Knock down barriers
Replace hatred with friendship
Promote peace through travel

Designed specifically to help Americans promote goodwill and understanding in the world, our program has four main components:

1. You will travel to an under-visited country, especially those in the Muslim world, as part of a diverse group of American students

2. Your trip will be designed by a Ph.D professor who is an expert on both cross-cultural communication and the culture of the destination country

3. Before arriving in the host country, your professor will provide you with reading materials that introduce you to the culture you are about to visit

4. While in the host country, your guide will share the cultural guidance necessary to build friendship and trust with the locals you meet

We live in a world plagued by conflict. Mistrust and misunderstanding have bred fear, hatred and violence. Nations question the others’ motives, intentions and basic humanity.

Yet hope still remains. When one person meets another, preconceptions vanish. A genuine connection forms in their place: not a connection between a Westerner and a Muslim or a New Yorker and a Madrileño, but between two human beings. Individual human connections tear down barriers and dissolve misunderstanding.

Through travel, Americans have a unique opportunity to promote goodwill. By immersing yourself in the culture of another country, you demonstrate an interest in and respect for the people of that nation. At the same time, you open yourself up and enable yourself to truly understand the values, outlook, and point of view of the host culture.

While sharing a cup of tea with a shop owner in Cairo, you learn that he yearns only for a brighter future for his children. As you speak with a young man in Istanbul, you realize that he wants only to earn himself a college degree and a better life.

All the while, you provide these individuals with proof that Americans long for the same. When interacting in this context of mutual respect, suspicion and mistrust give way to understanding and friendship.

To read more, please click here.

Spring Break 2009:
Interfaith Dialogue in Action: Andalusia and Morocco

Summer 2009:
The Pillars of Civilization: Egypt and Greece

Winter Break 2010:
A Tour of the Muslim World: Turkey, Jordan and Egypt

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