Soliya Partners with the Stevens Initiative to Connect Students Across two NYU Campuses
April 12, 2020 –– The Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Scholars Program (SMSP) operated by NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) and the Stevens Initiative launched a virtual exchange program connecting youth from the UAE and the US. Funded by the Stevens Initiative, the new program provides access to international experiences and fosters dialogue between students.
The program will virtually connect students from the SMSP at NYUAD with their peers who are enrolled in NYU New York’s University Leadership Honors Course (ULHC).
Taking place at NYUAD, SMSP is a nine month leadership oriented program for high achieving students from three federal universities in the UAE, while ULHC is a semester-long leadership course for high-achieving undergraduate students from all three of NYU’s global campuses.
Created in 2015 by the Stevens family as a living legacy to Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens, the Stevens Initiative is a public-private partnership that is building global competencies and 21st century skills for young people in the United States and the Middle East and North Africa. Through virtual exchange, the initiative connects youth through technology to collaborate and learn together, giving them access to a substantive international exchange.
Piloting this semester to foster meaningful and long-lasting connections between the students of both programs, the new SMSP-ULHC Virtual Exchange Program will be implemented by Soliya, a non-profit organization and pioneering virtual exchange provider that is also funded by the Stevens Initiative.
Since its inception in 2015, the Stevens Initiative has been connecting youth in the United States, the Middle East and North Africa through technology to collaborate and learn together, giving young students access to a substantive international exchange.
“The Stevens Initiative proudly funds this virtual exchange program that brings together students from the Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Scholars Program and New York University,” said Christine Shiau, Managing Director of the Stevens Initiative.
About NYU Abu Dhabi
NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and science campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly-selective liberal arts, engineering and science curriculum with a world center for advanced research and scholarship enabling its students to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from 115 nations and speak over 115 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.