TORONTO – The World Association for Christian Communication (WACC), based in Toronto, announced that its 2016 Summer School program, to be held July 24-30, will study the links between media, religion, and globalization.

 The theme is “Communication Rights and Religions” and the study course will be held at Northern Caribbean University, Manchester, Jamaica. The course is framed around communication rights, communication in the ecumenical movement, media ethics, gender and communication and communication for social change, WACC said.

The Summer School will bring together up to 30 students from around the world to work with specialists in communications and theology for a focused program on religion, communication rights and globalization.

Special emphasis will be given to communication in the ecumenical movement, practical theology and media, social media and media ethics, and communication for social change. In addition, focus will be given to communication rights related issues of the host region.

The school builds on similar highly successful events that took place in Geneva in August 2012 and in Toronto in June 2014. The course is organized in collaboration with Northern Caribbean University, Manchester, Jamaica, and in cooperation with the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, and the World Council of Churches (WCC) and with the support of the Evangelisches Missionswerk in Deutschland (EMW).

The school has accepted students who have a bachelor’s degree and who are pursuing ethical and intercultural studies in communication and media.

The objective of the course is to broaden the horizons of students in terms of global trends, current thinking around communication rights and freedom of belief and religion. Students will acquire an understanding of the challenges of communication in the ecumenical movement as well as the challenges of interfaith dialogue.

They will address the question of media and globalization, which is related to the portrayal of religions in the mass media. They will also study communication theory and practice from the perspective of the global South.

The beneficiaries are students from global South sponsored to take part in the Summer School, together with staff from the partner organizations and institutions (University of Erlangen, WCC, and Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica). All students will take part in a post-course evaluation.