Page Description
The following page is a one column layout with a header that contains a skip navigation and other utilty links as well as the search CSUN function. The footer contains update, contact and emergency information.
MEIS
Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
Dr. Rachel Howes
I specialize in the history of the Middle East between 600 and 1500. I have a Ph.D. from University of California Santa Barbara in History, and a Master’s of Arts in Arab Studies from Georgetown University.
My dissertation dealt with the court politics of the eleventh century Middle East through the career of al-Mu’ayyad fi al-Din al-Shirazi, a Fatimid religious propagandist who worked in Buyid Shiraz, as well as Fatimid Cairo. I have continued to be interested in the court politics of the eleventh century through the lens of the political and intellectual careers of individuals in various parts of the Eleventh Cenury Middle East.
I am currently working on projects examining the great Egyptian Crisis of the Eleventh century from a political perspective, looking at contemporary views of nomads in the medieval Middle East, and comparing cookbooks from the Medieval Middle East, Europe, and China.
I teach a range of history courses dealing with the Middle East including History 185: A History of Middle Eastern Civilization, History 424: A History of the Medieval Middle East, History 425: A History of the Early Modern Middle East, History 426: A History of the Modern Middle East, and History 545: Graduate Readings Seminar in the Middle East. I have also taught senior readings and research seminars in topics such as: Islamic Iran, The Crusades, Islamic Law, Cities of the Middle East, and Historians of the Middle East.