June 26, 2011 — Dr. Mohammed Dajani will present a free public talk on "The Role of Religion in Promoting Peace and Democracy in the Middle East" on Friday, July 1, 2011. His presentation begins 5 p.m. in the First Church of Oberlin located at 106 North Main Street.

Dr. Dajani is professor of political science and founding director of the American Studies Institute, Al-Quds University, Palestine. He is also a co-leader of the American Democratic Culture Partnerships (ADCP) and his talk is one of the featured events during the program's three-week summer seminar at . Students from Al-Quds University in Palestine, Tel Aviv University in Israel, and Oberlin College, will come together to explore values and concepts foundational to American democracy.

Oberlin College professors Carol Lasser and Gary Kornblith established the ADCP with colleagues at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem and at Tel Aviv University to teach a course on American democratic culture. While Tel Aviv and Al-Quds individually have partnerships with U.S. institutions of higher education, the trilateral nature of the ADCP and its subject matter make the project unique.

The ADCP consists of two parallel partnerships, one between Al-Quds University and Oberlin College and the other between Tel Aviv University and Oberlin College. In spring 2011, using a common sourcebook of readings, courses on the American democratic experience were taught in tandem at the three institutions. During the three-week seminar, students will gain new understandings of the meaning and significance of American history and democratic institutions in a cross-cultural context, explore common themes and aspirations, and learn how cultural differences contribute to different understandings. The students will live, eat, study, and spend social time together during the two weeks in Oberlin. They will then travel together to Washington, DC, to spend a week exploring the U.S. Capitol.