This course is based on an eye-opening memoir written by a French woman who lived for nearly six decades in the Occupied Territories just outside Jerusalem. Her account introduces us to the orphaned children for whom she cared, but also invites us into her own experience as she shared the joys, pains, and hardships of the Palestinian community living under Israeli occupation. Her exemplary commitment to non-violence, justice, and bridge-building in a fractured world makes this book particularly relevant to us today.

The required text, translated by instructors Barbara Carvill and Mary Vander Goot: Orphan Children ISBN 979-8283822457, is available on Amazon or in limited quantity at the Calvin University campus store. Participants should read the first half before October 21 and the second half by November 4, two weeks later.

Subject: literature, history

Barbara Carvill is a professor emerita of German at Calvin University. Mary Vander Goot is a licensed psychologist who has taught in the Calvin Prison Initiative since 2016; she is also a gifted novelist and nonfiction writer.