Kate Seelye, reporter, National Public Radio, Washington, DC
Middle East, North Africa, Central and South Asia Regional Research Program: America's Mission to the Middle East: 200 of Years American-Arab Relations
Host: American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon and Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
January-August 2004

Kate Seelye, a correspondent for National Public Radio, applied for the Fulbright Scholar Program hoping to strengthen ties and increase understanding between Arab and American cultures and to improve cooperation and interaction between the two peoples. As a scholar in the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia Regional Research Program, Seelye had the unique opportunity to travel to the Middle East and conduct research for a documentary film.

Inspired by another Fulbright grantee who did a film project in Cairo, Seelye decided to develop the documentary, which had long been brewing in the back of her mind. Seelye's grant not only allowed her to write and research her script, but also to explore her roots.

"My father was born in Beirut and was a diplomat for the United States specializing in the Middle East. He spent 30 years in the Arab world, and I felt like I needed to do the film for him," she said.

Seelye conducted her research at both the American University of Beirut, where her grandfather had taught philosophy, and the Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center. She also interviewed many academics who specialized in her research topic of America's mission to the Middle East and the 200 years of American-Arab relations. Even more invaluable for Seelye was being able to interview older Lebanese men and women about their recollections of the U.S. role in the Arab world in the 1920s and 1930s and Arab perceptions of U.S. efforts during that period.

During her nine-month grant, Seelye spoke at a UN conference about media coverage as a Palestinian issue, guest lectured at the Moshe Dayan Center on U.S.-Arab relations and gave an interview for The Daily Star, a local newspaper, on the role of American media in the Arab world. "Whatever we can do to promote discussion and debate is useful right now. We all need each other and we can't afford to see the other in such black and white terms," she said.

"That's why this documentary is very much a personal narrative," said Seelye. "As an American talking to other Americans, I can take them through this region and take them through this period and through this history and bring them to the place we are now and help others understand why that is."

Although Seelye is still working on funding the production of her film, she has completed a 7 2/3-minute preview of her documentary entitled At Home in the Garden of Eden. Seelye intentionally focuses more on family and the U.S. relationship to the Arab region than on the Israeli-Arabic conflict. Seelye said, "Most Americans don't realize we have a long relationship in the Arab world. We have been working with Arabs for hundreds of years and the sentiments toward America are really very positive."

Seelye said the Fulbright Program enabled her to refine her views and understanding of the U.S.-Israeli-Arab relationship. She hopes her documentary will serve to inform Americans about their own history and role in the Middle East.

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