Elvis is Titanic - Ian Klaus

In 2005, former Rhodes scholar, Ian Klaus, traveled to Iraqi Kurdistan to teach United States History and English. This resulting memoir is a blend of an intense history of the Kurds and the impact the American values of supposed freedom have had on the younger generation Klaus seeks to enlighten. Klaus takes on an ambitious syllabus, hoping to cover everything from the Founding Fathers to popular culture (the students had never heard of the Beatles, but could not get enough of Titanic). He speaks about slavery and civil rights, and the students are quick to find the parallels in their own lives. Klaus touches on, but does not explore as much as I would have liked, the presence and participation of women in his classroom. The majority of the book is taken up with Middle Eastern history lessons (which was interesting and well-written), as well as Klaus's own personal experience learning to live with a bodyguard and adjusting to Kurdish culture. But, what I found most interesting was Klaus's portrayal of his students and their classroom interactions. The debates Klaus attempts to set up revealed so much about how America is viewed by the people it is supposed to be helping, and how the Iraqi Kurds view their place in the world around them. I would have loved to read a more in-depth description of the students and learned more about their life circumstances and the families they came from. This is an impressively written book, and one that gave me a bit of hope for our country's younger generation - to see that there are still those willing to dedicate their lives to making the world a better place is strangely reassuring.