Outreach to educators is a main priority at our Center. A core component of the Kevorkian Center’s outreach work involves working with K-12 educators by organizing teacher training seminars and developing curricular materials. Our faculty, students, and colleagues participate in a variety of ways: writing essays for our web-based text, giving lectures at our seminars, and preparing course materials.
Sign up for our K-12 emailing list to receive information and updates about our upcoming outreach programs for K-12 educators.
Summer Institutes
The Center offers Summer Institutes (intensive 3 - 5 day courses), to provide professional development opportunities for k-12 educators based in New York City and the broader tri-state area. Through these workshops, participants receive lectures from established scholars, are equipped with educational tools and curricular resources, and develop ideas for Middle East-related lesson plans and implementation strategies. Summer Institutes also provide the opportunity to connect with peer educators interested in developing and enhancing Middle Eastern studies-related curriculum. For more information about this year's Summer Institute, "Global Popuisms: Nationa, Society, and Culture" please click here.
Saturday Seminars for Teachers
In 2003, together with NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education, the Kevorkian Center at NYU began the Saturday Seminars for Teachers which take place throughout the academic year. The seminars combine lectures by the most respected scholars in our field with pedagogy workshops designed by the NYU School of Education. Whenever possible, we work with cultural organizations in the NY area such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and National Video Resources to coordinate special pedagogy sessions or field trips so the teachers become aware of other educational resources in the NY area. Past seminar topics have included: Social Movements, The Politics of Water, The Multilayered Lives of Muslim Women, Islam, Art and Museum, and many others.
Faculty Development
The Center works with NYU’s Faculty Resource Network (FRN) to provide professional development programs focused on the Middle East to professors from the FRN’s 52 member institutions (including a number of Community Colleges, 13 Historically Black Colleges and Universities and 14 Hispanic-Serving Institutions). Each seminar draws upon scholarly, journalistic, and primary source materials to develop nuanced understandings of issues related to the modern Middle East. To find out if you are eligible to apply, for application materials, and for details on the Summer 2015 seminar, click here.
Teaching Materials
The Center makes original curricular materials available to teachers free of charge. It features original essays by experts, primary documents, illustrated time lines, slide shows, and lesson plans. The first unit on the rise of Islam and Andalusia is already available on our website. Recent units include "Political Participation in Iran: Presidential Election Posters 2001-2009" and "Kurdish Cinema: Culture, Politics and History across Borders."
Video Collection
The Kevorkian Center houses one of the largest Middle East related video libraries at an American university. The video library is available to educators in the tri-state area for classroom use. To borrow films from our video collection, please contact us at kevorkian.center@nyu.edu