Bayard Dodge DVP: Bilal Orfali Public Lecture

Bilal Orfali, Ph.D. (2009), Yale University, is Sheikh Zayed Chair for Arabic and Islamic Studies and Chairperson of the Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages at the American University of Beirut. He previously held the M.S. Sofia Chair in Arabic Studies at the Ohio State University. He specializes in Arabic literature, Sufism, and Qurʾānic Studies. He co-edits al-Abhath Journal, Brill's series Texts and Studies on the Qur'an, and serves on the board of several journals, book series, and academic projects across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. He is the author and editor of more than twenty books on Arabic Studies. His recent publications include Light Upon Light (Brill 2019), Insatiable Appetite: Food as Cultural Signifier in the Middle East and Beyond (Brill, 2019), The AAnthologist'sArt (Brill, 2016), The Book of Noble Character (Brill, 2015), The Comfort of the Mystics (Brill, 2013), Sufism, Black and White (Brill, 2012), In the Shadow of Arabic (Brill, 2011). He has a BS in Mathematics, a BA and MA in Arabic language and literature from the American University of Beirut, and an MPhil and Ph.D. in Arabic Studies from Yale University.