OSU Middle East Studies Bulletin Autumn 2007
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Fall 2007 Middle East StudiesBulletin A Biannual Publication of the Middle East Studies Center Sumela Monastery, 4th century A.D., Macka, Trabazon Province, Turkey Photo by Alam Payind Letter from the Director Dear Middle East Studies community in Ohio and beyond, here are numerous ways the Middle East Studies Center (MESC) promotes and supports Middle East studies, which spans beyond The Ohio State University Tcampuses and the Midwest region and facilitates connections abroad with universities in Middle Eastern countries such as Tunisia, Turkey, Egypt, Israel, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iraq, and Afghanistan. According to the current Academic Plan, internationalization is fundamental, both to Ohio State’s immediate academic strategy Middle East Studies Center and our long-term goal to place Ohio State “among the world’s truly great universities.” 322 Oxley Hall According to the plan, “Ohio State must become more diverse so we can prepare our 1712 Neil Ave. students for success in this more diverse nation and must enhance and coordinate our Columbus, OH 43210 international studies and programs to prepare students for a more global economy.” In (614) 292-5897 • [email protected] accordance with this priority of internationalization, former Ohio State president Karen Holbrook established a task force on the matter earlier this year. As a member of that task force, I can say there will be more emphasis on internationalization at Ohio State on a number of levels, one of which will be the focus on ties with foreign universities. Our active agreements with Middle Eastern universities include: Assiut University and the What’s Arab Academy of Science and Technology in Egypt; University of Damascus in Syria; and Kadir Has, Bilkent, and Harran Universities in Turkey. An Ohio State delegation recently happening next went to Turkey, including former president Karen Holbrook; David Hansen, director of International Programs in Agriculture; and myself, to strengthen existing relations and form new linkages in the country. The trip was successful in that we were able to learn at MESC? firsthand about the similarities and differences between American and Turkish systems in the Turkish milieu, as well as obtain formalized agreements between our universities. We Find out online at received continued commitment for our faculty exchange program with Atatürk University in Erzerüm, Turkey, and well as additional commitment from Atatürk and Yeditepe in mesc.osu.edu Istanbul for provided space, equipment, and other support for a study abroad program. I also had the privilege of showing President Holbrook human-made and natural wonders (Click on calendar.) of Turkey, such as the Sumela Monastery in Maçka, part of the Black Sea region of Turkey. (continued on page 2) Letter from the Director (continued from page 1) Seeded Faculty Positions and Courses Two other key ways in which we are making a difference in international education are through seeded, Middle President Holbrook signs Memorandum of Understanding with Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Turkey. East-related faculty positions and courses across several Ohio State academic departments and programs. Seeded faculty positions include a Central Asian historian in the Department of History, an Arabian Peninsula and Syrian anthropologist in the Department of Anthropology, and Turkish and Urdu language instructors in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures. Courses which have been seeded include: Introduction to the Middle East, Contemporary Issues in the Middle East, and Middle East Economic Development, each in the International Studies Program. Additionally, Turkish, Persian, and Pashto courses have been seeded during summer quarter. Quantifying the Impact At the university level, increased faculty positions, course enrollments in language and area studies, and successful completion of programs are major measurements of impact. The most recent graduate records show that among graduates from 2004, 1,416 students had taken 15 or more credits in ME-related courses, an increase of 12.5% from three years prior. This shows the alumni placements for students who had advanced beyond at least one year of course work in ME language or area studies. Many have enrolled in graduate or related professional programs, or are employed in higher education or the private sector. Current Events and Outreach As a Title VI National Research Center director, my job requires me to help disseminate information—in addition to giving lectures to a variety of constituencies, I take part in media calls several times per week for analysis with local, national, and international news outlets. Most recently, Fred Andrle interviewed me for a program entitled, “Politics, Conflict, and Everyday Life in Afghanistan.” The interview is available online for RealPlayer: rtsp://streaming1. osu.edu/wosu/openline/081307aOL.rm, or Windows Media: mms://streaming1. osu.edu/wosu/openline/081307aOL.wma. To see a comprehensive list of my interviews, please see the events calendar on the MESC web page. In addition to contributing to numerous programs for better coverage of the Middle East at Ohio State and in the local and international media, MESC also promotes better coverage of the Middle East in schools and community colleges through programs such as the Eastern Consortium in Persian and Turkish; the Midwest Institute for Community College faculty; Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS Fellowships); undergraduate and graduate courses; Institute for P-12 Teachers, and others. Letter from the Editor There are many things MESC is doing both behind the scenes and publicly to keep In this issue one can learn the diverse information and resources available to the academic community and the community at large. ways in which The Ohio State University is Please let us know what research you are conducting focusing on the Middle East. We would at the forefront of teaching and researching be happy to share that in our newsletter or in other venues. The center will have new web site the Middle East and Central Asia. From soon with expanded resources for researching, studying, and teaching about the Middle East state-of-the-art course offerings and (see: mesc.osu.edu in November). scholarly achievements to graduate student achievements, curriculum enhancement activities, and language-learning opportunities, Best wishes, the autumn issue of the Middle East Studies Alam Payind Bulletin profiles Ohio State’s exceptional inroads into these regions. The article on one of Iraq’s most prominent academics— former Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Tahir al-Bakaa—and his interpretation of the current obstacles and future potential for higher education in Iraq provides an insider’s perspective on the war in Iraq (p. 3, above). Ohio State economist Hassan Aly, whose course, Middle East Economic Development, is featured on page 9, provides his philosophy on using technology 2 mesc.osu.edu Guest Scholar: Tahir al-Bakaa people in the Middle East; Baghdad was teaming with educated professionals and intellectuals. The 1970s by Melinda Wightman in particular were a good time for higher education The Middle East Studies Center was honored to host Tahir al-Bakaa, in Iraq. Iraq sent students to universities around one of Iraq’s most prominent academics, who visited The Ohio State the world for their studies and offered numerous University to convey the urgency of the higher education crisis in Iraq scholarship competitions. and to report on current developments. Al-Bakaa provides a unique perspective on the status of Iraqi higher education due to his former The dramatic shift occurred with the start position as minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and his of the Iran-Iraq war in September of 1980, when Guest Scholar: diverse background: a Shiite Muslim and former member of the Baath government funds were channeled to the war rather Tahir al-Bakaa party. He was forced to leave his position as minister, flee Iraq, and find than to education, and funding for university study refuge in the United States after several attempts on his life. Al-Bakaa is and scholarship were cut. The Iran War, however, only marked the now a visiting scholar at Suffolk University and was a visiting scholar at beginning of the end for Iraqi higher education. Along with most social Harvard the year before last. Since coming to the United States, he has and government institutions, higher education is barely surviving continued collecting data on the educational system in Iraq and has under the conditions of the current crisis. In the early days of the U.S. written an article (referenced below) based on this research. He also invasion, universities were completely stripped by looters—even down has authored several articles regarding the political situation in to the wires in the walls. The situation for Iraqi higher education has Iraq and the need to quell divisive sectarianism and partisanship not improved much since: students are being bombed and professors are the targets of assassination attempts. In fact, while president of in the political system (see tahir-albakaa.iraq.ir for his writing in Arabic). Mustansiriya University, al-Bakaa was the victim of several assassination attempts. Bombings on the Mustansiriya campus can be read in the Unfortunately, due to a severe ice storm, Ohio State’s news every day; that living piece of Islamic history may not survive the campus was closed the day he arrived, and the roundtable onslaught of both war and harsh economic times (see Mustansiriya had to be cancelled. He had prepared a talk on Iraqi higher University, next page). education reform, with reference to his article “Iraqi Intellect in a Troubled Ocean: Higher Education Reform Al-Bakaa shared his point of view on the current state of Iraq, along with historical insights and information. Not only a noted scholar and and Iraq’s Advancement” (see Arabic version at tahir-albakaa.iraq. historian, al-Bakaa is also a great storyteller, and his descriptions of Iraq ir/reform.htm).