American Study

STORIES RIGHT NOW ON MATTER OF FACT. MORE THAN 5000 MILES FROM ISRAEL IN GAZA, DEMONSTRATORS HAVE SET UP CAMP AT SOME OF THE MOST PROMINENT UNIVERSITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. COLLEGES ARE OBVIOUSLY NO STRANGERS TO PROTESTS, AND THEYRE USED TO THE EXCHANGE OF DIFFERING IDEAS. AND THATS WHAT PROFESSORS AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE ARE LEANING INTO. THEIR CO-TEACHING COURSES THEY HOPE INSPIRE DEEP UNDERSTANDING AND NUANCED DEBATE AMONG STUDENTS ABOUT THE MIDDLE EASTS PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE. OUR CORRESPONDENT LEONE LAKHANI TAKES US TO CLASS. THE CRISP SPRING DAY BRINGS STUDENTS OUT AT DARTMOUTH COLLEGE IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, BUT TWO OF ITS TEACHERS ARE INSIDE PREPARING. FOR A UNIQUE CLASS. PROFESSOR TARIQ RICE IS THE HEAD OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES DEPARTMENT. PROFESSOR SUSANNAH HESCHEL, CHAIR OF JEWISH STUDIES. ONCE A WEEK, THEY COME TOGETHER TO CO-TEACH A CLASS, CREATING WHAT THEY CALL A SCHOLARLY EXCHANGE. WHAT CREATES THE SILENCE? THE CLASS COVERS 18TH TO 20TH CENTURY HISTORY, PIVOTAL PERIODS, THEY SAY, FOR BOTH — AND ARABS IN THE ARABIC CONTEXT, A LOT OF THE WOMEN, THE FEMINIST. ARTS WERE EMBRACING SOME FORM OF EUROPEAN MODERNITY. THE PROFESSORS WEAVE IN AND OUT OF EACH OTHERS TALKS, WHICH SCRIPTURE SAYS WOMEN SHOULD WEAR A VEIL. YOU TESTAMENT. THE NEW TESTAMENT, BUT NOT THE KORAN, NOT THE HEBREW BIBLE. THEY DELVE INTO IDEOLOGIES LIKE FORMS OF ARAB NATIONALISM AND ZIONISM TO HELP STUDENTS HAVE A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF TENSIONS IN THE REGION. I WANT THEM TO UNDERSTAND THE SHARED PROBLEMS THAT WE HAVE FACED AS — AND AS ARABS, AND LOOK AT SOME OF THE SIMILAR RESPONSES WE FORMULATED. SO WE WANT TO ALSO OFFER A MODEL OF, OF OF CONVIVENCE. YES. THAT DOES NOT REQUIRE THAT ONE ELIMINATES THE OTHER, THAT THERE IS ROOM FOR SOME FORM OF COMMUNAL COEXISTENCE. THE PROFESSORS CREATED THIS CLASS THREE YEARS AGO AND THERE ARE OTHER CO-TAUGHT CLASSES BETWEEN THESE DEPARTMENTS, BUT THEY TOOK ON NEW IMPORTANCE AFTER THE OCTOBER 7TH ATTACKS ON ISRAEL AND THE ENSUING WAR IN GAZA. HOW DO YOU THINK THIS KNOWLEDGE WILL HELP PEOPLE UNDERSTAND AND NAVIGATE THE EVENTS OF TODAY? OUR JOB IS REALLY TO EXPAND THEIR HORIZON AND MAKE SURE THAT THEYRE GETTING THIS WIDE VIEW THAT GOES INTO THE PAST, AND ITS NOT LIMITED ONLY TO WHAT WE ARE SEEING ON TV OR ON SOCIAL MEDIA. AND THEN THEY CAN MAKE THEIR OWN, YOU KNOW, POLITICAL CHOICES AND DEVELOP THEIR OWN VIEWS AND ENGAGE THE WORLD IN THE WAY THAT THEY SEE FIT. THE EVENTS OF OCTOBER 7TH AND THE WAR SINCE ARE PARTICULARLY SIGNIFICANT IN THIS CONFLICT. THATS 70 PLUS YEARS, AND ITS POLARIZING. A LOT OF PEOPLE. EL WHAT DO YOU SAY TO THEM WHEN THERE ARE TWO WAYS OF LOOKING AT IT? ON THE ONE HAND, ITS A MOMENT OF CRISIS, BUT ITS ALSO A MOMENT OF GREAT, GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR OUR THINKING IN A WAY THAT ACKNOWLEDGES WHATS HAPPENING IN THE WORLD. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, MAKE SURE THAT THEYRE GETTING THE EDUCATION THAT WE THINK IS ESSENTIAL FOR THEM. STUDENTS I SPOKE TO WHO TAKE THE CLASS, SAY ITS WIDENING THEIR PERSPECTIVES BECAUSE IT TALKS ABOUT BOTH EUROPE AND BOTH THE MIDDLE EAST, ESPECIALLY IN THE CURRENT CONTEXT. I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT, UM, THE JEWISH IDENTITY, THE PALESTINIAN IDENTITY AND EVERYTHING. I FEEL LIKE STUDENTS THESE DAYS KNOW FAR LESS HISTORY, FAR LESS BACKGROUND THAN PERHAPS WE SHOULD IN ORDER TO GET A REAL COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF WHAT THE CURRENT CONFLICT, WHATEVER IT IS. IN SOME WAYS I THINK THERES A LOT MORE STUDY YOU NEED TO DO, AND UNTIL YOU CAN REALLY. SAY, I HAVE THIS OPINION BECAUSE OF SORT OF MY DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF OF THE HISTORY, BUILDING A DEEP KNOWLEDGE OF THE HISTORY AND THE PRESENT, WHERE A WAVE OF PROTESTS IS SWEEPING ACROSS SOME COLLEGE CAMPUSES AT DARTMOUTH, THEYVE BEEN A SMALLER SCALE AND IN THE IMMEDIATE WAKE OF OCTOBER 7TH, THESE PROFESSORS TOOK THEIR CO-TEACHING MODEL AND MADE IT AVAILABLE TO THE ENTIRE STUDENT BODY BY HOLDING PUBLIC FORUMS. HOW DO YOU RECOMMEND THAT WE VOICE OUR DISAGREEMENT? I, I UNDERSTAND THAT EMOTIONS ARE HIGH. I KNOW EVERYBODY OWNS SEINER ATTENDED A FORUM. HES ALSO A STUDENT IN THE CLASS. AND SAYS IT HELPS TO BREAK STEREOTYPES. I FEEL LIKE A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE PRONE TO PUTTING ARABS AND — IN VERY SEPARATE BOXES. AND LIKE IN DOING SO, THEY IGNORE A LOT OF SHARED HISTORY AND SHARED UNDERSTANDING. PROFESSOR HESHEL AND ALLERY SAY OTHER INSTITUTIONS ARE APPROACHING THEM ABOUT THEIR MODEL. WEVE BEEN ASKED TO CONSULT WITH A LOT OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AND ALSO PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES, WHERE THERES A TERRIBLE POLARIZATION, AND THEY ASK US FOR ADVICE, ADVICE THAT COULD CREATE GREATER UNDERSTANDING EVEN BEYOND THEIR OWN CAMPUS FOR MATTER OF FACT,