Middle Eastern Studies | College of Liberal Arts
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Ph.D. Placement

When they finish their degrees, Ph.D. graduates will be qualified to seek positions in departments of Middle Eastern Studies or area studies, as specialists in one or possibly more languages and cultures, or, in many cases, in other disciplinary homes, such as History, Media Studies, or Comparative Literature. They will also be well prepared for careers in related fields that require advanced expertise in international humanistic studies. 

Our doctoral program placed 93% of their Ph.D. graduates in academic positions, with the college average being 75%. Although graduate programs in Middle Eastern Studies are not ranked officially in national reviews, we are nationally and internationally recognized as an academically excellent program that supports its students during their studies and places them in appropriate positions upon graduation. University reports have also identified that the placement rate of area studies departments, such as MELC, have higher academic placement rates than disciplinary departments in the Social Sciences and Humanities. 

In the past few years, students who have received a Ph.D. in DMES have taken tenure-track positions at a number of universities and colleges including Brigham Young University, University of North Carolina, Pennsylvania State University, University of Massachusetts, University of Tennessee, University of Sydney, Smith College, University of Rhode Island, West Point, George Washington University, Rutgers, and more. Our Ph.D. graduates have also secured positions in international organizations such as MENA, the Brookings Institute, and AMIDEAST. 

 

2022

Ryan Fan, PhD, Linguistics
Supervisors: Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal
Arabic Program Designer, San Francisco Unified School District

2020

Estefanía Valenzuela Mochón, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisors: Kristen Brustad and Benjamin Brower
Postdoctoral Researcher, The School for Arabic Studies (EEA)

 

2019

Claire Cooley, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisors: Blake Atwood and Shanti Kumar
Postdoc Fellow at the Center for the Humanities at Tufts University 

Paul Edgar, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisors: Jonathan Kaplan, Bruce Wells, Jeremi Suri
Associate Director at Clements Center for National Security

Laura Fish, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisors: Caroline Frick and Blake Atwood
Acquisitions Editor, Syracuse University Press

Seerwan Hariry, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Karen Grumberg
Assistant Professor of Arabic at Georgetown University-Qatar

Sigrid Kjaer, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisors: John Huehnergard and Azfar Moin
Library Associate at Duke Divinity School; Duke University

Navdeep Sokhey, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad and Barbara Bullock
Assistant Professor of Arabic, Virginia Tech

Jack Weinbender, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisors: John Huehnergard and Jonathan Kaplan
Programmer Analyst at National Instruments

 

2018

Niaz Aziz, Ph.D., Linguistics
Supervisors: Mohammad A. Mohammad and Jurgen K. Streeck
Assistant Lecturer of Arabic, Soran University

Sarah Baker, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisors: Jo Ann Hackett, Na’ama Pat-El
Assistant Professor of the Practice in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) at Duke University

Thomas Leddy-Cecere, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisors: Kristen Brustad, Daniel Law
Assistant Professor of Sociolinguistics, Bennington College

Shehnaz Haqqani, Ph.D., Islamic Studies
Supervisor: Hina Azam
Assistant Professor, Mercer University

Juan Pinto, MA, Hebrew Linguistics
Supervisor: Esther Raizen
Graduate Student in Educational Studies at the University of Michigan 

Joshua Sears, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisors: Jonathan Kaplan, Jo Ann Hackett
Assistant Professor, Brigham Young University

Michael Turner, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Assistant Professor of Arabic, University of North Carolina, Wilmington

Daniel Wang, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisor: Jonathan Kaplan
Adjunct Professor, Vida House, Austin

 

2017

Lamesse Ahmad, MA., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Lecturer in Arabic, Pennsylvania State University

Mona Alshihry, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Assistant Professor, Languages and Translation, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia
 
Rachel Green, Ph.D., Middle Eastern
Supervisor: Karen Grumberg
Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
 
Benjamin Kantor, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisor: John Huehnergard
Reader in Hebrew, Cambridge University

 
Jason Schroepfer, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Assistant Professor of Arabic, Virginia Military Institute
 
Phillip Weston Stokes, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Assistant Professor of Arabic, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Rawad Wehbe, MA., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Tarek El-Ariss
Ph.D. student in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania

 

2016

Dena Afrasiabi, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Blake Atwood
Publications Editor, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Texas Press 

Kevin Butts, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Ph.D. Candidate, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University
 
Nesrine Basheer, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Lecturer (equivalent of Associate Professor in the USA), The Department of Arabic Languages and Cultures, The University of Sydney
 
Reema Barakat, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Lecturer of Arabic, The University of Texas at Austin
 
Kristen Beck, Ph.D. Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Samer Ali
Assistant Professor of Classical, Middle Eastern, and Asian Languages, Hunter College
 
Priscilla Cunha, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Arabic Teacher, Austin High School
 
Ryan Davis, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisor: John Huehnergard
Adjunct, Brigham Young University
 
Anna Ziajka Stanton, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Tarek El-Ariss
Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature, Penn State University
 
Corinne Stokes, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Lecturer of Arabic, New York University, Abu Dhabi
 
Aren Wilson-Wright, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisors: Na’ama Pat-El, Jo Ann Hackett
Lecturer in Northwest Semitic Philology, University of Chicago

 

2015

Anthony Edwards, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Assistant Professor of Arabic, Washington and Lee University
 
Mahyar Entezari, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisors: Kamran Aghaie, M.R. Ghanoonparvar
Lecturer in Persian Language and Culture, University of Pennsylvania
 
Valerie Montes, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Media Analyst, TechOp Solutions
 
Jung Min Seo, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Esther Raizen
Lecturer of Arabic, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies
 
Phillip Zhakevich, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisor: John Huehnergard
Assistant Professor of The Old Testament at the Master's Seminary
 
Emilie Zuniga, Ph.D., Middle Eastern  Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Consultant, American Councils for International Education 

 

2014

Shaylyn Carey, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Senior Program Officer, AMIDEAST Education Abroad
 
Uri Kolodney, MA, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Karen Grumberg
Film and Video and Hebrew, Jewish, and Israel Liaison Librarian, University of Texas Libraries
 
Muna Rehman, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Senior Outreach Program Coordinator, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, The University of Texas at Austin 

 
Julie Yelle, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Manager and Arabic Linguist, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University

 

2013

Kevin Burnham, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Data Analyst, Pilytix
 
Joanna Caravita, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Esther Raizen
Lecturer of Modern Hebrew, Smith College, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and  Mount Holyoke College
 
Bud Kaufmann, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Lecturer of Arabic, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
 
Nastaran Kherad, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: M.R. Ghanoonparvar
Assistant Professor of Persian, Qatar Academy
 
Summer Loomis, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisors: Esther Raizen, Kristen Brustad
Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, American University, Dubai
 
Alexander Magidow, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Assistant Professor of Arabic, The University of Rhode Island
 
Melanie Magidow, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Samer Ali
Founder, Marhaba Language Expertise

Drew Paul, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Tarek El-Ariss
Assistant Professor of Arabic, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

 

2012

Kristine Anderson, MA, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Research Assistant and Publications Editor Brookings Institution, Project on US Relations with the Islamic World
 
Andrey Bredstein, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Karen Grumberg
Instructor of Yiddish, Emory University
 
Greg Ebner, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Department Head of Department of Foreign Languages, United States Military Academy
 
Martin Isleem, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Assistant Professor of Arabic, Bucknell University
 
Michael Fares, MA, Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Samer Ali
Instructional Assistant Professor of Arabic, University of Houston
 
Cory Jorgensen, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Samer Ali
Assistant Professor of Arabic, George Washington University
 
Kaley Kenner, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Samer Ali
Instructor of Arabic, Middlebury College  
 
Benjamin Koerber, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Tarek El-Ariss
Assistant Professor of Arabic and Literature, Rutgers University
 
John Weinert, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Lecturer of Arabic, Smith College

 

2011

Blake Atwood, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: M.R. Ghanoonparvar
Assistant Professor of Media Studies, American University, Beirut

Andrey A. Bredstein, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Karen Grumberg
Instructor in Yiddish Language and Literature, Emory University

Peter Glanville, Ph.D., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Kristen Brustad
Assistant Professor of Arabic and Associate Director of Arabic Program, University of Maryland, College Park
 
Zeina G. Halabi, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: Tarek El-Ariss
Assistant Professor of Arabic Literature, American University, Beirut
 
Shon Hopkin, Ph.D., Hebrew Bible / Ancient Near East
Supervisors: Esther Raizen, Michael Harney
Assistant Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University
 
Anita Husen, MA, Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Program Manager, Graduate Communities , Texas Career Engagement
 
Farkondeh Shayesteh, Ph.D., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Supervisor: M.R. Ghanoonparvar
Senior Lecturer and Coordinator of Persian Language Program, Yale University

 

2010

Ahmad Aminpour, MA., Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures 
Supervisor: M.R. Ghanoonparvar
Ph.D. Candidate, History, The University of Texas at Austin

Britten Milliman, MA., Arabic Linguistics
Supervisor: Mahmoud Al-Batal
Arabic Teaching, Rutgers Preparatory School 

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