"This is the age of human rights," said Ervand Abrahamian, a professor at Baruch College in New York, to a small crowd of faculty and students who gathered Wednesday to hear his lecture on human rights and Islam and celebrate the success of Tufts' recently created Middle Eastern Studies Program.
In his lecture, Abrahamian analyzed human rights and Islam by speaking largely in the context of Iranian history and its present political and social position. The political climate in Iran is influenced greatly by religion, he said, and this contrasts with the secular doctrine of the United Nation's Declaration of Human Rights.
The difference between Islamic law and the Declaration of Human Rights is the concept of individual rights versus equality. The Declaration is about equality and not protection, while the Sharia - a collection of acceptable legal norms derived from the Koran, Mohammed's teachings, and historical consensus - is more concerned with issues of the individual.
"Central concepts of the Sharia clash with the central concepts of the Declaration of Human Rights," Abrahamian said. "The Sharia relies heavily on physical punishment, whereas the Declaration relies on incarceration."
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and individuals, not states, have been the key actors responsible for bringing human rights issues to the international forefront.
"The linking of human rights to Western tradition is a historical distortion," Abrahamian said.
The Middle Eastern Studies program has carved out a niche at Tufts during its first year, and two students will graduate with certificates in the subject this year. Increased interest in the region was evident among the students who attended the lecture.
"I came because I'm very interested in Middle Eastern politics and culture. I took the History of Iran class and found it very, very informative so I wanted to learn more," sophomore Samerjit Limlikit said.
Freshman Alia Hamid, another attendee, said, "I'm considering majoring in Middle Eastern Studies and I was curious to know how Islamic law relates to human rights - I wanted to enlighten myself."
The first attempt at establishing a Middle East Studies major at Tufts was made 15 years ago, but the project never got off the ground because of a lack of tenured professors in the field and a general dearth of student interest. In the intervening years, the Middle East has increasingly become a "hot spot" in international relations and of particular interest to US foreign policy initiatives, leading to a heightened desire among students and faculty to incorporate studies of the region into the Tufts curriculum.
There are now many more tenured professors prepared to teach everything from Middle Eastern politics and history to the region's languages and cultures.
"The purpose of the program is to focus on the Middle East and its languages so as to allow the language instruction to count for something," said Middle Eastern Studies Director Beatrice Manz.
Prior to the creation of the Middle Eastern Studies major, students interested in Middle Eastern languages could not utilize those language offerings within a field of study.
Studying languages such as Arabic was either for personal interest or "dabbling in languages" because there was no coherent program that the language could be applied to or integrated into, unlike languages such as Spanish that fit into programs like Latin American Studies. The new major provides these students, as well as others who wish to learn about the Middle East, with an academic outlet for their interests.
"I'm taking The World of Islam class because I don't know anything about Islam and the Middle East, and I thought this would be a good class to take to learn something new," said junior Cat Wolmar, who is majoring in Latin American history.
