Administrators may finally carry out a plan to combine the Middle East Studies and Asian Studies majors and expand the division of Asian and Middle East Languages and Culture into a full department, nine years after drafting the first proposal.
Division chairman Robert Hueckstedt met last week with Dean of Graduate Affairs Richard Handler and Dean of Undergraduate Affairs Stephen Plog to finalize the plan.
Hueckstedt will present the proposal to the Committee on Educational Policy and the Curriculum, chaired by Mathematics professor Donald Ramirez.
Hoeckstadt is proposing two new majors under the Asian and Middle East Languages and Culture division (AMELC): the Asian and Middle Eastern Studies major and the Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literature major.
The majors eventually will replace the existing Asian Studies and Middle East Studies program majors.
Unlike the current Middle East Studies and Asian Studies programs, the new majors will specify a more detailed curriculum.
The expansion of AMELC to a department will not require hiring new personnel or offering new classes, Hueckstedt said.
If the proposal passes, students interested in the new department can declare a major now in the Middle East Studies and Asian Studies majors and switch to one of the AMELC majors later. The original Middle East Studies and Asian Studies majors will remain in existence for as long as there are students completing majors in those programs.
The proposal to expand the AMELC division into a department and combine the two programs stems from a 1991 external review, which led to subsequent reviews in 1994 and 1997, Hueckstedt said.
"It's great that [AMELC] is becoming a department," Arab Student Organization President Laila Kassis said. "Many Middle East Studies majors are concerned that the Middle Eastern part of the program will get swallowed up by Asian studies, but David Waldner [Middle East Studies Program Director] has assured us that this will only strengthen Middle East studies, so hopefully this will be a good thing."
Read More
Student Council passes appointment bill, approves new CIOs at final meeting of semester
By Arshiya Pant | 18 hours agoMendoza Gonzalez also said she will be meeting with Kenyon R. Bonner, vice president and chief student affairs officer, to discuss further strategies for the Student Council Endowment Fund.
Professors speak about leading productive dialogue on Israel-Hamas war
By Lexie Stadler | YesterdayThe event was hosted by the University’s Task Force on Religious Diversity and Belonging, which is designed to ensure that the University is welcoming to community members from all religions and cultures.
Honor Committee considers formal ban of AI detectors as evidence in trials
By Lexie Stadler | 2 days agoThe Committee also addressed balancing student perspectives with those of Committee representatives during panel discussions.
