The Fares Lecture Series was established to complement and enhance the Arab Studies program at the University of Houston. By attracting respected historians, authors, and other figures in academia, the lecture series hopes to foster cultural dialogue and initiate discussions about the Arab world through an academic lens and focus. 

Houston, as the energy capital of the United States and as a home to a large and vibrant Arab-American community, has natural commercial and cultural ties to the Arab world. Housing a major lecture series in the city’s leading public research university highlights the rich Arab culture and heritage to counterbalance prevailing stereotypes.

All lectures are free and open to the public. 

Past Lectures:

2021: “Concerning the Political in Art,” delivered by Rabih Alameddine (Writer and Novelist)

2019: “The Early History of the Arab-American Community,” delivered by Professor Akram Khater (North Carolina State University).

2018: “1918: The End of the Great War in the Middle East and the Genesis of a Century of Conflict,” delivered by Professor Eugene Rogan (University of Oxford)

2017: “Beyond the Arab Muslim Ban: Feminist Futures and Joint Struggle,” Delivered by Professor Nadine Naber (University of Illinois Chicago)

2016: “Rousseau and Palestine: A Radical Tradition of Popular Sovereignty,” inaugural lecture delivered by Professor Karma Nabulsi’s (University of Oxford)