Bringing Middle Eastern History into K-12 Classrooms

A historic collaboration between the UC Davis Department of History, Middle East/South Asia Studies Program, and the California History-Social Science Project (CHSSP) is helping bring academically grounded lessons about Middle Eastern history into K-12 classrooms—at a time when teachers say the need for context and accuracy has never been greater.

This effort, co-led by UC Davis historian Stacy D. Fahrenthold and CHSSP deputy director Beth Slutsky and funded by the UC Office of the President, combines a public speaker series held on campus with a project creating high-impact, inquiry-based lessons that extend scholarly research beyond the university and into schools across California.

“This is partly why the University of California exists,” Slutsky said. “This is fulfilling the public service mission of the UC system.”

Transforming Scholarship into Tools for K–12 Classrooms

The project supports teachers in navigating complex topics they—and their students—have expressed a desire to understand conflict in the Middle East, religious and cultural identities, and the history of Arab American communities.

“We see this project as a way to build for sustained collaboration over many years between university researchers, scholars and K–12 educators,” Fahrenthold said. “And in doing so, we are giving the next generation the tools they need to ask better questions, to contextualize what they see online, and to engage with the world in informed, thoughtful ways.”

The project includes two components, both of which teachers are encouraged to engage with: a speaker series featuring leading scholars of Middle Eastern and Arab American studies, and the development of classroom-ready curriculum packages built around primary sources and historical investigation.

The speaker series, hosted at UC Davis in Winter and Spring 2025 quarters, features leading historians from across the country—selected for their scholarly rigor and diverse perspectives—speaking on historical topics such as the medieval Mediterranean, Middle Eastern Jewish life before 1948, and modern Palestine.

The curriculum packages, expected to launch online in summer 2025, are co-developed with UC Davis graduate students and teacher-leaders from local districts, including educators from Vacaville. These teachers attend the events, consult directly with researchers, and help adapt the academic content into lessons that are ready for real classrooms.

“We’ve told the scholars that we want these talks to focus on how they’re teaching this material, not just the latest research,” Slutsky said. “It’s about connecting their expertise to what’s actually needed in K–12 schools.”

“Teachers are coming to our events, giving feedback and shaping the materials,” added Fahrenthold. “This scholarship is responding to a real community need.”

Historical Context in a Politically Charged Climate

In the wake of the turmoil in the region that began in October 2023 and continues today, conversations about the modern Middle East have become urgent and increasingly polarized. Both university professors and K-12 teachers alike face mounting pressure and community expectations, while simultaneously struggling to connect with resources that meet academic commitment to the norms of historical inquiry, scholarly excellence and nuanced representation.

In such times “it gets harder, not easier, to teach this content,” Fahrenthold explained, “but avoiding difficult conversations is a mistake. But with the right materials… it gets a little bit easier.”

The project’s approach—anchored in primary sources, not political talking points—equips students to investigate history for themselves and make claims based on evidence.

“Teachers are asking their students to look at the raw materials of the past,” Slutsky said. “To come up with pieces of evidence, to answer questions of significance and then to come up with their own claims.”

Partnership in Action: CHSSP and UC Davis Historians

The collaboration brings together scholars, teachers and graduate students in a true learning community. Consulting with invited speakers, graduate students identify accessible primary sources from archives and co-author lesson plans in conversation with UC Davis faculty and teacher-leaders.

“The project is aimed at having opportunities for K–12 teachers and graduate students and faculty members to talk with one another,” Slutsky said. “We’re setting up very practical resources for teachers to know how to implement this content.”

Rather than memorizing dates or facts, students are taught how to evaluate evidence, consider multiple perspectives and make historically informed claims.

“We want students to pause and consider: Why do people feel the way they do? What are the historical roots of today’s debates?” Slutsky said. “These are the thinking skills that AI can’t do for them—and the ones they’ll use for life.”

Centering Academic Freedom and Student Agency

The team views this work as part of higher education’s vital role in society—providing a framework, grounded in academic freedom and scholarship, to help the public, including K–12 students, build a deeper, more informed understanding of complex and timely topics. By foregrounding historical context and disciplinary rigor, they aim to protect educators and empower students.

“It is the university—it is the public university, specifically—that must create space and protect space around this research, teaching and service,” said Fahrenthold. “Exposure to these multiple perspectives, even when they are... maybe contradictory, maybe competing with one another, is really meaningful. And the earlier students can get familiar with being able to identify multiple perspectives, the better.”

Slutsky emphasized that the project doesn’t just provide materials—it affirms educators' professional agency.

“It gives them practical tools… but it also helps them feel part of this larger community of scholars” she said.

Building a Lasting Pipeline for Middle Eastern Studies

While the four curriculum packages can stand alone, together they tell a much bigger story—one that weaves together diverse historical perspectives and reaches far beyond the classroom, according to Fahrenthold.

Through partnerships with school districts, ongoing public talks and plans for summer institutes, the team is working to ensure these lessons have a long shelf life and wide reach.

“We hope this will be a multi-year project,” Fahrenthold said. “It’s about not just hosting speakers but building something bigger—creating sustained collaboration that has longevity and real impact. That’s why this work matters. We want students of all ages to have the ability to think historically, to analyze primary sources and to understand that every group has a meaningful past.”

To learn more about the classroom materials, please contact chssp@ucdavis.edu.