OTISFIELD, MAINE | This summer, for the first time, Seeds of Peace is hosting an intensive two-week summer course for educators at the Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine.
This course will focus on themes at the heart of the Seeds of Peace experience. “Narratives” are the stories that shape identity, provide meaning, and often feed or mitigate conflict. What values and skills are needed to understand radically different narratives, radically different perspectives? How can education enlarge the scope of empathy? How can education encourage moral imagination and moral courage? How can education prepare citizens for active, peaceful, productive, engagement in the world? How can educators who care about such values have the greatest impact?
These are some of the questions that we will raise together, in a beautiful environment, with wonderful educators from around the world.
Course Description
“… like the invisible ‘dark matter’ that cosmologists tell us make up 90 per cent of our universe, the intangibles in the conflict, largely based on history that is ‘remembered, recovered, invented’ … profoundly influence the willingness of the two sides to make peace, or to continue with war.” —Scham, Salem, Pogrund, Shared Histories: A Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue
Educators play a pivotal role in preventing, fueling, or resolving violent conflicts. For 18 years, Seeds of Peace has brought together educators from regions in conflict, primarily the Middle East and South Asia, in order to develop the personal relationships and professional capacities needed to help move their societies from decades of conflict to lasting peace.
This summer, 2011, for the first time in its history, Seeds of Peace is offering a two-week summer course for educators from the Middle East, South Asia, and United States dedicated to an in-depth exploration of the educational themes at the heart of the Seeds of Peace experience. In this course, participants will learn from a wide range of educators and community leaders, including from one another, through workshops, large and small group discussions, team-building activities, visits to local schools, universities, religious institutions and community organizations.
Goals: Participating educators will have the rare opportunity to form lasting relationships with their colleagues from the Middle East, South Asia, and the United States while working together to:
- learn ways to welcome and teach the stories that shape identity, that can feed conflict or create common ground;
- cultivate the moral imagination through educational experiences that encourage understanding and empathy;
- integrate mutual respect, active learning, critical thinking, dialogue, leadership, civic engagement, and a commitment to pluralism and positive social change into their teaching practices;
- create educational action plans and projects that put course themes into practice upon their return home; and
- develop effective practices and gather new resources to create a culture of peace.
Eligibility: Seeds of Peace welcomes applicants from educators, both formal and informal, in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine, and the United States. Applicants from a wide range of subjects are invited to apply, with preference given to educators who work in the realm of values—in history, social studies, civics (citizenship), language instruction, community service, peace education and peace-building. Successful applicants will demonstrate creativity, competence, and commitment.
Dates: July 27-August 10, 2011
Location: Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield, Maine, approximately three hours north of Boston, Massachusetts. This is a traditional American summer camp setting located on Pleasant Lake. While this is a beautiful, very special, place, you will live in wood sleeping cabins with fairly basic accommodations. Before committing to this course, please be sure you are prepared to happily spend two weeks in a summer camp environment.
Cost: Each participant is asked to contribute 375 USD as well as any visa-related costs—a small portion of the overall expenses for lodging, food, activities, and all transportation, including airfare. There are scholarships available, and Seeds of Peace will not turn away any participant for financial reasons. Participants must cover the cost of “incidentals,” e.g. gifts or snacks.
Application Process: The application can be accessed and submitted online. Applications must be received by Monday, April 30th, 2011. Seeds of Peace expects to select and announce all applicants by Monday, May 9, 2011.
If you have any questions or concerns, please contact camp@seedsofpeace.org.