Near and Middle Eastern Studies

Faculty

 

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Mika Ahuvia, (Ph.D., Religion, Princeton, 2014), Assistant Professor, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS), Jewish Studies and Comparative Religion; adjunct in Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, and Classical Studies;
Research and Teaching Interests: history of the Jewish people, formative history of Jewish and Christian communities in the ancient Mediterranean world, biblical texts and women’s religious history, social movements and radicalism
mahuvia@uw.edu
Arbella Bet-Shlimon (Ph.D., History, Harvard, 2012), Associate Professor, History;
Research and Teaching Interests:  modern Middle East history, Iraq, the Gulf, urban history, and oil in the Middle East
shlimon@uw.edu
Canan Bolel standing in front of a white background

Canan Bolel (Ph.D., Near and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Washington, 2022), Assistant Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC)

Research and Teaching Interests: Jewish communities in Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East, Sephardic history and culture, late Ottoman Empire and early Turkish Republic

cananbo@uw.edu
Elena Campbell (Ph.D. [equivalent], History, Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Russian History, 1999), Associate Professor, History;
Research and Teaching Interests: empire, religion and nationalism in late Imperial Russia
eicampb@uw.edu
Prof. Asli Cansunar Asli Cansunar (PhD, Political Science, Duke, 2018), Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
Research and Teaching Interests: inequality, taxation, economic development, ethnic discrimination, nation-making, state-building, public services, Turkey, and Ottoman Empire
Daniel Chirot (Ph.D., Sociology, Columbia, 1973), Professor, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS) & Sociology;
Research and Teaching Interests: causes of ethnic conflict and its solutions
chirot@uw.edu
Karam Dana (Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Washington, 2009), Associate Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell;
Research and Teaching Interests: how religion influences political identities in different cultural and societal contexts
kdana@uwb.edu
Terri DeYoung (Ph.D., Arabic Languages & Literature, California-Berkeley, 1988), Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Civilization (MELC);
Research and Teaching Interests:  Arabic languages and literature
tdeyoung@uw.edu
Purnima Dhavan, (Ph.D., South Asian History, University of Virginia, 2003), Associate Professor, History;
Research and Teaching Interests: Comparative gender, medicine, science and technology, South Asia
pdhavan@uw.edu
Jennifer Dubrow - faculty member standing by a wall Jennifer Dubrow (Ph.D., South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, 2011), Associate Professor, Asian Languages and Literature

Research and Teaching Interests: Modern Urdu literature; the history of the book in South Asia; Urdu modernism; print culture; novel, short story, and dastan genres
Hussein Elkhafaifi (Ph.D., Arabic Languages & Literature, Utah, 1985) Associate Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Civilization (MELC);
Research and Teaching Interests: Arabic languages and literature
hme3@uw.edu
Aria Fani (Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies, UC, Berkeley, 2019), Assistant Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Civilization (MELC);
Research and Teaching Interests: Persian and Iranian Studies, cultural history of Iran and Afghanistan, modern Persian literature, and transnational literary connections between Iran and Afghanistan
ariafani@uw.edu
Kathie Friedman (Ph.D., Sociology, SUNY, Binghamton, 1991), Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS);
Research and Teaching Interests: Refugee and forced migration studies; social and political integration of immigrants and their children
friedman@uw.edu
Liora R. Halperin (Ph.D., History, UCLA, 2011), Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS), History, and Jewish Studies;
Research and Teaching Interests: Israel/Palestine Studies, History of Israel/Palestine, Modern Jewish History, Cultural History, Nationalism, Collective Memory, Language policy and ideology
lhalper@uw.edu
Resat Kasaba (Ph.D., Sociology, SUNY-Binghamton, 1986), Professor, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS)  & Director, JSIS;
Research and Teaching Interests: Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey
kasaba@uw.edu
Selim S. Kuru (Ph.D., Ottoman & Turkish Literature, Harvard, 2000), Associate Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Civilization (MELC)  & Department Chair, MELC;
Research and Teaching Interests: history of sexuality and organization of gender among Ottoman urban communities through a study of Turkish pre-modern textualities with a focus on poetry and poetics
selims@uw.edu
Clark B. Lombardi (Ph.D., Religion, Columbia, 2001, J.D., Law, 1998), Professor, School of Law;
Research and Teaching Interests: Islamic legal systems, comparative constitutionalism and particularly the way that constitutional systems deal with religious organizations and religious law
lombardi@uw.edu
James Long (Ph.D., Political Science, UC San Diego, 2012), Associate Professor, Political Science;
Research and Teaching Interests: elections in fragile and developing countries (in sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan), including the determinants of voting behavior and turnout, the dynamics of electoral fraud, the impact of ICT on corruption monitoring, the causes of electoral violence, and the effects of civil war and insurgency on state-building and development
jdlong@uw.edu
Brian McLaren (Ph.D., Architecture, MIT, 2001) Associate Professor, Architecture, College of the Built Environment;
Research and Teaching Interests:  history and theory of architecture, western colonialism in Africa and the Middle East
bmclaren@uw.edu
Victor Menaldo (Ph.D., Political Science, Stanford University, 2009), Associate Professor, Political Science;
Research and Teaching Interests: comparative politics and political economy of economic development
vmenaldo@uw.edu
Devin E. Naar (Ph.D., History, Stanford, 2011), Associate Professor, History & Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS) & Chair, Sephardic Studies Program;
Research and Teaching Interests: Modern European Jewish History, Sephardic Jewry
denaar@uw.edu
Scott Noegel (Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies, Cornell, 1995), Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Civilization (MELC);
Research and Teaching Interests: Hebrew Bible, Northwest Semitic languages and literature, Assyriology, Hieroglyphic Egyptian, and Medieval Hebrew poetics
snoegel@uw.edu
Arzoo Osanloo (Ph.D., Anthropology, Stanford, 2002; J.D., Law, American University, 1993), Associate Professor, Anthropology & Law, Societies, and Justice Program & Director, Middle East Center;
Research and Teaching Interests: anthropology of law, transnational law, Islam particularly in Iran, Pakistan, and the U.S., Islam and women’s studies
aosanloo@uw.edu
Noam Pianko (Ph.D., Religious Studies/Judaic Studies, Yale, 2004), Professor, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS) & Director, Stroum Center for Jewish Studies;
Research and Teaching Interests: American Jewish History, History of Jewish Nationalism, Modern Jewish thought
npianko@uw.edu
Scott Radnitz (Ph.D., Political Science, MIT, 2007), Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS);
Research and Teaching Interests: protests, authoritarianism, informal networks, and identity
srad@uw.edu
Cabeiri deBergh Robinson (Ph.D., Anthropology, Cornell, 2005), Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS) & Anthropology, & Director, Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Near & Middle Eastern Studies;
Research and Teaching Interests: political Islam, refugees and forced migration; human rights and humanitarianism, gender and masculinity, anthropology of religious and political violence, Islam particularly in Pakistan, India, Kashmir, Afghanistan and US
cdr33@uw.edu
Haideh Salehi-Esfahani (Ph.D., Economics, U. Pennsylvania 1985), Principal Lecturer, Economics;
Research and Teaching Interests: international economics, economic development
haideh@uw.edu
Stephanie Selover (Ph.D., Anthropology, University of Chicago, 2015), Assistant Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Civilization (MELC);
Research and Teaching Interests: ancient Near Eastern archaeology, Anatolian archaeology, Levantine archaeology, archaeology of violence and warfare, destruction of cultural heritage.
sselover@uw.edu
Naomi Sokoloff (Ph.D., Comparative Literature, Princeton, 1980), Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Civilization (MELC);
Research and Teaching Interests: modern Hebrew language and literature
naosok@uw.edu
Joel Walker (Ph.D., History, Princeton, 1998), Associate Professor, History;
Research and Teaching Interests: Late Antique Middle East, especially the Sasanian Empire (224-651) and Syriac Christianity; the Mongol Empire; animal-human relations
jwalker@uw.edu
Michael Williams (Ph.D., Religion, Harvard, 1977), Professor, Comparative Religion, Jackson School of International Studies (JSIS);
Research and Teaching Interests: early Christianity and religions of antiquity; heterodox religious movements; alternative cosmological myths and social behaviors
maw@uw.edu
Hamza Zafer (Ph.D., Near Eastern Studies, Cornell, 2013), Assistant Professor, Middle Eastern Languages and Civilization (MELC);
Research and Teaching Interests: early Islamic period, textural studies, Islamics, Qur’an
hmzafer@uw.edu