There are few academic fields that have been corrupted more than Middle East studies. Many of the Middle East studies departments in universities around the country are funded by money from Saudi Arabia,.They are staffed mostly if not entirely by biased, agenda-driven professors who preach a steady stream of anti-Israel, anti-Jewish, anti-West, post-colonial dogma. In the below piece in Algemeiner, Cinnamon Stillwell of Campus Watch describes what Jewish and pro-Israel students are confronted with in the classroom.
http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/07/26/student-voices-exposes-anti-semitism-in-the-college-classroom/
It is bad enough that our campuses are crawling with groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and various Muslim Student Association chapters, who agitate against Israel. It is bad enough that Jewish students who support Israel find themselves being bullied on campus. It is even worse when they have to put up with it from radical professors in the classroom-professors who use their positions as bully-pulpits to push their view of the world. One wonders how the Saree Makdisis and Hatem Bazians of the world have time to teach their courses they spend so much time speaking at events attacking Israel.
And it’s not just Middle East studies. At Cal State University at Northridge, they have a math professor (David Klein) who uses the school’s web server to spread his anti-Israel venom. To make matters worse, CSUN and the CSU chancellor defend this practice even though it clearly puts their imprimatur on the bashing of Israel. They ignore any and all complaints. I could go on and on. It is impossible for me or Ms Stillwell to include every professor who fits into this category. In the humanities and social sciences, they make up the majority.
If such a one-sided view is what dominates in academia, perhaps, the universities might consider closing Middle East studies.
