Unit on Iran:

Iranian Culture Today: Religious scripture, traditions, and other factors

Day 1

Introduce students to Iranian culture through the tradition of Nowruz. 

Instructional Materials:

Handout and Teacher's Guide: Nowruz
Celebrating Nowruz: A Resource for Educators (Harvard)

Web sources: BBC; Cultural Foundation; Iranvision; Nevruz in Turkey


Day 2

Find out what students think about some aspects of Iranian culture, particularly religion and its role in Iranian society.  Correct stereotypes about religion in Iran, and provide accurate information. 

Instructional Materials:

Handout and Teacher's Guide: Ayatollahs

Academic Sources: Lectures in IS 245 and 645, by Dr. Alam Payind of The Ohio State University; Encyclopedia of Islam: entries, “molla” and "Ayatullah"
Web Sources: Ayatollah Khamenei's web site; Pictures of Qom; Iran in Perspective; Power and Governance in Iran


Day 3

Learn with the students about diverse perspectives and teach them about cultural awareness using a primary source document. 

Instructional Materials:

Teacher's Guide for Khamenei's New Year (Nowruz) Address
Student Handout for Khamenei's New Year (Nowruz) Address
Handout and Teacher's Guide on Related Excerpts from the Qur'an

Web Sources:
Nowruz references: BBC; Cultural Foundation; Iranvision; Nevruz in Turkey (NR)
Iran-Iraq War references:Wikipedia page; BBC Interview w/veterans ; MIT Timeline ; Entekhabi: Kilid;Kilid Installation (translation of German text explaining Kilid: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=df58ns8b_41dswdmh) (I-IW)
Qur'an allusions: Related excerpts from the Qur'an (QQ)

General references related to Iran and Islam:
Encyclopedia of Islam (need to be an affiliate of OSU - click "Off-campus Sign-in" before connecting to online source if not on an OSU computer)
Venture of Islam
Iran Chamber Society Web Site
National Geographic web pages

Day 4

Invite a speaker or watch a documentary to help answer the students' questions and to continue the conversation about allusions to the Qur'an in Iranian literature, and the importance of Nowruz in Iranian culture. 

Suggested documentaries:

Rageh in Iran
Shahrbanoo (available to borrow from the Middle East Studies Center)