Levantine Vignettes

An Educator’s Account of Border Crossing in the Middle East

By:
Daniel Osborn, Boston University

A volume in the series: Research in Life Writing and Education. Editor(s): Lucy E. Bailey, Oklahoma State University. KaaVonia Hinton, Old Dominion University.

In Press 2024

In the United States, the dominant perception of the Middle East is that the region is defined by violence, conflict, and extremism. This narrative erases the humanity and dignity of the region’s communities and perpetuates Orientalist myths about backwardness, inferiority, and a clash of civilizations. Levantine Vignettes is the account of one history educator and his lifelong journey to appreciate the vibrancy, vitality, diversity, and dynamism of the Middle East through the embodied learning that emerges through travel and cultural immersion.

Following Daniel Osborn from his first trip to Israel as an undergraduate student through his Peace Corps service in Jordan and well beyond, Levantine Vignettes demonstrates the transformative power of working with and living among communities in Israel, the Palestinian West Bank, Jordan, and Lebanon. From harvesting and planting olive trees to herding livestock in the desert, this account provides a glimpse into the process of becoming a global educator committed to crossing borders and cultivating compassion through knowledge.

CONTENTS
Author’s Note. A Statement on Principles of Traveling, Writing, and Creating a Life in Education. CHAPTER 1: Introduction: Between New England and the Near East. CHAPTER 2: Meditating on Mediterranean Sunsets: Experiencing Insight in Tel Aviv and Beirut. CHAPTER 3: Coffee, Jerusalem, Ibriks, and Defiantly Crossing Borders. CHAPTER 4: The Ethic of Encountering Al-Nakba: Confronting the Boundaries of Narrative Truth. CHAPTER 5: Getting Lost in Bethlehem and Learning to Trust. CHAPTER 6: Seeing Beyond Conflict: Participating in Life and Leisure in the West Bank. CHAPTER 7: Uncovering Unseen Wounds: Listening to War Stories on the Sea of Galilee. CHAPTER 8: Gadflies in the Golan: A Hike in the Heights Among the Ruins. CHAPTER 9: An End to Being Out of Place: Self-Affirmation in Tel Aviv. CHAPTER 10: An Olive Harvest in Jordan: Embodying Cooperative Work. CHAPTER 11: Unpacking a “Real Bedouin Experience” With The General and Mahmoud Abu Saleh. CHAPTER 12: Brothers, Apart: Qais, Majed, and The Many Faces of Hayat al-Bedu. CHAPTER 13: The Desert is My Classroom: Communing With Nature and Competing With the Elements. CHAPTER 14: Expanding the Borders of Bedouin Possibilities: Planting Trees and Taking Root. CHAPTER 15: He Took the Time to Teach: My Neighbor Hussein. CHAPTER 16: Perspective Taking and Border Crossing on the Red Sea. CHAPTER 17: A Cacophonous Classroom: Delighting in the Bountiful Souq. CHAPTER 18: Learning to Gather: Mansef and the Power of Food. CHAPTER 19: Being in Beirut: Learning about Wounds, Scars, and Healing. CHAPTER 20: Socratic Seminars and Brotherly Love on Our Hill. CHAPTER 21: Reorienting Myself Through a Prayer in Deir al-Qamar. CHAPTER 22: A Final Thought: Tikun olam, ma’ ba’ath. References.