International Summer University for International Leadership 2015
In 2015, the program will take place in Cappadocia, Turkey from July 19 to August 2, 2015 on the theme “The Power of Images: Truth, Manipulation and Intolerance” with a series of lectures by eminent scholars in the field. Through team projects and group discussions groups, the program will enable students to openly debate different world views around a specific theme and to find common paths that lead to mutual understanding and tolerance.
The Power of Images: Truth, Manipulation and Intolerance
With the advent of mass media and the internet, the modern world has shifted from a print culture to a visual culture: a new age of image-centered communication has begun. In this transition, the use of analogical thinking has also shifted from verbal metaphors to visual ones. This shift is particularly evident in the use of intercultural communication. This year’s program explores the power of images as a basic and indispensable tool of cultural interaction: how images are processed, how they function in relation to our innermost beings, and how they form the psychological fabric of our political, social, and economic environment. There will be a focus on the role of the various media in creating the images which impact our lives: how visual images create a language with profound psychological meaning, and how print, television, film and the newly-arrived social media manipulate images to create desired emotional effects. We will look at the most controversial areas of image persuasiveness today — advertising, politics, and entertainment. Cutting across many disciplines (psychology, politics, history, sociology, law, religious studies, journalism…), the course will be done in the form of a lecture series combined with active participation by students in the form of project presentations and discussion groups.
Program content
The course is designed for students who already have a background or a strong interest in the following disciplines (social science, political science, international relations, sociology, international law, anthropology, peace and conflict studies). Lectures and workshops will be conducted in English by professors and academics who will come from each partner university.
The course includes
Morning lectures on the following topics:
- Image and representation of the Other throughout history
- Role of images and media in creating acceptance, or fostering differences, hatred
- Authoritarianism, radicalism, extremism
- Images and the shaping of a culture or religion
- Images, archives and history
- Forbidden/authorized images (why? Can we show everything? Should we show everything?)
- Media and images in today’s globalized world (omnipresence of images as tools to depict reality)
- Terrorism and use of media (ISIL, etc…)
- New media and social media
- Self-perception and self-promotion (generation selfie and social media)
Afternoon workshop and visits
- In depth and small group research / study of selected issues addressed during morning lectures
- Visits of Cappadocia
- A range of extra-curricular activities
Research project
Students will be equally divided into groups reflecting different countries and cultural backgrounds, to work together on a common research project. Each group will have to present a draft plan by the end of the summer university. Final research projects are to be completed after the two-week program and submitted to an international panel of academics in October 2015.
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