Dear MELC Community,
As I write my first chair’s letter for the MELC newsletter, I want to say first that I am proud and honored to be the Chair of this department. I am also grateful for the support of everyone here in MELC, beginning from my first day in 2015 as a fresh-out-of-graduate-school part-time instructor, to today, as I begin my tenure as the Chair of the department as an Associate Professor.
Our department covers so much of the world—from the Horn of Africa to Central Asia– and so much of human history—from the politics of the ancient Near East to the politics of contemporary Iran. We teach over a dozen languages to students from all over the world. We cover the complexities of the Middle East, past and present, and will continue our important mission into the future.
It has been a year when the news from the Middle East has continued to be overwhelming and disheartening, and we are still reeling from the killing of our student, Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, in September of 2023. While the year has been difficult to say the least, I take heart in our community of faculty, staff, and especially our amazing students, who make this world a brighter and better place. While we must not forget our losses, there is still much to celebrate and to be grateful for in our department, as this newsletter details.
First, we are so very happy to welcome new faculty members to our department. Dr. Mehari Worku, our new Assistant Teaching Professor, joined us in the fall of 2024, and he has hit the ground running, creating and teaching our new Horn of Africa languages and cultural classes. We also welcome our Acting Instructor, Dr. Shai Ben Ami, who joined us in the fall of 2024, and is teaching courses on subjects such as “Israeli Identities” and “Wildlife Nature Conservation in Israel and the Middle East.” Finally, Lillian McCabe joined us in the Winter of 2025 as a Part-Time Lecturer, teaching courses on “Intro to Islamic Cultures and Thought”, “Introduction to Muslim Beliefs & Practices” and “Gender and Islamic Culture.” We are pleased to welcome them to MELC. This year, we were also able to conduct a search for a Persian Language Instructor. The position is slated to start in the Autumn of 2024, and we look forward to welcoming the newest member of our department.
We have built community with our quarterly Meet and Greet events, where our MELC faculty and students joined together with the Middle East Center and the Near and Middle East PhD Program. Please join us on April 23rd at 3:30 for our Spring Quarter Meet and Greet!
MELC continues to host a wide array of lectures, colloquium, readings, and discussions throughout the year. Many thanks to our faculty for all the effort they put into planning these events, and for making them the success that they are. Please join us on April 16, 2025, at 7 pm in the Walker-Ames room for our Annual Farhat J. Ziadeh Lecture. This year, we are featuring UW Alumna and poet Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. Ms. Khalaf Tuffaha is the winner of the 2024 National Book Award for Poetry. On April 24, 2025, Dr. Oscar Aguirre Mandujano from the University of Pennsylvania History Department will present the third Walter G. Andrews Memorial Lecture. Oscar is a graduate of our Interdisciplinary PhD Program in Near and Middle East Studies. Both of these events promise to be enlightening, entertaining, and intellectually stimulating.
Starting in the fall, the Near and Middle East PhD Program will be leaving the UW Graduate School to become part of the MELC department. We look forward to this new connection with the larger University of Washington community and the PhD students who will be joining our department.
In this newsletter, you will find stories about our year in MELC, including updates on oral history and digital humanities projects; interviews with faculty, new and old; details of events from this past year and classroom projects; as well as updates on our faculty and students. Please continue to check our website and social media platforms for updates about MELC events. Special thanks to Kathryn Medill, Selim Kuru, Mehari Worku and Rick Aguilar for their hard work in putting this newsletter together.
Stephanie Selover