Meri, Josef W. Born December 23, 1969, in the United States.

PERSONAL:

Born December 23, 1969, in the United States; Education: University of California, Berkeley, B.A. (magna cum laude), 1992; State University of New York at Binghamton, M.A., 1995; Oxford University, D.Phil., 1999. edX Higher Education Learning in the Age of AI Certificate, November 2024; AI Academy Course Hero certification in Teaching with AI and 5 CEUs, November 2024; IRB Board Member Certification via CITI, 2020–2023; IRB P.I. Certification via CITI, Georgetown University, 2023–2026; Cybercrime Awareness Certificate, Qatar Finance and Business Academy, 2021.

Hobbies and other interests: Computing, music, travel and sightseeing, dining.

ADDRESSES:

Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University. jwmeri@gmail.com.

CAREER:

University of California, Berkeley, visiting research fellow in Near Eastern studies, 1999-2002; Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, England, visiting fellow in medieval Islamic history, civilization, and inter-faith relations, 2002–05; general editor, Routledge Encyclopedia of Medieval Islamic Civilization, 2002–2005; Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Amman, Jordan, fellow and special scholar in residence, 2005–2010; book review editor for Islamic Studies, Speculum, 2007–2012; Woolf Institute, Cambridge University, 2010–2013; St. Edmund's College, Cambridge University, 2010–2013; founding editor, Intertwined Worlds academic journal in Muslim-Jewish Relations, 2011–2013; Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), Allianz Visiting Professor for Islamic and Jewish Studies, 2013–2014; Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations, Merrimack College, faculty associate, 2014–2018, senior associate, 2019–2020; subject editor for Islamic World, Routledge Medieval Encyclopedia Online, 2017–2020; Hamad Bin Khalifa University, 2018–2023; Georgetown University-Qatar, 2023; Georgetown University, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, affiliated, 2021–2024, senior fellow, 2024—; Qatar Foundation, 2024. Teaches interdisciplinary courses in history, religious studies, history of religions, comparative religion, Middle Eastern studies, and Islamic studies; specializes in religious pluralism, interfaith relations, applied research methodologies, Muslim encounters with other societies, and memory and interreligious relations; contributor to reference books and other compilations. Travel; reading; fluent in English, Arabic, Hebrew; proficient in Hebrew (modern, medieval, biblical), Judaeo-Arabic, Spanish, French, German, Persian. Middle East Medievalists (life member); American Academy of Religion; Phi Beta Kappa. Fulbright fellow, 1992; Bradley fellow, 1993-96; Frenkel Scholarship in Jewish studies, 1995; Social Science Research Council fellowship, 1994, 1996; Barakat Trust Fellowship, 1996; Aal Falah Program fellow, 2001; Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, fellow, 2004–2010; Aal al-Bayt fellow and special scholar in residence, 2005–2010; Allianz Visiting Professor for Islamic and Jewish Studies, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, 2013–2014; Goldziher Prize (Merrimack College, USA, 2014); Qatar Foundation Multiversity Grant recipient, 2022.

MEMBER:

Middle East Medievalists (board member, 2002-04), Hagiography Society, British Society for Middle Eastern Studies, Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fulbright fellow, 1992; Bradley fellow, 1993-96; Frenkel Scholarship in Jewish studies, 1995; Social Science Research Council fellowship, 1994, 1996; Barakat Trust Fellowship, 1996; Aal Falah Program fellow, 2001; Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, fellow, 2004—.

WRITINGS:

The Cult of Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 2002.

(Editor, with Farhad Daftary) Culture and Memory in Medieval Islam: Essays in Honour of Wilferd Madelung, I.B. Tauris (London, England), 2003.

(Translator) A Lonely Wayfarer's Guide to Pilgrimage: 'Ali ibn Abi Bakr's Kitab al-isharat ila ma'rifat al-ziyarat, Darwin Press (Princeton, NJ), 2004.

(Editor) Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, two volumes, Routledge (New York, NY), 2005. ; updated reissue with corrections and updated bibliographies,

Contributor to reference books and other compilations. Contributor to Middle East Studies Association Bulletin and other periodicals.

(Editor) Routledge (London), “Teaching Interfaith Relations at Universities in the Arab Middle East: Challenges and Strategies,” Religions 12, “Reflections on Interfaith Relations: A Decade After My Time as Allianz Visiting Professor at LMU,” Bridge Initiative Georgetown University, “It's Time Syria Returns to Pluralism after Assad Divide-and-Rule,” The New Arab December, “Bridging Worlds: Reflections on Teaching, Dialogue, and the University's Role,” Bridge Initiative Georgetown University,

SIDELIGHTS:

Josef W. Meri once told CA: "As a writer on Islamic history and religion, and interfaith relations, I believe that there is always room for self- improvement, introspection, and accepting justified criticism of my work. I am constantly striving to gain new insights and understandings into human processes and the historical development of ritual practices among Jews, Christians, and Muslims with the objective of making them more intelligible and accessible, particularly to the non-specialist.

"I hope that my work will eventually lead others to better understand the ritual practices which are at the heart of religion and which contribute to the dynamism of religious diversity. Such diversity manifested itself in many forms throughout North Africa and the Near East in pre-modern times and continues to do so down to the present. Religion is a positive force for change and people of conscience should more effectively harness that force to bring about change in our troubled times."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Choice, April, 2006, C.A. Sproles, review of Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, pp. 1382-1383.

Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, Volume 30, issue 1, 2005, D. Bousek, review of The Cult of Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria, pp. 576-581.

Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 16, April, 2006, Nile Green, review of Culture and Memory in Medieval Islam, pp. 93-95.

Religious Studies Review, Volume 32, issue 1, January, 2006, Warren C. Schultz, review of A Lonely Wayfarer's Guide to Pilgrimage: 'Ali ibn Abi Bakr's Kitab al-isharat ila ma'rifat al-ziyarat, p. 53.

Speculum: Journal of Medieval Studies, July, 2005, Bernd Radtke, review of The Cult of Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria, pp. 936-938.

ONLINE

Humanities and Social Sciences Online,http://www.hnet.org (August, 2004), Richard McGregor, review of The Cult of Saints among Muslims and Jews in Medieval Syria.