ground transportation, university and business visits, excursions, ethnic experiences. Personal expenses extra.
Registration Information
For further information and registration, please contact Professor Vipin Gupta at vipin.gupta@simmons.edu. Program applications will be ready August 2009 and will be available by contacting Professor Gupta or Hilary Wilson in the Simmons Study Abroad office at 617-521-2181 or hilary.wilson@simmons.edu. Interested applicants are welcome to submit their completed applications by October 15, 2009.
Faculty Leadership
Professor Moore specializes in cultural context and voices of multicultural and global women leaders and managing diversity and inclusion in organizations. She spent a year in UAE as a Fulbright scholar, working on researching women leadership in UAE. She has an established track record of successfully teaching and inspiring research on gender and diversity. She has previously led a hugely popular travel course to UAE in 2007.
For more information about Professor Moore.
General Information about the UAE
Established in 1971, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a relatively young Arab country that has experienced a huge surge in prosperity in recent years. Guided by wise leadership, the economic boom has fostered a stable, cosmopolitan society that has successfully integrated traditional Islamic values into a determined development program, enabling the country to take its place amongst the emerging nations of the world.
The UAE's estimated population of 4.76 million comprises roughly 20 per cent Emirati nationals with the rest accounted for by immigrants from all over the world who have come to participate in the country's economic renaissance. Two-thirds of the country's total population is in the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
When the federation was formed in 1971, the UAE had little or no physical infrastructure, health care or educational facilities, industry was non-existent and most of the country's scant population lived in the desert or in the foothills of the mountains. It has come a long way since then: rapid urbanization has been the norm (over 80 per cent of the country's residents live in major towns and cities) and the UAE's infrastructure is world-class.
Rich natural resources in the form of oil, which was first exported in the 1960s, has enabled much of this prosperity: today, the UAE boasts a vibrant free economy and successful efforts have been made to diversify away from dependence on oil and gas exports. A solid industrial base has been created together with a very strong services sector, enabling the country to meet the challenges and opportunities of the new era.
UAE is the leader in women empowerment in the Arab world, and many Emirati women are taking leadership roles. The course will offer a rich and insider insight into how various actors and factors are enabling women to assume leadership positions in the UAE.
Travel to UAE in Spring 2010 with the Simmons School of Management. SOM Professor Lynda Moore is opening one of its highly successful and popular travel courses to its alumnae. Student reports on prior SOM travel courses, including to the UAE, can be found at somtravelcourse.blogspot.com. UAE blogs are in the 2007 archives.