Swat Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies

<p>There is considerable interest in Middle Eastern studies and language a wide variation in the degree to which LACs have been able ramp up offerings before the economic crash brings an end to expansion.</p>

<p>Middle Eastern studies has been Swarthmore's top priority in terms of academic expansion and the offerings that have been put in place across multiple departments since 9/11 are impressive. For example, Swat is now offering three full years (two semesters each) of Arabic instruction, plus additional conversational and lit courses. </p>

<p>Here is the section of an unpublished Swat re-accreditation self-study detailing what has been accomplished. </p>

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...academic planners weighed arguments about the richness of the historical and cultural traditions of Islam, spanning the world from Morocco to Indonesia, and about the current centrality of economic and political issues in Muslim societies to world stability. They concluded that it was urgent that Swarthmore prepare our graduates to bridge the divide between the Islamic world and the West and that it was therefore imperative to introduce Islamic Studies to our curriculum, by placing a new tenure line in Islamic studies in the heavily subscribed Religion department. The attacks of September 11, 2001 impelled us to hire, even before the endowment had been raised, and the following year we also converted to the tenure track a temporary line in Anthropology that was occupied by a particularly qualified specialist in Arab Islamic cultures in the Middle East and North Africa. A student- initiated course in Arabic made immediate the need for language instruction and, with a $2.1 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (2005), jointly with Bryn Mawr and Haverford Colleges, we developed a pioneering program that has two full-time faculty and two language lecturers teaching First- and Second-Year Modern Standard Arabic in a coordinated cur riculum on all three campuses.</p>

<p>Arabic has drawn strong student interest: in 2007-08, 27 took First Year at Swarthmore (and 18 at Haverford/Bryn Mawr), 13 continued to Second Year (and 18 at Haverford/Bryn Mawr), and 21 enrolled in several advanced courses that Swarthmore has offered additionally. Students have been eager to pursue foreign study opportunities, as well, with three going to Damascus in Summer 2007, and one each to Yemen and Morocco; in Summer 2008, four went to Damascus and one each to Morocco and Jordan. In Fall 2008, two are spending a semester in Syria. Several have already built on their experiences since graduating. Bernadette Baird-Zars ’06 received a 2006-07 Fulbright Fellowship to return to Syria to work with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture Historic Cities Support Programme, studying uses of public space and Reuben Heyman- Kantor ’06 spent his first post-graduate year studying intensive Arabic at the American University in Cairo as a graduate fellow of the Center for Arabic Study Abroad and is now a broadcast associate on the international desk at CBS News.</p>

<p>....Meanwhile, we have established an exciting and substantial interdisciplinary programin Islamic Studies,10 which the faculty formally approved in May 2008; six sophomores have already declared for the minor. </p>

<p>Swarthmore</a> College :: Islamic Studies :: Islamic Studies.</p>

<p>We have strong enrollments in existing courses (e.g., Sociology/Anthropology 9C [Prof. Ghannam] – Cultures of the Middle East [Fall 2008]: 24 students; Religion 53 [Prof. al-Jamil] – Gender, Sexuality and the Body in Islam [Fall 2008]: 29 students) and demand exceeds our ability to provide more extensive offerings, even when offered by unfamiliar post-docs and leave replacements (e.g., History 13 [Prof. Jones] – War, Revolution in the Modern Middle Eastern History [Fall 2006): 31 students; History 6B [Prof. Jones] – Modern Middle East Survey [Spring 2007]: 33 students; and Political Science 73 [Prof. Hibbard] – Special Topics, Comparative Politics: Middle Eastern [Spring 2005]: 18 students). In 2008-09 we are running a search for permanent staffing in modern Middle Eastern history or political science, using an additional grant of $645,000 awarded by the Mellon Foundation in 2008.

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<p>Anyone interested in Middle Eastern politics should check out Swarthmore's War News Radio:</p>

<p><a href="http://www.warnewsradio.org/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.warnewsradio.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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Coverage of war and politics can quickly devolve into a haze of statistics, strategies, and expert predictions. Lost are the completely real effects policy decisions have on real people around the world.</p>

<p>We at War News Radio are trying to rediscover the voices of real people. Our show fills the gaps in the media’s coverage by airing new perspectives, both personal and historical, in a balanced and in-depth manner. We hope our broadcasts will engage our listeners and inspire them to engage critically with the rest of the world.</p>

<p>Beyond our journalistic goals, however, War News Radio also serves as an educational tool. Since our founding in early 2005, dozens of students have participated in the production of War News Radio, gaining a deeper understanding of international affairs and passing that knowledge on to their peers. We hope the program can be a model for other efforts to spread global awareness among American youth.

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<p>This is a student-run syndicated weekly radio show that features interviews with people in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan in an NPR-like format. In fact, the College hired a former NPR-producer to guide the students on radio reporting and production of news magazine type pieces. Their shows, from day one, are all available as podcasts. Take a listen. This is a very impressive effort that provides students real-world experience in many areas.</p>

<p>Thanks for this, interesteddad. I’m an Arabic student and the new program was a big factor for me in applying to Swarthmore.</p>

<p>This looks fascinated. Islamic history is such a rich and important and neglected part of world history. I’ll bet my son will be very interested in this!</p>