We recently removed the term “Near East” from the name of our department at the Morgan Library & Museum and replaced it with “Western Asia.” I wrote a piece for the Morgan’s blog detailing our rationale and linked it here. There are many other institutions currently debating the removal of such terminological remnants of nineteenth-century colonialism. I was recently invited to join a roundtable organized by the Institut für Vorderasiatische Archäologie (FU Berlin) where students, scholars and museum professionals from all around Germany discussed various aspects of the issue and voiced their support or concerns. I gave a short opening statement, the transcript of which is also copied here.
