Free Workshop on Iraq



Watercolor and Black Ink by Lukman Ahmad

Score one for integrating the arts and social studies. 


My colleague at UNC, history professor Sarah Shields, had the brilliant idea of a workshop for North Carolina teachers that would introduce what we seldom see in textbooks and on the news--the art, music, and literature of Iraq.


Yes, art, music, and literature.  And, yes, Iraq.  We're so used to thinking about Iraq in terms of war, we've forgotten its rich traditional (and contemporary) culture.  And we can't teach what we've forgotten, or didn't know about in the first place.


So Professor Shields proposed inviting artists, two Iraqi and one Kurdish, to Chapel Hill, to present and discuss their art with North Carolina teachers.  The Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies, the UNC History Department, and the UNC Honors Program stepped up to provide the necessary funding.  The workshop is scheduled for November 12th.  More information here. 


Just last week we began to publicize the event among our state's teachers.  And the response? 


Overwhelming.  More than half the available spaces are claimed already by teachers eager to learn more about Iraqi culture and art. 


If you're a North Carolina teacher interested in enriching your teaching of the Middle East, contact me now.  I'll save a seat for you! 

Exploring Exchange Along the Silk Road Teacher Workshop

I know, I know.  You've just sat down for the first time this summer.  No sooner do you do that, but a great opportunity to learn comes along.  And it's free.  Here it is--

Exploring Exchange along the Silk Road Teacher Workshop 

June 29, 30, and July 1, 2010
8:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

Explore cultural exchange as represented in Chinese, Indian, and Japanese art in the Ackland Art Museum. Area scholars will discuss geography, art history, intercultural education, and more through the exhibition "Art and Cultural Exchange along the Silk Road."

K12 teachers will examine selected works deeply, experience interdisciplinary teaching in the galleries, and develop new activities for the classroom.  Space is limited. Preregistration required. $30 registration fee will be returned to all participants at the conclusion of the program. Participants receive books and teaching resources and are eligible for 1.8 CEUs dependent upon prior approval from their school system or principal.

To register, contact Beth Shaw McGuire at bethsmcguire@unc.edu or call 919-962-0479.

This program is made possible through a grant from the North Carolina Teaching Asia Network (NCTAN), the Freeman Foundation, and the Ackland Art Museum.