Middle East Teaching Resources

Resources for Educators


UNC website exploring the history and significance of Muslim veiling, developed for the "Reorienting the Veil" conference, February, 2013. For teaching resources, click on “Resources,” and go to “Educators.”  Note the invitation at the bottom of each page to contact the educators with suggestions or comments. Let us know how you're using the resources and what you'd like to see added.


Muslims in the Post Soviet Era

This presentation was developed for secondary teachers and administrators for the World View seminar “Russia and Its Neighbors,” March, 2011. Download a pdf of the presentation and presentation resources.

Iraq Beyond Conflict Teaching Resources

Resources for teachers on art, literature, and music in Iraq, developed for the "Iraq Beyond Conflict" workshop, November, 2011.

 Cedars in the Pines Curriculum
The Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies is proud to have sponsored a screening of Cedars in the Pines, a documentary on the Lebanese in North Carolina produced by Professor Akram Khater of NC State University. The Khayrallah Program for Lebanese-American Studies offers more information about the production and the continuing project on the Lebanese in North Carolina. Teachers can find lesson plans to accompany the film here.

 
PBS and Harvard University's Middle East Outreach Center collaborated to produce these resources for high school teachers. Students can explore the geography, history, and culture of the Middle East through interactive timelines, themes, and connecting questions.

 
Teaching the Middle East: A Resource for Educators
University of Chicago site with essays, links, and lesson plans on the geography, history, and culture of the Middle East.  Image bank contains photos of artifacts and maps.   Excellent resource.



Asia Society site featuring history and cultures of Afghanistan by era and theme, from pre-history to the present time.
 
 
A unit for high school World History and U.S. History.  Includes background materials, maps, and role-playing activities. 

 

Understanding the Middle East Through Geography and Demography

A lesson plan for high school.  The two-part download includes both teacher instructions and student handouts.

 

Maps and the Middle East

Maps and analysis on the changing borders of the region.

 

A quick-moving (90 seconds) animated map of the Middle East showing the rise and fall of kingdoms and the conquest of empires over 5,000 years.   Great for a highly visual and digital generation of students. 

 

Introduction to the meaning and use of maps in world history.  Very helpful sample analysis. 

 

Four different maps of Jerusalem, each created for a very different reason.  Excellent critical thinking exercise on the purposes of mapmaking.

 

Pew Research Center weighted map showing size of countries according to Muslim population.  A great graphic resource for correcting misperceptions. 

 

Article on the creation of the twelfth century map (before Mercator) and the book that described the known world.

 

Israel and Palestine

Textbook created by Palestinian and Israeli educators.  Includes both Palestinian and Israeli historical narratives on the creation of Israel. 

 
Prospects for Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

High school lesson plan developed in partnership with the PBS NewsHour. Includes background, maps, and updates on the territorial conflict in the Middle East."

 

Online Videos on the Egyptian Revolution

World-wide call filmed during the Tahrir Square protests. 


Popular Egyptian song about the revolution, with English subtitles. 

 
From Egypt with Love

Response to international support

 
Egyptian Revolution

Fifty-minute NCVPS Culture CafĂ© by Andrew Simon, Duke graduate who witnessed the revolution. 

 

Post 9/11 Life in the U.S.

First seven minutes of a short comic film about an “Arab American Survival Guide Post 9/11.”  Characters are advised to change their names, their looks, and their speech to protect themselves from accusations of terrorism.  Very funny, and a good springboard for discussion. 


A Land Called Paradise

"A Land Called Paradise" is a four-minute long film celebrating the diversity of the American Muslim community. Follow this link to view the video, and to access the Middle East Outreach Council ideas for using it in classrooms.