Leyla Rouhi
Chair of Romance Languages,Associate Professor of Spanish

If Leyla Rouhi could rule by decree, every college student would have to study a foreign language - and for extra credit, they would have to go live in some country whose language they didn't know. But as Professor Rouhi points out, in that ideal universe she probably couldn't count on the remarkable groups of students she teaches now. "Because Williams has no foreign language requirement," says Leyla, "you know every one of your students wants to be in that class. And I would say that all of them are there because they want to travel."

It's an impulse Leyla knows well, as an Iranian who went to Oxford for college and Harvard for her graduate degrees. She focuses her professional curiosity on the language, culture and history of Spain, a country that shares with Iran an unusual historical relationship with Islam. In both cases, Islamic religion and culture were imposed by Arab invaders; in Spain, Islam reigned for 800 years. "From the architecture to the cuisine," says Leyla, "Spain still retains its former Muslim identity in subtle ways." As an Iranian, she is profoundly interested in the perspectives that emerge from studying "how Spain fared and flourished at the opposite end of the Islamic empire."

Although Williamstown is a long way from home and family, Leyla has felt great sense of belonging practically since joining the faculty in 1993. She credits this in large part to the warmth, fellowship and intellectual inspiration of her faculty colleagues. "Even waiting for the copy machine to warm up, you're likely to have an intriguing conversation," says Leyla. And she finds it especially gratifying to be part of the third generation of women teaching at Williams. More generally, she says, "I'm very envious of my students for the number of interesting and thoughtful mentors available to them. I often wonder if I should have gone to college here myself."