#  Adam Mestyan 

Ford Foundation Professor of Middle Eastern Studies

 

 

 



   ![Mestyan headshot](/sites/g/files/omnuum5006/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/2026-04/mestyan-25summerprofilepic.png?itok=M3vXV_TI) 

 



 

 email <mestyan@fas.harvard.edu> 

 



 

I am a historian of the modern Middle East and a retired bass guitarist of a shaman punk band in Eastern Europe. Originally from Budapest (Hungary), I have taught at Oxford, Duke University, and now Harvard, where I am a professor of Middle Eastern Studies in the NELC Department. Outside the academic year, I spend all my time in Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, and most recently Syria. I’m always happy to talk—formally or over a casual meal—about Arabic cultures and history, the Arabs in the Ottoman Empire, Arab nationalism, Islamic and international law, economic life, Arabic/Islamic digital humanities, the urban history of Cairo, environmental history (heat and the Nile!), and war and state-making in the region. Profile picture by Metwally Ryad.

 

 

 





 

 

- ## Interests
    
     [History](/interests/history)
- ## Role
    
     [Senior Common Room](/role/senior-common-room) [Faculty](/role/faculty)