Monday, July 9th

Blog Posting, Monday July 9th

On the first day of the 2007 Humanity in Action American Program the fellows received an introduction to the organization from Judy Goldstein, after having been welcomed by Matt Hirshberg, our new Program Director. Besides advising the fellows to be cautious with the red lights and engage in a bit of investigative spying on New Yorkers and their dogs, Judy spoke about the nature of the different programs, the challenges facing Humanity in Action, as well as the upcoming plans for the establishment of HIA centres in Europe and the US respectively.
Following Judy, David Machacek spoke about the core of HIA by referring to Cass Sunstein’s article “The Thin Line”. He reflected on the natural inclination of human beings to obey authority, and posed the question “What happens when authority loses the moral compass”? David argued that what HIA sets out to do is to find young individuals with high moral thresholds, bring them together, and form a collective responsibility. In relation to the American Program, David pointed out 5 dimensions that are of particular importance in our dealings with diversity. 1. Immigration and Citizenship, 2. Race and Ethnicity, 3. Religion, 4. Economy and Law, and 5. Civil Society. He professed the hope that the fellows will leave the program not only more convinced of the moral values that we attain to, but also that they will have developed the capacity, the knowledge, and the network to react on time when authorities steer away from the moral compass, while holding each other accountable in this endeavour.
After getting to know each other on a more personal level through an introduction exercise the group watched the documentary “Four Hours at My Lai” and afterwards split into small discussion groups. Each group had to look into the psychological dynamics that caused different characters in the movie to react as they did. The aim was to identify which personal and situational mechanisms make a person a perpetrator, a bystander, or a “hero”.
We concluded with presentations by the French and Polish fellows. Alix, Halimatou, and Soraya presented an exposition of secularism in France. In the French context secularism is viewed as the primary means to ensure progress and freedom, while religion should be reserved for the private sphere. Asia, Jedrzej, and Pawel gave a presentation on the central role of religion in Poland, in this case meaning Catholicism, and its strong influence on Polish political affairs, both nationally and regionally.
The first day was productive and constructive, and holds great promises for the coming weeks.


Nailah & Julia