
In 2015, the program will take place in Cappadocia, Turkey from July 19 to August 2, 2015 on the theme “The Power of Images: Truth, Manipulation and Intolerance” with a series of lectures by eminent scholars in the field. Through team projects and group discussions groups, the program will enable students to develop their communication, listening and interaction skills with people of different cultural backgrounds.
The Power of Images: Truth, Manipulation and Intolerance
With the advent of mass media and the internet, the modern world has shifted from a print culture to a visual culture: a new age of image-centered communication has begun. In this transition, the use of analogical thinking has also shifted from verbal metaphors to visual ones. This shift is particularly evident in the use of intercultural communication. This year’s program explores the power of images as a basic and indispensable tool of cultural interaction: how images are processed, how they function in relation to our innermost beings, and how they form the psychological fabric of our political, social, and economic environment. There will be a focus on the role of the various media in creating the images which impact our lives: how visual images create a language with profound psychological meaning, and how print, television, film and the newly-arrived social media manipulate images to create desired emotional effects. We will look at the most controversial areas of image persuasiveness today — advertising, politics, and entertainment. Cutting across many disciplines (psychology, politics, history, sociology, law, religious studies, journalism…), the course will be done in the form of a lecture series combined with active participation by students in the form of project presentations and discussion groups.