CONF students' success in the Soliya Connect Program

The
Soliya Connect Program is a
cross-cultural education program that directly connects university
students in the
US,
Europe
and predominantly Muslim countries in the
Middle
East,
using the latest online videoconferencing, collaboration and media
production
technology. Participating students
from these institutions “meet”
weekly on-line throughout the course of a semester in small
multi-national
groups with 2 skilled facilitators via a web-based video-conferencing
application. 
Students engage in intensive discussion about the relationship between
the “West”
and the Arab & Muslim World, develop a deeper understanding for
alternate
perspectives and build knowledge about relevant issues.  Students also
create short videos

Ten students from Dr.
Çelik’s course
participated in the Connect Program in the Fall 2007.   They were- to a
person-
thoughtful and articulate.  They consistently took leadership in their
online
discussion groups, pushing the conversation to a deeper level.
 Turkey’s
unique position at the cross-roads of “West” and “East”
allowed the students to be particularly effective in helping translate
comments
made by Easterners to those in the West, and vice versa. 

While
participating in the Connect
Program students had the opportunity to write a proposal for a
collaborative action project which aims to improve the relationship
between the
“West” and the “Arab & Muslim World”.  Soliya
selected a number of these projects to present to the United Nations
Alliance
of Civilizations (AoC) Youth Solidarity Fund.  Projects selected by the
Youth
Solidarity Fund have the potential to receive grants of up to $20,000
in support
of their project.  A
project
co-authored by a Sabanci student has been selected as one of the
projects that
Soliya will present to the AoC.  It’s a very competitive process, and
there are no guarantees that the project will be selected by the UN,
but even
being selected by Soliya is a tribute to the quality of the idea and
our belief
in the students’ ability to implement an impactful program.

In
addition, three Sabanci students
are now participating in Soliya’s Facilitation Training program. This
semester-long
program trains students to serve as online facilitators, as well as
providing
them with a variety of transferable conflict resolution and
facilitation
skills.  They are again taking leadership roles in the training groups,
asking thoughtful
questions and providing their peers with useful feedback.  While the
training
has only been running for a few weeks, Soliya trainers are already
confident
that all three Sabanci students have the potential to be excellent
facilitators, and will be amongst those invited to facilitate for
Soliya in the
fall.

Liza Chambers


Soliya Connect Program Director