insider/outsider

I just want to say that I think our last class went very well. I think the discussion we had, and the "debate" was well played out and I learned a lot. I still am not sure on how I stand with the insider/outsider. I think that it is important to learn from an insider because they have the emotion behind the context and the spirit to not have a bias towards what is being presented. I also feel that an insider can be someone who used to be an outsider, so where do you draw the line? I think I am just going to try and find books that are written well, and written in a way that gets the message across without leaving out or offending anyones culture or race. I know there are many good books, and there are many bad books, good ones written by insiders and bad ones written by insiders, and vice versa. It all depends on what you feel you can explain to your students, and what you want them to be reading. In the upcoming class, looking at the syllabus we are going to be talking about biases and different perspectives, I think this will be interesting. Learning about the Arab culture has always been an interest to me, and the readings have already got me thinking.