Spring-Summer 2010
Director: Dr. Paula Rayman Project Manager: Seth Izen
UMass Lowell Delegation Visits Egypt; Initiates Partnerships with Several Universities Provost Ahmed Abdelal led a delegation to build partnerships with universities in Egypt. The UMass delegation included Paula Rayman, Director of the Middle East Center, Steve McCarthy, Plastics Engineering, Deina Abdelkader, Political Science, and Steve Mishol, Painting. The delegation visited University of Cairo, British University in Egypt, American University in Egypt, Modern Sciences and Arts University, and The High Institute of Applied Arts.
• Modern Sciences and Arts University Cooperation in Biotechnology and Communication • British University in Egypt Cooperation in Plastics Engineering • The High Institute of Applied Arts UMass Lowell will host an exhibition of Contemporary Egyptian Digital Art in 2011
The delegation initiated several partnerships including: • University of Cairo Memorandum of Understanding for Graduate and Faculty Cooperation in Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology, Economics, Political Science, and Women’s Studies.
(L to R) Dr. Lobna Abdelatif, Chair of the Economics Department at Cairo University, Dr. Paula Rayman, Dr Baher Atlam, Economics Department at Cairo University, and Deina Abdelkader.
Raed Hashim, board member of British University in Egypt and CEO of a division of Oriental Weavers, hosted the UMass delegation. His wife Amira (Standing, Far Left) founded an NGO which supports micro-enterprise for low-income women (left) and an orphanage for young boys which Professor Rayman visited (right).
MiddleEastCenter@uml.edu | www.uml.edu/mec | 978-934-4307
(L to R) The UMass Lowell delegation with Mustafa Kamal, Director of the High Institute of Applied Arts (Left) and Wael Kamal, Modern Sciences and Arts University (Center).
“We are now in position to establish cooperation in education and research across disciplines in Egypt as we are doing now in Turkey and Israel, and will be doing in Jordan. These four countries provide the foundation for vibrant linkages in the Middle East.” —Provost Ahmed Abdelal
Middle East Center for Peace, Development, and Culture
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2010 Greeley Scholar Series of Events April 6: Day Without Violence Campus Lecture Professor Salomon presented on “Peace Education in the Midst of Conflict” to a packed audience in the Recital Hall in Durgin. April 8: Lowell High School Professor Salomon spoke to 100 upperclassmen about the importance of Peace Education.
“I hope that our work in Israel will be inspired by the work done at UMass Lowell, as well as inspire colleagues here to transcend peace education in regions of conflict to other, related domains of education for human rights, anti-racism and full integration of minorities. Life in a democracy cannot exist without these and it is our responsibility to both study and advance them.”
April 9: Student/Athlete Award Luncheon As the keynote speaker at the annual ceremony which honors UMass Lowell’s top student/athletes, Professor Salomon spoke about how sports can lead to peace.
He is co-chair of the board of directors of Sikkuy, the Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel, and chair of the Academic Council of the Arab Academic College El-Kassami. Professor Salomon received the Israel Award in 2001 for his work in the field of peace education. He has written several books, including Communication and Education and Technology and Education in the Information Age and was the editor of Peace Education: The Concept, the Principles and the Research. Professor Salomon received his B.A. and M.A. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and his Ph.D. in educational psychology and communication from Stanford University.
April 12: Playing for Peace: How Sports Can Get Us to Our Goal UMass Lowell faculty, administrators, community members and the men’s and women’s soccer teams and women’s basketball team attended Professor Salomon’s lecture on sports and peace. April 14: Temple Emanu-el Professor Emeritus Stuart Mandell and Rabbi Korinow hosted Professor Salomon for a lecture on the peace processes in Israel and Northern Ireland.
—Gavriel Salomon Gavriel Salomon was the founder and director of the Center for Research on Peace Education in Haifa. Professor Salomon was the Dean of the Faculty of Education and an educational psychology professor at the University of Haifa.
Chancellor Marty Meehan Introduced Gavriel Salomon at the Community Presentation on “Playing for Peace.” Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Student Affairs & International Relations Marcellette Williams also offered remarks.
Gavriel Salomon and Dana Skinner, Director of Athletics
“Dr. Salomon’s presentation demonstrated how sports brings people together to work towards common goals and inspires respect and civility among the participants. Dr. Salomon’s presentation inspired our students to continue to use sports as a vehicle to promote positive social change.”
April 18: Israeli Consulate of New England Gavriel Salomon and Padraig O’Malley, the 2009 Greeley Scholar, spoke about the progress of peace in Israel and Northern Ireland at an event hosted by Nadav Tamir, Consul General of Israel to New England.
—Dana Skinner, Director of Athletics April 11: First Parish Church Fulfilling the Greeley Scholarship’s mission of reaching out into the community, Professor Salomon spoke to members of the First Parish Church in Concord, Massachusetts.
Provost Ahmed Abdelal, Gavriel Salomon and Paula Rayman
“Professor Salomon’s visit was a great success. His presentations to the academic and religious communities in Lowell, Boston, and the surrounding communities advanced each group’s understanding about the prospects for peace education in the 21st century.” —Paul Marion Executive Director Office of Community and Cultural Affairs
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Spring-Summer 2010
April 20: Boston Jewish Community The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) and Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) held an event for Professor Salomon to talk about the prospects of peace education in the Israeli-Arab conflict. April 21: Brandeis University Gavriel Salomon joined Mari Fitzduff, head of the Conflict and Coexistence Program at Brandeis University, to present on the progress of Peace in Israel and Northern Ireland. April 22: New Israel Fund Members of JStreet, a Pro-Israel, ProPeace organization, and the New Israel Fund came together at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University to hear Professor Salomon speak about Peace Education.
Gavriel Salomon’s Lecture Topics
Bob Gordon, CJP Israeli-Arab Working Committee and Board of Governors, Paula Rayman, Enid Shapiro, Israeli-Arab Working Committee, Gavriel Salomon, and Jim Morgan, Director of International Partnerships at JCRC.
April 22: UMass Boston David Matz, head of the Dispute Resolution Program at UMass Boston welcomed Professor Salomon for a talk on Peace Education.
“Gavriel’s presentation added a whole new dimension to students studying peace making and postconflict reconciliation. He presented the value and limits of peace education with so much depth and detail that the students responded zealously.”
Seated L to R: David Matz, founder, and past director of the Graduate Program in Dispute Resolution at UMass Boston, Gavriel Salomon. Standing: Students and faculty from the Dispute Resolution Program.
—David Matz, Founder, Graduate Program in Dispute Resolution at UMass Boston Gavriel Salomon (Left) and Padraig O’Malley (Right) speak about the Progress of Peace in Israel and Northern Ireland at the residence of the Israel Consul General to New England, Nadav Tamir. Dr. Paula Rayman (center) moderated the discussion.
Peace Education Peace education strives to help both sides accept the legitimacy of the other’s collective narrative. This requires a willingness to acknowledge one’s own role in a conflict, develop empathy for the “other’s” suffering and fear, and cultivate nonviolent dispositions and behaviors. Sports and Peace Bi-national teams (consisting of both Israelis and Palestinians, for instance) are very effective in changing minds and hearts—affecting attitudes, feelings, stereotypes and desires for contact. There are at least four important reasons for the success of these mixed team activities. First, playing soccer together (or any other team-based competitive sport) requires much interdependence that is totally divorced from ethnic, religious or national identity. Second, the players have a clear common goal toward which they play. Third, the mixed team has parental, community and institutional support, and finally— and most importantly—the common goal is of utmost importance to the players. Progress of Peace in Israel and Northern Ireland There are clear similarities between the two conflicts: A small native minority faces, what it perceives—occupation by an outside force. But there are also large differences that led to successful peace processes in Northern Ireland and failures in Israel. For instance, the solution sought in Northern Ireland was sharing of political parties and communities. In Israel the direction is not cooperation but partition into two uni-national states which leads to a zero-sum conflict. The Greeley Scholar for Peace Studies was Co-Sponsored by the Peace and Conflict Studies Institute and the Middle East Center for Peace, Development, and Culture.
Middle East Center for Peace, Development, and Culture
Education Summer Institute brings Faculty from Israel and Ireland to Lowell The School of Education at UMass Lowell is establishing a summer institute on “Equity and Excellence in Teaching” in collaboration with an international team of scholars from Haifa University and Queens University Belfast.
Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution BA/MA Degree Nina Coppens, Interim Dean of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, appointed a faculty committee to oversee the development of the Peace and Conflict Studies degree program. The committee is developing the core curriculum and listing of electives, identifying preexisting courses such as those that were part of the
Peace Studies Certificate Program, and establishing the requirements for both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees. A combined 5-year Bachelors/Masters degree is also being proposed. The current plan is to begin the degree program in the Spring of 2011.
The institute will explore how reflective practice can alter educator beliefs and improve the quality of instruction for all students. Participants will design and conduct a research study that documents the impact of reflective practice on educator beliefs and instructional improvement. Another component of the program will be to compose and submit several external funding proposals to support both the seminar and research study over several years. The first meeting is already scheduled for June 7-10, 2010 and is being led by Professors Jim Nehring and Stacy Szczesiul along with Anita Greenwood, Interim Dean of the Graduate School of Education. Faculty from Haifa University, St. Mary’s College (Queens University) and UMass Lowell will meet with the goal of launching the institute in the summer of 2011.
“Educators across the globe struggle with issues of equity in schools. The international partnerships developed by UMass Lowell have created the opportunity for us to collaborate with faculty in Ireland and Israel to explore common issues and solutions. This has extended the research of our faculty and provided the means of bringing teachers and school leaders together in the future to examine practice and to learn from each other.” —Anita Greenwood Interim Dean, Graduate School of Education
Peace and Conflict Studies, Faculty Committee Members include: (L to R), Jim Nehring, School of Education, Herlinda Saitz, Cultural Studies, Paula Rayman, Director of Middle East Center, Chair of Committee, Frank Talty, Director of Academic Programs, Deina Abdelkader, Political Science.
Delegation to Attend Notre Dame Peace Studies Conference UMass Lowell is sending a delegation to the 2nd Annual Summer Institute for Peace Studies Program Development at The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at Notre Dame. This intensive institute will bring together 58 faculty representing 19 different institutions who want to launch a peace studies program at their institution or strengthen a small or new peace studies program. Participants will engage intellectually with leading thinkers on the contemporary parameters of peace studies as it relates to praxis, research, and teaching.
They also will explore the pedagogical, administrative, and communications challenges of peace studies. Professor George Lopez, an internationally recognized authority on peace studies program development, leads the program, and Kroc faculty and staff present and serve as consultants to teams. Paula Rayman, Director of the Middle East Center, Jim Nehring, Professor in the School of Education, and Seth Izen, Program Manager for the Middle East Center, will attend the institute.
MiddleEastCenter@uml.edu | www.uml.edu/mec | 978-934-4307