Vermont Humanities
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First Impressions: 19th Century New Englanders and the Origins of American Perceptions of Islam

Philip Crossman tells the story of Middlebury College graduates Pliny Fisk and Levi Parsons, who set out to the Middle East to serve as Christian missionaries in the Islamic world in 1819.

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Philip Crossman

Philip Crossman has spent most of his life teaching the humanities to high school and college students. His interest in Middle Eastern history was sparked by several years he spent working in Jerusalem.