Monday, June 01, 2009
Young tribal voices
Press Releases 2008
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Radio Drama in Pashto Examines Social Issues
July 17, 2008
Peshawar - "Mashal," a radio program conceived, written, acted, and produced by local students to address cultural and social issues for young audiences in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), aired its first broadcast today from the University of Peshawar.
Students from the University of Peshawar and Kohat University of Science and Technology took part in "Young Tribal Voices," a workshop to write, voice, and produce a series of Pashto-language radio dramas about the lives of young people in the FATA and the settled areas of NWFP. The University of Peshawar's FM station recorded the first program in front of a studio audience, and it was broadcast live from the university's campus.
The students developed the radio dramas during a five-week workshop with a team of performing arts educators from Education Arts Resource Services Inc. The team offered intensive classes in acting for the microphone, script writing and development, and technical skills associated with producing radio drama. This workshop for journalism and fine arts students was co-sponsored by the U.S. Consulate Peshawar and the University of Peshawar Department of Journalism.
Before the broadcast began, University of Peshawar Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Azmat Hayat congratulated the students on their efforts. The Acting Principal Officer of the U.S. Consulate, Michael A. Via, also applauded the students' work and thanked the University for supporting this important outlet for expression for young people in the province.
The objectives of the workshop and the July 17 broadcast were to develop students' skills so they could voice their views on issues facing their communities, and to offer a vision for the future from the next generation of leaders in the FATA and NWFP. Education Arts Resource Services designed the workshop so the students would gain all of the basic skills to continue writing, acting, and recording radio dramas in the months and years to come. It also donated to the Department of Journalism computer hardware and software that will enable students to use the latest techniques in editing and preparing dramatic recordings for broadcast.
http://publicdiplomacypressandblogreview.blogspot.com/2008/10/october-19.html
Young Tribal Voices: Radio Theater In Pakistan – Hal, EARS Inc. Blog: "Educational Arts Resource Services, Inc., a company founded and run by Hal Ryder (Faculty, Theater Department), was invited to do a project in Peshawar, Pakistan this past summer, entitled Young Tribal Voices. Professor Ryder and Cornish alumna and Theater Department Faculty, Kerry Skalsky (Theater '89), spent five weeks working with students from the University of Peshawar and Kohat to create and present radio plays dealing with social issues, intended for broadcast into the tribal areas in NW Pakistan. The workshop culminated with a live radio broadcast in Pashto, that included four plays written and performed by the students, a professional radio MC, and live music in front of a live audience. After the project, James K. Glassman, the new undersecretary of state for public diplomacy, mentioned the project as an initiative in the war of ideas. The project has been funded for the students to write 52 more plays and broadcast them in the next year. Hal Ryder spent a week this month in Washington D.C. debriefing the project with Department of State officials and discussing future options. "
