"Tips For Brushing up on Your MENA Geography!" by Christian Bevilacqua
As a student that had never taken a social studies class outside of the U.S. before, I was not sure what to expect in terms of what background knowledge to bring to my Amideast elective courses. As a geography major myself, I already found solace in studying the geographical locations of the countries of Southwest Asia and North Africa. I made sure that I knew all of the countries and major cities bordering and neighboring Jordan long before coming to Amideast to study, but I underestimated how important this practice was for my elective classes while studying abroad. The last thing that I expected on my first day of my Arab-Israeli Relations class was an introductory quiz of drawing a map of the Levant from memory; I totally lucked out due to my love for geography. This assignment was a good way to familiarize students with the region (Jordan and its neighbors), but I noticed this practice did not come easy to everyone in the class (it takes a real geography nerd to study maps for fun!).
In order to better understand the social dynamics, cultural attributes, and political and historical happenings for your Amideast elective courses, educational excursions, and daily dialogue within Amman, I wholeheartedly recommend taking the time to learn about and memorize the political geography of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. In this blog I have placed hyperlinks to some really cool and fun games to learn about the geography of Southwest Asia!
Whether you plan to study them on the plane trip to Jordan or in the weeks leading up to your departure to Amman, I recommend checking out these links to better understand the region you will be living in, and to also impress your Amideast teachers!
Political Geography Memorization Games
MENA Country Case Studies/History
MENA Country Profiles - Demographics, History, and Political Reports
Profiles:
Happy studying!
Christian is a student at Syracuse University and is studying abroad in Amman, Jordan on the Amideast Area and Arabic Language Studies Program during Spring 2023.
