The Marie Colvin Center for International Reporting at Stony Brook University’s School of Communication and Journalism (SoCJ) is hosting two visiting fellows from Indonesia and Palestine.
Eman Buirat and Dinar Dina Karamani, the two fellows, came to Stony Brook through a initiative called the Community Solutions Program. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and organized by the International Research & Exchanges Board, the program focuses on fostering cross-cultural communication and “strengthen their capacity for leadership and development in their home countries.”
This is the third year the Colvin Center will be hosting visiting fellows. In previous years, the Colvin Center hosted fellows from Nepal, Ukraine and Moldova.
“We’re really thrilled,” said Sarah Baxter, the director of the Colvin Center. “They’re wonderful people. Because they’ve come through a state department-sponsored scheme, they’ve already been through a highly competitive process that over 10,000 people applied for, so we are really fortunate to have them.”
Buirat is a lawyer from Ramallah, West Bank in the Palestinian Territories. She also works for the Young Reporters Fostering Youth Community Development project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development.
After seeing an advertisement for the Community Solutions Program on the Facebook page of the American Office for Palestinian Affairs in Jerusalem, Buirat said decided to apply for the program and got accepted.
“This program will work on developing my leadership and professional skills, which is why I applied,” Buirat said. “It will open up other opportunities for me, as I am confident that every opportunity will lead to another in life.”
Through the program, she is taking multiple courses as a student such as JRN 216 (Intermediate Digital Journalism) and COM 120 (Fundamentals of Public Speaking). Buirat said she hopes that the experiences from these courses will help her with her work, specifically by helping to improve her journalism and media skills.
Overall, she said she has been enjoying her experience in the United States and at Stony Brook. She said she is excited by all the opportunities she has to learn something new.
“There are some challenges, but that’s great because I see challenges as an opportunity to learn,” Buirat said.
During the program, Buirat will work on a community project that focuses on the Bedouins, a nomadic group of people in Palestine. Once she returns to the West Bank, she said she will implement the community action plan for the Bedouins.
Karamani, the other visiting fellow, is a communication lecturer at ARS University in Bandung, Indonesia. She also serves as a media advisor for a local media platform in Indonesia called Info Rancaekek and is part of the Board Association of Higher Education in Communication Studies for ASPIKOM Jabar.
Back in her home country, Karamani has been researching potential conflicts in multicultural societies and gender disparity. At Stony Brook, she said hopes to expand her horizons in the field of communication and journalism.
“I plan to pursue my PhD studies here in the U.S., so participating in this program will be highly beneficial,” Karamani said. “It will allow me to become familiar with the American education system, which will be valuable for my academic and professional growth.”
When it comes to being in the U.S., Karamani said that her experience has been great.
“America has been truly incredible,” she said. “Growing up, [the] media and movies gave me a glimpse of what America looks like, and now I’m here living it.”
Though she is new to the Stony Brook community, she said she has had no trouble fitting into campus life.
“Being placed in Stony Brook University is such an honor,” she said. “The campus and community are incredibly inclusive and I’ve felt very welcomed. I’ve joined several classes and the professors have been both helpful and considerate.”
Buirat and Karamani will be returning to their home countries in late Nov., saying they will incorporate what they learned into their careers in their home countries.
Karamani said she plans to share what she learns at Stony Brook to her community through a mentorship program about media literacy for the underprivileged in Indonesia. She is also working on creating social media content as a part of a collaboration between Info Rancaekek and professors at the SoCJ.
“It’s important to create connections and build new ideas,” Laura Lindenfeld, the dean of the SoCJ and executive director of the Alda Center for Communicating Science, said. “That’s what the School of Communication and Journalism is all about.”
Baxter says that there is much to learn from collaborating with international scholars – particularly now, as international conflicts become more and more relevant.
“We all have so much to learn from each other, particularly in these difficult times,” Baxter said. “I’m a huge supporter of knowing your neighbors all over the world, knowing their problems and getting them to know us, as well. The dialogue that’s fostered between us is something that can really break down barriers and enhance communication.”
