In Israel, Adam Schonbrun bridges the divide between Arabs and Jews in his English classes at Safed College. Though the groups sit apart from each other in the classroom, Schonbrun, Class of 1988, challenges them to mingle.

"It's the only place where Muslims and Jews can meet," he said. "In my classroom, there's a little utopia in Galilee."

Relating the challenges of dealing with multicultural issues, Schonbrun presented "Teaching English to Arabs and Jews in Israel" at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on Thursday night. During the talk, he spoke about teaching during the second intifada, a Palestinian uprising in September 2000, resulting in a period of extreme violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

He also read several of his poems, as well as an article about his teaching experience he originally wrote "to show core conflicts and celebrate differences, and express hope for human communication," he said.

Schonbrun's classrooms are composed of various cultures, including Christians, Jews and Muslims. Though the groups work well together, he said he faced two challenging moments in his 14 years teaching there.

One he described involved when a Muslim student of his was warned by a fellow Muslim who planned to detonate a suicide bomb that moments later killed

12 people. After this event, Schonbrun's other students accused him of supporting the "other side" during class, and he acted quickly to quell the unrest.

"I basically told them that we had to continue the lesson," he said. "If anyone wanted to visit the wounded at the hospital, they could come with me afterward."

Academia is no place for conflicts, and understanding this, his students now leave their differences behind when they walk into the classroom, he said.

Dan Walden, professor emeritus of American studies, English and comparative literature, organized the event. He said Schonbrun teaches an "incredible array of cultures," roughly half the class being Jewish, the other half being Muslims of different kinds.

Sam Khayat attended the event and said it was valuable to hear of Schonbrun's experiences teaching in Israel.

"It gives you more understanding," Khayat (senior-supply chain and information systems and industrial engineering) said.