October 3, 2003

Cairo to Santa Barbara: Teachers to Discuss Lessons Learned During UCSB-Sponsored Summer Seminar in Egypt

Bill Schlotter

Twenty-three California teachers who spent a month in Egypt this past summer with UC Santa Barbara's Center for Middle East Studies will reunite on the UCSB campus Saturday, Oct. 11 to discuss how they are using what they learned in their classrooms.

In a workshop titled "Bringing Egypt into the Classroom," the teachers, who teach at levels ranging from kindergarten to high school, will tell their colleagues how they are using their summer experience to inform their students about Egypt and the Middle East.

The workshop is free and open to the public, and will be held in UCSB's MultiCultural Center Theater. It begins at 1 p.m. with "Bringing Egypt into the K-12 Curriculum."

At 3 p.m., the topic changes to "Bringing American Teachers to Egypt in 2004."

The program, supported by a Fulbright Hays Group Projects Grant offered through the U.S. Department of Education, had several goals: to give teachers a fundamental knowledge of the Arabic language, to give an overview of Egyptian and Middle Eastern history, culture and politics, and to enable the American teachers to meet and interact with Egyptian teachers.

The teachers began each day of their trip with language instruction. Next, they heard lectures or went on field trips. Places visited included schools, religious sites, museums, and the pyramids.

Accompanying the teachers were UCSB faculty members Juan Campo, co-director of the Center for Middle East Studies and a professor of religious studies; Magda Campo, a lecturer and language instructor in the Department of Religious Studies; Nancy Gallagher, professor of history; Nuha Khoury, an assistant professor of art and architecture; Garay Menicucci, assistant director of the Center for Middle East Studies; and Stuart Smith, an associate professor of anthropology.

Another trip to Egypt is planned in 2004. For further information, contact the Center for Middle East Studies at (805) 893-4245 or visit its Web site at www.cmes.ucsb.edu.

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