Phillip Jones is an ESL/Social Studies teacher in the Alamance-Burlington School System in North Carolina. He holds a BA in History from the University of Arizona and completed post-graduate work in Secondary Education and ESL. Mr. Jones taught the Defense Language Institute Course at the Saudi Naval Academy in Dammam from 1996-2000 and has lived, worked, and/or traveled in Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Turkey, Jordan, India, Thailand, and Germany. His research interest are cultural anthropology, geography, and history of the Middle East. He is actively involved in the Southeast Regional Middle East Islamic Studies Seminar, National Council for Social Studies, NC Council for Social Studies, and is on the Board of the NC Geographic Alliance. He has been awarded multiple grants related to the Arab World since 9/11, and gives workshops and presentations on Arab/Islamic Cultures and Asian Cultures at the state and national level.