History and List of ES Accomplishments

In 2001, two events occurred that led to the development of Educational Solutions. In the Klamath River Basin of Oregon and California, a drought resulted in the U.S. Government cutting off irrigation water to 1,200 Klamath Project farmers to provide water for three threatened and endangered species of fish. This event led to tension, misunderstanding and conflict among the stakeholders (farmers, Native Americans, fishermen, and environmentalists) and government agencies of the Basin. Internationally, the terrorist attacks of September 11, in which thousands of lives were destroyed by Islamic terrorists, resulted in war and increased polarization and misunderstanding between Islam and the West.

These two events led founder Judith Jensen and cofounder Susan Luxton to create a means for future leaders - high school and university students - to learn about and discuss in a civil manner those issues that divide communities and nations.

Overview 2002 to 2007

Educational Solutions began work in Fall 2002. From 2002-2005, ES developed the skills to present controversial issues to divided communities and began development of curriculum material for future university dialogue projects. ES made over 50 presentations to community and academic audiences, as well as to Jewish, Christian and Muslim faith groups. These presentations included several cooperative efforts with the Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) Library and the Klamath County Library. In 2003, the lecture material was used to develop the curriculum for an Internet course through the Oregon University System. In 2005 and 2006, with development of the ES Website, curriculum was further developed and used in three pilot university dialogues between the American University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and the Oregon Institute of Technology in Oregon, U.S. These three pilot projects tested the ES model where two classes in different locations study the same ES-developed curriculum and dialogue about it on the ES Website and through videoconferencing. In 2006, ES developed and tested a parallel community education program.

November 2007

"Sparks of Peace: Interfaith Cooperation for Healing the Children of Abraham in the Holy Land," workshop and presentation with Eliyahu McLean and Sheikh Ghassan Manasra, leading Jewish and Muslim peacemakers from Jerusalem, November 2, 2007. Co-sponsored by Educational Solutions and Havurah Shir Hadash, Ashland, Oregon.

October 2007 Papers and Presentations

The 36th Annual Association of Muslim Social Scientists of North America Conference, University of Maryland, October 27, 2007. "Educational Solutions' Approach to Islamophobia in the Academy," Dr. Judith Jensen

Address to the Faculty and Staff of Concordia University, Chicago, October 31, 2007. "The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict: Opening Student Minds to Both Sides and Solutions through Educational Solutions' International University Dialogues," Dr. Judith Jensen.

A public dialogue with Dr. Andrew Steinmann, Professor of Theology, Concordia University, Chicago, October 31, 2007. "A Day of Theological Conversation," Dr. Judith Jensen.

November 2006 Paper on the Israeli/Palestinian University Dialogue Project

"The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict: Opening Student Minds to Both Sides and Solutions through Educational Solutions' International University Dialogues," a paper written by Judith Jensen, Susan Luxton and Amy Diver, and presented by Judith Jensen at The International Conference on Peace and Democracy, sponsored by the Israel Palestine Center for Research and Information (IPCRI), Antalya, Turkey.

November 2006 Paper on Klamath Basin Project

"Klamath Basin Solutions and the ES Community Outreach Project," paper presented by Judith Jensen at the Klamath Basin Watershed Conference, Redding, California.

October 2006 Paper on the Israeli/Palestinian University Dialogue Project

"Understanding Both Sides: A Report on Educational Solutions' 2006 University Dialogue Project on the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict," a paper authored by Judith Jensen, Susan Luxton and Amy Diver, and presented by Judith Jensen at Muslim Identities: Shifting Boundaries and Dialogues, the 35th Annual Association of Muslim Social Scientists conference, Hartford Seminary, CT.

2006 ES/OIT Library Live Cable TV Broadcast

As two DVDs were taped for future use in the ES Klamath Basin high school dialogue project, they were broadcast live to the Klamath Falls, Oregon community. The two DVDs demonstrate stakeholder collaboration in the Klamath Basin: 1) Farms and Fish features a dialogue between two stakeholder leaders, Greg Addington, Executive Director of the Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA), and Leaf Hillman, Vice Chair of the Karuk Tribe, moderated by ES Director Judith Jensen. The presentation included questions from the studio audience of stakeholder leaders: Craig Bienz, Nature Conservancy; Scott Boley, Gold Beach, OR fisherman; Troy Fletcher, Yurok Tribe; Brenda Frank, Klamath Tribes; Steve Kandra, KWUA; Marshall Staunton, Tulelake farmer and the Hatfield Upper Klamath Basin Working Group; as well as Marita Kunkel, OIT Library and Steve Kadel of the Herald and News. 2) Using the Best Available Science to Restore the Upper Klamath Basin features four scientists from the Hatfield Science Team who were chosen by different stakeholder groups for a collaborative effort to develop strategies to restore the Upper Klamath Basin. Moderated by Terry Morton of Cascade Quality Solutions, the scientists are Mark Buettner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife; Harry Carlson, UC Inter Mountain Research and Extension Agronomics Research; Larry Dunsmoor, Klamath Tribes; and Bob Gearheart, Humboldt State Environmental Engineering.

April 2006 University Pilot Dialogue - The Israeli/Palestinian Conflict

In the third test of the ES University dialogue model, students at the American University of Sharjah, UAE, and the Oregon Institute of Technology studied an improved curriculum about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and dialogued about course content via the ES Website and videoconferencing.

April 2005 Papers

October 2005 University Pilot Dialogue - The Israeli/Palestinian

In the second test of the ES University dialogue model, students at the American University of Sharjah, UAE, and the Oregon Institute of Technology studied a curriculum about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and dialogued about course content via the improved ES Website and videoconferencing.

February 2005 University Pilot Dialogue - Water Shortage In the first test of the ES University dialogue model, students at the American University of Sharjah, UAE, and the Oregon Institute of Technology studied a common curriculum about water shortage in both locales and dialogued about course content via the ES Website and videoconferencing.

2005 Second ES/OIT Library Film Festival

The festival was titled Behind the Headlines: Real People, Real Voices, A Festival of Award-Winning Films from the Middle East. The films shown were About Baghdad, Iraq, Secret Ballot (Iran), Hiding and Seeking (Israel) and Afghanistan Unveiled (Afghanistan).

September 2004 Paper

Paper presented at the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) Conference at George Mason University: "Web Technology to Increase Communication between Undergraduate Youth of Islamic and Western Cultures." Author, Dr. Judith Jensen.

July 2004 Paper

Paper presented at the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions, Pathways to Peace, Barcelona, Spain - "Theresa of Avila and Rabiya Al Adawiya: Beyond Self and Selfishness." Authors, Dr. Judith Jensen and Sr. Beatrice Mariotti.

April 2004 Papers

Two papers presented at the Third Annual International Conference on an Interfaith Perspective on Globalization, Globalization for the Common Good, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - "Introducing a Powerful Website to Encourage Grass-roots Inter-faith Dialogue on Economic Social Justice." Author, Dr. Judith Jensen; "Inter-faith Alliance in the Fight Against Economic Exploitation." Authors, Dr. Arthur Mertuza, Seton Hall University, and Dr. Judith Jensen.

2004 First ES/OIT Library Film Festival

The festival was titled "Behind the Headlines: Real People, Real Lives: A Festival of Award-Winning Films from the Middle East." The films featured were Children of Heaven (Iran), Color of Paradise (Iran), Journey of Hope (Turkey), and West Beirut (Lebanon).

2003 Internet Course

In Fall 2003, ES presented an Internet course through the Oregon University System titled Opening a Dialogue: Islam and the West. The curriculum was developed from material presented at ES lecture series.

2003 Paper

Paper presented at the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS) Conference at the University of Indiana, Bloomington: "A Proposal for a New Kind of Dialogue between Islam and the West." Author, Dr. Judith Jensen.

2003 Lecture Series

In 2003, ES presented three public lecture series in cooperation with the OIT Library - 1) Pursuit of Peace, Israel and Palestine. Topics included "Passion of Israelis and Palestinians for Their Land," "Consequences of Failing to Solve the Conflict," "Issues Left on the Table When Peace Talks Failed in 2000," "Water Wars in the Middle East," and "Double Tragedy and Current Peace Process;" 2) Opening a Dialogue: Islam and the West. Topics included "Islamic and Western Values," "Islam and Science," and "Women in Islam and the West;" and 3) Eyewitness Iraq. Sgt. Steven Lazzini spoke on being part of the first battalion to cross the border into Iraq; and Dr. Kenneth Magee related his experience as a volunteer in Iraq with Northwest Medical Teams International.

2002 Library Book Donation Program and Lecture Series

In Fall 2002, ES arranged a book donation and artifact exhibit at the OIT and Klamath County libraries about Muslim and Jewish culture, funded by the Klamath Falls Muslim and Jewish communities. This program was followed by a lecture presentation series at the OIT and Klamath County libraries, Introduction to Islam and the West. Topics included "The Spirit of Judaism and Islam," "The Golden Age of Spain," and "Hot Buttons."