Sara Bimar
AUIS is well-known for its various opportunities for students, and artsy people are included in them. However, based on a survey I conducted, a huge majority of AUIS students are dissatisfied with the art opportunities provided by AUIS. These results are really unexpected; keep reading to see why!
You might have heard about the awesome art opportunities AUIS has for those who love getting creative. What is interesting about these opportunities is that they are always fresh and getting updated each semester! What I mean by that is some of them might not be there every semester; some might only be there for a certain period, and some are there almost always, and students can participate in them and benefit from them. I’ll tell you about some of them now.
AUIS offers a few classes related to arts, although these courses are not always offered. For example, the Art History (ART 105) class is a part of the social science classes, delving into the historical evolution of art. Also, other social sciences classes, like the civilization classes, acknowledge the significance of art by incorporating it into discussions about the history of civilizations. Arts writing (JR/LIT375) is another class by the English department that instructs students in writing reports, reviews, and analyses of artistic works. It is worth mentioning that the English department is the department that provides the most arts opportunities for AUIS students, including poetry writing and story writing competitions, poetry reading events, etc.
Students also provide a lot of art opportunities for other students, with some help from their advisors and the clubs they have, such as the art club, led by Tara Sirwan. They have many events around campus, sometimes collaborating with other clubs, and the music club, led by Rosa Hiwa. However, this semester, both of these clubs weren’t as active as they usually are. I talked with their leaders, and they both mentioned one of the reasons for that is the fall semester being such a short semester and having a lack of events in it. Rosa also said that he had other commitments, such as being a part of the chess club and the debate club this semester, that made it more difficult to organize events and manage the club work. On the other hand, Tara mentioned one of the reasons why they are not as active this semester is that she used to have a co-president who helped her with organizing events and managing the club activities, but she graduated and is not here anymore. This has made the club management more difficult, and now all the pressure is on her. Later, she added that she is looking for a new co-president.
It’s good to mention that this semester we had a few newer clubs with artsy themes that provide even more art opportunities for our students, such as the photography club, the creative writing club, and the drama club, which resumed its activities again. These clubs have wonderful events and sessions that provide various opportunities in different fields of arts for people who are interested in arts.
Many events include practicing arts by the Student Services, which Miss Rozhan Saman is in charge of. I asked her about the provided art opportunities this semester, and she said, “AUIS, of course, cares about the various sorts of arts. There are a lot of art event ideas, but we don’t have time for them and need help from the clubs. Although we haven’t had many events this semester specifically for arts, we have had many other events that involved art, such as crafting, coloring, and decoration for events like Halloween, entrepreneurship week, and diversity week.” Student Services also arranges competitions sometimes with art-related themes, such as the photography competition they had for the diversity week.
They also assist the clubs in organizing events by booking rooms for them and providing spaces to hold their events. Rosa commented on this, saying, “The Student Services department has helped us a lot when it comes to quick location bookings and providing spaces that we could practice in.” He added, “Even for the other clubs, they have helped us book many rooms on short notice, and we really appreciate them for that.”
Also, the Moulakis Library at AUIS, led by Ms. Halbast Abdulah, occasionally hosts artsy events such as drawing sessions, story readings, book swapping, and book launches. Recently, they organized an art therapy event for Less Stress Week, which included drawing and even hanging out with cats.
The communication department hosts artistic events too, like the cultural event “Garden of Eden” held last year, featuring captivating dances and music from diverse cultures. Participating in these opportunities not only allows you to practice arts but may also earn you some volunteering hours for the Service Learning Program (SLP).
As mentioned above, I conducted a survey to see how satisfied the students at our university are with all the art opportunities provided by AUIS. The survey had 27 responses, and the responses were from the members of the Art Club. Notably, 93.8% of the respondents said that they practice some sort of art or are interested in arts, with a variety of art forms being pursued such as music, photography, theater, poetry, creative writing, animation, filmmaking, and graphic designing. However, painting and drawing were the most popular forms, with 62.5% engaging in each. Some of them said that they had the chance to showcase their artworks and skills on campus in various club events, including art, music, and creative writing, as well as other mini events and activities we have such as painting recycled glass bottles activity or poetry reading, and bigger events such as University Day exhibitions. Others expressed interest but said they haven’t had the chance yet to share their artwork.
When asked if they were satisfied with the provided art opportunities, surprisingly only 6.3% of them said that they were satisfied with the opportunities, while 37.5% chose the option neutral, and a further 43.8% said they were dissatisfied, with 12.5% saying they were very dissatisfied. These results are unexpected given the many opportunities AUIS offers to students, and it makes us wonder why students might feel this way or if they have any suggestions to better these opportunities. Most of their complaints were about not having enough art events or forms of arts (such as pottery), especially for this semester (Fall 2023). When asked for suggestions to improve art opportunities in AUIS, they suggested opening dedicated rooms and workshops, organizing more collaborative art events, and introducing competitions and grants to support artists. Dr. Lynn Rose, professor of History and Disability Studies at AUIS, also had a suggestion and said, “I would love to see student-created art all over campus. We have many super-talented students. We could also collaborate with the disability community, which also has a lot of really talented artists.”
Photo credit: Tara
Tara shared her insights on these results and said that she expected these results because the art club hasn’t been as active this semester. However, she mentioned that there would be an art exhibition (which indeed took place) for the students to get an opportunity to showcase their various forms of artistic works. Regarding the students’ suggestion of doing pottery, Tara said, “We don’t have funding for the materials, even for printing for the art exhibition. I wanted to have something getting printed so we can show them digital art; Student Services said we don’t offer printing. So, we can get access to paint usually and some canvases sometimes, but more than that it’s tricky.” Then she added, “But I do have some members that suggested just drawing sessions together, and I’m planning on doing more of these hopefully next semesters; this semester, I think the art exhibition is enough.”
Also, about collaborating with the other clubs, Tara said they have collaborated with the creative writing club once before, but the event was more like a game event, and she is thinking of another collaboration with them in the future, in an event involving Blackout poetry. Regarding the music club, Tara has thought about collaboration but sees the timing as a challenge, as they would need to bring instruments beforehand and possibly practice, “so if it happens, it will be a big event not just a casual one.”
Photo credit: Sara Hardan
AUIS has offered students a variety of art opportunities through Student Services, clubs, and art-related classes. The collaboration between Student Services and clubs aims to create an environment where students can practice and showcase their art. However, despite these efforts, there is a notable level of dissatisfaction among students, primarily attributed to the scarcity of events in the current semester. The shorter duration of fall semesters is identified as a major factor limiting event scheduling. Looking forward, there is hope that AUIS will enhance its offerings in the spring semester, providing more opportunities for artistic expression among its students.
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