After a two years break, the media and Digital Literacy Academy was finally taking place again at the Institute of Media Research and Training (IMRT) at the Lebanese American University (LAU) Lebanese American University in Beirut, directed by AREACORE member Dr. Jad Melki. MDLAB aims to develop media and digital literacy education in the region by providing the needed training, curricular material and resources, and motivating faculty, students, journalists and activists to transfer what they learned to their institutions. 

This year, MDLAB 2022 hosted 75 participants from Egypt, Palestine, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and Germany, including faculty and students from AREACORE. Funded by the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the German Academic Exchange Services (DAAD), the academy emphasized issues of representation of women, youth, and other marginalized groups in the coverage of protests and civic activism campaigns, as well as advanced the digital multimedia skills and knowledge of activists, journalists, and media educators. Under this theme, participants benefitted from lectures, workshops and trainings and presented their produced projects on the final day of the academy. Moreover, MDLAB 2022 brought together guest speakers with different expertise to help participants with their projects, including Clemencia Rodríguez, Temple University; Antonio Lopez, John Cabot University; Jennifer Rosales, Barnard College, Columbia University; Dina Aboughazala, Founder of Egab; Anna Antonakis, Free Berlin University; Gretchen King, Lebanese American University; Jad Melki, Lebanese American University; Ahmed Al-Rawi, Simon Fraser University; and Steffen Moestrup, Danish School of Media and Journalism. 

For more information, please check https://mdlab.lau.edu.lb