Foreword

What do we mean when we refer to Muslim-Western relations?  How do we define and compare the Islamic world and the Western world?  Is it even possible to compare a religion with a region?  And most importantly, how might we find common ground between the values of Muslims and the values of Western industrialized democracies that rest on largely Judeo-Christian foundations? 

The Mainstream Media Project’s award-winning "A World of Possibilities" radio program explores these and related questions in depth in a series of some two dozen conversations devoted to understanding the sources of growing misunderstandings between the two cultures and exploring more effective ways to reduce these tensions. Underwritten by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, this four-part, four-hour series of audio programs aims to identify and clarify mutual misconceptions, commonly held values, and possible strategies for progress through in-depth conversations with select scholars, activists, and leaders in the Muslim community around the world and their counterparts in the United States.

The goal of this series is to explore the principal political, social, economic and religious issues that affect the complex relationship between the Islamic world and the peoples of the West.  By providing this information and inviting you to help design new approaches to reducing tensions between the two civilizations, this series seeks to engage a large cross-section of the American public, and to the degree possible, the Muslim community around the world, in a sustained conversation about relations between the two cultures, a dialogue that could contribute to a greater understanding and acceptance of common ground without denying our differences. Our overall strategy is to engage the listening public in the U.S. and in select Muslim nations as active, thoughtful, creative thinkers and actors rather than as passive spectators watching from the sidelines as others decide the fate of relations between Islam and the West. 

The narrator for the series is John Esposito, Founding Director of The Prince Alaweed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University and a world-renowned specialist in Islamic studies.  Mark Sommer, host of A World of Possibilities and Executive Director of the Mainstream Media Project, conducts the interviews. 

Educasting Overview

Educasting extends the life and reach of A World of Possibilities programs by transforming the radio interviews into multimedia materials for use as part of classroom instruction, with civic groups, NGO’s, policymakers, print and broadcast journalists, and for personal and professional development.  Following broadcast of select A World of Possibilities radio programs to its international carriage list, MMP “educasts” them by re-editing them as long-term educational resources.  Using an online multimedia platform, each Educasting package includes a resource/study guide consisting of the following components:

• overview of audio materials
• discussion questions
• facilitation guides
• discussion protocols
• analytical exercises
• collaborative exercises
• extended resources including organizations and initiatives in the field of focus

 This Educasting package is intended for use by audiences varied in age, location, background, belief, educational level. The materials adapt easily to a wide range of settings, including online and in-person discussion groups, classrooms and distance learning, civic groups and political meetings, and professional development settings.  Our aim is to create multiple opportunities for diverse audiences to engage in the process of learning, analysis, and collaborative design to generate and implement promising new approaches to specific societal challenges. Whether the educational context is a classroom in an educational institution, a non-governmental organization, a trainer in the field, a corporate team, civic group or public agency, the materials are designed to teach the basic skills of innovative thinking and action.

Educators can use Educasting materials to provide participants with accurate, engaging, and user-friendly supplements to their lectures and print materials. NGOs and civic groups can utilize the materials to build awareness and spur action by their memberships.  The multimedia format – in the form of podcasts, audio CDs, mp3 files, PDF files, transcriptions and ‘hard-copy’ documents – make the Educasting package particularly conducive to exchange, portability, and access in a variety of settings.