Course summary

A PhD in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) is an opportunity to expand upon your interests and expertise in a community that really values research, and to make a definite and original contribution to the field. Why Edinburgh With over 260 years of history in teaching and research, we are globally recognised as a leading centre for postgraduate study in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Our research resources and facilities are outstanding, and we have excellent links with a number of centres and networks, including the Alwaleed Centre and the Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies. Research excellence In the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2021), our research was submitted in the categories of:

• Modern Languages

• Politics

• Sociology

• History

• Theology

• Language and literature: classical and modern Arabic literature, classical and modern Persian literature, cultural transmission and translation between Arabic and Persian cultures

• History and historiography: pre-Islamic to modern Iran, early Islamic history, Ottoman history, Safavid history, modern history, in particular Iraq, Iran and Egypt; the Middle Eastern prison, the Middle Eastern press

• Religion: early and classical Islam, Qur’an and Qur’anic exegesis, Hadith, the biography of Muhammad, Sufism, Islam in the Ottoman Empire, contemporary religious authority, Shi'i Islam

• Contemporary Muslim politics: Islamism, sectarianism, social movements, comparative social and political change in the Muslim world

• Arts and cultures of the Middle East, and of Muslim societies: particularly visual arts, cinema

• Gender and sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa, contemporary Arab media

• Shi’i Islam: Shi’i history and contemporary Shi’ism in local and transnationalist perspective

• Islam and Muslims in Europe

• Diasporas and ethnic minorities of the Middle East

• comparative literature

• film studies

• translation studies