Baghdad Police College begins cultural awareness curriculum

BAGHDAD – An American cultural awareness class started at the Baghdad Police College, Dec. 22. The American cultural awareness class is a small part of the 3–year police college curriculum, but it plays a major role in shaping the hearts and minds of the students here, said Col. Randall Twitchell, Iraq Training and Advising Mission-Police Training and Qualification Institute Dir.

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The goal is to teach the more than 6,000 students who now flow through the institute that there is more to Americans than what they see here. “The course teaches students an overview of American history, the process of our govt, and historical figures,” said Twitchell. Included in the 90-minute course is a brief summary of the types of homes American live in and the kind of cars Americans buy. “This course is significant because these officers will go out to every prov. in Iraq and the impression we leave will go with them,” said Twitchell. Students ask questions throughout the course, and most of them want to know how much a house in the U.S. costs, and at what age most Americans get married. The advisors want the students to have a broader sense of the world and more awareness of other nations’ cultures. Currently, the police college is working on adding a Dutch cultural awareness course to begin in the next few weeks.

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