Established in 2013, the Media and Digital Literacy Academy of Beirut (MDLAB) works on the expansion of media and digital literacy education in the Arab world by providing the needed training, curricular material and resources, and motivating faculty to transfer what they learned to their institutions.

MDLAB offers students and academics a unique opportunity to study media and digital literacy with leading Arab and international experts during two summer weeks. The academy works year-round to further develop curricula and publish them in an open source environment. Additionally, MDLAB acts as an incubator of innovative ideas and a hub for a network of regional universities and media educators.

The topics we cover are diverse and include: media literacy and human rights, media literacy’s role in the Arab region, news coverage of human rights violations, the power of images, propaganda in video and film, media and business influences, Arab media ownership patterns, media portrayal of marginalized communities, media and religion, sectarian hate speech and free speech, media, gender, sexuality and body image, social media and privacy threats, violence in video games, and youth, media, and radicalization.

Other topics include a host of digital media skills, such as blogging, podcasting, photo manipulation, audio and video editing, comparative news analysis, social network analysis, and data visualization.