Faculty News

Baber Johansen (1936-2026) Born in Berlin in 1936, Baber Johansen received his PhD in Islamic studies from the Freie Universität Berlin in 1965, also having studied Arabic literature at Cairo University (1961–62). He received the habilitation in research...

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.

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...

At a meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on November 4, 2025, a tribute to the life and service of the late Roger Owen was spread upon the permanent records of the Faculty. Read the tribute to Roger Owen in the Harvard Gazette.

At a meeting of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences on December 2, 2025, a tribute to the life and service of the late Roy Parviz Mottahedeh was spread upon the permanent records of the Faculty. Read the tribute to Roy Parviz Mottahedeh in the Harvard...

Editors at Maydan, an online publication of the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, asked former students of the late Islamic and Iranian historian Roy Mottahedeh to reflect on his scholarship, personality, and impact...

“Landscape architecture is at a crossroads,” writes CMES Faculty Affiliate and Director of Graduate Studies Gareth Doherty in the introduction to his recent book, Landscape Fieldwork: How Engaging the World Can Change Design (2025). Even as digital tools...

Roger Owen (1935-2019) was for at least two generations the world’s leading economic historian of the Middle East. In 1993, he was named Harvard’s A.J. Meyer Professor of Middle East History and he was director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies...

Christina Maranci, the new Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies in the Departments of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and History of Art and Architecture, is the first person of Armenian descent to hold the position. Read a Q&A with Maranci in...