The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford

📢DPhil Studentship Open for Applications: Unveiling Networks: Slavery and the European Encounter with Islamic Material Culture (1580–1700)

Applications are invited for a doctoral studentship on Slavery and the European Encounter with Islamic Material Culture (1580–1700). This studentship is available from October 2025 as part of Dr Frederica Gigante’s ERC-funded project UNSEEN which focuses on the role of slavery in the transmission of things and knowledge from the Islamic world to Europe in the late 16th and 17th centuries.

Please see here for further details about the studentship and how to submit an application:

DPhil Asian and Middle Eastern Studies DPhil Asian & Middle Eastern Studies The DPhil Asian & Middle Eastern Studies is the Faculty's main research degree. Supervision can be offered in the full-range of areas in which the faculty has expertise, namely: East Asian studies Egyptology and the Ancient Near East Hebrew, Jewish and Eastern Ch...

📢FUNDING | Frere Exhibition for Indian Studies 2025 ✅Eligibility: Members of the University not exceeded 21 terms from their matriculation.
✅Will undertake a specified piece of work in the field of Indian Studies.
📅Deadline: 9 June 2025

Frere Exhibition for Indian Studies 2025 Entries are now invited for the Frere Exhibition for Indian Studies 2025

❤️Valentine's Day Seminar | Rozaliya Garipova (Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre / Nazarbayev University) - "'Talaq or Khul': Islamic Divorce in Imperial Russia"
⏰5-7PM
📍The Levett Room, Wolfson College

Our visiting academic, Rozaliya Garipova, from Nazarbayev University will be talking about divorce in Imperial Russia, this Friday, 14 February, from 5-7pm in the Levett room of Wolfson college!

📢 We are thrilled to share that Professor Finn Moore Gerety has been awarded a landmark ERC Synergy Grant for the MANTRAMS project—a pioneering global study of mantras in religion, media, and society. 🌏📖✨

This €9.65M project, hosted in collaboration with the University of Tübingen and the University of Vienna, will explore how mantras have shaped spiritual practices across time and cultures. With its innovative approach, MANTRAMS will create digital archives, international workshops, and even a museum exhibition!

Congratulations to Dr. Gerety and the entire research team! 🎉

Read more: 🔗

Professor Finn Moore Gerety Awarded Landmark ERC Synergy Grant for Global Study of Mantras The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) at the University of Oxford is delighted to announce that Dr. Finnian Moore Gerety, Senior Research Fellow, Indologist, and historian of Asian religions, will lead Oxford’s contribution to a major new research initiative, “Mantras in Religio...

Hear from Henry, one of New College’s first Arabic students since its revival in 2024! Coinciding with International Day of Education, we are celebrating our newest (ish!) subject at New College. Despite producing numerous distinguished graduates, including D.S. Margoliouth, the teaching of Arabic was discontinued at New College for many years. Check out our website for an interview with arts, another wonderful 1st year Arabic student 👉 #ArabicStudies #NewCollege #InternationalDayOfEducation

📢 Exciting Announcement from the Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures (CMTC)!

Just before Christmas, a delegation from CMTC visited Nanjing, China, to celebrate the launch of the Centre for the Study of Excavated Manuscripts at Nanjing University. This partnership will strengthen CMTC’s presence in Asia, promoting innovative research on early text cultures across the world. 🌏📜

🔹 Collaboration with Tsinghua University continues
🔹 Joint conferences & workshops on manuscript studies
🔹 New Text Cultures book series with Chinese translations of key works

Find out more about this global initiative: https://www.ames.ox.ac.uk/article/centre-manuscript-and-text-cultures-establishes-new-partnership-china

Oxford University China Centre

Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures Establishes New Partnership in China The week before Christmas, a small delegation from the Centre for Manuscript and Text Cultures (CMTC) at Oxford University went to Nanjing, China, to attend the formal launch of the Centre for the Study of Excavated Manuscripts. The new centre at Nanjing University is directed by Dirk Meyer, Profess...

DECODING MODERN ARAB HISTORY – A Conversation with Eugene Rogan Eugene Rogan is a professor of modern Middle Eastern history studies at the prestigious University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Having such vast knowledg...

If you're applying to study with us in 2025-26, you may be eligible for a St Antony's College, University of Oxford Swire Scholarship!
The scholarships are open to applicants who are permanent residents of Japan, Chinese mainland or Hong Kong SAR.
The Swire Scholarship requires a separate application. Get all the information here:

Swire Scholarships - St Antony's The Swire Scholarships at St Antony’s are generously funded by the Swire Charitable Trust, founded by John Swire & Sons. Four fully funded scholarships are available to graduate students demonstrating exceptional academic merit and/or potential who will commence study on a course offered by St Ant...

💡Applying for a DPhil?

📋Make sure you contact your three academic referees in advance!

They should be able to support your intellectual ability, academic achievement, motivation, and fitness for chosen course of study.

More details here: https://ames.ox.ac.uk/ames-dphil -4950086

🎙NEWS | Congratulations to Professor Dominic Parviz Brookshaw who was on the In Our Time Podcast today. He spoke with Melvyn Bragg on the work and influence of the 12th century Persian poet, Nizami Ganjavi.

Check out the episode on the BBC website here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0025l1q

Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre TORCH - The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities.

University of Oxford Wadham College BBC Sounds

BBC Radio 4 - In Our Time, Nizami Ganjavi Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the great 12th-century Persian epic romantic poet.

🎉Congratulations to Dr Thea Gomelauri on beiing awarded the 2024 Guru Nanak Interfaith Prize! 🏆

This is bestowed biannually upon an individual for their significant work in promoting interfaith understanding.
https://news.hofstra.edu/2024/12/03/recipients-of-hofstras-2024-guru-nanak-interfaith-prize-announced/