Master's degree (MPhil)

This first-of-its-kind MPhil pathway pioneers a new academic approach to popular culture by connecting the past, present and future. With us, you will develop skills in analysing key cultural products while considering how they are shaped by transmedial flows and other processes including translation, adaptation, top-down design, and grassroots creativity.

Learn more about the MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (East Asian Popular Culture Across Time) course and apply on the postgraduate admissions website.

Please contact a potential supervisor before submitting your application to discuss research proposals, enquire about supervisor capacity and willingness to supervise, and determine if there is a good fit between your interests and theirs.


Faculty members with research interests in East Asian Popular Culture Across Time
 

Dr Noga Ganany – ng462@cam.ac.uk
University Associate Professor in the Study of Late Imperial China 

• Research interests: Chinese history, premodern Chinese literature, religious practice in China (including Buddhism and Daoism), print culture and history of the book in China, and popular culture. I am particularly interested in the interplay between literature and religion in late-imperial China (primarily during the Ming and Qing dynasties). I am also interested in early-modern book culture, hagiographical writing, and travel and pilgrimage in China.
• Research supervision: Dr Ganany welcomes graduate students interested in exploring late-imperial cultural history, Chinese literature, book culture, and Chinese religions.

Dr Heather Inwood – hi208@cam.ac.uk
University Associate Professor in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 

• Research interests: Chinese contemporary genre fiction and poetry; popular, fan and folk cultures; internet culture and society; media studies; sociology of literature and culture.
• Research supervision: Dr Inwood is happy to supervise postgraduate students in topics relating to her research on modern and contemporary Chinese literature, culture and media, especially digital and popular culture.
• Note to postgraduate applicants for 2026-27 entry: I am able to make a small number of PhD offers for Michaelmas 2026 entry and welcome applications from MPhil and PhD students with the relevant academic backgrounds and proposed topics.

Dr Nuri Kim – nk588@cam.ac.uk
University Associate Professor in Korean Studies

• Research interests: History of modern Korea; the history of knowledge, historiography and historical memory; new religious movements; Family History, Cultural History, History of Games.
• Research supervision: Dr Kim welcomes MPhil and PhD applications related to modern Korea.

Professor Laura Moretti – lm571@cam.ac.uk
Professor of Early Modern Japanese Literature and Culture
Emmanuel College

• Research interests: popular literature and culture, visual culture (including ukiyo-e prints), graphic narratives, game studies, and book history in early modern Japan (17th-19th century). She works a range of topics including transmedia storytelling, adaptation, canon-making, intervisuality, playfulness, humour, satire, metafiction, didactic prose, and medicine in popular culture. See also her Japanese Early Modern Palaeography Summer School.
• Research supervision: Professor Moretti welcomes graduate students interested in Japanese premodern and early modern literature, encouraging projects that investigate early modern Japanese culture broadly, including visual culture and woodblock prints; book history and/or textual scholarship in Japan; Japanese palaeography and calligraphy, and art.

Dr Victoria Young – vy202@cam.ac.uk
Kawashima University Associate Professor in Japanese Literature and Culture

• Research interests: Modern and contemporary Japanese literature; Okinawan studies; trans-border literature; postcolonial studies; feminist criticism; multilingual writing and translation, critical theory, intersections of literature and history.
• Research supervision: Dr Young is pleased to supervise graduate students interested in modern and contemporary Japanese and Okinawan literature, particularly with projects linked to themes and issues of war, imperialism, decolonisation, history and memory, gender and sexuality, multilinguality, and translation.

Learn more about the MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Chinese Studies) course and apply on the postgraduate admissions website.

Please contact a potential supervisor before submitting your application to discuss research proposals, enquire about supervisor capacity and willingness to supervise, and determine if there is a good fit between your interests and theirs.
 

Faculty members with research interests in Chinese Studies
 

Professor Adam Yuet Chau – ayc25@cam.ac.uk
Professor of the Anthropology of China

• Research interests: Social and cultural transformations in contemporary China; Chinese religions, especially their social aspects (primarily popular religion); ritual theories; cultural forms; ‘text acts’; ‘hosting’; ‘modalities of doing religion’; subjectification; generating concepts based on native practices and categories (e.g., red-hot sociality); material culture; fieldwork locations include Shaanbei (northern Shaanxi Province) and Taiwan.
• Research supervision: Professor Chau is on sabbatical leave during 2025-26. He will consider MPhil and PhD applications for 2026 entry. Professor Chau welcomes students who work on Chinese religious and ritual life; social and cultural change in modern/contemporary China; Chinese environmentalism(s); China and the overseas Chinese and other topics relating to social anthropology of contemporary China.

Dr Noga Ganany – ng462@cam.ac.uk
University Associate Professor in the Study of Late Imperial China

• Research interests: Chinese history, premodern Chinese literature, religious practice in China (including Buddhism and Daoism), print culture and history of the book in China, and popular culture. I am particularly interested in the interplay between literature and religion in late-imperial China (primarily during the Ming and Qing dynasties). I am also interested in early-modern book culture, hagiographical writing, and travel and pilgrimage in China.
• Research supervision: Dr Ganany welcomes graduate students interested in exploring late-imperial cultural history, Chinese literature, book culture, and Chinese religions.

Professor William J. Hurst – wjh45@cam.ac.uk
Chong Hua Professor of Chinese Development

• Research interests: Politics in China and Indonesia. I have published books on labour and law and society. I am completing new projects on land regimes in Mainland China, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Malaysia, and on China’s international relations. I publish regularly on urban governance, rural politics, contentious politics, and political economy.
• Research supervision: I am eager to work with exceptional students who take on big challenges and substantively important topics, spend significant energy and time extracting and gathering original data at close range, and deploy new concepts, theories, and ideas to reshape fields including politics, sociology, law, development, through area studies scholarship.

Dr Heather Inwood – hi208@cam.ac.uk
University Associate Professor in Modern Chinese Literature and Culture

• Research interests: Chinese contemporary genre fiction and poetry; popular, fan and folk cultures; internet culture and society; media studies; sociology of literature and culture.
• Research supervision: Dr Inwood is happy to supervise postgraduate students in topics relating to her research on modern and contemporary Chinese literature, culture and media, especially digital and popular culture.
• Note to postgraduate applicants for 2026-27 entry: I am able to make a small number of PhD offers for Michaelmas 2026 entry and welcome applications from MPhil and PhD students with the relevant academic backgrounds and proposed topics.

Professor Roel Sterckx FBA – rs10009@cam.ac.uk
Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History, Science and Civilization

• Research interests: Classical and literary Chinese language and philology; cultural history of pre-imperial and early imperial China: ecology and agriculture, natural history, animal studies; food and dietary culture, ritual and religion, economic and political thought; he interplay between moral and material values in Chinese thought.
• Research supervision: Professor Sterckx welcomes MPhil and PhD students interested in Chinese thought and the cultural history of the pre-imperial and early imperial period (Zhou through Han). He is particularly interested in projects that seek to explore perceptions of the natural world and its resources the role of ritual, and the ways in which material values shape ethics, philosophy and political thought. Students wishing to work with Prof. Sterckx can be considered for the Louis Cha Scholarship, provided they apply to St John's College.

Professor Hans van de Ven FBA – jjv10@cam.ac.uk
Professor of Modern Chinese History

• Research interests: History of the Chinese Communist Party before 1949; the history of warfare in modern China; Chinese globalization in the 1850-1950 period; the Second World War in Asia generally.
• Research supervision: Approaching retirement, Prof. van de Ven is unfortunately unable to take on any new MPhil or PhD students at Cambridge. Prospective PhD students hoping to work with him might wish to consider applying to the History Department of Peking University, where he continues to teach.
   

Dr Yingchuan Yang – yy633@cam.ac.uk
Teaching Associate in Modern Chinese History

• Research interests: History of science and technology; infrastructural studies; sound studies; socialism; Cultural Revolution; urban history; historiography.
• Research supervision: Dr Yang can only consider MPhil applications. He welcomes students interested in all aspects of modern Chinese history, particularly those committed to archival research or whose topics intersect with his research areas.

Dr Ling Zhang 張玲 – lz231@cam.ac.uk
University Associate Professor in Classical Chinese and Middle Period China

• Research interests: middle-period China; political economy, science and technology, environment and ecology, as well as the relationship between ecology and diverse knowledge systems (official knowledge, vernacular knowledge, embodied know-how, tools and infrastructure, medicine and healing, religious and cultural practices, etc.).
• Research supervision: Dr Zhang is interested in working with postgraduate research students who seek to study premodern China with interests in political economy, science and technology, environment and ecology, as well as the relationship between ecology and diverse knowledge systems (official knowledge, vernacular knowledge, embodied know-how, tools and infrastructure, medicine and healing, religious and cultural practices, etc.). She is also interested in working with students who wish to explore the above-mentioned issues in comparative contexts.

Dr Lucy Xia Zhao – lz445@cam.ac.uk
University Associate Professor in Chinese Language and Linguistics

• Research interests: Informed by the generative linguistic theory, Dr Zhao’s research aims to gain an understanding of the acquisition process of second language adults and heritage children, with a special focus on the acquisition of Mandarin Chinese. Her current projects investigate the role of the native language, input, nature of the linguistic phenomena, and computational complexity in the development and ultimate attainment of adult second language learners’ grammars of Mandarin Chinese; as well as the developmental trajectory, and the role of parental input and the ‘other’ language(s) in the maintenance and loss of various aspects of heritage Mandarin grammars.
• Research supervision: Dr Zhao welcomes MPhil and PhD candidates interested in second/third language acquisition and heritage language acquisition of Mandarin Chinese especially from the perspective of generative linguistics.

Learn more about the MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Japanese Studies) and apply through the postgraduate admissions website.

Please contact a potential supervisor before submitting your application to discuss research proposals, enquire about supervisor capacity and willingness to supervise, and determine if there is a good fit between your interests and theirs.
 

Faculty members with research interests in Japanese Studies
 

Professor Mikael Adolphson – sma75@cam.ac.uk
Keidanren Professor of Japanese Studies

• Research interests: Social structures, ideologies, mentalitée, religious institutions, legal history, historical documents and international trade in Medieval Japan.
• Research supervision: Having supervised graduate students in a range of fields, including premodern and modern Japanese history, premodern literature as well as Buddhism, Professor Adolphson welcomes enquiries from motivated graduate students and young scholars from across the world.

Professor Barak Kushner, FBA – bk284@cam.ac.uk
Professor of East Asian History
Barak Kushner website

• Research interests: Modern East Asian history - including Japan, Taiwan, and China - in particular the wartime, postwar imperial dissolution of the Japanese Empire, and the Cold War in East Asia, as well as history of war crimes, memory politics, and the pursuit of justice. I also have a growing interest in Korea’s role within the Japanese empire.
• Research supervision: On sabbatical from October 2024 to September 2026. Professor Kushner will be on sabbatical leave until September of 2026 but welcomes applications for the PhD programme with a start in the fall of 2026. Potential applicants should contact Professor Kushner directly for queries about 2026 admission. Prof. Kushner is pleased to supervise MPhil and PhD students interested in imperial and postwar Japanese history, 20th century Japan-Taiwan, as well as Sino-Japanese relations, the history of the Cold War in East Asia, and history of war crimes in East Asia.

Professor Laura Moretti – lm571@cam.ac.uk
Professor of Early Modern Japanese Literature and Culture
Emmanuel College

• Research interests: popular literature and culture, visual culture (including ukiyo-e prints), graphic narratives, game studies, and book history in early modern Japan (17th-19th century). She works a range of topics including transmedia storytelling, adaptation, canon-making, intervisuality, playfulness, humour, satire, metafiction, didactic prose, and medicine in popular culture. See also her Japanese Early Modern Palaeography Summer School.
• Research supervision: Professor Moretti welcomes graduate students interested in Japanese premodern and early modern literature, encouraging projects that investigate early modern Japanese culture broadly, including visual culture and woodblock prints; book history and/or textual scholarship in Japan; Japanese palaeography and calligraphy, and art.

Professor John Nilsson-Wright – jhs22@cam.ac.uk
Fuji Bank Professor of Japanese Politics and the International Relations of East Asia

• Research interests: Japanese politics and international relations; Cold War history and especially US foreign policy in East Asia particularly towards Japan and the two Koreas; North and South Korean domestic politics and foreign policy; diplomatic history and strategic studies.
• Research supervision: Professor Nilsson-Wright is happy to supervise graduate students who wish to work on East Asian politics, international relations and diplomatic history, particularly with reference to Japan, North and South Korea and US relations with Northeast Asia. I typically receive a large volume of applications for our MPhil and doctoral programmes and try to liaise with potential applicants before our formal deadlines. However, if you do not receive a direct reply from me, do still consider submitting your application via the online process and I look forward to reviewing your application once it reaches me.

Dr Brigitte Steger – bs382@cam.ac.uk 
University Associate Professor in Modern Japanese Studies

• Research interests: Brigitte Steger specializes in Japanese society, with emphasis on the cultural history and anthropology of things we take for granted, such as the cultural and social embeddedness of seemingly natural, bodily matters and of daily life. In particular, she has done research on sleep and on time in both contemporary and Heian period Japan, on issues of cleanliness and hygiene (from household waste disposal, household cleaning and wider questions of environment and sustainability to childbirth), and on life in tsunami evacuation shelters post 3.11, as well as on gender issues.
• Research supervision: On sabbatical: September 2025 to September 2026. Dr Steger welcomes inquiries from talented young scholars to work under her supervision. She is willing and able to supervise a wide range of topics related to Japanese contemporary society. Please contact her by e-mail prior to application and submit a draft research proposal (ask for guidelines). She is on sabbatical during the academic year 2025-26 but will answer enquiries about postgraduate research (MPhil, PhD) for start in October 2026.

Dr Victoria Young – vy202@cam.ac.uk
Kawashima University Associate Professor in Japanese Literature and Culture

• Research interests: Modern and contemporary Japanese literature; Okinawan studies; trans-border literature; postcolonial studies; feminist criticism; multilingual writing and translation, critical theory, intersections of literature and history.
• Research supervision: Dr Young is pleased to supervise graduate students interested in modern and contemporary Japanese and Okinawan literature, particularly with projects linked to themes and issues of war, imperialism, decolonisation, history and memory, gender and sexuality, multilinguality, and translation.

Learn more about the MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Korean Studies) course and apply on the postgraduate admissions website.

Please contact a potential supervisor before submitting your application to discuss research proposals, enquire about supervisor capacity and willingness to supervise, and determine if there is a good fit between your interests and theirs.
 

Faculty members with research interests in Korean Studies
 

Dr Nuri Kim – nk588@cam.ac.uk
University Associate Professor in Korean Studies

• Research interests: History of modern Korea; the history of knowledge, historiography and historical memory; new religious movements; Family History, Cultural History, History of Games.

Professor John Nilsson-Wright – jhs22@cam.ac.uk
Fuji Bank Professor of Japanese Politics and the International Relations of East Asia

• Research interests: Japanese politics and international relations; Cold War history and especially US foreign policy in East Asia particularly towards Japan and the two Koreas; North and South Korean domestic politics and foreign policy; diplomatic history and strategic studies.
• Research supervision: Professor Nilsson-Wright is happy to supervise graduate students who wish to work on East Asian politics, international relations and diplomatic history, particularly with reference to Japan, North and South Korea and US relations with Northeast Asia. I typically receive a large volume of applications for our MPhil and doctoral programmes and try to liaise with potential applicants before our formal deadlines. However, if you do not receive a direct reply from me, do still consider submitting your application via the online process and I look forward to reviewing your application once it reaches me.

Learn more about the MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Classical Islamic History and Culture) course and apply on the postgraduate admissions website.

Please contact a potential supervisor before submitting your application to discuss research proposals, enquire about supervisor capacity and willingness to supervise, and determine if there is a good fit between your interests and theirs.
 

Faculty members with research interests in Classical Islamic History and Culture
 

Dr Assef Ashraf – aa2098@cam.ac.uk 
University Associate Professor in the Eastern Islamic Lands and Persian-Speaking World
Pembroke College

• Research interests: Iranian and Persianate history from the medieval to the modern periods; Persian historiography; Iranian and Persianate political culture; comparative empires of the Eastern Islamic lands; intellectual history and the history of political thought; history, memory, and the politics of knowledge
• Research supervision: Dr Ashraf welcomes inquiries from prospective Master’s and PhD students who are interested in the history of Iran and the Persianate world, from the medieval to modern periods, broadly defined.

Professor Amira K Bennison – knb21@cam.ac.uk 
Professor in the History and Culture of the Maghrib
Head of Department and Co-Chair of the Faculty 
Magdalene College

• Research interests: Professor Bennison’s research focuses geographically on the medieval Islamic western Mediterranean, especially what is now Morocco. Her interests lie in political legitimation, material culture and urbanism with a chronological focus on the eleventh to fourteenth centuries, the era of the Almoravid, Almohad and Marinid empires.
• Research supervision: Professor Bennison welcomes postgraduate applications from students interested in working on the political, cultural and social history of the medieval Islamic west (Iberia and the Maghrib), medieval and early modern urbanism and Islamic material culture in the Islamic west and the wider Islamic world. 
  Professor Bennison will be on sabbatical leave in 2026-27 and not taking new students for that academic year. 

Professor Andrew Marsham – adm56@cam.ac.uk 
Professor of Classical Arabic Studies 
Queens College

• Research interests: Islamic History; Late Antique and Early Medieval History of the Mediterranean and the Middle East; Political Culture in Early Islam; Empire and State Formation in Early Islam; Comparative and Transregional History; Arabic Historiography; Late Antique and Medieval Historiography; Environmental History.
• Research supervision: Professor Marsham welcomes inquiries from prospective Masters or PhD students who are interested in the history of the Middle East from Late Antiquity to the Medieval periods.

Professor James Montgomery FBA – jem33@cam.ac.uk 
Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic

• Research interests: History of ideas in classical Islam; classical Arabic literature; literary translation.
• Research supervision: Professor Montgomery is interested in supervising students with similar research interests.

Professor Christine van Ruymbeke – cv223@cam.ac.uk 
Ali Reza & Mohamed Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies
Watch Dr Christine van Ruymbeke talk about postgraduate studies in Persian Literature via YouTube.

• Research interests: Medieval and Pre-Modern (i.e. “Classical”) Literature in the Persianate world with a focus on non-mystical prose and verse narratives. Science & poetry (medicine, pharmacology), politics & poetry (mirror for princes), rewriting & translating, Persian literature in medieval, renaissance and pre-modern European literature, codicology, calligraphy and Persian paintings.
• Research supervision: Prof. van Ruymbeke welcomes approaches from potential graduate students with research interests relevant to hers or in topics of modern and contemporary Persian literature or cinema. She will be on sabbatical in 2025/26 and 2026/27. She will therefore not be able to accept any postgraduate students for supervision from MT2025 - ET2027 (Please apply in MT2026 to start in MT2027).

Learn more about our MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies courses and apply on the postgraduate admissions website:

• Hebrew and Pre-Modern Jewish History and Culture
• Hebrew and Semitic Studies

Please contact a potential supervisor before submitting your application to discuss research proposals, enquire about supervisor capacity and willingness to supervise, and determine if there is a good fit between your interests and theirs.
 

Faculty members with research interests in Hebrew, Pre-Modern Jewish History and Culture and Semitic Studies
 

Professor Aaron Koller – ajk225@cam.ac.uk 
Regius Professor of Hebrew

• Research interests: Classical Rabbinic literature (Mishnah, Midrash, Talmud); Medieval Jewish biblical interpretation; manuscript studies; Hebrew Bible – philology, history, archaeology; pre-modern Hebrew of all periods; comparative Semitic linguistics; history and dialectology of Aramaic; Dead Sea Scrolls; Targumim; Early biblical interpretation; Piyyut (early Hebrew and Aramaic poetry).
• Research supervision: Professor Koller is happy to supervise students in the subjects in which he has interest and expertise.

Dr Aaron D. Hornkohl – adh44@cam.ac.uk 
University Associate Professor in Hebrew

• Research interests: Ancient Hebrew philology and linguistics, Ancient Hebrew periodization, exegesis
• Research supervision: Dr Hornkohl welcomes graduate students interested in ancient Hebrew philology and linguistics, biblical and extra-biblical of various sources, traditions, and periods.

Dr Benjamin Kantor – bk407@cam.ac.uk 
University Assistant Professor in Hebrew and the Jews of the Mediaeval Middle East

• Research interests: Biblical Hebrew; Medieval (and Late Antique) Hebrew Reading/Vocalisation Traditions; Medieval Hebrew and Arabic Grammarians; Judaeo-Arabic; Medieval Arabic Bible Translation; Comparative Semitic Philology and Linguistics; Greek of Judaea-Palestine; Jewish Translations of the Bible into Greek (e.g., LXX, Aquila).
• Research supervision: Dr Kantor welcomes inquiries from prospective MPhil and PhD students who are interested in the areas of pre-modern Hebrew philology and linguistics, Judaeo-Arabic, Semitic languages and comparative Semitic linguistics, Jewish translations of the Bible (into Judaeo-Arabic, Greek, etc.), and other related areas.

Learn more about the MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Modern Middle Eastern Studies) course and apply on the postgraduate admissions website.

Please contact a potential supervisor before submitting your application to discuss research proposals, enquire about supervisor capacity and willingness to supervise, and determine if there is a good fit between your interests and theirs.
 

Faculty members with research interests in Modern Middle Eastern Studies
 

Dr Paul Anderson – psa27@cam.ac.uk 
HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal University Associate Professor in Middle Eastern Studies, Assistant Director, HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies

• Research interests: intersections of commerce, morality and politics in the Middle East and its diasporas; economic liberalisation in authoritarian contexts; Syrian Jews and Armenians, minoritisation and citizenship in Syria; trade networks connecting China and the Middle East; skills and subjectivities underpinning projects of transregional connectivity; temporalities of urgency and crisis.
• Research supervision: Dr Anderson is open to receiving enquiries from prospective MPhil and PhD students who have a training in social anthropology and who want to work on projects that contribute to current debates in anthropology, particularly on themes related to his research interests (above).

Dr Assef Ashraf – aa2098@cam.ac.uk 
University Associate Professor in the Eastern Islamic Lands and Persian-Speaking World
Pembroke College

• Research interests: Iranian and Persianate history from the medieval to the modern periods; Persian historiography; Iranian and Persianate political culture; comparative empires of the Eastern Islamic lands; intellectual history and the history of political thought; history, memory, and the politics of knowledge
• Research supervision: Dr Ashraf welcomes inquiries from prospective Master’s and PhD students who are interested in the history of Iran and the Persianate world, from the medieval to modern periods, broadly defined.

Professor Saloumeh Gholami – sg2198@cam.ac.uk 
British Academy Global Professor 

• Research interests: Professor Gholami is a scholar in the field of minority languages in the Middle East, with a special focus on Iran. She is a leading authority on language documentation and preservation and revitalization of endangered languages and cultures. Her research has focused on both written and oral heritage of minority communities such as Jews, Ahl-e Haqq, and particularly the Zoroastrians.
• Research supervision: Professor Gholami welcomes enquiries from MPhil candidates interested in Zoroastrian studies, Iranian languages, endangered language documentation, language and identity.

Dr Charis Olszok – co383@cam.ac.uk 
University Associate Professor in Modern Arabic Literature and Culture

• Research interests: Modern and Contemporary Arabic Literature; Comparative Literature; Animal and Eco-critical Studies.
• Research supervision: Dr Olszok welcomes enquiries from MPhil and PhD students who wish to work in fields of Arabic literature in which she has expertise.

Professor Yaron Peleg – yp240@cam.ac.uk 
Kennedy Leigh Professor of Modern Hebrew Studies

• Research interests: Modern Hebrew literature and its history; Israeli cinema, Israeli culture and identity; the formation of Jewish nationalism and its socio-cultural legacy.
• Research supervision: Professor Peleg welcomes inquiries from prospective MPhil and PhD students whose projects align with these areas.

Professor Christina Phillips – clp71@cam.ac.uk 
His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Sa’id Professor of Modern Arabic Studies

• Research interests: Modern Arabic literature and the environmental humanities with a current focus on Palestine.
• Research supervision: Professor Phillips welcomes MPhil and PhD students working on contemporary Arab culture and literature, environmental humanities of the Middle East, Arabic translation studies, and Palestinian literature, culture and identity

Learn more about the MPhil in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Muslim-Jewish Relations) course and apply on the postgraduate admissions website.

Please contact a potential supervisor before submitting your application to discuss research proposals, enquire about supervisor capacity and willingness to supervise, and determine if there is a good fit between your interests and theirs. This MPhil Pathway is offered in conjunction with the Woolf Institute.
 

Faculty members with research interests in Muslim-Jewish Relations
 

Dr Paul Anderson – psa27@cam.ac.uk 
HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal University Associate Professor in Middle Eastern Studies, Assistant Director, HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies

• Research interests: intersections of commerce, morality and politics in the Middle East and its diasporas; economic liberalisation in authoritarian contexts; Syrian Jews and Armenians, minoritisation and citizenship in Syria; trade networks connecting China and the Middle East; skills and subjectivities underpinning projects of transregional connectivity; temporalities of urgency and crisis.
• Research supervision: Dr Anderson is open to receiving enquiries from prospective MPhil and PhD students who have a training in social anthropology and who want to work on projects that contribute to current debates in anthropology, particularly on themes related to his research interests (above).

Professor Saloumeh Gholami – sg2198@cam.ac.uk 
British Academy Global Professor 

• Research interests: Professor Gholami is a scholar in the field of minority languages in the Middle East, with a special focus on Iran. She is a leading authority on language documentation and preservation and revitalization of endangered languages and cultures. Her research has focused on both written and oral heritage of minority communities such as Jews, Ahl-e Haqq, and particularly the Zoroastrians.
• Research supervision: Professor Gholami welcomes enquiries from MPhil candidates interested in Zoroastrian studies, Iranian languages, endangered language documentation, language and identity.

Dr Benjamin Kantor – bk407@cam.ac.uk 
University Assistant Professor in Hebrew and the Jews of the Mediaeval Middle East

• Research interests: Biblical Hebrew; Medieval (and Late Antique) Hebrew Reading/Vocalisation Traditions; Medieval Hebrew and Arabic Grammarians; Judaeo-Arabic; Medieval Arabic Bible Translation; Comparative Semitic Philology and Linguistics; Greek of Judaea-Palestine; Jewish Translations of the Bible into Greek (e.g., LXX, Aquila).
• Research supervision: Dr Kantor welcomes inquiries from prospective MPhil and PhD students who are interested in the areas of pre-modern Hebrew philology and linguistics, Judaeo-Arabic, Semitic languages and comparative Semitic linguistics, Jewish translations of the Bible (into Judaeo-Arabic, Greek, etc.), and other related areas.

Professor Andrew Marsham – adm56@cam.ac.uk 
Professor of Classical Arabic Studies 
Queens College

• Research interests: Islamic History; Late Antique and Early Medieval History of the Mediterranean and the Middle East; Political Culture in Early Islam; Empire and State Formation in Early Islam; Comparative and Transregional History; Arabic Historiography; Late Antique and Medieval Historiography; Environmental History.
• Research supervision: Professor Marsham welcomes inquiries from prospective Masters or PhD students who are interested in the history of the Middle East from Late Antiquity to the Medieval periods.

Professor Yaron Peleg – yp240@cam.ac.uk 
Kennedy Leigh Professor of Modern Hebrew Studies

• Research interests: Modern Hebrew literature and its history; Israeli cinema, Israeli culture and identity; the formation of Jewish nationalism and its socio-cultural legacy.
• Research supervision: Professor Peleg welcomes inquiries from prospective MPhil and PhD students whose projects align with these areas.