Profiles in "Middle Eastern Studies" Expertise Area

  • Kefeli is a specialist of Islam in Eurasia and Central Asia. She conducts fieldwork in Muslim and Christian Tatar villages, which led her to appreciate religious diversity.
  • El Hamel's research focuses mainly on issues of power/class, slavery, race/ethnicity, gender and social justice.
  • A Fulbright Scholar, Professor Ali is the founding chair of CAIS, coordinator of Arabic Studies and head of Classics and Middle East Studies at ASU.
  • Haines is co-director of ASU's Center of Muslim Experience in the U.S. and associate professor of Religious Studies. As a cultural anthropologist he researches on marginal communities and Islamic values of peace, community wellbeing, and lived ethics.
  • Mahgoub al-Tahawy is an award-winning Egyptian novelist and short story writer, and affiliated member of the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative Writing at ASU.
  • Talebi's research interests include Islam and nation-state, violence and memory, language and metaphor, prison and incarceration in contemporary Iran.
  • Dr. Lattouf teaches in the Language and Cultures unit of the College of Integrative Sciences and Arts; her area of interest is the Humanities, History of Religions, Sex/Gender Studies, Middle East and other Global Histories.
  • In 2008, Shemer started at ASU where she developed the Modern Hebrew program from the ground up, which includes language courses, cultural courses, and a study abroad in Israel.
  • Sarah R. Graff is an anthropological archaeologist focusing on early economies and social relationships connected to city life and material exchange. Her fieldwork is located in the Republic of Türkiye and the Arab World.