Responses

Tuesday:
It still amazes me that we were able to video conference with a university professor and students in Jerusalem on Tuesday. It was extremely interesting to hear their perspectives on a topic that we have been studying about and they are literally experiencing on a daily basis. It is only through 21st century technology that we can literally talk with people face-to-face while being thousands of miles away. I was particularly struck by our conversation's constant shift of focus from the "conflict" to the day-to-day interactions of the inhabitants of the city. Perhaps by focusing on 'living Jerusalem' we are in fact missing out on 'living in Jerusalem.' I wonder how much of a difference there is between the conflict affecting day-to-day life versus day-to-day life affecting the conflict?

Thursday:
I must start of by saying that I am generally very interested in politics. As such, I found Professor Herrmann's session extremely interesting. I thought that he offered the information in a very balanced and comprehensible manner. Seeing all the maps and hearing about all the peace deals on both sides really helped put things in perspective for me since popular media and my general exposure has primarily focused on only certain bits of information. Although I now have a better understanding of the politics of the situation, I am now even more overwhelmed with the intricacies and complexities of the situation in particular and region at large.