Pre-Conference Workshop (5/24)

Don’t worry! I’m not going give you a bunch of statistics from an academic conference. The Prix Jeunesse, which is the conference I’m attending Munich, begins tomorrow. But I was invited to a preconference workshop on children’s programming to address the issue of migration, particularly Arab migration, in Europe. I thought it sounded fascinating, so I signed up to come.
The workshop was held within two blocks of the hotel, and it was attended by people from all over the world, not just Arabic countries. There were four Americans, and several people who had expertise in Arab culture or the Arab world, as well as mostly producers primarily from Europe. The organizers were from the UK, and they had done quite a bit of work in Arab countries. The next phase of their work is to look at what is available in Europe for children to address this issue of migration. Basically, the format of the day was to see video clips and to comment on them. I got a lot out of both the video and the comments. Of course, there are parallels with our issues with migration in the US. But this workshop was really focused on Arabic migration into Europe. We saw three programs aimed at preschoolers, several documentaries, and a number of programs that were designed to be what I call “plotted dramas.” One production team – from Belgium -  got really brave, and collected teens who were real kids, not actors, and put them together to make a story. It was really an effective show. There were other dramas that were more scripted and I liked those, too. A German one in particular stood out because they were brave enough to address the issue of prejudice directly, and allow an adolescent character to grow and change within the series. Anyway, it was an interesting day. Now I’m off to dinner with some of the other participants.
Back from dinner. Whew!  I’m out of practice at being “on” for a number of hours at a time. But it was an interesting group, and a tasty, Italian (in Munich!) dinner.


           
Pre-Conference Workshop (5/24)
Don’t worry! I’m not going give you a bunch of statistics from an academic conference. The Prix Jeunesse, which is the conference I’m attending Munich, begins tomorrow. But I was invited to a preconference workshop on children’s programming to address the issue of migration, particularly Arab migration, in Europe. I thought it sounded fascinating, so I signed up to come.
The workshop was held within two blocks of the hotel, and it was attended by people from all over the world, not just Arabic countries. There were four Americans, and several people who had expertise in Arab culture or the Arab world, as well as mostly producers primarily from Europe. The organizers were from the UK, and they had done quite a bit of work in Arab countries. The next phase of their work is to look at what is available in Europe for children to address this issue of migration. Basically, the format of the day was to see video clips and to comment on them. I got a lot out of both the video and the comments. Of course, there are parallels with our issues with migration in the US. But this workshop was really focused on Arabic migration into Europe. We saw three programs aimed at preschoolers, several documentaries, and a number of programs that were designed to be what I call “plotted dramas.” One production team – from Belgium -  got really brave, and collected teens who were real kids, not actors, and put them together to make a story. It was really an effective show. There were other dramas that were more scripted and I liked those, too. A German one in particular stood out because they were brave enough to address the issue of prejudice directly, and allow an adolescent character to grow and change within the series. Anyway, it was an interesting day. Now I’m off to dinner with some of the other participants.
Back from dinner. Whew!  I’m out of practice at being “on” for a number of hours at a time. But it was an interesting group, and a tasty, Italian (in Munich!) dinner.


           

























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