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Muslims in America's Midwest: An Educator's Guide to Past and Present

Muslims in America's Midwest: An Educator's Guide to Past and Present is made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom. Miami University, in Oxford, Ohio, is the hosting institution for this Institute. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Overview

Humanities scholarship about Muslim Americans has grown exponentially in the last two decades. Muslims in America's Midwest is designed to educate teachers by bringing together scholarship and learning opportunities that reveal diverse Muslim experiences in America, making legible for educators the complexity of Muslim-American lives.

  • Visiting scholars with relevant expertise will share their research on culturally diverse Islamic practices, Midwestern U.S. Muslim lives and communities, and religious diversity in K-12 schools.
  • Through readings that chart histories, explore the lived experiences of Muslim communities, and illuminate though fiction, poetry, and children’s literature what it’s like to be a Muslim school-age child, educators will gain deeper understanding of cultural, historical, and literary traditions.
  • Films, site visits to mosques, workshops with librarians, panel discussions with Muslim students and their families, will help educators build curriculum which powerfully engages students with texts related to Muslim-American life.
  • Focusing on racial and ethnic diversity among Muslim students in U.S. primary and secondary schools in the midwestern states, our program will give participating teachers a foundation of knowledge, a toolkit of cultural and communal resources, and curriculum materials designed to enrich and expand student understanding of diverse Muslim American stories, cultures, and experiences.
  • Participants can register to receive 7 Continuing Education Units (CEU's) for attending all 10 days of the program.

Participate

What are the histories and stories of Muslims in America's Midwest? Muslim Americans have helped to shape the contours of life in the Midwest, serving as restauranteurs, soldiers fighting in the World Wars, workers on the factory floor and in the corporate boardroom, activists in the Civil Rights movement, and researchers bringing innovations to the health-care and technology sectors of the American economy.

Muslims in America's Midwest invites teachers to explore this history and create innovative curricula to take back home. Participants will:

  • Gain basic knowledge of Islam in its geographical, national, ethnic, and ideological diversity.
  • Learn about Muslims of America’s Midwest through fiction and non-fiction texts.
  • Develop curriculum projects promoting a pluralistic approach to religious understanding.

Dates

June 19 – 30, 2023

Location

Miami University, Oxford Ohio

Application Deadline

Applications were due by March 1, 2023. Participants who have been selected for admission will be notified on April 3. Selected participants must accept or decline their offers by April 14, 2023.

Stipend

$2,640 (taxable as income)

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