Idea for Senior Project

I am not a hundred percent sure what I want my senior project to be about yet, but do know what I want to incorporate into it and that is culture and politics. This summer I have had the opportunity of a lifetime. I was selected by EIL to join a group of other young people to explore the country of Turkey. There I had the opportunity to do something I love doing: learning about new cultures. I had a very small idea about the history of Turkey and knew almost nothing about how their political system worked. It was shock that the Ottoman Empire (based in Turkey) had a great influence over the Middle East and in a huge chunk of Europe. They conquered the Greeks, were allies with the French, English and Germans, won wars against Russia and Sweden, and made it all the way to the gates of Vienna, Austria. This empire has done so much and was one of the richest and most powerful empires in Europe and the world. Then I tried to look for them in the 10^th grade world history book called The Human Story by James C. Davis, they were not mentioned. And as for it's major city (and former capital) Istanbul, it is only talked about when it was called Constantinople (under Roman rule). This left me baffled. How can a powerful empire who's influence spread so far and army conquered so much territory not be mentioned in a history book?

This left me wondering. What else if left out of history books that is had a great impact on history? What current events will shape our lives in coming year are going under the radar? Even major events that have recently happened. How many people actually know about the? Which comes to my idea for my senior project. I want to do something like a political and history awareness group. Something that will get people thinking about how much people really know about history and politics.