2025-26

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...

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...

On April 23, Jochen Hellbeck, Distinguished Professor of History at Rutgers University, delivered the 2026 Hilda B. Silverman Memorial Lecture at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. In a revisionist history of WWII, Hellbeck argues that it was not the...

Adam Mestyan, Ford Foundation Professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, has been selected by The Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation as a Fellow in the 101st class...

Baber Johansen, Professor of Islamic Studies Emeritus at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) and former Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, passed away in late January 2026. Johansen’s scholarship transformed the study of Islamic jurisprudence...

Long-time CMES Fellow Walid Khalidi died March 8 at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. As a historian and diplomat, Khalidi gave intellectual shape to his people and made sure that they played a role in negotiating their future. Read about Khalidi's...