Events for Educators

Dates: June 23-June 27, 2025

Venue: Georgetown University, Bunn Intercultural Center (ICC) #141 and online Zoom link to come for virtual attendees.

There are many complexities and contradictions in teaching about the First Global Era from 1450 to 1750. The Mughal, Safavid, and Ottoman Empires arose alongside the overall expansion of Islam into new Asian and African regions. These empires arose in the post-Mongol era of Tamerlane, and their expansion mirrors the process of conquest of the military patronage states of that period. As “gunpowder empires,” they owed their conquests to the weapons of mass destruction of that age–cannons, artillery, and hand-held firearms. Then there is the problem of their military conquests, and subsequent patronage of arts, science, engineering, and Islamic institutions. Indeed, these three empires’ patronage and style brought forth new heights in the Islamic arts and architecture. A pedagogical problem in teaching about them is historical hindsight. Comparing the splendor of royal portraits, magnificent courts, and artistic outpouring of these empires beside the same portraits and courtly magnificence of rising European nations, the former are seen as decadent, and the latter as dynamic, creative and in ascendance. The eruption of European nations into the oceans, and their efforts to exert universal sovereignty overshadows the role of the three empires on the global stage. Alongside the new worlds of human society and civilization that Europeans encountered in their travels, their experience of the Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman Empires contributed to three major movements in the First Global Era–the Scientific Revolution, the Protestant Reformation, and the Enlightenment–through exchange and exposure to new social and commercial environments. This summer institute explores these historical conundrums and the ways in which cross-cultural and inter-cultural exchanges enriched global civilization and investigates the evidence for commercial, religious, artistic and intellectual influences that flowed in all directions. Finally we will seek understanding of how these interactions set the tone for the period of the industrial and imperial eras, and had lasting influence since then. Lunch will be served daily. A museum trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Asian Art is planned.

Date: February 10, 2025, 7:00-8:00pm EST

Venue: Virtual

Every Child a Song, by Nicola Davies and Marc Martin (Crocodile/Interlink Books, 2020), is a primary level book with a broader purpose. Its simple text explains the right of every child born to be valued, to be educated, nourished in body and mind, and to enjoy the guarantees afforded by globally recognized human rights. The book is beautifully illustrated with watercolors. It includes a listing of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is what makes it useful for elementary classes and above, where it can be used for poster activities, service learning units, and history classes. This book club session will include suggested activities and resources, and will include a speaker and breakout sessions. Discussion will include historical background on the UN Rights of the Child, and various programs of UNESCO that work toward its realization around the world, and information on the Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights.

Date: February 22, 2025, 10 a.m.–3 p.m

Venue: Virtual and at the Arab American National Museum

Please join the Arab American National Museum (AANM), Dearborn, Michigan, and the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies (CCAS) and the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University for a half-day, hybrid professional development workshop. The workshop invites educators to hear from fellow Arab American educators and authors on how to incorporate Arab American voices & perspectives in the classroom curriculum. The workshop will be held at the Museum, located at 13624 Michigan Ave. Dearborn, MI 48126. Virtual attendees are also welcome to register for a Zoom link. Featured speakers include DR. Reem Kassis, award-wining author of We Are Palestinian: A Celebration of Culture and Tradition, and The Palestinian Table. Attendees will receive copies of the books, along with a lesson plan around the books. Teachers will learn of a variety of free educational resources. This workshop allows educators to gain access to unique educational resources, network with fellow educators and enhance their knowledge about the Arab American community. A Middle Eastern lunch will be served. FREE with RSVP

Date: April 2, 2025, 7-8:30pm EST / 6-7:30pm EST / 4-5:30pm PST

Venue: Virtual and up to 30 registrants will get free streaming access to the film for classroom use

Date: Saturday April 5, 2025, 11:00am to 2:00pm

Venue: Virtual and In-Person

Workshop with CCAS Public Affairs! Keep Eyes on Sudan: Teaching and Artistic Production on Sudan. Join the Georgetown African Studies Program, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, the Georgetown Conflict Resolution Program, the Gender+ Justice Initiative and Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace and Security for an event in a series of programming on Sudan. This event will focus on the pedagogical and artistic approaches to understanding Sudan’s historical and contemporary landscape. Designed primarily for K-12 educators, the program will feature a presentation of MAAS graduate student-developed educational modules, which offer structured frameworks for integrating Sudan-related content into curricula. Following this presentation, Dr. Susan Douglass will facilitate a discussion on the pedagogical applications of these materials, considering both historical and contemporary dimensions of Sudanese society. In addition to this academic engagement, the event will highlight the role of artistic production in shaping narratives about Sudan. Artist Waad Hussain will present and exhibit her work, offering insight into how visual culture serves as a medium for documenting, interpreting, and responding to Sudan’s political and social realities.

Date: Friday, April 11, 2025,

Venue: Howard University

Join our annual celebration of children and youth literature with your colleagues, media speicialists, and librarians! Meet authors and illustrators Elizabeth Zunon, Tulin Kozikoglu, and Karen Leggett Aburaya, and learn about their books Receive free copies of award-winning featured books, a catered lunch, and lots of fellowship!

Click the link below for information, videos, and resources from past CCAS Education Outreach events at Georgetown and across the country.