Communiqué

Processes related to globalization, ethical issues, interdependence among places, societies, human beings, the breathtaking circulation of information, as well as technological and scientific innovations represent major changes of concern to the world of education.

Being within a society distinguished by the world of the “virtual”, man is facing today a loss that is taking place in the deconstruction of the term, in the elimination of distance between reality and belonging and in the incapacity of establishing for oneself an affective dimension. It is therefore in light of these disturbances that man is questioning their meaning and the challenges that they impose as well as the opportunities and means to respond.

Two different societies seem to share the global village: a society at the mercy of the great media and economic empires and another one experiencing civilizational confrontation.

The former is occidental, tolerant and democratic, while the latter is accused, whether wrongly or rightly, of being the breeding ground of religious fundamentalism.

The powers of the State in the former society seem to dissolve into a transnational power wherein the individual is taken away from his origins, bewitched by the belonging to an international system which threatens the State, the only guarantor of social justice. The latter society witnesses the dismantling of all forms of State on the expense of a strategy reflected through radical dogmatism.
“The man in pieces” takes over.

Dismissing all fatalities, we confirm that globalization is what we make out of it.

In response to this awareness, the Catholic University should respond to globalization through values registered in History. The challenge would be to get involved in the establishment of integrative societies which respect cultural diversities and prepare citizens for whom belonging does not represent a state but rather a process, not an essence but rather a historical fact that is constantly built and rebuilt.

Objective of the Colloquium
The colloquium aims to show how the Catholic University will be able to mitigate the effects of the “global culture” ideology, reducing cultural differences, and substitute it with the ideology of respecting the dignity of man, the cultural difference within the same collectivity.

Call for Papers
The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik invites you to take part in the colloquium:

“BELONGING AND GLOBALIZATION IN EDUCATION NEW CHALLENGES FOR THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY”

1st THEME: LEARN AND TEACH AT THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY TODAY
This theme elaborates on the innovative educational processes and sheds the light on the academic infrastructure which does not overshadow global interactions but rather takes into consideration their functioning. The chart of education proposed by the Catholic University includes in its curricula the culture of universal ethics based on the universal human rights and the respect of freedom, equality and dignity of all human beings.

The Catholic University undertakes to circulate ideas that can put an end to outdated ideologies which separate peoples and nations, and this, by defining the main source of global ethics based on the idea of vulnerability of the human condition and the desire to relieve, as much as possible, the sufferings of each individual.
Similarly, the 1st theme tackles the quality of education, an issue closely related to the status of the lecturer working at the Catholic University.

What kind of university lecturers do we need for the 3rd millennium?
Conferences dealing with lecturers at the Catholic University will contribute to the emergence of cultural, academic, human and professional identity of the new lecturer.
In the 1st theme, lectures can underline the spiritual aspect in the teaching of youth, because it is in such a way only that the Catholic University has the means to effectively counteract the risk of imbalance between the highly fast growth of our technical powers and the slow and painful growth of our moral resources (Benedict XVI; Congress of the Church, Verona, 19/10/2006).

2nd THEME: THE CHALLENGES OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY IN THE ERA OF GLOBALIZATION
Topics of the 2nd theme deal with the various challenges facing the Catholic University, located in a world which captures the circulation of a two-speed education in both poor countries as well as in the wealthiest ones.
The Catholic University should work on freeing society from communitarianism, corollary of a society withdrawn into itself in the name of difference, in order to integrate it within a life which acknowledges unity in diversity.
Since the respect of difference does not go without saying, the Catholic University will make use of the main pillars of education and notably, teaching to know, to do, to live together and to be.
The Catholic University will fight against:
a. The crisis of ethical, moral and religious customs and motivations in the world of education
b. The fragmentation of knowledge
c. The confusion of youth
d. The risk of confirming “the end of education”

The Catholic University will seek to promote the profession of man.
It is within the Catholic University that one could fall on the dawn of the third millennium to contribute, through research and socio-cultural explorations, to the development of peoples and nations, to consider a real education for globalization and citizenship, to promote openness to the world, openness to the other, the development of knowledge of different civilizations, in order to achieve the shared feeling of the dual identity to the particular society and to the huge family of nations.

3rd THEME: EDUCATION IN THE SERVICE OF REESTABLISHING GLOBAL ORDER
The 3rd theme focuses a) on the education of citizenship, b) on the urgent reform which would save institutions and human beings through the establishment of an institutional system where faith and reason meet, c) on the necessity of establishing a public authority to give life and meaning to the moral order, d) on the promotion of global governance, source of blessing for powerful and weak individuals, e) on the education on meeting someone who links the human being to infinity, f) on the know-how-to-work-with and the being-for.

4th THEME: BELONGING AND GLOBALIZATION
The 4th theme stresses the development of a system of regulating values of the education of citizens within their nations and their openness to the world.
The contributions fit into the harmonious relationship of reciprocity face to dominant ideologies, the fundamentalist discourses and planetary breaks which divide humanity into poles of Good and Evil.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PAPERS
All participants wishing to take part in the colloquium should define a subject likely to meet with the objectives of the chosen theme.
At a first stage, participants should proceed to the Secretariat of the colloquium in order to hand in the subject with a brief summary of the content, before December 17, 2010.

At a later stage, authors will communicate to the Secretariat of the colloquium the complete texts.
Papers should abide by the following standards:
- Font: Times new Roman 12
- 15000 to 20000 characters (including spaces, footnotes and bibliography)
- Justified text to the left and subtitles in bold
- Quotations in italic
- References within the text: name of the author, year and page number
- Bibliography: it should be displayed at the end of the text. The paper will be sent as hard copy and as a soft copy on a CD, word document or RTF, or sent by e-mail to the Secretariat of the colloquium
Deadline for submitting papers: between April 1 and 8, 2011
Time allotted for each lecture: 15 to 20 minutes

Organizer of the colloquium: Fr. Georges Hobeika
Coordinator of the colloquium: Prof. Hoda Nehme
Permanent contact: Prof. Hoda Nehme
E-mail: hnehme@usek.edu.lb
Secretariat of the colloquium: contact Ms. Aida Moussa
E-mail: fpsh@usek.edu.lb
Fax: 961 9 600 551
Tel.: 961 9 600 055
Address: Holy Spirit University of Kaslik
Faculty of Philosophy and Humanities
P.O. Box 446, Jounieh, Lebanon