Events

“Forming Modern Arabic Literature”

with

Levi Thompson

University of Texas

Levi Thompson is an assistant professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His research focuses on modernist literary developments outside of Europe. Levi’s first book, Reorienting Modernism in Arabic and Persian Poetry (Cambridge 2022) won the inaugural edition of the Modern Language Association’s Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Middle Eastern Studies. 

CMES host Amahl Bishara (Tufts University) for the spring Master Class.  Professor Bishara will also deliver the 2025 Talat and Isabelle Othman Lecture on Thursday, April 10.

“‘The Eye of the King’ in the Iranian Tradition”

with

Touraj Daryaee

University of California, Irvine

The 39th Annual MEHAT Conference returns on May 2-3, 2025. Since its inception more than three decades ago, this University of Chicago conference has earned a reputation as one of the premier academic gatherings in the field. Capitalizing on its setting at a university with a strong tradition in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, MEHAT has established itself as a major forum for emerging scholars across disciplines to share their research with peers, receive constructive feedback, and establish fruitful academic relationships. Participants come from North America, Europe, and the Middle East, and they have traditionally included researchers at every stage of their careers.

Check back soon for the full schedule.

“The Turkish Shuubiyya: The Qarakhanids and the Formation of a Medieval Turkish Islamic Identity”

with

Andrew Peacock

University of St Andrews