Class of 1943 University Professor of Near Eastern Studies Michael Cook and Bayard Dodge Professor of Near Eastern Studies Hossein Modarressi will be receiving the Giorgio Levi Della Vida Award for Excellence in Islamic Studies at a conference to be held in their honor at UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies on May 16–17, 2024. The conference, “Of Language & Identity in Early Islam,” has a strong NES presence, with seven participants having NES connections: UCLA NELC Associate Professor Luke Yarbrough (NES BA 2004, MA 2008, and PhD 2012) will introduce the day one panels; UCLA NELC Associate Professor Asma Sayeed (NES PhD 2005) will introduce the day two panels; Khedouri A. Zilkha Professor of Jewish Civilization in the Near East, Emeritus, and Professor of Near Eastern Studies, Emeritus, Abraham Udovitch will serve as a panel moderator; UCLA Law School Professor Khaled Abou El Fadl (NES PhD 1999), Leiden University Professor Petra Sijpesteijn (NES PhD 2004), Harvard Law School Professor Intisar Rabb (NES PhD 2009), and UCLA Sociology Associate Professor Kevan Harris (NES Postdoc 2012–2015) are all presenting papers. Both Professors Cook and Modarressi will be giving keynote addresses: Cook on “Arabs, Arabic, and Arab Identity before the Rise of Islam,” and Modarressi on “Original Language in Early Muslim Discourse.”