The Class: 9th Grade Early World History 

The Teacher: History Teacher Priscilla Lindberg

The Project: The Abbasids were the Islamic Empire that rose following the death of the founder of Islam (750-1258). They presided over the “Golden Age” of the empire, a time when this empire was considered to be at its peak. Pumas learned about the five stages of empire through this time period: a visionary leader, the rise of the Golden Age, the decline of the Empire, the end of the Empire, and the cycle restarting with a new visionary leader. Students studied the Abbasids as a case study, honing in on their distinct focus on scholarship. The Abbasids were adamant in pursuing scholarship, which was defined as a way to strengthen a society. The project is meant to emphasize the diversity of thought and experiences that was supported by the Empire, a Muslim view that starkly contrasted the popular Christian view at the time. 

The project focus is on inquiry: Pumas have to determine the points of interest for the Abbasids, and what questions they were asking to develop scholarship in their society. These points of interest are subjects such as math, astronomy, engineering, and the arts. Once students identify the area they want to concentrate on, they pick a scholar that studied their point of interest and determine what questions their scholar was asking and how they researched those questions. Students may also be patrons, who are people with money and ideas for how to implement scholarship into the Houses of Wisdom, which were libraries, repositories, and laboratories of learning. These students developed an understanding of all areas of study for their house. All students worked to research for their posters, consulting online sources and at least one book from UPrep’s Library. 

Finally, there is the scholars conference. Students present themselves as scholars or patrons, using posters they create to display their interests. The posters must communicate an area of study, why it is important, why it is worth investing in, and feature a historical scholar that exemplified that area of study. Patrons’ posters feature how their city promotes scholarship, and what problems they are working to overcome. Scholars visit the different Houses of Wisdom of the Abbasid Empire: Cairo, Baghdad, and Cordoba. Each house has one patron who is looking to hire different scholars to advance their community. While the project is not formed as a competition, students develop an understanding of how scholars interacted 800 plus years ago. 

The Goals: Priscilla aims for students to recognize the value of scholarship and research in society, and wants them to connect it to the modern-day world. The poster project helps students learn to synthesize information, then they communicate the information with others. 

Along with gaining skills in research, collaboration, artistic direction, and public speaking, she wants students to think about what happens when we foster a society that values scholarship. “It creates a thriving, affluent, and powerful world to live in. My subversive goal is for them to think about our own society,” Priscilla said. “Are we doing that? How successful are we in that endeavor? What are the outcomes for us as a society in the modern world?” 

What I’ve Learned: Paddy S. was a patron for the city of Baghdad in Iraq. His favorite part of the project was researching and interacting with primary and secondary sources. “I think a part of history research that’s been overlooked is actually getting to use books for this project,” he said. “I feel like we use a lot of online sources, but interacting with the librarians and having them help us with some of our research was really great.”

Student Vivian L. enjoyed developing an understanding for Islamic law during the Abbasid Empire and how it intertwined with religion. “I got to research Islamic law, and I liked learning about religion and how that impacted different kingdoms and empires,” she said. “Learning how their empire functioned based on law and based on the Quran was really interesting.” 

Meet the Teacher Priscilla Lindberg: Priscilla believes teaching is a profound vocation. She was strongly influenced by teachers in her own life that believed in her and pushed her, and wants to be that same positive influence to UPrep students. She went to Catholic school in Connecticut when she was young, then a boarding school in her later years. Priscilla’s family struggled to pay for a quality education, but she said her teachers and community had great faith in her and assisted her in gaining a scholarship and financial support. 

“I think education saved me,” Priscilla said, “it helped me find myself in the world and when I got older, I saw it as a path to achieve social justice.” 

She began teaching at her boarding school in Connecticut following her graduation from Lake Forest College. While travelling in Mongolia, she met her future husband and they married shortly after. She attended graduate school at the University of Connecticut, then moved to Mongolia to learn her husband’s language, culture, and family life. She worked at an international school in Mongolia, and decided to come back to the U.S. after two years and was hired by the Northwest School in Capitol Hill. Priscilla fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. “I’m never going back to the East Coast,” she joked. 

Priscilla worked at Northwest for 10 years before coming to UPrep, and she’s now in her fifth year leading a life of learning here. “It’s meaningful work to guide people into becoming human beings,” she said. “I always tell my kids, it's not a guarantee that because you were born you know how to be human.”

SHOW YOUR WORK ARTICLES HIGHLIGHT WHAT HAPPENS IN UPREP CLASSROOMS TO HELP STUDENTS BECOME INTELLECTUALLY COURAGEOUS, SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE CITIZENS OF THE WORLD.