Partners

An Open Exchange of Ideas

Dartmouth’s interdisciplinary programs in Jewish Studies and Middle Eastern Studies have a longstanding commitment to fostering dialogue, collaboration, joint academic inquiry, and community building.

Building on this decades-long partnership and recent campus forums on the current conflict, the Middle East Dialogue fosters an open exchange of ideas to bridge what can appear to be an impenetrable divide.

Ultimately, dialogue relies on the assumption that we’re all learners committed to curiosity and remaining open to new ideas and perspectives. A combination of curiosity and empathetic listening is a crucial element for learning—supporting freedom of speech without fear of retaliation, and welcoming divergent perspectives while rejecting polarization, dehumanization, stereotyping, and violence of all kinds.

Expanded course offerings

Beginning this winter, expanded offerings taught by faculty and visiting professors will explore the long history that connects Arabs and Jews, identifying commonalities in belief, perception, and struggle. These courses will place the current conflict in a larger historical context and address and defuse current grievances and misrepresentations. Essential to these course offerings is attention to community building and peace-making efforts not only by politicians but also by religious leaders, feminist activists, human rights organizations, and more.

Three seated individuals on a stage

University of Pacific law professor Omar Dajani answers a question about Israeli-Palestinian relations during a forum at Dartmouth this fall with Mira Sucharov, a political science professor at Carleton University. Middle Eastern Studies professor Jonathan Smolin, left, was serving as moderator.

(Photo By Photo by Ben Joel ’27)

Guest lectures and forums

A wide array of guests will visit campus to teach, lecture, and engage with students, building on the fall’s Middle East forums by modeling collaborative work and respectful dialogue.

Watch Past Forum

Collaborative policy papers

Luminaries of political thought and diplomacy will visit Dartmouth to collaborate with faculty and students on policy papers. These working groups will examine political ideologies and religious thought, with a goal of producing ideas and practical suggestions that will be transmitted to the political negotiators who will likely engage in peace negotiations in the coming years.

Foreign study program

A new foreign study program is in development with the Department of Government that will bring students from various academic units together to engage with the politics of the Middle East. Students will live in the region, engage with decision makers, and meet people from many walks of life with aspirations for a better future. 

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