Progress, colonialism, nationalism, and the civilizing mission are all concepts associated with the late nineteenth century that were on display at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. In this podcast, Alma Heckman discusses the ways in which l'Alliance Israélite Universelle, a Jewish philanthropic organization founded in Paris in 1860, participated in the exposition and in doing so, highlights the ways in which the group's ideology and activities in the realm of education in the Middle East and North Africa contribute to our understanding of these important notions.