Resource Guide to Materials On the Arab World

By Audrey Shabbas. Belmont: Association of Arab-American University Graduates Press, 1987. 56 pp. $6.95 (cloth).

Reviewed by Julie Peteet

Audrey Shabbas' resource guide is a very welcome addition to a still small, but expanding body of resource materials for teaching about the Middle East. This book refers the reader to films, videos, slide sets, and a wide variety of teaching materials ranging from curriculum guidelines to posters arranged for instructional purposes.

A User Friendly Volume

The Resource Guide is arranged for the convenience of the user—it includes both a title and subject index as well as a section listing the addresses and phone numbers of distributors. Though each entry is followed by a brief annotation, the author has highlighted those materials that she has judged to be of superior quality. This is most helpful in deciding which materials to use.

This book is a must for anyone teaching the Middle East to secondary students as well as introductory courses in universities and colleges. The section on teaching material is obviously more suited to secondary level teachers whereas the film listings are applicable to a variety of academic levels.

The range of topics covered alone makes it a rich source of information. A glimpse at the subject index reveals numerous categories—from folklore and music to women and economic development. Every Arab League member is represented, except Djibouti, Mauritania, and Somalia, for which no materials were found.

Not Comprehensive but Selective

The Resource Guide is not a comprehensive guide to all materials available on the Middle East, but rather is a selective compilation. The author's criterion for inclusion was based on accuracy, sensitivity, and usefulness in enriching curriculum and classroom discussion. In addition, she also took into consideration what other materials were available on a particular topic. Shabbas includes works she feels may not be of a standard that she would wish to see used without caution in the classroom. But she believes that even such works have their uses. As anyone who has taught is well aware, such materials can be used to initiate discussions of stereotypes and ethnocentrism and to develop a critical approach to materials on the region.

An Author's Choice

Naturally the author's choice of what is outstanding (entries are highlighted to indicate superior quality) may differ from that of the reader. For instance, Shabbas indicates that Shrine Under Siege, a film covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Jerusalem and the holy sites, and collusion between Israel and American Christian fundamentalists, is of outstanding quality. I found it unfocused. I consider the films Wildflower Women of South Lebanon and A Veiled Revolution to be of excellent quality and very useful in teaching about the Middle East. In contrast, Shabbas describes the former as "remarkable" and provides no evaluation for the latter. However, she is aware that the process of selection and evaluation is a highly subjective one and alerts the reader to the nature of the process in the introduction.

Conscientious Updating

One of the problems inherent in resource guides is their eventual datedness. Shabbas is conscientious about updating this one. In the introduction she asks readers to bring to her attention materials produced after 1986, or materials of which she may be unaware. These periodic updates she obviously contemplates will ensure the continued value of Resource Guide to Materials on the Arab World.

Julie Peleet is a professor of Middle East anthropology and has written and lectured extensively on Palestinian women and Arab society in general.