Dr. Sahar Basil M. Al-Qaisi, the assistant professor at the department of architectural engineering and the director of the Heritage Conservation Research Program (HCRP) at Koya University, has participated on 30 March 2020 as a speaker in the Online International Discussoin on ((Re) Contextualizing Contested Heritage: Building Capacity & Designing Participatory Approaches to Preserve Cultural Heritage by the Youth) which is an activity of the Research England Funding to Develop Participatory Approaches to Preserve Contested Heritage by Youth.
The Discussion is organized by the University of Leeds (UK), Wasit University (Kut-Iraq), and the University of Technology (Baghdad-Iraq). Dr. Sahar’s speech/presentation entitled (Saving Koya Old Town Heritage: Students, Professionals & Heritage) was about the experience of documenting Koya Old Town Heritage by students through her Conservation and Rehabilitation Class and how it becomes a good base for further professional architectural heritage survey for Koya Old Town.
Conservation & Rehabilitation Class at Koya University is currently a significant case in the architectural teaching for preservation and conservation teaching for undergraduate studies in Iraq as it offers 4hours/ week with 1 hour theory and 3 hours practical for one semester to study conservation and how to treat heritage buildings. The presentation has explained the syllabus and outcomes of this class and showed the quality of its outputs.
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Koya University (KOU) is located in the city of Koya (Koy Sanjaq) which is 1.0 hr drive to the East of the Kurdistan Region capital Erbil (Arbil, Hewlér) in Kurdistan Region of F.R. Iraq. It is on the foothills of beautiful high mountain. Its campus has been carefully laid out to embrace the beautiful mountainous nature. . There are 4 Faculties and 2 Schools in KOU; Faculty of Engineering (FENG), Faculty of Science and Health (FSCH), Faculty of Education (FEDU), Faculty of Humanities and Social Silences (FHSS), Shcool of Physical Education (SPHE) and School of Medicine (SMED). Also, there are two research centers; Genome Center and Malai Gawra Center. Moreover, at KOU there is an English Language Center (BELC) at KOU has been opened with the sponsorship of IREX and American embassy in Baghdad as well as with the support of Spring International Language Center of The University of Arkansas. KOU has two Scientific Journals; ARO-The Scientific Journal of Koya University, which is indexed by Clarivate Analytics (ESCI), and Koya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (KUJHSS). KOU is a proactive member of Erasmus/ Marhaba Project and Erasmus+. KOU signed many Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) with many International Universities, e.g., The University of Arkansas (June 2015). The Lulea University in Sweden (April 2014), The University of Nottingham in the UK, The University of Buckingham in the UK (Oct 2008), Belkin University in Turkey (Sep 2009) and The University of Greenwich in the UK.
