Representations of Islam and Arab Societies in Western Secondary Textbooks

Since the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the textbooks in Arab and Islamic nation‐states have been carefully critiqued for any content that Westerners view as promoting hate or violence against non‐Muslims. Very little has been said, however, about the portrayals of Islamic and Arab society in Western textbooks. This report investigates the perspectives and ideologies concerning representations of Islam and Arab societies in textbooks worldwide, and specifically in Western countries' national education systems. Seventy‐two textbooks from 15 Western countries and Israel were examined to investigate the included and excluded content related to Islam and Arab societies. This research found that those countries with either an immediate stake in the Middle East (e.g., Israel) or an immediate past stake in the region (e.g., the United Kingdom) were the most likely to include coverage of Islam and Arab societies in secondary textbooks. The major findings of this research, however, are that content related to contemporary Islam and Arab societies in Western secondary‐level textbooks is overwhelmingly related to terrorism and terrorists, the Arab/Israeli conflict, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The majority of content related to contemporary Islam and Arab societies represents Muslims and their communities as: 1) socially, politically, and economically repressed; 2) religiously and ideologically oppressed; and 3) both typically and frequently violent.     

The Image of Arab and Islam in Introduction to Sociology College Textbooks in the United States

Sociology textbooks play a central role in educational process of teaching Sociology. This is very obvious in an introduction course. Introduction courses tend to be very large. In major universities, sociology courses attract as many as 500 to 1000 students. The enrollees tend to be drawn from various disciplines ranging from hard core sciences to social sciences. Furthermore, many of the instructors who teach introduction to sociology tend be new, of junior ranks, and lack experience. Thus, instructors who teach introduction to sociology tend to rely heavily upon the textbook to organize their lectures and presentations in order to give an organized overview of the subject matter and present a clear picture of the essentials of the field. Diversity¹ and globalization² are two important variables that have gained popularity and importance among sociologists, and many social scientists, in recent years. Sociologists use these tools to present and analyze sociological data and information. Thus, these two variables have significantly changed both the coverage and the presentation of introductory sociology textbooks in the last decade or so. Diversity and globalization have increased the coverage of foreign cultures and societies. The purpose of this paper is to study the coverage of Islam and the Arabs in introductory sociology textbooks. The study will cover 20 textbooks published in the 1995–2000 by major publishing companies in the U.S. which are used at colleges and universities throughout the country. The choice of textbooks at the college level in a given course relies, in most cases, on the instructor who teaches the course. Therefore a given textbook may be used in different parts of the country. Content analysis techniques will be used to analyze and evaluate the coverage of both Islam and the Arabs. The introductory Sociology texts will be evaluated in terms of whether they give a balanced, measured, impartial, and an objective picture of the Arabs and Muslims.     

高句丽王城、王陵及贵族墓葬

核心价值概述 高句丽政权建于公元前37年,定都于纥升骨城(今辽宁省桓仁县境内).公元3年高句丽迁都国内城(今吉林省集安市市区内),公元427年再次迁都平壤(今朝鲜平壤),公元668年高句丽灭亡.高句丽政权共存续705年,传28位王.从公元前37年到公元668年,高句丽王朝一直活跃在中国北部地区和朝鲜半岛的北部,这里的文化因此而得名.     

古蜀王都与早期古城遗址探讨

成都平原上的考古发现揭示,早在商周时期,古代蜀人已在三星堆建立了古蜀王都,而在此之前或更早的时候就已出现了宝墩化等早期古城遗址。三星堆古城遗址为我们了解蜀国和殷商的关系提供了重要证据,说明地处内陆的蜀国在当时是一个独立发展的富饶繁荣的王国,殷商在青铜时代并不是唯一的明中心。宝墩等早期古城遗址的发现和比较研究,则显示了中华明在不同区域发展进程中的不同特点。     

吐谷浑东西两京巡礼

吐谷浑人在4世纪初,从辽东辗转西迁之后,在青海高原建立了强大的王朝,在漫长的350多年的历史中,曾经在青海地区建立了著名的四大戍和东西两京。关于四大戍,历来的中外学者多有考证,普遍认为：其一屈真川,即今的察卡盐池的东南。其二赤水川,即古河源郡所在地,即今天的海南州曲沟或共和县城。其三浇河（川）,即今天的青海贵德县附近。     

Secular Islam

ABSTRACT

While he appears to have been a relentless critic of secularism as a liberal ideal, the celebrated Indian poet and philosopher Mohammad Iqbal might also be considered among its more important non-European theorists. Globally one of the most influential Muslim thinkers of the twentieth century, Iqbal started publishing in its first decade, reaching the height of his power and popularity during the inter-war period until he died in Lahore in 1938. He studied philosophy as well as Arabic and Persian thought in Lahore, Cambridge, and Munich, and drew extensively upon European as much as Asian thinkers. I will argue here that Iqbal followed an important tradition of pre-modern philosophy by thinking about the relationship between politics and theology in esoteric terms.     

African Islam

Book reviewed in this article: Islam in Africa, Nura Alkali, Adamu Adamu, Amal Yadudu, Rashid Motem, and Haruna Salihi, editors Muslim Identity and Social Change in Sub-Saharan Africa, Louis Brenner, editor     

我国"八大古都"古都文化旅游发展战略思考

中国最著名的8个古都城市（北京、西安、南京、杭州、洛阳、开封、安阳和郑州）并没有把“八大古都”作为其城市名片,这是认识不到位和缺乏策略产生的问题。本文提出“用古都文化铸造现代旅游之魂”的构想及5个具体策略：以文化铸造古都旅游之魂、以文化丰富古都旅游内涵、以文化提升古都城市旅游的品位、以文化树立古都城市独特旅游形象、以古都文化开拓海外市场。     

读《商代都邑》浅识

春花飘香,得挚友王震中先生相赠新著《商代都邑》,不胜欣喜!细细掂量,篇幅宏大,分量不轻;匆匆翻过,满目珠玑,心旷神怡。遂每日抽暇读上几页,写下几笔,整理后聊充读书心得,愿与同好分享。一《商代都邑》的研究方法,值得赞赏。该书把历史学与考古学有机结合起来,是迄今所见把考古资料加以充分运用的史学著作之一。作者具有考古学专业背景,了解考古学的研究方法,熟悉考古学的学术动态,甚至