Middle Eastern Cultures--Plural

I've been Outreach Director for the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies for some years now.  But I've never met a Middle Easterner.

Wait--what?

You heard me.

Oh, I've met and worked with Egyptians and Israelis and Jordanians and Palestinians and Persians and Turks, alright. But never a Middle Easterner.

You see what I mean?

It sounds academic to state that the term "Middle East" is largely a geopolitical construct. But it is. And when we fall into the habit of thinking that "Middle East" refers to one homogenous group of people (or even two groups of people), we miss the very reality--realities--we're looking to explore.

It may seem like a small thing to stop and insist upon adding an "s" to terms like Middle Eastern Culture, or Arabic Culture, or Islamic Culture.  But it's important to acknowledge that there is more than one of each.  If you've traveled to any two places in the Middle East, or met any two people from different parts of the Middle East, you know what I mean.  You know that understanding the complexities of a single region or country is essential to developing cultural competency.

So here's a resolution for next year. Whenever someone uses the term "Middle East," ask them to specify. Where in the Middle East? In what language? In what culture?

Language, dress, social customs, perspectives on history, food--it's all complicated, even in the Middle East. So let's get complicated, shall we?

 
Linked to the "My Global Life" Link Up at SmallPlanetStudio.com 

Beyond Leprechauns and Shamrocks

It's almost St. Patrick's Day. Why am I bracing myself?

It's those nightmarish memories of being forced to color in acres of shamrock outlines in elementary school. Those hideous-looking leprechaun images. What kind of celebration was this, anyway?

Because my family was Irish, I knew just how far off the usual class activities were from real Irish culture. Where was the music? The dancing? The poetry? Irish language, besides "Erin Go Bragh"? How about "hello"? (It's "Dia duit," pronounced "dee-a-gwith.")

We can lose an important opportunity for cultural learning when we grab the first thing available for a holiday. Instead of getting out the leprechauns and shamrocks, play some authentic Irish music for your class. Have them listen to a recording of William Butler Yeats reading his poetry. Imagine how much deeper a discussion of "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" would be if everyone's just heard the poet speak the words himself.

And here's a great story for St. Patrick's Day. Caroline Duggan teaches art in an elementary school in the Bronx, very far from her native Ireland. When she shared her culture, it opened the world for her students.

Think about coloring shamrocks. Now think about learning to do something so well you get to travel to Ireland and appear on television.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!