of Armenia, the phenomenology and structural analysis of religion, and the
religions of Asia, particularly of India and Iran. Recently the department has
also included within its research and teaching the study of Islam, in particular
Islamic mysticism.
The Open University of Israel, founded in 1974, does not have a department
focused on the academic study of religions. However, it has a department of
History, Philosophy, and Judaic Studies, in which can also be found programs
on the history of Islam and its culture (note the singular), the land of Israel
and its cultures (note the plural), the Middle East, the classical world, the Jewish
people, and the Western world, as well as topics in philosophy and Judaic
studies. Common to all the courses in this department is the focus on primary
sources.
Similarly, the Tel Aviv University, founded in 1953, does not have a
department for the modern academic study of religions. Instead, courses on
various religions, though mostly Judaism and to a lesser degree Islam, can be
found in various other programs and departments, such as archeology, history
of the Middle East and Africa, history of the Jewish people, miqra, Jewish
philosophy, kabbalahand Hasidism, Asian studies, Arabic and Islamic studies,
classical studies, literature, philosophy, and several language and linguistic
programs. Just as at the Open University the emphasis in programmatic
nomenclature is on history, so the emphasis at Tel Aviv University is on
languages. Finally, the University of Haifa seems to reflect a mixture of both
history and language, with no academic program in the modern academic study
of religions.Private institutions of higher learningThe explosion of private institutions of higher learning since roughly 1990 in
most NAWA countries has resulted from several interrelated factors: new
democratic and economic freedoms in a post-Cold War context; new
technologies; and increased demand from local populations. This last factor
is due in part to the demographic explosion in most NAWA countries, the
lack of means to study abroad, and the increased political difficulties of
obtaining visas to study especially in Western universities. Some of these
institutions carry the name of ‘university’ while being very small and limited
in focus. Others prefer to be called an ‘institute’ or ‘research center’, while still
providing an important complement to major universities. The result has been
increased competition but also increased access by students to a much wider
variety of fields in higher education. There is no space in this chapter to examine
the trend beyond what has already been said about the Royal Institute for
Inter-Faith Studies in Jordan.98
PATRICE BRODEUR