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inaugural Margoliouth Lecture on the History of the Middle East at New College, Oxford.

Inaugural Margoliouth Lecture on the History of the Middle East

The inaugural lecturer will be Eugene Rogan, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History and Director of the Middle East Centre at St Antony's College, Oxford University. He will be speaking about "Damascus Rebuilt: Margoliouth and Syria After the 1860 Massacre." 

The lecture will take place on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at 5 pm in The New Space (Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TZ), New College. A reception will follow. All are welcome.

For questions, please contact: christian.sahner@new.ox.ac.uk

The Margoliouth Lecture on the History of the Middle East celebrates the legacy of D.S. Margoliouth (1858-1940), the leading scholar of Arabic and Islamic studies in Great Britain during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Margoliouth came up to New College as an undergraduate in 1877 and was elected a fellow in 1881. In 1889, he was appointed as the Laudian Professor of Arabic, a position he held until his retirement in 1937. During this period, he published widely on Arabic literature, Middle Eastern history, and Islam, drawing on a deep knowledge of ancient and modern languages. The Margoliouth Lecture, taking place for the first time in 2026, aims to demonstrate the relevance of history for understanding the Arab and Muslim worlds today. 

 

Other

Middle Eastern Text (MET) Salon

The MET Salon is a student-led network for DPhil and MPhil students working on the Arabic-script textual world, including Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Urdu, Hebrew/Judeo-Arabic, and related traditions. The Salon hosts monthly seminars and a termly guest lecture, providing an interdisciplinary forum for discussion and exchange across periods and regions.

Hilary Term 2026 Seminars