Staff and Fellows of NCEIS

Professor Abdullah Saeed

Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies

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.

Professor Saeed has taught Arabic and Islamic Studies at undergraduate and graduate 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.

Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh

Deputy Director of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies

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.

Professor Akbarzadeh holds a PhD from LaTrobe University, Australia and an MA 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 and professional staff at The University of Melbourne

Dr Muhammad Kamal

Lecturer, Arabic and Islamic Studies

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.

Dr Christina Mayer

Arabic Studies Convenor

Dr Christina Mayer is the Convenor of the Arabic Program. She is a graduate of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest (degrees in Arabic, Turkish and Russian studies, undergraduate training in Libya and the USSR), with an MA in Applied Linguistics and PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies (both awarded by The University of Melbourne), with research conducted in Morocco, Egypt and Syria. She first started working at the UOM in 1989. She is a prolific textbook writer and material developer. Her research interests in Arabic studies include language teaching for specific purposes and in Islamic studies the role of magic in modern Arab societies, particularly in the lives of women.

Yousef Alreemawi

Lecturer, Islamic Studies; Acting Convenor of Arabic Studies

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

  • Phone: +61 3 8344 5952
  • Fax: +61 3 8344 7894
  • Email: rpennell@unimelb.edu.au
  • Location: Dept of History, John Medley Building, Room 543 East

Assoc. Professor 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.

Dr Helen McCue AM

Honorary Fellow

Dr Helen McCue is an Honorary Fellow at the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies at Melbourne University. Dr McCue holds a PhD 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

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

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.

Dr Shakira Hussein

McKenzie Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr Shakira Hussein is undertaking a McKenzie postdoctoral fellowship on Muslim women, gendered violence and racialised political discourse. She completed her PhD at the Australian National University and is a regular media contributor on issues including gender, multiculturalism and Islam.

Joshua M. Roose

Researcher

Joshua M. Roose is a researcher and PhD student at the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies. Joshua's PhD research is examining the key social influences upon identity construction and expression in Australian born Muslim men under the supervision of Professor Shahram Akbarzadeh and Dr Muhammad Kamal.

Joshua's research work for the NCEIS focuses upon topics including multiculturalism, citizenship and political Islam in Australia and the United Kingdom.

Academic and professional staff at Griffith University, Griffith Islamic Research Unit (GIRU)

Associate Professor Mohamad Abdalla

Centre Director

Dr Halim Rane

Deputy Director

Dr Mahmood Nathie

Lecturer

Academic and professional staff at University of Western Sydney, Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies (CSCMS)

Professor Bryan Turner

Director of the Centre for the Study of Contemporary Muslim Societies

Associate Professor Adam Possamai

Lecturer, Sociology

Dr Stephen Drakeley

Senior Lecturer

Dr Jan Ali

Associate Lecturer

Eva Garcia

Centre Coordinator