News

Islamic studies proposed

In print | February 14, 2008

The faculty have proposed a new minor in Islamic and Arabic Studies for the curriculum. The new minor, if approved, will be an interdisciplinary field encompassing courses in the religion, history, sociology/anthropology and modern languages departments.

Assistant Professor of Arabic Walid Hamarneh is one of the current faculty members who will be involved in the program. “The program was conceived as an interdisciplinary program that attempts to provide students interested in the study of Islamic society, religion and a different part of the world with a variety of courses that well help them achieve that,” Hamarneh said.

“We don’t have [faculty] now who do all aspects of Islam and Arabic,” Hamarneh said. However, a faculty member in the history department confirmed that the department is actively looking into the creation of a position for a professor specializing in modern Middle Eastern history.

Sociology and Anthropology Professor Farha Ghannam has also contributed to the dialog surrounding the proposed program, and feels that there is a need for students to learn more about Islam. “It’s not only a set of fixed traditions or texts as many people tend to assume,” she said.

“It’s a diverse set of practices, texts, discourses and traditions. It’s important for any liberal education to equip the students to learn how not to homogenize Muslims but to be sensitive to how they articulate their identities in various contexts and in different ways,” Ghannam said.

So far, there has been a lot of student interest in the new program. “Second year Arabic language students are very interested as well as students taking classes on Islamic religion and sociology and anthropology,” Hamarneh said. He said that the three departments share many students and students from all three have expressed interest in the new program. The faculty hope to launch the program soon, and will begin informing interested students about the program’s offerings and prerequisites.

Like Hamarneh, Ghannam has also seen plenty of student interest in the subject. “I am very impressed and encouraged by the amount of energy our students are investing in learning Arabic and enriching their understanding of the Middle East and Muslim societies,” she said.

“They represent a new generation who could understand Islam and Muslims in a complex way that takes us beyond simplistic assumptions about ‘us’ and ‘them.’ I very much look forward to their broader contribution to enhancing the dialogue between the U.S. and various Muslims societies,” she said.

According to Ghannam, the growing interest of students in learning about Muslim societies and a minor could prove valuable after graduation.

“Some of our graduates who informally worked on issues related to the Middle East/Islam ended up working as journalists and activists in different NGOs,” Ghannam said. “Others went to graduate school and are working towards other degrees that would allow them to teach about Islam and Muslim societies or who are going to foreign services and so on.”

One of the requirements in the new minor will be Arabic language courses. According to Hamarneh, learning Arabic is essential to the study of Islamic culture and society.

“Arabic is important for Islamic studies,” Hamarneh said. “Arabic and Islam are closely connected but should be distinguished … Arabic is the language of the holy book of Islam and almost all respectable Islamic scholars.”

According to Hamarneh, Ruhollah Khomeini, the first Supreme Leader of Iran, wrote popular speeches and works in Farsi, but when writing scholarly works he wrote in Arabic.

Because of this, Hamarneh said he is convinced that Arabic is both important for the study of Islam as well as for the future careers of students taking the minor.

Overall, Hamarneh believes the minor will be very popular. He said that Islamic studies programs used to take the form of graduate programs at big universities, but student interest in the field has prompted the introduction of such programs at liberal arts colleges. “Having a program at such a small school shows the popularity of this,” he said. “I’ve been asked about this more than anything else in the past week.”

With this popularity, there are hopes that the program will expand as it gains a foothold. Hamarneh said he hopes to one day include classes from even more departments and is still thinking about what else could be done with the program.

“This is a program to extend and we hope Swarthmore will expand it for what students need and want,” he said.

Ghannam will be representing the sociology/anthropology department in the Islamic studies program. “Basically, anthropology approaches Islam in its various contexts and aims to show how people actively appropriate religious ideas in their daily life and in the formation of their individual and collective identities. We pay close attention to how power shapes how certain ideas, practices and discourses are legitimized as Islamic while others are dismissed as non-Islamic,” she said.

There are several students who have already expressed a strong interest in becoming minors in the Islamic and Arabic Studies program. One of them is Andrew Loh ’10. “[Forming this program] is one of the most groundbreaking majors that any college has done,” he said.

Loh, who is a Political Science major and a second year Arabic student is considering Islamic and Arabic Studies as an honors minor. Although the requirements are not yet established, he looks forward to the program. “Arabic has such an importance in the world today. Considering the geopolitical importance of Islam in the modern world, this minor is a good to learn about for the future,” Loh said.

Loh believes that Islamic studies fits both student ideals and realities. “I think the program is good in terms of ideal Swattie attitudes and real world answers,” he said. “Arabic opens a whole new culture and people who learn the language are a rare breed and have an edge in the job market.”

Despite all the excitement, the Islamic and Arabic Studies minor has not yet been approved.

Vice President Maurice Eldridge declined to comment on the prospects of the Islamic and Arabic Studies program at this time, explaining that the President’s Office was not yet ready to comment on the proposed minor. More information on the proposed minor can be found at www.swarthmore.edu/islamicstudies.xml.