The new director of the Middle Eastern Studies program at Syracuse University plans to continue to build the program’s national presence.

Yüksel Sezgin, who was named the director of the 11-year-old Middle Eastern studies program last week, hopes to make MES a bigger part of the university. Karen Ruhlandt, interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and James Steinberg, dean of the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, announced Sezgin, an assistant political science professor, as the new MES director.

The MES program is still building a tradition and working toward becoming an institutionalized part of SU, Sezgin said. He said he plans to eventually turn the program into a MES center with federal funding.

“I plan to maintain our reputation while increasing our national presence by reaching out to faculty, undergraduate and graduate students to identify any shortcomings in the program,” Sezgin said.

Sezgin came to SU in 2013 to fill a position in the political science department and to teach a course on comparative law and politics. Sezgin previously taught at the Harvard Divinity School, the University of Washington and the City University of New York according to an SU news press release.

Sezgin said he accepted the position of MES director because of his relationship with the current and founding director of the program, Mehrzad Boroujerdi.

“I plan to consult with him almost daily, as well as work with the faculty who teach courses in the program,” Sezgin said. “There is still a lot we need to work on to achieve the goals set in place for the program, which will take team work from all of the MES faculty.”

Boroujerdi, a political science professor, started the MES program after 9/11 when a large interest rose in starting programs that educate students on the Middle East, which many universities did not have programs for. After sending a grant proposal to the United States Department of Education, the program received a number of development grants that have been used to fund research and study abroad opportunities for both undergraduate and graduate students, he said.

The program proved to be interdisciplinary from the beginning, relying heavily on professors in the language, religion and political science departments, Boroujerdi said. The program has since expanded to around 30 faculty members, each in very different fields, and has become the most popular regional studies program at SU, he said. The MES program strived to have a new director who could reflect these accomplishments, Boroujerdi added.

“Professor Sezgin is a remarkable scholar who has won many awards for the quality of his work. We need someone with a high profile who can be in the media and can speak about the region,” Boroujerdi said. “He has the necessary credentials we were looking for in a candidate and he has a wonderful track record in receiving grants which I believe will help expand the MES.”

While working toward the program’s reputation on a national level, Sezgin has also worked directly with students majoring and minoring in MES as a professor. Jessica Brosofsky, sophomore international relations and MES dual major, said she chose to major in MES because she was interested in working as a diplomat and humanitarian in that region of the world.

Brosofsky, who has taken one of Sezgin’s classes, said he is a good professor, but added that she is doubtful about Sezgin’s new promotion because he has not been at SU for a long time.

“My only issue is that this is only his second year,” she said.

Published on November 5, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Katelyn: kmfaubel@syr.edu