Executive Committee

On leave for the 2026-27 academic year.

Research interests: Modern Middle Eastern History (Ottoman and Post-Ottoman); Social and Cultural History; Historical Anthropology; Empire/Law

Mestyan is on sabbatical leave during 2026-27. During this period, he is a...

Derek Penslar was educated at Stanford University and the University of California at Berkeley. He taught at Indiana University between 1987 and 1998, when he moved to the University of Toronto. Between 2012 and 2016 Penslar taught at Oxford University...

Christina Maranci grew up in a diasporan Armenian family in Westport, Connecticut. She earned a BA in art history at Vassar, and an MA and PhD at Princeton in the Department of Art and Archaeology. Her work explores the art and culture of Armenia in all...

Kristen Stilt is a Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. She also serves as Faculty Director of the Animal Law & Policy Program, Director of the Islamic Legal Studies Program: Law and Social Change, and is a Deputy Dean. Stilt was named a Carnegie...

Professor Naddaff focuses on English, French, Arabic Narrative; 1001 Nights; Translation; Literature and Music; Arab-American Ethnic Identity; Cross-Cultural Literary Relations between the Arab Middle East and western Europe. In 1975, she received her AB...

Dr. Keshavjee is a professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine and Department of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He also serves as a physician in the Division of Global Health Equity at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He...

Khaled El-Rouayheb’s research interests include: the intellectual and cultural history of the Arabic-Islamic world in the Mamluk and early-Ottoman periods (1200-1800); the history of Arabic logic; Islamic theology and philosophy. He holds a BA in...

Tarek Masoud is the Ford Foundation Professor of Democracy and Governance at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. His research focuses on political development in Arabic-speaking and Muslim-majority countries. He is the author of Cou...