Seminar and Curriculum Development Project in Egypt

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin received funding under the Group Projects Abroad program to take fifteen social studies teachers and curriculum specialists to Egypt for a four-week study program in June and July of 2005. The program objectives were (1) to provide selected lead teachers with an opportunity to learn about and experience Egyptian culture first hand, and thus achieve an enhanced understanding of Egypt, its pivotal geopolitical role, and its historic and cultural links with the Middle East, Africa, and the West; (2) to enable participating teachers to acquire ideas, information, and instructional materials, and develop lesson plans that will enrich the social science curriculum and ensure more effective presentation of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) standards as defined in the mandated curriculum of the state of Texas (see appendix); (3) to work with the participants to design, develop, evaluate, and broadly disseminate individual lesson plans as well as an instructional curriculum trunk focusing on the history, culture, economy, and educational system of Egypt. Both were intended to help teachers nationwide to incorporate an intercultural perspective into social studies, world history, and world geography classes. The study seminar in Egypt was structured in such a way as to provide participants with both formal and informal educational and cultural experiences.