Departments adjust after Sept. 11

When sophomore Steve Fake was asked how much he knew about Islam, he shrugged his shoulders…. When sophomore Steve Fake was asked how much he knew about Islam, he shrugged his shoulders.

“Not as much as I’d like,” he said.

Fake, along with a growing number of students, was interested in learning more about Islam. However, Fake was unaware of any Islam-oriented classes the University has offered in the year since the Sept. 11 attacks.

According to history department chair William Chase, the history department has recognized this increased demand, and is responding to it.

Chase said that the history department has arranged for a guest lecturer to teach courses dealing with Islam. Mark Baer, a 2001 graduate of the University of Chicago, will teach both Introduction to Islamic Civilization and Religion and Politics in the Middle East. The courses will focus on teaching Islam not just as a religion, but in terms of cultural development in the Islamic world.

Chase said the long-term goal for the history department is to bring in a professor on tenure to deal with Islam. However, because of financial strictures, such changes will take time to implement.

Each department has only a certain amount of money to spend on tenured faculty members, so without a sudden and unexpected influx of funds, any permanent addition to the faculty will have to wait.

“More permanent changes won’t happen immediately,” Chase said. “It’s not a situation where you just recognize a demand and satisfy it. It’s a slower process.”

Similarly, the anthropology department has hired Esra Ozuryek, a guest lecturer with a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. Ozuryek will teach a class called Islam in Asia, again with a focus on Islam in terms of culture as well as religion. According to Ozuryek, she was hired for the specific purpose of making the University stronger on Islamic studies.

The religious studies department had a similar response.

According to department chair Tony Edwards, there have been no significant changes planned at the departmental level. However, the long-term goals reflect those of the history department, in that they hope to eventually bring in a professor on tenure.

Edwards said he agrees that there is a demand for more course material related to Islam, but as of now, there are no immediate plans to offer new courses or to adjust the old ones. He did, however, also say that the department is looking into eventually making adjustments.

“There is some interest in the possibility of a faculty position on Islam. It’s up for discussion. We do see the need for it,” Edwards said.

In the linguistics department, some changes have already taken effect. Hanan El-Halawany, who teaches several Arabic language courses, wrote in e-mail that there has been a significant upswing in the number of students interested in learning Arabic.

“There is a noticeable increase in the enrollment rates, to the extent that the administration had to open another section in Arabic I and hire a new teacher for this position,” El-Halawany wrote.

El-Halawany said the interest level of enrolled students has increased as well.

According to El-Halawany, “Students are really anxious to learn the language.”