By Suemayah Abu-Douleh
Embassy Algiers recently collaborated with the Algerian Ministry of Culture and the Algerian Higher School of Music (INSM) to present a concert tour by the Morehouse College Glee Club (MCGC). Due to a public-private partnership between Embassy Algiers, Coca-Cola, MediAlgeriA and Pizza Hut, the MCGC and INSM performances in two cities drew a combined crowd of more than 1,500. The concert tour was a highlight in Algeria’s cultural calendar and helped promote post’s strategic goal of increasing interest among Algerian youth to pursue university studies in the United States. The performances provided a platform for Embassy Algiers’ regional educational advising coordinator to promote EducationUSA among Algerian audiences and to market the U.S. as an education destination, thereby advancing the embassy’s strategic goals through cultural diplomacy.
To ensure the connections created through MCGC’s Algeria tour last beyond the one-week cultural engagement, Embassy Algiers mediated the negotiations and signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Morehouse College and INSM. The Algerian Minister of Culture and Ambassador John Desrocher presided over the signing ceremony that took place before the Jan. 3 concert at the National Theatre of Algiers. The MOU establishes a link between the American and Algerian institutions and sets out a commitment to promote the development of joint studies, research and training activities and other educational programs of mutual interest. The MOU also provides the foundation needed for the two schools to acquire funding to initiate a permanent student exchange program, thereby increasing the number of Algerian students studying in the United States. This partnership will strengthen the long-standing ties between American and Algerian institutions of higher learning and expand the scope of academic and cultural links between the United States and Algeria.
Suemayah Abu-Douleh is the cultural affairs officer at Embassy Algiers.
