We woke up to to rain in Belgrade this morning, but in many ways we welcomed it, especially after the extreme heat in Jerusalem. The weather did not slow us down! Our morning started at the SIT Office, just a few blocks away from our hotel. Dr. Orli Fridman (director and professor at SIT) provided an engaging lecture and discourse on post-war/post-Yugoslav Balkans and how we might think comparatively about the situation here with the Israel-Palestine conflict. ...

Our overnight flights to Belgrade from Tel Aviv were challenging (very little sleep!), but we rejuvenated ourselves with naps and showers late Saturday morning/early afternoon at the beautiful Hotel Prag in downtown Belgrade. We joined the SIT staff (Dr. Orli Fridman and Nenad Porobic) in Belgrade for an orientation meeting at 5 p.m., followed by a wonderful traditional Serbian meal at Sesir moj, a popular Kafana (or bistro) in Belgrade. (See photo) I didn't...

We made our final trek to the top of Mt. Carmel and Haifa University this morning for a few more meetings with faculty and students. Our first session featured three faculty members offering their various perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Professor Un Bar-Joseph provided an intriguing presentation on the psychology of security in Israel. His research and theories really helped me understand the Israeli perspective on threats, the need to use fo...

It's been a 15-hour day for me, so this entry will be brief! I went ahead of our group this morning to meet with a librarian, Cecilia, at Haifa University. She gave me a tour of the building and we exchanged comparisons and similarities between our library programs. Haifa's library uses the Ex Libris library system, just as we do at Richmond. They are also involved in digitizing several historical collections in northern Israel. We had two lectures this morn...

We spent our afternoon and early evening in Akko, a small city north of Haifa near the Lebanon border. The old city of Akko is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and our favorite Haifa tour guide, Eran, led us through the fascinating history of the city. We toured the "underground" Crusader city and then discovered how the Ottomans built over it centuries later. Akko is also predominately an Arab city in Israel and that was interesting to absorb and observe. For ex...