As a member of GW’s faculty, Rollston will lead planning for the classics departments’ third major, in addition to Arabic and Classics, which includes studying one or two ancient languages.It speaks well for the Classics Department that George Washington is expanding its Near Eastern Studies into a major in this time of economic retrenchment, and it also speaks well for Chris that he was chosen to spearhead the effort. I am very pleased but not at all surprised.
GW added a major and minor in Arabic in 2012. Prior to that, students had been able to declare a minor in Hebrew and Arabic.
The classics department had been looking to add a Near Eastern studies major, Eric Cline, chair of the classics department, said. But Cline said he urged GW to hire Rollston, an acquaintance of about 20 years, to help speed up the process.
“We weren't even able to consider doing it without the addition of someone like Dr. Rollston,” Cline added.
The new major will bring GW in line with departments at John’s Hopkins and Princeton universities.
Rollston will provide the department with the necessary expertise in near eastern languages and religions to round out course offering for the new major in the subject, Cline said.
“In addition to his languages, his breadth of knowledge stretches from the religions of the ancient Near East to early Christianity and its interactions with Greece and Rome. He not only can teach Akkadian and Ugaritic, if anyone ever wants to takes those languages, but he can also teach New Testament Greek and Biblical Hebrew,” Cline said.
Background here and links.