Unity Day 2022

During my fall semester of 2023 a friend and I decided to participate in a directed study to further investigate the phenomenon of religious clashes along the 10th parallel in Africa mainly. Our study focused on studying the conflicts and researching the historical context to inform ourselves if it was truly a religious conflict or a conflict that involved religion. For our Unity Day presentation we focused on teaching historical analytical skills and research skills by using a case study that focused on the current conflict in the country of Nigeria. Our presentation was titled Conflict Context. The main goal of our presentation was to inform Fountain Valley students of the many conflicting views that arise during conflict. We wanted students to understand that although religion is a factor in many conflicts, it isn't always the cause or driving force within the conflicts. We discussed the many nuanced factors that play a role in a person's identity and how these various sectors can inform a person's choices and decisions in the middle of a conflict. After discussing the basics of conflict and how it arises, we made comparisons to events and factors that led to the start of the conflict in Nigeria. Throughout our presentation there were various discussion questions to engage our participants and gauge their understanding of the content. Through these responses, I believe we were extremely successful in informing students to not always view a conflict at its face value. Everyone in our workshop seemed to understand that religion is not always the driving force in a conflict and that many conflicts are misunderstood and labeled as religious ones. I learned that it is not extremely hard to make FVS a more tolerant place. Although our topic did not focus on current problems at FVS it emphasized the importance of thinking critically when analyzing conflicts and to take into account the various factors that are involved.