WELCOME MEMBERS!!
Dr. Colette Mazzucelli
Chair TCMuses TIMSSE
CEO&I and Sciences Po Paris
Dear TCMuses Members,
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the fall 2002 series of multimedia discussions that are part of the transatlantic Internet/Multimedia seminar Southeastern Europe (TIMSSE). A conversation with one of my students at Sciences Po, Paris, Julie Egan, during her visit to the Center for Educational Outreach & Innovation (CEO&I), inspires some reflections about TIMSSE’s origins.
In spring 1999 when the bombing campaign took place in Serbia, I thought back to my time teaching in Budapest, 1995-97. The time in Hungary was a kind of "peace corps for professors" in central and eastern Europe. It was a period I can never forget. As a lecturer integrated into the Hungarian university system at the Budapest University of Economic Sciences, I was paid the salary of a local professor- equivalent to $200 a month in Hungarian forints. That experience showed me the challenges of a society in social, political and economic transition. Tensions with the Romanian and Slovakian neighbors at the time brought up the theme of reconciliation. This resonated with my year as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar during 1987-88 studying Franco-German relations and coming to terms with history living in Strasbourg.
I have learned most in my education speaking with people in the places I wanted to know, preferably in their languages. The approach to learning in TIMSSE is one result of this experience. It is a mix of traditional, Web-based, and multimedia (films, documentaries, CD ROM materials) styles. I believe that each component may well contribute to a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts. This is particularly true if the participants involved are inspired to engage in a genuine dialogue with one another. Ambassador Warren Zimmermann wrote that "...it's the borders in the mind...that are most in need of changing." Given his experiences in the former Yugoslavia, Ambassador Zimmermann’s statement is courageous and honest.
The TIMSSE series is meant to be a unique learning experience that, over time, can influence how education influences peoples in societies that have emerged from conflict. Its class is part of a larger community we create together. Hence there will be an increasing number of photos and bios steadily posted to the web site, http://www.timsse.com/tiskse01/sebas.htm, as we receive news from TIMSSE alumni/ae throughout the world. We are taking a modest step with our initial focus on the Balkans. Our goal is to sustain the series over a generation or more to give its participants a chance to share their knowledge and thereby make a constructive impact on the region. Our next step is to use this approach to learning to continue a transatlantic dialogue. There is an ethical responsibility to address the reasons for an absence of conflict prevention initiatives in other parts of the world, particularly Africa, the Middle East and Central America.
In essence, TIMSSE is an endeavor in which education re-encounters the philosophy of the Renaissance. In this century, its participants have the opportunity to learn broadly in a variety of fields as they experience life from different vantage points seamlessly across continents. For instance, I retain a strong link to my borough of origin, Brooklyn, which in turn fuels my curiosity about places which no longer remain distant in my mind and heart.
Another one of my students, Danae Issa, recalls an experience teaching at an ethnically mixed school in the Bronx. The narrative Danae related to me contrasted with my previous understanding of the Bronx, my father’s native borough. In his youth, the Bronx truly was a “melting pot” of immigrant groups. Danae’s more recent experience as related to me debunks the myth of the melting pot. New York is increasingly diverse. Does this make the city less American? Or less European? If so, how do we find out about the differences between the peoples that are changing the city's character? Is this why Mrs. Georgeta Grama explained that TIESWeb, a transatlantic civil society organization, chose Miami for its Congress, http://www.tiesweb.org/congress/newsletter/newsletter23.htm? Perhaps this is because Miami is a neutral place, not part of Europe, not part of the US?
Our work together can help each and all of us grapple with the challenges diversity raises. We must inquire critically about topics that might otherwise go unquestioned like the relevance or irrelevance of education to reconciliation. This series may well address whether it is possible to embed a "culture of prevention" in the popular consciousness. Is 'human security' a necessity in an era of intra-state conflict? Is it desirable to redefine education in a multimedia context? In this framework, is education a cornerstone for "citizens diplomacy" in line with the philosophy of Rotary International, “Service above Self”? Can this be a diplomacy that works from the bottom up for "We the peoples", as envisioned in the United Nations Charter?
Technology is not intrinsically good or bad. It is the way in which technology is used that determines its impact as an educational tool or a brainwashing device for mindless consumers. Our choice is to use technology to reaffirm diversity and to facilitate inclusiveness, rather than to promote homogeneity and to perpetuate exclusivity.
We may well ask if TIMSSE is destined to remain an academically elitist project for a select group. Years from now it may be one approach to community building through dialogue. Our efforts have the potential to establish a norm that opens possibilities in communication presently viewed as unattainable.
For this reason, our critical exchanges in this forum pave the way to a new frontier. The physical borders we redefine in our classroom are those same borders we change in our minds.
Come join us in TIMSSE this fall.
Yours sincerely,
Colette Mazzucelli