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.
The Middle East Studies Association’s 60th annual meeting was held in Boston, MA from November 21-24, 2026.
The MESA 2026 Call for Papers will open January 12 and close February 17 (11:59 AM EST).
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.
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.
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MESA has announced a virtual research workshop to be held in summer 2026. For details and to submit, please see the call for proposals here.
MESA's Board of Directors and Task Force on Civil and Human Rights have issued an advisory regarding the latest travel restrictions enacted by the Trump Administration.
To access, select the Publications tab in your myMESA account then click the publication image. 
New report from MESA and AAUP: “Discriminating Against Dissent: The Weaponization of Civil Rights Law to Repress Campus Speech on Palestine,” which is the first systematic empirical study of government investigations and private lawsuits against US colleges and universities alleging antisemitism under Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
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.
The workshop invites proposals exploring the impact of Muslim rule on Jewish literature, with a particular focus on religious texts.
The faculty of the Walker Institute of International and Area Studies and the Department of History invites applications for a full time, professional-track position at the rank of Instructor.
The Department of History invites applications for a tenured professorship (W2) in the History of the Islamic World.
The Moritz Steinschneider Prize invites submissions of unpublished research on the identification, cataloging, or editing/translation of previously unknown or inaccessible Jewish primary sources.
The Department of Economics and the Centre for American Studies and Research (CASAR) invite applications for a postdoctoral fellowship beginning August 15, 2026.
The Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Arabic Literature.
The Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages invites applications for the position of Department Chair.
The History Department invites applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level in History of the Middle East.
The Department of African Diaspora Studies invites applications for a two-year Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship beginning Fall 2026.
Trump administration letter from the Treasury Department characterized as “interpretive guidance,” makes clear that hosting a speech by Albanese, asking her questions, and sharing research and scholarship with her are “not prohibited” under U.S. sanctions law.
The Media Studies Program in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Media Studies (SOAM) invites applications for the Mary Fox Whittlesey Visiting Assistant Professorship in Film Studies.
This call for papers invites expressions of interest from potential contributors to a new Sourcebook on Global Archives of Mobility and Identity in the Ottoman Twilight.
Our letter expressing concern at the University of Arkansas’s decision to remove Professor Shirin Saeidi from her position as Director of the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies.
Our letter expressing concern for the decision to suspend without pay Peyrin Kao, a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, for a six-month term, effective 1 January 2026, for allegedly engaging in Palestine advocacy that violates university policy
The 2026 Gelman International Research Workshop invites applications for "The Social Worlds of Internment: Entangled Histories of Inmates in Concentration Camps (1933–1945)."
The Annual Research Workshop 2026 invites papers exploring the connections between Iran, the Holocaust, and World War II.
The Department of Political Studies and Public Administration (PSPA) invites applications for the position of Department Chair and the inaugural Philip K. Hitti Endowed Chair in Middle Eastern Studies.
Information on submitting proposals to participate in MESA's First Virtual Research Workshop to be held in June 2026. The deadline to submit is January 9, 2026.
Our letter expressing concern about the decision of UMass Amherst to pause, and then cancel, a search under way for a tenure-track assistant professor of the history of the modern Middle East, and to launch, in fall 2025, an entirely new search for the same position
The African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) invites applications for short-term fellowships on the theme of religious culture and technology, defined in its broadest sense from stone tools to AI.
The Global Studies Department invites applications for a two-year position at the Visiting Assistant Professor rank in Global Studies with a focus on race and global inequality, broadly conceived.
The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures is seeking a lecturer in Arabic and French or Spanish.
On November 23, 2025, MESA awarded 19 individuals for excellence in scholarship, mentoring, and service.