Near and Middle Eastern Studies – UW Graduate School Skip to content

Near and Middle Eastern Studies

The Near and Middle Eastern Studies Interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program is designed for students with a master’s degree who wish to pursue research with a comparative perspective in the following fields: Near Eastern languages and literature (Arabic, Hebrew, Persian [or Dari or Tajik]); Turkish and Central Asian Turkic languages; Near Eastern linguistics; Islamic topics, namely Islamic law, history, institutions, theology and mysticism; comparative religion (Judaism, Christianity and Islam); or interdisciplinary investigations of modern topics using the social sciences.

Program Website

Degree offered

Doctor of Philosophy (Near and Middle Eastern Studies)

Program director/interdisciplinary group chair

  • Cabeiri deBergh Robinson, Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies

Interdisciplinary faculty group membership

The following are the core/voting graduate faculty members of the interdisciplinary group. For a complete list of faculty active in the program, see the program website.

  • Denya Al-Saleh, Assistant Professor, Jackson School of International Studies
  • Mika Ahuvia, Assistant Professor, Jackson School of International Studies
  • Arbella Bet-Shlimon, Associate Professor, Department of History
  • Canan Bolel, Assistant Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
  • Elena Campbell, Associate Professor, Department of History
  • Daniel Chirot, Professor, Jackson School of International Studies & Department of Sociology
  • Karam Dana, Associate Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell
  • Terri DeYoung, Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
  • Purnima Dhavan, Associate Professor, Department of History
  • Jennifer Dubrow, Associate Professor, Department of Asian Languages & Literature
  • Hussein Elkhafaifi, Associate Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
  • Aria Fani, Assistant Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
  • Kathie Friedman, Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies
  • Liora Halperin, Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies and Department of History
  • Resat Kasaba, Professor, Jackson School of International Studies
  • Selim S. Kuru, Associate Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
  • Clark B. Lombardi, Professor, School of Law
  • James Long, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
  • Brian McLaren, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture
  • Victor Menaldo, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science
  • Devin E. Naar, Associate Professor, Department of History & Jackson School of International Studies
  • Scott Noegel, Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
  • Arzoo Osanloo, Associate Professor, Law, Societies and Justice
  • Noam Pianko, Professor, Jackson School of International Studies
  • Scott Radnitz, Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies
  • Cabeiri deBergh Robinson, Associate Professor, Jackson School of International Studies
  • Haideh Salehi-Esfahani, Principal Lecturer Emeritus, Department of Economics
  • Stephanie Selover, Assistant Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures 
  • Naomi Sokoloff, Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
  • Joel Walker, Associate Professor, Department of History
  • Michael Williams, Professor, Jackson School of International Studies
  • Hamza Zafer, Assistant Professor, Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures