Soliya – interactive media for peace
This may seem a little off topic, but really, it’s not. I wanted to share with you a little bit about a fantastic program I was a part of in college called Soliya. The program is incorporated as part of university courses in colleges in the US and predominantly Muslim countries in the Arab world. Students from participating institutions meet in small groups once a week, using web-based video conferencing, to discuss with each other the relationship between the United States and the Arab and Muslim world, focusing on the role that the media plays in portraying the “other”. We would reinforce our weekly interactions with lectures from academics, media professionals and other experts, readings, reviewing news footage and interviews and working together on projects and discussing our ideas and perceptions of our similarities and differences and the possible paths towards peace.
I can’t tell you how much I learned from that experience and how exciting and motivating it was to participate in a program whose purpose it was to bring together future leaders who have been torn apart only by injustices, prejudices and misconceptions. I was thrilled to find out–in a newsletter that we receive from the program with updates–that in its third year, Soliya has grown to include 19 universities and 300 hundred students participating this fall. Founder and president, Lucas Welch, used to be a producer for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings and has was responsible for integrating the on air and online programming for ABC as well as producing a number of video and multimedia about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for ABC news and participating in various other initiatives for peace. Liza Chambers, the program’s Executive Director, has had extensive experience with conflict resolution and facilitting peace initiaives. Both bring unparalleled enthusiasm, dedication and hope to such a fantastic program. Here are some exerpts from the newsletter that make me really happy:
“…while the headlines & our political leaders may offer us little hope, we feel as confident as ever that connecting young people across this divide using new communication technologies and empowering them to share experiences, build relationships, and influence those around them will play a key role in eventually healing this open wound.”
Prior to the program 31% of students from the Arab World and 37% of students from the US said they had a lot in common with their counterparts from the Arab World/ US. After the program 70% of Arab students and 65% of American students said that they had a lot in common with their counterparts.
92% of spring 2007 students said that while participating in the program they shared information about what they were learning with their peers and other people in their community.
“From now on I will approach every human being- Jew, Christian, Muslim, American, European, Arab- as a human; not as a category and certainly not as a foreign policy.” - Nour Malas, American University of Beirut
“There are really a lot of misunderstandings about each culture. And because we really got to know one another in our group we could share things and discuss difficult topics. We started to see things from another perspective, from the view of other participants” - Judith van den Boogert, University of Amsterdam
“As a result of the program I will watch the news more frequently. I will also look for more diverse sources of news, and make sure to double check any stories I hear before taking them as fact. I will be more willing to look at others’ points of view before assuming that what they are saying is wrong.” - Betsy Barber, University of Maine
Check out this amazing program, it’s worth it. I learned so much and still speak to some of the people I met through it. I hope that these types of initiatives grow quickly, before we destroy ourselves because of our ignorance. They are planning to incorporate social networking, user-generated media and mobile technologies next year! It trills me to know that new technologies and interactive media, in the hands of inspiring, thoughtful, dedicated, open minded people can have such power and potential to help alleviate some of our planet’s diseases.
Image credit: Cafe Press
