Affiliated Faculty and Lecturers

A major part of The Middle East Studies Center's (MESC’s) mission, which is the generation of knowledge about the Middle East, relies on faculty and lecturers in a variety of fields who teach about Northern Africa, West Asia, Central Asia, and areas of the world within the Muslim cultural sphere.  The fields of expertise listed under each person’s name will inform prospective students about the areas of specialty they could pursue in graduate programs at OSU, and which departments have Middle East studies as a permanent part of their curriculum. 

Click on faculty person's name to go to their OSU profile, on the bio or CV link to go to biographical information kept on their department's site. To obtain their mailing address click on the link to their department's site. NOTE: Please send mail to the faculty member's office in their department, rather than sending it to the Middle East Studies Center.

Reuben Ahroni, Ph.D., Hebrew Union College - bio
Professor, Emeritus, Near Eastern Languages & Cultures
(Biblical Studies; Hebrew Literature)
email: ahroni.1@osu.edu

Hassan Aly, Ph.D., Southern Illinois University - bio
Associate Professor, Economics
(Labor; Technological Change)
email: aly.1@osu.edu

Nina Berman, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley - bio - CV
Professor, Comparative Studies
(20th century culture and literature; Germany and the Middle East)
email: berman.58@osu.edu

Naomi Brenner, Ph.D., University of California at Berkeley
Assistant Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Hebrew and Israeli literature and culture; Yiddish literature and culture; Arabic literature and culture; comparative Jewish literatures; comparative Middle Eastern literatures)
email: brenner.108@osu.edu

Snjezana Buzov, Ph.D., University of Chicago - bio
Assistant Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Ottoman and Middle Eastern Historian)
email: buzov.1@osu.edu

John B. Casterline Ph.D., University of Michigan - bio
Lazarus Professor in Population Studies, Department of Sociology
(Demographic change in the Arab region; Child development and well-being in Egypt; Childbearing and reproductive health in Pakistan)
email:  casterline.10@sociology.osu.edu

Vincente Cantarino, Ph.D., University of Munich - bio
Professor, Spanish & Portuguese
(Medieval Philosophy; Scholastic Theology; Arabic; Medieval Spanish Literature;
Intellectual History of Europe)
email: cantarino.1@osu.edu

Stratos Constantinidis, Ph.D., University of Iowa - bio
Associate Professor, Theatre
(Comparative Drama)
email: constantinidis.1@osu.edu

Howard Crane, Ph.D., Harvard University - bio
Associate Professor, History of Art
(Middle Eastern Art & Architecture)
email: crane.1@osu.edu

Stephen Dale, Ph.D. University of California-Berkeley - bio
Professor, History
( Iran ; India ; Central Asia)
email: dale.1@osu.edu

Richard Davis, Ph.D. University of Manchester, U.K. - bio
Professor, Near Eastern Languages & Cultures
(Persian Language, Literature & Culture)
email: davis.77@osu.edu

Carter Findley, Ph.D., Harvard University - bio
Professor, History
( Ottoman Empire; Islamic History& Civilization)
email: findley.1@osu.edu

Carole Fink, Ph.D., Yale University - bio
Professor, History
(Jewish and Israeli History)
email: fink.24@osu.edu

Daniel Frank, Ph.D., Harvard University - bio
Assistant Professor, Coordinator of Hebrew Language Program, Near Eastern Languages & Cultures
(Postbiblical Jewish History and Hebrew Literature;Medieval Jewish Philosophy; Biblical Exegesis;
Judeo-Arabic Language and Literature; Karaitica)
email: frank.152@osu.edu

Bruce Fudge, Ph.D. Harvard University
Assistant Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Arabic language; medieval Arabic literature; Qur'an and Qur'anic exegesis)
email: fudge.18@osu.edu

Joseph Galron-Goldschlager, M.L.S. Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Jewish Studies Librarian
email: galron.1@osu.edu

Matt Goldish, Ph.D., UCLA - bio
Assistant Professor, History
(Medieval and Modern Jewish History)
email: goldish.1@osu.edu

Esther Gottlieb, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
Program Manager, CIRIT (Cluster Interdisciplinary Research on International Themes)
(Comparative & International Education; Women in the Middle East)
email: gottlieb.26@osu.edu

Timothy Gregory, Ph.D., University of Michigan - bio
Professor, History
(Greco-Roman, Byzantine and Near East Archaeology and History)
email: gregory.4@osu.edu

John Guilmartin, Ph.D., Princeton University - bio
Associate Professor, History
(Military History and Technology)
email: guilmartin.1@osu.edu

Peter Hahn, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University - bio
Associate Professor, History
(American, Great Britain and Egyptian Diplomatic History)
email: hahn.29@osu.edu

Jane Hathaway, Ph.D., Princeton University - bio
Associate Professor, History
(Ottoman Empire; Egypt )
email: hathaway.24@osu.edu

Richard Herrmann, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh - bio
Professor, Political Science
(International Relations; American Foreign Policy)
email: herrmann.24@osu.edu

Amy Horowitz, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania - bio
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Departments of Comparative Studies and English
Lecturer, International Studies, Researcher in Residence, The Mershon Center for International Security Studies
(Mediterranean Israeli music, the study of cultures in disputed territories, the ethnography of contemporary Jerusalem, and protest music as responsible citizenship)
email: horowitz.36@osu.edu

Susan Huntington, Ph.D., University of California at Los Angeles - bio
Professor, History of Art
(South Asian Art)
email: huntington.1@osu.edu

Neil Jacobs, Ph.D., Columbia University - bio
Associate Professor, Germanic Languages and Literatures
(Yiddish Linguistics)
email: jacobs.8@osu.edu

Robin Judd, Ph.D., University of Michigan - bio
Assistant Professor, History
(Modern Jewish History; German History; Medieval History;
Gender History and Theory)
email: judd.18@osu.edu

Anthony Kaldellis, Ph.D., University of Michigan - bio
Professor, Department of Greek and Latin
(Byzantine History and Culture)
email: kaldellis.1@osu.edu

Ousman Kobo, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Madison - bio
Assistant Professor, History
(20th century West African social and religious history)
email: kobo.1@osu.edu

Rattan Lal, Ph.D., The Ohio State University - bio
Professor, School of Natural Resources and Dept. of Agronomy
(Soil Management; Land Degradation; Greenhouse Effect; Sustainable Agriculture)
email: lal.1@osu.edu

Scott Levi, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison - bio
Assistant Professor, History
(Central Asian and Islamic World History; South Asia)
email: levi.18@osu.edu

William Liddle, Ph.D., Yale University - bio
Professor, Political Science
(Islam; Southeast Asia)
email: liddle.2@osu.edu

Morgan Liu, Ph.D., University of Michigan - bio
Assistant Professor, NELC
(Muslims in (Post-) Socialist States, Islamic Knowledge and Publics)
email: liu.737@osu.edu

Peter Mansoor, Ph.D., Ohio State University - bio
General Raymond Mason Chair of Military History, History
email: mansoor.1@osu.edu

Danielle Marx-Scouras, Ph.D., Columbia University - bio
Professor, French and Italian
(Francophonic North Africa)
email: marx-scouras.1@osu.edu

Joy McCorriston, Ph.D., Yale University - bio
Associatet Professor, Anthropology
(Archaeology; Archaeobotany; Near East; Anthropological Dimensions of Climate Change;
Environmental Archaeology)
email: mccoriston.1@osu.edu

Sam Meier, Ph.D., Harvard University - bio
Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Comparative Semitics; Hebrew Bible)
email: meier.3@osu.edu

Hagop Mekhjian, M.D., American University of Beirut - bio
Professor, Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
(International Medicine)
email: mekhjian.1@osu.edu

Merry Merryfield, Ed.D., Indiana University - bio
Professor, School of Teaching and Learning
(Global perspectives in K-12 and teacher education)

Katherine Meyer, Ph.D., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill - bio
Professor, Sociology
(Social change; Democracy, Gender and Religion)
email: meyer.23@sociology.osu.edu

David Miller, Ph.D., University of California - bio
Associate Professor, Germanic Languages and Literatures
(Yiddish Literature; Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century German Prose Fiction)
email: miller.3@osu.edu

Margaret Mills, Ph.D., Harvard University - bio
Chair and Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
( Iran , Pakistan , Afghanistan Folklore and Language)
email: mills.186@osu.edu

James Morganstern, Ph.D., New York University - bio
Professor, History of Art
(Byzantine Art and Architecture)
email: morganstern.1@osu.edu

Okechukwa Odita, Ph.D., University of Indiana - bio
Professor, History of Art
(Art of North Africa; Art Media Techniques)
email: odita.1@osu.edu

Alam Payind, Ph.D., Indiana University - bio
Director, Middle East Studies Center
Adjunct Professor, International Studies, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures, and Political Science
(Middle Eastern and Central Asian Politics;Ethnic and Linguistic Groups in the Middle East and Central Asia)
email: payind.1@osu.edu

Parvaneh Pourshariati, Ph.D., Columbia University - bio
Assistant Professor, Coordinator of Persian Language Program, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Islamic Studies & Persian Studies)
email: pourshariati.1@osu.edu

John Quigley, L.L.B., Harvard Law School - bio
Professor, College of Law
(International Law; Comparative Law; Human Rights Law)
email: quigley.2@osu.edu

Tamar Rudavsky, Ph.D., Brandeis University - bio
Associate Professor, Philosophy
(Medieval Jewish and Islamic Philosophy)
email: rudavsky.1@osu.edu

Marcus Sandver, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison - bio
Professor, Management and Human Resources
( Turkey , Industrial Relations)
email: sandver.1@osu.edu

Ahmad Sikainga, Ph.D., University of California-Santa Barbara - bio
Associate Professor, History
(History of Islam in Africa; Colonialism)
email: sikainga.1@osu.edu

Dona Straley, Ph.D., University of Edinburgh - bio
M.L.S., Indiana University
Associate Professor and Middle East Librarian
( Middle East Bibliography and Research Methods)
email: straley.1@osu.edu

Michael Swartz, Ph.D., New York University - bio
Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
Division of Comparative Studies, and Melton Center for Jewish Studies
(Rabbinics; Ancient Hebrew)
email: swartz.69@osu.edu

Georges Tamer, Ph.D., Free University Berlin;
Habilitation (2nd Ph.D.), University of Erlangen-Nuremberg – bio
Professor, M.S. Sofia Chair in Arabic Studies, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Arabic and Islamic literature and culture, particularly the Koran and classical Arabic poetry; medieval Arabic philosophy and its reception in modern political philosophy; Christian- and Judeo-Arabic literature; contemporary Islamic thought; Christian-Muslim relationships)
email: tamer.2@osu.edu

Adena Tanenbaum, Ph.D., Harvard University - bio
Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Postbiblical Hebrew Literature and Jewish History; Medieval Hebrew Poetry and Belles-Lettres; Modern Hebrew Literature and Language; Medieval Jewish Philosophy; Biblical Exegesis; Judeo-Arabic Language and Literature)
email: tanenbaum.8@osu.edu

Alexander Thompson, Ph.D., University of Chicago, Department of Political Science - bio
Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science
(International Relations Theory; International Organization; International Political Economy; International Environmental Politics; U.S. Foreign Policy)
email: thompson.1191@osu.edu

Burkhard Von Rabenau, Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley - bio
Professor, City and Regional Planning
(Urban/Regional Economic Development and Growth; Problems of Urbanization)
email: vonrabenau.1@osu.edu

Mohan Wali, Ph.D., The University of British Columbia - bio
Professor, School of Natural Resources
(Ecosystem Disturbance and Rehabilitation/Restoration; Sustainable Development,
Energy Use and Policy)
email: wali.1@osu.edu

Sabra Webber, Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin - bio
Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and Division of Comparative Studies
(Middle Eastern Anthropology)
email: webber.1@osu.edu

Joseph Zeidan, Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley - bio
Associate Professor, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Arabic Language and Literature; Hebrew Literature; Arabic Philosophy)
email: zeidan.1@osu.edu

Michael Zwettler, Ph.D., University of California-Berkeley - bio
Associate Professor, Emeritus, Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
(Classical and Medieval Arabic Literature; Early Islamic Civilization)
email: zwettler.1@osu.edu