What Teachers Need to Know

Global Insights for K-12 Contexts by Primary Source

What_Teachers_Need_to_Know

Do you teach about global cultures or world events in your classroom? If so, Primary Source created this podcast for you. In every compact episode, What Teachers Need to Know offers vital insight for understanding world cultures and current events so that you can facilitate deeper learning about the world with your students. Meet subject-matter experts and explore online resources that can help make a complex and dynamic world accessible for K-12 classrooms. Together, we can prepare the next generation to be informed and engaged global citizens.

The Middle East

Episode #2: Underneath the Veil

Why do some Middle Eastern women wear headscarves or full-body coverings? The answers might just surprise you. Joining us are Barbara Petzen, Director of Middle East Connections, who explains the social, political, and economic reasons for veiling, and Subheen Razzaqui, a hijab-wearing world history and political science teacher in Newton, Massachusetts.

Guest Bio

Barbara Petzen is the director of Middle East Connections, a nonprofit initiative that provides professional and curriculum development services to K-12 educators, as well as the former president of the Middle East Outreach Council, a national consortium of educators working to further teachers’ understanding of the Middle East. She has also previously served as the education director at the Middle East Policy Council and as the outreach coordinator at Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies. She holds degrees in international politics, Middle Eastern Studies, and education from Columbia, Oxford, and the University of Illinois. She also conducted doctoral work in Middle Eastern history at Harvard University before leaving to focus on her work with the K-12 community.

Free Resources for Episode #2

Learn more about the historical, cultural, and political reasons for veiling with these free online resources:

The chapter Today’s Middle East: Women, Rights, Leadership in the digital book Teaching the Middle East: A Resource Guide for Educators. The digital book was developed by TeachMidEast, the educational division of the Middle East Policy Council, a nonprofit organization.
The website Reorienting the Veil, an online educational resource that “explores Islamic veiling practices in transnational contexts and from a multi-disciplinary perspective.” The site was developed by the Center for European Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Episode #1: What and Where is the Middle East, Anyway?

Helping K-12 teachers bring the modern Middle East to their classrooms, one topic at a time. Because there’s so much more to the region than conflict and terrorism.

Free Resources for Episode #1

Whether you’re new to teaching the Middle East, or just looking for new material to spice up your existing curricula, check out these free online resources for educators!

The digital book Teaching the Middle East: A Resource Guide for Educators, especially the introductory chapters “What and Where is the Middle East?” and “On Teaching the Middle East,” as well as the three chapters on diversity & pluralism in the region. The digital book was developed by TeachMidEast, the educational division of the Middle East Policy Council, a nonprofit organization.
The curriculum cluster The Middle East Through Foreign Eyes, including both parts 1) Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century, and 2) Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries. The cluster is part of the University of Chicago’s Teaching the Middle East Resource Guide for Educators.
The Plural Identities curriculum cluster, a set of three lessons for the high school history classroom that explores diversity in the Middle East from the late 19th century through mid-Twentieth century. The cluster was developed as part of the Rethinking the Region: New Approaches to 9-12 U.S. Curriculum on the Middle East and North Africa educational initiative.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Qatar Foundation International, which provided the seed funding and support to develop and launch this podcast.

QFI

Thanks also to Tamar Avishai of the Lonely Palette podcast, who provided early technical and artistic advice; to the anonymous high school students who shared their thoughts about the Middle East in this pilot episode; and to the educator who conducted the interviews on our behalf.

Thanks to Barbara Petzen and Subheen Razzaqui for their insights, patience, and humor in producing episode #2. We would also like to thank Jihane, Laila, and Subheen, who were willing to share their personal thoughts on covering in this episode with our audience of teachers.

Featured music

Episode 1

• “Last Lights,” by Blue Dot Sessions, from the album Landsman Duets, used under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Kim Arar,” by Wind of Anatolia, from the album Live at the 2014 Golden Festival, used with permission from Wind of Anatolia. The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “The Secret” by Soft and Furious, from the album The Man I’m Not, used under Creative Commons License 1.0 Universal (public domain). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Détermination” by Monsplainer, from the album Draft, used under Creative Commons License 1.0 Universal (public domain). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “-Drum Solo” by Turku, Nomads of the Silk Road, from the album Alleys of Istanbul, used under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). The Track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Human” by Borrtex, from the album Creation, used under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Venndet” by Blue Dot Sessions, from the album Landsman Duets, used under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
Episode 2
• “Kim Arar,” by Wind of Anatolia, from the album Live at the 2014 Golden Festival, used with permission from Wind of Anatolia. The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Rocinante’s Lament,” by Doctor Turtle, from the album Hasta La Blister, used under Creative Commons License Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “The Sickness,” by Monplaisir, from the album Draft, used under Creative Commons License 1.0 Universal (public domain). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Brave,” by Borrtex, from the album Courage, used under Creative Commons License Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Venndet,” by Blue Dot Sessions, from the album Landsman Duets, used under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “One Quiet Conversation” by Blue Dot Sessions, from the album K2, used under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Milkwood,” by Blue Dot Sessions, from the album The Cabinetmaker, used under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “Turning on the Lights,” by Blue Dot Sessions, from the album Speakeasy, used under Creative Commons License Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.
• “West Coast,” by Ryan Little, used under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). The track has been excerpted and mixed with narrative.