JEDDAH, 6 October 2007 — Instead of taking a summer break from their studies, Rasheeda Bilal and Sondos Alireza spent four weeks hitting the books at the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Bilal and Alireza — majoring in management information systems at Dar Al-Hekma, the women’s private college in Jeddah — attended the intensive four-week program covering a wide array of graduate-level subjects covering economics, politics and social issues.

“It was a tough one,” said Bilal, a sophomore. “There was a lot of reading to do.”

Dar Al-Hekma also recently announced that it plans to offer an annual summer exchange program with Harvard, which would include students at Harvard having the rare opportunity to spend some time in Saudi Arabia living with host families for the summer.

The course involved daily write-ups, team projects and presentations. There were 45 students in the program from different countries across Asia, Africa and Europe.

Dar Al-Hekma offered the opportunity to attend the program to all upper level students at the university. Students were selected based on high grades, level of student activity and English-language skills.

Saleha Abedin, director of general education, academic advancement and international institutional relations at Dar Al-Hekma, said Bilal and Alireza were excellent picks. “Their teachers told us that they were really impressed with our girls,” said Abedin.

“They were articulate and alert in class, bright and well informed especially considering the stereotype about Muslims in general. They were very good ambassadors of Saudi Arabia and Dar Al-Hekma,” she added.

Bilal said the learning process was different at Harvard.

“There was a lot of reading required,” she said. “We had to prepare about five articles every day of 30 to 60 pages each, not to mention the references that we were expected to read. Here, that much reading is not required.”

Bilal said she was in a group that discussed innovations in information technology used in vehicles.

“I was the only woman (in the group),” she said. “They were all men with post-graduate level experience, with work experience, and it was really hard to keep up with them. They were extremely helpful, though.”

Bilal plans to pursue her postgraduate studies at Harvard after she graduates. The summer program provided her with a head start of four post-graduate credits.

Regarding the annual summer-exchange program with Harvard, Abedin said it would not only give a merit-based opportunity for serious Saudi students to study at the prestigious university but also reciprocate with offering students there a chance to peek inside the Saudi household.

“They would study the elective courses of Dar Al-Hekma and be exposed to Saudi families — they are really excited,” said Abedin.