{"id":9,"date":"2021-02-05T00:06:02","date_gmt":"2021-02-05T00:06:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/?p=9"},"modified":"2021-02-05T00:06:02","modified_gmt":"2021-02-05T00:06:02","slug":"where-i-live-where-they-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/2021\/02\/05\/where-i-live-where-they-live\/","title":{"rendered":"“Where I live, Where they Live”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although I have never travelled to the Middle East,\u00a0<\/span>from<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>my experience\u00a0<\/span>abroad, it has become<\/span>\u00a0very\u00a0<\/span>apparent the\u00a0<\/span>way in which\u00a0<\/span>stereotypes\u00a0<\/span>can\u00a0<\/span>alter or<\/span>\u00a0misguide one<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0perception of reality<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0In other words, we\u00a0<\/span>create reasons for certain behaviors or occurrences through the lenses of our own experience.\u00a0<\/span>It would be unreasonable to say that in order to minimize barriers of understanding between\u00a0<\/span>the USA and the Middle East\u00a0<\/span>we must eliminate our predispositions.\u00a0<\/span>However, a good start would be to reflect on what our predispositions are<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>For example, in my\u00a0<\/span>experience<\/span>\u00a0growing up in the United States,<\/span>\u00a0I have come t<\/span>o<\/span>\u00a0associate my count<\/span>r<\/span>ies government with leadership and stability<\/span>. Despite the significant faults that\u00a0<\/span>many of us in America recognize within our institutions,<\/span>\u00a0I am optimistic about ou<\/span>r\u00a0potential for improvement.<\/span>\u00a0However, citizens of many countries within the Middle East\u00a0<\/span>might<\/span>\u00a0h<\/span>ave less confidence\u00a0<\/span>in institutions\u00a0<\/span>as a result of failing states, exploited gover<\/span>nments, and perhaps even negative interactions with Americans.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Another strategy toward understanding is to put an effort toward accepting cultura<\/span>l\u00a0<\/span>differences and recognizing that \u201cpeople are people\u201d. It is very important that we do not simply regard someone as \u201cother\u201d<\/span>\u00a0as this can be extremely divisive and unproductive<\/span>. Sometimes the best way to accomplish<\/span>\u00a0this is by becoming the \u201cother\u201d<\/span>\u00a0through travel,<\/span>\u00a0or other means,<\/span>\u00a0and despite the cultural<\/span>\/linguistic\u00a0<\/span>challenges<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0there will be<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>commonalities among all people w<\/span>hich will encourage acceptance.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Although I have never travelled to the Middle East,\u00a0from\u00a0my experience\u00a0abroad, it has become\u00a0very\u00a0apparent the\u00a0way in which\u00a0stereotypes\u00a0can\u00a0alter or\u00a0misguide one\u2019s\u00a0perception of reality.\u00a0In other words, we\u00a0create reasons for certain behaviors or occurrences through the lenses of our own experience.\u00a0It would be unreasonable to say that in order to minimize barriers of understanding between\u00a0the USA and the Middle East\u00a0we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4628,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4628"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/robinjac\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}