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Fulbright scholar Knowles found unfamiliar faces and facilities, new connections in Jordan
By Will Freihofer

College students have long held a reputation for far-fetched excuses for late arrivals to class, and professor emeritus and J-School fixture Bill Knowles has likely heard most of them. Last year, while teaching as a Fulbright professor in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Knowles heard a new one when one of his students came into class late holding her passport saying she’d been held up at the Jordanian border on her way to school.

“She was one of the most interesting students I’ve ever seen,” said Knowles. The student was one of a handful of women that wore a traditional Islamic burqa to Knowles’ class each day, covering her entire body save her eyes. “ That’s all I ever saw of her, was her eyes,” said Knowles.

Knowles, an ABC executive before his time in Missoula, took his extensive experience in the news industry with him to the Middle East while participating in the prestigious Fulbright program. His presentation “Fulbright Prof in Jordan: A Report” was well received by a large collection of faculty, community members and J-School students both past and present on Nov. 24 in Don Anderson Hall.

Knowles credited his driver, with whom he became close friends, with making his stay go smoothly and safely. “Without Khalid, I would have been in a whole lot of trouble,” Knowles said.

During his tenure in Jordan, Knowles worked with two separate universities: the University of Jordan and Petra University in Amman. Knowles said there was initially some question as to what sort of classroom facilities would be available for the courses he was to teach. At the University of Jordan Knowles said there was one designated and difficult to book “multimedia room” that had TV and computer resources for instruction—a distinct departure from the computer-filled and projector-equipped classrooms of Don Anderson Hall.

After being informed he’d be using a whiteboard for his classes at the University of Jordan, Knowles said he had to pull some strings to ensure he got a room with multimedia capabilities to accommodate his video and PowerPoint-heavy lesson plans. “I show a lot of video,” said Knowles, “it’s what I do.”

Knowles said his educational style was quite different from what many of the Jordanian students had come to expect in their prior schooling in the country. “They had no clue what to think of me.”

Knowles said he enjoyed the opportunity to interact with students from a wide range of religious and cultural backgrounds during his time in the Middle East.

During his time the University of Jordan, Knowles said he was struck by the number of his students that supported then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. When the American election was called for the Illinois senator, Knowles sent an email announcing the historic event to his former students.

The message was replied to by almost all the students he contacted, with many of the students including news of where they were and what they’d been doing since the school year. Knowles said he was pleased to learn that several were well on their way to careers in journalism.

“That’s rewarding, to know your undergrads have gone on (to better things),” said Knowles. “These are kids whose lives I hope to follow.”

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