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
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...
HMECA Book Sale
October 26, 2026
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11:00AM - 5:00PM EDT
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CMES, Rm 102
Join us on Monday, October 26, 11am-4pm, for the annual HMECA Book Sale at CMES 102. The titles are priced from $3-$5. Proceeds support the Harvard Middle Eastern Cultural Association (HMECA). The book sale is open to everyone. Cash and Venmo will be...
The Kurdish Peace Process and the Future of the Middle East
October 26, 2026
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12:30PM - 2:00PM EDT
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CGIS South, Rm 250
The WCFIA Global Scholars Network on Identity Conflict presents a panel on the Kurdish peace process with Ayşe Betül Çelik, Weatherhead Center Visiting Scholar and Professor, Sabancı University Ibrahim Al-Assil, Senior Research Fellow, Harvard Middle East...
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.
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...
Recent Books by Faculty & Alumni
2025
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...
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...
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.