Shanoor Seervai recently wrote on the Wall Street Journal an interesting article about the History Project, a collaborative peace-building initiative promoted by youth from Pakistan and India that seeks to unveil stereotypes from history textbooks that perpetuate the animosity between people from these two countries over time. The project is devoted to provide “access for youth in their formative years to alternative perspectives on their shared heritage and to encourage a culture of rational and critical thinking.”

The History Project has been successful at publishing its first book with the same title (“The History Project“), which is available online for no fee. The book takes a number of differing narratives extracted from Indian and Pakistani textbooks alike, “juxtapose[d] unadulterated versions of history being taught in text books on either side of the border. We collated versions from history text books and put differing versions side by side, in an attempt to highlight the reality of an alternative perspective with equally convincing foundations.” If you look at the illustrations, you will also notice that the historical figures represented are faceless, in an attempt to detach this alternative narrative from stereotypes of well-known political personalities criticized or praised in other textbooks. Some key historical events such as the Civil Disobedience Movement, the Salt March or the Lahore Resolution are also depicted in the book: “Historical events are politicized to substantiate present events… and textbooks become a tool to bolster a political agenda.” The History Project continues to present initiatives, such as the Twitter feed that they will launch in June.

“But most importantly, we discovered that people laden as enemies in our minds without us ever having met them can be as good friends (or enemies) as anyone back home.” The History Project

This project reminded us of the TED talk video that we wrote about a few months ago “The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Adichie, who reflects about the perils of listening to incomplete or non-inclusive stories and narratives that reinforce stereotypes and affect the mutual understanding and co-existence of cultures, communities and individuals.

If you are interested in this area of the world, some further literature can be found here:

• Denizens of Alien Worlds, a study about the educational system in Pakistan by Dr. Tariq Rahman.
• A Pacifist Uncovered, an article about nonviolence activist Abdul Ghaffar Khan and his influential but also forgotten role in the independence of the region.
• A brief description of activities conducted by Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP), a foundation that brings together young people from across South Asia, and specifically from India and Pakistan, who are motivated to engage in nonviolent social change and on issues of peace and security affecting the region.
• A review of ten contemporary South Asian writers who write about various cultural and societal issues in the region.

We are happy to share a fun, informative activity brought to you by AFS Intercultural Programs, Inc. that you can use to bring Intercultural Learning concepts to life!

Stretch Your Cultural Comfort Zone® is an exercise that aims to raise awareness of personal preferences in cultural contexts and encourages users to explore the boundaries of their comfort zones. The exercise is built around several cultural dimensions as defined by Geert Hofstede and Edward T. Hall. It asks participants to identify with one of the extremes* on six different scales representing six different dimensions, then try out activities or tasks that represent the other extreme and are not necessarily comfortable to them. The activity can be used as an interactive and self-guided display, or it can be used in a training situation with space provided for facilitated reflection and discussion. While the original activity is in English, all the documents are able to be edited and transformed into other language versions. We invite you to make your own language version using the templates provided and share them with others who are interested in working across cultural differences.*For the purpose of this exercise, participants are asked to pick one of the extremes on the dimensions scales; the authors acknowledge that reality is much more complex.

Language

Other languages have words that are difficult to translate as well. For instance, Portuguese-language music and poetry have made famous worldwide the concept of saudade, which is only matched in Galician language and can be described as a deep feeling of nostalgia for someone absent or who is missing. Other words and concepts related to emotions are described and mapped in these interesting infographics called Unspeakableness created by Pei-Ying Lin (alternative link).

But not all words that cannot be translated are related to love, emotions or states of mind! Here are some words and expressions that will make you think and smile.

Does your language have any words or expressions that are difficult to translate to other languages? What aspects or values of your culture do these words represent? 

From http://www.inakoehler.de/ausstellung.html

When we talk about intercultural experiences of young people abroad, we focus primarily on the internal changes that are happening with the young individual. We can hear that “the young person has become a real adult”, “s/he is more mature”, “s/he has learned a new language” or that “s/he is now more prepared to face the reality of our globalized world”. A number of researchers have attempted to describe and interpret what is happening “inside” of the young person. But have you ever thought about what kind of change happens on the outside?

German photographer Ina Köhler posed this question after she saw how her own daughter changed after spending a year abroad. Her experience then motivated her to explore the topic through art, namely photography.

In her project, Ina aimed to capture the impact that a year abroad can show in a person’s face. She invited 30 high-school students from Berlin to pose for a portrait photography both before leaving for abroad as well as after returning home after a year. The collection of portraits was first displayed in her gallery in Berlin and it is now touring various schools in Germany. You can view sample of the portraits on her website or read a more detailed article about the exhibition.

Do you know about any other art projects inspired by intercultural exchange experience? Let us know!