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.
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.
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.
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).
On May 21, 2024, the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University and the Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies at NYU hosted this online panel featuring Dr. Mohammed Almahfali of Malmo University and Dr. Mansour Almaswari of the Columbia Global Centers Amman.
Walking Away from the Headscarf: Analyzing the Online Platform 'You Will Not Walk Alone'
On April 29, 2024, UCLA's Center for Near Eastern Studies, Department of Gender Studies, and Center for the Study of Women hosted Dr. Semiha Topal of John Carroll University for this online talk.
Maqamats as an Alternative Lens to Understand 19th Century Literary History in Afghanistan
On April 16, 2024, Princeton University's Department of Near Eastern Studies and Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies hosted Dr. Khalillulah Afzali of UCLA for an online lecture.