SEEDS OF PEACE NEW VISIONS FOR PEACE 2015-2016 Fellows Yaser Abu Deyeh into Dastangoi, a traditional art of Urdu storytelling. Oral History Project His works range from biographical dastans on histori- cal figures in the Indian heritage—Kabir, Amir Khusrau, The son of Palestinian refugees, and Dara Shikoh—to contemporary themes like cor- Yaser grew up in Syria and porate culture and the digital divide. The author of the Jordan and teaches now at Pal- national award-winning children’s book My Gandhi estinian schools in Jerusalem. In Story, he also works on history education through chil- addition to teaching at both the dren’s literature. This includes research and conducting high school and university levels, workshops at leading institutions across India. He has and pursuing his Ph.D., Yaser collaborated closely with leading global non-profits to has an interest in oral history. He tell stories of conflict between culture and development. has been an active participant Ankit has spoken about storytelling at various presti- in Seeds of Peace Educator gious platforms including the Jaipur Programs—as a Delegation Leader, graduate of the Literature Festival, the University of Toronto, TEDx, and “Making History” Educators’ Course, and participant in the State Council of Educational Research and Train- countless regional programs. ing. He participated in the “Making History” Seeds of Peace Educators’ Course and a subsequent workshop Project Summary held in Jordan in June 2014. Yaser is training high school students to use oral Project Summary history as an educational tool and as part of a larger Ankit’s area of focus is the confluence of stories project focused on the collection of oral histories from and history. Inspired by the Seeds of Peace “Making Palestinians and Israelis, particularly around events in History” course, he began exploring multivocality in 1948. He intends to use the comparison of the two narratives and developed Project Agora. Project Agora narratives as a pilot for a larger set of oral history initia- is about the spaces where text (where we are) and tives. Yaser views this as a valuable method to explore context (where we come from) meet. The idea is to one’s own narrative and that of the “other,” given that pursue the historical narratives within literary works and these are often not presented in textbooks. build on the literary aspects of scholarly writings on the past. To offer cross-cultural understanding, the project Ankit Chadha will include research on select children’s literature titles. Project Agora Based on this, he well prepare a report analyzing ap- proaches to teaching history through creative and criti- Ankit is an India-based writer cal thinking with narratives as a foundation. A resource and storyteller who brings book incorporating best practices, along with an online together oral narrative perfor- repository, are part of the project’s scope. mance, literature, and history. Given how rarely South Asian children’s literature While earning his Bachelor’s in deals with confronting historical narratives, Project history at Hindu College, at the Agora seeks to set benchmarks in terms of sensitivity University of Delhi, he started towards local culture. The success of this project will be scripting street plays and won in enabling students to engage with the past to build accolades for the productions he an understanding towards a peaceful future. User-gen- wrote and directed. After work- erated content around the project (reviews/resources ing as a web marketing professional at digital startups, added to the platform by users, shares/interactions on he quit his job and persued storytelling as his full-time social media, and proven usage of repository) will be occupation. Ankit specializes in bringing new content among the metrics for success. tional programs for youth in Jaffa. She is focused on Lubna Maher Al Rayyes providing civic engagement and leadership opportuni- One Family ties for Palestinian youth in the city, which are largely underserved when it comes to empowerment programs. She is partnering with key Palestinian leaders in Jaffa Lubna is the head of the to develop and lead programs that will ultimately aim elementary school division at the to create young leadership groups in Jaffa, enrich the American International School in social involvement of young Palestinian, nurture self es- Gaza. teem of Palestinian youth at risk, and develop a sense She was a delegate to the of belonging to the community. Seed of Peace Camp in 1994, the second year of the camp and the first year that girls par- Meenakshi Chhabra ticipated. Boundaries of Conflict She is also a graduate of the Seeds of Peace Educators’ Meenakshi is Associate Profes- Course “Expressive Arts; Educational Transformations.” sor at both the Interdisciplin- ary Studies Program and the Project Summary International Higher Education Intercultural Relations Program “One Family” is a series of activities Lubna is design- at the Graduate School of Art ing in her school to encourage learning of concepts and Social Sciences at Lesley such as freedom, respect, humanity, justice, coopera- University in Cambridge, Mass. tion, and peace. Lubna has long been passionate She completed her PhD in Edu- about connecting youth in Gaza with the outside cational Studies at Lesley and world, particularly given travel constraints on Gazans. postdoctoral work at the Harvard Graduate School of She developed the concept for “One Family” after the Education. Meenakshi is a scholar and practitioner in last war in Gaza, as she grew worried that young the field of Peace and Conflict studies. Her current re- people were becoming more violent and angry. At search and practice focus on the teaching and learning the core of “One Family” is the concept of accepting of historical events of collective violence between con- the “other,” especially by learning about other cultures flicting countries. She has been awarded two Fulbright through movement and dance. She views success as senior scholarships and a third Fulbright Specialist being able to create a peaceful learning environment award to teach and conduct research in India related and cohort of children who understand and accept the to the topic of History Education and Peace. other—who can forgive and reach out to the world Meenakshi has published in national and interna- with open arms. tional journals. In addition to teaching at Lesley, she has been engaged with Seeds of Peace since 2001, specifically with its South Asia and Educator Programs. Iris Cohen Meenakshi lives in Lexington, Mass., with her husband Jaffa Youth Project and two kids, and enjoys long quiet walks, travelling, biking and reading. Iris works at the Israeli Ministry of Education as the head of the Project Summary Tel Aviv district schools, working In her research, Meenakshi has found that teaching with educators teaching society history, particularly teaching about events of collective and values in both formal and violence, has implications for the way young students nonformal schools. Iris has been perceive the enemy other. The teachers’ enactment of to the Seeds of Peace Interna- these events in the classroom either supports the stu- tional Camp twice as a Delega- dents to break the hegemonic discourse of the content, tion Leader. or perpetuate it. Hence, the role of the teacher is criti- cal in any initiative that seeks to transform the discourse Project Summary in the direction of peace. This project will aim to edu- For her Fellowship, Iris is creating informal educa- cate and support teachers from both India and Pakistan tent in ways that spark student curiousity and informs to build content and skills that support a peace-oriented them about the cultures in the region, the conflict itself, pedagogy in the two countries. and different concepts that arise from this conflict. This Specifically, Meenakshi will extend her research textbook will be accompanied by dialogue facilitation related to the teaching and learning of historical events training for teachers, since it is imperative that teachers of collective violence between conflicting groups with know how to lead difficult conversations in classes. a focus on the India-Pakistan conflict. The project will Given that so many people in Israel and Palestine are concentrate on developing 1) a framework for teaching learning English, this project has the ability to tap into and learning about boundaries of conflict starting with a wide market, since the textbook first and foremost the 1947 Partition of British India; 2) a two-year pro- offers a great method to studying the language. This is posal for a collaborative Teachers Training Workshop important because the switch to a different language for India and Pakistan for teaching about differences, brings an element of neutrality into studying about the and boundaries and histories of conflict. “other.” Students will potentially be exposed to material they have been shying away from for years because Ashraf Ghandour of singular narratives in their communities. However, Socially Responsible Literature through learning English as a foreign language, they will be able to access this kind of information while deconstructing their own singular narratives and being Ashraf was born in Beersheva exposed to the other. Students will also be exposed to and currently resides in Haifa. NGO work and peace work in their region through He carries bachelor degrees in reading comprehension passages. Psychology and International Re- This project has the potential to grow to every region lations, and is presently complet- in conflict and bring people together as they learn a ing his Education degree while second or third language, immersing them in informa- teaching English literature at the Reali Beit Biram High School in tion about the culture they are in conflict with. Haifa. Throughout his studies, Ashraf has helped found several Doaa Adnan El Jedy human rights organizations, including the Palestinian- Shujaeya Community Project Israeli Mediation and Peace Students Association.