The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago has been renamed the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, West Asia and North Africa (ISAC) in an effort to better align with the research and scholarships pertaining to these regions.

According to a report by U Chicago News on April 4, the decision comes after work over the last several years to reflect its geographic focus accurately as the word “oriental” has evolved in meaning.

“Although the institute’s name has changed, our mission remains the same,” said Prof. Theo van den Hout, the institute’s interim director. “The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures continues to strive to be one of the world’s leading research centers on the ancient cultures of West Asia and North Africa. The new name better represents the breadth and depth of the diversity of our work as we continue to generate and showcase field-defining research and scholarship.”

A name-change committee was formed in 2021 to address concerns about the former name. The committee worked with faculty, staff, students, supporters and colleagues from UChicago and other institutes around the world in an effort to gather diverse input.

The ISAC was founded in 1919 and is the University of Chicago’s first research institute. It has the aim of studying the progress of ancient communities in West Asia and also North Africa. The museum contains 350,000 objects that were mostly discovered during expeditions in the 1920s through the 1940s, the report said. It works with local governments and museums for supporting initiatives and cultural heritage. Field projects have taken place in Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Sudan, Turkey and Spain.

“The collection is one of the most extensive in the world regarding ancient cultures of the Near East,” said Marc Maillot, associate director and chief curator of the ISAC Museum, according to UChicago News. “It makes the ISAC Museum the ideal place for researchers and constituents of the city to meet and share the latest scholarship in the fields of archaeology, philology and cultural heritage.”