Staff & Fellows of NCEIS | National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies Australia

Professor Abdullah Saeed

Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies

Tel: +61 3 8344 5554
Fax: +61 3 9347 9542
Email: a.saeed@unimelb.edu.au

Abdullah Saeed was born in the Maldives and holds degrees from Australia and overseas. He has a BA in Arab/Islamic Studies from Saudi Arabia, MA in Applied Linguistics and PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Melbourne, Australia. In 1993, he joined the then Department of Asian Languages and Anthropology at the University of Melbourne as a Lecturer, rising to Senior Lecturer in 1996 and Associate Professor in 2000. He was appointed Sultan of Oman Professor of Arab and Islamic Studies in 2003.

Prof Saeed has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He is involved in interfaith dialogue between Christians and Muslims, and between Jews and Muslims, and is a frequent and popular lecturer. He travels widely, having visited North America, Europe, Middle East, South Asia and Southeast Asia. He has a wide range of professional and research relationships around the world.

Associate Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh
Deputy Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies

Tel: + 61 3 8344 8895
Email: shahrama@unimelb.edu.au

Full bio

A/Professor Akbarzadeh joined Melbourne University in January 2008 as Deputy Director of the NCEIS. He has an active research interest in the politics of Central Asia, Islam, Muslims in Australia and the Middle East. He has been involved in organising a number of key conferences, including a Chatham House rule workshop on Australia's relations with Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan (2007), sponsored by the International Centre of Excellence for Asia Pacific Studies and is an enthusiastic promoter of Asian studies through contacts with industry and the academia by research and publication.

A/Prof Akbarzadeh holds a PhD from LaTrobe University, Australia and an M.A. in Russian and East European Studies from Birmingham University, United Kingdom. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Global Change, Peace & Security, and has edited and published more than 40 refereed papers and volumes.

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL STAFF AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE

Dr Abdul-Samad Abdullah

*On leave as of semester 2 2009. Please direct queries regarding Arabic Studies to Yousef Alreemawi.

Lecturer, Islamic Studies

Convenor of Arabic Studies

Tel: + 61 3 8344 5672
Fax: + 61 3 9349 3472
Email: abdulsa@unimelb.edu.au

Full bio

Dr Abdul-Samad Abdullah obtained his BA, MA and PhD in Islamic Studies and Arabic Language and Literature from Umm al-Qura University, Saudi Arabia and has authored several books and journal articles. Before coming to the University of Melbourne, Abdul-Samad lectured at the International Islamic University in Malaysia.

Dr Muhammad Kamal

Lecturer, Islamic Studies

Tel: + 61 3 8344 8197
Fax: + 61 3 9349 4870
Email: muhammad@unimelb.edu.au

Full bio

Dr Muhammad Kamal is a Kurd originally from Iraq. He obtained B.A. (Honours), M. A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at the University of Karachi and has a Diploma in Education from Teachers Institute in Erbil. He taught first as a lecturer then as an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Karachi from 1985 to 1994. In 1992 he went to Germany on DAAD scholarship for post-doctoral research and has been based in Australia since 1994.

Yousef Alreemawi
Lecturer, Islamic Studies

Acting Convenor of Arabic Studies

Tel: + 61 3 8344 5985
Fax: + 61 3 9349 3472
Email: yousefa@unimelb.edu.au

Full bio

Yousef Alreemawi is a Jordanian-born Palestinian and grew up in Saudi Arabia. He holds a B. Sc. in Chemical Engineering (Jordan), 1996 and an MBA (Deakin), 2007. In addition, Yousef is a National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI) accredited professional translator. He has authored numerous publications in Arabic language resources development as well as translated many books and articles.

His academic career began in 2004 at Deakin University as a lecturer and then as the key developer of Deakin's online Arabic program. In 2009, he joined the University of Melbourne as a Lecturer in the Arabic Program. Currently he is the Acting-Convenor of the Arabic Program.

Associate Professor Richard Pennell
al-Tajir Lecturer in Middle East and Islamic History

Tel: +61 3 8344 5952

Fax: +61 3 8344 7894

Email: rpennell@unimelb.edu.au

Location:

Dept of History, John Medley Building, Room 543 East

A/Prof Richard Pennell did both his BA (in Arabic and Spanish) and his PhD (in Islamic History) at the University of Leeds in Britain. Before joining the History Department in Melbourne he taught for nine years, on and off, at the National University of Singapore. He taught for two years at the University of Nairobi, in Kenya, in the late 1980s and has also taught in Garyounis University in Benghazi, Libya and at Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey. In the second half of 2003 he was a visiting scholar hosted by Al-Akhawayn University, at Ifrane in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco.

Redha Ameur

Tutor

Tel: + 61 3 8344 0158 (Islamic Tutors' and Postgrad Room)

Email: redhaa@unimelb.edu.au

Redha Ameur is a PhD candidate at the Asia Institute. He is a tutor and subject coordinator for Islamic Studies.

Imran K. Lum

Tutor

Tel: + 61 3 8344 0158 (Islamic Tutors' and Postgrad Room)

Email: iklum@unimelb.edu.au

Imran K. Lum is a Community Finance and Development Manager at the National Australia Bank and looks after Microenterprise Loans and Qard Hassan: No Interest Loans Scheme (NILS) programs at NAB. He is also a PhD candidate in Islamic Banking at the Asia Institute and the Melbourne Law School at the University of Melbourne. He completed his undergraduate degree at Adelaide University and has a MA in Islamic Studies from the University of New England.

Imran is the inaugural recipient of the NAB Sheikh Fehmi El-Imam Scholarship in Islamic banking and he also sits on the Islamic Finance Working Committee of the Australian Financial Markets Association (AFMA) and the Islamic Finance Working Group of the Investment and Financial Services Association Limited (IFSA).

Dr Helen McCue AM

Honorary Fellow

Email: hmccue@unimelb.edu.au

Dr Helen McCue is an Honorary Fellow at the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies at Melbourne University. Dr McCue holds a Ph.D in Gender and Islam from the University of New South Wales. She has held various academic positions including that of Visiting Honorary Associate UNSW School of Politics and International Relations. Helen has taught courses on women in Islamic civilisation and has produced educational resources on women in Islam for senior high school students. Dr McCue has undertaken and participated in several major research projects on the experiences of Australian Muslim women and Muslim youth and contributes regularly to research papers and publications for the NCEIS.

Dr Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani

Honorary Fellow

Tel: + 61 3 8344 0304

Email: asani@unimelb.edu.au

Dr Ahmad Zaharuddin Sani is an Honorary Fellow at the Asia Institute and tutors in Islamic Studies. He obtained a PhD from the University Of Malaya and a Master of Theology from the University of Nottingham. He was awarded the National Science Fellowship 2000, the Bintang Kebaktian Masyarakat – Medallion of Community Services (B.K.M) as well as the Kuwait Government International Students Scholarship amongst other accolades. He is fluent in English, Bahasa (Malay) and Arabic.

Currently, at the Northern University of Malaysia, he serves as the Head of Malaysian History & Nationhood, a Fellow of the NCER– Northern Corridor Economic Regional, in combination with occasional with Directorial duties at the Centre of Excellent Leadership & Human Resource Development. In addition, he has been the Head of the Business and Management School at McOrange Institute, the Head of Intellectual Interaction Unit at MARA University of Technology, Assistant Director of
Admission & Records at the International Islamic University of Malaysia and was a lecturer at the Centre of Islamic Education, MARA University of Technology.

Dr Mohamed Ibrahim

Visiting Fellow

Email: mibr@unimelb.edu.au

Dr Mohamed Ibrahim is an Honorary Fellow at the NCEIS. He has worked as a consultant and researcher in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and the Horn of Africa on education and development consultancies. Mohamed is a public commentator and speaker on Muslim community, Islamic issues and is active in research and dialogue among the Muslims in Australia.

Celine Lim

Executive Officer

Tel: + 61 3 8344 3559
Fax: + 61 3 9349 4870
Email: chllim@unimelb.edu.au

Celine Lim is the Executive Officer of the NCEIS. She oversees the teaching, research, community engagement activities as well as external relations of the NCEIS. She obtained a Masters degree in Asian Studies from the Asia Institute and a BA(Hons) at the University of Melbourne.

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL STAFF AT GRIFFITH UNIVERSITY

Griffith Islamic Research Unit (GIRU)

Dr Mohamad Abdalla

Centre Director

Tel: + 61 7 373 56983

Email: m.abdalla@griffith.edu.au

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Dr Halim Rane

Deputy Director

Tel: + 61 7 373 55160

Email: h.rane@griffith.edu.au

Dr Mahmood Nathie

Lecturer