Protracted conflict presents students with an unfamiliar and often puzzling context. Why do negotiations sometimes succeed, while at other points, actors are unable to reach agreement on key issues, even in the face of deadly costs? In this article, I introduce an extended role-playing simulation designed to enhance student understanding of…

This research offers innovative ways to study fanaticism in higher education. It builds on simulations of regional crises to test four expectations and discusses their implications. The first, on the benefits of experimental learning, is supported: participants identify with their actors and show little empathy to rivals, indicating they learn the…

This study examines the effectiveness of teaching with simulations, compared to active learning without simulations. It utilizes an anonymous extra-credit pop quiz on four topics, each taught with a different method: (1) simulation and in-class debriefing; (2) simulation only; (3) in-class discussions with an accompanying research essay; and (4)…

This article reflects critically on simulations. Building on the authors' experience simulating the Palestinian-Israeli-American Camp David negotiations of 2000, they argue that simulations are useful pedagogical tools that encourage creative--but not critical--thinking and constructivist learning. However, they can also have the deleterious…

As the coordinator of a university lecture series, the author is always on the lookout for good speakers. He thought that he had found one in Stephen Walt, a political scientist at Harvard University and the co-author of an article about the influence of the pro-Israel lobby on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. In this article, the author…

This handbook encompasses a range of disciplines that underlie the field of peace education and provides the rationales for the ways it is actually carried out. The discipline is a composite of contributions from a variety of disciplines ranging from social psychology to philosophy and from communication to political science. That is, peace…

The comparative study of the dynamics of the politics of Egypt and Israel is one subject that suggests itself for consideration for inclusion in the curriculum of Saint Joseph's College, New York. This study of a prospective Egyptian/Israeli politics course is divided into the following sections: (1) "Introduction"; (2)…

Explores relations between political orientation and cognitive style among Israeli university students. Finds that intolerance of ambiguity contributed significantly to political orientation and that the political Left showed more complex cognitive styles than the Right. Notes implications for testing competing hypotheses about cognitive style and…

Asserts that the end of the Cold War and new world realities present challenges to social studies teachers. Presents suggestions for helping students change their way of thinking about the world and the place of the United States within it. Encourages teachers to examine the existing social studies curriculum for relevance. (CFR)

In this high school U.S. government and U.S. history curriculum unit, students examine in depth the establishment of the state of Israel. Detailed activities are provided to teach students about the role of the United States in the creation of the nation of Israel. The materials include informational handouts for students, background information…

Observes the ideological evolution of the Likud party in Israel. For years the Likud labored in the shadow of the predominant socialist party structure, emerging in 1977 as a major political force. Although united in their core belief of sovereignty for Jewish settlements, the party recently has suffered political fragmentation. (MJP)