Teaching with the News

Author

Barbara Petzen

As events have unfolded across the Middle East and North Africa, the CHOICES Program at Brown University has rolled out a series of three (so far) compelling lessons that pull together background information, media resources, academic expertise, and suggestions for classroom activities.

The newest of the three lessons, Protests, Revolutions, and Democratic Change, helps students consider the potential effects of the protests on democracy and stability in the Middle East and North Africa.  A second unit, After Mubarak: A New Middle East, helps students consider the implications of a leadership change in Egypt on the prospects for democracy throughout the Middle East and North Africa.  The initial unit, Egypt’s Uprising, provides students with fundamental information about the causes of the uprising, the role of new media, and the U.S response.

Part of the CHOICES Program’s Teaching with the News initiative, these three lessons provide online curriculum materials, video interviews with scholars and policy experts, and ideas to connect the content of the classroom to the headlines in the news.  The resources provided encourage context-based discussion of the popular uprisings and democracy movements in the Middle East and North Africa, raising the following questions and more:

• What do the different protests have in common? What makes each of them unique?
• Do students feel that the examples of Egypt and Tunisia have inspired protesters in other parts of the region?
• What factors have contributed to the success of different protests?
• Why have some governments reacted more violently to the protests than others?
• How could these protests change the lives of everyday people in the region?
• In which countries has the U.S. historically supported authoritarian regimes?
• Has the U.S. response to the protests been consistent, or has it varied from country to country?
• Do the protests present students with a new image of the Middle East?
• Why should people in the United States care about people struggling for democracy halfway around the world?
• What role do students feel they can play in these events?
• Many of those organizing these protests are young people. Do students feel any connection between what’s happening in the Middle East and their own lives?
• Do they feel that there are problems in their own country, state, or community worth protesting over?
• By supporting democracy, does the United States run the risk of harming its own security and economic interests?
• Is there a conflict between the United States’ economic and security interests and its desire to support democracy? Does there have to be?
• What effect might the protests have on human rights in the region? In the short term? In the long term?
• How might democratic change in the Middle East and North Africa impact the conflict between Israelis and  Palestinians?

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RECOMMENDED NEWS RESOURCES

The following news outlets are helpful in keeping up to date with what is happening in the Middle East and North Africa.

Al Jazeera: Region in Turmoil
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/spotlight/2011/02/2011222121213770475.html
Provides an interactive map with summaries of recent demonstrations, as well as in-depth reporting on several countries.

The New York Times: Middle East Protests (2010-2011)
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/world/middleeast/middle-east-hub.html
Provides a summary of the latest major events in the countries experiencing protests, a compilation of related articles, and a range of multimedia resources.


BBC: Mid-East and Arab Unrest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12480844
Provides up-to-date reporting on events in the region, including photos and maps.


The Guardian
Arab and Middle East Revolt—An Interactive Map
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/feb/17/arab-world-protests-bahrain-map
A country-by-country guide to protests in the region.

The Washington Post:  Middle East in Turmoil
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/world/middle-east-protests/
Provides a timewww.choices.eduline of major events and additional coverage on the protests. Organized by country.

Al Masry Al Youm
www.almasryalyoum.com/en
An English language edition of an independent Egyptian newspaper and media outlet. Includes videos.

This feature was excerpted from materials compiled by the CHOICES program at Brown University (www.choices.edu).