Professors are concerned about a new bill that could harm
international studies departments if they do not accommodate
government views on how they should teach their courses.
The International Studies in Higher Education Act, written by
Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., passed unanimously in the House of
Representatives on Oct. 21.
Supporters of the bill champion its intended goal of
strengthening postsecondary education in the United States by
improving international studies and language programs.
Should the bill become law, it would create an advisory
committee to oversee the curricula in international studies
departments and provide recommendations to Congress regarding
federal funding.
The Subcommittee on Select Education, which proposed the bill,
says this advisory committee will create accountability for all
international studies departments and ensure that curricula fulfill
national security needs, according to a press release.
Opponents of the bill, however, are worried the act may pressure
Middle Eastern studies departments to take a more pro-American
perspective in the courses they offer.
“It’s censorship,” said Michael Cooperson, an
associate professor in the UCLA Department Near Eastern Languages
and Cultures.
“We will be subject to review from a committee of
nonacademics. … They will be judging curriculum on the basis of
political expediency,” Cooperson said. “The students
will suffer from it.”
Congressman Jon Porter, R-Nev., a member of the Subcommittee on
Select Education, believes the bill benefits international studies
programs because an advisory committee would provide advice on
improving their programs, said Porter spokesman Adam Mayberry.
Although a Republican initiative, the bill received bipartisan
support within the House.
Congresswoman Susan Davis, D-Calif., also a member of the
subcommittee, believes an advisory committee overseeing the college
curriculum in international studies departments will strengthen
them by making them accountable, said Aaron Hunter, a spokesman for
Davis.
“These programs help America work with the international
community,” Hunter said.
“The advisory committee could not mandate or direct any
particular curriculum,” he added.
But professors of Middle Eastern studies departments are
concerned because the committee could indirectly influence
curriculum by giving advice to Congress on how federal funds should
be distributed.
According to the bill, the committee would examine international
studies departments at colleges throughout the country by taking
into account “the degree to which activities of centers,
programs and fellowships at institutes of higher education advance
national interests … and foster debate on American foreign policy
from diverse perspectives.”
The federal government will consider the committee’s
recommendations when it determines how to distribute funds to these
departments.
Some members of academia believe the proposed advisory
committee, as well as those voting for the bill, have no place in
the academic arena.
Hamid Algar, a professor in the Middle Eastern studies
department at UC Berkeley, said he is worried about the sanctions
he believes may be levied against particular schools or individuals
because of their beliefs.
“(Congress) seems to believe that the Middle Eastern
departments are overrun by raging radicals,” Algar said.
“The notion that the federal government should intervene
in the academic sphere is repugnant.”