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MTV vet, author promote global citizenship

Author Reza Aslan and former MTV news correspondent Gideon Yago brought a message of awareness and understanding concerning affairs in the Middle East to the University of Wisconsin Tuesday, while also exploring the growing trend of connection in a globalized world.

This latest installment in the Distinguished Lecture Series was more of a conversation than a lecture as the two men discussed the truth about the Middle East that many people do not know, they said.

The two have been touring universities across the country talking about these same issues all with one mission: to make students aware.

“It all comes down to the war, and the War on Terror has created a demand on campus for people to hear different perspectives, different stories, different experiences of what the war actually is,” Yago said.

Although both men come from similar philosophical backgrounds, they don’t agree on every issue. By coming together they bring to college campuses “different viewpoints about the conflicts,” Aslan said.

Aslan is an Iranian-American religious scholar and author of “No God But God.” Currently working toward his Ph.D. in the sociology of religion, Aslan works as an analyst for CBS and has recently appeared on “The Colbert Report.” Yago, a Jewish-American, broke into politics by traveling to the Middle East for MTV after graduating from Columbia University.

“Awareness is so much more important than we give it credit for,” Aslan said. “Being aware is so important. If nothing else happens … but you were given an opportunity to broaden your perspective … to recognize that maybe not everything you’re hearing in the media is correct, we’re done.”

Both Aslan and Yago emphasized the similarities between youth growing up in America and those growing up across the globe in the Muslim world and how the newly globalized society connects everybody. Everything from watching TV, such as “American Idol” and “Fraiser,” to living under a president with strong religious convictions connects young people across the world,” Aslan said.

“We’re in a globalized world now,” Aslan said. “Sept. 11 has put the lie to the idea that America is some island unaffected by what’s going on in the rest of the world. What happens in Bangladesh does matter to us. What happens in Kuwait does affect us. The most important thing that university students can learn is how to be global citizens.”

Though opinions were raised on topics ranging from the plans for Iraq laid out by the nominees to personal anecdotes about time spent in the Middle East, one theme was constant: a growing globalized community and a necessity for understanding between the youth of today who will become the leaders of tomorrow on both sides of the world.

“We’re not coming here to chastise people,” Aslan said. “We are trying to say that, ‘Look, there are other voices out there.’”

Yago said that the first key to having peace in the world is having understanding. Peace is something people have to make, it doesn’t just happen, he said.