Peace Education in Lebanon - International Journal of Arts and Sciences Conference Series (Rome, Italy)

The International Journal of Arts and Sciences Conference Series – Rome
October 19-22, 2015, American University of Rome - Italy
International Academic Conference

The International Journal of Arts and Sciences (IJAS) Conference Series takes place annually in several cities across Europe and North America. Rome - and specifically the American University of Rome (AUR) - was the first on IJAS’ list of conference venues for the academic year. Established in 1969, the University combines the American practical know-how, technological capability and career preparation, with the European and Italian classical tradition of the humanities and liberal arts.

The Conference Series aims are: 1) to provide opportunities for academics from a range of disciplines and countries to share their research and receive in-depth feedback through face-to-face exchanges (Social Sciences and Humanities, Business and Economics, Teaching and Education, and Technology and Science); 2) to introduce academics to educational premises in locations that are suitable for study abroad programs and which may meet their students’ educational needs. 

The Rome Conference was an exciting get together of multidisciplinary professors and scholars with common interests spanning from research methodology to teaching and education. Panelists presented papers such as the Analysis of the education policies in Higher Education in Latin America from a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach, Students’ perceptions in using B-Learning (Blend Learning) education, Digital mediations in critical didactics within experimental sciences, Preparing students for effective technical oral presentations through self-study multimedia courseware in Malaysia, etc. My session included significant papers from transformative learning in online classes and teaching citizenship in a South African post conflict context , to retention in a diverse academic workplace in the UAE and planning formulation process in developing strategic plan for secondary schools improvement. I had also the opportunity to visit the AUR premises and to learn more about what its Faculty members define as the educational immersion in the city – ‘Rome as a classroom’. We do have similar initiatives at the American University in Dubai, for instance in my courses in Middle Eastern Studies: Dubai with its artistic and historical facets is considered a fertile field for learning. Furthermore, I am planning on organizing more activities in 2016 and 2017 that would allow students (local, expats and study abroad students) to be immersed/re-immersed in the local cultures.

I presented a paper entitled “Peace Education in Lebanon”, which focused on my pedagogical approach and applications in university classrooms from 2007 till 2014 in three Lebanese Universities with 3000 graduate and undergraduate students of different religious, cultural, social-economic and political backgrounds. I also introduced my audience to the positive changes the various class activities yielded in students’ perceptions and relations based on a qualitative research I conducted with 500 students, and to the obstacles that this approach faced in a context of local and regional physical and psychological wars. Obstacles to Peace Education are numerous, but I strongly believe that ‘Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time’ (L. Johnson). Every initiative for peace counts and certainly contributes to the culture of peace. However, Peace Education ought to become a public good in Lebanon and a major pillar in the national curricula (formal settings - schools and universities) if we truly want to break the war cycle and achieve sustainable peace.

My paper presentation

My audience

Dr. Pamela Chrabieh, Assistant Professor of Middle-Eastern Studies at the School of Arts and Sciences, recently participated in the International Journal of Arts and Sciences (IJAS) Conference Series, which took place at the American University in Rome.

“The Rome Conference was an exciting get together of multidisciplinary professors and scholars with common interests spanning from research methodology to teaching and education,” comments Dr. Chrabieh.

Dr. Chrabieh presented her paper entitled “Peace Education in Lebanon”, which focused on her pedagogical approach and applications in university classrooms from 2007 till 2014 in three Lebanese universities with 3000 graduate and undergraduate students of different religious, cultural, social-economic and political backgrounds.

She also introduced her audience to the positive changes the various class activities yielded in students’ perceptions and relations based on a qualitative research she conducted with 500 students, and to the obstacles that this approach faced in a context of local and regional physical and psychological wars.

She explains, “Obstacles to Peace Education are numerous, but I strongly believe that ‘Peace is a journey of a thousand miles and it must be taken one step at a time’ (L. Johnson). Every initiative for peace counts and certainly contributes to the culture of peace. However, Peace Education ought to become a public good in Lebanon and a major pillar in the national curricula (formal settings - schools and universities) if we truly want to break the war cycle and achieve sustainable peace.”

Dr. Chrabieh’s session included significant papers from transformative learning in online classes and teaching citizenship in a South African post conflict context, to retention in a diverse academic workplace in the UAE and planning formulation process in developing strategic plan for secondary schools improvement.

Dr. Chrabieh also had the opportunity to visit the AUR campus and learn more about what the Faculty members define as the educational immersion in the city – ‘Rome as a classroom’. “We do have similar initiatives at the American University in Dubai, for instance in my courses in Middle Eastern Studies: Dubai with its artistic and historical facets is considered a fertile field for learning,” she notes.

“Furthermore, I am planning on organizing more activities in 2016 and 2017 that would allow students (local, expats and study abroad students) to be immersed/re-immersed in the local cultures,” concludes Dr. Chrabieh.

The Conference Series aims were: to provide opportunities for academics from a range of disciplines and countries to share their research and receive in-depth feedback through face-to-face exchanges (Social Sciences and Humanities, Business and Economics, Teaching and Education, and Technology and Science); and to introduce academics to educational premises in locations that are suitable for study abroad programs and which may meet their students’ educational needs. - See more at: http://www.aud.edu/news_events/en/view/978/current_upcoming/peace-education-from-lebanon-to-italy#sthash.RuDjN2Ou.dpuf