Prof. Adam Silverstein – Bio and CV

Adam Silverstein studied at the University of Cambridge (Ph.D. 2002). In the years 2002-2005 he held a British Academy post-doctoral fellowship (2002-2005), at the Faculty of Oriental Studies,Cambridge. Following this, Silverstein was appointed lecturer in Islamic History (2005-2007) and in Judaism and Islam (2007-2010) at the University of Oxford, where he was also a fellow of The Queen’s College. In 2010 Silverstein moved to King’s College London, where he was Senior Lecturer and then Reader in Abrahamic Religions. From 2012-2020, Silverstein was an Associate Professor of Islamic History at Bar Ilan University, and in 2021 he joined the Hebrew University, where he is Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies.

Education

1999-2002       Ph.D. in Medieval Islamic Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies and Trinity Hall, Cambridge University

Dissertation: The Origins and Development of the Islamic Postal System

Advisor: Prof. Tarif Khalidi  

1995-1999       B.A. in Arabic and Persian (1^st class), Faculty of Oriental Studies and Robinson College, Cambridge University

Post-Doctorate

2002-2005       British Academy post-doctoral fellowship in Middle Eastern Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge

Career

2021-present   Professor of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2013-2020       Associate Professor of Middle Eastern History, Shalem College, Jerusalem

2012-2020       Associate Professor (with tenure) of Middle Eastern History, Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Bar-Ilan University

2010-2012       Senior Lecturer, then Reader in Jewish Studies and Abrahamic Religions, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, King’s College London, University of London

2007-2010       University Research Lecturer in Near Eastern Studies, The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford

2007-2010       Governing Body Fellow, The Queen’s College, Oxford

2005-2007       Departmental Lecturer in Islamic History, The Oriental Institute, University of Oxford

Awards and fellowship

2018                Winner, Bar Ilan University “Outstanding Lecturer” Award

2017                Visiting Professor, The Graduate Center, CUNY (by invitation of GC President, Prof. Chase F. Robinson)

2017                Department of Middle Eastern Studies, Nominee for “Outstanding Lecturer” Award.

2002                R.A. Nicholson Prize for Ph.D., dissertation on The Origins and Development of the Islamic Postal System

1996-1999       Elected “Robinson College Scholar” for Academic Distinction, Cambridge

1996, 1999      Awarded “College Prize” for Academic Excellence, Robinson College, Cambridge

Academic conferences and presentations (selected)

2019         “Samaritan ideas in Early Islam”, The Institute for Advanced Studies, Jerusalem.

2018         “Joseph in the Qur’ān”, The British Academy, London.

2018         “The Holy Land in the Holy Books”, Faculty of Theology, Notre Dame University.

2018         “On Some Aspects of Daniel’s Reception in Islam”, Van Leer Institute, Jerusalem.

2016         “Asātīr: On the Reception of the Esther Story in Medieval Islam”, Institute for Advanced Study, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2016         “The Islamic State and Early Islamic History”, multiple workshops for Colleagues and the General Public, Bar Ilan University.

2016         “Did Haman have a Brother?” Conference in honour of Prof. Guy Stroumsa.

2016         “The Persian Midrashic Tradition and the Esther Story” – National Library of Israel, Public Lecture.

2015         “Abrahamic Religions and the Middle East”, Notre Dame University, Tantur Institute.

2014         “The Islamic ‘Space’” Forum Baer, Tel Aviv University.

2014         “The Abrahamic Religions: Three Models,” Israel Academy of Sciences, Jerusalem.

2013         “Islam as an Abrahamic Religion,” University of Utrecht [keynote lecture].

2010         “Redefining the Abrahamic Religions,” The History Department, SOAS.

2010         “Satan, Shamash, and the Origins of Tashlīkh,” Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2009         “Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia: Lessons from History,” The Joseph Interfaith Foundation.

2009         “The Qur’anic Satan and the Book of Job,” Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.

2009         “On the Original Meaning of the Term al-shaytan al-rajim,” Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2008         “Jews and News: Jewish Communication Networks from Sasanid Babylonia to Early Modern Europe,” Brown University.

2008         “The Qur’anic Pharaoh,” SOAS International Qur’an Conference.

2008         “The Early Islamic State: Three Models,” From Justinian to Muhammad Seminar, Faculty of History, University of Oxford.

2007         “Haman’s Contribution to Muslim-Jewish Relations,” Institute for Jewish Studies, University College London.

2007. “Jubilees VIII-IX in Near Eastern Context,” The Oriental Institute, Oxford University.

2007         “The Origins and Originality of Arabic Geographical Literature,” Khalili Research Centre, Oxford University.

2006         “Hāmān: From Jāhiliyya to Islam,” Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2006         “After Rome: All Roads Lead to Damascus,” After Rome Seminar, Faculty of History, Oxford University.

2006         “Haman’s Mid-Life Crisis,” Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies.

2005         “Signed, Sealed and Delivered: Communications-Technology in the Middle Ages,” Birkbeck College, University of London.

2004         “Tujjār and Akhbār: The Documentary Evidence,” Documentary Evidence and the History of the Early Islamic Mediterranean, Granada, Spain.

2003. “The Marwānid Barīd,” The Oriental Institute, Oxford University.

2003         “The Barīd in pre-Umayyad Arabia,” Institute for Advanced Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2003         “The Contribution of Christians and Jews to Medieval Islamic Science,” Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University.

2003         “Arabic Geographical Literature,” Faculty of the History and Philosophy of Science, Cambridge University.

2002         “The Use of Documentary Evidence in Studying the Barid,” Conference of the International Society of Arabic Papyrologists, Cairo.

2002         “How to Read a Medieval Postal-System,” King’s College, Cambridge.

2002         “On Some Aspects of the Abbasid Barîd,” School for Abbasid Studies, Cambridge University.

2000         “The Anatomy of Surveillance in Near Eastern Literatures: A Cross-Cultural Survey,” School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

2000         “The Historical Background of the Ottoman Term ‘Frenk,’” The Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies, Newnham College, Cambridge.

Other activities

• External Assessor for CUP, OUP, E.J. Brill, and various leading academic journals
• Assessor for various promotion and tenure committees in USA, Israel, and the UAE.
• Examiner for Ph.D. theses in the UK and Israel.
• Co-editor (with Prof. Guy Stroumsa) of monograph series Oxford Studies in the Abrahamic Religions (Oxford University Press)
• Editorial Board of The Marginalia Review of Books
• Editorial Board of IQSA Studies in the Qur’an
• Full member of The Magic Circle since 2000.