News | Department of Near Eastern Studies

church building with a green-blue bell tower

History Center exhibit chronicles excavation at Ithaca’s ‘Freedom Church’

The exhibit on Ithaca’s St. James A.M.E. Zion Church will open on Juneteenth with a community event scheduled for 4 p.m.

From posters to precedent, humanities scholars showcase their research

Projects spanned topics from Confederate cemeteries to Korean textiles.

Pink flowering tree and a stone colonade with people on the steps

Outstanding faculty win 2025 teaching and advising awards

Among those being recognized for exceptional teaching and mentorship this year are faculty members Begüm Adalet, Claudia Verhoeven, and Marcelo Aguiar.

'Courses outside of my major were among the most fascinating and valuable I took'

Sam Bueker is majoring in government & Near Eastern studies.

'I have a better sense of my place in the world'

Hyrum Edwards is a Robert S. Harrison College Scholar who also majored in history, Jewish studies & Near Eastern studies.

'I understand truly how interconnected the world and its people are'

Ashley Koca is a Robert S. Harrison College Scholar and also majors in Near Eastern studies and history of art.

Death of Pope Francis marks end of historic papacy

Cornell experts comment on the legacy of Pope Francis, who died on Monday, marking the end of a historic papacy.

Historic photo of about 20 people, many of them children arranged in rows against a stone wall of a building

Ethnic cleansing explored in Annual Armenian Genocide Commemoration Lecture

Columbia University's Khatchig Mouradian will give a lecture, “Ethnic Cleansing in the Long 19th Century: The Native American, Circassian, and Armenian Cases,” on April 24.

Fulbright funds research on early Egyptian radio

With the award, Ziad Fahmy is working on the first critical history of early Egyptian radio.

Junior wins international reporting honor

Gabe Levin, editor in chief of the Cornell Daily Sun and a student in the College of Arts & Sciences, spent the summer of 2024 reporting on the Israel-Gaza war.

Orange red and white horizontal streaks of light under a dark blue sky, showing automobile traffic in motion at night

New Klarman Fellows to join the College of Arts and Sciences

Fellows will pursue research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.

Alums offer mentoring to students exploring career options

Melissa Lewin ’00 and her husband Rob ’99 are active backers of Cornell through their support of Cornell’s Public History Initiative and the archaeology program.

Ancient ship underbody, just a skeleton of wood

Manning honored for contributions to archaeology

Sturt Manning, received the P. E. MacAllister Field Archaeology Award at the Annual Meetings of the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR) in Boston in November.

Klarman Fellow wins Middle East Studies dissertation award

Olga Verlato's dissertation, “Languages of Power and People: Multilingualism, Politics, and Resistance in Modern Egypt and the Mediterranean,” received the Malcolm H. Kerr Award from the Middle East Studies Association of North America.

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University celebrates top faculty for outstanding teaching, mentoring

Eleven teaching faculty from across the university have been awarded Cornell’s highest honors for graduate and undergraduate teaching, Interim President Michael I. Kotlikoff announced Oct. 22.

Archaeology conference focuses on cultural erasure

“Unearthing Unseeing: Archaeology, Heritage, and Forensics in the Shadow of State Violence” will highlight new approaches to cultural remains caught up in contemporary conflicts and past trauma.

A&S announces membership in MLA Strategic Partnership Network

“We felt this is an important resource that should be available to our humanists at all levels, whether they have the resources to pay for membership or not,” said Peter John Loewen, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author from Jerusalem to speak Oct. 10

Nathan Thrall will talk about his most recent book, “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy.”

Four people work at a plastic patio table in the midst of ancient ruins: they are archaeologists on an excavation site

Modeling an ancient house and garden in 3D

Cornell researchers have received a $150,000 NEH Digital Humanities Advanced Grant to create a 3D virtual modeling project based on the Casa della Regina Carolina, a large Pompeian house.

Final speaker in series examining antisemitism, Islamophobia

Cornell’s “Antisemitism and Islamophobia Examined” series concludes this semester with a talk by Derek Penslar, the William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History at Harvard University.

Detail of a woven cloth showing figures dressed in red and yellow

Language ‘Sustainability through Collaboration’ Conference at Cornell

Cornell, the only institution offering regular multilevel instruction in all six of the major Southeast Asian languages – Burmese, Indonesian, Khmer, Filipino (Tagalog), Thai and Vietnamese – will host a conference on the teaching of these languages on Sept. 19-21.

From portfolios to pizza, fall A&S career events explore diverse fields

"Cornell alumni are generous with their time and efforts to assist students, to answer questions from students, or connect them to people and places."

Dean Peter Loewen posing behind the A.D. White statue on the Arts Quad

New A&S dean relishes ‘life in a university’

Peter John Loewen says he's excited to support faculty in their research, meet students and showcase the value of a liberal arts education.

Peter Loewen named dean of Arts and Sciences

Coming from the University of Toronto, where he was the director of the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, Loewen began his five-year appointment as the Harold Tanner Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Aug. 1.

College campus with stately buildings and green lawns under a blue sky, with a lake in the background

Committee to recommend final expressive activity policy

The committee of faculty members, students and staff has begun a review of the university’s interim expressive activity policy and will recommend a final policy early in the fall semester.

National Humanities Center selects two A&S professors as 2024-25 Fellows

Kim Haines-Eitzen, the Paul and Berthe Hendrix Memorial Professor of Near Eastern studies, and Mostafa Minawi, associate professor of history and director of Critical Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Studies, will pursue research projects in residence in Durham, North Carolina.

pink blossoms on branches in the foreground; McGraw Tower in the background with a clear blue sky

Outstanding A&S teachers, advisors honored with 2024 awards

Among the faculty members being recognized this year for exceptional teaching and mentorship are Liliana Colanzi, Durba Ghosh, and Nick Admussen.

'I learned to push the boundaries of what I could accomplish'

Tessa Walden is a Near Eastern studies and government major.

A career focused on voting rights

Alumna Jenna Zitomer '18 discusses her involvement with civic engagement through the Voter Participation Center in Washington, D.C.

Exploring the remains of ancient daily life

The collection “Households in Context: Dwelling in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt” shifts the archaeological perspective from public and elite spaces such as temples, tombs and palaces to everyday dwellings and interactions of families.

Milstein faculty fellow's course examines tech's role in cultural preservation

As a new faculty fellow in the Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity, Adam T. Smith co-developed the new course this spring.

Summer Experience Grant applications now open

The grants provide funding for students in unpaid or low-paying summer experiences to offset the cost of taking on those positions.

Smiling woman with glasses and shoulder-length brown hair.

Understanding politics at home and abroad: Sarah Cutler '16

Sarah Cutler, an alumna of Arts & Sciences, has used her work in journalism to help people understand political polarization in the U.S.

Several people stand in front of a white portico

Students in DC examine antisemitism, Islamophobia

Students from the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy’s Cornell in Washington program will have an opportunity to observe in person how policymakers contend with Islamophobia and antisemitism at a White House briefing on March 14.

trees with pink blossoms in front of a clock tower and a library building

Talk focuses on academic freedom post Oct. 7

On March 13, the Department of Near Eastern Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences will host “Academic Freedom and Middle East Scholars after Oct. 7,” one of Cornell’s Freedom of Expression theme year events.

Overhead view of Cornell's campus buildings under a light sky, with a lake in the distance

Twelve new Klarman Fellows to pursue innovative, timely research in A&S

This fifth cohort of Klarman Fellows is the largest since the program was launched in 2019.

Speaker series to examine antisemitism, Islamophobia

Leading academics from around the country will join Cornell experts in a semester-long series, “Antisemitism and Islamophobia Examined.”

Alumni Spotlight: Nelly Silagy Benedek '84

Nelly Silagy Benedek, class of ’84, was a College Scholar and majored in English, Art History, and Near Eastern Studies, concentrating on modernism in art and poetry.

Book cover: Racial Blackness and Indian Ocean Slavery

Tracing Indian Ocean slavery through Iranian cinema

In a new book, Professor Parisa Vaziri explores how Iranian cinema preserves the legacy of Indian Ocean slavery.

Minawi wins Middle East Studies Association book prize

The award was given for “Losing Istanbul: Arab-Ottoman Imperialists and the End of Empire.”

Cristian Gonzalez standing outside, smiling

Alumni Spotlight: Cristian Gonzalez '20

Cristian graduated from Cornell University in 2020 with majors in Near Eastern Studies and Government and minors in Arabic, Jewish Studies, Law & Society, and History. Cristian chose to pursue Near Eastern Studies to further his understanding of the impacts of colonialism on identity formation for the many peoples of the Middle East and North Africa through the lens of history, language, and religion.

Person gestures from behind a podium with a microphone