CENTRAL & SOUTHWEST ASIAN STUDIES
CENTER FIVE-YEAR REVIEW REPORT, 20102015
Summary of Center Review Report and Purpose:
The purpose of the Central and Southwest Asian Studies Center (CSWA), the outreach arm of the
Central and Southwest Asian Studies Program, is to cover the vast region of Central and
Southwest Asia, a high priority for education and scholarship at UM. Together, the Center and
Program offer an academic major and minor in Central and Southwest Asian Studies, conduct
research, publish scholarly works on critically important regions of Central Asia, the Middle East,
and North Africa, and organize conferences and informational sessions for the local, national,
and international media. The Center is unique among universities in the United States in its
purpose and objectives. Understanding of the region is critical in today's unstable political
environment.
Objectives:
Teaching: The companion Central and Southwest Asian Studies Program offered well-enrolled
and popular courses such as CSWA 146 H, "The Silk Road" (Anthropology141H/History 146H),
enabling students to learn about the region through interdisciplinary perspectives. Many classes
in the program emphasize the international dimensions of history and society. These focus on
such timely issues as national security, terrorism, the role of women in Islamic societies, and
human rights. Through its course offerings, the CSWA prepares UM students to live, think, and
work in the rapidly changing “Global Century.” The Major offers a well-balanced and rigorous
curriculum that includes at least two years of a critical foreign language, 18 credits in Central and
Southwest Asian Studies, and a capstone seminar or Independent Study. The Minor consists of
18 credits.
Research: The members of the CSWA Center published seven books and numerous articles and
book reviews in the review period. Several of these books have been reviewed and cited in
major scholarly and popular publications around the world. Members of the Center have
presented research at conferences and workshops in various countries of the region, including
China, Georgia, Israel/Palestine, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. They
collaborated with the departments of Anthropology, History, and Modern and Classical
Languages and Literatures, the Liberal Studies Program, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Center,
and Women’s and Gender Studies.
Outreach: CSWA organizes the annual Central and Southwest Asia Conferences, which bring
noted scholars, diplomats, government officials, and prominent intellectuals from the United
States and abroad to the UM campus. CSWA gives presentations to members of the United
States armed forces, various federal government agencies, the Governor of Montana and his
cabinet, the Montana Army National Guard, as well as numerous civic, professional, and
community organizations in town, throughout Montana, and across the nation. They offer
popular MOLLI courses at UM. Recent timely topics have included the Iranian nuclear deal, the
refugee crisis in Europe, and the destruction by ISIS of ancient historical and cultural sites in the
Middle East.
Review in terms of the University’s mission:
The Center supports the UM Strategic Plan by serving Montana and world, and by educating
future leaders. ECOS of the Faculty Senate does not consider CSWA to be controversial, as it
offers clear benefits to students, the University, the State, and the Region. CSWA is
interdisciplinary in its faculty and in its scope of work. It has a vibrant interactive relationship
with several academic units at UM.
A laudatory external review was completed by Dr. Shukri Abed, Professor of Arabic Language,
Literature and Culture at University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, Virginia, in June, 2014.
Dr. Abed is a frequent guest and collaborator with the CSWA and concluded that the Center
achieves significant impacts on behalf of the University, across the state and region. In the
opinion of Dr. Abed, "CSWA embodies, through its various activities and accomplishments, the
true spirit of globalization and represents UM’s best channel for establishing relations with
other international academic institutions". Dr. Abed cautioned that the Center is limited by its
funding.
The Center is challenged by its limited resources and awaits promised improvements to its
physical plant on the third floor of Stone Hall. It draws no funds from the University except
faculty salaries and benefits and space allocation. The Center anticipates that two of its three
faculty members are approaching retirements and the Center will require efficient replacement
of these professors to continue.
Recommendation:
The Central and Southwest Asian Studies Center should continue to function at The University of
Montana. However, the Provost should anticipate the need for replacement faculty upon
anticipated retirements of the Center's faculty in the coming years.
Justification: The Central and Southwest Asian Studies Center is an established, productive,
contributing center that benefits students, the University, the State, and the Region.