Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Program

Core Faculty

Eva Bellin
Eva Bellin
Myra and Robert Kraft Professor of Arab Politics in the Department of Politics and the Crown Center for Middle East Studies
Department of Politics
781-736-5336 Lemberg Hall, 225
Office Hours: On Leave

Expertise: Comparative politics and Middle East politics

Jonathan Decter
Jonathan Decter
Edmond J. Safra Professor of Sephardic Studies
Medieval and Renaissance Studies Program and Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
781-736-2960 Lown Center for Judaica Studies, 210

Expertise: Jews of the Islamic world, medieval Hebrew literature, medieval Jewish studies, Sephardic studies, medieval Jewish thought

Carl Sharif El-Tobgui
Carl Sharif El-Tobgui
Assistant Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies and Director of the Arabic Language Program
Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
781-736-2071 Lown Center for Judaica Studies, 206
Office Hours: 10-11 a.m. Tuesdays and 11 a.m.-noon Wednesdays

Expertise: Islamic thought, theology, law and jurisprudence; Arabic language (Qur'anic, classical and modern) and classical Arabic literature and poetry

Shai Feldman
Shai Feldman
Founding Director, Crown Center for Middle East Studies and Professor of Politics
Department of Politics
781-736-5321 On leave
Office Hours: On leave

Expertise: International relations and Middle East politics

Nader Habibi
Nader Habibi
Henry J. Leir Professor of Economics of the Middle East (Crown Center), Senior Lecturer
Department of Economics and Brandeis International Business School
781-736-5325 Lemberg Hall (Crown Center), 224
Office Hours: 11 a.m.–12 p.m. Mondays and 2-3 p.m. Thursdays

Expertise: Economics of the Middle East

Alexander Kaye
Alexander Kaye
Karl, Harry, and Helen Stoll Assistant Professor of Israel Studies
Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
781-736-5923 Mandel Center for the Humanities, 317
Office Hours: Noon-1 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays

Expertise: Ancient, medieval and modern Jewish history and European intellectual history, legal and political thought of religious Zionists in the 20th century, relationship between law, religion and politics in Mandate Palestine and Israel

Pascal Menoret
Pascal Menoret
Renee and Lester Crown Professor of Modern Middle East Studies, Department of Anthropology
Chair and UAH, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies program
781-736-5313 Lemberg Hall, 227

Expertise: Urban anthropology, infrastructure, religion, youth politics, Islamism, Arabian Peninsula Middle East

Yehudah Mirsky
Yehudah Mirsky
Associate Professor of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, and the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies
Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies
781-736-3977 Mandel Center for the Humanities, 318
Office Hours: 11 a.m.-noon Thursdays

Expertise: Jewish thought, Jewish law and ethics, Israeli religion and culture and Zionist intellectual history, political thought and human rights

Amy Singer
Amy Singer
Sylvia K. Hassenfeld Chair in Islamic Studies
781-736-2281 Olin-Sang American Civilization Center, 217
Office Hours: 3:30-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays and by appointment

Expertise: Ottoman and Turkish history; charity and philanthropy in Islamic history; agrarian history; Ottoman Jerusalem and Palestine

Naghmeh Sohrabi
Naghmeh Sohrabi
Director for Research, Crown Center for Middle East Studies and Charles (Corky) Goodman Professor of Middle East History
Department of History
781-736-5327 Lemberg Hall, 108

Expertise: Modern Middle East history, modern Iran history, nationalism, historiography, comparative revolutions