Student interest in Middle East studies grows, major offers emphasis area
By Kelli Andresen
When UI alumnus Stephen Bowden enrolled in “Introduction to Islam” during the second semester of his sophomore year, he didn’t realize he was beginning on a path that would eventually lead to a love affair with Middle Eastern studies and a major in history with an emphasis on the Middle East. This fall, Bowden began a master’s program in Middle Eastern studies at the University of Chicago.
A combination of factors led Bowden to study the Middle East. The 22-year-old Freeport, Ill., native said he initially began studying the region because of an interest in religion and current events. The following semester, during his junior year, he enrolled in two more courses.
“While I was definitely leaning toward spending my life studying the Middle East before I took these courses, by the time I finished them I had firmly decided to devote my life to the history of the region,” Bowden said. “After taking those classes, I guess I just decided that I find it much more interesting than any other facet of history.”
Patrick Friedel
Steve Bowden spends time at a children's school located in a small rural village in central Egypt while studying abroad at the American University of Cairo during fall 2005.
Bowden is one of a number of students at the UI who have been turning an interest in the Middle East into an informal study area. Now, through the International Studies Bachelor of Arts degree, students can formally declare Middle East and Muslim World Studies as an emphasis area.
According to Martha Greer, International Studies coordinator, the new emphasis area was partially developed because of student demand.
“Our students told us it was important to them,” Greer said. “In fact, before this emphasis was added, several international studies majors opted to create their own emphasis focusing on the Middle East and related topics.”
One of those students is senior Lydia Pfaff, a political science and history major from Dubuque, Iowa. Pfaff said that, although she has long had an interest in the Middle East, she really became intrigued when she took a course about the Palestine/Israel conflict during her sophomore year.
“I think that the complexity and the dynamics of the conflict in the area is really fascinating, and it’s obviously a hot issue because of current affairs, so that also makes it appealing,” Pfaff said.
Shira Robinson, a UI assistant professor of history who is currently on a post-doctoral fellowship at Princeton University, has been studying and teaching about the area and is excited about what this means for the UI and its students.
“The Middle East is a place with a vibrant history, culture and literature, and we should be interested in its contributions to world culture and civilization and history just as we should be interested in all parts of the world,” Robinson said. “Iowa is taking a huge step forward in setting up this new emphasis and it is also a big step forward that they have made recent hires in the religion department and the history department.”
Shira Robinson
Robinson said that, along with the newly recognized group of MEMWS scholars, she hopes the program will continue to take steps toward expanding. She said she sees a number of opportunities for students who are interested in studying the Middle East.
“I hope to see us encouraging students to study Arabic over the summer as well as during the year,” Robinson said. “I hope that, with this Middle East emphasis, that we could encourage more students to go abroad to parts of the Middle East like Egpyt, Lebanon, the Gulf, anywhere that students would be interested in studying. I want to encourage more cultural exchange and study abroad.”
Both Bowden and Pfaff are prime examples of what Robinson is talking about. Bowden studied abroad in Cairo, Egypt, during his senior year and Pfaff is currently in her third semester of Arabic coursework. Both worked with Robinson on their senior honors theses. With the new international studies emphasis area and group of scholars, Robinson is optimistic that the number of students writing projects and honors theses, as well as partaking in undergraduate research, will increase.
Greer said she expects to see more classes on campus focusing on topics related to the Middle East emphasis area. With the addition of International Programs first post-doctoral fellow, Ahmed Kanna, to the program, she said she is confident student interest and demand will continue to grow and will encourage further course development from existing and new faculty at Iowa.
Pfaff said she is pleased with the experiences and education she has received through the Middle East, Arabic and Muslim studies coursework she has taken at the UI and would encourage other students to study the region.
“Even if they’re not specializing in the Middle East, it is something that as citizens at a time like this, we really should have an understanding of what’s going on in order to make informed choices,” Pfaff said.
Bowden said his studies at the UI helped to change his worldview in positive ways. He said he is optimistic that, through continued scholarly efforts, the situation in the Middle East can change.
“In spite of all its turmoil and conflict, I do not think the problems facing the Middle East are insurmountable,” Bowden said. “However, I believe that positive change in the region can only occur through persistent human initiative. The political and social condition of the Middle East will only improve through the collective efforts of people like you and me. The solutions to all of the Middle East’s problems with war, lack of basic human rights and democracy and social inequality are in our hands. All we have to do is keep using them.