Events

The Middle East Center hosts a wide range of public events, including lectures, cultural events, film festivals, panel discussions, and interactive workshops. All of our events are free and open to the public, unless otherwise specified. 



The Landscapes of Exile in Premodern Persian Poetry

2025 Trehan Lecture
Apr 21, 2025 at -

On Monday, April 21at 5:30 pm, the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures will hold its annual Trehan Lecture in Islamic Studies featuring Sunil Sharma of Boston University speaking on "The Landscapes of…



The Color Black: Enslavement and Erasure in Iran

Booktalk with Beeta Baghoolizadeh
Apr 24, 2025 at -

The Middle East Center is hosting Beeta Baghoolizadeh for a book talk on The Color Black: Enslavement and Erasure in Iran.



Ethnic Politics and State Foreign Policy in the Middle East and Neighboring Regions

An Emerging Scholars Event
Apr 30, 2025 at -

Join us for a fireside chat between UPenn PhD candidates Sirwan Renas and Daniel Shapiro, where they will explore how ethnic politics intersect with state foreign policy across the Middle East and neighboring regions,…



Deforming the Canon: Encounters with the History of Islamic Art, Artifact, and the Built Environment

MEC Co-Sponsored Event
May 5, 2025 - May 6, 2025 at -

In the second half of the twentieth century, the notion of convivencia—the peaceable coexistence of Muslims, Christians, and Jews living in medieval Spain—dominated the art historical discourse on cultural interaction…