Recent News
Two years ago on August 6, Iraj Khademi, a beloved pillar of the Seattle Iranian community, passed away in Bellevue, Washington. Affectionately called Amoo Iraj by many, Dr. Khademi was a longtime supporter of our department and was instrumental in strengthening the connection between the community and UW’s Persian and Iranian Studies Program.
Since then, the Iranian community has come together to commemorate his legacy. Thanks to an ongoing… Read more
The Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature at the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures has forged an exciting partnership with the American Literary Translators Associations (ALTA) to fund a year-long fellowship for literary translators who translate from Persian into English. ALTA is a non-profit, membership-based association for literary translators in North America… Read more
The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures reports with great enthusiasm that Hajar Hussaini has won the second cycle of the Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature for her translations of Maral Taheri’s verse. Hussaini and Taheri will be awarded $10,000 and $5,000 respectively while the selection of Taheri’s work will be published by Deep Vellum… Read more
MELC is excited to share that Shabnam Entezar’s proposal for a Persian Business Language Curriculum has won a grant from the Global Business Center, the Jackson School’s Title VI Centers, and the U.S. Department of Education. This innovative curriculum is designed to equip learners and professionals with essential language skills and cultural understanding for success in various business environments. Some modules will be ready for integration into MELC’s intermediate level Persian courses… Read more
-A report by Sergen Avci
Dr. Didem Havlioğlu, a literary historian and Associate Professor at Duke University who works on women and gender in the Islamicate world, gave a fascinating talk titled “Performance, Subversion, and Gender-Bending in Ottoman Poetry” on April 18th, 2024. With this talk, Dr. Havlioğlu contributed to the Walter G. Andrews Memorial Lecture Series hosted by the Turkish and Ottoman Studies Program in the Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. Her… Read more
MELC MA student Elyakim Suissa has been accepted for doctoral work in Ottoman studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He plans to begin his PhD program there in Autumn 2024.
Micah Slaughter (BA, 2020) has accepted an offer from the University of Chicago and plans to pursue the Master of Public Policy program there, with a focus on social and housing policy.
MELC MA student, Brianna Voss, has been honored with an offer of the… Read more
Prof. Amina Moujtahid and co-author Jeffrey A. Bennett announce the publication of their new book, The Combinatorial House of Wisdom. The volume presents a guided classical Arabic reader, with selections suitable for anyone with knowledge of the language at the late… Read more
A new major in Global Literary Studies launched at UW in Winter Quarter 2024. Prof. Naomi Sokoloff has played a key role in implementing the GLITS curriculum, which is designed to support study of literature in coordination with MELC and departments across the Humanities. Other MELC faculty members who have participated in GLITS inclue Prof. Selim Kuru, Prof. Aria Fani, Prof. Terri De Young, Prof. Kat Medill, and Prof. Canan Bolel.
How does the new major work? To find out, take a look at the… Read more
The Turkish and Ottoman Studies Program announces two events for Spring Quarter 2024.
As part of the TOSP workshop series, on March 29th NMES Ph.D. candidate Büsra Demirkol will give a talk titled "(Re)producing the Modern Ottoman Woman: Ottoman State Reform, New Medical Science, and the Policing of Women's Bodies in the Long Nineteenth Century" at 12:30 in Denny 211.
On April 18th, Dr. Didem Havlioglu from Duke University will present this year's Walter Andrews Memorial… Read more