Sherri Hope Culver is participating in the UNESCO university collaborative known as UNITWIN (university twining and networking program) for media and information literacy and intercultural dialogue (MILID). In this role she collaborates with other media literacy scholars globally on a variety of projects, including an annual MILID Yearbook, annual conference, global research studies and international speaking.
UNESCO-UNAOC MILID UNITWIN specific objectives include:
- • Act as a Observatory for critically analyzing: the role of Media and Information Literacy (“MIL”) as a catalyst for civic participation, democracy and development; for the promotion of free, independent and pluralistic media; as well as MIL’s contribution to the prevention and resolution of conflicts and intercultural tensions and polarizations.
- • Enhance intercultural and cooperative research on MIL and the exchanges between universities and mass media, encouraging MIL’s initiatives towards respecting human rights and dignity and cultural diversity.
- • Develop within the participant universities educational and media production practices that contribute to dissolving prejudice and intercultural barriers and favour global dialogue and cooperation among citizens as well as social and political institutions around the world. In addition to the international dimension, these practices will be reflected at the local level in the 8 cities or neighbourhoods in which the partner universities are located.
- • Promote global actions relating to MIL (including adaptation of the UNESCO MIL Curriculum for Teacher Education and other relevant tools, publications, congresses, seminars, teaching resources, and faculty and students’ exchanges) that could contribute towards stimulating dialogue and understanding among people of and within different cultures and societies.
- • Create a virtual centre to research on, and study and develop MIL initiatives aimed at the creation of projects and publications linking universities and research centres.
- • Promote and support other global media initiatives that could reinforce civic participation through open, free and independent media and information systems that favour intercultural dialogue and cooperation.
- • Encourage and support citizen participation as well as educational and cultural institutions whose initiatives promote media and information literacy, cooperation and intercultural dialogue.
More information may also be found at https://milunesco.unaoc.org/unitwin/
*Photo of Director Sherri Hope Culver and Jagtar Singh