A temporary installation will connect Johns Hopkins University with a global network for conversations, collaborations, performances, and more using a Portal, a space equipped with immersive audiovisual technology that allows users to come face-to-face with someone in a distant Portal live and full-body, as if in the same room.
Three sessions are planned for this event:
- A connection to the Gaza City Portal previews an upcoming humanitarian public health design challenge, hosted by JHU’s Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design, that will bring international teams of students together virtually to address public health crises in the Middle East (8:30–11 a.m.)
- Engage with students and teachers living and working in refugee and internally displaced persons camps in Erbil, Iraq, to discuss how education is structured in emergency zones and ways that educational institutions around the world can provide opportunities to refugee communities; speak with UNICEF camp officials about their work and the role of governments, NGOs, and faith-based organizations working with internally displaced persons in Iraq (11:30 a.m.–2:00 p.m.)
- Connect to the Milwaukee Portal and learn about the research of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg Distinguished Professor Vesla Weaver, who has used Portals to inspire peer-to-peer dialogues about police-community relations in urban neighborhoods across the country (2:30–5 p.m.)
To participate, sign up online in advance for a specific time slot; walk-ins are also welcome.
The Portal has been brought to campus by the Johns Hopkins Stavros Niarchos Foundation Agora Institute, which harnesses cutting-edge research to identify, design, and test new mechanisms for strengthening civic engagement and inclusive dialogue worldwide. The institute draws its namesake from the ancient Athenian agora, a central space in the city that was a place of open conversation and debate for all citizens.
The Portal will be on the Johns Hopkins campus for several weeks; join the Shared Studios mailing list for updates on Portal programming.