(Page 9 of 16) - Developing Empathy to Understand the Middle East: The Use of Information Technology to Help Transcend Ethno-Centric Thinking authored by Stover, William.

These participants representing Israel, much less in number, also showed some changes
in attitude. After the simulation, they saw Israelis as less hostile and more friendly as
well as less successful in Middle East affairs.
This preliminary data is part of a pilot project, only suggestive in a very limited way. To
reach any meaningful conclusion about the effect of the simulation in changing
participant attitudes and fostering empathy using this kind of data, we would need a more
complex and extensive research design. It would need to use a greater number of
participants as well as a control group that did not experience the simulation. Also, the
responses represent the aggregate group of students surveyed over three quarters, further
clouding the usefulness of the survey.

However, we gave participants a broader opportunity for expression, discussing their
experience and reactions to the simulation through an in-class debriefing session. There,
students recognized an increased understanding and empathy not just for their simulated
country, but for all states in the region as the countries there struggle for peace, justice
and security.

As part of their final examination in the class, we asked students to write an open-ended
essay discussing their stereotypes and attitudes about the Middle East as well as the
country they represented. We also asked them if their views had changed during the ten
week course, and, if so, how and why. Both the class discussion and these open-ended
responses seem to support the limited data presented in Tables 2 and 3. They provide
more meaningful insight and some level of confidence that participation in the simulation
changed the subjects’ attitudes, developing in them a sense of empathy with people from
Middle Eastern nations. The following is a narrative summary of several responses.1

One member of the group representing Israel writes “before the course, I saw the Middle
East as violent, with the Israelis intransigent, egocentric, arrogant, rarely conceding to
Palestinian demands because of military superiority. By participating in the simulation,”
he explains, “I found out how uncooperative and demanding the enemy countries are. I
still believe Israel is uncompromising, but I’ve stopped perceiving the country as being
arrogant. I now believe Israel's intransigence and military action are justified because
other countries are uncooperative toward peacemaking”. Another representative of Israel
writes: before participating in the simulation, I thought Israel was “a belligerent,
antagonistic, stubborn and violent nation. I had a kind of aversion to Israel, perceiving
the conflict in black and white terms. I thought Israel was terrorizing Palestinians and
denying them reasonable peace. Israel still seems antagonistic to me, but it also seems
defensive and reasonable. I attribute the change to the intensive research paper. The
interaction facilitated by the conflict simulation itself also helped this change in
perception. It was painfully difficult to coordinate meetings and negotiations among
members of my own country, let alone with other states. It's so difficult to
communicate!” Another student attributes her change in attitude to the research done in
preparation for the simulation that “helped me learn a lot of facts; but during the actual
simulation I was able to incorporate those facts with real life. I could apply it to what was
happening.” She concludes, “I'm not the type of person who stays home on a Saturday