12:30 PM – 2:00 PM
Leila Ahmed joined the Harvard Divinity School in 1999 as the first professor of women's studies in religion and was appointed Victor S. Thomas Professor of Divinity in 2003. Prior to her appointment at HDS, she was professor of women’s studies and Near Eastern studies at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. While at the University of Massachusetts, Ahmed was director of the women’s studies program from 1992 to 1995 and director of the Near Eastern studies program from 1991 to 1992. Her latest book is "A Quiet Revolution: The Veil’s Resurgence, from the Middle East to America" (Yale University Press, 2011). Her other publications include "A Border Passage" (Penguin Books, 2000), "Women and Gender in Islam: The Historical Roots of a Modern Debate" (Yale University Press, 1993) and "Edward William Lane: A Study of His Life and Work and of British Ideas of the Middle East in the Nineteenth Century" (Prentice Hall Press, 1978), as well as many articles. Her current research and writing centers on Islam in America and issues of women and gender. Ahmed received a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.