In light of the Middle East’s growing role in global affairs, Northwestern recently decided to expand its course offerings in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies.

Despite its historically limited Middle Eastern Studies program, NU also possesses a world-renowned Program for African Studies (PAS). PAS is dedicated to increasing understanding of all aspects of African history and culture. This includes its relationship with Islam, an increasingly attractive religion for undergraduate study, but one traditionally associated with the Middle East.

“Recent studies estimate that there are more than 200 million Muslims in Sub-Saharan Africa. With 50 million Muslims in Nigeria alone – more than in Iraq of the entire Arabian Peninsula – Africa must be fully incorporated in discussions of Islam,” Professor Muhammad Sani Umar, director of the Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA) and associate professor of Islam in Religion, said in an interview with Northwestern News Center.

Professor Nasrin Qader of the French and Italian department agreed.

“The long history of Islam in Africa, both north and south of the Sahara, has contributed to the development of Islamic thought in very specific ways,” she said. “Our undergraduates are extremely ill-informed about Islam in general and in Africa in particular.”

PAS, which was founded in 1948 by Melville J. Herskovits, was in the news most recently for its release of thousands of West African manuscripts onto an online database publicly accessible through ISITA. The database, which is primarily intended for research purposes, is one of the PAS’s many renowned resources.

“[A]nyone interested in Islam in Africa could easily access the online catalog from anywhere in the world. I am very excited about the prospects of drawing more and more people with interest in Islam in Africa into the ISITA international network of scholars and researchers,” said Professor Umar.

ISITA itself has drawn much international academic attention in recent years, bringing scholars from Russia, Kenya and Senegal to research the use of Arabic script in written African language.

The program holds symposiums and seminars on issues of importance to African study. In May, the program hosted “Islam and the Public Sphere in Africa,” a three-day international conference. Speakers from universities from Africa and across the country came to Northwestern to address topics of Islamic influence in African government and culture.

However, not all of the program’s activities are limited to the upper echelons of academia. Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences offers a minor in African Studies, and all PAS events are open to undergraduates in the minor course track.

While the expansion of the Middle Eastern program has garnered much media attention, most of PAS’s members believe that the two programs have much to offer to students as a united educational experience.

Professor Qader is involved in the Program of African Studies by means of her research into African French and Arabic works and is also connected to the program of Asian and Middle Eastern studies through her study of the border region of the Maghreb. She said she believes that both programs are essential to a thorough understanding of the region.

“I do not think that these two programs are in competition with each other,” she said. “I am convinced that the two programs will enrich each other in all disciplines.”