This Blog is intended for use by students in the Islamic Middle East course at Northfield Mount Hermon School and guest students and teachers from other participating schools.
Building on our discussion of Gertrude Bell yesterday and her key role in determining the borders of modern Iraq, see the following articles (you must be on the NMH Virtual Desktop for the links to work):
Ellen Knickmeyer, “The Woman Who Put Iraq on the Map,” Washington Post, March 5, 2006. (A retrospective piece on Gertrude [...]
Per our review work in class today with Wright chp. 15 and the videos of Hitchens and Lewis, I direct your attention to a page from our course website entitled “Readings For Discussions of the World After 9/11.” This page is linked to the Wright Study Guide.
Excerpts from the dialogue in print that took place [...]
We will soon view a new PBS Frontline program on Iran entitled Forbidden Iran. Follow this link to the PBS web site devoted to the program.
More on the history of Iran
Next week, we will view the PBS Frontline documentary “Saudi Time Bomb?” Follow this link to the PBS web site for this program: it contains background material and links to other useful content.
More on the history of Saudi Arabia
More on the Wahhabi Movement
George Packer, author of the third of our course texts this semester, writes about how Iraq looks today. He quotes an Iraqi refugee named Firas: ”
“’I can never blame the Americans alone,” an Iraqi refugee named Firas told me in early 2007. ‘It’s the Iraqis who destroyed their country, with the help of the Americans, under [...]
Resources for the PBS film “House of Saud” that we will be watching this week can be found at the course syllabus .
Use this section of the blog as a forum for exchanging comments, suggestions, and resources.
Semester Project
Follow this link to the assignment.
Excerpts from Malcolm X’s “Letter from Mecca” are linked from the “Miscellaneous Resources” section of the course syllabus. Please read these excerpts in advance of the film we will watch: “Hajj” (from the Islam Rising series).
In advance of our screening of Jack Shaheen’s film (based on his book by the same title), you may wish to look at the following review available via the NMH Virtual Desktop and ProQuest: William Booth, “Cast of Villains, The Washington Post, June 23, 2007. (More on the history of polemical attacks on Muslims)
More food [...]
BBC Middle East