Blog
MDLAB 2017
Welcome to the fifth edition of the Media and Digital Literacy Academy of Beirut
The academy this year will focus on responding to extremism, gender equality, and human rights during conflicts and wars. The academy will work on finding solutions and developing media and digital literacy content related to these issues.
This year’s participants come from 34 institutions and 15 countries. The Arab participants come from Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Algeria, Morocco, and Yemen. And for the first time, MDLAB will enroll international participants from non-Arab countries, including Germany, United States, China, Russia, Bulgaria, and Iran.
The academy is excited to welcome our many guest speakers this year, among them are Sut Jhally (University of Massachusetts), Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Paul Mihailidis (Emerson College), Carola Richter (Free Berlin University), Amanda Philips (Georgetown University), Jennifer Rosales (Center for Social Justice), Julian McDougall (Bournemouth University), Megan Fromm (Colorado Mesa University), Moses Shumow (Florida International University), Monika Halkort (LAU), Claudia Kozman (LAU), and Jad Melki (LAU).
The academy will also be screening two documentaries: Lebanese journalist and activist Maya Majzoub’s taboo-breaking Fallen Television and the highly acclaimed The Occupation of the American Mind, produced by The Media Education Foundation, which will be followed by a Q&A with Sut Jhally and Roger Waters.
Since its launch, MDLAB has achieved major milestones in promoting and developing media literacy in the Arab region. Whereas before 2010, not one Arab university offered a media literacy course, today over 36 universities and a dozen schools offer media literacy courses or incorporate media literacy modules into their curricula. In recognition of these achievements, MDLAB’s founder Dr. Jad Melki received the 2015 UNESCO-UNAoC International Media and Information Literacy Award for promoting media literacy education in the Arab region. MDLAB 2017 is sponsored by the Norwegian Embassy and co-sponsored by the German DAAD, DW Academy and the EU.