Near East Studies

This course provides an understanding of contemporary Turkey that goes beyond sole newspaper headlines. It uses, as a starting point, events present in the news in the last two years and analyzes how they are linked to Turkey's past and future.

This course explores issues of diversity and multiculturalism as part of the civic education process. Students first read theoretical writings that highlight the importance of dealing with different types of diversity as part of education in a democratic state. Students then examine the Israeli educational system as a case study that deals (for better or for worse) with such issues, examining the following topics: national diversity, religious diversity, racial diversity, gender diversity, and linguistic diversity. Finally, the course discusses several pedagogical approaches that enable teachers and practitioners to address such topics in the classrooms. Throughout the course, students reflect on their personal stances and roles in this regard.

The course provides an introduction to Islam, exploring key aspects of its thought and practice and early history. The course content is built on the structure of the Hadith of Gabriel, which presents the religion as comprising Islam, or submission (action), iman, or belief (understanding), ihsan, or doing what is beautiful (sincerity), and proper understanding of human history. Topics covered typically include the social and cultural setting in which Islam emerged, religious and political developments during and after the Prophet's life, internal divisions within the Muslim community, the authoritative texts, law, and major schools of Islamic thought.

This course focuses on the topic of negotiations and conflict resolution in the context of the Arab-Israeli conflict from 1977 through the present. It is divided into three parts. First, the course examines the general theoretical framework for explaining and understanding negotiations in international relations. In addition, students study the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the main issues and patterns of negotiations. Second, the course addresses several case-studies of successes and failures of negotiations between Israel and its several Arab neighbors including Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and the Palestinians. In this context, the students understand the failure of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. Finally, in the last part of the course, students conduct a simulation and present their papers and research.

This course addresses aspects of pluralism and multiculturalism from a socio-psychological perspective. The course focuses on various kinds of minorities in contemporary Israel society including immigrants (“Olim”), Palestinian Arabs, Israeli Druze, and others. Students analyze the complexity of biculturalism, and its relationship with psychological and socio-cultural adaptation. Finally, students review the DOPA model as a conceptual and methodological tool for the mapping and measurement of perceptions and orientations toward cultural diversity in educational contexts.