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Paper short abstract:

A narrative book based on real experiences in a Muslim world shows the value of developing social and cultural competencies in global interchanges. This paper examines multidimensional knowledge exchange and new international dimensions in education at all levels and across disciplines.

Paper long abstract:

“In punta di piedi nei Paesi dei minareti” (‘Tiptoeing in the lands of the minarets’) by Giovanna Guslini, Nadia De Biagi, Rosanna Corda, Vita Activa 2022 is an educational tool, an Italian-language publication that was intentionally designed as a collection of attractive, engaging, appealing episodes set in a unitary narrative structure.

It tells about the experiences of life and the encounters of the three authors in Muslim Countries: its anthropological and educational insights were recently discussed during the last IUAES World Congress (Delhi, 14-20 October 2023).

The documentation is based on diaries, notes, letters, interviews, memories, newspapers, and personal photographic archives that produced eighty-one episodes, organised into 14 chapters, drawn in my case from field experiences, and for all three authors from autobiographical accounts of migration spanning a thirty-year period.

In this paper I explore how the book can

1. facilitate cross cultural collaboration across disciplines in the field of citizenship/civic education

2. reveal different perspectives and similarities between very diverse cultures

3. provide opportunities for virtual and real cultural exchanges and international projects involving various countries

4. reach out to a variety of audiences, opening debates and discussions on the main themes of anthropology.

The goal of the book is to show how enriching it can be to experience different cultures, despite the many difficulties that can still be overcome.