Arabic and Islamic Studies has been a part of the Department of Russian & Eastern Studies at the University of Kentucky since the early eighties and the Department of Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures and Cultures for over 10 years.
The growing interest in understanding the worldwide development of Islam since the mid-nineties, the rapid increase of student enrollment, and the support of the Muslim community encouraged the efforts to further develop course offerings.
With the financial sponsorship of the local Muslim community two endowments of Islamic Books at the UK Libraries were created.
Since the spring semester of 2000 a new phase in the development of Islamic Studies at UK began with the creation of a full-time lectureship position in the department and a new faculty member joining in the Fall of 2015.
The approval of a major and minor in Islamic Studies in the spring of 2002 and the creation of a two more faculty positions in Islamic Studies emphasize the timely response of the university to the growing interest in understanding Islamic culture.
