Soliya Connect Program Il Connect Program, organizzato e gestito

Soliya Connect Program
Il Connect Program, organizzato e gestito dalla ONG Soliya http://www.soliya.net/?q=home è un
progetto di scambio virtuale che si rivolge a studenti da più di 100 istituzioni universitarie sparse in
tutto il mondo (vedi allegato): il suo scopo è quello di promuovere il dialogo al di là delle
differenze culturali e religiose, in particolare quelle che esistono tra il mondo occidentale e il
mondo arabo-musulmano. La lingua franca scelta per lo scambio è l’inglese: questo fa del Connect
Program un’opportunità ideale anche per gli studenti dei corsi di laurea in lingue, in quanto l’uso
della lingua straniera in un contesto autentico permette ai partecipanti di affinare le loro abilità
linguistiche, pragmatiche e socioculturali. Per futuri mediatori culturali, le sessioni del Connect
Program rappresentano un importante opportunità di riflessione e approfondimento di tematiche
socio-culturali, che includono temi importanti quali la cultura, la religione, e il conflitto tra civiltà. I
partecipanti dovevano inoltre prepararsi agli incontri telematici e compilare un diario settimanale;
la verifica finale consiste nella creazione (collaborativa) di due elaborati scritti. Il primo si tratta di
una ricerca svolta in collaborazione con colleghi da altri paesi. Il secondo è un ‘reflective paper’
basata sull’esperienza di Soliya e la collaborazione a distanza.
Negli anni accademici 2012-2013 e 2013-2014, gruppi di studenti del corso di laurea in Mediazione
Linguistica e Culturale hanno partecipato allo scambio, della durata di un semestre, per acquisire i
3 crediti di altre attività (con l’approvazione del CACL). Per ripetere l’esperienza nell’A.A. viene
richiesto un contributo di 2000 dollari + IVA per 10 partecipanti.
STUUDENT INFO
ORMATION PACKET This docu
ument is inteended to pro
ovide an oveerview of thee Connect Prrogram and to answer ssome frequentlyy asked questtions. We att Soliya are veery excited too work with yyou this semeester. If you have any questtions or need any further in
nformation, p
please feel freee to e‐mail [email protected] Descriptio
on of the Program: Soliya’s Connect C
Progrram is a uniq
que cross‐culttural educati on program that enabless college stud
dents from arou
und the world
d to collaboraatively explorre and engag e one anotheer on what th
hey find to bee the most pressing global and social challenges, with the aim of improvingg interculturaal awareness and understan
nding. Students and facilitators participating in
n the Connect Program “meet”” via
w
videoc
conferencing application. This application
a
allow
ws for
Soliya’s web-based
rich and in
ntimate discussio
on, despite the distances separatiing participants.
Stud
dent participants in this sem
mester’s Conn
nect Program
m will conggregate into groups consisting of eeight to ten
n students eeach. Stud
dents will be d
drawn from m
more than
n 20 universities, inclu
uding stud
dents fro
om American Langguage Centerrs in Marrakeesh & Tanggiers in Moro
occo, the National Engiineering Scho
ool of Bizertaa and Tuniis Business SSchool in Tun
nisia, the University of Jordan, the Lebaanese Internaational Univeersity in Lebanon, Forman Christian Colleege in Pakistaan, the Univeersity of PPadova in Italy, Bowie SState Univversity in Maaryland, End
dicott Colleege in Massachusetts, the Univversity of Maaryland, Soutthern Illino
ois Universityy in Edwardssville, Wesstern Kentu
ucky University, Queeens Universitty of Charlotte in Nortth Carolina, aand the Univeersity of N
Northern Colo
orado. Each stud
dent group will w “meet” for real‐time
e discussion once a weeek for two h
hours via Solliya’s customize
ed online, vid
deo‐conferen
ncing application. To joinn their group
p meetings, p
participants n
need simply turrn on their w
webcam and h
headset and llog on to a d esignated weebsite at their weekly meeeting time. The
e medium is rremarkably in
ntimate: partticipants can see one another’s facial expressions, hear tone of voice, v
and evven share a joke. j
Particip
pants are alsso able to co
ommunicate with their feellow students w
when they arre offline. Each stud
dent has access to the Soliyya weblog wh
here he/ she can continuee discussions or post messsages to other u
users. Studen
nts can also ssend each oth
her personal messages on
n the Soliya w
website, and have access to our online “SSocial Rooms”” where they can meet witth other userrs outside of ssession times. www.soliya.net
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Students participating in the Connect Program will engage iin one main project with the assistancce of one or tw
wo expert facillitators: nal Project ‐ TThroughout th
he Connect Program, you w
will be given the opportun
nity to work m
more Soliya Fin
closely wiith 2‐3 memb
bers of your ggroup, and explore an issu e that exists in your comm
munities. You
u will be asked to research the challengess around the issue, engagee with differeent perspectivves, examine how the issue is presented in the mediaa, and think collaborativelyy on ways thee problem caan be alleviateed in your com
mmunities. You will then be b asked to write w
a joint rrecommendaations paper outlining wayys to address the issue. You
u will also wriite an individual reflectionn paper on th
he issue you eexplored, and
d the process of working witth your group
p. Details on
n the Final Pro
oject can be ffound in the SStudent Assiggnments docu
ument. Connect P
Program Sche
edule: The Connect Program will run from March 14th to May 5th. Student C
Commitmentss for the Fall Semester: Prior to the comm
mencement of o the Conne
ect Program students will participate in a brief on
nline orienttation. Throu
ughout the duration of the program sttudents will sspend 2 hours per week “meeting” on
nline with their t
small group. Period
dically there will be shortt articles to rread, in prep
paration for these discusssions. Stude
ents will write
e a joint paper and a reflecction paper foor their final p
project. Stude
ents will comp
plete a brief p
post‐program
m evaluation aabout their exxperience. Students need not have h
a comp
puter science
e or media background, but basic proficiency with computerrs and good EEnglish communication skillls are requireed. Weekly D
Discussion Top
pics: Topics thaat may be add
dressed by yo
our group will include: Identiity, culture an
nd stereotype
es Globaal and social cchallenges Value
es and social n
norms Interccultural comm
munication Life exxperiences an
nd worldview
w Youth
h empowerme
ent In additio
on, group facilitators will work with sttudents to iddentify additional topics tthat they feel are importantt to discuss. Students will Gain: A gre
eat introduction to the critical currentt issues impaacting their societies and the larger global comm
munity, and exxposure to a multiplicity o
of perspectivees. A chaance to meett your peers around the world, w
share your opinion
ns and hear ttheir ideas about criticaal issues, and the build stro
ong contacts with future leeaders. The o
opportunity to
o gain and / o
or improve up
pon key 21st century skillss such as lead
dership, analyytical thinkiing, engaging across differrences constructively, and collaborativee problem‐solving. After successfully completing the program
m, students will receive their certificcate from So
oliya, verifyying their partticipation in the Connect P
Program. www.soliya.net
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Important Deadlines: The week of March 14thh The week of March 21stt The week of April 4th The week of April 25th The week of May 2nd Connect Program Begins. Introducttions and first w
week of onlinee dialogue sesssions. hallenges”. Pleease Discussion will be based upon the rrequired readi ngs on “Global and Social Ch
es before yourr online session
n. make ssure you’ve reaad these article
Discussion will be based upon the rrequired readi ngs for this weeek on “Intercu
ultural ease make sure
e you’ve read tthese articles b
before your on
nline session.
Communication”. Ple
The fin
nal project is du
ue on Sunday, May 1st. In ordder to submit it, please attacch the articles in an email, send it to subm
[email protected] and CC your professor. Last week of Connect Program dialogue sessions.. on of Complete online evaluation of the Connect Progrram by Monday, May 16th. Upon completio
n, students will receive their certificate from
m Soliya verifyying their the online evaluation
nect Program.
successsful participatiion in the Conn
oliya? Who is So
Soliya staff is compose
ed of a diversse team of taalented indiviiduals comingg from Egyptt, France, Finlland, Lebanon, Morocco, Turkey, India, B
Bangladesh, and the Unite d States of A
America. In ad
ddition to Solliya’s staff mem
mbers, Soliya's operations are based on
n an extraorddinary networrk of highly trained facilitaators from arou
und the worrld, volunteerring their tim
me to catalyzze constructivve communication. To d
date, Soliya hass worked with over 500 vo
olunteer facillitators, the m
majority of w
whom are Masters’ studen
nts in Internatio
onal Relationss or Conflict R
Resolution att prestigious uuniversities in
n the Middle East, Europee and the US, including the FFletcher Schoo
ol of Law and
d Diplomacy, A
American University of Beeirut and Brad
dford Universityy in the UK. In
n 2014, Soliyaa joined force
es with internnational peacee‐building orgganization Seearch for Comm
mon Ground (SFCG), and Soliya’s exe
ecutive team now consistts of Waideh
hi Gokhale, C
Chief Executive Officer, and
d Salma Elbeb
blawi, Directo
or of Program
ms. To date, Soliya has w
worked with over 6,000 students from a diverse cross‐section of o
over 100 instiitutions and iin the comingg years Soliyaa will be expanding the netw
work to inclu
ude more universities fro m regions su
uch as the M
Middle East, N
North Africa, South and South‐east Asia, EEurope and th
he US. To learn m
more about So
oliya, please g
go to www.so
oliya.net wheere you can reead about Solliya’s staff, volunteerr facilitators, a
and past Soliyya participantts. Need Help? Contact uss: Techn
nical difficulties: student‐te
[email protected]
net Attendance concerns: attendan
[email protected]
et her questionss and concern
ns: students@
@soliya.net All oth
www.soliya.net
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