Dear MELC Community, As I complete my second year as chair of the MELC department, I am happy to reflect on the many achievements and successes of our department. I am grateful to MELC faculty and staff, and as always, humbled by the support of our MELC community as we work to serve our students. MELC continues its mission to educate those passing through our classroom doors about the cultures, literatures and languages of the Middle East, Central Eurasia, North Africa and the…

By Mehari WorkuThe MELC Department’s Horn of Africa Studies program has been thriving in its second year! Many students have been excited to learn Amharic, a widely used language from the Horn, and to explore the complex history, religious development, and literature of the region in courses like “Ethiopic Bible and Literature: The First 1500 Years” and “Holy People and Holy Places of the Horn of Africa.”This year, Horn of Africa Studies launched the new Amharic Club, open to students,…

By Canan Bolel Due to our wonderful students and the vibrant Turkish-speaking community in Seattle, the Turkish and Ottoman Studies Program within MELC is able to thrive. Want to learn Turkish? Join Dr. Melike Yucel-Koc next fall for Elementary Turkish 1 (TKISH 101). For other Turkic languages, talk to Dr. Talant Mawkanuli. We’ve had an exciting schedule of events this year! With the collaboration of the Seattle Turkish…

By Elham Monfaredi Persian poetry has long been central to cultural expression across Iranian and Persian-speaking societies, shaping how history, philosophy, and everyday life are imagined and remembered. Contemporary Persian poetry grows out of this rich tradition while responding to modern realities, drawing on centuries-old forms and imagery to speak to themes of exile, loss, resistance, and renewal. Through translation,…

By Kathryn Medill and Mehari WorkuOur Arabic and Islamic Studies offerings continue to grow. We now have a third year of the Arabic language available (ARAB 301, 302, 303), giving UW students more access to Arabic learning than at most other universities! Students with advanced Arabic knowledge can also take special courses this spring quarter like “Introduction to Classical Arabic” (ARAB 412) and “Modern Arabic Poetry” (ARAB 405…

By Elham MonfarediIn the Shadow of the Holocaust: Short Fiction by Jewish Writers from the Soviet Union, translated by UW’s Sasha Senderovich and Harriet Murav, is a forthcoming collection of ten stories originally written in Yiddish and Russian, scheduled for publication by Stanford University Press in February 2026. These works recover voices that had been scarcely known or translated, with particular emphasis on women writers who lived through the Holocaust in Soviet territory…

By Kathryn MedillI vividly remember one of my early encounters with Ancient Middle Eastern Studies. The class was reading a letter in the Akkadian language by a man who was far from home. He wrote to a friend, complaining that he was homesick for the foods he used to eat. I was immediately sympathetic, since I had just started a new graduate program in a new place. His story reminded me that, even though the details of human experiences change constantly, certain aspects of human experience are…

By Kathryn MedillThis year is an exciting one for graduate study in the MELC Department. Our department has had a masters program for many years; now, the Near and Middle Eastern Studies Interdisciplinary Ph.D, which has long been housed in the UW Graduate School, has moved into the MELC Department. The MELC faculty is excited to be able to work more closely with NMES students, and we hope that this move will help the doctoral students to more easily access the department’s resources.The Middle…

By Mehari WorkuThe Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures Department works closely with other departments, programs, and centers at UW to promote knowledge of the Middle East and new ways to study it. In this article, learn about MELC’s collaboration with the Translation Studies Hub (link: Home | UW Translation Studies Hub)—which is scheduled to migrate to MELC soon—and with the Middle East Center…

What have our faculty, students, and alumni been doing this year? Scroll down to find out!Faculty UpdatesMelike Yucel-KocPresented “Reimagining American Identity through Immigrant Narratives” at the 59th Annual Conference of the Oral History Association, held in Atlanta, Georgia (October 17, 2025). Her presentation, based on extensive interviews and archival materials, explored how oral histories from diverse immigrant communities contribute to evolving…