The legacy of Arabic in America
In 2013 the University of Leiden’s announcement of its yearlong celebration of 400 years of Arabic studies in the Netherlands caught Roberta Dougherty’s attention. As the librarian for Middle East Studies at Yale University, she recalls wondering, “If they had 400 years, how long has it been here?”
She knew that in 1841, Yale had appointed the pioneering scholar Edward E. Salisbury as Professor of Arabic and Sanskrit Languages and Literature, the first such full-time appointment in the us. Inspired by the Leiden celebration, Dougherty dug into the Yale archives and began to plan for the 175th anniversary of his appointment.