CPC defers Islamic Studies proposal

By: Laura Garland

Posted: 4/5/07

The deferment of a recent proposal to create an Islamic Studies concentration at Kenyon has upset several faculty and students and has caused the Curricular Policy Committee (CPC) to scramble to draft permanent procedures for approving new concentrations.

The proposed Islamic Studies concentration would require students to take at least one year of Arabic or other language spoken in the Muslim world, as well as two units of classes focused on the Islamic world, outside of the Modern Languages and Literatures department.

The CPC, a committee of faculty, staff and students responsible for approving new courses and making other decisions about the College curriculum, has asked the supporters of the Islamic Studies proposal, led by Professor of Religious Studies Vernon Schubel, to "defer the request until next year, giving the CPC time to determine what the procedures were for approving a concentration," said Laurie Finke, professor of women's and gender studies and CPC chair.

In its response to the original proposal on Feb. 6, the CPC said that it did not receive a complete list of faculty supporters of the proposal, that the status of the Arabic program at Kenyon was uncertain, and that no procedures exist for approving a new concentration.

While the proposed concentration would include one year of Arabic or a "relevant Islamic-studies language," the CPC response said, "It would be irresponsible for us to have approved this concentration while the [faculty] position in Arabic language was still undecided." Currently, Arabic Instructor Sadika Ramahi's contract is set to expire in 2008.
The CPC response also called for time to codify a set of procedures for approving new degree programs. "Currently there is no standard format or set of questions that need to be answered as part of a new degree program, nor are there procedures to coordinate the work of CPC with that of Resource Allocation and Assessment Subcommittee (RAAS)," said Finke.
"We hope that in the process of codifying procedures for creating new programs we will be able to have a substantive discussion of the practical limits on creating such programs," she said.

Finke said that the proposal was at no point rejected.
However, Schubel believes that the first response to the proposal was a rejection. He resent the cover letter with the complete list of supporters to the CPC. "In my opinion, if they had problems with the proposal they should've talked to all members of the team who wrote it," said Schubel.

The CPC sent a second response to Schubel on Feb. 16, this time deferring a decision on whether to create the Islamic Studies concentration.

According to Schubel, after learning of the deferment, the proposal's supporters were concerned that the CPC's deferment stems from misunderstanding the importance of Arabic as a requirement. The supporters argued that the language component, while important, would not be at the center of the concentration and should not be a central factor in its rejection.
But Finke emphasized that the CPC's deferment was based on the need for procedures for approving new concentrations. "We believe that we can be stronger advocates of the concentration if we have prior procedures already in place, those are followed, and the concentration is thoroughly and openly discussed by the faculty," whe said.

"By the end of the year, it is our hope that we will have all CPC policies written down, with appropriate guidelines and forms, and prominently available to faculty, so that future problems can be avoided," said Finke in the CPC's second (Feb. 16) response. Stating that the lack of procedure has "plagued the committee … all year," Finke expressed the "desire to get it in writing and posted somewhere permanent."

"This is a longstanding internal Kenyon problem," said Schubel. "There hasn't been a new concentration proposed in a while. No one knew the procedure for doing it. They felt they first had to have a procedure to judge it by."

"I don't think bureaucracy should be the deciding factor in curricular decisions," said Schubel.

• Why Islamic Studies?

Schubel touted the benefits of an Islamic Studies concentration, saying that the more Muslim students that come to Kenyon, the better the program and overall campus diversity would become.
"The presence of Muslim students at Kenyon both improves our diversity and our ability to teach more effectively about the Muslim world," he said, and "is crucial so that Kenyon students don't assume that when we learn about Islam we are learning about 'the other.'"

According to Schubel, the concentration would "demonstrate that Kenyon is a place that values the Islamic world-a major global civilization, and a part of our shared human heritage."
Schubel also questions the way in which study of the Islamic world is structured at Kenyon. "We should study the Islamic world the same way we do Europe and Latin America, according to a liberal arts model," he said. "We should study its music, literature, philosophy and history. We shouldn't just study it through the political lenses of 9-11, counter-terrorism or the Arab-Israeli conflict."

The Islamic Studies proposal mentions several students who would qualify as Islamic Studies concentrators as proof of existing interest in an Islamic Studies concentration. Five seniors have studied abroad in predominantly Islamic countries, and "all five students … have taken almost all the courses offered in Islam by Professor Schubel," said Archita Jha '07, an international studies major who studied abroad in Turkey.
Ramahi said that, having seen the Arabic program grow from 22 students last year to 31 students between two sections this year, she doubts that the program will be cancelled at the expiration of the contract in 2008. "I might be wrong, I might be right," said Ramahi, "but if the population continues the way it is, it's here to stay."

In a campus-wide forum in February, President Georgia Nugent denied rumors that Kenyon's Arabic program would be cancelled next year, saying "the College is proud of the number of languages and the quality of the training offered."
On rejecting the Islamic Studies concentration proposal, Ramahi said, "By not opening that venue, Kenyon would really be encouraging students to think in only one way."

Ramahi said that the Arabic program already has prompted several students to study abroad, to change majors and to continue studying languages spoken in the Islamic world post-graduation. "These students will represent their community and college much more than [graduates of other colleges] as a 'new-thinking school,'" said Ramahi.

Senior Amyna Esmail, a psychology and religious studies double-major, would have been eligible for an Islamic Studies concentration this year if it existed. "It is upsetting for us to be denied the Islamic Civilizations concentration after all the hard work and commitment to courses in Islam, Arabic and our experiences abroad in the Muslim world," she said. "In my opinion, the rejection of the Islamic [Studies] concentration illustrates the College's lack of commitment to diversity, both in the curriculum and in the student body."

The authors and backers of the proposal include Professor of Religious studies Vernon Schubel, Visiting Assistant Professor of History Nurten Kilic-Schubel, Professor of History Wendy Singer, Assistant Professor of History Stephen Volz, Arabic Professor Sadika Ramahi, Visiting Assistant Professor of Spanish Adriano Duque, Assistant Professor of Music and Culture Maria Mendonca, and Associate Professor of History Jeffrey Bowman.