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Preserving a Jewish State with a lot of baklava: active learning and teaching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in history surveys
Abstract
Moving beyond traditional lectures has become increasingly necessary in teaching historical concepts in the college survey course. In world history, with case examples often distanced from student perspectives, shifts in instructional methodology may offer new paths to increased student participation and data retention. This paper describes an active learning method first developed in 2011 at the University of Arkansas to approach the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within the context of a world history, western history, or Middle East history course. Over the last nine years, instructors have used this multi-stage activity at a variety of campuses across the country as well as at different course levels. Using knowledge from a focused textbook, students work in both small and large groups to “resolve” the conflict along set parameters. The addition of primary sources from a reader help supply added depth to immersion and background material. While initially negotiating within a small group, students then progress to discussions among larger groups, before finally forming a broad consensus between “Israel” and “Palestine.” Upon completing the activity, students write feedback papers assessing their knowledge of the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, including earlier peace proposals, the nuanced nature of respective domestic political scenes, and the involvement of outside actors. Students also learn skills about public negotiation with peers, working within small and large groups, and expressing an educated position based on evidence. Past activities showed tremendous creativity and resourcefulness, as well as engagement and empathy for the Arab-Israeli conflict and resolution process. Along with the general parameters of the activity as well as a description of the variations, I also highlight the trends in discussions and conclusions that students generated. While pedagogical outcomes have remained consistently successful, the actual negotiations have shifted in ways that match dialogue of stakeholders in the actual process. One notable example is a shift from two-state to one-state solutions, which picked up dramatically over the last four years. Utilizing nine years of student-submitted peace agreements along with reflection papers over the last four years, I hope to not only show the efficacy of this project but also the ways in which American students at community colleges and research universities engage with and learn about Middle East issues.
Discipline
History
Geographic Area
All Middle East
Israel
Palestine
Sub Area
Pedagogy