Columbia Initiatives on the Middle East
Columbia University has a variety of institutions, groups, and forums devoted to the study of various aspects of the Middle East.
The below list catalogs just some of these many initiatives including related institutes, MEI programs, research resources, Student groups, and seminars.
For resources for Columbia Students, please see our resources and documents page.
Columbia Institutes & departments
Middle East focused Centers and Institutes at Columbia. For additional centers and departments that cover related fields please visit our list of Partners.
Center for the Study of Muslim Societies: CSMS is an umbrella for faculty collaborations in cutting-edge research, integrated programming, innovative teaching and new forms of public outreach across the related fields of research on Islam and Muslim societies at Columbia University.
Center for Palestine Studies: CPS promotes the academic study of Palestine by supporting research, teaching, and intellectual collaboration among scholars within Columbia University and beyond. CPS also builds connections with other institutions and scholars to strengthen the academic study of Palestine and Palestinians throughout the United States and the world.
Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies: The foremost academic research center in Iranian studies in the United States with an active publication program including its authoritative Encyclopedia Iranica and its Bibliotheca Persica series, including the Tabari Translation Project.
Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies: Columbia University’s center for the academic study and discussion of Jewish life, history, and culture. Covering the length, breadth, and diversity of the Jewish experience.
Sakıp Sabancı Center for Turkish Studies: The goal of the center is to increase knowledge and awareness of Turkey through research, teaching and intellectual exchange. The center also undertakes research and academic collaboration at Sabancı University in Istanbul to investigate pressing contemporary issues concerning Turkey to produce ideas and knowledge that could have an impact both within and outside academia.
Muslim Life: The purpose of Muslim Life at Columbia is to create, within this very diverse body, a united community that meets the spiritual, social, and intellectual needs of all Muslims on Columbia’s campuses, a community in which all Barnard/Columbia Muslims feel they can participate and belong.
Columbia Initiatives
Ifriqiyya Colloqium: A forum for the academic study of Islam in Africa, the seminar meets one a month to discuss invited papers from leading scholars. Research networks include the topics of pre-modern trans-African slavery and the Indian Ocean before Western colonization.
Research Ethics in the Middle East and North Africa (REMENA): The Special Commission on Social Science Research in the Middle East and North Africa is dedicated to developing guidelines for the conduct of responsible, ethical and constructive social inquiry.
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East: Edited at Columbia University since 2012, Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East (CSSAAME) seeks to bring region and area studies into conversation with a rethinking of theory and the disciplines.
Columbia Seminars
The University Seminars at Columbia University are devoted to the study of an institution, practice, or issue of theoretical and/or practical importance. Seminars are closed to the general public. To be invited to attend a seminar, please write to the seminar chair expressing your interest and qualifications in the seminar’s area of study. Event seminars that do not admit students as members may hire graduate students to serve as their rapporteurs.
405 Studies in Religion: The approaches to religion in this seminar range from the philosophical through the anthropological to the historical and comparative. We concern ourselves with religion in all of its manifestations—ancient and modern, primitive and civilized, heretical and orthodox, individual and cosmic. The guiding thread is whatever subjects are uppermost in the minds of those composing the membership at a given time. Since members come from different disciplines as well as different traditions and have a variety of personal orientations, we are assured maximum openness and flexibility.
473 The Study of the Hebrew Bible The seminar is composed of scholars of different faiths and traditions with a common interest in research and teaching of the Hebrew Bible. The focus of the seminar is research illuminating the cultural milieu, language, text, and interpretation of the Hebrew Bible. This research is characterized by a variety of methodologies, including historical-critical, literary, philological, archaeological, and sociological approaches to the text, as well as history of interpretation. Research on ancient near eastern cultures and languages relating to ancient Israel is also regularly presented.
479 The Ancient Near East: This seminar was created to coordinate the archaeological chronologies of the regions of the Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean. It meets from six to eight times a year to discuss new research and hear reports of recent fieldwork. A number of relevant papers were published in the American Journal of Archaeology from 1968 until 1988, and in 1992 in the Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society. Since then, the focus of the seminar has been widened to include all aspects of the ancient cultures of the Near East and its adjoining regions.
501 Israel and Jewish Studies: This seminar brings together approximately forty scholars from Columbia and the greater New York academic community. The seminar deals with the whole range of topics relating to Jewish studies and Israel—history, literature, sociology, religion, and political studies—and frequently presents distinguished lecturers from Israeli and European universities.
525 The Middle East: The seminar usually meets once a month during the academic year. A prominent expert from here or abroad, commonly from the Middle East, leads a four-hour discussion at each meeting, assuring ample time for serious dialogue on focused issues. The seminar provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and experiences by Middle East experts in various spheres—business, banking and investment, federal service, the foundations, the media, and the liberal professions as well as academia. The seminar has become a medium for carefully defined and informed evaluation of stubborn problems in a region that symbolizes mounting instability and proliferating crises. Detailed minutes are circulated to participating members for use without attribution to uphold the confidentiality of the discussion.
551 Ottoman and Turkish Studies: From its inception, this seminar adopted an interdisciplinary approach to Turkic studies, and its members represent many fields. At the same time, their interests span more than twelve centuries. In most years, the program covers a selection of topics reflecting current research of members. Special anniversaries such as the Atatürk centennial (1981–1982), the sixtieth anniversary of the Turkish Republic (1983–1984), and the traveling exhibition, The Age of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent (1987–1988), however, have provided themes around which all papers or a series of papers have been centered. Discussion on papers presented—no matter what their topic—has shown that dialogue between, for example, political scientist and art historian, medievalist and modernist, can be both stimulating and productive.
559 Arabic Studies: The concerns of this seminar are interdisciplinary and humanistic. In addition to Arabic language and literature, the range of interests includes topics of significance for Islamic studies: religion, philosophy, science, law and history of the Muslim world, and modern social and cultural history. The seminar affords an opportunity to members and guest speakers to discuss research in progress. Because the members come from several disciplines, the substantive discussions draw upon various fields to expand the sources, help reformulate questions, and anticipate future publications.
615 Iranian Studies: The purpose of these monthly gatherings is to present and promote new research in Iranian studies from pre- Islamic times to the present. The seminar provides an opportunity for scholars and researchers in the greater metropolitan area to meet regularly and exchange views and discuss the topics of their research interests.
MEI Initiatives
The Adab Colloquium: The MEI and CSMS-sponsored adab Colloquium at Columbia is a platform for scholars whose work engages with the range of adab practices of reading, writing, and performance from the 6th century down to the 19th century.
Gender and Body Politics: Sponsored by MEI, CSMS and the Brown University Center for Middle East Studies, the series examines intersecting inequalities and body politics expressed, represented and transgressed in both visual and performance art through conversations with artists from the Middle East and North-Africa as well as its diasporas.
Sharīʿa Workshop: The institute organized its Sharīʿa Workshop series to discuss and disseminate new research in sharīʿa, or Islamic law, an exceedingly rich and essential part of the wider Islamic tradition.
Research Resources
Islamic Studies Reading Room: Located in room 602 Butler library, the reading room contains some 4,500 non-circulating items on various facets of Islam and Islamic Studies including sourcebooks and introductions to Islam, reference texts on Islam, and Islamic societies and cultures. Its website also offers links to databases and online resources relevant to Islamic Studies that are available to the Columbia University research community:
Islamic Books, Research Blog: This Research Blog by Dagmar Riedel is dedicated to books in Arabic script as the material evidence of the intellectual and cultural history of Muslim communities in Eurasia and Africa.
Islamic Studies Library Collections and Guide: Provides resources for a wide variety of topics related to the academic study of Islam and Muslims. Historical and contemporary issues are covered as well as relations with other religious communities within the Islamic world.
Rare Book & Manuscript Library: Located on the 6th floor of Columbia University’s Butler library, this is the principal repository for special collections. We collect, preserve, describe, promote, and provide access to the material evidence of diverse individuals and activities.
If you need assistance with research on Islamic Studies or the Middle East, please reach out to the Middle East and Islamic Studies Librarian: Peter Magierski (mideast@libraries.cul.columbia.edu)
Student Groups
There are a number of student groups on campus focused on the Middle East and related communities. Student group leadership changes every year and some groups may not be regularly active. Get in touch with the groups directly to find out more.
Middle Eastern Law Students Association: MELSA is an affinity group for students of Middle Eastern descent and all students who have an interest in Middle Eastern cultures, languages, and issues at the Columbia Law School. It seeks to raise awareness and promote dialogue on a range of topics, including human rights, democratic transitions, Islamic law and finance, gender issues, and the conflicts in the region. MELSA encourages students from all backgrounds and with all viewpoints to join.
Business School Middle East and North Africa Club: The MENA Club promotes the Middle Eastern & North African heritage and culture within the Columbia Business School Community and to increase awareness about CBS in the MENA region. In addition it represents a medium for students to socialize and network with other students and professionals with interest in the Middle East region. There are four main types of activities: social (dinners parties hookah nights belly dancing classes); educational (trips speakers); networking (guest speakers corporate presentations) and career assistance (company outreach resume book). The club will also work to create awareness of the development opportunities that exist in the MENA region.
The MENA Forum: This student-run organization serves to raise awareness about pressing issues in the Middle East and North Africa among the SIPA community, and to help foster graduate student engagement with faculty and policy professionals involved in these issues. As a forum for interaction and discussions, we welcome anyone who shares an interest in the Middle East region. We are committed to promoting understanding and discussing the region’s complex politics, history and culture. The MENA Forum stimulates discussions through films and articles, and organizes activities, such as guest speakers, panels and more.
SIPA Israel Delegation: The SIPA Israel Club is a student organization run by SIPA students as a facet of the SIPA Israel Delegation. The Delegation is an initiative pioneered in the 2014-2015 school-year bringing Columbia graduate students to Israel. We aim to bring the most international and diverse group of future leaders in order to create the highest potential for future economic and political partnerships with Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and their respective governments and businesses. Together with our donors and the Dean’s Office of the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), we hope to create a legacy of Columbia graduate student involvement with Israel to complement their graduate education.
SIPA Palestine Working Group: This group represents a new effort to raise awareness, increase understanding and promote engagement among the SIPA, and Columbia, student body on Palestine. They meet, organize and advocate in order to encourage a more holistic understanding of Palestine, with specific attention devoted to the political, social, economic, cultural, historical and legal circumstances that have influenced the past and shape the future. The working group’s goal is to serve as a source of information and a means of education on an issue that is often absent from academic and social life at SIPA.
Columbia and Barnard's Arab Students Association: Turath is a nonpartisan undergraduate student association that serves to promote Arab culture at Columbia University. Our aim is to spread educational awareness about issues pertaining to the Arab world and celebrate the heritage of the Arab community. We provide a voice for students on campus who identify as Arabs, and foster a sense of Arab unity within the larger Columbia community. We achieve these goals by sponsoring events pertaining to Arab culture and identity, in which all students are welcome to participate. Turath prides itself in both supporting Arabs on campus, and reaching out to alumni networks and other Arab communities in the New York area and around the world.
Muslim Student Organization: Columbia University's Muslim Students Organization (MSA) is an organization dedicated to promoting community development among Muslims on Columbia's campus and in its immediate vicinity.
Muslim Afro Niyyah Students Association: MANSA serves to provide a space on Columbia University’s campus and surrounding community for Muslims of the African Diaspora. MANSA values unity, acceptance and islamic integrity. To foster this active community engagement, this organisation will provide a forum for discussion and education of the political, social, and cultural landscape of the Muslim and African Diaspora convergence.
Columbia Turkish Students Association: an undergraduate student organization that brings together the Turkish community at Columbia University, while also introducing Turkish culture to the general student body.
Columbia Iranian Students Association: a non-political and non-religious organization open to people of all races and ethnicities. The purpose of this organization is to direct and organize meetings and events that promote Iranian culture and customs.
Columbia Barnard Hillel: Hillel promotes Jewish life at Columbia and Barnard and beyond, through broad programming and a commitment to building a diverse Jewish community. Dedicated to helping students, regardless of their origin or destination, find their own interpretation of Jewish values, culture, community and religion by empowering them to explore, learn, and grow intellectually, spiritually and socially.
Armenian Society of Columbia University: Organization is promoting the Armenian culture and heritage at Columbia University and developing a network of students and alumni of Armenian descent or with an interest in the Armenian culture and history. ASCU also works with other Armenian and non-Armenian organizations and student societies to organize events and projects that help to promote the purpose of the society.