News & Announcements
Promotion
The Middle East Center congratulates NELC Professor Joseph E. Lowry on his promotion to Associate Professor. Professor Lowry is the author of Early Islamic Legal Theory: The Risala of Muhammad ibn Idris al-Shafi’i, which was published in 2007 by Brill. His book presents a comprehensive reinterpretation of the Risala, the earliest preserved work of Islamic legal theory. For more information about the book, follow this link
Appointment
The Middle East Center is pleased to announce that NELC Professor Roger Allen has been appointed as the Sascha Jane Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania. We congratulate him and wish him the best in his new position.
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In the summer of 1965 the University of Pennsylvania set up a center for the study of the modern Near East. The Center formed a part of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and looked to add a contemporary dimension to Penn’s programs in ancient and medieval studies of the Middle East. Click here for more historical information. Today, the Center's mission remains raising awareness of the unique circumstances of the region through research and instructional programs. The MEC has adopted an interdisciplinary approach to the study of the Middle East, and we offer a wide range of educational opportunities to support this endeavor.
Our Philosophy
The Middle East Center is non-partisan and takes no official political position on any issues. Instead, it is a hub for nurturing research, teaching, and an appreciation of things Middle Eastern. It draws on the extensive resources that Penn has dedicated to the region.
Major and Minor in Modern Middle East Studies at Penn
In 2007, the MEC offered undergraduate students the opportunity to concentrate their studies on the region by offering both a major and a minor in Modern Middle East Studies. This interdisciplinary degree allows students to combine coursework from several departments in the humanities and social sciences. It also incorporates language study in the preparation of undergraduates committed to the major. For more information about the requirements, click here.
**Graduation News**- NEW!
Read what our '09 graduates said about the major!
Certificate of Study in Middle East and Islamic Studies at Penn's Law School
The Center is proud to announce a new program available to law students at the University of Pennsylvania who meet the proper criteria. To qualify for the Certificate of Study in Middle East and Islamic Studies, students must successfully complete at least four courses that have been identified by the MEC as meeting the requirements of this degree's coursework. For more information, click here.
Outreach Program for Educators and the Public
The MEC provides kindergarten-through-high school teachers, as well as the wider public, access to the multitude of resources on the Middle East available through the University of Pennsylvania. Our outreach activities reflect the diverse nature of the region and embrace a wide array of faiths, languages, civilizations, countries, and issues in the Middle East. We are available to cater to the different needs and interests of educators, the media, religious congregations, and the general public. Although the MEC takes no official stance on any controversial topics, we provide a public forum for dialogue on issues related to the region. For more information on our Outreach Program, click here.
Summer Opportunities - NEW!
The MEC now aggregates opportunites for teachers, students and professionals to improve their language ability and studies of the Middle East. For information on programs please click here.
Podcasts - NEW!
The MEC will upload popular lectures to iTunes as podcasts. The inaugural episode features Professor Sylvia Vatuk's lecture on "Islamic Feminism in India: Muslim Women Activists and the Reform of Muslim Family Law" as part of our Women and Islamic Law series. Find the lectures through iTunesU, or by following this link.
The Middle East Center has now uploaded two new Podcast episodes! In our Persian Cultural Series you can now listen to Prof. Mahvash Alemi's lecture on Safavid gardens from April 6, 2009. To listen, click here. If you are a PennKey holder you can access a .pdf of the power point referred to in the lecture by clicking here. We have also uploaded the most recent entry in our Women and Islamic Law Seminar: Prof. Farzaneh Milani of the University of Virginia's April 16 lecture on "Reading and Misreading Iranian Women in the US."
For all of our upcoming events, click here!
Click here for a message about the Center's co-sponsorship of events on campus.
NEWS and EVENTS:
October 9-10
Time and Location TBA
Symposium
Imperialism and Colonialism in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa
The State of Present Research
The purpose of the workshop is to explore how scholars define imperialism and colonialism in several regions of the world: its legacies and its contemporary manifestations. Paper submission by invitation only. Attendance is open to the public.
Thursday November 12
Multi-Lingual Poetry Reading
A Sea of Voices
Kelly Writers House
MEC is proud to co-sponsor this multi-lingual group poetry reading, drawn from a recent anthology, A Sea of Voices: Women Poets in Israel, edited by Marjorie Agosin. The anthology collects poems by women who wrote or write in a number of languages in Israel--Hebrew, Yiddish, Ladino, Arabic, German, Spanish, English, Russian, German, and Finnish. The event will feature readings by Marjorie Agosin, a Spanish professor at Wellesly College, as well as Penn faculty and students.
Monday November 16
Time and Location TBA
Conference on Gender in Judaism and Islam
MEC director Dr. Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Professor of History, and Dr. Beth S. Wenger, Director of the Jewish Studies Center and Associate Professor of History, received funding from the Mellon Cultural Diversity Conference Fun to organize this conference discussing gender in Judaism and Islam. Papers by invitation only. Attendance open to the public.
Check back in June for more events!