Sharjah24: UAEU Chancellor Zaki Nusseibeh met with faculty member Dr Naeema Al Hosni to congratulate her for winning the 20th Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature (Translated Journey). Dr Naeema, Assistant Professor of Cartography in the UAEU’s Department of Geography and Urban Sustainability was granted the award for her translation into Arabic of the text, ‘Maps and Journeys: Traveling in Africa 1795 – 1797’ originally written by the Scottish geographer and explorer Mungo Park in the early 19th Century. The organizer of the award, the Arab Centre for Geographical Literature, will publish the book in a new edition in co-operation with the Al Mutawassit Publishing House in Milan.
During the meeting Chancellor Nusseibeh gave his best wishes to Dr Naeema for taking advantage of the universities rich research environment to work on her translation. He said, “The UAEU takes care to identify the support and infrastructure needed by faculty to produce research work of international calibre and competitive standing. We are honoured that Dr Naeema has achieved high standards and widespread recognition for her research work, including this current prize. It is exceptional that she combines her research work with dedicated and prolific service to students and the community”.
An established cartography scholar, Dr Naeema is an expert in the science or practice of drawing maps. Dr Naeema completed her MA and PhD at the University of Kansas, USA and joined the UAEU shortly afterwards. Since then, she has carved out a prominent and important role within the university, across scholarship, teaching, service and senior administrative positions in her department, within the College, and at the University level.
Dr Naeema’s research has produced high-caliber publications, and she has been much in demand to make presentations to national, regional, and international conferences. She has won many grants and prominent accolades and has been honored by the UAEU Provost for her research outcomes.
As a teacher she is well known for her student-centred, interactive pedagogy and her use of inquiry-based methods. Describing her role in the classroom as being ‘a facilitator and guide in a challenging adventure designed to foster collaboration, discourse and discovery’, Dr Naeema has played a pivotal part in curriculum development at UAEU. She received the 2017 UAEU Award for Excellence in Teaching and the Khalifa Award for distinction in teaching.
Her record of community service includes partnerships with local universities and the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Youth and Culture, the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Presidential Affairs, and the Ministry of the Interior. She has launched many initiatives aimed at strengthening connections between UAEU's faculty and students and the UAE community through dialogue, outreach, and knowledge exchange. In 2021 she won the UAEU Award for Excellence in Service.
The Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature is granted by the Arabic Center for Geographic Literature “Irtiyad al-Afaq” and is bestowed to the best publications of travel writing and criticism, both in their original and in translation. The Arabic Center for Geographic Literature publishes well-known classic and modern geography and travel literature, including texts authored by Arab Writers and by foreign travellers to the Arab world. The Centre recently began to compile a database of written voyages and has a new focus on publishing geographic journeys and studies dedicated to the United Arab Emirates.
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