Workshop Logistics

The Program Development Workshop will be held under the auspices of the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) in Charlottesville, VA, during the two days immediately following the Scholars Forum at George Mason University. It will be held in conjunction with the Virginia Festival of the Book, which takes place from March 16-20. Thus, workshop participants will have the opportunity to enjoy a major annual book event, which will also feature several of the Forum scholars on a panel.

Workshop participants are invited and encouraged to attend the Scholars Forum at George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia, and will be hosted at all events. The purpose of the workshop is to develop plans to disseminate the findings of the Scholars Forum through a variety of media and public programs that will help re-shape and re-orient the thinking of the American public in various walks of life on the history of Muslim societies and their legacy in the pre-modern and modernizing world. Therefore, workshop participants will best be able to generate ideas for public programs if they are conversant with the research and ideas shared at the Forum. The workshop will involve sessions to discuss the specific and general findings and to identify its implications for scholarly, practical, and public involvement, such as museum exhibits, documentary film, television and radio programs, library events, and other projects. The project website has been designed to deepen all participants' familiarity and engagement with these ideas, through readings, exhibits, videos and engagement with the Forum Questions.

As Virginia’s state council for the humanities, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities (VFH) brings years of public programming experience and a large network of public humanities professionals to the project. Through this network, VFH brings together participants for the workshop which will develop the plan for national implementation. Recording, production, and distribution of forum and workshop content is made possible through With Good Reason, Virginia’s only statewide public radio program, which is produced at VFH. The workshop will take place in Charlottesville during the Virginia Festival of the Book, the largest gathering of authors, writers, and readers in the Mid-Atlantic region, also produced by VFH. For additional information on VFH and its programs, visit www.virginiafoundation.org. The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is a non-profit educational organization, created in 1974. VFH is a catalyst for the cultural, civic, artistic, and educational vitality of the Commonwealth. This project typifies the mission of the VFH to build community through the humanities, to foster understanding between cultures, and to promote civil discourse.

March 16-17, 2011

The Program Development Workshop will be held in Charlottesville, Virginia in conjunction with the Festival of the Book. The first day of the workshop will be held at the Charlottesville Community Design Center "CitySpace" in the heart of Charlottesville's pedestrian mall. The second day of the workshop will take place in the meeting facilities of the Omni Charlottesville

Event Parking: Park at the Omni Hotel. City Space is near the hotel, and both are part of a pedestrian zone.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16

9:00 – 10:30 am     Location: City Council Chambers
                              Book Festival Panel: Muslim Women: Perceptions and Self-Perceptions
                              Moderator: Hanadi Al-Samman,     University of Virginia 
                              Panelists: Aziz Sachedina, University of Virginia;
                              Naeema Abdulgawad, Mary Baldwin College
                              *Open to the Public and Workshop Participants

11:00 – 11:30 am    Location: City Space
                              Workshop Opening Session Ia: Summary Report from the Scholars Forum
                              Cemil Aydin, George Mason University, Giancarlo Casale and Sinem Arcak,
                              University of Minnesota

12:00 – 1:00 pm     Location: Bashir’s Restaurant
                              LUNCH

1:30 – 2:30 pm       Location: City Space
                              Workshop Session Ib: Initial Discussion on the Content and Message to
                                      Disseminate
                              Cemil Aydin, Facilitator

2:30 – 3:15 pm       Location: City Space
                              Workshop Session IIa: Determining the Audiences for the Message
                              [VFH Facilitators]

3:15 – 4:00 pm       Location: City Space
                              Workshop Session IIb: Affinity sessions by mission and audience type
                              [VFH Facilitators]

4:00 –4:45 pm        Location: City Space
                              Workshop Session IIc: Breakout Sessions by Subsets of the Public
                              [VFH Facilitator]

4:45 – 5:00 pm       BREAK

5:00 –6:15 pm        Location: City Space
                              Book Festival Panel: Beyond Golden Age and Decline: the Legacy
                                      of Muslim Societies in Global Modernity, 1300-1900
                              Panelists: Richard Bulliet, Columbia University; Giancarlo Casale,
                              University of Minnesota; Nelly Hanna, American University
                              in Cairo; George Saliba, Columbia University
                              *Open to the Public and Workshop Participants

6:30-7:45 pm          Location: UVA Rotunda
                              Reception for Jim Leach, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanities

8 – 9:15 pm             Location: UVA Rotunda
                               “Civility in a Fractured Society”
                               Remarks by NEH Chairman Jim Leach, one of two topics in the             
                               NEH Bridging Cultures initiatives
                               *Open to the Public and Workshop Participants

THURSDAY, MARCH 17:

9:00 – 10:30 am       Location: Omni Hotel, Preston Room
                               Workshop Session III: Formats and Delivery Systems
                               [VFH facilitators by area of expertise]

10:30 – 11:30 am     Location: Omni Hotel, Preston Room
                               Workshop Session IV: Training Strategies and Resources for Program
                                        Providers and Audiences
                               [VFH Facilitator]

11:30 – 1:30 pm       Location: Omni Hotel, Ballroom
                               BOOK FESTIVAL LUNCHEON: Jim Lehrer, PBS News Hour

1:30 – 3:00 pm        Location: Omni Hotel, Preston Room
                               Workshop Session V: Developing Evaluation Tools to Measure Attitude Change
                               [VFH facilitators]

3:30 – 5:00 pm         Location: Omni Hotel, Preston Room
                                Workshop Session VI: Summation: Creation of the Plan
                                Cemil Aydin, VFH Facilitator

EVENING BOOK FESTIVAL PROGRAM [Optional: see Festival of the Book agenda at http://www.vabook.org/index.html/ ]

Evening or Friday Morning: return to northern Virginia [charter bus, other arrangements]

Workshop participants who travel to attend the Scholars Forum will stay at the Forum venue, the George Mason Inn and Conference Center on the George Mason University Campus. Hotel accommodations will be provided for workshop participants from March 13 to March 14 at George Mason Inn, and from March 15 to March 16 at the Omni Charlottesville. Charter bus transportation will be provided between the venues.


INSTRUCTIONS: While making your travel arrangements (we will book your flight--see below), download and fill out the form below to reserve your room for the necessary number of days, and note any special requirements. Fill out the W-9 form and the Travel and Hotel Form by FEBRUARY 1, 2011. (Non-US Citizens see forms below) We need both for travel authorization and hotel booking. You may print out or type the information into this form and save it as a file, including your name in the filename.

Send as an attachment to Ezzat Shehadeh at [email protected], fax to 703-993-5410, or mail to:

Grant Project Manager
10517 Braddock Road, Suite 1700
Patriot Square MS 1H3
Fairfax, VA 22030

Workshop participants' flights will be booked by Uniglobe Travel ONLY. We cannot reimburse participants for flights booked on your own, due to university regulations.

To book your flights, contact Ms. Ary Hernandez at [email protected], toll free in the U.S. only 866-629-8728, VA local phone (703)707-0200, or fax (703) 707-1981.


From IAD, Dulles Airport to the George Mason Inn: There are two possibilities. Order a Supershuttle (shared ride van) at the Ground Transportation counter, which will cost ca. $25; or take a cab. Save your receipts, or you cannot be reimbursed.

From DCA, Reagan Washington National Airport: There are three choices: (1) Order a Supershuttle shared ride van for ca. $25 at the Ground Transportation counter, (2) take a cab, or (3) take the Metro to Rosslyn (direction Largo Town Ctr), then take the Orange Line to Vienna (direction Vienna). From the Vienna station, take a cab to GMU. Save your receipts, or you cannot be reimbursed.

From Union Station: Take the Metro Red Line (direction Shady Grove) to Metro Station, then the Orange Line (direction Vienna) to Vienna. From there take a cab to GMU. Save your receipts, or you cannot be reimbursed.

Workshop participants who will be traveling from Charlottesville to attend the Forum at George Mason University should indicate their mode of travel on the Travel & Hotel form. Workshop participants who attend the Forum at GMU will be able to ride the charter bus to Charlottesville to attend the Planning Workshop and the Festival of the Books. The bus will depart Tuesday evening, March 15 and return Thursday evening, March 17 to GMU.

A document with the Center for Global Islamic Studies travel policies is here, regarding reimbursement, honoraria, etc.

The following forms are required for processing your honorarium:

• For U.S. citizens, W-9 form for tax purposes (download form here)

• Non-US Citizens need to fill out a W-8 tax form (download form here)

• Non-US Citizens need to submit a Foreign Nationals Information Form (download form here)

• Non-US Citizens need to fill out a GMU Certification of Eligibility (download form here)

• Non-US Citizens need to provide a copy of their passport and a copy of their I-94 or Visa