Two of the leaders of Harvard University’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies, the director and associate director, will be leaving their positions, according to two professors with direct knowledge of the moves.
The department had been under criticism from alumni that it had an anti-Israel bias, and the university more broadly has been under intense pressure from the federal government to address accusations of antisemitism on campus.
The director, Cemal Kafadar, a professor of Turkish studies, and the associate director, Rosie Bsheer, a historian of the Middle East, did not respond to messages seeking comment on Friday.
The news was first reported by The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper. A spokesman for the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences, James Chisholm, declined to comment, saying only that the matter was a personnel matter.
David Cutler, the interim dean of Social Science, announced in an email on Wednesday obtained by The New York Times that Dr. Kafadar would be stepping down from his post at the end of the academic year.
Dr. Cutler did not respond to a message late Friday.
Faculty members who have spoken with both professors say each believe they were forced out of their posts.
Harvard has been under a microscope over its response to accusations of antisemitism on campus. The university has also been under pressure from Republicans to be more welcoming to conservative viewpoints.
On Tuesday, Hopi Hoekstra, the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which houses the Middle East center, sent a letter to all center heads asking what changes they would make in furtherance of intellectual diversity, according to an email obtained by The Times.
Dr. Hoekstra asked that the center heads be prepared to discuss, among other things, the degree to which their programs and seminars met “goals of diversity of and exposure to different ideas, perspectives and topics.” The email also asked the center leaders how they promoted “respectful dialogue across controversial topics” and the changes they would make.
This is a moment of precariousness for international students and scholars who study the Middle East. Last week, under pressure from the Trump administration, Columbia University agreed to a list of demands, including placing its Middle East, South Asian and African Studies department, along with its Center for Palestine Studies, under the review of an administrator.
On Friday evening, Columbia announced that it was replacing its current president for the second time in less than a year, amid controversy over how it had agreed to those demands.
The executive committee of Harvard’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors condemned “the abrupt termination” of the center’s leaders in a statement.
“In the context of recent events, the decision appears to be a shameful attempt to escape punishment from the Trump administration for engaging in academic discussions about topics the president disfavors,” the statement said. “These firings cede the university’s decision-making authority to bullies and bad-faith actors committed to silencing speech with which they disagree.”
Asli Bali, the president of the Middle East Studies Association, said in an interview late Friday that Columbia’s decision to bend to the Trump administration could be a “death knell” for Middle East programs.
“Now their universities are on notice that the government is looking for a settlement that includes abridging the autonomy of centers and departments devoted to the study of the Middle East,” Professor Bali said.
She added: “I’ve never seen anything comparable to this. This is totally unprecedented.”
