 |
Fifteen George Mason University students have just returned from a diplomatic mission to Syria as part of a class learning how to engage in citizen diplomacy. The master’s and doctoral students spent seven days in Syria, attending lectures, cultural events and meetings with religious leaders and Syrian presidential advisers.
The 3-credit graduate class, Citizen Diplomacy as Conflict Resolution (CONF 695), is administered in partnership with Mason’s Center for Field Studies.
Marc Gopin, professor in Mason’s Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (ICAR) and director of the Center on Religion, Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution (CRDC), led the student group and taught the class in citizen diplomacy. The course espouses the concept that an average citizen can engage diplomatically as a representative of a country or point of view. The trip took about six months to plan.
The Mason students were joined by a group of Syrian conflict resolution students from the Syrian International Academy, led by Hind Kabawat, Gopin’s CRDC colleague in Damascus. A few students from Tufts, American, Georgetown and George Washington universities also participated.
This material is presented as the original analysis of analysts at S-CAR and is distributed without profit and for educational purposes. Attribution to the copyright holder is provided whenever available as is a link to the original source. Reproduction of copyrighted material is subject to the requirements of the copyright owner. Visit the original source of this material to determine restrictions before reproducing it. To request the alteration or removal of this material please email [email protected].