Kahlil Gibran Research and Studies
The Kahlil Gibran Research and Studies Project is established under the Center for International Development and Conflict Management at the University of Maryland (CIDCM), College Park. It is designed to explore Gibran's life and works, and, through them, address moral and social determinants of public justice and peace.
Scholars working under the auspices of the Gibran Project study matters of cultural pluralism; human rights; and the role of the arts, poetry and literature in promoting international communication and cooperation. These studies emphasize the enduring human values which Gibran advocated in his writing and which are essential to the creation of a world vision based on the principle of "unity in diversity". The Kahlil Gibran Research and Studies Project is dedicated, therefore, to advancing studies about political and moral healing in a world beset by conflict and confused by a rapid change in the human condition.
The Kahlil Gibran Research and Studies Project is intended:
- to enrich the educational experience and intellectual life of students of East-West relations and analysts interested in conflict resolution through research, public lectures and academic courses;
- to focus on understanding Gibran's contribution to cross-cultural communication and the universal values he championed in his writings through publications, media events and workshops;
- to conduct scholarly studies, sponsor conferences, seminars and public lectures, publish monographs and articles and disseminate studies and ideas on peace-building.
Gibran's belief in the "unity of being", his awareness of continuity, his call for universal fellowship and the unification of the human race—these retain their potency today as do the messages of all great poets. In his life and work, inspired by his experiences as an immigrant in an adopted land, he resolved cultural and human conflict, developing in the process a unique consciousness, transcending the barriers of East and West as few writers have done before or since.