Homeland Afghanistan

About the Project

We all know Afghanistan, but how well do we understand it? Afghanistan has been home to diverse cultures, empires, and traditions — and is a place where an equally interconnected future will unfold. This website explores the geopolitical and cultural heritage of Afghanistan and compels new thinking about the region today.

For Teachers

Despite Afghanistan being America's longest war, and millions of children of military families affected by it, only 12% of students can find Afghanistan on a map. See our collection of secondary school teaching and learning materials on this critical world region.

Careers for the Humanities

From filmmaking to anthropology, careers in the humanities are as diverse and interesting as the subjects they cover. Check out interviews with some of our advisors who explain what their jobs are really like.

Click here to install the latest version of Flash to view video. You must have Flash installed to see all video content on this site.

Want to learn more? Here are the books and websites we turned to time and again. Be sure to see the "source" section under each video episode to get the details about the ideas, images, and music used to construct individual stories.

These short definitions help to center you on ideas. Search this website — and beyond — to learn more about the important context for each of these words or phrases.

Drs. Thomas Barfield, Sheila Blair, David B. Edwards, Morris Rossabi, and Lorraine Sakata are the scholars and teachers behind this project.

This project was made possible by:

National Endowment for the Humanities
William Afghan Media Project
Sakata Music Collection

Many institutions and individuals contributed resources, thinking, and time to this project.

Learn more about the Asia Society Partnership for Global Learning.