By Vanessa Huang
Amid current reports of violence in Israel and Palestine, lecturers at LSE have differed in their approaches to teaching content focused on the region. These mixed approaches have created an uneven footing for students to examine these topics across courses and departments.
Dr Sonia Exley, course leader for SP400 (International Social and Public Policy), announced in a lecture on 9 October that reading for that week concerning Israel and Palestine would not be covered in the lecture, and that “it’s probably best if we don’t in the seminars also.” Students were, however, welcome to read and discuss this “in [their] own time.”
Professor John Chalcraft, course leader for GV328 (Middle East Politics in Transnational Perspective), delivered lecture material on Palestine as planned. In a lecture on 10 October, Professor Chalcraft expressed “sympathy and concern” for anyone affected by the violence, but emphasised education on this topic was a “responsibility nonetheless that has to be shouldered.”
For IR312 (Genocide), Dr Howie Rechavia-Taylor announced on Moodle on 13 October that content on Palestine would remain part of the course. In a week dedicated to “cases of collective violence that do not meet/are not consistent with the UN definition of genocide, but that some scholars argue ought to be classified as having genocidal features,” Palestine was available as one option for students to choose.
Dr Rechavia-Taylor, having “gone back and forth about what is appropriate given the news,” encouraged students to engage with the texts “in a manner that analyses where it sits within scholarship in genocide studies.” Further provided in the announcement was that seminars would not focus on “any individual case” and that students were welcome to “step away” from readings and the classroom.
One student commented, “The role of teachers and professors is to educate students about the content of the course. They should not include content on the conflict if it risks shifting discussion away from the course content.”
Another student said that “it is now, more than ever, essential to discuss these issues,” while emphasising that “deal[ing] with these topics sensitively” was not only possible, but “the only way forward.”
“As LSE, we’re a place that hopes to enact progress and change in the world, and so if we shy away from discussions where change and progress can occur, then what are we really doing as a university?”
