Sarah Islam (Ph.D. 2022) and Samin Rashidbeigi (Ph.D. 2024) both received 2024 Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Award honorable mentions at MESA’s Annual Meeting held in November. Islam’s dissertation, “Blasphemy (Sabb al-Rasūl) as a Legal Category in Medieval Islamic History (1st/7th–13th/19th Centuries),” received the award in the Humanities category. Supervised by Michael A. Cook, the dissertation “is a historically rich and comprehensive analysis of shifts in legal approaches to the act of reviling the Prophet … that inspires re-examination of long-held assumptions regarding the function and application of Islamic jurisprudence amidst the intricate historical circumstances of pre-modern Islamicate societies.” Rashidbeigi’s dissertation, “Convictions and Persuasions: Transfusion Technology and the Blood Donor in Modern Iran,” received the award in the Social Sciences category. Advised by Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi, the dissertation is “a rigorous study that traces how Iranians became convinced to donate blood to the state for the benefit of strangers” and “a joy to read.”