Another NCC'er Reports on the War in Afghanistan

As a variation on the theme of last week's post, we have another article by an NCC'er--this time, Jeffrey Stern, the Center's International Engagement Manager. Stern Rights about Obama's plan for Afghanistan from a different perspective, that of its implications for the dispute between Pakistan and India. Check out Stern's article for Foreign Policy here

NCC Partner Reports on Afghanistan Surge for CNN

Nasim Fekrat was among the first partners the NCC worked with to launch our International Engagement Project. A young journalist, photographer, and blogger from Afghanistan, Nasim embodied the values the Center exists to promote. Nasim was a fellow at the Center's 2009 Peter Jennings Project, and is currently a full-time undergraduate student at Dickinson college. This week, he posted his take on President Obama's decision to increase the United States' presence in Afghanistan by 30,000 troops, which you can read here.

Talking About War

Our last post centered on comments as a means of exchange, leading up to the visit the Afghan students make to America. This week has seen a specific exchange of commentary that illuminates how casual, topical interface between students on any given subject can make way for exchanging more profound insights that prompt discussion on political, historical, moral, and philosophical issues.

Earlier in the month, an American student who maintains an active interest in military history asked the Afghan students at via the shutterfly site what their opinion was of the Taliban and the war on terrorism. The “Taliban is not just a threat for Afghanistan,” A Marefat student named Bismullah responded, “but for every nation in the world, that is why they have to be defeated, and I think this is the interest of all those who participate in the war.” He went on to argue that “war itself for tackling a group like Taliban is not wrong, but ways we selected strategies can be right or wrong and effective or not effective.” In other words, the ends justify the means—as long as the means are effective.

Bismullah’s opinion is informed by the community he belongs to. Marefat High School is made up predominantly of Hazaras, an ethnic and religious minority in Afghanistan who have suffered disproportionately under the Taliban, and would again be among the worst treated should the Taliban prevail in Afghanistan again. This is an engaging way to interpret the social, political, and cultural influences on the opinions of students in another country. That analysis can help students see how their own views are formed.

For the time being, Bismullah has posted his matter-of-fact answers to two of the most pressing contemporary political questions—one of which has been relevent for as long as mankind has been around, the other has only become an issue within the last several years. Can you justify war? And: does the Taliban constitute a threat to the international community, or is it purely a nationalistic movement, as it claims to be?

We’ll wait to see whether anyone disagrees with Bismullah’s opinions. Bismullah, for his part, hopes that someone does. “You are asking interesting questions, “he says. “Please keep asking such questions so that we can exchange ideas and views.”

The Importance of Exchange

One of the most immediately rewarding and informative aspects of Being
We, the People is the students' exchange of commentary. Though all
students have been strongly encouraged to post comments on the
Shutterfly site, they've never been obliged to by any mechanism; it's
not a requirement for completing the project, they're not graded on
comments, and there is no extra credit they might earn. Instead, when
American students have questions about Afghanistan, we've reminded them
that there is a rich resource at their disposal--their counterparts in Afghanistan-who are eager and able to answer questions. In addition to cultivating the skill and inclination to actively seek out answers, this method has helped the students develop an understanding of "human capital," the resource their partners can be to them, and they can be to their partners.

The progression in the commentary's subject and tone is informative in
its own right. As the students have become more comfortable with the
project, their comments to one another have become more substantive. At
the outset, students' comments were rarely deeper than their approval of
a given image. The teachers in both Philadelphia and Kabul encouraged
the students to begin employing the photography skills and nomenclature
they were learning to evaluate each others' images, and soon students
were posting evaluations that touched on concepts like "the rule of
thirds" "sense of moment" and "framing." As the students became
comfortable being critical of one another's work, they extended their
comments to include questions of context-about what the photographer had
wanted to say with the image, rather than merely what it looked like.

Now, it's no longer just photographs inspiring comments, but comments
inspiring photographs as well. Students are asking eachother
questions--how are people with mental disabilities cared for in your
country; how does the Taliban and the war on terrorism effect your
life?--and in so doing, inspiring eachother to go out and find or enhance
their answers. The conversations have sparked ideas of new themes, and
the students have agreed to try to take photographs of, for example,
mental health care in their respective countries, after becoming
interested in how it compares. The students are beginning to understand
the respective benefits and drawbacks of "showing" versus "telling." And
more importantly, they're learning the history and culture of another
country, as told through the eyes (and words) of that country's youth.

Being We, the People in Your Classroom

Plans are underway to create a curriculum that would better enable your students to replicate the remarkable work achieved by students at Constitution High School in Philadelphia and at Marefat High School in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The Center is working closely with educators from both schools, as well as professional curriculum developers to allow your students to add their experience to the diverse narrative of what it means to be a citizen of the world. Through a variety of activities and writing prompts, students will be encouraged to think about their own experience in regard to the six themes addressed in the project; myself, religion, work, participation, expression and commerce. After considering the themes, students will be sent out into their communities to document their experience through photography. Ultimately, students will then consider the ways their experience compares and contrasts to students from around the country and world.

This is sure to be an excellent service-learning project for students interested in compartive democratization and documenting their experience as part of "We, the People."

Until the curriculum is finished, be sure to keep up with the project on http://www.beingwethepeople.shutterfly.com/ and the Center's website, www.constitutioncenter.org/international

This Week in Being We, the People

For this week's photography class, we tried a different approach. Instead of picking a core project theme like "expression" or "religion" as we’ve done every week before, the American students looked at some of the photographs the students in Afghanistan posted, and discussed how we could capture similar images, of similar subjects, and expressing similar themes, in their communities.

A photograph of adobe-style mud brick houses on a hill in Afghanistan with an industrial development inspired discussion of "old meets new" and some of the students decided that to capture the same theme here in Philadelphia, they would go to housing projects, where new construction often stands in stark contrast to the older buildings next door. A panoramic view of the City of Kabul drew a suggested photo with a similar view of Philadelphia. (Insert comparison photos if possible)

When reviewing Afghan student photos and suggesting a title, American students were asked how they’d take a picture to fit the same title. And every time a student suggested how she might take a picture to express the same theme, she was asked to articulate that theme; to suggest a title. In this way, the students have begun thinking critically about not just the composition but the context of the photographs, and as importantly the similarities and differences that exist between their peers in Afghanistan.

For the next week they will shoot only subjects that could fit an existing title, but within that interpretive space, gave them the freedom to do so however they choose. We’ll see the immediate results next week in the photographs they return with and their explanations of which shot from Afghanistan inspired them. But the ultimate result of conveying the differences between two societies while searching for the similarities is a skill that can be cultivated and serve a critical thinker well for the rest of their life both academically and socially.

Race to the Finish in Afghan Elections

Afghanistan is moving forward in its electoral process, holding a run off election between incumbent Hamid Karzai and challenger Abdullah Abdulla. President Hamid Karzai failed to receive the required majority of votes when the U.N. declared one third of votes invalid. The August 20 election was the second election held in Afghanistan under the Constitution of Afghanistan. There had been talk of a power sharing deal between the two competitors, and the creation of a coalition government. However, that has been overturned in favor of the run-off election.

This is a great time to discuss comparisons and contrasts between Afghanistan and the United States, and provide your students with a deeper understanding of the world at large.

One way to accomplish this is through the Photo narrative of Being We the People, a photography exhibit by students from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Kabul, Afghanistan. The images can be found at beingwethepeople.shutterfly.comAsk your students to draw comparisons between the photos, as well as the countries at large.

You can then discuss with students the current events surrounding the elections in Afghanistan, and different methods of determining a winner when a tie occurs.

You can then ask your students “What happens in the United States when there is a tie for the presidency?” Many may not know. Your students can read Article II, section one of the Constitution, for the answer. This scenario played out in the election of 1800, between Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Aaron Burr. After this election, the Twelfth amendment was passed, changing the way Presidents we elected. However, the role of the House of Representatives selecting the President, with one vote per state, remains the same. A tie for the presidency occurred only one other time, under the twelfth amendment, in the election of 1825, between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. Ask your students to express their feelings on this issue – do they agree? How would they determine a winner in the event of a tie?