News

Julia Rhyder Selected as a Short-Term Fellow at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies

June 05, 2026

Julia Rhyder has been selected as a short-term fellow at The Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. She will be a fellow during the Fall 2026 term. Please find more information about the fellowship here. Congratulations...

Peter Der Manuelian Awarded a Frontiers of Innovation for Societal Impact Fund Grant

June 05, 2026

Peter Der Manuelian and the Giza Project have been awarded a Frontiers of Innovation for Societal Impact Fund grant to help transform the project from an academic archive into an active AI Innovation Hub. Congratulations!

Khaled El-Rouayheb Named a New Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

April 27, 2026

Khaled El-Rouayheb has been named a 2026 new member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Please find the Harvard Gazette article here about his and the other seven Harvard faculty appointments here. Congratulations!

Adam Mestyan Selected as 2026 Guggenheim Fellow

April 15, 2026

Adam Mestyan has been selected by The Board of Trustees of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation as a Fellow in the 101st class. Read more about the 2026 Guggenheim Fellows here. Congratulations! Photo credit: Metwally Ryad

New Book Edited by Christina Maranci

April 10, 2026

Christina Maranci and Peter Bouteneff have edited a new book, Rethinking Sacred Arts (SVS Press, 2025). Bringing together leading scholars and practicing artists, this first volume of the new Sacred Arts series explores these and other questions across...

Malika Zeghal's Book a Finalist for the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion: Historical Studies

March 03, 2026

Malika Zeghal's new book, The Making of the Modern Muslim State: Islam and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa (Princeton University Press, 2024), was named a finalist for the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of...

Masoud Ariankhoo Selected as a Three Minute Thesis Finalist

February 19, 2026

NELC PhD candidate, Masoud Ariankhoo , has been selected as one of the finalists in the Three Minute Thesis competition. Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) is a competition for master's and doctoral students to develop and showcase their research communication...

2025 Alwaleed Bin Talal Dissertation Prize Awarded to Two NELC Graduates

October 31, 2025

Congratulations to Dr. Conor Dube and Dr. Haci Osman Gündüz (Ozzy) for winning the 2025 Alwaleed Bin Talal Dissertation Prize in Islamic Studies! Dr. Dube won for his dissertation entitled, Interpreting the Qurʾān in the Islamic West (7th – 11th c.)...

Zakir Gul Published an Article

October 28, 2025

Zakir Gul , PhD candidate, has published an article, entitled Wandering Metaphors, Woven Worlds: Icons, Buddha-Idols and Demon-Deities from Inner Asia and India to Ottoman Europe. It has been published by the Nesir: Journal of Literary Studies . A copy of...

Students Meet Syrian Minister of Labour and Social Affairs

October 27, 2025

Recently, students from Professor Adam Mestyan's course, Syria: A History, 1900 - 2025, had the opportunity to meet with the Syrian Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, Hind Kabawat . The Minister had given a talk entitled, Syria in Transition , at the...

Julia Rhyder Named the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities

October 14, 2025

Julia Rhyder has been appointed as the John L. Loeb Associate Professor of the Humanities! Congratulations!

Julia Rhyder's Research Featured in a New York Times Article

September 17, 2025

Julia Rhyder's research on pig prohibition was recently featured in the New York Times article entitled, Pig Organ Transplants May Pose a Dilemma for Some Jews and Muslims . Congratulations, Julia!