While the influence of the Middle East in world affairs is undisputed, the urgency of adapting Bowdoin's curriculum to this reality is less certain.
However, for some students and faculty members, the lack of courses about Islam and the Middle East represents a critical gap in the institution's curriculum.
According to Associate Professor of Religion Jorunn Buckley, the need for an Islamic specialist in the religion department dates to 1985, when the department requested the addition of a faculty member with a specialization in Islam and a secondary concentration in Judaism. The department has resubmitted proposals since then.
Although the religion department does offer courses on Islam, the size of its faculty limits the frequency with which the department can offer courses on Islam. Buckley is currently teaching the course Gender in Islam.
"We are overstressed in this department," she said. "We can't adequately cover what we need to cover in present conditions."
While the faculty position in the religion department is one of eight that has been allocated by the Curriculum and Educational Policy Committee (CEP) for funding from the capital campaign, the department has not received authorization to search for a candidate.
Earlier this semester, with the recommendation of the CEP, the Office of the Dean for Academic Affairs authorized the search for two allocated positions?one in the anthropology department and the other in the government department. It is not yet known when the religion department will be given authorization to search for funding
However, Cristle Collins Judd, the dean for academic affairs, said it could happen within the next year.
According to Judd, allocating new faculty positions is a balancing act, especially given Bowdoin's small size.
"Our size, which makes us special, makes this hard," Judd said. "There are many departments that have longstanding requests for faculty positions. We have to make hard decisions."
While Judd wrote in a follow-up e-mail that that "enrollment pressures are only one of many criteria that my office and the CEP considers in thinking about our curricular offerings," she noted that "government and anthropology face real enrollment pressures."
David Gordon, an assistant professor of history, voiced concern that Bowdoin's curriculum is not adapting to the growing importance of the Middle East.
According to Gordon, while "there are important reasons for the study of Arabic and the Islamic world that are intellectual," current events make teaching about the Middle East more urgent.
"Clearly many students are interested in [the Middle East] by what is happening today in the world. I think Bowdoin should adjust its curriculum to what is happening in the world today," he said.
"Current affairs should point us toward Arabic language instruction at the very least," he said.
Assistant Professor of Government Shelley Deane, who teaches the course Middle East Politics, cited job search engines such as jobsearch.com and usajobs.gov as evidence that competence in the Arabic language and knowledge about the Middle East are increasingly important for jobs in international relations.
Students have also expressed frustrations about the College's current range of course offerings about the Middle East and the lack of Arabic-language instruction.
Senior Matt Martin has actively advocated for the creation of a position for an Islamic specialist in the religion department. He has also discussed the addition of Arabic language offerings to the college curriculum with college officials.
According to Martin, the Middle East represents "an obvious gap in our curriculum."
"It's clearly really important for our generation to understand the Islamic world and communicate with the people in the Middle East," Martin said.
For students interested in studying away in the Middle East, the lack of Arabic instruction presents more immediate challenges.
Sophomore Emily Baird, who intends to study in Amman, Jordan, in the fall, has taken matters into her own hands.
"I don't really see it happening in my time," said Baird of the College offering Arabic. "So I am seeking it out on my own."
Baird is working with an Arabic speaker at Bates College to master some of the basics before immersing herself in the language next fall.
However, upon returning to Bowdoin after studying away, Baird will again need to make alternative arrangements to continue studying the language.
"There is not a continuation of Arabic instruction at school. So it is balance," Baird said. "Should I invest in learning the language?"
According to Judd, the College is exploring ways to offer Arabic and other languages.
"I am an advocate for determining how Bowdoin offers Arabic, Hebrew, and a number of other languages that we don't teach," she said.
"I am in an ongoing conversation with the deans at Colby and Bates, and we continue to explore possibilities. All three of the colleges have very different terms, especially in the spring semesters, and this does pose difficulties for us, as does the physical distance of our campuses," she wrote.
Judd cautioned against temporary fixes that would provide basic instruction without opportunities for more advanced language study.
"We need to ask, 'What are the expectations that we are creating?" she said.
Judd also said that the problem of continuing language study at Bowdoin after studying away is not limited to students who study languages not offered at the College.
"Students may come back with more advanced language skills than offered in a four-year language trajectory," she said.
Judd pointed to external opportunities available to students to maintain and improve language skills acquired abroad.
"There are mechanisms for doing things virtually and through summer immersion," Judd said.
However, these opportunities may not always be feasible for students.
"I have definitely looked at summer programs like in Egypt. But they are really expensive," Baird said.
While it may only be a matter of time before Bowdoin adds an Islamic specialist to the faculty, broader changes to the curriculum are not in sight.
"Academic time moves slowly," Judd said.