Peter Salovey President | Yale University
Peter Salovey President | Yale University
Shawkat M. Toorawa has been appointed the Brand Blanshard Professor of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Professor of Comparative Literature at Yale University. Toorawa, known for his extensive scholarship and translations, explores a range of subjects including classical, medieval, and modern Arabic literature, the literary dimensions of the Qur’an, medieval Baghdad, Indian Ocean studies, modern poetry, and contemporary Anglophone Muslim women’s writing.
Toorawa is a member of Yale's Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) in the departments of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations and Comparative Literature. He also has affiliations with programs in Humanities and Medieval Studies, as well as the Department of Religious Studies.
His notable works include co-authoring "Interpreting the Self: Autobiography in the Arabic Literary Tradition" (University of California Press, 2001), which examines a millennium of Arabic autobiographical writing. In "Ibn Abi Tahir Tayfur and Arabic Writerly Culture" (RoutledgeCurzon, 2005), he re-evaluates ninth-century Baghdad's literary history. His critical edition and complete translation of Adonis' poems in "A Time Between Ashes and Roses: Poems" (Syracuse University Press, 2004) is another significant contribution. Other works include "Consorts of the Caliphs: Women and the Court of Baghdad" (NYU Press, 2015), edited collections such as “The Western Indian Ocean: Essays on Islands and Islanders” (HTT, 2012), “The City That Never Sleeps: Poems of New York” (SUNY Press, 2014), “Arabic Humanities, Islamic Thought” (Brill, 2017), “Arabic Belles Lettres” (Lockwood, 2019), and an upcoming volume on the literary dimensions of the Qur’an from Edinburgh University Press. His latest book is "The Devotional Qu’ran: Beloved Surahs and Verses" (Yale University Press, 2024).
Toorawa serves as director of the School of Abbasid Studies and series editor for "Resources in Arabic and Islamic Studies." He is also on editorial or advisory boards for several journals including Journal of Abbasid Studies, Journal of Arabic Literature, Journal of Qur’anic Studies among others. Since 2010 he has been an executive editor for Library of Arabic Literature.
He has received numerous academic honors such as Distinguished Senior Translation Fellowship from Library of Arabic Literature; Andrew W. Mellon Foundation New Directions Fellowship; National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship; Senior Long-term Fellowship from American Institute of Indian Studies; Rockefeller African Humanities Institute Junior Fellowship; Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar during 2023–24.
Joining Yale faculty in 2016 Toorawa has served various roles including chairing Department Of Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations among other committees at Yale College Advisory Committee Whitney Humanities Center Executive Committee Language Study Committee Review Committee For Faculty Advisory Committees For Several Yale College Certificates And Others.
As a dedicated teacher he supervises PhD students brings his popular weekly meeting “Dr T Project” under Whitney Humanities Center introducing diverse topics related to literary musical cultural interest.
Toorawa was educated at English School Paris United World College South East Asia earning B.A., M.A., Ph.D degrees from University Pennsylvania.
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