Jay Michaelson gives the autumn 2014 Zerby Lecture at 乐播传媒.

An author, scholar and rabbi, Jay Michaelson discusses optimum ways to discuss Israel and Palestine in campus settings at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, in a 乐播传媒 presentation at the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave.

Michaelson’s talk is titled Multiple Narratives of Israel/Palestine: Or, Will Alan Dershowitz and Steven Salaita Ever Get Along? Open to the public at no cost, the Zerby Lecture is sponsored by the Multifaith Chaplaincy at 乐播传媒.

For more information, please call 207-786-8272.

Some of the loudest voices on Israel and Palestine are also some of the most intransigent, as pro-Israel and pro-Palestine activists often talk past, rather than with, one another.

At 乐播传媒, Michaelson will look at flashpoints of debate — around academic freedom, “pinkwashing” and the conflict in general — from the perspective of multiple narratives. Can American allies of Israel and/or Palestine understand the narratives of the “other side” in a way that advances conversations? What lessons can we bring from our own efforts at respectful dialogue?

Michaelson is a visiting scholar at Brown University, adjunct professor at Chicago Theological Seminary and director of the LGBT Global Rights Initiative at the Democracy Council.

His work has been featured on NPR, CNN and in The New York Times. He is a contributing editor to the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper and a weekly columnist for the Daily Beast. His influential article “How I’m Losing My Love for Israel” was the first major statement of the growing divide between American liberals and Israel. It won the Society for Professional Journalists award for opinion writing.

Michaelson is the author of five books and more than 300 articles on religion, sexuality, law and contemplative practice. His most recent book, Evolving Dharma: Meditation, Buddhism and the Next Generation of Enlightenment, was published in 2013 by North Atlantic.

His other books include God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality (Beacon Press, 2012) an Amazon best-seller and Lambda Literary Award finalist; Everything Is God: The Radical Path of Nondual Judaism (Trumpeter, 2009); and Another Word for Sky: Poems (Lethe Press, 2007).

The Rayborn Lindley Zerby Lectureship on Contemporary Religious Thought was established with a gift to 乐播传媒 in 1965. The series was initiated the following year by the late Samuel Miller, dean of Harvard Divinity School.

The lectureship honors Zerby, a professor who devoted many years to the growth of 乐播传媒. He chaired the Department of Religion and Philosophy from 1930 to 1945. He served as director of the College Chapel (now the Peter J. Gomes Chapel) from 1945 until his retirement, in 1962, and was appointed dean of the faculty in 1958.

The annual Barlow Off-Campus Photography Exhibition does more than give students the chance to share cool photos from their far-off and far-out study-abroad locales.

Mounted in Perry Atrium during the annual Mount David Summit, “the exhibition is part of how we help returning students reconnect to the 乐播传媒 community,” says David Das, assistant director of off-campus study programs and curator of the annual exhibition.

David Das is assistant director of Off-Campus Study at 乐播传媒. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

By the time they graduate, about 60 percent of 乐播传媒 students have received credit for off-campus study.

Among students, study-abroad experiences instill greater awareness of critical global issues.

In turn, that awareness influences all that comes later, from senior thesis to success in winning post-乐播传媒 fellowships and grants.

In 2013, anthropology major Devin Tatro ’14 of Haverhill, Mass., studied abroad in Kampala, Uganda. The experience inspired her honors thesis on “tribal trademarking” by Uganda’s Sebei people 鈥� that is, how the Sebei have begun to market their culture to tourists and international aid organizations.

乐播传媒 is a 鈥渢op producer鈥� of postgraduate Fulbright U.S. Student grants, and Robert Strong, the college鈥檚 graduate fellowship adviser, points to off-campus study as a key indicator.

“Almost every fellowship out there these days is interested in the same qualities: They want leaders, they want people engaged in their communities, they want people who have a global and intercultural awareness.”

And now, on to the photographs!

Granada, Spain

“Fuente de las Batallas was bustling and lively on my way to school every morning, but completely empty during lunch and the siesta that follows. The mantra of Granadi帽os is ‘No pasa nada,’ which essentially translates to ‘Don鈥檛 sweat the small stuff.’ The no pasa nada lifestyle manifests itself in all parts of Granadan culture and is exemplified in this man taking a moment to relax in front of this fountain.” 鈥� Helen Chyz ’14 of Seattle, Wash., whose major is psychology with a concentration in Latin American studies

Kathmandu, Nepal

“A young boy lights butter lamps at Boudhanath stupa, a daily event during morning prayers as Buddhists perform Kora, literally ‘to circumambulate.’ Boudhanath has become the center of the Tibetan exile community in Nepal and the site of one of the most recent Tibetan self-immolations, in August 2013.” 鈥� Evan Cooper ’15 of Unionville, Conn., whose major is politics with a concentration in children, adolescents and school

Beijing, China

“As I cut onto a small sidewalk around the outskirts of the Forbidden City and turned a corner, I saw this man and was instantly put at ease. He was a breath of fresh air (metaphorically speaking, due to the smog). In the city of everlasting noise, smog and confusion, this man, calmly fishing in the moat of the Forbidden City, inadvertently opened a window onto life in Beijing before rapid modernization.” 鈥� Ned Donaldson ’15 of Lincoln, Mass., whose major is politics with a concentration in government and conflict

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

“Vietnam has a distinctive ‘moto’ culture; motorbikes have become so ingrained in everyday life that people eat, sleep and dream on their motorbikes. In Ho Chi Minh city, operators of motorbike taxis, or xe oms‘, like this man, spend their days hanging out on street corners, awaiting business from locals and tourists.” 鈥� Olivia Kronemeyer ’14 of Southampton, N.Y., whose major is psychology with concentrations in French in Nantes, and culture and meaning

Jerusalem, Israel

“The Kotel, or the Western Wall, is one of the holiest sites in Judaism. On holidays, it transforms into a place where everyone is family, and dancing and singing are required. This picture was taken at end of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The day is serious and solemn. After fasting for 24 hours, this group of Orthodox men celebrated the breakfast by dancing throughout the Kotel plaza and getting other men to join.” 鈥� Emma Kate Lindsay ’15 of Harrison, N.Y., whose major is history and religious studies, with a concentration in the latter

Capri, Italy

“To get to the聽Grotta Azzurra (the Blue Grotto), we were piled in a dinghy that was thrust through the small entrance of the cave by the flowing tide. We were told to lie down as flat as possible so we would not hit our heads on the cave walls. Once inside, the whole cave was illuminated with a dazzling bright blue from the reflection of sunlight passing through the seawater.” 鈥� Erin Milligan ’15 of Rumford, Maine, whose major is economics with a concentration in philosophy and psychology

Ankara, Turkey

“This photo was taken at the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atat眉rk. ‘Atat眉rk’ means ‘Father of the Turks,’ a name given to Mustafa Kemal by the Turkish people, and he is celebrated today as the nation’s founder. After playing a key role in the War of Independence, Atat眉rk went on to be the nation’s first president and implemented many reforms to modernize. He has been immortalized as a symbolic pillar of the Turkish spirit.” 鈥� Julia Ofman ’15 of Brooklyn, N.Y., whose major is religious studies with concentrations in French and Francophone studies and in children, adolescents and school.

Khok Si, Thailand

It took a lot of convincing, in broken Thai and hand gestures, to get my host father to let me help plant rice. He thought that I wouldn鈥檛 like getting dirty or waking up early, but I told him that I wanted to do everything that the rest of the family did.” 鈥� Jackie Ordemann ’15 of Groton, Mass., whose major is biological chemistry with a concentration in the geosphere

Dubrovnik, Croatia

“A group of ‘Cats met up for a few days in the historic city of Dubrovnik, Croatia. On the last day, we stumbled upon a large cliff outside the city walls. Looking out onto the Adriatic Sea, we decided to end our trip on a high note, and this is Jonathan Strain leading the way.” 鈥� Conor Henrie ’15 of Lexington, Mass., whose major is economics and politics with a concentration in globalization

Helsinki, Finland

“Braving the Maine-like winter conditions, I walked to the harbor at the edge of the city. Impressively, the Finns take advantage of their historic proximity to the Baltic Sea as a means of trade and transportation during all seasons.” 鈥� Fiona Stuart ’14 of Havertown, Pa., whose major is psychology with a concentration in public health

La Isla del Sol, Bolivia

“One day for lunch, we all brought food to share with the rest of the students on my program and their families. From my family, we brought fish that my brother and I caught and prepared only an hour prior. We sat, exhausted from work (my tiny host brother, Wilmer, was about 100 times as effective as I was in the fields). We laughed and we ate. Reciprocity is an integral part of Bolivian culture, and I find myself missing this type of warmth every day.” 鈥� Shana Wallace ’15 of Pleasantville, N.Y., whose major is environmental studies with a concentration in the environment and human culture

Merzouga, Morocco

“The most peaceful place I have ever been is the sand dunes of Merzouga. Here, friends are relaxing in the zween (beautiful) desert after a sunset camel ride. The cheesiest and most touristy part of my abroad experience ended up resulting in an opportunity for reflection that I never could have anticipated.” 鈥� Hally Bert ’14 of Tacoma, Wash., whose major is politics with a concentration in Law and Society

The 2013 Phillips Fellows, Asha Mohamud ’15 and Rachel Baumann ’14. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

“The next world is already on its way. College education in the U.S. faces the urgent task of getting ready for it,” 乐播传媒 President Charles F. Phillips told the incoming class during Convocation 1959.

Intersections between culture and medicine drew Asha Mohamud to Tanzania.

Phillips was referring specifically to Asia, which was just beginning its ascent to today’s global influence. But 乐播传媒’ fourth president was getting at a broader notion as well: the educational importance of understanding cultures different from one’s own.

Since 1999, Phillips Student Fellowships have put that concept into action. Phillips Fellows create outstanding international or cross-cultural projects involving research, community-engaged learning or career exploration.

The program supports immersion in another culture, opportunities for intense meaningful work and unique prospects for intellectual and personal growth.

Meet Phillips Fellows Rachel Baumann ’14 and Asha Mohamud ’15.

The story of her grandparents’ escape from the Holocaust drew Rachel Baumann to Europe.

The student fellowships, along with faculty fellowships and professorships, are supported by the Phillips Endowment Program, a suite of awards, honors and opportunities funded by a $9 million bequest to 乐播传媒 by Phillips and his wife, Evelyn Minard Phillips.

“The fellowships take students out of their comfort zone in ways that are personally transformative, and prepare them to be citizens of the world,” says Kerry O’Brien, assistant dean of the faculty. “They really embody the mission of the college on several levels: educating the whole person, honoring diversity, cultivating intellectual discovery and civic action, and preparing future leaders.”

In 2013, seeking to understand experiences outside the U.S. that had changed the lives of people close to them, two 乐播传媒 students sought and were awarded Phillips Fellowships.

Fatima Sacko 鈥�17 of New York City models an outfit during the Inside Africa Fashion Show held Nov. 8, 2013. (Sarah Crosby/乐播传媒 College)

Celebrating the depth and variety of African culture and art, 乐播传媒 College presents the third annual Inside Africa Fashion Show at 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

The Africana Club, a student group, sponsors the event. It is free and open to the public, but tickets are required, available at . For more information, please contact nkanu@bates.edu.

While previous Inside Africa shows included song and modern-style dance, this year’s goes deeper in those directions and will include traditional dances as well as spoken-word poetry, says event founder Nicole Kanu, a 乐播传媒 junior from Little Rock, Ark.

Too many people see Africa as a single country, she says. “A lot of our participants wanted to see other art forms in the show as a way to emphasize the idea of diversity within Africa.” In addition, this year’s show focuses on fashion as it relates to social justice issues.

And the show is more timely than ever, given the growing African influence in Western fashion — witness J.C. Penney’s engaging of Nigerian designer Duro Olowu as the department store chain’s first seasonal designer in 2012.

This year’s Inside Africa will present 15 to 25 student models showcasing traditional and modern garb from a multitude of nations and walks of life. They will model to music from the country or region they are representing.

In total, about 10 students involved in the show are from Africa or of African descent while about 15 others are of Asian, Latin/Spanish and other European descent. Kanu, whose parents are Nigerian, started Inside Africa her first year at 乐播传媒 and looks forward to passing responsibility for the event along to underclassmen so they can make it their own.

“The first-years and sophomores are heavily invested in it and want to tell their own stories,” she says. As a rhetoric major, Kanu sees her role as being a person who renders the cultural themes of the event into artistic terms that both engage and inform.

Kanu hopes local residents will make a point of attending Inside Africa. “We welcome community members, especially considering the presence of the Somali community in Lewiston,” she says. Somali culture and fashion will have a place in the show.

By using fashion to shift the conversation toward cultural celebration, the Africana Club hopes to entice social scientists and fashionistas alike.

Saudi women’s rights advocate Manal Alsharif.

Manal Alsharif, an advocate for women’s rights in Saudi Arabia known for filming herself as she broke that nation’s law against women driving, launches a series of events at 乐播传媒 exploring human diversity.

Alsharif describes her life and work at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, at the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave. The opening event in the fall 2013 Office of Intercultural Education Speaker Series at 乐播传媒, Alsharif’s lecture is presented jointly with the Harward Center for Community Partnerships’ Civic Forum Series. It’s open to the public at no cost.

Read more about Manal Alsharif.

Following Alsharif in the OIE Speaker Series:

• Photographer Jeff Sheng, whose exhibition The Fearless Project: Photographs of LGBT Athletes opens with a reception at 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23, on the second floor of 乐播传媒 Commons, 136 Central Ave., and who discusses his work at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, in Commons Room 221-222. Read more about Jeff Sheng.
• And spoken-word poets Alix Olson and B Yung, appearing at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 23, in the Benjamin Mays Center, 95 Russell St.聽Readers, please note: Some listings indicate an incorrect date for this event, but Oct. 23 is correct. Learn more about Alix Olson and B Yung.

For more information about these events, please call 207-786-8303.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA90LuN_ifQ

Isabel Makman ’14 at the Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia.

A 乐播传媒 junior studying in St. Petersburg, Russia, is among the first recipients of a new scholarship offered by CIEE, an organization based in Portland, Maine, that provides international education and exchange programs.

Isabel Makman of Kalispell, Mont., is one of 13 recipients of CIEE’s Language Intensive Focus Track (LIFT) scholarship, and is the only one attending a Maine college.

The scholarship supports Makman’s goal of staying in St. Petersburg through spring 2013. A Russian major and Spanish minor, she’s studying the Russian language through a CIEE program, as well as literature and culture.

“I was very honored to hear that I would be one of the first recipients of this scholarship,” she said.

“My experience in Russia has been wonderful so far. I have been living with a host family, attending classes at St. Petersburg State University, volunteering as an English teacher and interning at an English-language newspaper.”

She adds, “Russia has certainly changed the way I think about the world. For example, there are people in Russia who seem to think communism was not such a bad thing, contrary to what I’ve always been taught. This new perspective has certainly been interesting and enlightening.”

CIEE’s goal for the LIFT program is to enable serious, academically focused students to pursue deep language acquisition. The inaugural LIFT scholars were chosen from a highly competitive pool of current CIEE students pursuing intensive language development in Arabic, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese or Portuguese, in addition to Russian.

“The caliber of students who applied for a LIFT scholarship is truly remarkable,” said CIEE President and CEO James P. Pellow. “Each recipient is clearly dedicated to internationalizing their education.

“It is our privilege to be able to provide these impressive students with important financial assistance that will allow them to continue to pursue their personal and professional passions in another country.”

Beginning in fall 2013, LIFT scholarships will be available to students on all year-long CIEE language programs. .

A nonprofit, nongovernmental organization, CIEE is a world leader in international study and exchange programs.

Victoria Lowe ’12, at right, leads a dance class during her 2012 internship at the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre in Taunton, U.K. Photograph courtesy of Heathfield Community School/Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre.

“Many prestigious independent schools in Britain have internships, usually linked to sport,” says Michael Bettles, a 乐播传媒 parent and top administrator at Heathfield Community School, a state secondary school in Taunton, U.K.

“I could see the benefits that the interns bring to those institutions, so I thought: Why should they have all the fun?”

Thus inspired, Bettles worked in 2011 with the 乐播传媒 Career Development Center to grab some of the fun for 乐播传媒 and his own institution, where he is deputy head for curriculum and assessment. The result: performing-arts internships at the , affiliated with , that were inaugurated this summer by a current 乐播传媒 student and a 2012 graduate.

The internships, which Bettles suspects are the first at any state-run school in the U.K., include salary and accommodations, as well as invaluable assistance negotiating the complexities — “labyrinthine,” in Bettles’ description — of obtaining visas for the interns.

“This partnership is exciting because it provides a paid professional internship abroad in the arts, which is unusual,” says Nancy Gibson, an assistant director at BCDC whose purview includes internships. “Most internships in the arts are unpaid and may involve clerical responsibilities, as opposed to professional experience.”

Gibson worked with Bettles to make the internships a reality. “The help offered by Nancy was crucial to the success of the whole thing,” says Bettles, father of Matthew Bettles ’13.

Lucas Wilson-Spiro ’15 shows off the robot that he designed and built as part of the set for the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre production of “聙聵The Wiz.” Photograph courtesy of Heathfield Community School/Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre.

Lucas Wilson-Spiro ’15 and Victoria Lowe ’12 just completed the inaugural eight-week internships at the arts center in southwest England. Lowe is one of 乐播传媒’ first dance majors and Wilson-Spiro has a long interest in the technical aspects of stage performance.

At Tacchi-Morris, they helped instruct individual students and classes in performing arts, and pitched in on a production of The Wiz, the 1974 soul-music adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, that ran July 11-14.

Lowe contributed choreography and did marketing work. Wilson-Spiro put in late nights designing and building sets, and working on stage lighting.

“They both got on brilliantly,” Bettles says, “and we were overjoyed at how well they fitted in.”

“It was an amazing experience,” says Lowe. “I’ve had a variety of different internships elsewhere, and held many leadership positions, but not at such depth. It was an opportunity to really be a part of a team, and to weave my own piece of thread into the fabric of the Heathfield community.”

She adds, “Everyone had a job to do, and no person or position seemed to be more valuable than the other. This was really nice to see.”

For Wilson-Spiro, a connection made during the internship led to a volunteer position at this August’s , the world’s largest arts festival. “I jumped at the chance,” he says.

“I never would have made the connection or gotten the position if I hadn’t been chosen for this internship.”

If the Tacchi-Morris internships are distinctive in important ways, they are typical of the productive relationships that BCDC has with parents. “They contribute their expertise by participating in workshops and panels,” says Gibson. “They provide internship and job opportunities, and connect students to other professionals.

“These partnerships are tremendously valuable.”

To Bettles, the new partnership makes good sense. “I see a clear correlation between the ways that performing arts are taught at Heathfield and at 乐播传媒,” he says.

“We both see the performing arts as an essential part of a well-rounded education, and as providing insights into the human condition that cannot be fully realized in any other way.”

The connection also extends a network of overseas relationships that Heathfield and Tacchi-Morris have forged in service of their common goal of using the performing arts to promote international understanding. That goal reflects the vision of arts center benefactor Kathleen Tacchi-Morris, who was a women’s rights advocate and world peace activist, as well as a dancer.

Bettles anticipates adding a third 乐播传媒 internship, with a more pronounced educational focus, next year. “One of our aims is to ensure that our students leave with a world vision,” he says. “For them to rub shoulders with students from a top U.S. liberal arts college is a fabulous opportunity.”

Site of the Community Consultation in Kailahun, where Fambul Tok Staff met with local stakeholders to ask whether they wanted to launch the program in their district. Photograph by Sara Terry.

乐播传媒 College presents Fambul Tok, an award-winning documentary depicting a journey of reconciliation in post-conflict Sierra Leone, at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 22, in Room 104 of the Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St.

Libby Hoffman, executive producer of the film, will take part in a discussion after the screening. Open to the public at no cost, the event is sponsored by the 乐播传媒 anthropology and politics departments and the “Considering Africa” general education concentration. For more information, please contact 207-786-8295.

Decades of corrupt government left the Western African nation of Sierra Leone vulnerable to a civil war that began in 1991 and lasted for 11 years, leaving the resource-rich nation impoverished and traumatized.

“Fambul Tok,” or “family talk,” is the term for an unprecedented grassroots peace-building program revived from an ancient tradition in Sierra Leone. It rebuilds communities by bringing perpetrators and victims face-to-face in ceremonies of truth-telling and forgiveness.

The first feature-length film by producer-director Sara Terry, Fambul Tok follows John Caulker, a Sierra Leonean who has committed his life to the practice of fambul tok, and his team of volunteers who travel miles of destroyed roads and jungle footpaths to implement it.

Viewers witness raw and painfully intimate moments and learn about the horrific toll of war. More importantly, they are privy to a culture of forgiveness — one that seeks to heal the nation through the restoration of relationships and community instead of punishment and retribution.

This film paints a vivid, accurate and respectful portrait of healing by telling this story through the eyes of family, friends and community leaders. Ideally, viewers experience the transformative effects of fambul tok and gain insights into an original model for peacemaking that’s applicable to the rest of the world.

“It was a tricky thing to make a film that tries to let a culture speak for itself while being mindful of a Western audience that I fully expected would be baffled by the idea that truth-telling and forgiveness equate with justice,” Terry explains.

Terry was an award-winning reporter who transitioned into documentary production in the late 1990s. Her work has been published internationally, and her book Aftermath: Bosnia’s Long Road to Peace (Channel Photographics, 2005) was named one of the best books of the year by Photo District News.

Terry is also the founder of The Aftermath Project, a nonprofit grant program that helps photographers cover the aftermath of conflict and build educational outreach.

Formerly a political science professor at Principia College, Hoffman left academia to focus on the practice of peace-building, with an emphasis on the link between individual and community transformation. She has developed and led conflict-resolution training programs in a variety of settings.

In 2003 she founded Catalyst for Peace, a private foundation based in Portland that supports locally rooted peace-building around the world as well as the means to share stories of this work. It was in her capacity as president of Catalyst for Peace that she began working with Terry to document stories of forgiveness and reconciliation in post-conflict Africa.

In the course of this work, she met Caulker and they began the partnership that led to the founding of the Fambul Tok program in Sierra Leone, alongside the commitment to document the process in film.

Fambul Tok International incorporated as an international organization in 2009, with Hoffman serving as president.

An op-ed in the English-language newspaper Arab News聽praises Leena Nasser ’12, the 乐播传媒 student who has helped to craft an anthropology course scheduled to visit Saudi Arabia in May.

Leena Nasser ’12 is a politics major from Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

a Saudi writer, economist and NGO activist, describes the email he received from Nasser, a politics major from Dhahran.

“She said she has a dream, simply put, to plan a short trip for students to Saudi Arabia,” Al-Alami writes.

The Short Term course, developed cooperatively by Nasser and Loring “Danny” Danforth, Dana Professor of Anthropology, will be the college’s first to involve significant coursework in Saudi Arabia.

And as is typical with Short Term courses that go abroad, Danforth and his students will do intensive background studies on campus before traveling to Saudi Arabia.

In country, Danforth and his students will visit Dhahran, Riyadh and Jeddah. They will investigate the impact of modernization on traditional Saudi society, the role of oil in the country’s economic development, the impact of Islam on Saudi culture and the position of women in Saudi society.

Nasser has been instrumental in planning the course, says Stephen Sawyer, director off-campus study at 乐播传媒.

Loring “Danny” Danforth, Dana Professor of Anthropology

Adds Danforth, “Leena’s contribution to planning this course has been invaluable. She is spending a great deal of time contacting individuals and groups with whom we can meet in order to have in-depth conversations about many aspects of Saudi society and culture.”

Nasser’s help is so pivotal, Danforth says, that the course is likely to be a unique, one-time offering in the 乐播传媒 curriculum.

In her email to Al-Alami, Nasser said she hopes to “give 乐播传媒 students first-hand experience in delving deeply into studying different cultures and creating links between their studies and different parts of the world.”

“What a vision!” Al-Alami exclaims.

Writing under the headline “Our Ambassador Leena Nasser,” Al-Alami notes that “Leena鈥檚 objective is for foreign students to get to know and understand Saudi people, as opposed to simply studying the clich茅d and stereotypical side of KSA.”

He adds, “There is no better opportunity to facilitate improving the relationship between Saudi Arabia and all nations than through the creation of a healthy and continuous dialogue between them.

“Well done, Ms. Leena,” Al-Alami concludes. “You are an example of which we are very proud.”

George Mitchell, the former U.S. senator who served as President Obama’s special envoy for Middle East peace until last spring, delivers the keynote address during a weeklong celebration of international and interdisciplinary education at 乐播传媒 in October.

Mitchell speaks at 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 27, in the 乐播传媒 College Chapel, 275 College St. His talk follows the dedication of Hedge and Roger Williams halls, recently renovated by the college into academic facilities that are advancing the 乐播传媒 education still further across national and interdisciplinary boundaries.

Visit the Open to the World website.
More about the Hedge and Roger Williams renovations.
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During the 4:15 p.m. dedication, Paul Marks ’83, chairman and CEO of the aerospace materials maker Argosy International Inc., offers remarks about living as a global citizen. Mitchell’s talk and the dedication of Hedge and Roger Williams halls culminate Open to the World: 乐播传媒 Celebrates Unbounded Learning, the Oct. 24-28 series of events.

The week’s speakers also include Gary Hirshberg P’13, “CE-Yo” of yogurt maker Stonyfield Farm. The full Open to the World schedule will be announced later in October. For more information, please contact 207-786-6336 or arichard@bates.edu.

Here are events that have been confirmed to date:

Monday, Oct. 24: 乐播传媒 observes United Nations Day.

Tuesday, Oct. 25: opens with a 4 p.m. welcome, readings by international poets at 4:45 accompanied by English translations, and an evening reception at 6, all in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

This five-day event includes poets from around the world presenting their work, accompanied by translations created by 乐播传媒 faculty and students; and a conference on the art and practice of translation. For more information, please contact gdumais@bates.edu or 207-786-8293.

Wednesday, Oct. 26: At 6 p.m. is a screening of Food, Inc., the Academy Award-nominated documentary exposing the corporate-controlled, industrialized underside of American food production. Following the screening at 7:30 p.m., Hirshberg, a prominent figure in Robert Kenner’s 2008 film, offers remarks. Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

Thursday, Oct. 27: Hedge and Roger Williams halls are rededicated at 4:30, followed by Mitchell’s keynote. The keynote will be simulcast in Perry Atrium, Pettengill Hall, 4 Andrews Road (Alumni Walk). A reception in the atrium follows Mitchell’s speech.

Friday, Oct. 28: In “Global Possibilities,” five young 乐播传媒 alums discuss their experiences with initiatives that have both local and global consequences; at 4 p.m. in the Keck Classroom (G52), Pettengill Hall.