To the Editors:

I am writing in reference to “Middle East Teachings Come to Mid West” (September 21). The creation of departments and programs at Oberlin is a complicated institutional matter, with important ramifications for staffing, institutional overhead, and curricular design. Oberlin does have a range of courses relevant to MENA Studies, as can be seen on the catalog website at http://catalog.oberlin.edu/preview_ program.php?catoid=15&poid=1905, but while there may at some time in the future be a MENA Studies department or program, there is no such unit today.

What we do have is a new MENA Studies Committee, created by a vote of the faculty of Arts and Sciences in spring 2007, which I chair. The committee’s mandate includes recruiting for positions established in MENA Studies and to undertake a variety of other activities to promote MENA Studies at Oberlin. The MENA Studies committee is the direct descendant of an ad hoc committee that was assembled in fall 2001 that successfully proposed and then recruited for a MENA Studies position.

Professor Khalid Medani joined the faculty in fall 2003, and taught for two years, but then left for McGill University. In spring 2007, the new MENA Studies committee gained reauthorization of the position, and we are now recruiting for a continuing, tenure track faculty member in MENA Studies. Such a person could come from any of a variety of academic backgrounds, including anthropology, economics, history, Middle East Studies, political science and sociology. Should our search succeed, the incumbent will be housed in the department or program of his or her disciplinary background and, we trust, will become a central figure in the committee.