Funding awarded for research and travel supporting interdisciplinary studies of the Middle East and North Africa.
The UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies (CNES) recently received an endowed gift to support student fellowships in honor of the late Dr. Al R. Harris, aka Alireza Hariri. The Mosafer Centennial Fund for Near Eastern Scholars pays tribute to the Harris Family’s commitment to support interdisciplinary studies of the Middle East and North Africa.
In both Persian and Arabic, "mosafer" means "traveler." And the fellowships are meant to support students, especially at the graduate level, where having access to travel and research funding is vital to academic success. The funds will provide financial support to graduate students to attend conferences or travel for research on the Middle East and North Africa.
“This generous gift will enable us to provide our graduate students with much needed funds to attend professional conferences and for research travel, which are both necessary for their successes as scholars. I think the availability of such funds will also help us recruit top students from around the US and from around the world,” says Ali Behdad, the Director of the CNES.
As UCLA marks its centennial year, the awards strengthen the Center’s efforts to promote scholarship, train students, and support new research on this important region of the world.
Students can apply for this award HERE.
The fellowship endowment gift was matched by a grant from the UCLA Chancellor’s Centennial Scholars Match initiative. For more information or to explore gift opportunities to the Center, please click HERE.