The Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (formerly the Faculty of Oriental Studies), is a subdivision of the University of Oxford. The faculty is engaged in a broad range of research and teaching on modern and historical Asian and Middle Eastern studies, focusing on politics, language, and culture. The faculty's main building is located on Pusey Lane near the

Ashmolean Museum The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology () on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is Britain's first public museum. Its first building was erected in 1678–1683 to house the cabinet of curiosities that Elias Ashmole gave to the University of ...

and Sackler Library, with some research centres of the faculty having their own buildings elsewhere in Oxford (such as the Middle East Centre based at

St. Antony's College, Oxford St Antony's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1950 as the result of the gift of French merchant Sir Antonin Besse of Aden, St Antony's specialises in international relations, economics ...

). The faculty is part of the Humanities Division at the University of Oxford. The faculty has its own library for students and professors, which is both a lending library and a reading room of the

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

. The faculty was known as the Faculty of Oriental Studies until 1 August 2022, when the name was changed to Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. The name was changed due to its perceived colonial implications.

Sub-faculties

The faculty is divided into three sub-faculties based on subject area, including: * Sub-Faculty of Middle Eastern Studies, which covers ** Department of the Islamic World ** Department of Modern Middle Eastern Studies ** Department of Hebrew and Jewish Studies (also based at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies) ** Department of Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies (also based at the Griffith Institute) * Sub-Faculty of South and Inner Asian Studies, which covers ** Hindi and Urdu politics, language, and culture ** Sanskrit ( classical and Vedic) **

Tibetan Tibetan may mean: * of, from, or related to Tibet * Tibetan people, an ethnic group * Tibetan language: ** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard ** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...

and Himalayan Cultural Studies * Sub-Faculty of East Asian Studies (also based at the Eastern Art Department of the Ashmolean Museum), which covers ** Chinese (based at the University of Oxford China Centre,

Canterbury Road Canterbury Road is a road in North Oxford, England. It runs between Woodstock Road to the west and Banbury Road to the east. Winchester Road leads south from halfway along Canterbury Road, linking with Bevington Road that runs parallel to t ...

) ** Japanese (also based at the

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

Institute of Japanese Studies,

Winchester Road Winchester Road is a road in North Oxford, England. It runs north–south between and roughly parallel with Woodstock Road to the west and Banbury Road to the east. It is in a desirable area with high house prices. History and name The area ...

) ** Korean, politics, and culture

Notable people

Statutory professorships (): * Regius Professor of Hebrew – vacant * Laudian Professor of Arabic –

Julia Bray Julia Margaret Bray (born 28 September 1952) is a British scholar of Oriental studies who specialises in Medieval to Early Modern Arabic literature. Since 2012, she has been the Laudian Professor of Arabic at the University of Oxford and a Fello ...

* Professor of Egyptology –

Richard B. Parkinson Richard Bruce Parkinson (born 25 May 1963) is a British Egyptologist and academic. He is Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford and a fellow of The Queen's College, Oxford. Until December 2013 he was a curator in the Department of ...

* Boden Professor of Sanskrit – Christopher Minkowski * Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of Armenian Studies – Theo Maarten van Lint * Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics – Diwakar Acharya * I.M. Pei Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture – Alain Fouad George * Stanley Ho Professor of Chinese History –

Henrietta Harrison Henrietta Katherine Harrison, (born 1967) is a British historian, sinologist, and academic. Education and career Henrietta Harrison was educated at St Paul's Girls' School, Hammersmith, Newnham College, Cambridge (BA 1989), Harvard University ( ...

* Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies – Edmund Herzig * Yehan Numata Professor of Buddhist Studies – Stefano Zacchetti * Khalid bin Abdullah Al Saud Professor for the Study of the Contemporary Arab World – Marilyn Booth * HH Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani Professor of Contemporary Islamic Studies – vacant Other notable current academics: * Martin Goodman * Christopher Melchert * Judith Olszowy-Schlanger * Eugene Rogan

References

External links

Official website of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

Official website of the Nizami Ganjavi Library

Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum

Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies

Khalili Research Centre for Art and the Material Culture of the Middle East

Eastern Art Department, Ashmolean Museum

Nissan Institute of Japanese Studies
{{coord, 51, 45, 21, N, 1, 15, 39, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Departments of the University of Oxford Research institutes in Oxford Libraries of the University of Oxford Oriental studies