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 Eloquent Tyrant: Speech and Empire in Umayyad Iraq under al-Ḥajjāj b. Yūsuf al-Thaqafī, 694-714
October 27, 2026
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4:00PM - 5:30PM EDT
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CMES, Rm 102
The Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Islamic Studies Program presents Pamela Klasova Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago RSVP: https://harvard.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5v96yaO9S5y03BA Co-sponsor: Center for Middle Eastern...
Arrested Development: The US-Iran War in Historical Perspective
November 19, 2026
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4:30PM - 6:00PM EST
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CGIS Knafel 262
The WCFIA/CMES Middle East Seminar presents Nader Hashemi, Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University...
The Struggle for Hegemony: the Unraveling Middle East Order, Turkish foreign policy and Israel and Iran
December 3, 2026
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4:30PM - 6:00PM EST
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CGIS Knafel 262
The WCFIA/CMES Middle East Seminar presents Soli Ozel S enior lecturer at Kadir Has University, Istanbul; columnist at Habertürk daily newspaper Discussant: Ayşe Betül Çelik, Visting Scholar, Weatherhead Scholars Program; Professor Department of Political...
News
In Memoriam: Professor Baber Johansen
On September 29, 2026, Malika Zeghal, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor in Contemporary Islamic Thought and Life, and William A. Graham, Murray A. Albertson Research Professor of Middle Eastern Studies Emeritus, published a tribute to former CMES...
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.
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.