The case for adding a Middle East and North African Studies pathway to the AMES major

Duke’s AMES (Asian and Middle East) department is broken. Our university has neglected a major providing a catch-all for over 60% of the world’s population, multiple continents and countless ethnicities — all in the name of what? Censorship concerns? Funding constraints? Fear of ___ (please, admin, fill in the blank)?

As two AMES majors, we have noticed time and time again how the major’s overarching framework sidelines the Middle East and North Africa’s (MENA) cross-section of language, history, and culture. Especially in today’s political environment, the intersection of Africa and Arabia is more important than ever. So, we propose a new pathway within the AMES department: MENA Studies.

AMES majors are offered three regional pathways: the Middle East, East Asia, and the Indian Subcontinent. However, the choices for North Africa classes are slim pickings, and the department makes it unclear that these courses are included in the Middle East pathway. Classes are highly dependent on individual faculty members who — although we love them — are not given adequate resources or manpower to address the MENA. For many Duke students, the only way to learn about North Africa is through study abroad opportunities. Duke in the Arab World is an opportunity for Blue Devils to study citizenship and government structures in North Africa, but what happens when these students return to their dorms?

Current events have only exacerbated this issue with the administration viewing AMES offerings and Islamic Studies courses as institutional liabilities. Yet, this approach is counterintuitive: How can Duke foster educated conversations on the Middle East when it won’t provide students the academic background to do so? Duke cannot and will not serve its educational mission if it continues to discipline this discipline.

We’re asking Duke to fill a gap that it has left largely unaddressed. While we know that implementing a MENA pathway won’t fix the structural and cultural problems that plague Duke’s AMES department, it’s definitely a start.

Mariam Gulamhusein is a Trinity sophomore, and Eleanor Ross is a Trinity senior.