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The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies and the Middle East Studies Program at George Mason University are pleased to launch a new MA in Middle East and Islamic studies in fall 2013.

Dr. Peter Mandaville, Director of the Ali Vural Ak Center, spoke at the 14th annual conference held by the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), titled "Democratic Transitions in the Arab World: Two Years After the Arab Spring" on May 29.

On April 25, the Ali Vural Ak Center hosted noted scholar Farid Esack from the University of Johannesburg for a guest lecture titled "Islamic Ethics and Decolonialization", the final talk of the Center's Spring Lecture Series on Islamic Ethics.

This May, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences plans to host three convocations: one each for its graduate students, undergraduate humanities and interdisciplinary programs students, and undergraduate social sciences students.

Dr. Abdulaziz Sachedina, IIIT Chair in Islamic Studies at Mason, spoke on the conference's Plenary Panel, themed "The Challenge of Religious Pluralism in Christian-Muslim Relations: The Arab Spring".

On April 11, Roger Owen from Harvard University, a key scholar whose work played a vital role in developing the academic field of Middle East Studies, spoke at Mason about his most recent book, "The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life".

On April 4, the Ali Vural Ak Center hosted Waleed El-Ansary from Xavier University for a guest lecture titled, "The Spiritual Significance of Jihad in Islamic Economics", as part of the Spring Lecture Series on Islamic Ethics.