Lee Pellegrini摄影
视频屏幕上的那个年轻人, his features and voice slightly distorted in the video feed, 向太阳城网赌平台的学生介绍自己叫拉米. 他19年来的大部分时间都住在摩苏尔市, 他告诉他们, but is now more than 50 miles away from home at the Harsham refugee camp near Erbil in the Kurdistan region of 伊拉克.
The conversation was among some two dozen that took place over four days earlier this month when—作为纪念国际教育周的一部分—bbc主持了难民门户网站, a shipping container converted into a videoconferencing chamber where students, 教职员工和管理人员与伊拉克进行了交谈, 关于库尔德和叙利亚难民的各种话题—包括音乐.
音乐, Rami告诉BC的学生们, 帮助他在哈舍姆度过了三年, where he had gone with his mother and two sisters to escape the ISIS invasion. 他说自己是个有抱负的DJ, 词曲作者和说唱歌手, 并展示了他的一些作品, 唱歌和说唱—时而用阿拉伯语，时而用英语，有一次 —以及他在自己的YouTube频道上发布的歌曲.
学生们热烈鼓掌, 拉米也会回敬他们, 大二学生瑞秋·德鲁, 演唱了布兰迪·卡莱尔的《太阳城网赌平台》."
Rami said one of his songs was a call-out to the world not to turn its face away from refugees in Harsham or elsewhere, he explained; another was an exhortation to rebuild now-liberated Mosul and begin a new era. 还有一首他为朋友写的歌, upset because his girlfriend had left him; the friend had asked Rami to write a song that would bring her back.
“这工作!拉米笑着说.
会议反思, 了说, “考虑到伊拉克正在发生的所有复杂情况, 的简单陈述很容易被忽略, 正如拉米所说, 他们“只想要和平,“他们只是”希望战争结束."
"His song was really powerful in that he brought that fact back to the forefront of my mind—often very easy to forget with the media constantly portraying these conflicts as an 'us vs. them' situation, without any regard for the innocent civilians who just want peace."
门户, one of several dozen designed by Shared Studios and made available around the world, 被安排在希金斯楼梯附近. From outside, it looked like any other shipping container one might see at a port or warehouse. 但内部是装饰的, 一个视频屏幕占据了整个后墙上, providing most of the illumination in the space; the portals from where the refugees spoke had similarly spare, darkened interiors (some had been set up inside existing structures).
太阳城网赌平台一分钟: 作为国际教育周纪念活动的一部分, 太阳城网赌平台主办了难民门户网站, a shipping container converted into a videoconferencing chamber where students, 教师, and administrators spoke with refugees and other displaced persons from the Middle East. BC学生Lauren Berman '18, Adam French '20, 穆罕默德·莫罗18岁, and Hannah Winner '19 spoke with soccer enthusiasts in Erbil, 伊拉克. Ken Orgot, S.J., 神学与事工学院的太阳城官网生, 担任传送门波士顿一侧的管理员, 与伊拉克的拉米·哈拉夫合作. (Video by Ravi Jain, with additional cinematography by John Walsh, of University Communications.)
传送门里只有这么一点视觉信息—no glimpse of the BC campus or the refugee camp in the background— 参与者可以专注于彼此, bbc组织者说, and not be subject to details that might distract or influence the interaction.
"Humbling" was how Michaela Simoneau '18 described her time in the portal with Rami. "I think I went in with some visions about how extraordinary of an experience it was going to be, 虽然我确实度过了一段不可思议的时光, 我参与的对话都很普通, 如果我们去掉上下文.
"It was a good reminder that as much as we sensationalize the global refugee crisis, behind the horrors of the situation the people behind the politics are just regular people, 与激情, 利益, 就像我们这些在BC校园的人一样."
在组织门户会话时, 埃里克•欧文斯, associate director of the Boisi Center for 宗教 and American Public Life, followed a set of guidelines prepared by international organizations that deal with refugee issues. 参加者须事先登记, and urged to read and view provided materials to familiarize themselves with the refugee crisis. Session groups were limited to usually a half-dozen or fewer people each. Ken Ogot, S.J., 神学与事工学院的太阳城官网生, 协助策划和促进一些会议.
The guidelines also encouraged conversations to touch more on everyday 利益 and activities, 作为参与者寻找共同点的一种手段. 一些讨论的主题是—on religious topics, family migration stories or music, for example—而其他人则更为笼统. Representatives from the BC men's and women's soccer teams also took part in a "soccer clinic,在上面的视频中描述.
英语教授伊丽莎白·格雷弗, 已出版的小说家, unexpectedly found a kindred spirit during a portal session with Syrian refugees in Jordan. A young man named Yusef shared an excerpt (via a translator) from his novel; the passage concerned a man in a small black room writing stories for his far-distant lover. 格雷弗把她正在进行的工作告诉了他, a story based on her family's experience as Turkish immigrants.
"I asked him what his hopes for the future were, and he said to write another book," said Graver. "It felt like a beautiful coincidence to be sitting in this dark box—很像他故事里的那个房间—然后在我对面找个年轻作家"
Among other topics, Volunteer and Service Learning Center Welles R. Crowther Director Daniel Ponsetto and his group discussed the teaching 伊斯兰教的 at BC with two members of a humanitarian organization in the Jordan camp. The two were impressed by the efforts of BC and other colleges and universities to fairly represent Islam, 说Ponsetto, 但是从他们的角度来看, most Americans have little understanding of the Middle East, 伊斯兰教的, 以及大多数穆斯林的生活方式.
Ponsetto was struck by how Jordanians have displayed a general willingness to help refugees, even though the country has taken in a disproportionate number.
“现实是困难的, as refugees are willing to take jobs that can displace Jordanians. 然而, 大多数人的反应, especially including many young Jordanians who volunteer their time in the camps, 是非常积极和充满希望的."
From Erbil, Rami told the students that for him, "音乐 is light. 你的生活会很黑暗，也许事情不会很好. But music will make you intelligent; it will change your life." The BC students nodded approvingly, and talked about the place of music in their lives.
“我喜欢为自己弹钢琴—如果有人愿意付钱给我, 这是他们的责任,19岁的尼古拉斯·汤普森-勒勒斯说, who had complimented Rami on his rapping ("You have a good flow"). “如果我生气或有压力，音乐会帮助我. 这有点像冥想."
Simoneau, 尖叫鹰军乐队的成员, 拿出她的长号，吹起了“献给波士顿”."
"You won't believe how many times I've done that song these past few years," she quipped. 变得更加严肃, she talked about her band experiences: "It's powerful to play with a lot of people who love music."
At the end of the session, Rami praised the students for their musical interest and skills.
“继续放音乐，”他说. “是光."
——肖恩·史密斯|大学传播