MAMT||Museo Mediterraneo dell' Arte, della Musica e delle Tradizioni (EN)

As part of a collaboration between UNESCO and the Musée, UNESCO launched in November 2019 a series of Master Classes for secondary-school students.
Conceived as spaces for dialogue, they aim to empower young people by strengthening their understanding and capacity to combat discrimination, intolerance, and growing inequalities, as well as promote sustainable impact by engaging youth to become proactive agents of change and trainers within their own schools and communities.
This special edition of UNESCO’s Master Classes against Racism and Discriminations is organized within the framework of World Philosophy Day. It invites young secondary school students to question the prejudices and social stereotypes that lead to racism and discrimination through the critical study of the construction of "the other".
The analysis of racism as a philosophical object will lead these students to deconstruct the concept of "race", decompose their preconceived ideas and adopt innovative anti-racist strategies that they can then implement in their institutions and communities.
In doing so, this Master Class will underline the enduring value of philosophy for the development of human thought for each individual and culture and will support us in the building of a more respectful and tolerant society through collectively exercising reasoned and informed thinking.

Agenda:

  • Introduction of the Master Class by Ms Anna Maria Majlöf, Chief a.i. Inclusion and Rights Section of UNESCO
  • Presentations and interactive discussions with students:
    • Mr Arnaud Demanche, Comedian
    • Prof. Carole Reynaud-Paligot, Historian, sociologist, University of Pantheon-Sorbonne 
    • Prof. Lazare Ki-Zerbo, Philosopher
    • Prof. Rose Boswell, Executive Dean of Arts at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
    • Mr Sanele Xaba, Activist and founder of the Rolled Sleeves Outreach Programme
    • Moderator: Ms Arleen Pimentel, Permanent Delegation of the Dominican Republic to UNESCO
  • Dialogue session to create commitments to be implemented in schools and communities (intervention by the Fondazione Mediterraneo and the Federazione Anna Lindh Italia)
  • Closing remarks
  • Musical interludes by Ms Paloma Fayet 

Objectives of the Master Class:

  • Empower young people, through this peer-learning forum, by strengthening their understanding and capacity to combat racism and inequalities;
  • Shed light on what underlies issues of racial prejudice and discrimination, and understand how and why they are spread online and offline, in the media, in public space and in all spheres of life;
  • Engage youth to become proactive agents of change and trainers within their own schools, families and communities for a sustainable impact;
  • Inspire policymakers, at the global, national and local levels, community leaders and teachers, to pursue collective efforts in their fight against racism and discrimination.