The Afghan Connection
Professors Donald Watts and Fayez Husseini sort studio supplies donated by CAPD students for Kabul University in Afghanistan.
Officials at Kansas State University, on behalf of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design and College of Engineering, signed a three-year, $3.2 million contract in April of 2007 with the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education. The project will strengthen the education of the faculty of engineering at Kabul University, Kabul Afghanistan.
K-State faculty will participate in a variety of ways including summer teaching at Kabul as well as on-line mentoring of Afghan faculty members.
Professor Donald Watts, Department of Architecture, is the architecture coordinator for the project. Among the K-State faculty traveling to Kabul this summer is Professor Katrina Lewis, Department of Interior Architecture and Product Design. She will be assisting in the teaching of introductory design and sketching as well as advising the Department of Architecture at Kabul University.
Faculty and students of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design also contributed many books, equipment and supplies at the end of the spring 2007 semester for use by Kabul University’s Department of Architecture. Through the generous help of the United States Army at Ft. Riley, over 100 boxes of materials will be shipped to Kabul University this summer.
The Department of Architecture at Kabul University has nine faculty and 100 students in a five-year undergraduate program. Kabul University was originally constructed with United States assistance in the late 1950s. During the early 1970s, Kabul University enjoyed a reputation as one of the leading institutions of higher education in South Central Asia. Recovery from Russian occupation, a decade-long civil war and an impoverished Taliban regime has been an ongoing struggle, beginning with a new Afghan government established in 2002.
It is the goal of Kabul University to reestablish its world reputation by 2015. The College of Architecture, Planning and Design at K-State is playing an important role in this long-term endeavor.
For more information, contact:
Donald Watts,
785.532.1128
Diane Potts, 785.532.1090