CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT:
Professor Zachary Lockman

DIRECTOR OF GRADUATE STUDIES:
Associate Professor Khaled Fahmy

The graduate programs of the Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies provide training in fields relating to the history, cultures, languages, literatures, and religions of the Middle East, including ancient Egyptian civilization but focusing mainly on the period from the rise of Islam to the present. Members of the department are drawn from different disciplines (including anthropology, history, Islamic studies, language instruction, literature, and the study of religion) and are committed to providing students with a solid disciplinary grounding; at the same time, the department fosters interdisciplinary and comparative approaches to the study of the Middle East.

The department offers a program leading to the doctorate in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies. With the Department of History, it also offers the joint Ph.D. program in history and Middle Eastern studies.

The Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies seeks students committed to pursuing the Ph.D. degree. The Master of Arts degree is offered not as a terminal degree but as a marker of a graduate student’s progress toward the Ph.D. degree. Students interested in a master’s degree only should apply to the Program in Near Eastern Studies (see separate listings), which offers a stand-alone M.A. in Near Eastern studies, a joint M.A. in Near Eastern studies and journalism, an M.A. in Near Eastern studies with a concentration in museum studies, and an M.A. in Near Eastern studies with a business track.

Faculty

Zvi Ben-Dor Benite, Assistant Professor, History, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Ph.D. 2000 (history), M.A 1997 (history), California (Los Angeles); B.A 1991 (East Asian studies and history), Hebrew.
World history; Chinese history; Islam in China; Islamic diasporas.

Peter J. Chelkowski, Professor. Ph.D. 1968 (Persian), Tehran; M.A. 1958 (oriental philosophy), Jagiellonian. Postgraduate studies 1959-1962 (history and Islamic studies), London.
Persian literature; mysticism; Islamic studies and performing arts of the Middle East.

Sibel Erol, Senior Language Lecturer. Ph.D. 1993 (comparative literature), M.A. 1981 (English literature), California (Berkeley); B.A. 1979 (English literature and linguistics), Istanbul.
Turkish language; role of writing in teaching language; the uses of literature in language teaching; the novel; nationalism; women authors.

Khaled Fahmy, Associate Professor, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, History. D.Phil. 1993 (social and economic history), Oxford; M.A. 1988 (political science), B.A. 1985 (economics), American (Cairo).
Social history of the modern Middle East (emphasis on law and medicine); gender studies; Egypt.

Ahmed Ferhadi, Clinical Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1989 (linguistics), M.A. 1988 (teaching Arabic as a foreign language), Michigan; M.S. 1979 (applied linguistics), Edinburgh.
Arabic language; sociolinguistics; technology applications in pedagogy.

Michael Gilsenan, David B. Kriser Professor of the Humanities; Professor, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Anthropology; Director, Hagop Kevorkian Center. D.Phil. 1967 (social anthropology), Dip.Anth. 1964, B.A. 1963 (Arabic), Oxford.
Anthropology of Arab societies; forms of power and hierarchy; urban studies; Arab diasporas in Southeast Asia.

Ogden Goelet, Research Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1982 (history), M.A. 1975 (history), Columbia; B.A. 1966 (German literature), Harvard.
Egyptian cultural history; ancient Egyptian religion; Egyptian lexicography.

Hala Halim, Assistant Professor, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Comparative Literature. Ph.D. 2004 (comparative literature), California (Los Angeles); M.A. (English and comparative literature), American (Cairo); B.A. 1985 (English literature), Alexandria.
Modern Arabic literature and culture.

Amani Hassan, Language Lecturer. M.A. 1992 (comparative literature), New York; B.A. 1987 (literature), Ayn Shams (Cairo).
Arabic language and literature.

Bernard Haykel, Associate Professor, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, History. D.Phil. 1997 (oriental studies), M.Phil. 1991 (modern Middle Eastern studies), Oxford; B.A. 1989 (international politics), Georgetown.
Islamic law and society; Yemeni society and history.

Gabriela Nik. Ilieva, Clinical Associate Professor. Ph.D. 2000 (South Asian languages, ESL minor), Minnesota; M.A. 1990 (Indology), B.A. 1988 (Indology, English philology), Sofia.
Foreign language pedagogy; gender and pragmatics in Hindi and Sanskrit; historical Indo-Aryan linguistics; medieval Indian poetics.

Muhammad Kassab, Language Lecturer. M.A. 1998 (Middle East and Asian languages and cultures), Columbia; M.A. 1993 (Arabic language and literature), American (Beirut); B.A. 1980 (Arabic language and arts), Lebanese.
Arabic language and literature.

Marion Holmes Katz, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1997 (Near Eastern languages and civilizations), Chicago; B.A. 1989 (Near Eastern languages and literatures), Yale.
Ritual law; Islam.

Philip F. Kennedy, Associate Professor. D.Phil. 1995 (classical Arabic poetry), M.A. 1988 (Middle Eastern studies), B.A. 1985 (oriental studies), Oxford.
Classical and modern Arabic literature (poetry and prose); wine poetry; modern vernacular Arabic poetry.

Mohammad M. Khorrami, Clinical Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1996 (French and Persian literature), Texas (Austin); M.A. 1991 (French literature), Houston; B.A. 1980 (sociology), Tehran.
Computer-based language training; modern Persian literature.

Elias Khoury, Global Distinguished Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Diplôme d’Etudes Approfondies 1972, 1973 (social history, sociology of development), Paris I (Sorbonne).
Novelist, playwright, literary critic, editor.

Tamer el-Leithy, Assistant Professor. Ph.D. 2005, M.A. 2000 (Near Eastern studies), Princeton; M.Phil. 1997 (Near Eastern studies), Cambridge; B.A. 1994 (economics), American (Cairo).
Medieval Islamic history.

Zachary Lockman, Professor, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, History; Chair, Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Ph.D. 1983 (history and Middle Eastern studies), M.A. 1977 (Middle Eastern studies), Harvard; B.A. 1974 (Near Eastern studies), Princeton.
Modern Middle East history; history of Egypt and Palestine.

Robert D. McChesney, Professor. Ph.D. 1973 (Near Eastern studies), M.A. 1973 (Near Eastern studies), B.A. 1967 (Oriental studies), Princeton.
Early modern history of Iran and central Asia.

Mona N. Mikhail, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1972 (Arabic and comparative literature), M.A. 1967, Michigan; B.A. 1961 (English literature, comparative literature), Cairo.
Modern and contemporary Arabic language and literature; gender studies.

Tahira Naqvi, Language Lecturer. M.A. 1983 (education), Western Connecticut State; M.A. 1969 (psychology), Punjab; B.A. 1965 (English), Lahore College for Women.
Urdu language and literature; translation.

Leslie Peirce, Professor, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, History; Silver Professor. Ph.D. 1988 (Near Eastern studies), Princeton; M.A. 1966 (Middle Eastern studies), B.A. 1964 (history), Harvard-Radcliffe College.
Ottoman history; history of women and gender.

Francis E. Peters, Professor, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, Program in Religious Studies, History. Ph.D. 1961 (Islamic studies), Princeton; M.A. 1952 (philosophy and Greek), B.A. 1950 (classics), St. Louis.
Islamic history and religion; comparative Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; the Haj.

Everett K. Rowson, Associate Professor. Ph.D. 1982 (Near Eastern languages and literatures), M.Phil. 1973 (Near Eastern languages and literatures), Yale; B.A. 1968 (classics), Princeton.
Classical Arabic and Islamic philosophy; adab; law and theology.

Ella Shohat, Professor, Art and Public Policy, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Ph.D. 1986 (cinema studies), M.A. 1982 (cinema studies), New York; B.A. 1981 (philosophy and comparative literature), Bar-Ilan (Israel).
Cultural studies; postcolonial theory; transnational and gender studies.

ASSOCIATED AND AFFILIATED FACULTY IN OTHER DEPARTMENTS

K. Fleming, History, Program in Hellenic Studies; Finbarr Barry Flood, Art History; Michael Gomez, History; Alfred L. Ivry, Hebrew and Judaic Studies; Deborah Anne Kapchan, Performance Studies; Farhad Kazemi, Politics; Ali Mirsepassi, Gallatin School of Individualized Study; Timothy P. Mitchell, Politics.

FACULTY EMERITUS