Teaching Colonialism and Anti-Colonialism During Genocide in Gaza and War in Lebanon: The Classroom as a Space of Solidarity

This article reflects on teaching the sociology of colonialism, settler colonialism, and anti-colonialism in Beirut as Israel committed a genocide in Gaza and war crimes in Lebanon. In this environment—amid the explosions of bombs, endless ambulance sirens, and the unrelenting hum of Israeli drones, as students and educators faced sweeping evacuation orders and forced displacement—the classroom became a space for resisting our shared experience of violence and (re)building anti-colonial political consciousness. While our class was learning about the history of colonialism and settler colonialism, we were simultaneously observing the matrix of power that upheld it and living through its violent effects. The course became a space for potential social transformation, where we could forge solidarity relations with others by acknowledging our connected experiences of colonial violence. The article stresses the role of critical sociology in analyzing the social structures of colonialism and settler colonialism and their interconnectedness to the violence inflicted on us, as well as engaging students with possible radical emancipatory politics, from local to global. It highlights the need for critical pedagogy, as reflected in our class discussions and assignments. While each of the sessions brought a wealth of different ideas and emotions from students, special attention will be given to two positionality papers that students completed: one at the beginning of the semester, amid the Gaza genocide but before the escalated war in Lebanon, and the second at the end of the semester, as the Gaza genocide continued and after the start of a fragile ceasefire in Lebanon.