A group of students from Palestinian and U.S. universities will spend two weeks in Des Moines for a federally-funded program designed to enhance civic engagement and cross-cultural understanding.
Sixteen students—eight Palestinian and eight American—will live and study on Drake’s campus as PAYCE Fellows. The workshop is part of an initiative called Palestinian-American Youth Civic Engagement (PAYCE). It is led by Drake Professor of Sociology Darcie Vandegrift.
The Palestinian students are from Al-Quds University and An-Najah National University, and the American students are from Drake, the University of Hartford, University of New Hampshire, and Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University.
The students arrived Jan. 4 and will be on campus through Jan. 19, engaging in daily activities that explore the role of young adults as agents of political and social change. At the conclusion of the program, each participant will have produced two original podcasts—one about their own experiences and involvement with civic and political engagement, and the other derived from interviews with emerging young adult civic leaders in Des Moines.