Where Will the Lt's of Tomorrow Be?

This thread is getting off topic.

But you are right - I am only a high school junior, so I don't have the insight to make opinions on the Middle East. I agree. However, I have taken several courses on the Middle East, some of them Post-Grad (college level, we have loads of college athletes who come to my school for a prep year). I have written a 15 page thesis on Tariq Ramadan, an Islamic Reformer who is one of the most controversial Muslims in the world. One of my instructors was a PhD specializing in the Middle East. The other was a Arab Muslim. Both were fluent in Arabic and had been to all Middle Eastern countries, minus Iran and Bahrain. I got most of my information about the Middle East from them, and the journals we read.

But you are right- I haven't got the personal experience with the Middle East. As I travel to the Middle East today, I hope to learn more about the region..
 
Last edited:
This thread is a little off topic but on the new tack it has taken: From my perspective to truly understand a region and a culture you need both an academic and language perspective combined with functional experience on the ground (which is more than an orientation trip but it's a start). To me - I look with a jaundiced eye at pure academics who you find often prognosticate so authoritatively about the causes and solutions for a region (but have never been there and really had to live the life), just as I do with people who have tons of experience but no broader background and perspective for putting the puzzle together- they often see things from the worms eye view which is not the whole picture by any means.
It's pretty cool that you are getting started on this while still a Junior in HS- have a great trip!
 
Thanks Bruno! Looks to be a great trip - minus the 20 hours of flying time!:eek:
 
bruno said:
This thread is a little off topic but on the new tack it has taken: From my perspective to truly understand a region and a culture you need both an academic and language perspective combined with functional experience on the ground (which is more than an orientation trip but it's a start). To me - I look with a jaundiced eye at pure academics who you find often prognosticate so authoritatively about the causes and solutions for a region (but have never been there and really had to live the life), just as I do with people who have tons of experience but no broader background and perspective for putting the puzzle together- they often see things from the worms eye view which is not the whole picture by any means.
It's pretty cool that you are getting started on this while still a Junior in HS- have a great trip!
Click to expand...

Yes. Sums it up well. Particularly dislike sweeping generalizations about a region/culture (especially if they sound like soundbites).

Tonk, enjoy your trip and enjoy the learning experience. For all who have tried to sum up the Middle East in a few tid-bits, the main thing to keep in mind is that they may be a part of some issues, but don't think of them as all-inclusive at all. It is a more complex region than any of us can imagine and it would take decades to really understand just a part of it. I could drop some qualifications (RAND's research hub in Doha) and USAFA instructors, but I still won't try to come to an explanation for the way the Middle East acts. I find the more I read, visit, and gain knowledge in that region, the less and less I think I know. So again, gather your knowledge, but don't try to define that whole area.
 
even though this is really off the topic of the original thread:
I am currently in a Middle East history class at a local community college. The textbook we use presents the material well, but has an obviously liberal bias against the United States and Western countries in general in the chapters pertaining to modern day events, even though it's an American textbook.
So I'm curious: in anyone's collective academic experiences, do you see a more liberal bias or conservative bias on issues pertaining to the Middle East? (both in academic history classes and more practical international relations-type classes)
 
I've only studied more specific components of ME history (mostly military). Most of the books I have read were fairly neutral on assigning "right" and "wrong."
 
thanks for the response, raimius. I prefer the teaching method of presenting the facts and letting the student form his own opinions...not presenting opinions as truth in textbooks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top