Council OKs Islam, bio certificates
By: Eugene Wang
Issue date: 4/19/07 Section: News
Last update: 4/19/07 at 9:10 AM EST
Last update: 4/19/07 at 9:10 AM EST
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Both certificates will require an introductory course, several electives and a capstone class. Some research and study abroad requirements are also included in their curricula.
The Islamic Studies certificate will entail courses in departments such as religion, literature and cultural anthropology, said Bruce Lawrence, professor of religion and director of the Duke Islamic Studies Center.
Students will also be required to study abroad in a predominantly Muslim country and take two years of an "appropriate" language, such as Arabic, Persian, Turkish or Urdu, he added.
"Part of [DISC's] mission was to provide opportunities for undergraduates that are now available," Lawrence said. "[The certificate] will highlight courses and give students a hands-on opportunity to go abroad... and experience the Muslim world more than they do now."
Lawrence said the creation of an Islamic Studies certificate at the University has been a long time coming. He added that the need for an Islamic Studies program is greater now, given the events of Sept. 11 and the United States' increasing involvement in the Muslim world.
"Many Duke supporters think that if things are going to get better, it's going to be in your generation, not ours," he said. "If not Duke, where; if not now, when?"
Freshman Steven Schmulenson said Sept. 11 illustrated the need to study the Muslim world.
He said that prior to the creation of the Islamic Studies certificate, Duke had been "lacking" in Islamic studies. He also noted that the University already has an African and African American Studies program and a Latin American Studies certificate. "What's exciting about this certificate is that it's brand new," Schmulenson said. "It's great that Duke is taking the initiative and going forward with it."
The Modeling Biological Systems certificate will emphasize undergraduate research and include classes from the biology, mathematics and computer science departments and the Institute of Statistics and Decision Sciences.
Planned research projects include gene expression in plant root systems, the yeast cell cycle and metabolic pathways, said John Harer, director of the Center for Computational Science, Engineering and Medicine and professor of mathematics.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 48
Martha
posted 4/19/07 @ 11:26 AM EST
"Students will also be required to study abroad in a predominantly Muslim country and take two years of an "appropriate" language, such as Arabic, Persian, Turkish or Urdu, he added. (Continued…)
Not Martha
posted 4/19/07 @ 12:06 PM EST
Martha,
I see you represent the Turkish hating Greek, Armenian or Kurdish lobby. Your obvious hatred of Turks and Turkey is no different than any other type of hatred and should be condemn! You are a small person Martha, I pity you. (Continued…)
Truth Seeker
posted 4/19/07 @ 2:47 PM EST
Granted, Turkey is one screwed-up country, but it is not fair to single it out, 90% of the Islam-dominated countries are equally backward and pathetically primitive, or more so than Turkey. (Continued…)
*rolls eyes*
posted 4/19/07 @ 4:35 PM EST
Chemistry gave us the disaster in Bhopal and countless others. Let's disband that department rather than study it!
Pierre
posted 4/19/07 @ 5:28 PM EST
Thank you for posting such interesting information which never makes it into the French hebdomadaires. I didn't know before about this Armenian-victimizing Islamic/Turkish Holocaust, nor did I know about the extremely close connections between Arab Islam and Hitler and Nazism. (Continued…)
Enlightened Arab student
posted 4/19/07 @ 6:35 PM EST
Not all Arabs are terrorists, even if many are.
Here's one amazing Arab woman, former Muslim, who courageously speaks truth to power:
http://youtube. (Continued…)
William
posted 4/19/07 @ 7:20 PM EST
I can see why Duke would offer this certificate. The lack of knowledge about Islam (the doctrine)and the good and bad in Muslim countries is glaring from the responses. (Continued…)
I know better
posted 4/20/07 @ 7:56 AM EST
Re Turkey:
Wow! So this is the mighty intellectual and well informed Duke community? My only hope is that people who posted above do not actually represent the Duke community and they are only trespassers. (Continued…)
Speaking of women
posted 4/20/07 @ 9:12 AM EST
This is a minor point, and yes, it will probably come as a shock to some of the commentators above. Turkey has some of the most liberated and equally treated women in the World. (Continued…)
BozartSahara
posted 4/20/07 @ 2:44 PM EST
Ahhhh... and with this internet argument, Islam has finally been discredited for all time, and all Muslim nations cast into well-deserved disrepute. What a hundred popes and the colonizers of a dozen nations could not do, our feminist friend with a poor grasp of logic has finally accomplished. (Continued…)
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