The Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University and the Middle East Outreach Council invite educators to an exciting two-day institute November 17 and 18 on Learning about the Middle East and Islam through the Arts, in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association, held this year in Boston.

This in-depth seminar will feature explorations of the visual, sound and literary arts of the classical and contemporary Middle East and Muslim societies in the belief that learning about these cultures through their artistic production opens up new avenues of understanding and appreciation. Participants will not only hear lectures on literature, the sound arts, visual art traditions, and Arab music and dance from engaging experts but will also receive exemplary teaching resources in each of these areas, create their own works of Islamic art, view a feature film from the Middle East and experience the culinary arts of the region as well!

The institute will take place at Harvard University on the evening of Friday, November 17, and during the day on Saturday, November 18, 2006. 10 PDPs will be awarded to participants who come to all sessions of the institute.