Outreach Center Brings Middle East Studies into American Classrooms

By Laura J. Brown
Washington File Staff Writer

Texas program introduces teachers and students to the Middle East

Austin, Texas -- Working out of a plastic trunk full of artifacts, maps and lesson plans, Christopher Rose brings the Middle East to life in classrooms from kindergarten through high school across Texas and neighboring states. Through his job as outreach coordinator at the University of Texas Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Rose says he is helping schools obtain the resources and expertise to teach about the Middle East.

"It's a chance to reach people who otherwise may not be exposed to Middle East cultures or history," he said. "I'm influencing people who will in turn be influencing others." His outreach activities range from Austin's urban area to rural Texas and into the neighboring states of Oklahoma and Tennessee.

While the center has done outreach programs over the last 30 years, exposing people to Middle East issues has become more important in the post-September 11 environment, Rose said. He has been inundated with requests from educators, journalists and the public to explain issues of the Middle East. Shortly after the attacks, he organized a panel discussion on the subject of how to teach Islam for all teachers in the Austin district.

"My most important message is that it's not 'us versus them.' It's more of a 'they are us' message that we like to get across," he said, noting the diversity of the Texas community itself, which is home to more than 30,000 Arab Americans. "We've been doing these programs for years, but it's all the more important now to get that message across."

Tallying up all of the seminars, classes and phone interviews he has done in the past few months, Rose estimated that he has spoken to more than 10,000 people on Middle East issues since September 11. Before September 11, Rose received 20 to 25 requests a year for his outreach materials.

Rose has put together "lesson trunks" on different countries in the Middle East, including Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Tunisia and Syria, to use at each grade. Teachers can borrow the trunks and use the lesson plans on history, culture, geography and religion. Occasionally, Rose himself gives presentations, particularly on his area of expertise, Egyptian history.

In addition to providing teaching resources, Rose leads seminars and study tours on specific areas of interest. A two-day teachers' workshop in February featured seminars on world religions and included visits to local mosques, shrines and temples. This summer Rose plans to accompany middle and high school teachers on a two-month study tour in Egypt to learn about the Arabic language, Egyptian history, culture and society.

Rose and an assistant manage the Middle East Resource Center, a room that is open to university students and the public and houses a collection of nearly 4,000 books in English on the Middle East, more than 100 documentary and educational videotapes in English, various films in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian and Turkish, and more than 10,000 slides covering all countries of the Middle East.

The outreach program benefits greatly from the University of Texas' Center for Middle East Studies, one of the most comprehensive Middle East studies programs in the country. The center's faculty numbers some 50 scholars drawn from 17 departmental disciplines, and it offers about 100 Middle East language and area studies courses each year. Rose can call on faculty or students to participate in outreach programs and seminars and has access to the university library's extensive collection on the Middle East.

The outreach program is just one of many such programs throughout the country that are funded in part by the U.S. Department of Education. In 1998, Congress amended the Higher Education Act of 1965 to include "Innovative Education Program Strategies," known as Title VI. The amendment allows the Department of Education to support centers, programs, and fellowships in institutions of higher education in the United States "for producing increased numbers of trained personnel and research in foreign languages, area studies, and other international studies." Several university area studies programs throughout the country have benefited from these Title VI grants.