Elias MuhannaBrown UniversityElias Muhanna is Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and Middle East Studies at Brown University, where he teaches courses on classical Arabic literature and Islamic intellectual history. He earned his PhD in Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations from Harvard University in 2012, and was a Visiting Fellow at the Stanford University Center for Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law in 2011-12. His current research focuses on classical and early modern encyclopedic literature in the Islamic world, and particularly on the diverse forms of large-scale compilation during the Mamluk Empire (1250-1517).In addition to his academic scholarship, Muhanna has written extensively on contemporary cultural and political affairs in the Middle East for several publications, including The New York Times, The Nation, Foreign Policy, The Guardian, The National, Mideast Monitor, World Politics Review, Bidoun, and Transition.For further details, see his website:http://research.brown.edu/myresearch/Elias_MuhannaAs well as a recent interview with him:http://news.brown.edu/new-faculty/2012-13/elias-muhannaThe event is sponsored by The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations & The Graduate School