In September 2024, UC Berkeley’s Division of Social Sciences announced the establishment of an endowed program and chair in Palestinian and Arab studies, ushering in a new era of research and scholarship in this critical field of study.
“At a time when understanding the complexities of the Middle East is more crucial than ever, this gift allows the Social Sciences to take a leading role in fostering critical scholarship and dialogue,” Berkeley Social Sciences Dean Raka Ray said. “It’s an opportunity for us to deepen our commitment to outstanding scholarship; to explore important but neglected fields of study; and to build inclusive education.”
May Ziadeh. Photo courtesy of Wiki Commons.
Years of collaborative planning and philanthropy led to this $3.25 million gift and to the establishment of the May Ziadeh Chair in Palestinian and Arab Studies. The chair will provide students with an opportunity to discuss and learn freely about the deeply interconnected and embedded streams of Palestinian and Arab history, culture, politics, and society. It will be held by history professor Ussama Makdisi, a leading scholar of modern Arab history. He joined Berkeley in 2022 from Rice University, where he was the first holder of the Arab-American Educational Foundation Chair of Arab Studies. He has written numerous books and articles on Arab history and has received several prestigious awards and honors, including the Berlin Prize and being named a Carnegie Scholar.
Ussama Makdisi, a leading scholar of modern Arab history. Photo by Annette Hornischer.
“This gift allows us to meet evident student demand and interest in modern Palestinian history,” Makdisi said. “It permits us to explore the complex and long history of a multi-religious Palestine in the context of the wider Arab world. Most of all, it invites us to expand scholarly and ethical horizons, and connect Palestinian history more deeply with parallel fields of inquiry such as Indigenous, Latinx, and Black history.”
May Ziadeh (1886–1941) was a pioneering Palestinian-Lebanese feminist, poet, and writer who played a key role in the Arab cultural renaissance in the modern Middle East. Born and raised in Nazareth before moving to Beirut and Cairo, Ziadeh personified the deep interconnections between Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world.
The endowed program will fund research opportunities and cultural activities in this vital field, representing a major step forward in expanding Middle Eastern scholarship at Berkeley. Anchored in the discipline of history — the top-ranked department in the United States and housed in Berkeley Social Sciences — the chair is a direct response to the growing interest among students and academics in the field of Palestinian and Arab studies and addresses the broader public’s desire for a deeper understanding of Palestinian history.
“This gift allows us to meet evident student demand and interest in modern Palestinian history.” — Ussama Makdisi
The gift advances Berkeley’s position at the forefront of comprehensive and nuanced academic inquiry, fostering an environment where diverse perspectives are not only welcomed but deemed essential to academic discourse. By facilitating research, teaching, and student inquiry around the question of Palestine, according to Makdisi, the new endowment makes visible what has long been a central question and concern at the heart of modern Arab, Middle Eastern, and world history.
“Every generation grapples with this challenging history on its own terms, and every generation finds new sources, new evidence, and new insights,” said Cathryn Carson, chair of the history department. “UC Berkeley is ideally situated to nurture emerging scholars in Palestinian and Arab studies and advance fresh thinking on a broad array of topics.”
In support of this initiative, UC Berkeley has pledged $500,000 to bolster the program in areas such as student-facing activities, undergraduate scholarships, and conferences. Renowned for its reputation as an inclusive space for scholarly inquiry marked by openness, mutual respect, and scholarly dialogue, Berkeley Social Sciences is the ideal home for this endowed faculty position.
Makdisi and other faculty who work on Palestinian and Arab history, culture, literature, society, and politics will explore the possibility of adding a minor to this field and developing other opportunities to engage graduate and undergraduate students.
