UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — To talk with Jordynn Cheatle is a pleasant experience. Affable, well-spoken, and intelligent, Cheatle is adept at making her conversation partner feel at ease and engaged. A third-year Schreyer Scholar double majoring in comparative literature and global and international studies, she has also sought out experiences that have shown her the value of having difficult conversations and how to have them well.
In fall 2022, Cheatle joined Penn State Hillel on its Perspectives Trip, a 10-day journey to Israel and the Palestinian Authority. While there, students spoke with members of both communities to “learn about the complexities of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a nuanced, immersive, and experiential way.”
Hannah Kaufman, manager of engagement and community development with Penn State Hillel, helps to coordinate the Perspectives Trip. She says her goal for the students who are selected from the “rigorous application process” is to experience several different viewpoints
“I want students to be able to view this experience from multiple perspectives and identities,” she said. “It’s why the trip heavily involves meeting with individuals and hearing their personal stories.”
Cheatle, who is Jewish, traveled to Israel for the first time with her family while still in high school and developed an affinity for the country. When she learned about the Perspectives Trip, she was eager for the opportunity to better understand “the geopolitical environment there.”
"I didn’t know a lot about the conflict, and I felt having gone there before that I should be more knowledgeable about it,” Cheatle said. “I really wanted to go in order to broaden my horizons and really get a deeper understanding of this country that I love.”
During their time in Israel, Cheatle said that she and her fellow Penn Staters were “very busy” with daily tours that could span up to 11 hours between departure and return to their hotel. That time was spent in conversation with guides from various backgrounds who offered their perspectives on the conflict.
“The biggest thing they did with our itinerary was to make sure that we were learning from Palestinian tour guides and speakers, like journalists, as well as Israeli tour guides and speakers,” Cheatle said. “We even had an Israeli guide who identified as Arab, so they were kind of right in the middle of what was going on.
“With all of these speakers and lecturers, they’d speak to us for the first half hour or hour, and then there would be a ton of time for questions,” Cheatle continued. “So, we were able to actually question what they were giving us and really interact with the information.”
It was during some of these question-and-answer sessions where Cheatle leaned on her experience as a facilitator with World in Conversation to help ensure that tension and emotions didn’t eliminate the chance for a productive discussion.
A project that traces its roots to Sam Richards’ SOC 119 course, World in Conversation began in 2010 and hosts facilitated dialogues that are designed to “examine problems by exploring divergent views of people from a variety of social positions.”
Cheatle spent three semesters with the project and received a certificate in small group conflict and collaboration. She credits her training and work with World in Conversation in helping her lead group conversations that “find a middle ground” between too much agreement and a full-scale argument. In Israel, her experience proved beneficial on more than one occasion.
“One instance when we were with an Israeli speaker with very pro-Israel views and there was a point where the conversation turned more combative than collaborative,” she said. “Most of the group was seated in a circle around a table, but there weren’t enough seats, so I was on the outskirts, kind of looking in on the conversation.
“It got to a point where I couldn’t help myself and had to say, ‘Stop, you guys are yelling at each other, and I can’t understand where the conversation is going,’” Cheatle continued. “That’s one point when I felt like I was being a facilitator.”
The other story she highlighted involved a Palestinian tour guide. Cheatle wasn’t clearly understanding what the guide was trying to say and wanted to ask questions to gain clarity. She also realized the potential for an uncomfortable dynamic of a Jewish person questioning a Palestinian.
“My World in Conversation experience helped me know how to step out of [the discomfort] and ask questions in a respectable manner,” she said. “When they’re done the right way, it’s okay to have uncomfortable conversations that people usually shy away from. They actually can get you somewhere.”
In the time that Cheatle has left before she completes her degrees in comparative literature and global international studies, she hopes to share her experience from the Perspectives Trip as far and wide as possible.
“It’s very easy to go on a trip and then kind of bottle it up and not share it. But [the Israel-Palestine conflict] is a real thing that people are living through, so it’s not something to ignore,” she said. “It’s definitely something to share even though we are many, many miles away from the conflict.”