Courses with a regional focus are common in international relations curricula. However, thoughtful decisions must be made to strike a good balance between content about the region and theories or approaches to International Relations. Decisions regarding the choice of active or traditional teaching-learning strategies are also of prime importance. Starting from the premise that no content about the region can be articulated outside theoretical premises (i.e., presenting the history of region assumes the epistemic category "region" and the teleological linearity of historical narratives), the authors of this paper aim to design a course that links critical developments in the field of IR to the analysis of issues about the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). This includes meditations on the advantages and limitations of active learning strategies such as simulations and debates related to matters such as security and gender in MENA. This evaluative paper comes after some experience as teachers at the intersection and looks into the future by setting out two medium-term objectives: i) the review of syllabuses used in previous years in order to render them theoretically and methodologically sounder and ii) the promotion of students as builders of their own knowledge. The authors welcome experience-based advice from other colleagues, especially on how to manage our role as teachers seeking to avoid overreliance on traditional learning strategies yet aware of the need to provide students with a safe ground for the acquisition of knowledge and analytical competences.
