It remains painfully true, more than three years after Sept. 11, that even highly educated Americans know little about the Arab Middle East. And it is embarrassing how little our universities have changed to educate our nation and train experts on the wider Middle East.
For believers in a good liberal arts education, it has long been a source of consternation that faculties in political science, history, economics and sociology lack scholars who know Arabic or Persian and understand Islam. Since Sept. 11 it has become clear that this abdication of responsibility is more than an educational problem: It also poses a threat to our national security.
_____Today's Op-Eds_____
• Studying Islam, Strengthening The Nation (Post, April 12, 2005) • The U.N., Preying on the Weak (Post, April 12, 2005) • Backward Evolution (Post, April 12, 2005) • Art vs. the Church Lady (Post, April 12, 2005) • The Paris Hilton Tax Cut (Post, April 12, 2005)
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The case for bolstering faculty and curriculum resources devoted to the Muslim Middle East is, of course, obvious from an educational perspective. The region is vast. Islam represents one of the world&apo