The university’s new Dari and Pashto language course offerings are another example of the scope of diversity and cultural awareness on the CSU East Bay campus.
Program Coordinator Valerie Smith, who has worked with Afghan women refugees for her doctoral dissertation and specializes in Afghan culture and relief work, shows her enthusiasm and dedication to an intricate culture of people and a country in need.
A country where 90 percent of women and 60 percent of men are illiterate, Afghanistan “is in need of professionals that can read and write in these languages,” said Nylofer Rahim, publicist for the Afghan Student Association.
Terry Green, a participant in the Dari program currently working on an agricultural project in Afghanistan’s Herat Province, explained his reasons for learning the language. “I just want to communicate better with the Afghans that I am working with, and to become a better friend to my Afghan brothers and sisters.”
Though he is not of central Asian descent, the program is benefitting Green tremendously.
Students with a background in Afghanistan languages and/or culture are encouraged to take the winter quarter Dari II or Pashto II class.
The prerequisites of these classes include knowledge of the alphabet, simple greetings and basic phrases.
These classes not only teach the language, but also explore different realms of Afghan culture and history.
One of the more recent cultural experiences was that of a lesson on Afghan cuisine and customs.
At the Afghan Village Restaurant located in Newark, the Dari class, led by professor Farid Younos, engaged in conversations of tastes, politics and ancestry.
With a lecture about food origins and the dynamics about cultures and their intermingling, this cultural study was educational, as well as pleasing to the palate.
In the Bay Area, there are large numbers of immigrant communities.
Here at CSUEB, such clubs as the Afghan Student Association and Muslim Student Association believe in the cultivating and uniting of not just Middle Eastern cultures, but all cultures around the world.
If students would like to get more involved with these cultures or organizations, ASA and MSA will be holding an Eid al-Adha game show festival event Nov. 23 in front of the Agora Stage from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m.
This event hopes to bring different customs and forms of entertainment to CSUEB students.
The goals of these programs and associations are to bring more diversity, but also to ultimately raise awareness of Afghan culture.
“My hope is that this program will somehow assist in the rebuilding of my homeland, Afghanistan,” said Rahim.
