Case Study
The University of Chicago
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
By Sabahat F. Adil and Nadiah Mohajir
Founded in 1890 by philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and the American Baptist Education Society, the University of Chicago is located in the historic neighborhood of Hyde Park in Chicago, Illinois. One of the finest educational institutions in the world, the university garners widespread attention for its abundant resources and rigorous curriculum. Beginning with the efforts of William Rainey Harper, the university’s first president, this school has advanced the traditional Western system of higher education through its many innovations, including the undergraduate core curriculum, four-quarter academic calendar, and competitive educational opportunities for both men and women. Many of these traditions have transformed into standardized norms, espoused and dearly cherished by a number of leading American academic institutions.
The University of Chicago prides itself for its intellectual rigor and academic integrity. A mere glance at the range of interests, academic credentials, and achievements of faculty members and alumni serve as a remarkable testament to the university’s academic prowess. The university‘s emphasis on critical thinking and systematic analysis has produced some of the most outstanding scholars in the humanities, social, biological, and natural sciences. The University has more than eighty Nobel laureates among its faculty and alumni, arguably the highest number for any educational institution in the world.
The very dynamism that each personality brings to the University of Chicago has allowed this institution to facilitate critical discourse and prepare students to pursue everything from positions in academic institutions to business and public affairs to religion. The University’s academic departments and specialized centers remain committed to disseminating a methodology of critical thought and analysis; the teaching and training of students in religious and affiliated area studies at the university is no different. Along with worldwide recognition of its contributions to economics, political science, urban sociology, and particle physics, the university enjoys an esteemed place among other academic institutions actively committed to Semitic critical studies.
In essence, the triumph of the University of Chicago arguably lies in an academic espousal of a teaching philosophy that encourages critical analysis of even the most normative facets of human understanding, urging students to question their beliefs, values, and ideology. Particularly, this chapter will demonstrate that this university’s essence lies in its remarkable ability to generate excellent leaders and citizens. Situated historically amid a changing social, political, economic, and cultural climate, the University of Chicago, nonetheless, faces a variety of challenges ahead as it continues to strive in maintaining strong academic curricula that converse with various paradigms of approaching the world.
History
For decades, the University of Chicago has enjoyed a distinct position of having one of the finest Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies programs in the world. Notable luminaries in the field such as Nabia Abbott, Marshall Hodgson, Muhsin Mahdi, Fazlur Rahman, Leonard Binder, and Halil Inalcik pioneered the field. In the Western world, they have gained national and international recognition for their unique contributions to studies of Islamic civilization, philosophy, literature, history, law, political thought, and a variety of other disciplines. These individuals, however, are not merely relics of the university’s academic history; their legacy serves as a foundation for the strong curriculum the university offers today. University graduates have proven just as diverse and innovative as their predecessors. Students trained in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies at the University of Chicago have moved on to work in educational institutions, government positions, think tanks, international NGOs, political positions, and spiritual and religious institutions.
While the university founders did not create a separate department for the study of Islam and the Middle East when they established the university in 1890, these individuals lay the groundwork for Islamic studies from the beginning. Essentially, many of their contemporaries possessed a classical interest in the Muslim world, fueled by a desire to uncover the ancient Near East.[1] Faculty taught courses on foreign languages such as Arabic from the early history of the university. Although students of Near Eastern archaeology remained the primary consumers of such knowledge, such instruction also came to include students who wanted to become philologists in the classical tradition of Islam. It was important for them to match the linguistic abilities of other scholars already in the field. For the archeologist and the historian alike, Arabic was a useful course since the knowledge of the Arabic language served as a prerequisite for any successful reading of ancient Near Eastern manuscripts.[2]
As interest in the Middle East and Islam arose, the need for a formal area studies department became more apparent. The founding of the Oriental Institute, a museum and research organization dedicated to the history and civilization of the Near East, led to an alliance with the university, allowing museum researchers, faculty, and students to work together and tap into one another’s area of expertise. Thus began the university’s approach to interdisciplinary studies of Islam and the Middle East: an effort that, later combined with the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), the massive Islamic studies collection in the library, the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC), the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations (SALC), the Divinity School, and the Law School, garnered national and international recognition.
Islamic Studies at University of Chicago
Before the new emphasis on the establishment of individual area studies centers, most international-related departments at the university were housed in the historical and architecturally renowned Robie House. The first major effort to create separate bodies devoted to the study of the Near East at the university commenced with the establishment of the Oriental Institute, founded in 1919 by James Henry Breasted. The first American to receive a Ph.D. in Egyptology, Breasted was appointed by President Harper as the first Professor of Egyptian Studies in the United States. He later gained support from the most generous endower of the university, John D. Rockefeller, to establish the Oriental Institute. Since its inception, the Institute has been a leader in ancient Near East studies, sponsoring archaeological and survey expeditions in every country of the Middle East.[3] With experts such as Harvard graduate Geoff Emberling on the Institute’s team, the museum has earned national recognition for its dedication to meticulously studying ancient Near Eastern history and preserving it for years to come.[4]
Shortly after the launch of the Oriental Institute, the university, with generous support from the U.S. government, established the Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES). The center is comprised faculty and students from various departments, including from Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC), who are interested in many aspects of Middle East religion, politics, history, culture, law, or literature. This area studies center thus embraces various interests of students, regardless of their particular emphasis on certain periods of history or on contemporary developments. No faculty member is an employee of the CMES, but if CMES seeks to bring a particular faculty member into the Center, it must elicit support from various university departments. In other words, formal responsibility for teaching and developing students lies within the realm of departments such as NELC or South Asian Languages and Civilizations, while the CMES structures and coordinates academic, extracurricular, and outreach endeavors relating to the study of North Africa, Western Asia, Central Asia, and other parts of the Islamic world.
The need for area studies centers like CMES became apparent after World War II, when the United States became more actively engaged with the rest of the world. The launch of Sputnik in 1957 by its Cold War rival, the Soviet Union, presented the U.S. with the grave realization that it had fallen behind in science and technology. In addition to funding studies in the hard sciences, the National Defense Education Act of 1958 mandated that the U.S. government fund modern international studies and encouraged the instruction of less commonly taught foreign languages. The U.S. government also believed that the establishment of area studies centers was crucial because while many individuals studied Islam and the Middle East, few actually pursued public service.
Although area studies centers such as CMES were not established until after this act, William Poke, eventually the first director of CMES at the university, had already established the core of the Center. In 1964, the university began to receive ample funds for the official designation of one of many national resources centers, thus laying the formal foundation for studies of the modern Middle East. With greater financial resources, the University of Chicago now began offering courses[5] such as Armenian, Uzbek, and Syriac.[6]
Through the Oriental Institute, CMES, NELC, SALC, and various graduate schools of the university, students interested in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies have a wide range of options to pursue training in the field. More recently, the events of September 11, 2001, an increased military presence in the Middle East, and general curiosity about the Middle East and Islam have resulted in many more individuals, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, exploring the field. Among these individuals, many of the most talented arrive at the university, given its prestigious reputation, and find themselves among the greatest of scholars in the field.
Outreach and Public Education
One of the integral components of CMES is its outreach and public education activities. The horrifying events of 9/11, increased U.S. military and diplomatic presence in the Middle East, and the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian problem necessitate CMES’s involvement in the greater American communities. In doing so, the center provides public education for schools, educators, local community, cultural and religious organizations, and the media in Chicago and other areas.
CMES provides educational services to local elementary and secondary schools; its Speakers Bureau, for instance, is composed of well-known speakers, mainly CMES graduate students and alumni who have attended pedagogy and materials training sessions. These individuals are competitively selected to give presentations on the Middle East and Islam to local schools and community organizations. In 2004, for example, CMES, along with the support of organizations and institutes like the Public Education Project (PEP) and the Oriental Institute, sponsored a teacher’s workshop for the Chicago Public School Teacher’s Academy called “Teaching the Middle East.” In addition to providing educational services to local Chicago schools, CMES faculty and students also participate in numerous conferences, symposia, and panel discussions at local community colleges and four-year institutions.
The general public also knows CMES for its regular open events. Community members and students are welcome to lectures, language circles, and other themed events such as “A Night of Turkish Arts and Cuisine” in 2004. Additionally, CMES is involved with numerous interfaith activities, such as working with the Chicago office of the National Conference of Community and Justice to produce an interfaith calendar. Finally, the Middle East Music Ensemble (MEME) is a musical body composed of various university students, faculty, and community members that perform at conferences and festivals. The group also hosts guest artists from the United States and the Middle East, facilitating dialogue through sound cultural activities.
The large course selection available to students pursuing area and religious studies places the University of Chicago at the cutting edge of academic excellence when compared to its peer institutions.[8] Its interdisciplinary component arguably remains unparalleled.[9] Although the university is committed to incorporating critical thinking and analysis into its curriculum, each individual university department and school has developed a distinct flavor in its approach to Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. For example, while the NELC approaches the study of Islam in a manner free of the assumptions of religious polemic,[10] the Divinity School, in contrast, uses the religious history approach to teach Islam and theology. The university approaches the study of Islam as a world civilization, and not as religious studies in the traditional sense. Thus, the university emphasizes a critical analysis of the history and evolution of world religions and cultures.
University programs of study related to Middle East and Islam encompass nearly all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. Furthermore, the university offers over ten Islamic and Near Eastern languages and teaches courses on both classical and modern periods of Islamic history. The departments offer a variety of degree options: Ph.D., baccalaureate, or M.A.[11]; as well as other joint degree programs with the Graduate School of Business and the Harris School of Public Policy. Currently, there are about one hundred and fifty students in the NELC department, twenty-nine of whom are incoming graduate students and forty of whom are incoming undergraduate students. Recent years have increased the number of students enrolling in such fields of study, with the current number persisting as the largest student body the department has ever seen.
Many undergraduate students take advantage of elementary and intermediate language courses, enrolling in various language classes such as Turkish, Hebrew, Arabic, Persian, Uzbek, Turkish, Armenian and Urdu. The university also offers higher and advanced level courses as well as reading and paleography courses. Faculty members who teach languages include renowned and respected professors such as Menachim Brinker, a professor of Semitic languages who is the recipient of the Israel Prize.[12] Most language instructors are native speakers, and all of them have received their Ph.D.s. In addition, the University of Chicago’s Graham School offers intensive summer language programs, which give students an opportunity to increase their competence in languages such as Arabic, Turkish or Hebrew at a quicker pace. During the summer, the university offers three levels of Arabic, third-year Turkish and first-year Hebrew.[13]
Through the department of NELC, students can embark on several different paths, including studies of Islamic history and civilization, Islamic thought, literatures of the Middle East, or Islamic archeology. Furthermore, an independent study option is also available for students who would like to increase their breadth of knowledge in a specific area of their own choice. Each program of study in the NELC department is grouped under one of three major headings: ancient (prehistory to the rise of Islam); modern (from the rise of Islam to the present); and interdisciplinary.[14] The ancient program track includes concentrations in the following: Ancient Near Eastern History, Cuneiform Studies, Egyptology, Near Eastern Art and Archeology, Near Eastern Judaica, and Northwest Semitic Philology.
Similarly, the Modern and Medieval program of study allows students to study any number of concentrations, including Arabic Language and Literature, Islamic Archaeology, Islamic History and Civilization, Islamic Thought, Medieval Judaica and Judeo-Arabic, Modern Hebrew Language and Literature, Persian Language and Literature, and Turkish Language and Literature. The Islamic history and civilization concentration includes studying the origins and rise of Islam, medieval Islamic history, Jewish communities in the Islamic world, the music of Central Asia, and the rise of modern nation states in the Middle East. Those focusing on Islamic thought and philosophy are provided with an opportunity to study Arab intellectual history, Qur’anic exegesis, hadith methodology, theology, law, mysticism, nationalism, and historiography. The literary focus includes the study of classical and modern Arabic, Hebrew, Turkish, Uzbek and Persian literatures, in addition to the basic language courses. Finally, Islamic archeology allows students to study with one of the pioneers in the field, Donald Whitcomb, Associate Professor in NELC and the Oriental Institute. He is known for his courses on the archeology of Islamic Syria and Palestine, Islamic art and artifacts, the Islamic cities, and Egypt after the pharaohs.
The university’s Islamic studies programs expect to provide students with even greater practical experience for their studies. NELC and CMES have proposed study abroad programs for undergraduates in Granada, Spain and Istanbul, Turkey. The program would combine the Islamic Literature and Thought sequence with a language component in an area university.[15] Both locations are of interest to many American universities; Islamic architecture and history is copious in both Istanbul and Granada, and these geographic locales also have numerous cultural and organizational resources that enhance the curriculum for students studying abroad.[16]. The Granada program is a four-day instruction program per week, leaving the remaining three days for student excursions to other cities in Spain as well as Morocco.
While such a resource responds to the growing desire for undergraduate travel abroad, CMES also hopes to provide materials and services to educators, schools, community groups, and cultural institutions, healthcare providers, businesses, and the media. As such, CMES has plans to offer satellite technology and the Internet through its public education program for students and the community.
Foreign Language Training at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago’s training in Semitic and Middle Eastern languages is perhaps one of the most intensive and comprehensive programs in the United States. Language instruction is the foundation of the Islamic studies program at the university; undergraduate students must successfully pass two years of foreign language to receive their B.A. degree, while students in the M.A. program must train in two languages. Finally, Ph.D. students must train and achieve fluency in four languages.[17] Such rigorous requirements are unique to the University of Chicago and few of its peer institutions. A large number of programs require fluency in one foreign language. The university prides itself in the courses it offers to students in the field of language instruction and is thus committed to continually enhancing this component of the program. For instance, it readily added more sections for Arabic when enrollment quadrupled after September 11, 2001. As mentioned earlier, Hebrew and Arabic have been taught from the earliest days of the university’s founding. Furthermore, many ancient languages with Biblical ties are taught at the University as well, such as Aramaic. Because Aramaic can be traced to as early as the ninth century BC and it is still a (limited) spoken language in the world today, its instruction is relevant as well as pivotal to both ancient and modern language and cultural studies at the University.[18] Today, students can study beginning, intermediate, and advanced courses in over ten languages relating to Islam or the Middle East, including Syriac, a language taught at only five other universities in the entire world.
Looking ahead, the University planned to open a center for foreign language instruction and research in the fall or winter quarter of the 2006-07 academic year. While the University has great strength in such foreign language studies, this addition will provide a renovation of facilities, thereby consolidating and enhancing support for language teaching and learning by developing a “nucleus” of thought for instructors and students alike. A recent article on this development notes that such renovations are one response to the doubled enrollment in Arabic over recent years. It is hoped that such centralization will nurture a dynamic learning environment, where students of various languages may convene to converse.[19]
Faculty
The University of Chicago is nationally and internationally recognized as the home of numerous highly qualified, award-winning scholars who teach, research, and otherwise contribute to their fields of study. Faculty members in Islamic studies at the university - from the NELC department, South Asian Languages and Civilization department, Divinity School, and Law School -- remain some of the university’s most crucial assets. Both aspiring and accomplished scholars from all over the world are attracted to the University of Chicago and, at the same time, are eagerly sought by its peer institutions.
The body of faculty continues to grow, particularly with the addition of scholars such as Malika Zeghal, Associate Professor of the Anthropology and Sociology of Religion in the Divinity School, and Michael Sells, the John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature in the Divinity School.[20] A brief discussion of some of the renowned faculty members will give an idea of the academic strength of the university.
Cornell Fleischer, the Kanuni Suleyman Professor of Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies at the University of Chicago, received his Ph.D. in 1982 from Princeton University, and has taught at University of Chicago since 1993. He is a participating member on the editorial board of a number of publications, including Cambridge Studies in Early Modern History and International Journal of Middle Eastern Studies.
Wadad al-Kadi, the Avalon Foundation Distinguished Service Professor of Islamic Studies, received her Ph.D. in 1973 from the American University of Beirut. She has been teaching at the University of Chicago since 1988 and has published ten books. In addition, Professor Kadi serves as Associate Editor of the Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, and co-editor for the series “Islamic History and Civilization” at the E.J. Brill publishing house in Leiden, the Netherlands. Before her appointment at University of Chicago, Professor Kadi taught at the American University of Beirut, Harvard, Columbia, and Yale.
John A. Brinkman, now the Charles H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Mesopotamian History, Emeritus, received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1962. He has taught at the University since 1964. His particular academic areas of interest include Babylonian and Assyrian Political and Socio-Economic History, Mesopotamian Chronology, Demography, and Historiography.
Menachem Brinker isthe Henry Crown Professor of Modern Hebrew Language and Literature. He received his Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University in 1974 and has taught at the university since 1995. Recipient of the Israel Prize, Brinker is a valuable asset to the university and an extraordinary professor of Semitic languages.
In the Divinity School, Michael Sells and Malika Zeghal provide unique opportunities for students pursuing Islamic studies at the University. A scholar, translator, and interpreter of the Qur’an, Islamic mystical texts, and Arabic poetry, Michael Sells arrived in 2005, after being named the John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic history and Literature. Currently, his research analyzes the contemporary polemic between Western and Islamic militants over rights, democracy and tolerance. His forthcoming book is Jihad and Crusade: Religion and Violence after the Cold War. Professor Sells’s appointment at the university represents a revival of the legacy of Islamic studies at the university. A recent article on Sells in the University of Chicago Chronicle states that, at the time of Fazlur Rahman’s death in 1988, the university lacked a central faculty figure who could build the Islamic studies program, and it appears to now be turning to Professor Sells to revisit the legacy of Fazlur Rahman.[21]
Another renowned professor at the Divinity School is Malika Zeghal. Trained as a political scientist, Professor Zeghal studies power relationships in modern Islam in numerous diverse settings from the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo to Muslim communities on the west side of Chicago. Also a sociologist and an anthropologist, Professor Zeghal studies religion through the lens of Islam and power.
Robert Bianchi is a political scientist specializing in international law, and is the only faculty member at the University of Chicago Law School who teaches Islamic Law. As a supplement to his particular interest in the Islamic world, Professor Bianchi completed his doctorate and law degree at the University and is fluent in Arabic and Turkish. He also resided in the Middle East for eight years. Professor Bianchi’s most recent book, entitled Guests of God: Pilgrimage and Politics in the Islamic World, is based on interviews and fieldwork in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Senegal. It is a critical analysis of the impact of the pilgrimage to Mecca - the Hajj - on world politics and law.
C.M. Naim is Professor Emeritus in the South Asian Languages and Civilizations department at the University of Chicago. He has largely been responsible for developing the current curriculum of Urdu taught at the department and, among other writings, has published a version of Zikr-i-Mir. Professor Naim has taught at the University for over thirty years, and resides in Hyde Park today.
Resources Available to Students
Referred to as “one of the most impressive and imaginatively managed library collections in the world”[22] the University of Chicago’s Islamic studies collection is renowned for its Middle Eastern and Islamic studies resources for regional universities and research institutions, and has gained national and international recognition for its acquisitions that encourage the development of expertise in the field. Furthermore, the resources purchased and developed by the university have heightened its reputation to such a great extent that it has become a prime tool to recruit both faculty and students.[23]
The university began collecting Arabic language works soon after its founding. Its Islamic and Middle Eastern collection is one of the finest in the world, with its collections paralleled only by peer institutions such Princeton and Harvard universities. In conjunction with its Islamic South Asian collection, the University of Chicago library’s Islamic studies collection is one of the largest in the world; many would argue that the quality of resources available surpass that of many of its peer institutions. Spending over a quarter of a million dollars each year on Middle Eastern and Islamic resources, both the library’s actual holdings and online offerings continue to expand and develop.
Most North American universities, with the exception of Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Harvard, and Chicago, began collecting books written in Arabic about the Middle East when Congress passed Public Law 480 in the early 1960s.[24] This law was passed because the U.S. government had investments in Egyptian pounds, money that could not be converted into dollars. Eventually, the investment in Egyptian pounds grew unmanageably large, and thus, PL 480 was passed to facilitate the use of excess Egyptian pounds to buy Arabic books at the local markets, and then donate them to the Library of Congress. Furthermore, any universities or research libraries interested in purchasing these books could do so at an extremely discounted price. Most higher education institutions’ collections in Islamic studies thus are only fifty years old, whereas the University of Chicago began collecting texts independently in the late 1800s.[25]
Books in the Arabic language are the focus of most university holdings; the University of Chicago’s collection contains not only Arabic books, but also Persian, Turkish, Hebrew, and Urdu.[26] Moreover, the library has the largest Persian language collection, which includes over four hundred microfilm files of Iranian newspapers dating back to the beginning of newsprint in Iran. Furthermore, the Persian collection at the library is one of four most complete Ottoman collections in the world. It also includes many unpublished Islamic manuscripts on microfilm. The university’s holdings, in addition, contain a large photographic archive with digitized photos available on the Regenstein Library website, with photos dating back to the 1860s. Finally, the library has a notable collection of government documents, including complete collections of published censuses of Egypt, and Iran, and nearly complete collection of Turkish and Syrian censuses.
The Middle Eastern Documentation Center (MEDOC) is funded by CMES and housed at the University of Chicago library. MEDOC employs graduate students to conduct a number of different research projects supporting scholarly work in Middle Eastern studies. A major ongoing project is the documentation of resources pertinent to Middle Eastern studies on microfilm. MEDOC publishes and edits the Mamluk Studies Review, a principal journal for the period of the Mamluk Sultanate. Also pertaining to Mamluk studies, MEDOC maintains an online bibliography of resources pertaining to the Mamluk period: a collection of thousands and thousands of primary and secondary citations in every language.
MEDOC has a number of projects under current development as well. “The Mamluk Mint Series” web resource, for instance, attempts to classify all of the known Mamluk coins and collections and present electronic images of important ones. Funded by the Department of Education, MEDOC has worked on this project for three years now.
University of Chicago students also have access to the Center for Research Libraries (CRL), which is conveniently located next to the University’s campus. Founded in 1949 by ten Midwestern universities, CRL preserves resources vital to the disciplines of humanities, sciences, and social sciences, to further research and teaching in these fields. The effort is a cooperative development program that “assists academic and research libraries in reducing the costs of making otherwise inaccessible and important peripheral research materials available to scholars and researchers.”[27]
With about 500 million Muslims in South Asia, it is vital for students interested in pursuing Islamic studies to be exposed to South Asia’s history and culture.[28] Many great empires, such as the Mughal Empire in sixteenth and seventeenth century India, have made many significant contributions to Islamic history. Thus, one of the Center’s strongest collections is its South Asian collection. Covering virtually all disciplines in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, CRL maintains serial subscriptions to over 3,000 current journals in English and vernacular languages of South Asia. Additionally, it collects and preserves newspapers from all countries in South Asian and acquires all microfiche produced by the Library of Congress field office in New Delhi, providing access to unique material relating to South Asia.[29]
While the Center’s stronger area of expertise is South Asian studies, its Middle East collection is not as extensive, but still provides a unique perspective in Middle Eastern studies. Among its endeavors is acquiring microfilm sets pertaining to the region, mainly archives from various government departments.[30] CRL also supports the Middle East Microform Project (MEMP), which involves the preservation of Middle Eastern material and Arab-American publications.[31] Finally, CRL also supports the activities of one of its partner organizations, the Digital Library for International Research, in indexing Middle East journals.
The Center continually searches for new and creative ways to further research and to meet the evolving needs of its primary clients: researchers, educators, and research libraries. It is yet another asset to those who teach and pursue Islamic studies at the University of Chicago. Its vast collection of old, rare, and primary documents relating to the study of Islam has earned a reputable role in the academic world.
Regarding funding, graduate students have a number of different opportunities. First, Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) fellowships are given to students who study the Middle East at the university; consequently, many students apply to it from outside of the NELC department, such as from the Divinity School, or Political Science and Anthropology departments. For this reason, it is a highly competitive fellowship to secure. Second, “in-residence” aid is available to those enrolled through the NELC department. The department is granted an amount of money every year by the dean of students, and is divided in half between those studying the ancient Near East and those studying Modern/Islamic Middle East.
One of the most influential factors in bringing a gifted graduate student or a renowned professor to the University of Chicago’s Islamic studies department is the massive Islamic studies collection housed in the library. Known nationally and internationally for its comprehensive collection, the library continues to support the university’s mission to provide an education based on critical thinking and analysis supported by well-documented research.
Alumni
Over half of the scholars teaching Middle Eastern studies at premier universities across the United States have been trained at the University of Chicago. Also, half of those trained in Islamic studies at the University of Chicago are students of the great thinker and Professor Fazlur Rahman.
Fazlur Rahman (1919–1988) was born in Pakistan and received his Ph.D. from Oxford University. He held a number of different faculty positions at various Western universities before returning to Pakistan as the Director of the Central Institute of Islamic Research, a government institution founded to undertake and publish research on Islam and the modern world. He came to the University of Chicago in 1969 and remained there until his death in 1988. Named the Harold H. Swift Distinguished Professor of Islamic Thought, Professor Fazlur Rahman was extremely influential in developing a solid Islamic and Near Eastern studies program at the university. A scholar of great achievements and an inspiring teacher, Professor Rahman’s interests encompassed almost the entire range of Islamic studies. He specialized in classical Islamic studies as well as Western philosophical and theological discourses. A pioneer in the field of Islamic studies in the West, Professor Fazlur Rahman trained and inspired scores of young scholars who still carry his legacy of critical Islamic scholarship. The legacy of Fazlur Rahman permanently imprinted Islamic and Middle Eastern studies in the United States, thereby attracting numerous graduate students to the University of Chicago.
The University enrolls about twenty M.A. students and fifteen Ph.D. students a year. Additionally, over forty students in the College at the University of Chicago graduate with either minors or majors in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Many of these students pursue careers in public service, academic institutions, private sector, or NGOs in the Middle East. Recognized by both the Muslim community and beyond, a number of America’s leading and respected Muslim scholars are graduates of the Islamic studies program.
Among the University’s famous alumni is Nurcholish Madjid, a prominent Indonesian Muslim scholar, politician, and thinker, and known as the key advocate of pluralism and moderation in Indonesia. He received his Ph.D. in Islamic studies under the guidance of Professors Fazlur Rahman and Leonard Binder. Two other well-known Indonesian scholars and leaders of the Muslim world’s largest Islamic movement, Muhammadiya, Safi Ma’arif and Amien Rais also studied with Professor Fazlur Rahman in receiving their Ph.D.s.
Dr. Mustafa Ceric, the Reis al Ulema (President of the Council of Ulema in Bosnia-Herzegovina) in Bosnia-Herzegovina, is another well-known graduate of the Ph.D. program in Islamic studies at the University of Chicago. A graduate of a Madrassa in Sarajevo and the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, Ceric came to the United States in 1981, where he accepted a position of Imam at the Islamic Cultural Center while simultaneously pursuing a Ph.D. in Islamic theology with Professor Fazlur Rahman. Upon completing the degree, Dr. Ceric returned to Bosnia where he accepted the position of imam and played an important role during the Balkan crisis of the early 1990s, helping the Bosnian Muslims at one of the most critical junctures of their history.[32]
Dr. Ingrid Mattson received her Ph.D. in Islamic studies from the University in 1999, where she focused her research on Islamic law and society, publishing numerous articles on slavery, poverty, and Islamic legal theory. She is the director of the Islamic Chaplaincy program and Professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at the Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut. She also serves as the Vice President of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA). Dr. Mattson has been most active in facilitating Muslim-Christian dialogue and advancing the cause of Muslim women in societies around the world.
Dr. Umar Faruq Abd-Allah received his Ph.D. with honors from the University of Chicago in 1978 for a dissertation on the origins of Islamic law. He then taught at the Universities of Windsor (Ontario), Temple, and Michigan. In 1982, he traveled to Spain, where he taught Arabic for two years, and then moved to Jeddah, where he taught Islamic studies and comparative religions in Arabic at Kind Abdul-Aziz University until 2000. During this time, Dr. Abd-Allah studied with numerous traditional Islamic scholars as well. Upon moving back to the United States in 2000, Dr. Abd-Allah accepted a position as hair and scholar-in-residence of the Nawawi Foundation.[33] Since then, Dr. Abd-Allah has published numerous articles on Islam, culture, and theology and recently finished writing a biography of Mohammed Alexander Russell Webb, an early American convert during the Victorian era. The book is titled A Muslim in Victorian America: The Story of Alexander Russell Webb and was scheduled for publication in 2006 by Oxford University Press.[34]
While all these noteworthy alumni have pursued different career paths, politics, academics, and spiritual leadership, they all possess one common quality: the ability to carry on critical discourse. Nurcholish Madjid was known for his work to create “a solid base for religious harmony.”[35] Mustafa Ceric blended his love for Islam and scholarship with his leadership of his people. Drs Abd-Allah and Mattson use their skills in critical discourse every day, whether in the classroom, with inter-faith communities, or in their research.
Frederick M. Denny is Professor of Islamic Studies and the History of Religions at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He received his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, and previously taught at Yale College and the University of Virginia. In addition, Professor Denny has conducted field research on Qur'anic recitation, Muslim popular ritual, and characteristics of contemporary Muslim societies in Egypt, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Much of his contemporary field of study involves communities and human rights discourse among Muslims in North America and abroad. He also has published many books, including Jews, Christians, Muslims: A Comparative Introduction to Monotheistic Religions, together with a related anthology, Readings in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Tamara Sonn is the Kenan Professor of Religion and Professor of Humanities at the College of William and Mary; she received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, specializing in Islamic intellectual history and Islam in the contemporary world. Professor Sonn's many works include Between Qur'an and Crown: The Challenge of Political Legitimacy in the Arab World. In addition, Professor Sonn has composed numerous chapters and articles for various books and journals, and has lectured , in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.
Lawrence Rosenis William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University and Adjunct Professor of Law, Columbia Law School. Named to the first group of MacArthur Award winners, he has authored six books, including The Justice of Islam: Comparative Perspectives on Islamic Law and Society and Bargaining for Reality: The Construction of Social Relations in a Muslim Community, published by the University of Chicago Press. Professor Rosen has taught at Wolfson College at Oxford, Georgetown University, and Duke University, among many other esteemed institutions. Currently, he is a Woodrow Wilson Center Fellow, with his Wilson Center Project titled “Cultural Foundations of Arab Governance”
John Bowen is the Dunbar-Van Cleve Professor in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis. Professor Bowen’s work is concerned primarily with the role of cultural forms in processes of social change. In particular, he has used the Gayo highlands of Sumatra, Indonesia as a long-term research site, seeking to understand the broader transformations taking place in the Indonesian nation and the worldwide Muslim community. Most recently, he has worked in France on Muslim and French adaptations to a new, plural society. Professor Bowen has written Critical Comparisions in Politics and Culture, as well as Muslims through Discourse: Religion and Ritual in Gayo Society.
Charles Butterworth is Professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, specializing in medieval Arabic and Islamic political philosophy. In addition to teaching in the United States, he has lectured and taught at universities in North Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. He has authored many seminal works and translations of Averroes, al-Farabi, and al-Razi. He is a member of and past-president of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS) as well as of the Société Internationale pour l'Étude de l'Histoire de la Philosophie et la Science Arabe et Islamique (SIHSPAI). Professor Butterworth has also been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C. and a Fulbright Senior Scholar, Research and Lecturing Award at the Friedrich-Alexander Universität in Erlangen, Germany.
Challenges Ahead
The new social, political, economic, and cultural changes facing the world in the twenty-first century require the university to continually enhance its program with new and innovative ideas. This process often proves challenging, with many obstacles to maintaining a strong curriculum that continues to attract the diverse student body the university is known for.
To begin, as with any cutting-edge academic program, it is imperative for the department to oversee the instruction in the various languages and literary traditions of the Near East and to guarantee that the quality of instruction is strong enough to sustain the programs of other colleagues that concentrate in Islamic civilization.[36]
Among the challenges is the impending retirement of a number of renowned professors, including Robert Dankoff, professor of Turkish and Islamic studies. Professor Dankoff is a specialist of the Ottoman language and literature. More important, he is a colleague whose instruction has supported a number of programs, particularly those in Ottoman history, modern Middle Eastern history, medieval and modern literature, and Turcology. A pressing concern of faculty, students, and administration is whether the scholars appointed to replace these professors will live up to their predecessors’ legacy.
Recent political developments in the Middle East and general interest in studying that area of the world has led to an unprecedented number of students pursuing Arabic language and related instruction. .In a period of four years (autumn quarter 2001 to autumn quarter 2005) enrollment in Arabic courses has increased by 228 percent.[37] Consequently, the university faces fulfilling this immediate need to expand the Arabic studies department.
Another challenge the university faces is to strengthen its modern Iran curriculum. While the Islamic and Middle Eastern studies program is strong in Mamluk studies, Ottoman Turkey studies, and ancient Egypt studies, it cannot boast a similar strength in modern Iran studies. The university hopes to appoint scholars trained in that area.
Finally, the university is launching a new four-year program of study of Asian Classics. Students enrolled in this program will focus one academic year of study on each of the major areas of cultural tradition: India, the Middle East, China, and Japan. Students will study key works of literature, history, theology, folklore, and philosophy from the cultures’ most influential writers and thinkers. Program of study includes seminars on Hindu Foundations, Buddhism, Sufism, Confucianism, Chinese Buddhism, and Medieval Japan. A certificate of Liberal Arts will be granted upon completion of the program.
Appendix A
A List of Past and Current Courses Taught at the University
Middle East Languages
Arabic (all levels through Advanced, including Literary and Egyptian Colloquial)
Biblical, Medieval and Modern
Hebrew (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced)
Turkish (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, and Chaghatai, Ottoman, Turkman, Uzbek)
Persian (Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced, and Tajik)
Aramaic
Armenian
Syriac
Ugaritic
Urdu (Introductory, Intermediate, Advanced)
Georgian
Anthropology
The Human Career
Cultural and Historical Ecology of Mesopotamia
Seminar: Ancient Irrigation Societies and Systems
Economic Anthropology
Arabic
Arabic Composition
Omayyad Poetry
Arabic Paleography and Epigraphy
Readings in Literary Criticism
Structure of Arabic
Arabic Grammatical Texts
Arabic Dialectology
Readings in the Maqamat
Readings in Modern Arabic
Pre-Islamic Poetry
Modern Arabic Poetry
Modern Arabic Short Story
Modern Arabic Novel
Readings in Risalah Literature
Abbasid Poetry
Alternative Forums in Arabic Poetry
Readings in Arabic Geographical Literature
Media Arabic
Judeo-Arabic
Hispano-Arabic Poetry
Al-Mutannabi
Arabic Manuscripts and the Art of Editing
Readings in Arabic Texts
Classical Arabic Literature in Translation
Perspectives on Women in Arabic Literature
Arabic Wisdom Literature
Negotiations in Arabic-Speaking Islam
Archaeology
Introduction to Mesopotamian Archaeology
Islamic Archaeology of Anatolia
Seminar: Problems in Anatolian Archaeology
Art and Archaeology of the Near East I
Art History
Monuments of Islamic Art, 7th-17th Centuries
Byzantine Manuscript Illumination
Byzantine Monumental Painting, 9th-15th Centuries
Islamic Art and Architecture before the Mongol Conquest
Seminar: Mediterranean Art in Transition, 2nd-7th Century Iconographic Problems
Problems in Medieval and Renaissance Manuscript Illumination
Seminar: Byzantine Manuscript Illumination
Seminar: Byzantine-Islamic Artistic Interrelations
Research in Byzantine Art
Research in Islamic Art
Word and Image in Islamic Literature and Art
Business
Politics and Interdependent Economics
Theories of Leadership
Geography
Design in Nature: Introduction to Physical Geography
Research in Resource Management
Readings in Geographical Literature in French
Readings in Cultural Geography
Seminar: The Origin of the City
Research in Cultural Geography
Research in the Origin of the City
Research in Comparative Urbanism
Research in Geography and Social Theory
Research in North Africa and Middle East
Hebrew
Readings in Post-Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew Letters and Inscriptions
Phoenician Inscriptions
Punic Inscriptions
Hebrew Commentaries on the Wisdom Literature
Hebrew Texts of the Bar-Kochba Period I, II
Historical Grammar of Hebrew and Aramaic I, II
Ugaritic: The Baal Cycle
Ugaritic: The Aqht Cycle
Ugaritic: Readings from Ugaritica V
Tannaitic Hebrew Texts I, II
Readings in Qumran Texts I, II
Hebrew Texts of the Tannaitic and Medieval Periods I, II
Seminar: Dead Sea Scrolls
History
The Western Islamic World: Formation to Christian Conquest
Decline of the Ancient World
The Eastern Roman Empire, AD 305-610
The Byzantine Empire, AD 610-1025
The Byzantine Empire, AD 1025-1453
Survey of Ottoman History Seminar: Arab Nationalism
Introduction to the Study of Islamic History
Islamic Africa
African Economic History
Persian Paleography and Diplomacy
The Mongol World Empire
The Age of Timur
Iran in the 15th Century
Iran Under the Safavids
Alfarabis Philosophical Writings and Their Early Antecedents
Islamic Institutions
Persian Historiography
Reading and Research in Byzantine and Roman History
Reading and Research in Russo/Turkish History
Reading and Research in Iranian History
Seminar: Topics in Eurasian Economic History
Seminar: Topics in Eurasian Social History
Seminar: Ottoman Documents
The Ottoman World in the Age of Suleyman the Magnificent I, II
Ottoman Historical Writing Readings in the Arabic Political Press
Russia, the Middle East and the West
Modern Middle Eastern History
Seminar: Modern History of Palestine Byzantium and the Arabs
Tribal Society in the Fertile Crescent I, II
Introduction to Early Islamic History I, II, III
Muhammad and the Qur`an
Society and Politics under the Early Caliphate I, II
Early Arabic Historiography
Topics in Medieval Islamic Social History
Readings in Arab Historians
Orient Trade from Roman Times to 1800 Pre-Islamic Arabia
History of the Mamluks
Readings in Andalusian History
Arabic Literature and Islamic Thought
Intellectual Life in the 4th-10th Century
Readings in Umayyad History
Readings in Fatamid History
Readings in Abbasid History
History of the Islamic Middle East I, II, III
The Last Ottoman Century and the Rise of the Turkish Nation-State
Islamic Historians and Their Works: An Introduction to Islamic Historiography
Mesopotamian Historiography
History of the Israel-Arab Conflict
History of Modern Iraq
Historiography of Ottoman Origins
Judaic Civilization I, II, III
Art and Archaeology of the Near East I, II, III
History of the Ancient Near East I, II, III
Perspectives on Near Eastern Civilizations I, II, III
Medieval Jewish History I, II, III
Islamic Literature and Thought I, II, III
Christianity and Islam in the Mediterranean World: 1580
Islamic Studies
Legend and Folktale in Islamic Literature (in translation)
Readings in Sirah Literature
Islamic Theology
Islamic Political Thought
Islamic Philosophy
Islamic Mysticism (Sufism)
Islamic Law
The Qur’an
Readings in Qu’ran Commentaries
The Classical Sources
Readings in Epistolary Political Prose
Feminisms and Islamisms
Sufisim in South Asia
Readings in Classical and Modern Islamic Political Thought
Modern Arab Intellectual Thought
Law
Jurisprudence
International Law
International Law and Diplomacy: The Question of Palestine
International Law: Ethnic Conflicts
International Law: Regional Conflicts
Linguistics
Structure of Arabic
Problems in Semitic
Questions in Semitic Linguistics
Arabic Dialectology
Introduction to Indo-European Linguistics
Medieval Jewish Studies
Medieval Jewish History
Readings in Post Biblical Hebrew Literature
Medieval Legal Documents
Sectarian Jewish Literature
Culture of the Jews of Medieval Palestine
Historical Chronicles of the Middle Ages
Medieval Philosophical Texts
Hebrew Historical Documents of the First Crusade
Medieval Travel Literature
Medieval Hebrew Poetry
Medieval Hebrew Commentaries
Hebrew Commentaries: Book of Job
Hebrew Commentaries: Pentateuch
Historical Genizah Documents
Medieval Grammarians Seminar: Jews of Medieval Egypt
Paleography of Hebrew Manuscripts
The Scared and Profane in Medieval Hebrew Poetry
Maimonides and His Islamic Environment
Jewish Women in Mediterranean Society: The Family I, II
Israeli Short Stories by Women Authors
Ignorance: Literacy in 19th Century East-European Jewish Society
Music
Music in the Middle East
Persian
Introduction to Modern Tajik Language and Literature
Classical Persian Prose
Readings in the Shahnameh
Modern Persian Poetry I, II, III
Persian Poetry: Sa’di’s Bustan
Persian Poetry: Samanid Period
Persian Poetry: Saljuq Period
Persian Poetry: Qajar Period
The Classical Persian Lyric I, II, III
Readings in Sa’di’s Poetry and Prose
“Mirrors for Princes”
Readings in Sufi Prose
Classical Persian Language and Literature
Modern Persian Short Story
Modern Persian Fiction
Persian Poetry: Minor Genres
Persian Prose: Historical Texts
Political Science
Empire and Nation: Russia/Soviet Union 18th Century to Present
The Nation and Its “Others;” Comparative Politics of the Middle East and North Africa
Power and Resistance
Membership and Citizenship
Social Sciences
Islamic Literature and Thought I, II, III
African Civilization II
Turkish
Readings in Ottoman Turkish
Reading Ottoman Poetry I
Readings in Ottoman Documents
Readings Ottoman and Chaghatai
Literary Texts Seminar: Development of Literary Turkish in Pre-Chaghatai Central Asia
Elementary Azeri Turkish Ezbek
Ottoman Diplomatics and Paleopathy
Urdu
Introduction to Urdu Literature in Translation
Sufism in South Asia
Non-Lyric Urdu Poetry
Ghalib
Urdu Dastan
Urdu Ghazal
Appendix B
A List of Past and Current Faculty
Peter Dorman, Chairman of the Department
Kagan Arik, Lecturer in Uzbek
Orit Bashkin, Assistant Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History
Lanny D. Bell, Associate Professor of Egyptology, Emeritus
Persis Berlekamp, Assistant Professor of Art History
Robert D. Biggs, Professor of Assyriology
Menachem Brinker, Henry Crown Professor of Modern Hebrew Language and Literature
John A. Brinkman, Charles H. Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Mesopotamian History, Emeritus
Richard L. Chambers, Associate Professor of Turkish History and Language, Emeritus
Miguel Civil, Professor of Sumerology, Emeritus
Stuart Creason, Lecturer in Aramaic
Robert Dankoff, Professor of Turkish
Fred M. Donner, Professor of Near Eastern History
Peter F. Dorman, Associate Professor of Egyptology
Walter Farber, Professor of Assyriology
Ariela Finkelstein, Senior Lecturer in Modern Hebrew
Cornell Fleischer, Kanuni Suleyman Professor of Ottoman and Modern Turkish Studies
Noha Forster, Lecturer of Arabic Languages
Saeed Ghahremani, Lecturer of Persian
McGuire Gibson, Professor of Mesopotamian Archaeology
Norman Golb, Ludwig Rosenberger Professor of Jewish History and Civilization
Gene B. Gragg, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Linguistics
Hripsime Haroutunian, Lecturer in Armenian
Stephen P. Harvey, Assistant Professor of Egyptian Art and Archaeology
Rebecca Hasselbach, Assistant Professor of Comparative Semitics
Kay Heikkinen, Lecturer of Arabic
Harry A. Hoffner, John A. Wilson Professor of Hittitology, Emeritus
Halil Ialcik, HALIL INALCIK, Professor of Ottoman History, Emeritus
Janet H. Johnson, Morton D. Hull Distinguished Service Professor of Egyptology
Waded Kadi, The Avalon Foundation Distinguished Service Professor of Islamic Studies
Carolyn G. Killean, Associate Professor of Arabic, Emerita
Franklin Lewis, Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature
Heshmat Moayyad, Professor of Persian Language and Literature
Farouk Mustafa, Ibn Rushd Professorial Lecturer in Modern Arabic Language
Hakan Ozoglu, Senior Lecturer, Ayasli Lecturer in Turkish Language
Dennis G. Pardee, Professor of Northwest Semitics
John R. Perry, Professor of Persian
Tahera Qutbuddin, Assistant Professor of Arabic Literature
Montserrat Rabadan Carrascosa, Lecturer in Modern Arabic
Seth. F.C. Richardson, Assistant Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History
Robert Ritner, Professor of Egyptology
Martha T. Roth, Professor of Assyriology
David Schloen, Associate Professor of Syro-Palestinian Archaeology
A. Holly Shissler, Assistant Professor of Ottoman and Modern Turkish History
Gil Stein, Professor of Archaeology
Jaroslav Stetkevych, Professor of Arabic, Emeritus
Matthew W. Stopler, John A. Wilson Professor of Assyriology
William M. Sumner, Professor of Iranian Archaeology, Emeritus
Theo Van Den Hout, Professor of Hittite and Anatolian Languages
Edward F. Wente, Professor of Egyptology, Emeritus
Donald Whitcomb, Research Associate (Associate Professor) of Archaeology
Tony Wilkinson, Associate Professor of Near Eastern Archaeology, Emeritus
Christopher Woods, Assistant Professor of Sumerian
John E. Woods, Professor of Middle Eastern History
Aslihan K. Yener, Associate Professor of Anatolian Archaeology
[1] Rusty Rook, personal interview. February 2, 2006.
[3] “The Oriental Institute: A Brief History.” March 22, 2001, at http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/default.html .
[4] Amy M. Braverman, “Bridge to Mesopotamia,” Harvard Magazine. November-December 2005.
[5] Rusty Rook, personal interview. February 2, 2006.
[6] The University of Chicago is one of few universities in the world that offers Syriac as part of its Middle Eastern and Islamic studies curriculum, indicating the university’s commitment to providing a comprehensive education for individuals to read and learn directly from primary documents in their fields of study.
[7] “Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago,” at http://humanities.uchicago.edu/depts/nelc/department.html#course.
[8] Cornell Fleischer, personal interview. February 10, 2006.
[9] For a complete list of University of Chicago courses related to Islam and the Middle East, please refer to Appendix A.
[10] The Enlightenment of the eighteenth century urged scholars to use human reason to attain the understanding of all subjects; as a result, scholars abandoned polemic-based studies and began to examine Islam and its history through an alternate form of rigor. Fred Donner, “Modern Approaches to Modern Islamic History,” Cambridge History of Islam, vol 1, chap.17.
[12] The Israel Prize is the most prestigious award handed out by the State of Israel for contribution to Semitic languages.
[13] Enrollment in Arabic has quadrupled since the events of September 11, 2001. The university recognizes the increase in enrollment, and has recently added three new faculty members.
[14] “Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago: The Department,” at http://humanities.uchicago.edu/depts/nelc/department.html#fields.
[15] Martin Stokes, personal interview. February 7, 2006.
[16] This information was procured from a proposal written by professors in Near Eastern History and Civilizations for a Granada study abroad program.
[17] M.A. students must learn one language relating to the Near East or Islam and one European language, such as German, French, or Spanish, while Ph.D. students must learn two Middle Eastern languages and two European languages.
[18] This information was gleaned from a proposal written and circulated in the Near Eastern Languages Department regarding the teaching and dissemination of Aramaic at the University of Chicago.
[19] Jennifer Carnig, “Center to provide ‘public square’ for discussion of language,” The University of Chicago Chronicle. May 25, 2006.
[20] For a complete list of faculty at the university, please refer to Appendix B.
[21] Jennifer Carnig, “Divinity School Awaits the Summer Arrival of Sells, Expert on Islamic Studies.” The University of Chicago Chronicle, April 28, 2005, at http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/050428/sells.shtml.
[22] R.S. Humphreys, “Review of the CMES: The University of Chicago.” July 8, 2002.
[23] Michael Sells, John Henry Barrows Professor of Islamic History and Literature in the Divinity School was offered a position at Stanford University at the same time the University of Chicago offered him a position; among many aspects that attracted him to the university was that the Islamic studies collection is superior to Stanford’s.
[24] This law was also passed for South Asian countries, as currency for South Asian countries were also not exchangeable in the United States for any monetary value. Thus, the currencies were exchanged for South Asian language books.
[25] Bruce Craig, personal interview. February 9, 2006.
[26] The library has over 125,000 Arabic titles, 76,000 Persian titles, 80,000 Turkish titles, 56,000 Hebrew titles, 7,900 Armenian titles, 3,500 Azeri titles, 3,200 Uzbek titles, 3,200 Tajik titles, and 2,300 Kazakh titles. It is important to note that these numbers do not include volumes, just titles. Once combined with volumes, these numbers are drastically larger.
[27] James Simon, personal correspondence. February 18, 2006.
[28] Urdu language courses are offered here as well, with many students whose interest presides in Islamic history taking these courses. The final two years of the Urdu course, taught by Professors Muzaffar Alam and C.M. Naim, allow students to pursue individualized readings of texts to their liking and interest.
[29] James Simon, personal correspondence. February 18, 2006.
[30] An example of a recent acquisition is the “Creation of Modern Iraq, India, Great Britain: Public, Political, and Secret Files, c.1914-1921.” James Simon, email interview. February 18, 2006.
[31] Recent projects have included preservation of opposition groups from Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Yemen. For more information, please see http://www.crl.edu/areastudies/MEMP/index.htm. James Simon, email interview. February 18, 2006.
[32]Nadeem Azam, “A Conversation with Mustafa Ceric.” 2005, at http://www.angelfire.com/hi/nazam/Aceric.html.
[33] Founded in 2000, the Nawawi Foundation is dedicated to spreading knowledge of Islam and its civilization and to providing guidance for Muslims living in America, to create an environment where Muslims participate in the greater spiritual, economic and social endeavors of American society. Furthermore, the Foundation is committed to inter-faith dialogue and relations, to foster an understanding and respect between faiths. www.nawawi.org
[35] Tiamara Siboro, “Cak Nur’s Ideas Will Prevail, Say Scholars,” Jakarta Post. August 31, 2005.
[36] This information was procured from a memo circulated in the NEHC department at the University of Chicago.