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June 6, 2007
Eyewash for Islamic Studies
This is the most minor initiative with the most unrealistic goal I've almost ever seen:
Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Monday $2 million in funding to back Islamic studies at British universities as he urged the public to listen to the religion's moderate scholars rather than to its radicals.Blair's government hopes the funding will lead to a major shift of the focus of Islamic studies from an Arab and Middle Eastern perspective to that of the plural society in Britain.
Two million dollars? That won't get you an endowed professorship, a decent lecture series, graduate fellowships, or even a serious infusion of books into the libraries. And Blair hopes it will lead to a shift, let alone a 'major shift,' in the academic field? Puh-leeze.
Here's the Washington Post story.
Posted by CrankyProfessor at June 6, 2007 9:22 AM