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Student Media Welcomes Palestinian IREX Fellow

Please join Student Media in welcoming Sahar Sarsour, a visiting fellow from Palestine, to the Mason community! Sahar is currently participating in Community Solutions, a leadership development program that helps place visiting fellows with host institutions in the United States in partnership with IREX (International Research & Exchanges Board). IREX works closely with the U.S. Department of State and is an international nonprofit organization “providing thought leadership and innovative programs to promote positive lasting change globally.”

Sahar joined Student Media in early August and brings with her a wealth of experience teaching English as a second language, training aspiring journalists, translating news reports, and working with marginalized youth to meet the local needs of her community. As a Project Manager for Press House-Palestine, Sahar has experience managing media projects that present capacity-building, advocacy, networking, media, and documentation activities to young journalists.

During her fellowship with Student Media, Sahar hopes to learn how to better support women’s issues in her society. She also hopes to learn how to create a platform for journalists to effectively and objectively express their messages and practice democracy and a culture of peace. Upon returning to Palestine, Sahar plans to empower a culture of gender equality by holding a conference to bring together media and human rights organizations. She also plans to start two new capacity-building units in Press House to help journalists improve their English language skills, and to teach them to defend their rights based on human rights concepts.