Education Outreach

New Initiatives for Educators By Vicki Valosik In the Headlines العناوين في

The Education Outreach program at CCAS offers workEurope and Afroeurasia.” shops, training, and curriculum support to help K-14 teachers Having provided quality programming for educators in the greater develop their knowledge about the Middle East and North Washington D.C. area for several decades, the Education Outreach !Mabrouk مبروك Africa—and its diverse cultures, histories, and religions—from a global perspective. This year, CCAS Education Outreach Coordinator Dr. Susan Douglass and the Education Outreach program have program has recently taken steps to expand its audience beyond the region. Thanks to funding from the U.S. Department of Education, CCAS offered travel grants to bring out-of-state teachers to undertaken several exciting new projects. the 2018 and 2019 summer teacher institutes. In addition to host

In January, CCAS produced—with support from Georgetown’s ing teachers on campus and at local partner organizations such as Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding the Smithsonian, Freer|Sackler, and Howard University, CCAS has (ACMCU)—a new teaching unit titled Islam and taken its content to institutions across the country. Research Faculty: Politics: A Curriculum Resource for high school teachers of world history, geography, and social studies. The unit presents critical moments and influential religious أبحاثهيئة التدريس Dr. Douglass has worked with states, counties, and public school systems on curriculum issues and traveled to more than a dozen states to lead workshops leaders from the 1700s to the 2000s. The impetus for and build partnerships, particularly with underserved creating this unit came in 2018 when Maryland eduand minority-serving institutions. In response to COcation officials added new curricular requirements for VID-19, the Education Outreach program has moved teaching about Islam and politics at the 9th and 10th its spring and summer workshops online and anticigrade levels. According to state academic standards pates hosting its largest-ever number of participants for secondary world history and geography, at least 30 at the virtual Summer Teacher Institute 2020: “Constates and the District of Columbia have requirements nected Histories of the Renaissance.” The institute to teach on these topics. Despite this requirement, will be held August 3-7 and will feature pre-recorded “few teachers are aware of or have access to sources about the long lectures, live discussions, virtual exhibits, and collaborative content history of debate around ideas of reform and the role of religion in and pedagogy activities. See page 3 for details and registration. Muslim societies,” said Douglass. Given that textbooks change very Much of the work of the Education Outreach program is fundslowly, CCAS prioritized creating a curriculum unit for teachers that ed by a U.S. Department of Education Title VI grant designating would provide historical background and case studies on the variety CCAS and its partners as a National Resource Center on the Middle of expressions of Islam and politics today, and help educators fulfill East and North Africa (NRC-MENA). You can learn about our protheir state curriculum mandates. gramming for educators, access teaching materials, register for work

Another exciting development for the CCAS Education Outreach shops, or watch videos from past events on the newly redesigned program this winter was the release of an updated interactive website Education Outreach section of the CCAS website.  on Islamic Spain. Built by Unity Productions Foundation (UPF) in partnership with CCAS, the new website serves as a companion to the UPF film Cities of Light: the Rise and Fall of Islamic Spain and Vicki Valosik is the Multimedia & Publications Editor at CCAS. provides a detailed survey of the 700-year period of Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula and its significance to world history. Dr. Douglass served as a lead content developer for the original site, ensuring that it met teacher needs and state academic standards for world history. Eosin Chelius, a sophomore at Georgetown and a 2019-2020 BSFS Scholar at CCAS, updated the content and source materials and ensured the new site’s accessibility. The website covers scientific

Mary Ann Fay (MAAS, Georgetown PhD ‘93)

Unveiling the Harem: Elite Women and agricultural technologies, interfaith coexistence, arts, architecand the Paradox of Seclusion in ture, and literature, and features timelines, glossaries and maps. “The Eighteenth-Century Cairo topic of Islamic Spain is important to teachers because it represents Syracuse University Press, 2012 an exceptional place and time that defies the artificial division between East and West—when Muslims, Jews and Christians lived and interacted socially, religiously and intellectually under Muslim rule,” said Douglass. “This period of cultural exchange resulted in the transfer of scientific, artistic and technological advancements to

MAAS ON THE MOVE News from our Alums ➠ Article Alumni

مقاالت الخريجين

MAAS alums, we want to hear from YOU! Send your news IN MEMORIAM items to ccasalum@georgetown.edu or through the form at Albert Aghazarian, MAAS ‘79 https://ccas.georgetown.edu/resources/alumni/ New research The CCAS community was deeply sadجديدة Andrew Farrand, Arab Studies Certificate ‘06

Paul Wulfsberg, MAAS ‘07

Andrew, who earned his BSFS at Georgetown and ابحاث dened to learn of the January passing of Albert Aghazarian, a his Certificate in Arab Studies from CCAS, is the renowned scholar and host of Algeria’s first entrepreneurship reality TV activist, and the first show, “I Have a Dream” (حلم عندي ,(which premiered graduate of the Master of Arts in Arab Studies in February. MAAS alum Paul Wulfsberg is the (MAAS) program at CCAS. spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in Algiers, which Mr. Aghazarian was born in 1950 in the ArFaculty spotlight produced the show, and was heavily involved in the show’s production and promotion. menian quarter of Jerusalem. He earned his BA in political science at the American University of Beirut before coming to Georgetown in the Sheena Mak, MAAS ‘07 late 1970s and enrolling in the newly established Sheena has worked for the Federal government for over a decade and is currently an MAAS program. After completing his courseالتعليمية immigration officer with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). إضائةعلىالهيئة work early and becoming the program’s first graduate in 1979, Mr. Aghazarian returned to Elizabeth Nugent, MAAS ‘10 Palestine to teach history and cultural studies at

Elizabeth’s first book, After Repression: How PolarizaBirzeit University. In 1980, he became director tion Derails Democratic Transition, will be published in of the university’s public relations office—a poSeptember by Princeton University Press. Her book prosition he held for more than 20 years and levervides new insights into how differing forms of repression aged to defend and advance Palestinians’ rights shape the outcomes of democratic transitions. to quality education and academic freedom. Mr. Aghazarian, together with Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Anny Gaul, MAAS ‘12 led the Palestinian delegation’s media efforts at Anny will be starting a position as an assistant professor the 1991 Madrid Conference. in Arabic Studies at the University of Maryland, College Dr. Michael Hudson, professor emeritus and Park this fall. former director of CCAS, knew Mr. Aghazarian as a student at Georgetown. “I was so sorry Candace Gibson, MAAS ‘13 to learn of the passing of Albert Aghazarian,” Candace recently started a new position as the MENA Program Officer at Insaid Dr. Hudson. “What a talented, erudite, ternews Network, a non-profit with a mission to empower local media worldwide. principled, and charming man he was. He was proud to be the very first graduate of the MAAS Kristina Bogos, MAAS ‘17 program—and certainly became one of its most Kristina works at Heartland Alliance International in Iraq, where she conducts redistinguished.” search and provides support for several human rights and humanitarian programs in Mr. Aghazarian was also a well-known histopartnership with local NGOs and UN agencies. rian of Jerusalem, and often led educational and historical tours through the old city. “Jerusalem Nick Brumfield, MAAS ‘17 was his love and his passion, and he became Nick was recently interviewed by NPR for his work as a founder of “Expatalawell-known for his historical and archaeological chians,” a journalism project that explores his native Appalachia from an internatours of the city, in which he revealed encyclopetional—and often Middle East-focused—lens. dic knowledge,” added Dr. Hudson. “He was indeed the shaykh, the ustaz, of the Holy City. He Shannon Hayes, MAAS ‘19 touched the lives of so many people. May he rest Shannon recently started a position as Program Associate at Education for Emin peace.” The CCAS community extends our ployment, where she writes grant proposals and provides programmatic support sincere condolences to the family and friends of for projects in Morocco, Jordan, and Palestine. Mr. Aghazarian. 