LEF helped fund study materials – February 14, 2005
Cindy Lewis /Lexington Minuteman
Whether it’s the war in Iraq, the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, or the hunt for Al Qaeda, Middle East news appears every day on the front pages of our newspapers - something inconceivable just five years ago. Yet, while we are bombarded with information from this region of the globe, few of us have an in-depth understanding of it. For example, how many of us know that Iranians are not Arabs, but Persians? Even the concept of the Middle East is nebulous in the minds of many: How is it defined? What countries does it comprise? What peoples live there?

While many of us rely primarily (if not exclusively) on newspaper and TV accounts for information about the region, educators such as Lexington High School librarian Susan Lum hold themselves to a higher standard, namely, the development of a well-informed, well-read LHS student body. To meet that standard, argues Lum, students need more than just “sound bites” from the media; they need a variety of perspectives from which they can form their own opinions about events in this increasingly important region of the world.

Last spring, in recognition of a “gaping hole” of available Middle East resources at the LHS Library, Lum applied for a grant from the Lexington Education Foundation (LEF). Her goal was to develop a diverse and deep collection of materials on the Middle East to support both learning and teaching of the subject.

Asked why she chose this topic for an LEF grant, Lum cites increased student and teacher interest juxtaposed against a glaring need for more informative materials. She also sensed that LEF’s grant review committee would find the application compelling. She was right, and Lum was awarded a grant of $5700 last spring. Says Anna Afeyan, LEF VP of Programs: “While one could view an application for library books and materials as unexciting, we were struck by the importance of the subject matter, as well as by the dire need. America is full of misinformation about the Middle East, and we were happy to do our part to ensure that students at LHS learn about this important area of the world using the most interesting, sophisticated, and current materials available.”

A recent “explosion” of available materials on the Middle East was also a factor in Lum’s decision to apply for a grant. While good educational resources on the Middle East have historically been scarce, that is no longer the case. The reasons include the heightened volume of news from the Middle East, as well as state-mandated history standards, such as those in Massachusetts that require ninth-graders to study world religions (including Islam), and tenth-graders to study modern Middle Eastern history. A demand has also been created by high school classes on subjects related to the Middle East; LHS, for example, offers a class entitled World Terrorism.

So how has Lum chosen among the available resources? One of her key goals has been diversity, both in terms of types of materials and subject matter. She has acquired books on art, architecture, religion, women’s studies, and geography, as well as videos, audio books, music cassettes, and a number of multi-volume reference books. Although Lum has tried to ensure that every Middle Eastern country is represented in the new materials, she admits that it remains difficult to find good information on less-well-known countries, such as Oman and Qatar.

Ensuring a diversity of viewpoints has also been a priority for Lum. For example, while reference books are useful when one is conducting general research on a country, often the more interesting information is gleaned from those who live there. To that end, Lum has obtained recently available translations of books by Middle Eastern writers. They include Orhan Pamuk’s My Name is Red, Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, and Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood. The use of such first-hand accounts can be an effective means of dispelling myths and misconceptions.

Resources geared specifically toward teachers have also been a priority for Lum, and they include curriculum binders from the Teachers’ Curriculum Institute entitled The Modern Middle East, Comparative Religions, and The Rise of Islam. History teacher Deborah Johnston has the following to say about Lum and the new collection: “Students at LHS are fortunate indeed that the high school library supports their research needs so ably. Recently purchased specialized encyclopedias and books enable them to pursue a variety of independent research topics. In addition, the collection supports classroom teachers as we work to ensure that students have an understanding of the 21st century Middle East in its global and historical context.”