{"63255":{"#nid":"63255","#data":{"type":"news","title":"From Georgia Tech to Casablanca: American and Muslims Students Cross Borders for a Post-9\/11 Encounter","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHow many of us have engaged open discussion on the sensitive \nrelations between between American and Muslim cultures?\u0026nbsp; American and \nMuslim Georgia Tech students and Muslim students in Casablanca, Morocco \ncame together recently for just such an encounter.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe catalyst for these encounters was the post-9\/11 documentary \n\u201cCrossing Borders\u201d brought to campus November 8 by the School of Modern \nLanguages. The film follows four American and four Moroccan university \nstudents who travel together across Morocco, where the dominant religion\n is Sunni Muslim.\u0026nbsp;The journey uncovers cultural stereotypes and opens \npathways to dissolving those barriers.\u0026nbsp;Filmmaker Arnd W\u00e4chter hoped that\n the interactions he captured on film would create opportunities for \nintercultural empathy among American and Muslim student audiences.\u0026nbsp;The \nGeorgia Tech audience responded strongly.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cMore than 160 students and faculty turned out for this event and \nthey were very moved by the film,\u201d observed Philip McKnight, Chair of \nthe School of Modern Languages. \u0026nbsp;\u201cThe film ended at 7:30pm and ninety \npercent of the audience remained for a quite lively discussion that went\n on until 10:15.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAmong them were students Anita Hosni and Ahsan Dharnai, who are \nstudying Arabic, observed that most of the audience were taken aback by \nhow quickly, and how well the eight students [in the film] got \nalong.\u0026nbsp;\u201cThere are quite a few clashes on screen, but, surprisingly, most\n occur between students from the same culture,\u201d they said. \u201cOf \nparticular interest is the special bond developed between Rochd of \nMorocco and David of America [shown in the photo,\u0026nbsp;above] - two of the \nmost outspoken individuals in the film. Their relationship provided a \nmajority of the laughs, and also sheds new light on how two people from \nsuch disparate lands can be so similar.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERajaa Aquil, Assistant Professor,\u0026nbsp;Director of the Arabic Languages \nfor Business and Technology Program\u0026nbsp;and a native speaker of Arabic, \nhelped organize the event said, \u201cStudents had a lot of questions about \nArabs and Islam, women, and other controversial issues that are usually \nraised, and often times wrongly represented by the western media.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe intense interest among the students prompted arrangement of a \nfurther discussion via Skype between Georgia Tech students of Arabic who\n conversed with students from Hasan University in Casablanca, Morocco.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cArnd was quite amazing in leading the students in both dialogs.\u0026nbsp;They\n were very cautious at first,\u201d said McKnight. \u201cBut at the end of the \nconversation, these students decided they wanted to exchange email and \nFacebook addresses.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAs special focus of McKnight\u2019s outreach for the event were Georgia \nTech ROTC students, many of whom attended.\u0026nbsp;The event was funded by the \nROTC Language and Culture Project (Project GO, an Institute of \nInternational Education grant). Discussion was anchored by a panel that \nincluded W\u00e4chter; Tech Alumnus Kyle Jessop, who was in the Peace Corps \nin Africa;\u0026nbsp;Aquil, and Larry Rubin, Assistant Professor from the Sam Nunn\n School of International Affairs whose research and teaching foci \ninclude Islam and politics and international security.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERubin said, \u201cPersonally, I found one of Arnd\u0027s comments very \ninteresting with regards to building meaningful relationships across \ncultures. He said, if I remember correctly, that the honest \ndisagreements\/arguments are extremely necessary to forge lasting bonds.\u0026nbsp;\n It was noted that people tend to avoid political or controversial \nsubjects in some cultures (like the US). I think this is something that \nmany students could identify with.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe two encounters are powerful examples of the path-breaking \nintercultural and applied language experiences that the College engages \nfor Georgia Tech students through curricula, the International House \nstudent living community, the Languages for Business and Technology and \nother work\/study abroad programs. Such experiences develop lifetime \nskills that are vital for graduates who will negotiate the social, \ntechnological and political contexts of other cultures in a global, \ninterdependent, and multicultural community.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EAquil and Rubin are traveling to Egypt and Jordan, respectively, to arrange Georgia Tech student internships programs.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EThe School of Modern Languages plans future showings of Crossing \nBorders. W\u00e4chter is touring Crossing Borders in universities around the \nworld.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EPhoto: David and Rochd, two of the eight students whose journey \ntogether was documented in \u0022Crossing Borders\u0022. Their outspokeness \ncreated a majority of the laughs along the journey. The photos was \nprovided by Crossing Borders.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003ERead more and offer feedback about the Crossing Borders Education\n Intercultural Awareness Initiative (IAI) and the documentary at \u003C\/em\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.cb-education.org\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003E\u003Cem\u003Ewww.cb-education.org\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EHow many of us have engaged open discussion on the sensitive relations \nbetween between American and Muslim cultures? American and Muslim \nGeorgia Tech students and Muslim students in Casablanca, Morocco came \ntogether recently for just such an encounter.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27418","created_gmt":"2010-12-21 13:56:25","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:07:54","author":"Lauren Langley","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-12-21T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2010-12-21T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"63256":{"id":"63256","type":"image","title":"Crossing Borders","body":null,"created":"1449176668","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:04:28","changed":"1475894554","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:42:34","alt":"Crossing Borders","file":{"fid":"191793","name":"crossing_borders.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/crossing_borders_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/crossing_borders_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":24348,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/crossing_borders_0.jpg?itok=3Kb0gu-V"}}},"media_ids":["63256"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.modlangs.gatech.edu\/","title":"School of Modern Languages"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.modlangs.gatech.edu\/study-abroad\/NewStudyWork\/ROTC\/ROTClangcult.php","title":"Project Go"}],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[{"id":"133","name":"Special Events and Guest Speakers"}],"keywords":[{"id":"11001","name":"Crossing Borders"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ERebecca Keane\u0026nbsp; 404-894-1720\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["rebecca.keane@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}