News
In memory of Thomas Naff
The Middle East Center sends its deepest sympathy to the family and loved ones of Dr. Thomas Naff. Naff served as Director of the Middle East Center from 1967 to 1983. During his time, Naff significantly expanded both the Center and the Middle East Studies program at Penn. Naff recruited Middle East scholars across multiple disciplines, some of whom are still at Penn today.In Memoriam: Dan Ben-Amos
The Middle East Center is saddened to hear of the death of Professor Dan Ben-Amos of the Department of Near East Languages and Civilizations. A longtime member of our affiliated faculty, Professor Ben-Amos was a highly respected scholar of Jewish and African folklore, as well as a kind and beloved member of our community.Fenjan Summer 2022 Issue Out Now!
Click here to read the new issue!Congrats to the MEC's new Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Lacy Feigh!
Dr. Lacy Feigh is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Middle East Center. She completed her dissertation, entitled “Abyssinia to Ethiopia: Slavery, Race, and the Transition from Empire to Nation, 1855-1957” in Penn’s History Department in 2022.The Sachs Program for Arts Innovation 2022 Community Partnership Grant Announced for The Dido Problem Exhibition!
Penn’s Middle East Center will collaborate with Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture and Past Present Projects to develop community workshops led by German-Jordanian artist duo Areej Huniti and Eliza Goldox (Huniti Goldox), through which Al-Bustan’s constituents will create a site-specific installation to accompany Huniti Goldox’s film The Dido Problem, to be sited as an immersive experience in the histoCongrats to Austin Cooper for Successfully Defending his PhD Dissertation!
Today, Austin Cooper of the Department of History and Sociology of Science successfully defended his dissertation on “Saharan Fallout: French Explosions in Algeria and the Politics of Nuclear Risk during African Decolonization (1960-66)".MEC Student Awards 2022 - CONGRATS!
The Middle East Center would like to congratulate the following students:David Kazanjian and Rudra Sil awarded for their distinguished teaching in the School of Arts and Sciences! Read more below.
It gives us great pleasure to announce the recipients of the 2022 awards for distinguished teaching in the School of Arts and Sciences; including our very own Rudra Sil (Political Science) who won the Ira H.
Events
The Scales of Suffering: Neo-Lachrymosity and the Writing of Jewish History
MEC Co-Sponsored Event
2025 CARGC Fellows Biennial Conference: Unsettling Global Media and Communication Studies
Please join us on April 10 & 11, 2025 for a biennial CARGC fellows’ symposium that will explore the theme, "Unsettling Global Media and Communication Studies."
Book Talk: Our American Israel: The Story of an Entangled Alliance
Written by Amy Kaplan, the late Edward W. Kane Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. Her former colleagues and students will discuss the posthumously published work.
Courses
Course offerings on the Middle East at Penn are rich and multidisciplinary. All are taught by world-renowned scholars in their field with exemplary records of teaching and publishing some of the most innovative research on the Middle East and Islam.