Course Reflection

Living Jerusalem Course Reflection

            To be completely honest, I had no idea what to expect out of this course when I signed up back in October.  Now looking back at my decision nearly six months later, I could not be happier that I was fortunate enough to partake in this project.  This course reflection is intended to discuss highlights of the course and improvements that can be made in order to make the Living Jerusalem project the best that it can be.

            Possibly my favorite and most meaningful part of the course came from unintended discussions or statements by other people.  I can clearly remember during the first week or so of classes when Amy was introducing us to the structure of the course…the blogs, videoconferences, etc.  At the time I understood that a conflict between Israelis and Palestinians existed, but more specifically, I had zero clue to why the conflict existed and what the conflict was over.  Amy then was talking about the videoconferences; the statement said was something like this, “Videoconferences are a major portion of this course as we will have about a six week period in the middle of the semester just devoted to videoconferencing established and educated individuals in terms of the conflict.  Though as great as videoconferences are, they are perfectly symbolic for the Jerusalem conflict.  The conferences are meant for the good but honestly, most of the time they do bad as the technology fails.”  I feel that listening to that connection between the complexity of videoconferencing and how it can be symbolic for Jerusalem put it all in perspective for me.  The conflict is complex, like videoconferencing, however actions are being taken to help bring both sides together.  It was unintended statements that evolved from class discussion that really were a success to this course. 

            Next, I want to comment on how successful the blogs were.  I had taken two other courses at IU that heavily implemented the use of blogs in the syllabus however, both times the professors grew impatient with the technology and the use of blogs virtually disappeared from the curriculum after about three week.  Yes, I understand that utilizing blogs (especially in a class of our size) could be a headache sometimes, but sticking with them really benefited the course.  Specifically, the consistent use of blogs and readings and the fact that they were due at the same time every week made it very convenient as basically an alarm went off in my head twice a week saying it is time to post in the blog (it was routine). 

            Thus far, this paper has commented on some of the highlights of the course, however now I will transition into what improvements can be made.  Just please note that I am not trying to “tear” the course apart or be too harsh, as all of the feedback is intended to strengthen the course for years to come.  For each criticism, I have attempted to provide an improvement or solution to turn weakness into strength. 

            I am sure that I will not be the only person to write about Karen’s book under the “complaints” section; however I feel that I have some valid points to make about it.  Yes, the book was boring and somewhat miserable to read, especially compared to the other readings throughout the course which are very interesting articles.  In terms of bias, I feel that Karen did a very good job, because as we all know by now, writing about this conflict without showing bias is a nearly impossible task.  Now, I have not done much research on this but perhaps there are a few films out there than do justice of Karen’s book.  I feel that watching a film on the background of Jerusalem will not only keep the class more intrigued (because Karen’s book was somewhat dry and hard to follow at times) but it would also conserve time allowing the class to explore other cultural topics within Palestinians and Israelis.  I understand that the learning the background information is a painful part of the course, but as bad as it seemed at the time, the course would not have had the same effect as it does without having knowledge of the past.  A few films or so may not be the right alternative plan, but who knows; maybe it could be worth a shot.    

            Earlier I mentioned how I loved the use of blogs throughout the class; however there still were some aspects with the blog use that bothered me.  The fact that we were assigned blog posts and had to comment three times every week was a great way to learn the content, and express our emotions and feelings about it.  The one thing though I did not like was that the blogging community somewhat encouraged fake interaction which took away from our discussions as a whole.  I entirely understand that I was a person who vocally in class did not have much of a voice but when it came to the blogs, I became passionate about the topic.  The comments section of the blog I felt was somewhat of a waste as looking back on most of the comments, they read something like “I agree” or “I disagree” and after that none of them really were followed up.  One suggestion that I think will really strengthen the class and participation as a whole would be to have a “featured blogger” every class.  Assigning one person to be the featured blogger would require them to share their post with the class therefore kicking off the discussion.  Doing this, we could eliminate the blog commenting (which I feel was not so useful) and actually interact in discussion form throughout the classes.  Also by having this person read their blog, it would create a tighter community within the classroom and help others like me find it easier to become involved in discussion. 

            One last thing that I would eliminate is videoconferencing with the Ohio State class for every class.  I feel that there was a great deal of wasted time in the beginning of classes waiting for the OSU class to settle in or even just dealing with the technology.  I do understand that there were certain occasions where communication was needed like during videoconferences and getting situated with the blogs but there was a stretch towards the beginning-middle of the year where our classes consisted of just group discussion with our class only, and it was pointless to set up communication with OSU just to mute them and turn off the sound once we successfully reached them. 

            Now lastly, I would like to end on my take overall and what I have truly gotten out of this class.  Before entering this class, I was a Jew with pride…the problem was that I was ignorant.  I had no knowledge of what was going on in Jerusalem but because I am a Jew I just assumed that the Israelis were right and Palestinians were wrong.  Now looking at the same conflict sixteen weeks later, I still come up of this conflict with bias towards the Israeli side simply because my roots are there, and I was raised this way.  However, there is one major thing that has changed.  Now since I am somewhat educated on the background and have a better idea of what is exactly happening in Jerusalem, I have evolved into a Jew that is willing to negotiate with the Palestinian side of the conflict.  I am a Jew that wants to see peace in Jerusalem, but I am also a Jew that understands peace will not be achieved until both sides are happy.  I really need to praise Amy not for putting together an incredible curriculum (because it was) but for putting the content together in a way that was non-bias.  I cannot believe that we studied the Jerusalem conflict in such a non-biased way.  A quick example from the content is for every article written by or videoconference hosted by an Israeli, the next one was by a Palestinian.  Even looking at the group projects including our own, there was no bias whatsoever.  It is somewhat incredible that such a major conflict can be learned in such matter.            

I would like to conclude this reflection with a statement of general information that I have developed through this class.  Over the past sixteen weeks, one thing that I will take away is that politics do not solve everything.  I vividly remember learning about in middle school how in Ancient Greece, bloody battles virtually came to a halt when the Olympics was in session.  We see it here today too; look at the horrific events during the Boston Marathon just this past week.  What I have learned from this course is that cultural activities such as music and sports can bring nations together like no other, they can bring peace.  It is not going to be a piece of paper titled approved by government that brings peace in Jerusalem, it will be through cultural activities and their involvement with the younger generation.  This is how peace in Jerusalem will be achieved.