Undergraduate and Doctoral Thesis Prizes

The Alwaleed Program will offer prizes for both undergraduate and doctoral theses related to Islam and Muslim societies. Submissions are due April 17, 2020.

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Alwaleed bin Talal Seminar in Islamic Studies

Bringing world-class experts on topics ranging from Islamic law and theology to contemporary politics and Islam in America and West Africa to Harvard

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Research Methods in Islamic Studies

A workshop series designed to support the research of Harvard students, faculty and visiting fellows

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Thinking Islam Within Religious Studies Conference

Convened by Professor Ahmed Ragab in honor of Professor William A. Graham on the occasion of his retirement

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Spring 2020 Courses

Explore courses related to Islam and the Muslim world offered this spring

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The Alwaleed Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University is dedicated to furthering the scholarly study of Islam and the Muslim world on an interdisciplinary, global basis.

News

Undergraduate and Doctoral Thesis Prizes

March 30, 2020

Submissions for the Alwaleed Bin Talal Thesis Prizes are due on April 17, 2020!

Thesis Prizes 2020

An Update from the Alwaleed Program

March 12, 2020

Dear members of the Islamic studies community,

In accordance with Harvard's new restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) on gatherings of 25 or more people and both domestic and international travel, the Alwaleed Program will postpone the remainder of our events scheduled for the spring 2020 semester. We hope to be in touch in the near future about new dates for our seminars, research methods workshop, and other events.

Please note, however, that we still invite submissions for the... Read more about An Update from the Alwaleed Program

Seminar: Early Shiite Law and the Construction of the Shari'a by Robert Gleave

November 25, 2019

Robert Gleave, Professor of Arabic Studies, University of Exeter, spoke at Harvard Law School in our final seminar of Fall 2019, co-sponsored by The Law and Religion Lecture Series (The Committee on Study of Religion, The Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish & Israeli Law at Harvard Law school, Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World at Harvard Law School) and Program in Islamic Law at Harvard Law School.

...

Conference on the Transmission and Reception of the Qurʾān in Light of Recent Scholarship

December 7, 2019

At the end of the Fall 2019 semester, Professor Shady Nasser convened a conference in which leading experts in Qurʾānic studies from North America and Europe shared their recent and impactful work related to the history of the reception of the Qurʾān.

Quran conference pictures

The...

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Upcoming Events

2020 Apr 13

MEBB Session V: Presentation by Rida Moumni

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location:

Barker Center 114 (12 Quincy St)

Apr 13: Dr. Ridha Moumni (Tunisia Postdoctoral Fellow, CMES)

Paper title/abstract: TBD

The Middle East Beyond Borders (MEBB) workshop aims to foster an interdisciplinary community of scholars working on the past and present of the Middle East. It takes as its founding premise the idea that the “Middle East” as an object of inquiry must fundamentally engage notions of boundaries, mobility and...

See also: Harvard Event

2020 Apr 23

AKPIA Lecture: “Qusayr 'Amra: The Pandora's Box of Early Islamic Aesthetics”

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location:

Arthur M. Sackler Building, Room 422

Nadia Ali

Faculty Fellow, Silsila: Center for Material Histories, New York University

The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture Lecture Series is open to the public. For further information, call 617-495-2355 or email agakhan@fas.harvard.edu. Previous lectures can be seen here.

2020 Apr 27

MEBB Session VI: Child Custody Doctrine in al-Andalus, 11th – 15th c.

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location:

Barker Center 114 (12 Quincy St)

Apr 27: Janan Delgado (PhD Candidate, Committee on the Study of Religion)

Paper title: Child Custody Doctrine in al-Andalus, 11th – 15th c.

Abstract: This chapter in my dissertation takes custody law in the Mudawwana al-Kubrā of Saḥnūn (d. 240/ 854) as point of departure and analyzes the evolution and growth of this body of law in normative legal works authored by Andalusian Mālikīs between the 11th and the 15th centuries. Particular attention is given to the scholarly conversation and khilāf around two key questions in custody law: first,...

See also: Harvard Event

Past Events

2020 Mar 30

Session IV: Jewish Minorities, Muslim Ascendancy, and Foreign Pressure: The 1857 Trial of Batto Sfez in Tunis

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location:

Barker Center 114 (12 Quincy St)

Mar 30: Laura Thompson (PhD Candidate, Committee on the Study of Religion)

Paper title: Jewish Minorities, Muslim Ascendancy, and Foreign Pressure: The 1857 Trial of Batto Sfez in Tunis

Abstract: This chapter looks at the 1857 prosecution of Tunisian Jew Batto Sfez for blasphemy, and his oft-cited but little examined trial and execution, which helped spur the Regency of Tunis's 1861 constitution. By examining archival documents from Sfez's trial - including witness statements - as well as letters exchanged by the Bey of Tunis and the Ottoman...

See also: Harvard Event

2020 Mar 09

Session III: A Leak on the Halfa Line: Arguing the Power and Perils of Public Information

6:00pm to 7:30pm

Location:

Barker Center 114 (12 Quincy St)

Mar 9: Chloe Bordewich (PhD Candidate, HMES)

Paper title: A Leak on the Halfa Line: Arguing the Power and Perils of Public Information

Abstract: The introduction of the telegraph to Egypt in 1854 heralded an age in which many more people than ever before had access to information about the state’s activities. As openness became a new norm, authorities were forced to rethink what was secret—now that secrecy could no longer be taken for granted. By the end of the century, khedival Egypt’s position within and between the Ottoman and British Empires had placed it...

See also: Harvard Event

2020 Mar 05