We, members of the Department of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies, stand in solidarity with all those who protest against racism and racial violence in the U.S. and around the world. As scholars of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies, we know all too well the world’s many and painful histories of discriminatory violence against minorities and the dispossessed. We see it in the linguistic and artistic representations of otherness, economic structures, and political and legal frameworks that uphold the systemic exclusion of minorities. Therefore:
- We acknowledge the marginalization of Black voices in academia and commit to foster an inclusive community.
- We support and actively encourage diversity in hiring new faculty, providing professional opportunities to Black and minority colleagues, and recruiting a more diverse body of students.
- As scholars of Islamic and Jewish Studies, we commit to drawing on the comparative study of minorities that is at the heart of JIMES’s mission to help our students, colleagues, and the public grapple with the racial injustices of the present. We look forward to collaborating with colleagues from other departments on initiatives that will further this goal.
- We commit to offer more courses that prioritize minority voices and foreground the structural inequalities that lead to the othering and marginalization of those voices.
In sum, the Department of Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies pledges to be an inclusive scholarly community committed to rigorous research, vigorous debate, and the exchange of ideas in a safe and welcoming space both on campus and online.
