Students in courses about the Middle East want to learn, and they crave discussion.
Yet they enter the classroom with a set of beliefs about the region that interact
with their fears of offending or contradicting their peers. Together, these can
produce a classroom dynamic that ultimately stymies student learning. In this
article, several strategies are described to ameliorate this concern. These range
from short lessons that directly confront student biases about the Middle East, to
close analysis of journal articles and empirical evidence, to structured debates and
simulations, to specific classroom management techniques. Together, these strategies
can promote engaged, lively debate; generate student self-awareness of their
presuppositions; and enhance learning.