Due Wednesday, Feb. 19: Hard copy of 750-word speech story, with quotes from the speaker Omar Dahi and two or more audience members (put these at the end of the piece). Include a word count.
Prepare in advance:
Omar Dahi, a Hampshire College professor of economics, will give a talk titled "The Crisis of Syria's Refugees in Lebanon," in the Commonwealth College Building, Events Hall -East, beginning at 4 p.m., today, Feb. 12.
Some info and links to websites and videos:
A good, recent video interview with Dahi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMxFgGBZnGA
Article Dahi wrote: http://www.merip.org/syrian-cataclysm
Video interview from a year ago: https://vimeo.com/47525682
Notes:
Dahi talks in a recent video about how reporting on the subject of the humanitarian crisis in Syria has not been critical enough, that is that it has not been well-enough informed about the many dynamics involved -- the various sides, the role of foreign governments, the history of the conflict etc. One challenge is to make sure that your pieces ARE well-informed about the crisis, based on Dahi's summary and analysis.
What you'll be trying to do in a relatively short piece is to present a brief overview, as related by Dahi, of the crisis, where it stands now and what he thinks needs to happen. (He talks about four things he thinks need to happen in one of the videos I've linked to below.) Your tone must be objective. Do NOT use the first person.
You will be writing for a general audience -- of people who, for the most part, are not very well-versed in what is going on in Syria, or what our government's role has been, is now, or should be, according to Dahi. Make sure that you totally understand what it is you're writing. (If you don't your reader won't.) Write as you would speak. Don't use abstract words, like "neoliberalism," for instance.
Your goal is to write a piece that clearly explains the main points of Dahi's talk to an audience that you can pretty much assume doesn't know much about Syria or the current crisis. So, think about what a typical reader might want to know, for example -- Is this a civil war? Who is fighting who? How many sides are there? How many people are estimated to have died and how many displaced? What are the main things the sides disagree about? Has the United States taken sides, and is our government supporting one side with military assistance or money? Did the United States government or some other government(s) help cause the current crisis? Should other countries intervene? What does Dahi think the United States should do about this? Can average citizens like us do anything?
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