Center for Middle Eastern Studies
Congratulations 2025-26 CMES Graduates!
CMES is pleased to congratulate this year's graduating students in our AM and joint PhD programs.
Upcoming Events
The End of Prophecy and the Seal of the Prophets
October 14, 2026
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5:00PM - 6:30PM EDT
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Barker Center 133 (Plimpton Room)
The Mahindra Humanities Center Medieval Studies Seminar presents Jack Tannous Associate Professor of History and Hellenic Studies, Department of History, Princeton University Bio: I am interested in the cultural history of the eastern Mediterranean...
From Syriac to Arabic: The Rise of Arabic as a Christian Language
October 15, 2026
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12:00PM - 1:30PM EDT
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CMES, Rm 102
The Mahindra Humanities Center Medieval Studies Seminar presents Jack Tannous Associate Professor of History and Hellenic Studies, Department of History, Princeton University Bio: I am interested in the cultural history of the eastern Mediterranean...
TIME CHANGE: Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East: What would it mean?
October 22, 2026
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3:00PM - 4:30PM EDT
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Knafel Rm 262
The WCFIA/CMES Middle East Seminar presents PLEASE NOTE: this talk will now take place from 3-4:30pm. Gary Samore Crown Family Director, Crown Center for Middle Eastern Studies and Professor of the Practice, Brandeis University Discussant: Steven E...
News
Fifteen Questions: Jessica Marglin on Jewish Studies, the Dudley Co-Op, and Campus Protest Culture
The Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations professor sat down with Fifteen Minutes to discuss what’s changed — and what hasn’t — on her return to the College 20 years after graduating. Read the Q&A in the Harvard Crimson's Fifteen Minutes.
Congratulations, 2025-26 CMES Graduates!
CMES is pleased to congratulate this year's graduating students in our AM and joint PhD programs. AM Graduates Arda Aslan Ida Beckett—Thesis: "'They Burnt My Beloved as If He Were Wood': The Origins, Treatment, and Entangled Characters of Coffee and...
Professor Walid Khalidi: A Reflection
On March 8, 2026, Walid Khalidi died at the age of 100, and with his death we have lost one of the foremost scholars of modern Middle Eastern history. Throughout his century of life—and for over 80 consistent years of work—Professor Khalidi, who was a...
Recent Books by Faculty & Alumni
2025
Landscape Is...! Essays on the Meaning of Landscape
Book
Landscape Is...! examines the implicit biases and received meanings of landscape. Following on from the previous publication Is Landscape…? which examined the plural and promiscuous identities of the landscape idea, this companion volume reflects upon the...
Landscape Fieldwork: How Engaging the World Can Change Design
Book
Landscape architecture is at a crossroads. The ability to draw upon interdisciplinary perspectives and generate insights from the combined vantage points of design, environmental studies, and the social sciences puts it in a prime position to address the...
Provoking the Territory: Bernard Khoury
Book
The third installment in the Dongola Architecture Series, Provoking the Territory: Bernard Khoury, explores the provocative and often polarizing practice of Lebanese architect Bernard Khoury through an intimate lens rooted in Beirut. As with previous...
Recent Dissertations & Theses
2026
Acar, Tuğrul. “The Shrine of Jalal Al-Din Rumi (d. 1273) and Early Mevlevi Architecture in Anatolia (ca. 1273-1520): Architectural Networks and Patronage”. History of Art and Architecture and MES. Harvard University, 2026.
Acar, Tuğrul. “The Shrine of Jalal Al-Din Rumi (d. 1273) and Early Mevlevi Architecture in Anatolia (ca. 1273-1520): Architectural Networks and Patronage”. History of Art and Architecture and MES. Harvard University, 2026.
Özakay, Damla. “Centralizing the Local: The Architecture of Death, Hospitality, Devotion, and Water in Amasya, C. 1209-1510”. History of Art and Architecture and MES. Harvard University, 2026.
Özakay, Damla. “Centralizing the Local: The Architecture of Death, Hospitality, Devotion, and Water in Amasya, C. 1209-1510”. History of Art and Architecture and MES. Harvard University, 2026.
2025
Amri, Myriam. “Cash Country: A Revolutionary Biography of the Tunisian Dinar”. Anthropology and MES. Harvard University, 2025.
Amri, Myriam. “Cash Country: A Revolutionary Biography of the Tunisian Dinar”. Anthropology and MES. Harvard University, 2025.
Mirza, Salmaan. “Regulating Commerce: Law and Economic Life in the Late Ottoman Empire”. History and MES. Harvard University, 2025.
Mirza, Salmaan. “Regulating Commerce: Law and Economic Life in the Late Ottoman Empire”. History and MES. Harvard University, 2025.