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WEEK of OCTOBER 27, 2003 |
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Hot-button Issue, Level-headed Teaching text and photo by Jeffrey Stanley “If students are not interested or concerned about the people who were incinerated in the Twin Towers, the American wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, possible future terrorist strikes, and the conflict between civil liberties and national security,” says Upper School history teacher Vlad Malukoff, “then I am at a loss as to what will motivate them in the fields of history, politics, and philosophy.” Malukoff makes no bones about how and why he discusses the Middle East in his classes, which include the sophomore-required course on U.S. history and the junior and senior elective courses on the Middle East and on genocide. Malukoff is also a faculty advisor to the Model United Nations club, which attends simulated conferences with other schools. At this time in history, Malukoff feels it’s particularly important for high schools in this country to study the region of the Middle East. The reason, he says, are numerous and go beyond the World Trade Center attacks. “Here’s a basic list: oil, Islamism, human rights and women, the legacy of Western imperialism, and the state of Israel.” When he discusses the sensitive religious aspects of our country’s relationship to the Middle East, Malukoff focuses on Islam, the belief system about which BFS students typically have the least awareness. However, he points out that all three of the major religions in the region are given time in class. He believes that regardless of students’ spiritual beliefs, “In terms of cultural literacy and developing a system of ethics, students need to have some awareness of the basic teachings of Judaism and Christianity. This is what I try to do in teaching about Islam. They read some selections in the Koran and get some perspectives on the religion from Muslim speakers and articles by Muslims.” He also stresses the diversity within Islam. “There are Sunnis, Shi'ites, Sufis, Wahhabis, Druze, Alawites, and others,” he says. “I emphasize the interaction and conflicts between these sects over the course of time, and also consider the role of the Christian, Jewish, and other religions, such as the Bahai faith.” Religious differences aren’t the only areas than can be thorny in a classroom discussion about the disparities between Western and Middle Eastern values. Cultural differences, such as those surrounding free speech and the role of women in society, can also spark debate, says Malukoff. “I try to keep a focus on the roots for the repression of free speech: the legacy of autocratic government in the Islamist empires, the Westernization movements starting in the 19th century which tried to copy the modernization of the European states, but not the corresponding political modernization—constitutional government, liberalism, democracy.” Malukoff says the women’s issue is a popular topic among students. “I have them examine the different points of view on whether the oppression is linked to religion. We look at how the most extreme form, Wahhabism, regards the role of women, and we think of the political, sociocultural, and economic factors behind the oppression of women.” Not surprisingly, BFS students don’t always fit the norm of many high school students across the United States. Malukoff admits that it’s a challenge to get his students to look at the Middle East objectively, and that their bias tends to be against US policies in the Middle East, not for them. “Many students here are predisposed to be opposed to American foreign policy, particularly Republican foreign policy,” he says. The rewards outweigh the challenges, says Malukoff, who adds that he has only received positive feedback from parents. “I am convinced that one cannot talk about current events unless one has a general sense of a country’s or region’s political, social, cultural, and economic development over the course of time,” he says. |
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