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The
Salzburg Seminar and the Student World Assembly Sign Agreement
to Develop a Comprehensive Collaboration
Dr. Jochen Fried, director
of the International Study Program at the prestigious Salzburg
Seminar in Salzburg, Austria and Mr. Paul Raynault, the
founder and chairman of the Student World Assembly signed
a memorandum of understanding on August 2, 2006 in Salzburg
to explore fully a comprehensive collaboration between their
two organizations. Present at the signing was also Dr. Reza
Fakhari, the academic advisor and a member of the Board
of Directors of the SWA, who has been responsible for initiating
this linkage.
Founded in 1947 at Schloss Leopoldskron in
Salzburg, Austria, the Salzburg Seminar is an independent,
non-governmental organization that challenges current and
future leaders to develop creative ideas for solving global
problems. The Seminar convenes imaginative thinkers from
different cultures and institutions, organizes problem-focused
initiatives, supports leadership development, and engages
opinion-makers through active communication networks, all
in partnership with leading institutions from around the
world and across different sectors of society. The Salzburg
Seminar seeks to magnify the impact of individuals and institutions
that bring just and humane values to bear on the global
challenges facing their societies and the world.
The International Study Program (ISP) at the
Salzburg Seminar offers week-long intensive sessions on
global citizenship for students and faculty of select U.S.
colleges and universities. Programs are designed and offered
for two different audiences – students and faculty
and administrators of U.S. colleges – and are held
during weeks compatible with partner institutions’
academic calendars (January terms, spring breaks, summer
recesses, and during the term when appropriate). The purpose
of the student ISP is to provide an intensive seven-day
international experience for participants to explore pressing
issues of global concern and to view such issues from a
perspective both literally and figuratively outside the
borders of the United States. The ISP for College Faculty
and Administrators allows professors and administrators
to obtain the vision, knowledge, and tools to make global
education a part of their classes and institutions.
Similar to the Salzburg Seminar, the Student
World Assembly aims to engage students from all over the
world in critical reflection and new thinking about pressing
global issues. The SWA strives to move beyond dialogue in
creating a global civic society of informed, engaged and
active students. Through participation in the Student World
Assembly's online forums, videoconferencing, campaigning
and elections, writing resolutions on pressing issues of
global concern, conventions, and Chapters activities, students
will learn to practice "creative democracy“--the
ideas, techniques, commitments, fellowship, and leadership
that will be needed if the world's people, with their multiplicity
of cultures and conflicting interests, are to live together
peacefully and justly in our increasingly globalized planet.
The agreement envisions a partnership between
these two global dialogue organizations to seek major grant
funding to develop viable curricular models and innovative
pedagogies (including online discussion forums, engaging
U.S. students and faculty with counterparts in Africa, Asia,
the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and New Zealand)
and then make them available to colleges throughout the
nation and the world. The partnership will involve Kingsborough
Community College (where SWA has a regional headquarters)
and some other colleges of the City University of New York
who have been active participant in the Salzburg Seminar.
The premise of partnership is that an international or global
perspective has increasingly become central to contemporary
liberal arts education, and colleges must integrate internationalism
or globalism into the curriculum and in on- and off-campus
co-curricular experiences in order to develop globally and
multiculturally competent learners and citizens.
Click
here to view more photos of the event...
SWA-Kingsborough
Community College Chapter Hosts:
A Meditation on Peace
Congratulations
to the Student World Assembly Chapter at Kingsborough Community
College on a successful event demonstrating how, through
meditation and creative expression, we can come together
as a group working toward a common goal.
On July 20, 2006, "A Meditation on Peace"
was held outdoors on the beautiful campus of the Kingsborough
Community College. Members of the Student World Assembly
(SWA), the Performing Arts Society, the Insight Meditation
Club, and Phi Theta Kappa Honors Society put together a
series of speechs, poetry, and musical performances relating
to the theme of peace, and spoke on ways in which their
various clubs promote awareness of it. Referring to the
likes of Buddha, Gandhi, and President Bush, Professor Rick
Repetti, faculty advisor to SWA and the Insight Meditation
Club, spoke on the interdependent relationship between inner
and outer peace, how one cannot exist without the other.
Professor Repetti then led a 45-minute "mindfulness"
meditation, inviting all present - about 20 students, faculty,
and administrators - to take meditative steps toward making
peace with themselves.
This celebration of peace, co-sponsored by
the SWA and the above-mentioned clubs at Kingsborough, was
conceived and organized by John Fitzgerald, student President
of the Insight Meditation Club. This event was an outstanding
example of how SWA can become a catalyst in pulling various
student groups togther on campus towards the aims of the
awareness of the imperative of peace and doing one's personal
best to help achieve it.
Click
here to view more photos of the event...
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Highlights |
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Pressing
Global Issues
As student leaders
and activists, it is crucial that we exchange ideas
on issues dealing with human rights, democracy,
HIV/AIDS, as well as other topics that become urgent.
The Discussion Board on the SWA website is designed
for students to educate themeslves about pressing
global issues, share their views, and learn from
each other.
Let us all take advantage of this wonderful opportunity
to overcome the barriers of time and distance and
be able to discuss pivotal issues with each other.
We have a chance to share our cultures and ideals,
so take a moment and let everyone know what you
think.
Click Here to Discuss
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Fundraising Campaign |
Marching
Forward!
Congratulations to our Student
World Assembly membership, family and friends
for helping raise $16,045.00 in 67 days towards
our goal of $50,000! Our
new total donations, through our on-line auction,
direct donations and sales on Amazon.com, has
brought us yet closer to our goal of raising funds
that will be invested into SWA programs around
the world, enabling the organization to continue
building different channels through which students
from across the world can connect with one another.
These
funds will help SWA sustain and expand chapters
in developing countries in order to allow more
students from the developing world access to our
programs; help promote the activities of the SWA
in the developed world, allowing more universities
and colleges to establish SWA chapters on their
campuses; and help us fund the next Annual International
Convention in Africa.
This
is very exciting for all of members of Student World
Assembly and we would like to say thank you to everyone
for your effort and support. Keep up the good work!
Click
Here To Help Support the SWA |
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Suggested
Reading
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Earth
Democracy .
In
Earth Democracy, Vandana Shiva, a physicist
and activist, confronts the neoconservative Project
for the New American Century. A proponent for
global justice and sustainability, Shiva talks
about what earth democracy can be by providing
principles for building sustainable economies,
cultures, and democracies. She talks about the
shrinking natural resources of the planet and
how all cultures and democracies are affected
and perpetuated by the pervasive attitude in business
of disposability. Vandana
Shiva is a leader in the International Forum on
Globalization.
Purchase
Here and Support SWA...
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Submissions |
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SWA Update
Send
your information to
Ginger Albertson, SWA’s Publications Coordinator,
at
ginger@studentworldassembly.org |
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