Young alums of the Asian University for Women living and working in Afghanistan before the fall of Kabul in August 2021 now reside in Bangladesh. They are now being offered online graduate-level courses by a select few American universities this fall, including Boston College through the Lynch School of Education and Human Development.

Twenty Afghan female students who had just been airlifted out of Kabul a year prior received a free, intensive, six-week, three-credit course on Teaching the Genres of Writing from Lynch School Professor Emerita Maria Estela Brisk.

According to Brisk, the program’s objective is to train female educators who will positively impact the education of young women, especially high school students in Bangladesh and the neighboring countries.

According to Brisk, who uses systemic functional linguistics—the study of the connection between language and its functions in social settings—in her work, “there are very few high schools for girls across the region.” “It is hoped that these graduates will help shape the region’s future while expanding the network of secondary schools and addressing the educational needs of young women.”