Middle East Medievalists

PhD position on the project 'Pustules, Palaeogenetics and Pandemics from Galen to Rhazes: How to do the Early History of Smallpox and Measles’ at the University of Exeter

jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecr...

Tobunken Symposium: Genealogies in Motion: Recording, Visualizing, and Mobilizing Lineage across the Islamicate World

www.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/news/news...

“Medieval & Early Modern Cartography: An Introduction”
Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar

22–25 June 2026

(Remote)

www.mediterraneanseminar.org/overview-med...

Any questions may be directed to mcnconference2026@gmail.com.

Registration fees:

• €10 – members of the public, students, and PhD candidates
• €20 – postdoctoral and permanent staff

Speakers and members of the Scientific and Organisational Committees are not required to register or pay.

The conference will also include a social programme. Details of this are still being finalised, but will include a (paid) conference dinner, and a free lunch on the second day provided by a Caucasian restaurant in Brussels.

The in-person component of the hybrid conference will take place at the U-Residence, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium, on March 13th-14th 2026. It is also possible to participate online.

Featuring keynote speakers Nik Matheou (University of Edinburgh) and Irina Arzhantseva (Insitute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences).

The conference features two days of papers on a variety of topics, from the Caucasian slave trade, to the place of women in medieval Armenian society, to the bioarchaeology of the medieval Caucasus.

This international conference is organised by the SHOC Research Group at Vrije Universiteit Brussel, in association with the Medieval Caucasus Network and the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research.

📢 Registration is now OPEN for:

Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus
📍 Vrije Universiteit Brussel
🗓 13–14 March 2026
📌 Brussels & Online (Hybrid)

🔗 Register: www.vub.be/en/event/stu...

📅 Send materials by Thursday, February 15 at 8pm so the board can review them for sponsorship ahead of the MESA deadline (Feb 17).

📧 Email submissions and/or questions to:
Jonathan Brack
Jonathan.brack@northwestern.edu

⏳ Please note: The deadline for MESA 2026 submissions is February 17, 2026.

As in previous years, MEM will sponsor panels at MESA 2026.

We encourage all medievalists organizing panels to send us:
• Abstracts for individual papers
• A panel abstract
• Names of participants

Call for Papers Call for Papers for MESA annual meeting.

The Call for Papers for Middle East Studies Association 2026 (60th Annual Meeting) is now live.

🗓 Nov 21–24, 2026
📍 Hilton Boston Park Plaza

Learn more & submit: mesana.org/annual-meeti...

📢 The deadline for submission of panels for MEM sponsorship has been extended until 15 February.

MEM Dissertation Prize

Previous winners of the Prize can be seen here: www.middleeastmedievalists.com/dissertation...

MEMbership Form

We encourage applicants to join Middle East Medievalists (though membership is not a prerequisite for applying). To join MEM or renew your membership, please use: www.middleeastmedievalists.com/membership-f...

📌 Eligibility: Dissertations filed & defended 1 June 2024 – 31 May 2026.

📅 Deadline: 30 June 2026.

📄 Submit a PDF only — no letters or nominations required.

📧 Send submissions to Jonathan Brack: Jonathan.Brack@northwestern.edu.

MEM is pleased to announce the 2026 iteration of its biennial prize for the best dissertation on the medieval Middle East (roughly 500–1500 CE).

In an effort to recognize excellent doctoral research in the field, MEM will award this prize at our annual business meeting in November 2026.

Have you ever wondered what a Sasanian city sounded like? We can imagine the sounds of the past if we pay close attention to material, historical, & archaeological sources. Check out this new article on the soundscapes of Eranshahr-- & be sure to download the sound file for an immersive experience

The first article of the year is out in @alusuralwusta.bsky.social!

Job Posting: Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Persianate Studies | The Association for the Study of Persianate Societies Editor-in-Chief of The Journal for Persianate Studies: Journal of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS) The Association for Study of Persianate Societies...

The Journal of Persianate Studies is looking for a new Editor-in-Chief www.persianatesocieties.org/job-posting-...

Lectureship in Liberal Arts and Religion/Philosophy (Teaching and Research) at University of Leeds Apply now for the Lectureship in Liberal Arts and Religion/Philosophy (Teaching and Research) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

Lectureship in Liberal Arts and Religion/Philosophy (Teaching and Research) at the University of Leeds with scope for focus on the Islamic world www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPY440/l...

Tenure-track Assistant Professor Position in Arabic Literature at American University of Beirut An opportunity for an academic position as a Tenure-track Assistant Professor Position in Arabic Literature is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic job openings...

Tenure-track Assistant Professor Position in Arabic Literature at the American University of Beirut

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPW863/t...

Associate/Full Professor and Department Chair, Arabic and Near Eastern Languages at American University of Beirut An academic position as a Associate/Full Professor and Department Chair, Arabic and Near Eastern Languages is being advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Click now to find more details and explore additional acad...

Associate/Full Professor and Department Chair, Arabic and Near Eastern Languages at the American University of Beirut

Deadline for applications: 31 January 2026

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPW865/a...

Associate Professor in Modern Arabic Literature at University of Oxford Recruiting now: Associate Professor in Modern Arabic Literature on jobs.ac.uk. Click for details and explore more academic job opportunities on the top job board

Associate Professor in Modern Arabic Literature position at the University of Oxford.

Deadline: 5 January

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK674/a...

Join our team, @mideastmedieval.bsky.social, @imems.bsky.social & colleagues at #IMC2026.

Explore #fragmentology from methodology applied to manuscripts, case-studies on textile fragments or pieces of relics; Latin to vernacular; early to late medieval; East to West.

#medievalmonday #medievalsky

Welcome to Middle East Medievalists MEM is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the medieval Middle East.

as always, you don't need to be a member of @mideastmedieval.bsky.social to read/submit to al-ʿUsur al-Wusta. however, membership dues help keep the journal running. please consider becoming a MEMber today. while you’re at it, check out all the other stuff MEM is up to!

Thanks to all authors, reviewers, & readers as we close out issue 33!

We published 550 pages in 2025: 7 articles; a thematic dossier w/ 4 more articles; a roundtable; an Arabic edition; a pedagogy file; 7 book reviews; & some short communications.

Here’s a thread to gather some highlights! 🧵

MEM Book Prize

"Black Knights compellingly re-frames Arabic epic within a broader global history of race, thus prompting medievalists [...] to reconsider how racial formations, heroic imaginaries, and epic narrative structures intersect across time and space."

Sah-weet.

www.middleeastmedievalists.com/book-prize/