Same and Different: How Unity and Diversity Break Our Hearts and Mend Them
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Same and Different: How Unity and Diversity Break Our Hearts and Mend Them

ByMelanie Magidow

Normally, I publish exactly one post on this blog at the start of each month. I’m making an exception this month, prompted by personal reflections on a recent incident at Hamline University, after signing a petition in support of a faculty member who was dismissed from teaching after showing an image in class that disturbed…

Arabic Learning in the U.S.: Some Historical Highlights
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Arabic Learning in the U.S.: Some Historical Highlights

ByMelanie Magidow

1640     Harvard College establishes the first Semitic chair (Hebrew, Chaldaic and Syriac) in the United States, adding Arabic between 1654 and 1672. Others followed Harvard’s example, dependent upon the availability of scholars (beginning at Yale in 1700, at Dartmouth and Andover in 1807, and at Princeton Theological Seminary in 1822). Early scholars learned Arabic only…