Special Programs Difficult Dialogues Macalester College

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difficult dialogues

About the Program
This project will increase the student cohort participating in Macalester's archaeological dig in Omrit, Israel, and seminars on Middle East peace in Israel in the summers of 2006 and 2007. It will also support a Middle East Peace Summit on campus in the Fall of 2007. This project also supports the creation of courses on citizenship and leadership for the global citizen certificate program to be offered by Macalester’s newly established Institute for Global Citizenship. Select Macalester faculty will also attend on-campus seminars conducted by Middle Eastern scholars in anticipation of three weeks of travel and study in the Middle East as part of the seventh biennial Macalester Faculty Development International Seminar in 2008.

Faculty Talks Podcast

Ahmad Atif Ahmad, Religious Studies, talks about the different Muslim sects. Listen

Professor Andy Overman, classics, talks about Macalester's archaeological dig in Northern Israel, Omrit, and the political climate there.
Listen
 

Beyond Impasse to Dialogue: A Teaching and Learning Initiative on the Middle East Conflict

After a national competition in undergraduate education that drew more than 675 proposals, the Ford Foundation selected Macalester College as one of 27 higher education institutions to receive a $100,000 grant for projects that promote academic freedom and constructive dialogue on their campuses.

“Macalester College has proposed to build upon well-established academic initiatives to promote better understanding of the conflict in the Middle East,” said Jorge Balán, a Senior Program Officer at the Ford Foundation. “Its project shows that higher education institutions can use existing programs to promote informed and open debate about sensitive issues.”

Over the course of the two year initiative, the Difficult Dialogues grantees will be invited to share their experiences and ideas at regional conferences coordinated by the Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Center will also host a Web-based forum for project directors to share ideas online.

For over a decade, faculty and students have participated in an archeological excavation at Omrit in northern Israel headed by Classics Professor Andy Overman. There they draw upon the expertise of Macalester alumni in the region to deepen their understanding of the current political climate.

amphorma vessel in Omrit

OMRIT 2006
Maeve Kane and Sam McNerney uncover a nearly complete amphorma (storage vessel).

Find out more about Macalester's excavation site in Omrit, Israel, view pictures, and listen to students talk about their work there. more»

MIDEAST PEACE SUMMMIT 2007
Watch the summit (56 minutes, 91 MB)

peace summit

(above) MIDEAST PEACE SUMMIT 2002
“Finding Common Ground: Steps Toward a Mideast Peace,” was moderated by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and featured Sari Nusseibeh, a prominent Palestinian intellectual, and Ami Ayalon, former commander of the Israeli Navy and the former director of Israeli internal security.

Mideast Peace and Conflict Series 2007
•Opening Convocation
• Richard Holbrooke, Former Assistant Secretary of State and Ambassador. Listen to his speech
• Yossi Beilin, chairman of the Meretz-Yachad Party and a member of the Knesset Listen
•Hanan Ashrawi, Official Spokesperson for the Palestinian Authority delegation for the U.S.-Israel-Palestinian Peace Talks, Listen
•Walter Mondale '50, former U.S. Vice President Listen

 

 


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