The Forum is an annual conference on the issue of “Freedom of Expression”. The aim of the conference this year is to reflect on the concepts of “freedom” and “censorship” and look at both past and potential challenges to realizing complete “freedom of expression”. Focusing on the role of the media, “The International Freedom of Expression Forum” will evaluate the tools with which freedom of expression can take place. The program will consist of lectures, seminars, debates and panel discussions that will feature leading figures from the media, international politics & diplomacy, academia, civil society, and the private sector.

To apply, please click here:

http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/gphr/index.php?en_rifef-2012_application-form

Conference Agenda

The goal of the International Freedom of Expression Forum is to induce new momentum in the debates surrounding the concept of ‘Freedom of Expression’. With such prominence in discussions about democracy, human rights and inter-state relations, ‘Freedom of Expression’ is a vital tool within Cultural Diplomacy and International Relations.

Founded loosely on the 1776 American Declaration of Independence, in which “liberty” is regarded as an inalienable right, the academic field of International Relations has explored the many arguments surrounding “freedom”. In today’s rapidly globalizing world, the meaning of “Freedom of Expression” and the consequences it has on personal, national and international relationships, however, is becoming more and more significant and as such The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy regards the issue as one of much importance.

In discussing the issues that surround the concept of “Freedom of Expression, issues such as freedom as an inalienable right, the consequences of such freedom and the right to censorship, The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy hopes to facilitate new tools to promote international relationships and cooperation in a globalised world. The Conference seeks to achieve a deeper understanding of the complexities and the importance of “freedom of expression” in an expanding international system.

The following issues will be mentioned and explored:

Disparities and Trends in Press Freedom across the World

Inspired by the annual reports of global organizations active in the field of ‘freedom of press’, one focus of the conference will be on the concept of freedom and censorship in areas where free speech is traditionally respected and where it is not. As the Copenhagen Criteria affirms, the EU makes press freedom one of the main criteria for accession; but still, since six of its countries occupy very low positions in the Reporters without Borders ranking, the European Union is not a homogenous whole regarding media freedom. Still, the conference is aimed at answering the question: Is international cooperation or international pressure the key to support freedom of expression?

• The EU and press freedom: a double-standard strategy?
   (Focus: press freedom as one of the main criteria to access the EU and lack of homogeneity among the 27 member States)
• Supporting press freedom through International Cooperation, or International Pressure?
   (Focus: what is the role of international organizations and democratic states in supporting the promotion of free expression in the non-democratic countries)
• Anti-democratic traditions: the evolving situation of traditionally anti-democratic governments in the field of freedom of expression
  (Focus: case studies on governments traditionally limiting the freedom of expression: China, Iran, Zambia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Cuba)
• Democracy and censorship: limitation of free expressions in the so-called democratic governments
  (Focus: case studies on European countries with low position in the ‘Reporters without Borders’ ranking: Italy, France, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria)

Freedom of Expression and Technology (Technological implications: freedom enhancement and control)

Whilst traditional methods of publishing, broadcasting and communicating exist, these are quickly being surpassed by modern methods using modern technology. This transition is arguably ‘enhancing’ freedom of expression for many people, allowing quicker and higher production and flow of information to larger audiences, with more ease than ever before. However, with that enhancement new matters arise. Governments and other bodies continually have to re-think their methods of surveillance and control as technology improves., Has the quality of information being ‘expressed’/published deteriorated or improved as a result of the thousands of Internet ‘bloggers’ and media organisations publishing and the ease with which they can do so? When digital cameras were introduced, arguments arose of deteriorated quality in the field of photography because of the new camera’s ease and speed of production compared to the traditional analogue one.

Where in the past it was usually only people interested in certain fields who had the sufficient knowledge and resources to access the relevant information, now many more people from different, non-specialist backgrounds can easily do the same because of technological development. Is the quality of information inversely proportional to the ‘democratic’ access to information? ‘Democratic’ access is defined by the quantity of people from different backgrounds (e.g. intellectually, financially, geographically) that are able access this information.

• Cyberjournalism, blogging and the Right to access Information
  (Focus: the changes of the concept of journalism in the era of the new media: bottom- up information and its implications on enhancement, quality, access)
• The New Role of Social Media in Civic and Political Protests
  (Focus: Arab Spring, Twitter and Facebook, bloggers as new political leaders, the trendy concept of “netizen”, Occupy Wall Street and Puerta del Sol protest as example of demonstrations organized through new media with big eco on traditional media)
• The Wikileaks case: spreading information without permission: privilege o damage for citizens´ lives
  (Focus: a new way to make journalism, respect of the traditional rules of journalism, world implications of this new trend)
• Government control and its adaptability to the changes in act in the field of information
  (Focus: governmental reactions, capacity of adaptation to the technological changes and internet, attempts to limit internet´s flow of information)

Freedom of expression, journalists´ work ethics and the nature of information as filtered process

The nature of the journalistic profession is not objective in itself. There are different models and different ethics in the field of information all around the world. At the same time, there exist different schools of journalism: the British impartial information school and the tie between politics and journalism, for instance. There are many dissimilar ways to see the role of the information provider around the world and many diverse criteria to judge it. The role of journalists as a filter between the happenings and the perceptions of the citizens gives a lot of space for discussion over what journalists´ ethics should be; equally, what their relationships with the governments and other big powers are. Especially in the case of conflict, the role of the reporters is fundamental in creating public opinion on an issue that is often far away from the public itself. With this backdrop, cultural diplomacy is also an actor very much involved in a process: the relationship between citizens of different countries and cultural stereotypes is often the result of ‘information propaganda’. However at the same time, information has an important influence on the promotion of mutual understanding. Nevertheless, sometimes freedom of expression can be reason enough for diplomatic clashes between countries, like in the case of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, Nobel Prize winner for peace and reason of frictions between China and Norway.

• Journalism and Power: does a general ethic in journalism exist?
  (Focus: relation between journalism and power, different models of journalism, objective journalism vs. partisan journalism)
• Role of journalism as filter of information
  (Focus: how to minimize the impact of objectiveness in the role of reporter)
• The War reporter and his importance in the global political perception of the citizens
  (Focus: war reporter creating fears and hopes, manipulating public opinion and helping power in establish policies: the case of the Iraq war)
• Ethic of journalism and the safety of the journalist 
  (Focus: cases of journalists´ life safety in the exercise of their profession)
• Cultural Diplomacy and the importance of Media in the propaganda against cultural diversity and in the construction of cultural stereotypes
  (Focus: information as a tool of cultural diplomacy or as foe)
• Freedom of Expression and diplomatic clashes
  (Focus: when freedom of expression causes diplomatic clashes: the case of Liu Xiaobo and Salman Rushdie)

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), analyzing the motives of these murder, complained that politics is behind the killing of 40% of journalists dead. CPJ’s blog and editorials show the evidence of the political hatred against the work of some journalists. Indeed, commenting on the case of the death of Aatif, reporter killed last January in Shabqadar, Pakistan, the CPJ has informed, in its official webiste, that the spokesman of the Taliban has taken the responsibility for the killing of Aatif. In addition, the spokesman said that Taliban groups had repeatedly warned Pakistani reporters like Aatif to stop their activities on complaints against the Taliban’s policies.

Ribal al-Assad, 35, is a media entrepreneur and cousin of the Syrian President Bashar Assad. He is the founder and director of the Organization for Democracy and Freedom in Syria.

Here a lecture of RIbal al-Assad during “The Language of Art and Music Conference (The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin, February 17th – 20th 2011)”:

Here an interview of Ribal al-Assad on Sky News (December 9th, 2011):

Frank William La Rue, currently serving as UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, confirmed his presence, in quality of speaker, at The International Freedom of Expression Forum 2012 (Berlin, 28th February – 2nd March), organised by the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy.

Mr. La Rue has worked on human rights for the past 25 years. He is the founder of the Center for Legal Action for Human Rights (CALDH), both in Washington DC and Guatemala, which became the first Guatemalan NGO to bring cases of human rights violations to the Inter-American System. CALDH was also the first Guatemalan NGO to promote economic, social and cultural rights. Mr. La Rue also brought the first genocide case against the military dictatorship inGuatemala. As a human rights activist, his name was presented to the Nobel Peace Prize committee in 2004.

Mr. La Rue has previously served as a Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala, as a Human Rights Adviser to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, as President of the Governing Board of the Centro-American Institute of Social Democracy Studies and as a consultant to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Mr. La Rue holds a B.A. in Legal and Social Sciences from the University of San Carlos, Guatemala and a postgraduate degree in U.S.foreign policy from Johns Hopkins University.

The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy is pleased to welcome him to its first annual International Freedom of Expression Forum

To apply and partecipate to the International Freedom of Expression Forum 2012, please click here.

http://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/en/v/english_in_asia/index.html

Date: May 9-12, 2012 (Wednesday to Saturday)

The future of English as a world language has much to do with its status and use in Asia. The largest number of users of English comes from Asia and seems to be growing. English is deeply embedded in Asia’s multilingual languages habitats and functions as a (first or second) official language, a foreign language or a lingua franca. It is an icon of social transformation processes in multilingual nations and regions.

As nation-building, globalization, and large regional bodies are making significant demands on modernizing traditional societies, communication and English gain a central role in mediating change. Particular demands are made of the institutions in education including professional formation.

Addressing these themes, this conference will highlight inter- and multidisciplinary research of language disciplines, of history, and politics and encourage a deeper cooperation between researchers and academic institutions in Asia and Europe. It will raise issues of special concern to Germany and Europe to develop an Asia competence from a language and communicational perspective.

Call for papers:

(1)  Will English diversify ever more in Asia or will there emerge a common Asian lingua franca?

(2)  What are the major features of English in Asia and what are the parameters that frame its development? This area includes studies on Asian literatures in English.

(3)  If the varieties of English in Asia should loosen their ties with British and American English, what norms would emerge that guide its uses inside selected countries and across the region?

(4)  What are the consequences of these developments? Do they endanger the usefulness of English in interactions with people from outside the region? What do they need to know about the varieties of English in Asia to communicate and participate effectively?

(5)  Regarding the developments of English, are their similar developments taking place in Europe?

(6)  Given that English is deeply embedded in multilingual language habitats or scenarios, are there other languages such as Mandarin, Malay or Tamil that can be expected to acquire a high(er) prestige so that they can compete with English? What would be the likely consequences for Europe?

(7)  Should Europe need a larger competence in Asian languages? What about Asia? Should Asian nations and regional institutions support the availability of more European languages than just rely on English?

(8)  Should education include the teaching of regional competencies such as Asia’s? Should this be part of “intercultural communication2 competences?

(9)  What kind of inter- and multi-disciplinarity would one need to monitor these developments?

Contact:

Gerhard Leitner

Freie Universität Berlin
Institut für Englische Philologie
Habelschwerdter Allee 45
14195 Berlin, Germany

Email: english-asia-conf@anglistik.fu-berlin.de

American actress Angelina Jolie won the Cinema For Peace prize for her directorial debut on the Bosnian war; Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed El Baradie was among the jury.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie picked up an award in Berlin, receiving late on Monday the Cinema For Peace prize, which goes to filmmakers that promote the values of humanity.

She has showcased her hard-hitting Bosnian war drama, In the Land of Blood and Honey, at this year’s festival, and was on the red carpet with partner, Brad Pitt. ahead of receiving the prize.

“This award … is not just so we have a film that looks back, but a cast and a project that look forward to a more prosperous future in the region, and that is what we all really want,” Jolie told Reuters.

Jolie received the award from Egyptian former presidential candidate and former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Mohamed ElBaradei, who was among the jury of the Cinema for Peace section in this year’s Berlinale.

Referring to the Arab Spring in the Cinema for Peace 2012 charity gala, ElBaradie said that the culture of fear will not return.

The Center for Cultural Diplomacy Studies (of the ICD Academy for Cultural Diplomacy) is the world’s leading center for the study of cultural diplomacy, offering educational opportunities ranging from week-long seminars for undergraduate students and interested professionals to master’s and doctoral programs for graduates pursuing careers in academia, diplomacy, government and/or the private sector dedicated either wholly or in part to the field of cultural diplomacy.

The educational programs of the Academy, offered in partnership with leading European universities and institutions, allow participants to analyze, research and experience cultural diplomacy in theory and in practice at the local, state and international levels. The Academy focuses on, though its capacities are not limited to, the balancing of “hard” and “soft” power, globalization and the interdependence of nation-states, liberal institutionalism, intercultural dialogue & exchange, and the ability of culturally-based initiatives to further mutual understanding and, in turn, conflict resolution.

The CCDS benefits from the participation and support of leading political figures and academics from around the world who participate in the Center’s activities throughout the year. CCDS operates parallel to the activities of the ICD, which include pioneering international events in the field and qualifying the leaders of tomorrow for the challenges of the twenty-first century.

For more information about PHD Program, MBA, MA in International Relations and Cultural Diplomacy, MA in Cultural Diplomacy and Euro-Mediterranean Studies, E-Learning and Weej´klong Seminars, please click here.

On the first Saturday of every month, children with disabilities that have confined them to wheelchairs gather at an ice rink in Berlin for an afternoon of ice skating, friendship and fun. Using the invention of Mr. Marc Bogaerts, the “ice wheelchair”- a wheelchair with skating blades instead of wheels – these children can skate on the ice, with the assistance of a friend or family member who provides the forward propulsion and steering. The exhilaration and enjoyment of participants is obvious on their faces and the friendships and bonds that are created are invaluable.

[due to copyright issues in Germany is not possible to open this video on Youtube. Please check the following link to watch it integrally http://www.culturaldiplomacy.org/acd/index.php?en_acd_wheels-on-ice]

Participants and their families not only enjoy the exhilaration of skating, but they also form a community of friends that understand and appreciate the challenges and opportunities of having a disability.

In addition, throughout the year, Wheels on Ice organizes events ranging from hockey games, to dancing lessons, to performances for the participants to enjoy.

Hockey Games – Professional hockey players donate their afternoon to play with and coach participants using the ice wheelchair. Children of all ages and skills are welcome. The day culminates with a full 6 vs. 6 hockey game with parents, siblings and friends cheering them on!

Ice Dancing – Renowned ice dancers and choreographers work with participants over several weeks to develop an ice dance routine. No experience or skills required! Final performances take place at the end of the program highlighting the beauty and art of the experience.

The program was developed to create a recreational opportunity, but more importantly, to facilitate communication and understanding between the different cultural communities that exist within the disabled community. Though participants come from different worlds – different ethnicities, different religions, even different languages – they all share the challenges, the victories, the frustrations and the joys of living with limited mobility. Understanding and relating to one another despite significant differences creates a united community.

For more info about Marc Bogaerts, ICD’s Artistic Director, please click here.