The University has a tradition of excellence in classical studies—but the current demand from outside the academy is for scholarship on the modern Middle East.

Harvard boasts fewer expert social scientists focusing on the Middle East than many other schools, Bellin says.

Harvard does not have a single tenured Middle East political scientist, according to Bellin.

A senior position in Middle East politics has been left vacant since the mid-1980s.

And perhaps most shocking is the absence of any senior scholar studying modern Islam at Harvard.

This hole is weakening Harvard’s ability to comprehensively study the region, professors say.

“We have to expand the boundaries of what we call Middle Eastern studies and make some changes, and those changes need to be reflected in hiring and now’s the time to do it,” he adds.

But more and more students are turning toward the modern Middle Eastern world, and the University is not able to satisfy their interest, Granara says.

The importance of a senior person is undisputed at Harvard, Granara says.

“Because of the emphasis at Harvard, it is necessary to have a senior professor in a field to give muscle to a discipline—you need a senior person,” he says.

But rather than designating the “heir apparent” in the field through a decisive senior hire, Harvard has instead had more of a “revolving door.”

A new batch of assistant or associate professors is ushered in every few years and forced to depart when those professors are not granted tenure, says Bellin. She herself will leave Harvard at the end of this year for a new position at Hunter College.

The Competition

Harvard is not alone in acknowledging inadequacies in Middle Eastern studies, but other schools are taking bolder steps to correct their shortcomings.

Princeton, which has historically been weak in Middle Eastern languages—though very strong in history—is evaluating their program, according to Andras P. Hamori, the chair of the school’s department of Near Eastern Studies.