Students, middle school Eyüp Rüşdiyesi / Abdullah Frères, photographes de S.M.I. le Sultan. [Between 1880 and 1893]. Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
Middle Eastern Studies, History, Anthropology
Two class periods (45 minutes each)
MENA 480/580: History of 20th-century Middle East
Dr. Julia Clancy-Smith, School of Middle East and North African Studies, and Niamh Wallace, University of Arizona Libraries
Spring 2023 as part of a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources grant
This course covers the modern Middle East in the age of imperialism, world wars, state formation, decolonization, and Islamic resistance. The first part of this course analyzes the 20th century through the frameworks of personal self-narrative. During the second half the course, the overarching frame shifts to prosopography. Prosopography is an investigation of the common characteristics of a group of people, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable or fragmented. Thus, research subjects are analyzed by means of collective study.
This lesson introduced students to primary sources and guides them in searching the Library of Congress to find and analyze sources related to the Middle East in the 20th century.
In preparation for the lesson, the professor and the librarian evaluated potential collections and selected the Library of Congress' Abdul Hamid II Collection to frame class discussions on digital primary sources. The “Observe, reflect, question” worksheet was used to guide students' analysis of selected primary sources.
The librarian defined and discussed primary sources, collecting institutions and archives, and the difference between digital collections and digitized materials. The librarian introduced the Library of Congress website and demonstrated how to search its digital collections and digitized materials.
The class explored the Abdul Hamid II Collection and discussed what makes it a digital collection (“A digital collection consists of digital objects that are selected and organized to facilitate their discovery, access, and use. Objects, metadata, and the user interface together create the user experience of a collection)." The librarian led a discussion on the contextual information in “About this collection.” Students explored the “Collection Items” using the filters on the left side. The librarian emphasized that it can be unclear whether items viewed are singular or are part of a larger collection, and that it is important to determine the highest collection level for the most complete overview.
As a group, the class selected a sample item from the collection to examine and discuss. Students were prompted to ask themselves questions from the “Observe, reflect, question” worksheet from the Library of Congress.
Students explored the surrounding information related to the item (metadata), and discussed the important contextual information conveyed.
Students were taught how to search the Library of Congress website to find digital primary sources relevant to their research topics:
Both graduate and undergraduate students are required to write a research paper using primary sources (text, images, or other formats) related to their topic.
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