Episode #8: Arab Youth & Youth Activism

Betty Anderson of Boston University explains the pressures and hopes that have motivated Arab students and Arab youth to speak out for change in the past and at present. Primary Source highlights classroom-friendly literature for teaching about young peoples’ activism.

Guest Bio

Betty-Anderson Betty S. Anderson is a professor of history at Boston University, where she is Director of the Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations. She is an expert on the History of the Middle East, the social and intellectual history of the Arab world, the history of education, and modern world history. In 2016, she published A History of the Modern Middle East: Rulers, Rogues and Rebels with Stanford University Press. Her latest project examines the economic, educational, political and social changes that have come to Beirut, Amman, and Ramallah over the last 25 years.

Deborah Cunningham is Senior Program Director at Primary Source, where she has produced programs for teachers on the Middle East since 2004.

Free Resources for Episode #8

Learn more about forms of youth activism in the Arab World and broader Middle East with these free online resources:

“The Student Movement in 1968” by Betty S. Anderson, from Jadaliyya.com.
"Youth Movements in Egypt" from Harvard Divinity School's Religious Literacy Project
“The Youngest Minister in the World” (Shamma Al Mazrui of UAE), February 2017.
“In historic first, UNICEF appoints Syrian refugee Muzoon Almellehan as Goodwill Ambassador,” June 2017.
“Walls of Freedom: 6 Middle Eastern street artists you need to know” and Shamsia Hassani of the Kabul Art Project
“Young Turkish activists prove it will be hard for Erdogan to shut down free expression” from GlobalPost (PRI), April 2017.
“In Iraq, A Kurdish Warrior-Diva Sings Against ISIS, Despite Threats,” NPR, July 2015.
“Why is Iran arresting its protesting youths?”, Washington Post, January 2018.

Episode Acknowledgements

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

Thanks to Betty Anderson for sharing her time and expertise so generously.

Featured Music

• “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.
• “Too Far Gone,” by Ryan Little, used under Creative Commons License Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been overlaid with narrative.
• “Valley of Shadows,” by Ryan Little, used under Creative Commons License Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been excerpted and overlaid with narrative.
• “Sword Fight, Are We Still in a Dream?” by Monplaisir, used under Creative Commons License 1.0 (Public Domain)
• “Alum Drum Solo,” by Blue Dot Sessions, from the album Azalai, used under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been overlaid with narrative.
• “Chilvat,” by Blue Dot Sessions, from the album Lillehammer, used under Creative Commons License Attribution Non-Commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0). The track has been overlaid with narrative.

Image Credits

• “Anti-Sexual Harassment, Anti-Police Failures Demo, Press Syndicate,” by Hossam El-Hamalawy, used under Creative Commons License Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0). The image has been cropped.