This article is an attempt to create new ways for students to appreciate the complexities and diversity of the Middle East's foodways and thus of their people and societies. It takes a broad view of the region that is historically inclusive, stretching from Morocco and al-Andalus (Spain) in the west to Iran in the east and from modern-day Turkey…

Courses: Intercultural Communication; any course with an intercultural communication unit. Objectives: Students will demonstrate the self-awareness imperative in intercultural communication, explore their own cultural identities, and reflect on others cultural identities in order to build their intercultural communication competence.

The scenario that the author encountered when she began working in her present position was not unusual for an elementary school library: the students study a culture, and the librarian reads the stories of that culture to them to enrich the study and to make the culture come alive. The fourth-graders studied the Maya in the fall and the ancient…

The 2007 MLA report "Foreign Language and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World," with its call to institutions of higher education to reexamine their curricula and include more in-depth cultural content into all courses, reminded foreign language educators of the important goal of helping students gain…

In this paper I look at a set of teaching techniques and practices that I experienced as a student of traditional hula over the past twenty years. I explain the practices of ho'ike (testing by showing what one knows), 'aiha'a (getting grounded), pa'a ka waha/ ho'olohe (hold the mouth/ listen), and learning without palapala (paper) as I have…

The aims of educating for economic, cultural, and pedagogical purposes have existed since the early inception of art education. Looking at how and why these aims evolved in the early era of art and design education has potential for better understanding how and why design should be incorporated into the art education curricula today. This article…

Based on qualitative research conducted in 3 university English as a foreign language classrooms in Chile and 3 community college English as a second language classrooms in California, this article examines the approaches used in teaching culture in these classrooms, the differences in how particular cultures (usually national cultures) were…

The authors describe how three elementary teachers working in very different parts of the United States teach about Mexico. These teachers' practices allow them to enhance the traditional social studies curriculum, help children learn about themselves and other people, and increase children's capacities for global citizenship. (Contains 1 figure.)

A program developed to teach French civilization and modern France at the U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, Maryland) was designed to take advantage of readily available, relatively sophisticated technology for classroom instruction. The hardware used includes a satellite earth station that receives regular television broadcasts from France, a…

Discusses the nature of Jewish educational research. Addresses four questions: (1) what makes Jewish educational research unique; (2) what issues does it address; (3) what methods should it employ; and (4) what sort of institutions should it study? Concludes that it combines educational research and Judaic studies emphasizing transmission of…

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a large Arab, Muslim country in the Middle East. It has been an economic and political partner of the United States for many years. This unit, designed for elementary students, provides a text, questions, mapping skills, and fun activities. Students read about Saudi Arabia to gain insights and an appreciation of…

By focusing on goegraphy, music, art, and literature, one teacher teaches her students about the history of Russian culture without having to fight student predjudice against the Soviet government. (PGD)

A classroom technique designed for developing German second language vocabulary is expanded on for additional classroom functions and activities. The method uses a bag containing a variety of objects. The objects are drawn out of the bag and discussed in class. The contents of the bag should be unpredictable and unusual, and they should be changed…

Asserts that history teachers can make the study of history relevant to students by emphasizing the centrality of people in history. Examines ways to achieve cultural literacy while avoiding some of the inherent pitfalls. (NH)

The use of a travel writer's approach to social studies instruction, where students gather information to write travel guides about countries they're studying, is illustrated through activities for studies about Egyptian passport and visa applications, currency, history, language, and art. (CB)