Mission Statement

Mission Statement

The Center for the Study of Muslim & Arab Worlds (CSMAW) is dedicated to broadening and decolonizing knowledge of the Muslim, Islamicate, and Arab worlds through teaching, research and community outreach.

The Center is dedicated also to be inclusive of the study of all ethnic, religious, and cultural populations in the what has been historically known as the Islamic (Islamicate) and Arab worlds.

The Center serves as a flagship for international dialogue and academic excellence for students and faculty as well as the local and international communities. The Center supports research, lectureships, curriculum development and community outreach.

Activities

• Teaching: The Center offers an interdisciplinary minor and certificate program in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, including the instruction of languages in the region. CSMAW faculty members also teach and supervise our internationally respected and award winning Model United Nations and Model League of Arab States programs. The Center continues to encourage, support and assist our students in study abroad and student exchange programs focused on the the Middle East and the Muslim world.
• Research: CSMAW faculty have been active in a wide range of activities including hosting and participating in national and international scholarly conferences, serving in editorial roles for scholarly journals and periodicals, publishing co-authored research findings with Middle Eastern scholars, and working toward broadening our shared interests in higher education with universities and institutes in the Middle East and Muslim world. The Center contributes to research and scholarship by housing and contributing to the peer-reviewed journal, Arab Studies Quarterly.
• Partnerships, Collaborations and Community Outreach: CSMAW faculty serves both CSUSB and the local community by offering seminars, panels, lectures, art exhibits, film and documentary screenings, and other public events. The latter includes sponsorship and organization of events which focus on inter-faith dialogue. The Center continues to be a leader in establishing dialogue with its partner universities in the Middle East as well as with institutions and organizations in Southern California, such as the World Affairs Council of Inland Empire and The Morrow McCombs Memorial Lecture Series Committee. The CSMAW also faculty works closely with the university’s International Institute and local chapter of Phi Beta Delta (Honor Society of International Scholars) to enhance public awareness, and student and community participation in international education.
• Library Expansion: Through grants and gifts, the Center faculty has been instrumental in the selection and addition of hundreds of texts and audio-visual materials to the university library. One of the goals of the Center is to offer students, researchers and the wider local community access to one of the largest collections of Islamic and Middle East holdings in the California State University system.