Houssem Eddine Chachia
Office Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays 9:00am - 11:00am
Dr. Houssem Eddine Chachia is Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Tunis. His research intricately explores the complex historical trajectories of the Moriscos and Sephardic Jews—two communities profoundly affected by the socio-political upheavals of the Iberian Peninsula between the 15th and 18th centuries. He specializes in examining the multifaceted experiences of Iberian exile communities, focusing on their patterns of migration, adaptation, and identity formation across the Mediterranean basin, particularly in the Maghreb region. Dr. Chachia’s work also delves into Mediterranean diplomacy during this period, analyzing the cross-cultural and interreligious negotiations that shaped political alliances and conflicts between European and North African powers.
His research encompasses the socio-political dynamics of exile and diaspora, with particular attention to how displaced communities maintained transnational networks, navigated new political landscapes, and influenced Mediterranean geopolitics. By integrating diplomatic history with cultural and social perspectives, Dr. Chachia highlights the interconnectedness of Mediterranean societies and the role of minority communities in shaping early modern international relations.
He holds a Ph.D. in History (2014) and a Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches in History (2023), both from the University of Tunis. His doctoral dissertation, Sephardim and Moriscos: The Journey of the Expulsion and Installation in the Maghreb (1492–1756): Different Stories and Itineraries (2 vols.), was awarded the Ibn Battuta Prize by the Arab Center for Travel Literature.
Dr. Chachia is the author of The Morisco Landscape: Expulsion Narratives in Modern Spanish Thought (2023) and editor of Tunisia, the Mediterranean, and the Moriscos: A Tribute to Slimane Mostafa Zbiss and Mikel de Epalza. He has also published a critical edition of Aḥmad Ibn Qāsim Al-Hajari’s Nāṣir al-Dīn ‘alà Qawm al-Kāfirīn (2015). His scholarly articles have appeared in Sefarad, Hespéris-Tamuda, Les Cahiers de Tunisie, and other international journals.
His most recent paper, published in May 2025, is titled “‘Powerful Moriscos’ in Tunisia during the Seventeenth Century,” in Mercedes García-Arenal and Gerard Wiegers (eds.), The Morisco Diaspora and Morisco Networks across the Western and Eastern Mediterranean (Leiden: Brill), pp. 138–168.
Dr. Chachia has held fellowships and visiting positions at Harvard University and the University of Murcia. He participates in international research initiatives such as the COST Action Islamic Legacy (CA18129) and the CSIC project Intercultural Mediterranean Diplomacy. He currently serves on the advisory board of The Mediterranean Seminar and is a founding member of The Nadwa Seminar: Tunisia, Mediterranean, and Beyond.
He has received numerous distinctions, including the 2024 Sheikh Zayed Book Award for his book The Morisco Landscape, and the 2020 Best Young Researcher in History Award from Beit al-Hikma in Tunisia.
More information and publications are available on his Academia.edu profile, and through his research blog, The Moriscos of Tunisia.