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Teacher Workshop on Africa and the Middle East
Zeina Azzam Seikaly
Published in 2006
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On Saturday, November 19, 2005, the Center’s outreach program collaborated with Africa Access, the African Studies Association Outreach Council, the Middle East Outreach Council, and the African Studies Department of Howard University to offer a one-day workshop for K-12 teachers titled “Learning and Teaching about Africa and the Middle East.” The 140 people who attended this program included teachers, librarians, scholars of Africa and the Middle East, and a number of interested individuals who were attending the annual meetings of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and the African Studies Association (ASA). The fortuitous scheduling of MESA and the ASA in the same hotel and overlapping by two days provided ample opportunities for members of both organizations to interact and to work, learn, and teach together. The reach of outreach professionals from both world regions was thereby enhanced immeasurably.
Indeed, the synergy which resulted was exciting for everyone involved.
This was certainly one of the biggest workshops in which the Community Resource Service—the CCAS outreach program—has been involved. The plenary session was titled “Africa and the Middle East: Moving Beyond Stereotypes,” and the following three sessions each comprised four concurrent panels, so teachers chose to attend presentations from twelve diverse topics. The program details can be found on page 5.
In addition to a number of distinguished speakers and presentations, highlights of the program included a rousing performance by Omekongo Dibinga, a poet and spoken word artist. When they arrived, guests were welcomed with an Ethiopian
coffee ceremony, featuring traditional coffee and bread from Ethiopia; they could also watch hosts Wessen Debela and Kebebush Tesfaye make the aromatic coffee on site. During lunch Palestinian musician Fuad Foty played traditional Arabic songs on the oud—the Arab predecessor of the western lute—for the teacher participants. A book display/sale was provided in the space just outside the workshop meeting rooms, thanks to the efforts of Marilyn Courtot and her organization, Children’s Literature. There were also a number of children’s book authors at the workshop, many of whom were invited to give presentations. After lunch and at the end of the day, they signed books for the teachers, who were also grateful for the opportunity to meet the authors personally. During the time between lunch and the final workshop session, there was a presentation of the Children’s Africana Book Awards, the annual conferring of awards to authors of children’s books on Africa. Later in the day, the Middle East Outreach Council announced the winners of the organization’s annual Book Awards at the MEOC business meeting.
Outreach Coordinator Zeina Seikaly is grateful to the staff of the African Studies Association, especially Kimme Carlos, for their help in workshop arrangements at the hotel. Deep gratitude also goes to Brenda Randolph, of Africa Access, who played a big role in working with Zeina in all aspects of coordinating the workshop.
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