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January 11, 2013

Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow Marcia Grant will be at Geneva College Monday, January 28 through Thursday, January 31, 2013. Ms. Grant is Founding Dean, President, and Academic Vice Dean of Effat College, a leading private institution of higher education for women that is located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

During her stay, in addition to serving as guest lecturer for numerous classes and meeting with members of Geneva’s administration and faculty, Grant will present two public lectures. Both of these appearances are free and open to the public.

The first public engagement will be Monday January 28 at 10 a.m. Grant will speak on “How to Succeed in Today’s Globalized World.” She will be in Skye Lounge of the Student Center.

Then, on Thursday, January 31 at 7:30 p.m., she will present “The Liberal Arts in Islamic Societies.” This lecture will be in Old Main’s John White Chapel at 7:30 p.m.

Grant’s academic career began at Oberlin College, where she taught African and international politics. She then entered the United States Foreign Service and served as Director of the Fulbright Program in Mexico and as a cultural attaché in Paris. Her resume also includes leading the Edward S. Mason program for Third World government officials at Harvard’s Kennedy School, working with the Institute of International Education in New York, and serving as Executive Director of the Institute of North American Studies in Barcelona.

In 1999, Grant began the task of designing a college for the women of Jeddah, an important commercial hub in western Saudi Arabia and the country’s second largest city. Today, according to her visiting fellows webpage, the university has grown to include 36 teachers and 200 students.

Grant also serves as Education Counselor for Princess Lolowah bint Faisal, a member of the Saudi Royal Family. She is currently writing about this experience from her home in southwest France.

She was a Special Student at Princeton Theological Seminary, obtained her B.A. with honors from Swarthmore College, M.A. and M.A.L.D. from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and finally a Ph.D. from The London School of Economics and Political Science.

For more than 35 years, the Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellows program has brought prominent artists, diplomats, journalists, business leaders and other nonacademic professionals to campuses across the United States for substantive dialogue with students and faculty members. The program is organized by The Council of Independent Colleges (CIC), which is the major national service organization for all small and mid-sized, independent, liberal arts colleges and universities in the U.S. 

Geneva College is a comprehensive Christian college of the arts, sciences and professional studies. Founded in the tradition of the Reformed Christian faith, Geneva prepares students to serve Christ in all areas of society: work, family and the church. Geneva College’s philosophy of education is based on the Foundational Concepts of Christian Higher Education. Geneva is a founding member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU).