Claiming that Duke and the University of North Carolina are offering a biased curriculum in their joint Middle East studies program, the Education Department ordered them to make some changes to eliminate anti-Jewish bias. The program receives funding from the federal government which could be withdrawn. (The New York Times, September 19, 2019, by Erica L. Green)
Teacher and journalist David M. Perry, in Erie News Now, September 21, 2019, questions the call for balance in the criticism of the joint program. He says the program provides perspectives about the Middle East and Islam sorely lacking in our society to the detriment of our foreign policy. But worse is the meddling by the Education Department. “The idea of a federal agency demanding oversight of college course content, down to scrutinizing syllabi, should send shivers down the spines of everyone who cares about education or government overreach,” says Perry.
The Education Department is demanding that given the program’s positive views of Islam, that similar attention be paid to “the positive aspects of Christianity, Judaism, or any other religion or belief system in the Middle East.” The department also wants Duke and North Carolina to focus more narrowly on “foreign language instruction and area studies advancing the security and economic stability of the United States.” (Common Dreams, September 22, 2019, by Julia Conley)