Friday, February 18, 2011

As Protests Spread In Middle East, History Comes Alive For US Students

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Rivaling the biggest crowds since their pro-democracy revolt began, flag-waving Egyptians packed into Tahrir Square for a day of prayer and celebration Friday to mark the fall of longtime leader Hosni Mubarak a week ago and to push their new military rulers to steer the country toward reform.

The success of Egypt’s uprising is inspiring protests to spread throughout the Middle East, as people demand an end to authoritarian regimes. Here in the U.S., students are getting a rare chance to watch history in the making.

We touch down in one school, Plymouth South High School in Plymouth, Mass., where Greg Kulowiec‘s ninth grade world history class is watching history unfold in Egypt.  We hear from Mr. Kulowiec and one of his students, Brianna Sacchetti, who is comparing the Egyptian protests to the French revolution of more than 200 years ago.

Other stories from Friday's show

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

  • Anna Mudd

    Great segment! I just wrote to Mr. Kulowiec from the Outreach Center at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard to say we have also been working with teachers to connect the current events unfolding in the Middle East and Arab world into the classroom. You can check out a recording of our last webinar here: http://cmes.hmdc.harvard.edu/node/2401
    Another really interesting connection for those teaching comparative revolutions or U.S. history is a 1950′s comic book on “The Montgomery Story” made in consultation with Dr. King which was translated into Arabic and used as a training tool in nonviolent resistance in the Middle East. Find a link to the full text at our Graphic Novels and the Middle East blog: http://gnme.wordpress.com/2011/02/14/comics-and-nonviolent-resistance-in-egypt/

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