The academic field of Oriental studies formally renamed itself around 1973

Evidence

The term “orientalism” or oriental studies has been replaced by “the human sciences with special reference to Asia and Northern Africa.” I recall at the steering committee of the Paris meeting in ’73, when this proposal was put forward, the strongest objection came from the late Professor Gafurov, leader of the Soviet delegation. He put in an impassioned plea for the retention of this term which “had served us well for more than a century” and which he saw no reason to change. — Bernard Lewis, From Babel to Dragomans, 2070

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Said’s Orientalism and the politics of naming academic fields
• CANDY: Nice bar-conversation fact: the Soviet delegate argued hardest to keep the colonial-era term.