With more than 55 million items, the Library of Congress Manuscript Division contains the papers of 23 presidents, from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. In this article, Manuscript Division Chief James Hutson draws upon the papers of Washington, Thomas Jefferson and other primary documents to discuss the relationship of Islam to the new nation. The [...]

Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think Teaching Guide John L. Esposito and Dalia Mogahed, Copyright © 2008 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved. About the Book Are we on the verge of an all-out war between the West and 1.3 billion Muslims? When the media searches for an answer to that question, [...]

The September 11th attacks in New York, Washington, DC, and Pennsylvania back in 2001 forever altered American identity. Though the anniversary is commemorated each year, new generations are separated by time from an event that led to cataclysmic shifts in policy, attitudes and global relations. While the 9/11 attacks and their aftermath have been incorporated [...]

Important Questions and Answers about the Syrian Refugee Crisis for Educators Migrants in Bregana, Croatia, near the border with Slovenia. Credit Sergey Ponomarev for The New York Times. Sept 20, 2015. What led to the crisis? In 2011, Syrian security forces began responding to peaceful protests against the repressive Bashar Al-Assad regime with violence and [...]

These lesson plans have been gathered from various outreach and learning centers dedicated to increasing understanding of the Middle East. The plans offer a great launching point for your lessons and help you to shape your own ideas. The lesson plans may not be fully aligned with the Common Core Learning Standards, unless specifically noted. [...]

Who are Muslims? Discover the great diversity of the nearly one and a half billion people who belong to the community of Muslims. One way to begin to think about the "Muslim world" is to examine the concept of an average American. Is there such a thing as a typical American who embodies the essence [...]

Objectives/Abstract: This versatile lesson can be used with classes from middle through high school to enable students to understand how stereotypical portrayals are embedded into various entertainment outlets.Classes can use one of a variety of Hollywood productions as a vehicle for uncovering and discussing the effects of stereotypes at a particular period in time.  Another [...]

Time: 1 class period Level: Grades 6-12 Materials: internet connection and projector or prepared powerpoint with maps of the Middle East such as those below Outcomes: Students will be able to discuss the characteristics of a geographical region, and to list characteristics of the Middle East that define it as a region. Students will be able to give a [...]