Modern Middle East

International politics come into play in Barbara DiPaolo’s semester-long course Modern Middle East, where students look at the current events in the region and trace back the historical origins, beginning with the formation of Israel in 1948.

DiPaolo begins the course by establishing some vocabulary, maps and prominent leaders she expects the students to know. Once this foundation is set, they narrow in on the current hotspots.

Students in Modern Middle East must be able to effectively voice their opinions in discussion and support their opinions with evidence. During each 80-minute carrier, students thoroughly report on a recent news article and then present it, which drives the discussion amongst their classmates.

Aside from discussions, the class includes lectures from DiPaolo and videos. This semester, students watched the 2012 Best Picture winner Zero Dark Thirty to learn more about the killing of Osama bin Laden.

“A lot of students come in with zero knowledge about what’s going on over there, “ DiPaolo said. “My hope for them is that they leave the class being able to carry on an educated conversation about the things going on in that part of the world.”

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