Olive Tree Initiative Week Begins at UC Irvine February 25th

IRVINE, CA, February 24, 2013 (Press-News.org) The week will showcase students, faculty and community members who have experienced world conflicts first-hand while travelling on past Olive Tree Initiative diplomatic trips.

OTI Week will begin each day at Ring Road on the UCI Campus (near Aldrich Hall) where OTI students will reveal the benefits of the OTI Experiential Education model during the lunch hour. The Olive Tree Initiative will also host nightly activities at the UC Irvine Student Center. Highlights for the nightly activities include:

• "Engaging Conflict" An OTI Meet and Greet with Music and Food
Tuesday, February 26th, 7:00-9:00pm, Pacific Ballroom C
Learn about and hear from OTI Trip Participants re: OTI Trips to Turkey/Armenia and the Middle East this June and August. Future OTI diplomatic trips will be presented.

• "Turkey-Armenia Relations in Film -- A Discussion"
Wednesday, February 27th, 7:30-9:00pm, Emerald Bay A&B

• "Civil Rights in the Middle East - The Test for Democracy"
Thursday, February 28th, 7:30-9:00pm, Emerald Bay A&B;
Short presentations followed by discussion:
Israel -- Women's Rights with Dr. Anat Maor, Visiting Professor, Former Israeli MK
Egypt -- Minority Rights with Matthew Elmaraghi, OTI Student
Syria -- Lack of a Judicial System with Nuha Abusamra, OTI Alumnus

The Olive Tree Initiative is an educational program designed to promote conflict analysis and resolution through Experiential Education by providing students and community with the education, training and experiences needed to better negotiate and solve conflicts. Since 2007, OTI has expanded to six UC campuses (UC Irvine, 
UC Los Angeles, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley 
and UC San Diego) with strong community support groups. 
OTI has chapters at Stanford, San Diego State University and 
emerging chapters at universities in Washington, DC and London. 


OTI has led eight trips to the Middle East, primarily in Israel, the West Bank and Jordan and one trip to Turkey and Armenia.

OTI alumni have written for the Huffington Post, Al Jazeera and Foreign Policy. Over 60% of OTI alumni work professionally in international affairs and in conflict resolution after going through the OTI program.

For more information on the Olive Tree Initiative, visit http://www.olivetreeinitiative.org.