The fifth seminar of the series had an exciting, evidence-based discussion on inter-group cohesion, highlighting findings from evaluations of different strategies to promote trust or change perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors towards others in diverse societies. Salma Mousa offered a review of the evidence on the effectiveness of three promising approaches --- intergroup contact, perspective-taking, and building a shared national identity. Alexandra Scacco presented a new study examining whether intergroup contact between hosts and refugees reduces prejudice in Lebanon. This study builds on a program offering psychosocial support to vulnerable Lebanese and Syrian youth. It tests the effects of delivering this program in mixed classrooms, and of combining it with an additional intervention focused on empathy and perspective taking.
