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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.