PhD in History - Middle East and North Africa in Washington United States | Georgetown University

Georgetown's Ph.D. program provides exceptional opportunities for history students. Alongside guidance from our renowned, award-winning History faculty, students can leverage the university's diverse regional studies programs and interdisciplinary research centers. Washington, D.C. offers unmatched historical resources, including the Library of Congress, National Archives, National Library of Medicine, and Folger Shakespeare Library, alongside extensive language learning options.

Middle East history stands as one of Georgetown's strongest specialties, particularly in social, cultural, and political studies of the early modern/modern Arab World and Ottoman Empire/Turkey. Doctoral candidates explore diverse themes including environmental history, gender studies, commodity histories, social movements, colonial/post-colonial studies, and military history in the Middle East, aligning with faculty research interests.

The university boasts exceptional resources for Arab World studies. History Department faculty including Professors Abi-Mershed, Haddad, Tucker, and Voll conduct research across the Arab World, examining topics ranging from colonialism and state formation to gender studies, Islamic movements, and legal history. Their expertise spans North Africa, the Levant, Gulf region, and beyond. Additional support comes from Arabic and Islamic Studies faculty specializing in classical/modern literature and religious studies, while the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies offers complementary coursework in anthropology and political studies of the region.