Intercultural Communications and Religious Conflicts in the Middle East (Egypt & Israel)

May 31 - June 20, 2010

GVPT 309I

This course will introduce students to culturally and religiously driven conflicts in the Middle East by visiting Egypt and Israel, including Palestinian East Jerusalem.

Participants will learn strategies for improving intercultural and interfaith communication within and between Western and Middle Eastern cultures, addressing both the expression and receipt of messages, while overcoming interferences from cultural, class, religious and gender barriers.

Participants will take an active part in intensive experiential learning through a series of workshops. These sessions are designed to foster cross-cultural interaction and dialogue by building such skills as non-violent communication, identifying “hot buttons,” interpreting body language, practicing active listening and prejudice reduction, recognizing and deconstructing the image of “the Other,” searching for common ground on faith-based activities, and examining cases of discrimination. The overall course goal is to generate awareness about the need for multiculturalism and its impact on conflicts across and within borders, to provide tools for addressing arising problems, and to develop a shared vision of peaceful coexistence.

Itinerary

College Park (Two days before departure)

Prior to departure, students will spend two days in College Park in order to:

• Build trust with the program participants and faculty
• Review a brief history of Egypt
• Review a brief history of Israel and Palestine
• Discuss issues of intercultural communications

Egypt (10 days)

In Egypt, the students will stay first in Cairo, and then in Alexandria. In Cairo, accommodations will be at local university guest facilities; in Alexandria, at a hotel. Students will visit Cairo University, Ain Shams University, the Suez Canal and the American University in Cairo, as well as local religious and cultural sites. In Alexandria, in addition to the latter, students will also visit Alexandria University and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. Workshops, facilitated by local faculty and students, will introduce students to techniques for inter-personal communications; provide background analysis of past and present trends between Islam and the West; consider intercultural negotiation issues in the Israeli/Egyptian peacemaking process; and discuss ethno political problems in the Middle East.

Israel/Palestine (9 days)

In Israel, the group will be based at the Tantur Ecumenical Institute, where students will be provided alternative kosher/vegetarian/hallal meals. Teaching and interactive sessions will be conducted on location, joined by Palestinian and Israeli students. Participants will visit Christian, Jewish and Muslim holy places, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Bethlehem University; and take walking and bus tours of current political, historic and archeological sites. Special activities include a session on the “Toolbox of Conflict Transformation;” a consensus building exercise on a conflictive issue between Islam and the West; interfaith common ground, and a facilitated dialogue on the Palestinian/Israeli peace process, focusing on the conflictive issue of Jerusalem.

College Park (one day)

Program reflection, summary and evaluation