Empowering Students Via Travel: Probing the Arab-Israeli Conflict from the Field Dr. Jonathan Snow Roanoke College
[email protected] APSA Teaching and Learning Conference February 2020 Abstract Teaching the intricacies of the Arab-Israeli conflict to undergraduates in a comprehensive and dispassionate manner presents numerous difficulties, even under controlled classroom conditions. As logistically difficult as it is, traveling to the region and exploring the issues through direct interactions with its various peoples, places, groups, and polities allows for a unique and meaningful opportunity to unravel otherwise unfathomable elements of this complex case. This paper documents the particular successes, challenges, and missteps of a recent international travel-learning course which brought a group of American undergraduates to Israel and the West Bank for an intensive learning experience. Unlike traditional classroom settings, this course was frontloaded with all of the readings so that the students came in with at least a minimum shared base level of knowledge. The focus on the ground was exploring how on a day- to-day level the inhabitants of the region coexist more than they clash. In this course students gained a unique insight into the various aspects of the current and past Arab-Israeli conflict through exposure to a wide range of sites, narratives, politics, and initiatives in this land shared and claimed by both sides. We were able to meet with individuals from across the various political, ethnic, and religious divides and visited locations in Israel and the West Bank that are holy to Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze, Baha’is, and others. Students had access to places and peoples out of reach to regular tourists, allowing for thoughtful analysis and understanding of the conflict, its complexity, and its possible resolutions or evolutions.