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The State of Islamic Studies in American Universities - Yale University
Case Study
Yale University
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
By Mahan H. Mirza
With the appointment of Edward Elbridge Salisbury as Professor of Arabic in 1841, Yale was the
first among American colleges and universities to support and encourage the study of Arabic
literature and Islamic culture.[1] Professor Salisbury’s appointment coincided with the founding
of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations,[2] along with a number other
Yale-firsts in the history of American education, such as the establishment of the first graduate
school in 1847 and the awarding of the first Ph.D. in 1861.[3]
These developments in the academic study of Arabic and the Near East took place when
nineteenth-century America was bustling with a spirit of Manifest Destiny. Although the term is
applied primarily to the expansion of U.S. territories westward and later to U.S. foreign policy,
the spirit of Manifest Destiny was operative in the engagement of New England merchants,
policymakers, and academics with the Arabic-Islamic world.[4] A serious investigation of the
entire history of the development and evolution of Arabic and Islamic studies from that moment
in history to the present is beyond the scope of this paper. What follows is a description of how
Islam is taught in the various departments, centers, and programs at Yale University today, with
references to landmarks and achievements of the past that contribute to the present legacy.
It also is imperative to distinguish from the onset between the study of Islam as an academic
enterprise and Muslim life on campus. Although the focus of this paper is on the former, there
are significant points of overlap. The subject is addressed under three broad headings: 1) the
study of Islam at Yale in an academic setting, 2) Yale and the Muslim community, and 3) points
of intersection between academia and the real world in relation to Islam.
The Study of Islam at Yale in an Academic Setting
The academic study of Islam-related topics takes place in primarily two departments: the
Department of Religious Studies (RLST) and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and
Civilizations (NELC). Both of these departments share a common foundational course on
Research Methods in Arabic and Islamic Studies and a common reference reading room in the
library (Sterling Memorial Library Room 508). Both RLST and NELC offer seminars for reading
classical texts. However, there are significant differences between the program requirements and
content of material that is covered in the two departments, which makes it improper to consider
them redundant.
The study of Islam as a religion takes place in RLST, which is a relatively young department
existing in its present form since 1963.[5] The department consists of ten subfields in American
Religious History, Ancient Christianity, Asian Religions, Islamic Studies, Judaic Studies, New
Testament, Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, Philosophy of Religion, Religious Ethics, and
Theology. Islamic Studies was first introduced into the department in 1984 with the hiring of
Professor Gerhard Böwering, a McGill University-trained German Jesuit.[6] Proficient in ten
languages, Professor Böwering brought with him to Yale his first doctoral student, Jamal Elias,
from the University of Pennsylvania.[7] Since 1984, Professor Böwering has directed nine
doctoral dissertations and is currently advising another ten students, four of whom are in the
dissertation writing stage.[8] Although Professor Böwering’s own primary interests are in Sufism
and Qur’anic Studies, his breadth of knowledge and experience have allowed him to supervise
dissertations in topics related to Islamic law, theology, medieval interreligious polemics, and the
philosophy of science and religion.
In 2000, the program expanded with the hiring of Frank Griffel as Assistant Professor in Islamic
Studies. Specializing in medieval Islamic intellectual history, Griffel, also German in origin and
training came on board with a degree in Philosophy from the Free University in Berlin with a
specialization on the engagement of al-Ghazzali (d.1111) with the philosophers.[9] As junior
faculty, Griffel has not independently directed doctoral dissertations, but rather supported the
program in Islamic Studies by offering both graduate and undergraduate courses in classical and
modern Islam and by participating as a member of the dissertation reading committees of Ph.D.
students in Islamic Studies. In 2006, Griffel was promoted from Assistant to Associate Professor
in the department of Religious Studies, with a decision on tenure to be made in the next four
years, according to the policies of Yale University.[10]
Both Böwering and Griffel offer courses at the graduate and undergraduate level with the overall
objective of providing as much breadth as possible, although points of overlap are inevitable and
have at times been significant. The general division of labor among the two faculty members has
been a focus on the classical Islamic tradition by Gerhard Böwering with Frank Griffel tackling
courses related to Islam in the modern world.[11] Böwering also teaches an introductory course
on World Religions that is designed for students majoring in Religious Studies. For graduate
students, Böwering offers seminars on the Qur’an, Sufism, and research methods in Islam, and
Griffel offers courses in theology and philosophy. Both professors are available for independent
study on topics of particular interest to any student. The graduate seminars consist of reading
classical texts in Arabic with reference to theory and method in the study of religion. Although a
methods class in religious studies is offered in the department at the graduate level, it is optional
and marginal (or negligible) for the progress of a student in Islamic Studies towards graduation.
Undergraduates may opt for a degree in religious studies with a focus on Islam by selecting
either of the professors in Islamic Studies as their thesis advisor. Admission to the graduate
program is competitive. Students seeking admission into the Islamic Studies program must
compete for admission with all the applicants to the Department of Religious Studies. Although
the program offers M.A. and M.Phil. degrees along the way to the Ph.D., admission may only be
sought for doctoral studies. On average, Islamic Studies, like the rest of the subfields in RLST,
admits one graduate student per year. Students admitted into the program must come with an
equivalent of three years of training in Arabic, and are required to have the equivalent of two
years of Persian and reading knowledge of German and French before advancing to candidacy.
The comprehensive exams are designed for a broad preparation in the history, thought, and
scripture of the Islamic religious tradition. Students who advance to candidacy are well-prepared
to develop courses for teaching Islamic religious thought (philosophy, theology, mysticism, law),
history (biography of Muhammad and, origins, historiography, political and social), and scripture
and tradition (Qur’an and hadith). Graduates of the program in Islamic Studies under the training
of Professor Böwering have been extremely successful in the professional academic world.
Among his nine graduates so far, eight are teaching at the university level[12] and six of them
have published their dissertations.[13]
The NELC Department also offers graduate (Ph.D.) and undergraduate programs of study.
Founded in 1841 with an emphasis in Arabic studies, the Department's mission has expanded to
include Assyriology, Egyptology, the archaeology of Western Asia, Northwest Semitic and
Ugaritic studies, Hittitology, and the contemporary Near East.[14] Perhaps more than anyone it
is Franz Rosenthal (d.2002), eminent Semiticist and Arabist, who typifies the legacy of the
department.[15] The department offers undergraduate fields in the following four areas: 1)
Ancient Near Eastern languages and literatures, with emphasis on Egypt, Mesopotamia, or
Syria-Palestine, 2) Hebrew language and literature, 3) Languages and literatures of the
Christian Near East, and 4) Arabic and Islamic Studies.[16] The graduate program offers a
selection of seven specializations: 1) Arabic and Islamic Studies, 2) Archaeology of the Near
East, 3) Assyriology, 4) Coptic and Christian Orient, 5) Egyptology, 6) Graeco-Arabic Studies,
and 7) Northwest Semitic, Bible, Comparative Semitics.[17] Unlike the program in RLST,
graduate students pursuing Ph.D. degrees through the NELC Department are required to
complete three years of coursework prior to advancing to candidacy instead of two.
Relevant to this survey are the domains of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Graeco-Arabic Studies
in the NELC Department. The primary faculty members involved in guiding students through
these two fields are Beatrice Gruendler (Arabic language and literature), Dimitri Gutas
(philosophy and Graeco-Arabic studies), and Adel Allouche (medieval Arabic-Islamic history).
Undergraduates majoring in the NELC Department are required to have completed three years of
Arabic prior to graduation. Undergraduates majoring in Religious Studies with a final project on
Islam are not required to have Arabic, although it is encouraged. Undergraduate students doublemajoring in NELC and RLST are exceptionally well-prepared for graduate work in Islamic
Studies immediately after the completion of their undergraduate degrees.
NELC consists of a diverse group of faculty members that offers a rich array of courses covering
the study of Arab societies from the classical to the modern periods, including courses that are
narrow in scope such as “The Arab Renaissance: 1798-1939” as well as broad survey courses
such as “An Introduction to the Middle East.”[18] The NELC Department hosts a few meetings
every month of the Yale Arabic Colloquium (YAC) in which a scholar from within or outside the
Yale community is invited to give a scholarly talk related to their research. Arabic language is
required for full participation in YAC, for which reason meetings are attended by specialists
(scholars and students) only.[19]
NELC’s emphasis on the classical period was brought into focus in a critical article that appeared
in Yale Daily News in January 2006.[20] The article mentions there are too few courses for
undergraduates on topics related to the modern Middle East, and bureaucratic hurdles to get
relevant courses from other departments approved as counting towards a degree in NELC.
However, the experiences of students varied, with some being completely satisfied with the
processes in place. One of the problems the department has confronted is an increasing interest
among students in Arabic studies.
Although this increase may be in part due to the September 11 attacks, Benjamin Foster,
Professor of Assyriology and Babylonian literature and Curator of Yale’s Babylonian collection,
does not believe that the growth is directly related to recent political events. “Student interest has
recently been focused on contemporary Middle East studies,” Foster said, while Yale's NELC
department has historically been strong in the ancient period. He said the university has not yet
authorized a NELC department search for a specialist in the contemporary Middle East, although
the Yale Center for International and Area Studies is conducting a search to hire a new professor
in the subject.” The search that Foster was referring ended several months later with the denial of
a senior faculty position to Juan Cole, “even though the history and sociology departments had
jointly approved him for a professorship in modern Middle East studies.”[21] The intervention of
senior university administration at this level reflects the politically charged environment of the
modern Middle East and its influences in the highest levels of academia.
The NELC and RLST Departments together comprise the nexus of Islamic Studies on campus.
The graduate programs of both departments concentrate on textual studies in the classical period
and share the same library resources. Simon Samoeil, a Syrian Christian and Curator of Yale’s
Near East Collection, manages one of the finest collections of its kind in the country.[22] Yale’s
library houses more then 400,000 books relating to Near Eastern studies in Western languages,
with over 150,000 Arabic and Persian volumes, all spread over multiple libraries and collections.
The collection is particularly strong in classical texts, Islamic law, history, philosophy, and
Arabic literature.[23] The library takes a keen interest in acquiring materials it lacks based on
student and faculty input and needs, and stays at the forefront through pioneering projects such
as OACIS (Online Access to Consolidated Information on Serials) for the Middle East.[24]
Initiated in 2002 through a government grant, the project intends to “create a publicly and freely
accessible, continuously updated listing of Middle East journals and serials, including those
available in print, microform, and online.”[25] Although the project was initially in partnership
with seven other libraries in the United States and Europe and limited to periodicals in Arabic
and English, it since identified three partners in the Middle East and hopes to expand further and
incorporate other Middle Eastern/Islamicate languages in the future.[26] In 2005 Yale was
granted additional funding for Project AMEEL (A Middle East Electronic Library), which is
essentially the continuation and expansion of the OACIS initiative through the latest digitization
technologies with the help of funding from the U.S. Department of Education.[27]
Despite this impressive array, Yale has been criticized for its neglect of secondary Islamicate
languages such as Turkish and Urdu, but most importantly Persian. A recent editorial piece by
Farzin Vejdani, a senior graduate student in the history of modern Iran, titled “Yale Still Lacks
Needed Resources on the Mideast,” lambasted not only the collection but also the attitudes of
those responsible at the library.[28] According to Vejdani, collections at other Ivy League
schools dwarf Yale’s Persian collection, as did a number of other schools. “I could get more
research done in the West Vancouver Memorial Library,” said Vejdani, “a relatively small
library located near my hometown in North Vancouver, than at Yale University.”
In addition to RLST (first) and NELC (second), courses related to the study of Islam and Muslim
societies are also offered in related departments, centers, and schools such as history, sociology,
Divinity School, and the Law School.[29] With the exception of the history department, in which
both undergraduates and graduate students are able to specialize in the history of Africa, Asia, or
the Middle East, all other departments and schools offer stand-alone courses on topics related to
Islamic Studies that are, by themselves, insufficient for a specialized degree concentration in
those departments.[30] Divinity School students are expected to take courses on religious
traditions other than Christianity through other programs at Yale College or through the
Graduate School. However, the Divinity School does offer courses of a comparative nature, often
with significant Islamic components, such as on topics concerning Christian-Muslim relations or
ethics in the Abrahamic traditions.
Yale also has centers that help students reach beyond the offerings of their specific majors and
departments through interdisciplinary networks of professors and courses on specific topics. The
South Asian Studies Council, for example, pools together the resources of various departments
such as economics, anthropology, and comparative literature, among others, to enable students to
put together an individualized major in South Asian Studies.[31] One center of specific relevance
to Islamic Studies is the Council on Middle East Studies (CMES). Yale University attracts a
wide array of speakers for programs, panels, and conferences on topics related to Islam and
Muslim societies. Most, but not all, of these activities are coordinated by CMES.[32] Both
CMES and the South Asian Studies Council are part of the MacMillan Center, which “is the
University's focal point for encouraging and coordinating teaching and research on international
affairs, societies, and cultures around the world. It draws its strength by tapping the interests and
combining the intellectual resources of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and of the professional
schools.”[33]
It is clear from the above survey that Islamic Studies, depending on how one defines it, happens
in a decentralized fashion through multiple departments and centers at Yale University. If
Islamic Studies is the examination of the classical traditions of Islam from its origins until the
present, with reference to its religious thought, history, and scripture, then the focal point is at the
Department of Religious Studies. If Islamic Studies is expanded to include Arabic-Islamic
philosophy, science, and literature (secular and religious), then the Department of Near Eastern
Languages and Civilizations is the focal point, noting that the methodology for the study is
shared across the RLST and NELC departments.
Yale and the Muslim Community
Part of the mission of the Council on Middle East Studies is community outreach. ”The Council
works with local, regional and national K-16 educators and students as well as members of
Middle Eastern organizations, cultural centers, business, and media to develop and implement
programs, services, and resources designed to advance understanding of regional issues.”[34]
These activities as well as the academic programs and courses mentioned in Section I have
nothing to do with normative day-to-day Muslim issues of faith and practice on the Yale campus
or in the New Haven area.
The flagship organization for Muslim students at Yale is the Muslim Student Association
(MSA).[35] Run by a board of undergraduates and two “Grad Liaisons,” the MSA organizes
religious, social and educational programs for Muslims throughout the academic year. Because
of the MSA’s advocacy, Yale College offers weekly halal dinners at Commons Dining Hall and
each of the twelve Residential Colleges offers halal food on demand. Since Ramadan 2002, the
MSA has successfully advocated for the pooling of the mandatory meal points of Yale
undergraduates to fund community iftars and suhur packets that are sufficient to feed not only
both undergraduate and graduate students but also guests and members of the community.
Although the MSA had a symbolic “Muslim Chaplain” as an affiliate of Yale Religious Ministry
in the past, in 2005 the Chaplain’s Office initiated a new and more structured “Muslim Fellow”
position. The one-year renewable fellowship offers a stipend to a graduate student or responsible
member of the community for formally advising and supporting the activities of the MSA.[36]
Most importantly, the Muslim Fellow ensures the timely and regular performance of communal
Friday prayers and weekly study/discussion circles. For the first time in 2006, the Muslim Fellow
led tarawih prayers during every night of Ramadan along with providing a summary of the
contents of a juz’ of the Qur’an, an activity that significantly enriched the Ramadan experience
of Muslim students at Yale.
In addition to the Muslim Fellow, in 2006 the Chaplain’s Office hired a new Associate Chaplain,
Shamshad Sheikh, whose primary responsibilities are to support minority faith organizations and
interfaith dialogue. Chaplain Shamshad happens to be of Muslim faith and her presence,
participation, and support of Muslim activities has greatly enhanced the cohesion and clout of
Yale’s diverse Muslim community.
One of the hallmark events of the MSA is “Islam Awareness Week” every February. During this
week the MSA organizes a weeklong series of film screenings, lectures, and panels. Since 2002,
largely due to contributions from the graduate and professional Muslim student population, the
MSA has been organizing an annual Critical Islamic Reflections (CIR) conference which is an
academic forum to discuss issues relevant to Islam and Muslim identity in America and the
West.[37] In 2004 the conference was cosponsored with Hartford Seminary, the proceedings of
which have been published in a special issue of The Muslim World.[38] Although the conference
is organized by Muslim students and has both academic and popular appeal, the recent
publication as well as its acknowledgment on the website of the Department of Religious Studies
demonstrates the significance of its achievement and the possibilities for bridging perceived or
actual divides between academics and Muslim life.[39]
In 2001 the MSA successfully advocated for a full-time prayer room (musalla) on campus. Since
then this room has been a regular place for prayer, study, and MSA meetings. Now the MSA is
maximizing on the visibility and momentum of the community by proposing the long-term
vision of a Center for Muslim Life on campus.[40] The envisioned Center will be the next step in
the evolution of Islam as a living tradition at Yale. The progressive nature of Yale’s MSA is
exemplified by its presidents who have been both Sunnis and Shi‘is, with four out of the past six
having been female. In spite of such diversity, the MSA has fallen short of collapsing into a mere
social club by maintaining a healthy and inclusive religious and intellectual culture amongst
those who are so inclined.
Points of Intersection Between Academia and the Real World
Although the CIR conference has been mentioned as a point of intersection between the
academic study of religion and religious life on campus, the convergence is not structural but
coincidental owing to the interest and presence of Muslim practitioners and academics amongst
the student population. There are, nonetheless, two institutional programs at Yale and one
departmental activity where an academic engagement with Islam intersects conversations on
Muslim societies in the present and the future. The departmental activity is the “Islam in the
Modern Day” lunch colloquium in the Department of Religious Studies. As for the institutional
programs, one is the Yale World Fellows program and the other is the Reconciliation Program at
the Yale Center for Faith and Culture in the Divinity School. Both of these programs fit neatly
into Yale’s vision to emerge as a leading university in the age of globalization.[41]
The Islam in the Modern Day lunch colloquium began on the initiative of graduate students in
Islamic Studies with the support of the faculty. Over the years, the colloquium has brought
together students, scholars, world fellows, and chaplains for discussing topics related to Islam
and the modern world. The conversations are informal and designed to be accessible to nonspecialists with a general interest in Islam today. Meetings are attended by students, faculty, and
staff, as well as members of the New Haven community.[42]
Aiming to build a global network of emerging leaders and to broaden
international understanding at Yale University, the World Fellows Program brings to Yale each
year 16 to 18 highly accomplished men and women from a diverse set of countries around the
world. The World Fellows spend an intensive semester exploring critical issues through a
program of individualized academic enrichment, a World Fellows Seminar, and leadership
training with the full resources of Yale at their disposal.”[43]
Housed in the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization that was founded in September
2001,[44] the World Fellows Program has been instrumental in bringing to campus Muslim
leaders from various parts of the world who enrich seminars, forums, and panels on Islam-related
topics by their first-hand knowledge of on-the-ground realities on the regions that they represent.
The World Fellows Program has an impact both on the academic study of the contemporary
Muslim world as well as on Muslim life on campus.[45]
The Reconciliation Program at the Yale Center for Faith and Culture is housed in the Divinity
School. Its goal is “to promote reconciliation between Muslims and Christians, and between
Muslim nations and the West, drawing on the resources of the Abrahamic faiths and the
teachings and person of Jesus.”[46] Founded in 2003, the program aspires to fulfill its goals by
working on two fronts: 1) bridge-building scholarship on pressing theological and ethical issues
of the day, and 2) by hosting resident fellows on campus who are respected Jewish, Christian,
and Muslim religious leaders and who are committed to dialogue, understanding, and
reconciliation.
In the future, the Reconciliation Program promises to become a second center for Islamic Studies
on Yale’s campus, the first being the program in the department of religion. It is unlikely that
there will be any overlap between the two programs, the RLST program being academic and
textual with an emphasis on classical texts, and the Reconciliation Program being ecumenical
aiming to identify the “major theological, political, cultural, social, and ethical” issues that have
traditionally divided Christians and Muslims with the objective of highlighting common ground.
In conclusion, Yale is a diverse university with a vision to emerge as a leading global university
in the twenty-first century. The Islamic Studies program in the Department of Religious Studies
is a relatively young program that has been in existence just over twenty years. The program’s
methodology is text-based focusing on classical Islamic thought for graduate studies. Since its
inception, the program has been under the leadership of Gerhard Böwering, who has been happy
to accept both Muslim and non-Muslim students of all persuasions and varying degrees of
devotion. Having had no more than ten graduate students at a time, the program is relatively
small and very personalized. Professor Böwering guides each student separately through the
program from admission to coursework to qualifying exams to the dissertation. There is a close
symbiotic relationship between the program in Islamic Studies and the program in Near Eastern
Languages and Civilizations.
Both programs (insofar as the study of classical Islam is concerned) adopt a text-based approach.
In spite of the RLST program’s achievements, however, according to an article in Yale Daily
News Professor Böwering has conceded that “Islamic studies at Yale and other American
universities is lacking.”[47] According to the article, “Bowering said that the study of Islam has
been greatly underrepresented at Yale, though it has always emphasized the study of Arabic. He
said that in order for Yale to expand Islamic studies significantly, it would have to adopt a fundraising initiative similar to the one it conducted in the 1980's to promote Judaic studies, which
resulted in about $10 million.”
This reservation notwithstanding, the university has an array of resources (centers, programs,
courses, and schools) that contribute to the discipline of Islamic Studies, broadly defined. All of
this takes place amongst a vibrant, active and diverse Muslim undergraduate and graduate
student population. This occasions much crossover and overlap between Muslim faith and life on
campus, the academic study of classical Islamic traditions, the study of contemporary Muslim
societies, and ecumenical bridge-building that make Yale an exciting place to be. Although much
of the interaction has been casual in the past, recent initiatives such as the World Fellows
Program and the Reconciliation Program are becoming structured and institutional avenues
where the study of religion meets the real world.
[1] “The Near Eastern Collection at Yale University: History,” at http://www.library.yale.edu/neareast/history.html.
[2] “Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations,” at http://www.yale.edu/nelc/.
[3] “About Yale: History,” at http://www.yale.edu/about/history.html. For an early account of the history of Yale
College, cf. Thomas Clap, The Annals of History of Yale-College, in New Haven, in the Colony of Connecticut, from
the Founding thereof, in the Year 1700, to the Year 1766 (New Haven: John Hotchkiss and B. Mecom, 1788); and
Ebenezer Baldwin, History of Yale College, from its foundation, A.D. 1700, to the Year 1838 (New Haven: B. and
W. Noyes, 1841). In the context of friendly rivalry, a Harvard Crimson article that notes how the founding of Yale
came about by disconcerted Harvard graduates: Vicky C. Hallett, “I’m Gonna Git YOU, Sukka: Classic Stories of
Revenge at Harvard.”The Harvard Crimson. March 11, 1999, at
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=97832.
[4] Charles T. Bridgeman, The Episcopal Church and the Middle East (New York: Morehous-Gorham, 1958). Some
of this history is also captured in the founding of Hartford Seminary and its attention to Christian-Muslim relations.
Cf. Alexis Popik, “Hartford Seminary’s Muslim Mission,” in Hog River Journal, vol.3, no.3. Summer 2005; and
Willem A. Bijlefeld, “A Century of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Hartford Seminary,” in The Muslim World, vol.83,
no.2. April 1993, pp.103-117. Both of these articles can be accessed at http://macdonald.hartsem.edu/history.htm.
[5] “The Yale Department of Religious Studies,” at http://www.yale.edu/religiousstudies/.
[6] For more on Gerhard Böwering, including his CV, visit
http://www.yale.edu/religiousstudies/facultypages/bowering.html.
[7] Elias has since graduated, been tenured at Amherst College, and recently moved back as full professor to the
University of Pennsylvania where he originally began his studies with Professor Böwering.
[8] Information on the dissertation topics and research interests of past and present students in Islamic Studies, as
well as a description of the scope and requirements of the program are available at “Ph.D. Program in Islamic
Studies,” http://www.yale.edu/religiousstudies/fields/islamic.html.
[9] For more on Frank Griffel, including his CV, visit
http://www.yale.edu/religiousstudies/fields/islamic.html#griffel.
[10] For Yale University’s policies on appointments and tenure, visit
http://www.yale.edu/provost/handbook/handbook_iii__faculty_ranks__appointment.html.
[11] The list of courses from the website on religious studies is: Gerhard Böwering, Introduction to Islam,
Muhammad and the Qur'an, The Growth of Islam: Conquest, Culture, and Conversion, Seminar in Islamic Religious
Thought, Seminar in Sufism, Seminar on the Qur'an and its Interpretation, The Religion of Islam, The Civilization
of Medieval Islam; Frank Griffel: Introduction to Islamic Theology, Jihad and Islamic Fundamentalism, Seminar on
Islamic Theology, Seminar on Islam and Modernity, Islamic Rationalism and its Influence on Europe.
[12] Jamal Elias (g.1991) is Professor at University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan Brockopp (g.1995) is Associate
Professor at Pennsylvania State University, Shahzad Bashir (g.1997) is Associate Professor at Carleton College,
Walid Saleh (g.2001) is Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto, Amina Steinfels (g.2003) is Assistant
Professor at Mount Holyoke College, Joseph Lumbard (g.2003) is Assistant Professor at Brandeis University,
Gabriel Reynolds (g.2003) is Assistant Professor at The University of Notre Dame, Nada Saab (g.2004) is Assistant
Professor at the American University of Beirut, and Tariq Jaffer (g.2005) is Assistant Professor at the University of
Oregon.
[13] Jamal Elias, The Throne Carrier of God: The Life and Thought of ‘Ala’ ad-Dawla as-Simnani (Albany: SUNY
1995); Gerald T. Elmore, Islamic Sainthood in the Fullness of Time. Ibn al-Arab's Book of the Fabulous Gryphon(
Leiden: Brill 1999); Jonathan Brockopp, Early Maliki Law: Ibn ‘Abd al-Hakam and his Major Compendium of
Jurisprudence (Leiden: Brill 2000); Shahzad Bashir, Messianic Hopes and Mystical Visions (Columbia: University
of South Carolina Press, 2003); Walid Saleh, The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition (Leiden: Brill 2004);
Gabriel Reynolds, ‘Abd al-Jabbar’s Critique of Christian Origins (Leiden: Brill Publishers, 2005).
[14] “Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations,” http://www.yale.edu/nelc/.
[15] The following excerpt captures some of this past: “faculty of the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries,
such as William Dwight Whitney, Charles Foster Kent, and William Rainey Harper, were leaders in the creation of
American philology, linguistics, and Sanskrit studies, and pioneered modern undergraduate and graduate instruction
in the language and literature of biblical Hebrew and the history of Judaism. Charles C. Torrey, professor of Arabic
and Semitic languages, founded the first American school for research in the Near East, at Jerusalem, and directed
the Jerusalem school's first archaeological excavation in 1900, as well as editing the first major text in classical
Arabic published in the United States. More recent faculty, including Egyptologists Ludlow Bull and William Kelly
Simpson; Assyriologists Albert T. Clay, Raymond Dougherty, Albrecht Goetze, William W. Hallo, and Ferris
Stephens; Semitists Julian Obermann and Marvin Pope; and Semitist and Arabist Franz Rosenthal, have made Yale
one of the world's leading centers for the study of the Near East.” [Ibid.]
[16] “Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations,” at http://www.yale.edu/nelc/.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Follow the links provided in Notes 15-16 above for a list of courses.
[19] For a list of all the topics since YAC was initiated in 1999, cf. http://www.yale.edu/nelc/yaclist.html.
[20] No longer available online.
[21]Ibid.
[22] “Near East Collection, Yale University Library,” at http://www.library.yale.edu/neareast/. The Near East
Department also hosts the Yale Babylonian Collection, which “holds virtually every genre, type, and period of
ancient Mesopotamian writing, such as commemorative inscriptions, scholarly treatises, letters and business
documents, administrative accounts, and literature in poetry and prose, in Akkadian, Sumerian, and Hittite.”See
“The Yale Babylonian Collection, Near Eastern Collection,” at http://www.yale.edu/nelc/babylonian.html, “Founded
in 1910 by a gift from J. Pierpont Morgan, the Yale Babylonian Collection is the largest collection of documents,
seals, and other artifacts from ancient Mesopotamia in the United States, and one of the leading collections of
cuneiform tablets in the world.”
[23] “History of the Near East Collection, Yale University Library,” at
http://www.library.yale.edu/neareast/history.html. In addition to books in print, the library also has access to a wide
array of journals and databases both in print and via the internet, a CD-ROM and film collection, rare books and
manuscripts, and links to websites.
[24] “OACIS for the Middle East, Yale University Library,” at http://www.library.yale.edu/oacis/.
[25] OACIS for the Middle East, Press Releases” at http://www.library.yale.edu/oacis/oacis_press.html, “First Press
Release – announcing the project.”
[26] The initial U.S. library partners are: Cornell, University of Michigan, Ohio State, University of Pennsylvania,
University of Texas, and University of Washington. The European partner is Universitäts-und Landesbibliothek
Sachsen-Anhalt (Ibid.). Since then, New York University, Princeton, and Yale Law School have also come on
board, and the new Middle Eastern partners are the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria (Egypt), University of
Jordan in Amman (Jordan), and Tishreen University in Latakia (Syria), “OACIS Expands International Contacts and
Partnerships – January 2005,” at http://www.library.yale.edu/oacis/oacis_press.html.
[27] “An Arabic and Middle Eastern Electronic Library,” Yale University Library, at
http://www.library.yale.edu/ameel/.
[28] Article no longer available online.
[29] Although Yale Law School has supported an Islamic Legal Studies Reading Group in the past, and even
brought Khaled Abou El Fadl and Noah Feldman at different times as visiting faculty, the school only sporadically
offers courses related to Islamic jurisprudence.
[30] “The Study of History at Yale,” at http://www.yale.edu/history/.
[31] “South Asian Studies Council,” at http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/southasia/internships.htm.
[32] “Council on Middle East Studies, The MacMillan Center,” at http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/cmes/.
[33] “Yale MacMillan Center, Overview,” at http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/overview.htm..
[34] “About the Council on Middle East Studies,” at http://www.yale.edu/macmillan/cmes/overview.htm.
[35] “Muslim Students Association, Yale University, at http://www.yale.edu/msa/.
[36] The Muslim Fellow for the year 2005-2006 was Sohaib Sultan, author of The Koran for Dummies. Sohaib is a
graduate student at Hartford Seminary and currently serves as Muslim Chaplain at Trinity College and Wesleyan
University. The Muslim Fellow for the year 2006-2007 is the author of the present article.
[37] “Critical Islamic Reflections, Conference,” at http://www.yale.edu/cir.
[38] Mahan Mirza (Guest Editor), “Contemporary American Discourses on Islam: The Politics of Representation,”
A Special Issue of The Muslim World, vol.97, no.1. January 2007.
[39] “Ph.D. Programs in Islamic Studies, Yale University, at
http://www.yale.edu/religiousstudies/fields/islamic.html.
[40] Conversations on this have just begun but the vision, although still in its infancy, has been born.
[41] See President Richard Levin’s article, “Universities Branch Out,” in Newsweek International, Aug 22-28, 2006,
at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14320413/site/newsweek. For more on “Yale and the World” see
http://world.yale.edu/.
[42] For a list of some topics covered in the past, see http://www.yale.edu/religiousstudies/fields/islamic.html [last
accessed December 20, 2006].
[43] “Yale World Fellows Program,” at http://www.yale.edu/worldfellows/.
[44] “Bulletin of Yale University, Special Programs and Initiatives,” at
http://www.yale.edu/bulletin/html/macmillan/programs.html.
[45] In 2006 at least four of the fellows in the Program were from the Muslim world or Muslim leaders in minority
contexts. http://www.yale.edu/worldfellows/fe.
[46] “Yale Center for Faith and Culture,” at http://www.yale.edu/faith/reconciliation/index.htm.
[47] The article, written in response to Prince Alwaleed’s hefty donations to Harvard and Georgetown, is dated
January 9, 2006 but is no longer available online.