Libyan professor participates in State Department institute at UF

June 19, 2008

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Two years ago, the United States restored full diplomatic relations with Libya. This summer, a Libyan mass media professor will participate in a State Department institute at the University of Florida.

Garyounis University professor Jouma Mohamed M. ElFotaysi joins 17 participants from around the world June 29 in the six-week Study of the United States Institute on Journalism and Media run by UF’s College of Journalism and Communications. Other countries represented in the program for the first time include Nepal and Italy.

“We found last year that it was the mix of cultures that made the institute special,” said the program’s academic director, Lauren Hertel, a telecommunication lecturer at the college.

For the second year, the institute is building an interactive global network of educators by teaching participants about the American press and giving them hands-on experience in blogging, multimedia and other areas. “New Freedoms in Media: Teaching the Digital Journalism of Tomorrow” – which takes place in Gainesville for four weeks and Miami, Tampa, Washington, D.C., and New York for two weeks – also gives insight into the upcoming presidential elections.

“We’ve adjusted the balance of lectures and practical training from last year, based on feedback from the participants,” Hertel said.

Participants in last summer’s institute have told the college they’ve continued using what they learned, noted Associate Dean for Research Sylvia Chan-Olmsted, principal investigator of the $280,000 grant the college received from the State Department to run the institute.

“They went away appreciating the complexity of the American society and media, the diversity and energy of the United States,” Chan-Olmsted said. “The online skill sets that they acquired here are also very useful to many of them in their home countries.”

The institute’s success last year paved the way for not only a second program but also a second State Department program at UF. Earlier this month, the Department of Political Science welcomed 18 participants from around the world.