Speaker:  Hamza M. Zafer, University of Washington

Respondent: Michael Cook, Princeton University

Hamza M. Zafer (Ph.D. Cornell, 2014) is an Associate Professor of Near Eastern Studies at the University of Washington and a Katz Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. He specializes in the languages and literatures of Arabia and the Horn of Africa during the medieval period. His book Ecumenical Community (Brill, 2020) situates Quranic rhetoric about the ummah (community) in the material and cultural context of the 7th century Red Sea world. Currently, he is working on a book titled The Matriarchs of Medina and the Early Muslim Elites on medieval portrayals of the Prophet Muhammad's wives and daughters.

Homepage link: www.hamzazafer.com