CSAMES blog : About CSAMES

The Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (CSAMES) promotes research and scholarship on South Asia and the Middle East. CSAMES was designated a National Resource Center (Title VI) 2006-2010 by the U.S. Department of Education for the study and teaching of the Middle East, enabling the Center to further strengthen its commitment to an academic inquiry into a region that is home to some of the world’s oldest religions and civilizations.

CSAMES works with more than a dozen departments and over 70 affiliated faculty members, who bring to the Center their expertise and diverse areas of interest. These members actively participate in lectures and events, including the annual Turkish Studies Symposium and the Middle East and Islamic Studies Lecture Series. Some of the disciplines that CSAMES faculty are associated with are contemporary and historical studies of South Asia and the Middle East, and inquiries into such topics as religious and social identities, cultural values, literary expression, urbanization, politics and gender. Courses recently developed in conjunction with these faculty include Muslim-Christian Interactions and Islam in East Africa.

Center for South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

221 International Studies Building

910 South Fifth Street

Champaign, IL 61820 (USA)

Tel: 217-244-7331

Fax: 217-265-6399

E-mail: csames@illinois.edu

Valerie Hoffman, Director

Office: 220 ISB

Phone: 217.333.0953

Email: vhoffman@illinois.edu