Department Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Committee Mission Statement
Diversity is central to the pursuit of Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilization (NELC)’s academic mission. Our programs entail the study of different languages, literatures, religions, and cultures from across the Near and Middle East, including North Africa and Central Eurasia. Our area of study explores the contemporary cultural diversity of the region, its ancient and medieval roots, and its relevance to modern civilization. It is a region which is the birth place of many of today’s major languages, religions, and philosophical movements. Essential to our studies is an understanding of and an appreciation for the diversity of the region
The NELC faculty is diverse, though demographically the categorization by race and ethnicity minimalizes this diversity. Of our 16 professors and lecturers, 8 (50.0%) are White, 7 (43.8%) are Asian; and 1 (6%) is Hispanic and Latinx. These numbers reflect a department that is not very racially or ethnically diverse, as we do not have any African-American, Native American, or Pacific Islander faculty. However, using a different metric to view the faculty one will see that our faculty are White (6, 37.5%), Turkish (2, 12.5%), Israeli (2, 12.5%), Asian (1, 6.3%), Iranian (1, 6.3%), Latina (1, 6.3%), Libyan (1, 6%), Pakistani (1, 6.3%), and Yemeni (1, 6.3%). We regard this as a typical profile for a department comprising the areas and disciplines we teach where experts in the field often come from specific national background from within our region of study.
When we examine data more closely, we see that diversity is consistent in both our lecturer cohort (Asian 1, Iranian 1, Israeli 2, Turkish 1, White 2, Yemeni 1) and in the professorial cohort (Latina 1, Libyan 1, Pakistani 1, Turkish 1, White 4). The distribution of female and male faculty is even across the department. The percentage of female faculty is slightly higher among lecturers: 3 of 8 (37%) among professors, 5 of 8 (63%) of lecturers. Among our professional cohort, female faculty are represented in both full professor (2) and assistant professor (1) appointments.
Department Diversity/Equity Committee Members
- Prof. Terri DeYoung (faculty member), tdeyoung@uw.edu
- Prof. Aria Fani (faculty member), ariafani@uw.edu