University students should not only be taught about the history and traditions of the country where they are but also of the world as a whole, said a Bangladeshi teacher of a public university of New York on 28 May 2018.
Describing changes brought about through books she introduced at State University of New York at Stony Brook, Dr Rita Shabnam Nezami said it was an intermingling of cultures and thoughts, coming alive through students’ writings.
Writing is the struggle against silence, she told a talk titled “Bringing the world into the classroom through literature” which focused on methods of using world literature to develop a sense of global citizenship among students.
The event was organised by the Department of English and Humanities (ENH) of BRAC University (BRACU) at its Mohakhali campus auditorium, inviting students to explore new cultures, values and identities through literature.
Dr Nezami read out a part of “By Fire”, a French novella by Moroccan writer Tahar Ben Jelloun which she translated into English before it was published in The New Yorker in 2013.
She translated several of his works which were published in the United States and Europe. Besides, Northwestern University Press published her translation of writings on the Arab Spring in 2016.
She donated a copy of “By Fire” to Ayesha Abed Library. The department chairperson, Professor Firdous Azim, was present with other faculty members.