Spring Break
IMES dept to expand
by Matthew Brock
News | 11/13/07
Posted online at 9:16 PM EST on 11/12/07
/ Last updated at 6:57 PM EST on 11/12/07
A new full-time professor for the Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies program will be hired for the 2009 to 2010 academic year, and an adjunct professor was added to the program for next semester, Dean of Arts and Sciences Adam Jaffe said.
Since the retirement of Prof. Yitzhak Nakash (IMES), the IMES program, a department in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, has had only two full-time professors, Avigdor Levy (NEJS), the program's chair, and Joseph Lumbard (NEJS). Compounding the shortage, Lumbard said he plans to go on sabbatical next semester and Avigdor will go on sabbatical all of next year.
In response to the shortage of professors, IMES students sent a letter written by IMES Undergraduate Departmental Representative Noa Balf '09 to administrators Oct. 17 detailing their disappointment with the current situation, specifically a shortage of professors able to teach contemporary Islamic studies.
"I feel that the IMES department is being neglected by the administration," IMES major Avraham Bieler '09 said. "In the world we live in today where Middle Eastern Studies is so important, it behooves the University to improve the department. It has the potential to train [Brandeis] students to become involved in the Middle East."
"I signed [the letter] because there are only two professors," IMES major Jasmine Gothelf '10 said. "A department that I think is important should have more than two professors."
The letter was sent to University President Jehuda Reinharz, Provost Marty Krauss, Jaffe and NEJS Chair Prof. David Wright (NEJS), among others. In the letter, the students request that the administration replace Nakash.
In response, Jaffe recently approved the appointment of Martin Nguyen, an adjunct who will teach Introduction to Islamic Theology next semester. Jaffe is also searching for a visiting professor who will come to Brandeis next year while Levy is away.
Prof. Nader Habibi, the Henry J. Leir Professor of the Economics of the Middle East (IBS), who also has a joint appointment with the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, will serve as a permanent member of the Economics department and the IMES program. Habibi will teach courses listed under the IMES program and will begin to advise IMES majors, Jaffe said.
Since the retirement of Prof. Yitzhak Nakash (IMES), the IMES program, a department in the Near Eastern and Judaic Studies department, has had only two full-time professors, Avigdor Levy (NEJS), the program's chair, and Joseph Lumbard (NEJS). Compounding the shortage, Lumbard said he plans to go on sabbatical next semester and Avigdor will go on sabbatical all of next year.
In response to the shortage of professors, IMES students sent a letter written by IMES Undergraduate Departmental Representative Noa Balf '09 to administrators Oct. 17 detailing their disappointment with the current situation, specifically a shortage of professors able to teach contemporary Islamic studies.
"I feel that the IMES department is being neglected by the administration," IMES major Avraham Bieler '09 said. "In the world we live in today where Middle Eastern Studies is so important, it behooves the University to improve the department. It has the potential to train [Brandeis] students to become involved in the Middle East."
"I signed [the letter] because there are only two professors," IMES major Jasmine Gothelf '10 said. "A department that I think is important should have more than two professors."
The letter was sent to University President Jehuda Reinharz, Provost Marty Krauss, Jaffe and NEJS Chair Prof. David Wright (NEJS), among others. In the letter, the students request that the administration replace Nakash.
In response, Jaffe recently approved the appointment of Martin Nguyen, an adjunct who will teach Introduction to Islamic Theology next semester. Jaffe is also searching for a visiting professor who will come to Brandeis next year while Levy is away.
Prof. Nader Habibi, the Henry J. Leir Professor of the Economics of the Middle East (IBS), who also has a joint appointment with the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, will serve as a permanent member of the Economics department and the IMES program. Habibi will teach courses listed under the IMES program and will begin to advise IMES majors, Jaffe said.
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