Refugees in Jordan

All three courses met on the same days at the same time, and schedules were coordinated to allow time for students in each seminar to work together. This format facilitated the interdisciplinary module, but allowed faculty to retain independence over the rest of the course.

Each class first met individually to lay out the overall scope of the term and to introduce how the module fits in with the class. We met jointly during the second meeting, and presented the handout given above. A Coe student who had taken part in the ACM’s Jordan term introduced Jordanian culture as well as giving students a glimpse of daily life in Jordan. During the second meeting as a joint group, Professor St. Clair gave an overview of Jordan’s environment with emphasis on the natural and human-influenced pressures on water. In the following session, Professor Fairbanks addressed Jordan’s history of accepting and integrating refugees. Professor Wolverton then addressed the role of theatre in social movements, as well as presenting different methods of devising theatre works from current issues.

The combined classes were divided (by the instructors) into groups with representation from each of the three courses. The groups received the instructions given above and were given two class periods to research and develop their scene. Faculty circulated among groups, answering questions and observing the interactions within each group. We then met in the Learning Commons to allow each group to present their results to the rest of the group. While we asked only for a scene, each group actually sketched out a possible narrative for an entire presentation – in some cases, with backgrounds, illustrations, and music selected to achieve the desired effect.

We met again mid-way through the term to find out how the draft of the final play was progressing. Anthropology and Environmental Studies students had the opportunity to provide feedback to the Theatre Arts students on the draft, which resulted in some significant changes.

Another remarkable resource used were the insights of Anne Struthers, a retired Coe faculty member who spent time as a Fulbright Scholar in Aleppo, Syria. She attended all joint meetings of the course, and one of her poems was incorporated into the final production.

Finally, as the play was taking shape, students in the Anthropology and Environmental Studies courses were given the option of performing in the presentation or helping to prepare and present an educational exhibit (Prezi presentation) prior to the play. Before the audience could enter the theatre, they were guided into the exhibition room and “interrogated” by students – costumed and in character – and required to state their name and their reason for wishing to attend the performance. They were then escorted into the theatre. When the play concluded, audience members were served Jordanian snacks and invited to participate in a talkback with the students.

Student Assessment

At the mid-term presentation of the draft play script, we asked students to address the following questions (in writing):

1. What do you consider the strengths of the draft?
2. How does it reflect the interdisciplinary work you did as a combined class?
3. How do you think the draft could be strengthened?
4. Which themes or additional information from your course would contribute to the final production?

The quality of the responses was high, and reflected an ability to incorporate the material from the individual courses into the ongoing development of the play. In fact, the primary critique was that the Anthropology and Environmental Studies students missed being engaged with the play.

We administered the following set of questions after the play was presented at a final joint meeting. The responses were hand-written, but then collated by class and transcribed.

1. How would you define the term “refugee?”
2. How would you define the term “devised theatre?”
3. Jordan has access to a significant underground source of water in the southern part of the country. Why is pumping water from this aquifer not an effective long term solution to Jordan’s water shortage?
4. What did you find most satisfying about the interdisciplinary work you did in the course?
5. What did you find most frustrating about this work?
6. Has the work changed your perspective on the experiences of refugees in Jordan? If so, how?
7. Has it changed your perspective on the environmental issues facing Jordan? If so, how?
8. Has it changed your perspective on the work of art in bringing social and environmental issues to people’s consciousness? If so, now?
9. Has the interdisciplinary aspect of the course affected your thinking about international issues in general? Is so, please explain.

1. Has the interdisciplinary aspect of the course affected your thinking about the approaches that social sciences, natural sciences, and/or the arts take to an issue? If so, how?
2. Has the course shaped your thinking about communicating information to a wide and/or general audience? Is so, how?
3. Would you sign up for an interdisciplinary course in the future? Why or why not?
   1. If this course were to be offered again, what would you like to see changed?

Responses showed that students achieved our learning goals: they reported appreciation for the multiple aspects of the refugee crisis in Jordan and the perspectives that each discipline brought to the issue. They also wrote about recognizing the ways that the arts can make an issue accessible to an audience and about the successful result of their collaboration.