“Western scholars in the past have not paid nearly enough attention to Islam,” said Associate Dean Grover Zinn. “The College decided that it would like to have someone on the faculty who focused especially on the area of the Middle East and North Africa.”

This is not an entirely new venture.

“There was a time when we had a Judaic and Near Eastern Studies program and offered Hebrew and Arabic, as well as courses on Jewish and Islamic history traditions,” said Zinn. “The money for that program was mostly soft and staffing shrank. The founder of that program died suddenly. The person who succeeded him was basically focused in Jewish Studies...there was an awareness on campus that we needed to have more classes addressing areas of Islamic culture and history.”

In 2002, a committee chaired by Zinn was instituted to draw up a job description for the new faculty member specializing in the region.

“The idea was that we had to seek someone in the social sciences in general,” he said. “The mandate of the committee was to look for the best person. The striking thing about the search was that we didn’t have a specific department in mind but rather a field of study, with the placement in a department after the selection of the person.”

After what was apparently a very strong candidate pool, Khalid Medani, a specialist in contemporary politics of the region, was hired.

His courses have constituted the bulwark of the Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) course offerings.

“I wouldn’t say that we right now have a Middle Eastern Studies program,” said Zinn. “I’d say we have classes that allow people to do work in the Middle East and Islam....One could put together a significant amount of courses that would involve the Middle East and North Africa.”

There are some classes available in other departments. There are classes on Islam in the religion, art history and gender and women’s studies departments. But these classes are few and a huge gap will be left in the curriculum for those interested in Middle Eastern and North African studies when Medani leaves at the end of the year.

Although he was appointed to a tenure-track position, he has resigned and plans to move on to McGill University in Canada next semester, citing a variety of professional and personal reasons.

“It has nothing to do with Oberlin College,” Medani said. “The students here are the best I’ve ever had.”

The question now is, what is the future of MENA studies at Oberlin?

“The commitment is there. The President is supportive,” said Medani. “But in the context of the new strategic planning, it’s difficult to push any new venture.

There are many students who are very much involved in pushing for it, organizing it outside of the class. I really do think they will work together.”

“The students have always been interested from what I hear,” Medani said. “But after 9/11, of course, they wanted it more. I don’t think it takes much to justify a Middle Eastern Studies program. Any College with Oberlin’s reputation can’t afford not to have one.”

Of his own influence on MENA studies at Oberlin, “I like to think it’s been good, but it’s been directly related to the students. I like to teach as many courses as possible... because there are so many students interested in the Middle East. Without the position, there’s nothing.”

The status of the position is somewhat ambiguous right now. “That’s yet to be decided,” said Zinn. “We may fill it for next year and we may not. There are no concrete plans.”

Medani, although he was not able to give details, was more specific. “There is serious consideration of candidates to take my place,” he said. “I think it is very, very likely that I’ll be replaced very, very soon. There may be a little gap.”

President Nancy Dye has voiced her support for expanding MENA studies at Oberlin. “I do think the College would do well to devote more resources to this area. The Middle East is, of course a very large and important part of the world,” she said. “This area is particularly critical right now. Last year, the total number of American college graduates who majored in Arabic was six.”

Although the College has no immediate plans to offer Arabic in the future, other means of development are being investigated.

“There are a lot of possibilities for expanded study, both in the social sciences and languages, as well as the humanities,” said Dye. “We got a grant from the Ford Foundation in September to investigate more ways to integrate more MENA studies into the curriculum.”

As Dye pointed out, integrating a language like Arabic into the curriculum presents its own set of challenges.

“Arabic is an extremely difficult language which takes years to master, so it’s not the sort of thing you can just teach a semester of once in a while,” she said.