Social Studies Curriculum

Area Studies Electives

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Adopted January 1999

Middle East Studies

Course Description:

Middle East Studies will focus upon the physical and cultural geography of this important region.  The course will examine the important role of the region in the global community.  Students will investigate the relationships existing between the people and nations within the region.   Key themes will address how the region's religion, terrorism and oil influences the world.

The course title and description have been approved by the Anchorage School Board.  This course outline is meant to serve as an example of one possibility for organizing this class.  It does not represent the only way the course may be organized.  Each course outline has been written by a different teacher so there will be differences in the approach used from one course to another.

Course Goals:

Through this course students will:

• Use the 5 geographic themes to learn about the area and the individual countries studied.
• Understand how countries organize their governments and the role of religion in the governments as compared to the United States.
• Understand how countries organize their economies to produce the goods and services needed from their scarce resources.
• Relate the importance of oil in other nation's economic development with oil in Alaska.
• Understand the people and the political, geographic, economic, cultural, social, and environmental events that have shaped the history of the Middle East.

Course Objectives:

The student will:

• Identify a minimum of 12 countries on a blank map which are considered to be part of the Middle East and Northern Africa
• Identify and locate important physical and cultural features of the nations studied.
• Research and use information on important geographical elements to explain population concentration and farming and industrial development.
• Identify the capital, major cities and important locations of the nations studied.
• Compare and contrast the basic beliefs of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.
• Describe the development of Islam, Judaism and Christianity in the Middle East.
• Describe the growth of nationalism and the current role of Islamic Fundamentalists in the history of the Middle East.
• Describe the role of the United Nations in the Middle East.
• Develop and present arguments for and against an independent Palestinian state.
• Explain the role that oil has played in the development of the Persian Gulf countries.
• Describe the U. S. involvement in the Middle East from World War II to the present.
• Research one aspect of the culture of a country and present the findings to the class.
• Develop a historical time line for Israel and compare it to the development of other countries studied.
• Research and report on one news article each week which relates to the Middle East.
  

Course Outline:

1. Introduction to the Middle East and North Africa
   1. Define area to cover.
   2. Overview of the people and cultures of the area.
2. Physical and Cultural geography of the Middle East and North Africa
   1. Location
   2. Place characteristics (physical and cultural)
   3. Human/environment relationships
   4. Movement (physical and cultural)
   5. Regions (physical and cultural)
3. Monotheistic religions of the region
   1. Judaism
   2. Islam
   3. Christianity
4. History of Middle East since W. W. I
   1. Decline of the Ottoman Empire
   2. Establishments of protectorates
   3. Growth of nationalism
   4. Middle East during World War II
   5. Arab Unity
   6. Gulf War between Iran and Iraq
   7. Gulf War between United States and Allies and Iraq
5. Arab-Israeli Conflict
   1. Arab perspectives
   2. Israeli perspectives
   3. Camp David Accord
   4. Since Camp David
6. Oil
   1. Foreign development
   2. OPEC
7. Cultures
   1. Nomadic
   2. Life in the cities
   3. Changing role of women

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