Search

Cemal Kafadar receives Turkey’s Presidential Grand Award in Culture and Arts

News

CMES Professor Cemal Kafadar, Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies, was one of three recipients of Turkey’s 2010 Presidential Grand Awards in Culture and Arts. In a ceremony at the Çankaya Presidential Palace on December 15, 2010, Turkish President...

Cemal Kafadar

Person

Professor Kafadar is interested in the social and cultural history of the Middle East and southeastern Europe in the late medieval/early modern era. He teaches courses on Ottoman history, urban space, popular culture as well as history and cinema. His...

Professor Cemal Kafadar and CMES Phd student Aleksander Shopov discuss historic preservation efforts in Istanbul

News

Harvard History PhD graduate Clare Gillis recently interviewed CMES PhD student Aleksander Shopov and Professor Cemal Kafadar for an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education on efforts by scholars for historical preservation in Istanbul: Another...

In the Kitchen with Kafadar

News

“Speaking about food or looking at old menus to explain the way culinary culture changes is one thing,” says Cemal Kafadar, Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies. “Hands-on exposure is another.” And so one evening in April, Kafadar led students in his...

A Cup as Complex as World

News

In a Q&A in the Harvard Gazette, CMES Director Cemal Kafadar, Vehbi Koç Professor of Turkish Studies, untangles anti-gay, migrant labor, and geopolitical tensions days before the 2022 World Cup opens in Qatar, the first Arab country to host the...

Recent PhD Dissertations

Page

test (Dissertation advisors listed in parentheses.) 2013–14 "'Licit Magic': The Touch And Sight Of Islamic Talismanic Scrolls," Yasmine F Alsaleh "Dignity and Dependency: The Politics of International Aid Provision in Palestinian Society," Sa'ed Adel...

CMES Graduate Students Awarded Certificates of Distinction

News

The Bok Center awards the Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching to outstanding teaching fellows at a special reception each semester. Award recipients have achieved 4.5 or above on the CUE evaluation's 5-point scale, with at least 7...

Congratulations, 2024-25 CMES Graduates!

News

CMES is pleased to congratulate this year's graduating students in our AM, AB/AM, and joint PhD programs. AM Graduates Mohammad Al-Mailam—Thesis: "Who Comes and Who Goes? Explaining Citizens" Migration Preferences in the Gulf" / Advisor: Melani Cammett...

Congratulations, 2025-26 CMES Graduates!

News

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...

CMES Disaster Studies Initiative Spring 2026 Colloquium

Events

The CMES Disaster Studies Initiative presents Spring 2026 Colloquium The Disaster Studies Initiative was founded by Cemal Kafadar in response to a series of highly destructive earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in February, 2023. The initiative...

Disaster Studies Initiative

Page

The Disaster Studies Initiative examines catastrophes in the Middle East and North Africa from an interdisciplinary perspective, with special focus on the history of seismicity. The initiative was founded by Cemal Kafadar at the Center for Middle Eastern...

Sohbet-i Osmani

Page

Sohbet-i Osmani presents the work of historians of Ottoman history. Chair: Cemal Kafadar