High School Students From 18 Countries to Present Conclusions on Global Citizenship Next Week at Youth Summit


CAMBRIDGE, Mass., July 30, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High School students from around the world, including from conflict zones, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria, and Rwanda, will present their experiences from the 8-day Global Citizens Summit for Youth at the Harvard Faculty Club on Thursday, August 7th at 3pm. The goal of the Summit is to discuss ways to bridge national boundaries through education and collaboration. Interested members of the press should rsvp in order to attend.

The Global Citizens Summit for Youth will bring together high school students to discuss ways in which novel educational platforms can help challenge tendencies towards global tension. During the first week of August, students will compare the situations in their home countries, and debate how global understanding and collaboration can be fostered as an alternative to distrust and violence.

24 scholars representing 18 countries, 20 Schools and speaking 27 languages will attend.

The Summit is organized by Global Citizens Initiative (www.globalci.org), a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization based in Greenwich, CT.

Yumi Kuwana, President and Founder of the organization stated, "More than ever, this time of war and turmoil calls for increased understanding and cooperation. This Global Citizens Summit is an attempt to empower youth from around the world to meet this need through dialogue."

Students will discuss the meaning of global citizenship, as well as the role of "freedom versus fairness" in understanding current events, including in the Ukraine, Nigeria, and Afghanistan. Round-table discussions will be guided by veteran teachers from Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire. The high school students will also meet local entrepreneurs and thought leaders, including Harvard Graduate School of Education professor Howard Gardner, proponent of the multiple intelligences theory of education.

In addition, the program will encourage students to exchange perspectives on history. Ms. Kuwana will help lead a discussion together with the program's 4 Japanese students about the 69th anniversary of the dropping of the Atomic Bomb on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

In order to continue the conversation internationally, students are experimenting both with a virtual online platform to promote the program's findings, as well as with the social media app Viber, powered by the Rakuten Group, a leading sponsor of the program.

Contact Global Citizens Initiative Inc., www.globalci.org
  Abraham Zamcheck 718-938-2443. Abraham@globalci.org
   
  Members of the press interested in meeting with student participants should contact Abraham.