Teaching Resources

Focus: Teaching the Arab Transformation

Explore the Arab Transformation through Outreach Center presentations, lesson plans and teaching resources, articles, videos, artifacts and more! 

Lending Library

Our library is open to all to borrow or use in house books, DVDs, VHS films, maps, reference materials, and curricula materials on the Middle East and Islam. It is one of the only libraries at Harvard University that is open to the public.  Browse our library highlights catalog, searchable by topic, country, medium and language, to create your own customized curriculum kit.  

Our popular curriculum kits are developed on engaging subjects such as the sacred month of Ramadan and the celebrations of Nowruz, the Persian New Year.  Our staff is additionally available to construct individualized resource packages for your classrooms needs.  Click here for more details and to request a kit.  Review our borrowing Policies here.  Suggest a book for the collection by sending an email to cmesoc@fas.harvard.edu.

Thematic Resource Pages

Women Making Democracy

Street Art

Comics and Graphic Novels

Hip-Hop

Curriculum Guides, Publications, and Fact Sheets

Exploring Muslim Understandings of Islam

American Academy of Religions Guidelines for Teaching About Religion in K-12 Public Schools in the United States

Glossary of Terms Related to Islam and Muslim Communities in Inter-Regional Settings

Using Objects to Teach About Religion in the Context of the Middle East Region

Are You Listening?  Voices from the Middle East Anthology

 

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan: Analyzing the Arab Spring -  Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain Senet Game

Amy Sanders, August 2011

The goal of this lesson is to help students understand the transformational protest movements that swept through the Arab world, collectively referred to as the Arab Spring. There are common threads that tie these protest movements together, but also important differences related to each country's unique population, economic conditions, and government. This lesson aims to provide students with a synopsis of key elements of the protest movements in Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Bahrain. Students play a game called Senet, adapted from ancient Egyptian board game, to facilitate learning and comparison of the protest movements. All of the materials for this lesson - including the game board and game cards - can be downloaded by clicking on the links below.

Lesson Plan: Analyzing Egyptian Street Art from the Egypt Revolution

Amy Sanders, August 2011

This lesson aims to help students explore the uprising in Egypt through analysis of protest art.  While the protests have diminished since February 11, 2011 when President Mubarak stepped down, protest art endures on walls and murals around Cairo and other cities. These images reflect some of the key political, economic, and social issues that fed the protest movement, the conflicts protesters had with police and security forces,  and aspirations for a more open and just society. This lesson provides background information and guiding questions to help students analyze the images, which are included in the powerpoint presentation below.