About MESA Global Academy

What is MESA Global Academy?
The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Global Academy is an interdisciplinary initiative that sustains essential research collaborations and knowledge production among scholars in the humanities and social sciences from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and their counterparts outside the region.
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WHO DOES THE GLOBAL ACADEMY FUND?
The Global Academy supports displaced scholars in the humanities and social sciences whose work falls within Middle East Studies, broadly defined. The Global Academy invites scholars to apply from comparative literature, history, and Islamic studies to political science, anthropology, economics, and beyond.
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How do I apply?
Scholarships have been awarded for the 2024-2025 academic year. Please check back in the spring of 2025 for the next funding cycle. The Global Academy awards scholars in the field of Middle East Studies $5,000 grants to further their research and collaboration with MENA-focused scholars in North America.
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MESA Global Academy Fellowship applications is now closed.
The MESA Global Academy Fellows Panel meets virtually in 2020.
Global Academy Scholar Issam Eido presents his research.

Apply for a 2026 - 2027 Fellowship!

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MESA Global Academy Scholars

Scholarship Eligibility Information

Competitive fellowships are available for displaced scholars from the MENA region, primarily those currently located in North America, whose work is broadly focused on Middle East Studies. Eligibility criteria are: 1) a PhD or equivalent in a field in the social sciences or humanities (graduate students will not be considered); 2) a primary institutional affiliation in the MENA region prior to displacement; and 3) a publication record indicating scholarly productivity (in English, French, a native MENA language, or principal research language of the field).

Join us on Monday, April 20 at 5 pm ET for "Public Interest (Maslahat) and Authority in Shiʿi Theocracy: Reassessing Legal and Political Rationales" a talk by our fellow Dr. Bahman Khodadadi

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March 2, 2026 "God's Law, Man's Rule: Debating Women's Right to Health from Sacred Texts to the Taliban” a virtual talk by Lutforahman Saeed. To register: https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_7ci1YgGdS62DQFLq08NzAw

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TALK: November 14 "Genocide, Ecocide, Scholasticide and The Palestinian Native American in Mahmoud Darwish's Poetry" by Ahmad Qabaha

Please join Georgetown's Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies & Center for Contemporary Arab Studies and the MESA Global Academy for an online talk this Friday, November 14 at 12 pm ET with Dr. Ahmad Qabaha of Al-Najah University on "Genocide, Ecocide, Scholasticide and the Palestinian Native American in Mahmoud Darwish's Poetry." Georgetown's Dr. Elliott Colla will […]

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Recent and Upcoming Events from MESA Global Academy