Faculty of the Graduate Group 

Graduate studies in MELC are conducted under the auspices of the Graduate Group in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. In the Graduate Group faculty, the Standing Faculty of MELC is augmented by archeologists, historians, art historians, and specialists on religions of Middle Eastern origin who share its focus on the primary sources of the Middle East. Many emeritus faculty also continue to be active in working with students in the MA and PhD programs.

MELC faculty also hold close connections with Penn Museum (which draws several of its curators from the faculty of MELC), the Middle East Center, the Center for Ancient Studies, the program in Ancient History, the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies, and the program in the Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, among other programs and institutions.

Headshot Photo Of Paul M. Cobb

Paul M. Cobb

Edmund J. and Louise W. Kahn Term Professor of Middle Eastern Languages & Cultures Director, Program in Global Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Premodern history and literature of the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia

840 Williams HallRead Bio

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Natalie B. Dohrmann

Associate Director Herbert D. Katz Center, Adj. Associate Professor of Religious Studies

Early Rabbinic Judaism, Law, Exegesis, Jews in the Roman Empire

420 Walnut StreetRead Bio

Reyhan Durmaz

Reyhan Durmaz

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

Medieval Middle East

Cohen Hall 230Read Bio

Jamal J. Elias

Jamal J. Elias

Walter H. Annenberg Professor of the Humanities Professor of Religious Studies

Islam, Sufism, Visual Culture

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Huda Fakhreddine

Associate Professor of Arabic Literature

Arabic Literature

Williams HallRead Bio

Photo Of Talya Fishman Standing In Front Of Greenery

Talya Fishman

Associate Professor of Medieval and Early Modern Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History

Jewish Intellectual and Cultural History of the Medieval and Early Modern Periods

(215) 898-5837

706 Williams HallRead Bio

Headshot Photo Of Nili Gold

Nili Gold

Professor of Modern Hebrew Language & Literature

Modern Hebrew Language & Literature

(215) 573-5312

707 Williams HallRead Bio

Credit: Smadar Bergman

Simcha Gross

Assistant Professor of Ancient Rabbinics

842 Williams HallRead Bio

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Emily Hammer

Assistant Professor of Digital Humanities, Archeology and Anthropology of the Ancient World

Digital Humanities and Near Eastern Archaeology

836 Williams HallRead Bio

Kathryn Hellerstein

Kathryn Hellerstein

Professor of Germanic Languages

Yiddish Poetry

748 Williams HallRead Bio