Being a Minority in the 21st Century

IDEE is aware that the best way to ensure the achievement of the Council of Europe’s ideals in the field of inter-ethnic relations, human and minority rights, inter-religious dialogue and overcoming intolerance, xenophobia, stereotypes and prejudices is to start by educating the young generation in this regard.

Having identified a need to challenge misconceptions about the condition and role of minorities in the national past, with a particular emphasis on Jews and respectively the Holocaust as the most sensitive issue, based upon our experience of working with teachers on the one hand and students on the other, we have come to the conclusion that a wider approach is necessary, which should include three steps: learn how to identify stereotypes and overcome them, learn accurate information about the condition and role of national minorities, and last but not least learn how to confront (instead of denying) the negative past – particularly the Holocaust – so as to prevent its repetition.

	This project consists of three activities supported by a special strategy for the dissemination of the results: Three-day information seminar on the condition and role of minorities in the national past, meant to provide the opportunity for representatives of various minorities to meet and share their positive and negative experience in the attempt to preserve their respective cultural heritage, in an attempt to help promote intercultural relations [program] Three-day training session for both teachers and students, but also opened to other experts, academics, public figures, journalists etc., designed to help them identify their own and the others’ stereotypes/prejudices and learn how to overcome them, and to help them confront the negative national past – particularly the Holocaust – so as to enable them to pass it on to the young generation, and not only [program] Round table designed to put under debate the current condition and role of ethnic minorities and their relevance in the social, political and even artistic field, thus helping protect human and minority rights and increase sensitivity to majority-minority problems

The works of the seminar (activity 2) and the transcript of the round table debate will be published in a volume. The project results will be disseminated through a press conference and distributed to 500 + institutional audiences. IDEE’s website hosts this special constantly updated webpage dedicated to the project and its results.

Most activities are being carried out in cooperation with the “Goldstein Goren” Center for Hebrew Studies of Bucharest University, based on our excellent track record of working together, to ensure the project the best academic level possible.

In addition, activity 1 is being carried out in cooperation with Yad Vashem and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.