I think the problem with non-Western stuff isn't that there isn't enough that's considered "famous," but that the same stuff has been asked so many times other, equally famous-in-academics-outside-QB things are left out, and consequently unknown on the circuit. Example: When people want an African history question, they write Mansa Musa from a reference work. Thus, we get the same question on him over and over again. They never ask about Sunni Ali, early African cities, South African stuff, Berbers, etc. To take a field I know better, Middle East questions boil down to 20th century political leaders, a couple of Ottoman sultans, Saladin, and a couple of medieval dynasties. Why ask Saladin but not Baybars? Why Umar but not Harun ar-Rashid or al-Mamun? Why the Fatimids but not the Ayyubids or Seljuqs? In HIS 205 at UW, the Seljuqs got a whole lecture to themselves today; the prof said not to worry about the Fatimids because IHHO they're not that important to the overall development of Islam. I notice the same thing in Middle Eastern literature. Everyone who knows the field I've talked to regards al-Mutanabbi as the greatest medieval Arabic poet. So why do we always ask for Omar Khayyam (well, because of Fitzgerald) or Jalal ad-Din Rumi? (And my eternal gripe, why do Sufism questions always suck?) I don't think you could really increase the non-Western distribution beyond where it is now, at least not yet. But we can open up within that distribution, using survey courses and textbooks as a guide. Brian
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