Underskog

I tilknytning til utstillingen Composition for Two Wings av den libanesiske kunstneren Akram Zaatari inviterer Institutt for fredsforskning (PRIO) og Kunstnernes Hus til en samtale om hvordan kunst og kultur kan påvirke sosial endring i Midtøsten.

Protestbølgen som har feid gjennom Nord-Afrika og Midtøsten har blitt kjennetegnet av en innovasjonskraft nesten uten sidestykke. Mens fokus har ligget på bruken av de nye mediene, har vi også sett hvordan det har oppstått ulike kulturelle uttrykk som formidler både tradisjonelle og fremtidsrettede perspektiver. Hvilken rolle har kunst og kunstnere spilt under protestene? Bør vi forvente at overgangsregimene fremmer et nytt og annerledes forhold til den kulturelle sfære? Hvilken rolle kan kunst spille i prosessen for å lege sårene etter år med undertrykking, etablere nye relasjoner og for å inspirere til forandring, i tiden der en ny kontrakt mellom stat og samfunn er i ferd med å formes?


En innledning vil bli holdt av Cynthia P. Schneider, professor ved Georgetown University. Kommentarer vil bli gitt av Jørgen Jensehaugen, doktorgradsstipendiat ved NTNU. Samtalen ledes av professor Scott Gates, direktør ved Centre for Study of Civil War (CSCW), Institutt for Fredsforskning (PRIO).

Mer om innlederne ( på engelsk):
Presentation by Cynthia P. Schneider, Georgetown University
Professor Schneider teaches, publishes, and organizes initiatives in the field of cultural diplomacy, with a focus on relations with the Muslim world. She teaches courses in Diplomacy and Culture in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, where, from 1984-2005, she was a member of the art history faculty, and published on Rembrandt and seventeenth century Dutch art. Schneider is presently Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.


Professor Schneider co-directs Los Angeles-based MOST Resource (Muslims on Screen and Television), which provides valuable resources and accurate information on Islam and Muslims for the U.S. entertainment community, and brings together policy leaders with their counterparts in media and entertainment. For the Brookings Institution she leads the Arts and Culture Dialogue Initiative within the Saban Center for Middle East Policy.


Ambassador Schneider publishes and speaks frequently on topics related to arts, culture, and media and international affairs, often with a focus on the Muslim world. Her writings range from blogs for the Huffington Post and CNN.com to policy papers for the Brookings Institution. Her talks include a TED presentation on the global impact of American Idol, as well as speeches on the role of arts and culture in the U.S.–Islamic world relationship in venues from Kurdistan to Cairo.

From 1998-2001 she served as U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands. In 2001 she was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award (highest civilian award given by Pentagon, in recognition of support for the U.S. military during ambassadorship). Schneider received her B.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.


Comment by Jørgen Jensehaugen, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU)
Mr. Jensehaugen holds a MA in history from the University of Oslo, and is currently pursuing a doctorate in history at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. His research project is on the Camp David treaty negotiated between Egypt and Israel. He has a background as a researcher at PRIO.

Jensehaugen is the editor of Babylon, the Nordic Journal of Middle East Studies. He has published articles on various aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including such issues as: Palestinian nationalism; Palestinian historiography; the ethnic cleansing of Palestine; the Oslo peace process; the Israeli-Jordanian armistice; history as a political tool; etc.

Chaired by Scott Gates, Research Professor and Director of the Centre for the Study of Civil War (CSCW), International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO) and Professor of Political Science, Norwegian University of Science & Technology (NTNU). Gates has a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Michigan and an MS in Applied Economics from the University of Minnesota. Gates has published eight books including: Child Soldiers: Children and Armed Conflict in the Age of Fractured States (Pittsburgh, 2009) and Teaching, Tasks, and Trust: Functions of the Public Executive (Russell Sage, 2008). Gates has also published in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Journal of Peace Research, Review of Development Economics, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, World Development, inter alia.

He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Peace Research and is the Editor in Chief of the International Area Studies Review. Gates’ current research interests include: governance, political transitions, civil war, insurgency-counter-insurgency dynamics, and policing.