First, though I do teach world history (among a number of other courses) and have a number of Muslim students in my classes, I don't actually have a set way I teach about Islam in the Middle Ages. In recent years, I have used an approach to world history that frames it through a history of sugar. So, the aspect of the rich exchange of scientific knowledge, technology, etc. as the empire expanded (such as described in the Ted Ed video) is important, but I don't teach a lot besides that. In the past few years, I have been working to build my content knowledge about this time period and also this region. One of the books I read for a world history learning community was Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary. That provided me with an overview of history that correlates with the article by Nasser Rabbat. I'm hoping through this course to solidify my understanding of the timeline and interactions between peoples to expand this part of my curriculum.