POWER POINT SLIDE PRESENTATION TOPICS TO CHOOSE FROM

POWERPOINT PRESENTATION TOPICS:

Look over the topics below and choose something that interests you.  You will use whichever software that you are familiar with (PowerPoint, Prezi, FlowVella, Powtoon, to name a few- just make sure I can open it. Last semester I couldn’t open the Google software) to create a complete report on your topic, I expect you to create about 15-20 Slides including pictures, graphs (if applicable) and texts. Also include your sources at the end of your presentation; books, magazines, and websites. 

TOPICS TO CHOOSE FROM:

1. What about the comics- any Muslim superheroes? Lots (I met the writer Saladin Ahmed creator of ‘Amulet’) How are they addressing their life experiences in America or in their own countries?. 

2. Nowruz is the spring celebration that was once Zoroastrian. How is it celebrated today?  What does one do on this day, what are the ritual foods that are served and what is their symbolic meaning? Why did the conservative religious leaders in Iran ban such celebrations?  Were they successful? 

4. History of the Afterlife in Western religion.  Where did the idea of an afterlife come from?  Did Abraham think there was an afterlife? How did he think he would continue to live after his death?  What are the Zoroastrianism beliefs about an afterlife? What did later Jews, Christians, and still later Muslims incorporate from Zoroastrian ideas of the afterlife into their worldview?  Was the afterlife a way of finding justice, revenge, or peace because it wasn’t available in the present? 

5. Ali ibn Nafi – Known as  Ziryab – ‘The Blackbird; – 9th century “Fashionista and Influencer of etiquette, fashion, food and toiletries” (He would definitely have been on Twitter and Tic Toc – if it had existed in the 9th century)

6. Muslim comedians and actors. How are Muslims portrayed in films and television shows today? Introduce us to specific actors and comedians in your presentation.    

7. We are somewhat familiar with the Sunni and the Shi’a, but what about the many small sects that exist in Islam? (Sufis, Druze, Alevis, Alawis Isali, Kurds, Yazidis, to name a few you might choose to cover)

8. Why is Iran angry at the USA and the rest of the Western countries?  Begin your search with the ‘era of international control’ with the discovery of oil in 1909, through the coup in 1953, the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty, and the return of Ruhollah Khomeini.

9. 1492- A pivotal year, and not just for Christopher Columbus.

10. Who are the Uyghurs and the Rohingya?

11. Lawrence of Arabia and Gertrude Bell.  Who were they and what were their contributions (good or bad) to the Middle East conflicts?

12.  What are the major pilgrimage sites in Buddhism and Hinduism?

13. Take us on a tour of the major Hindu celebrations.

14. How does white supremacy and Christianity work together in Evangelism?

15. Restrictive women’s clothing found in religious traditions. 

16. Where did the idea of ‘Satan’ or ‘Lucifer’ evolve from?

17.. From the Jewish tradition who are the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews?  And from the Ashkenazi come the ‘Hasidic’ Jews the ‘Haredi’ and ‘Lubavich’.  Who are they and how do they live today?

18. Gandhi, Satyagraha, Christianity, Martin Luther King, Bishop Tutu and non-violence. What is ‘Satyagraha’ and how did Gandhi connect it with Christian texts? And what connection can you find between Gandhi and MLK?

19. What do the 'Branch Davidians" the 'Jonestown Massacre' and 'Aum Shinrikyo' have in common.  What drove  these doomsday cults to act as they did?