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Updated - April 8, 2002

100 Questions and Answers About Arab Americans - The Detroit Free Press offers a well-written background on Arab Americans, Arab culture, religion, and other topics. Succinct answers are written in language that many young people will understand. A great resource.

Middle East Network Information Center - Grade level: 7-12 - Source: University of Texas at Austin; - This site contains information and resources on the Middle Eastern countries. It is formatted extremely well; you can also browse either by subject matter or country. It also has additional areas such as K-12 resources and libraries and electronic publishing.

The Middle East Information Network - Grades 6-12 - This is an easily navigated guide to the cultures, religions, and history of the middle east region. It contains a combination of original content and links to third party sources. The site does a reasonable job of remaining balanced in presenting a region in which almost everything has political overtones. Teachers may find the description of Islam particularly useful.

Fog of War - Grades 6-12 - The Washington Post presents this extensive site which examines the conduct and consequences of the Gulf War in 1991. Complete with maps, damage assessment charts, and commentary by former commanders, the site chronicles the war's effect on the middle east while discussing the problems inherent in managing a limited conflict. Good starting point for a discussion of the interplay between military, political, and diplomatic interests in American foreign policy.

 

Islam - Teachers and AP students - This is an elegant introduction to Islam written at the college level. It provides a reasonably complete discussion of Islam's religious and cultural features. A companion site - Shia - discusses the differences between shi'ite and more dominant Islamic traditions. The adult reading level and very dense content level will make this material challenging for students. Teachers may find that there's enough background information here to develop a study unit on their own. Created by a faculty member at Washington State University.

Islam - Grades 9-12 - This Islamic Studies website covers the areas of Islam, Arabic, and Religion (focusing on Western religions). It is particularly intended to be of use for students and teachers at all levels, as well for members of the general public who wish to get a non-polemical view of Islam (including Sunni Islam, Shi'ism, and Sufism) and to a lesser extent of Judaism and Christianity. Created by a professor of religion at the University of Georgia.

The Islamic World to 1600 - Teachers and AP students - Here's another introduction to Islam, this time from the University of Calgary. It's intended as a succinct college-level tutorial, but it contains a wealth of facts for either teachers or AP students. Well worth exploring if you're interested in this period.

Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Grades 6-12 - This Israeli government site offers up-to-date information about government and life in Israel. The site is updated frequently.

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan - Grades 9-12 - This site is published by the Kingdom of Jordan and offers a retrospective on the history of that nation in the 20th century. Jordan's conciliatory policies have given it a special role in current Mideast affairs, and this site can help students understand how those policies evolved.

Middle East Studies Resources - Grades 9-12 - This collection from Columbia University offers listings of web sites covering historical and current political events in the middle east, with emphasis on resources created in middle eastern countries. Some material may be overly advanced for K12 use, but interested students can find lots of information at this site.

Resources for Ramadan - TeachersFirst's own collection of resources to explain one of the most important Islamic observances.

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