MESA Advocacy Resource Center
MESA's Task Force has created a new advocacy resource center for our members to consult in response to the repression of rights on campuses across North America and beyond.
Pinned Story
Mission Statement
The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) is a non-profit association that fosters the study of the Middle East, promotes high standards of scholarship and teaching, and encourages public understanding of the region and its peoples through programs, publications and services that enhance education, further intellectual exchange, recognize professional distinction, and defend academic freedom in accordance with its status as a 501(c)(3) scientific, educational, literary, and charitable organization.
Annual Meeting
The Middle East Studies Association’s 59th annual meeting will be held in Washington DC from November 22-25, 2025.
The MESA 2025 Call for Papers is now closed. Decisions will be announced by May 1. The hotel room block is now open for reservations.
Advocacy
The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) advocates on behalf of its members on issues that are central to its mission.
This includes statements and letters from MESA's Board of Directors, MESA's Committee on Academic Freedom, the Task Force on Civil and Human Rights, and the MESA Global Academy.
Become a Member
Be a part of a community of scholars who are passionate about the pursuit of academic knowledge on the MENA region. Help MESA defend academic freedoms. Share your research at the annual meeting. Access the best, cutting-edge scholarship in person at the conference or online in our journals.
Join or renew today!
Member Announcements
Advisory from the Task Force on Civil and Human Rights regarding U.S. Travel
MESA's Task Force on Civil and Human Rights has issued an advisory regarding new travel restrictions enacted by the Trump Administration.
MESA 2025 Hotel Reservations
To book your room, please see here.
Issues of IJMES, RoMES, and IMES available
To access, select the Publications tab in your myMESA account then click the publication image. 
Security Alerts for Researchers and Students
There are two active security alerts issued by MESA’s Board of Directors for those embarking on research in Egypt and UAE.
Campus Climate Resources
MESA has created a new Campus Climate resource page for our members in response to academic freedom-related developments on campuses across North America and beyond.
Pinned Story
Call for Abstracts: Women, Algeria, Torture, Foucault: Advancing the Anticolonial Sociology of Marnia Lazreg
University of Kentucky
Abstract submissions are now open for the conference, which will be held at the CUNY Graduate Center and the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College in New York City on September 25 and 26, 2025.
Call for Papers: Intellectual and Discursive Battles over Palestine
University of Macedonia, Department of Balkan, Slavic and Oriental Studies
The conference invites submissions of abstracts on a wide range of issues related to Palestine and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Letter to the leadership of Columbia University urging it to reject the Trump administration’s ultimatum of 13 March 2025 and stand firm in defense of academic freedom & the university’s independence
Our letter expressing outrage about the letter dated 13 March 2025 that was sent to you by three Trump administration officials, and to urge you to respond in a principled and forceful manner to the unprecedented, unacceptable and extreme demands that it sets forth
Letter to the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture regarding its cancellation of a planned special journal issue on Palestine
Our letter expressing concern about the decision of the Board of Directors of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture to cancel a planned issue of the Journal of Architectural Education (JAE) focused on Palestine. We are equally disturbed by the board’s termination of JAE Interim Executive Editor McLain Clutter for protesting this decision.
CfP - Within and Beyond Islam. Stories and Engagement of Young Muslims in Italy
Occhialì – Rivista sul Mediterraneo islamico
This call for papers seeks to gather research focused on the young Muslim population in Italy, emphasizing their life stories and experiences related to both commitment and disengagement, within and beyond religious associations and places of worship.
MESA Board Statement on the repression of academic freedom in the United States
In the current national climate, as institutions of higher education and their mission of critical inquiry face unprecedented attack, MESA unequivocally supports efforts to stand up for freedom of expression, academic freedom, and institutional autonomy. Rather than facilitating or acting in the interests of government repression, we must all take a collective stance to defend higher education in the United States.
A short course on Governing Diversity: Engaging with a Complex World
The Aga Khan University (International) in the United Kingdom
In collaboration with the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum, The Aga Khan University is offering a face-to-face short course in Canada on Governing Diversity: Engaging with a Complex World.
Publications Manager, Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South
Northwestern University in Qatar
The Institute for Advanced Study in the Global South is inviting applications for the position of Publications Manager.
BDS, International Law, and the Struggle for Rights and Representation on US Campuses Workshop
Coalition For Action In Higher Ed (CAHE)
Join the Coalition For Action In Higher Ed for a Series of Events Leading Up to the National Day of Action!
Begins March 13, 2025
The Altaf S. Al Sabah Visiting Chair in Women and Societal Development Studies
The American University of Beirut
The Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies (SOAM) invites applications for the Altaf S. Al Sabah Visiting Chair in Women and Societal Development Studies.
Advisory on Recent Trump Administration Policies & Media Reports of Pending Policies
Recommendations regarding recent and ongoing travel restrictions by Trump Administration.
Instructional Professor (open rank) - Modern Hebrew
University of Chicago
The Department of Middle Eastern Studies invites applications for a position as Instructional Professor (open rank) in modern Hebrew language
Virtual Open House
MA in Middle eatsern Studies/MEMEAC, the Graduate Center, CUNY
Begins March 15, 2025
Letter to NY Governor Hochul and leaders of the City University of New York regarding the Palestinian Studies position at Hunter College
Our letter expressing grave concern about Governor Hochul’s unprecedented demand that Hunter College of the City University of New York (CUNY) take down a posted advertisement for a new open-rank position in the field of Palestinian Studies
Visiting Assistant in History of the Mediterranean World
Hampden-Sydney College
The Department of History invites applications for a one-year visiting assistant professor in the history of the Mediterranean World.
Letter protesting the ongoing unjust incarceration of Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali
Our tenth letter to express our outrage and deep concern, and demand the release from prison of the dual national (Iranian-Swedish) Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali who has been detained on false charges for nine years and condemned to death on the basis of a forced confession.
Early Scholars Publication Grants
UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures
The UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures invites dissertations that reconceptualize translating cultures in the digital age.
Translating Cultures and Artificial Intelligence
UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures
This call for papers is specifically focused on one of the emerging technê of translation, inviting submissions that explore the role of AI in translating cultures.
Call for Applications: 2025-2026 Hellenic Research Fellowship Program
California State University, Sacramento
The university library invites applications for the residential fellowship program west of the Mississippi in Hellenic studies
Visiting Assistant Professor Of Arabic
Bucknell University
The Department of Languages, Cultures and Linguistics invites applications for a one-year position in Arabic Studies at the Visiting Assistant Professor level beginning in August, 2025.
Call for Papers: Conference “Minority Law in Arab States: Governing Religious Diversity”
AGYA & Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law
The Arab German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA) and the Centre of Expertise for the Law of Arab and Islamic Countries at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law invite submissions for their conference.
MANUSCRIPTS FOR RESEARCH: A TRAINING COURSE IN ARABIC MANUSCRIPT STUDIES
The Aga Khan University (International) in the United Kingdom
The Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC), in collaboration with the Academy of Science (Portugal), invites applications for an advanced training course entitled Manuscripts for Research.
MESA Statement on Dr. Laila Soueif
MESA expresses profound concern regarding the deteriorating health of Laila Soueif in Egypt, and calls for the release of her son Alaa Abdel-Fattah and the end of violations of academic freedom by the Egyptian government.