Elizabeth Shlala

About Elizabeth Shlala

Elizabeth H. Shlala is a historian of the Middle East and North Africa. She serves as the Associate Dean and Professor of the Practice in the University Core Curriculum at Boston College. She is affiliated with the History Department, International Studies, and the program in Islamic Civilization and Societies. In her role, Dean Shlala works on strategy and assessment for Core renewal across departments, facilitates the development of new Enduring Question and Complex Problem courses, teaches undergraduate History courses, leads the Justice and the Common Good Living and Learning Community (JCG LLC), and has a special focus on formative education and global engagement initiatives.Prior to joining the Dean’s Office, she spent her career teaching and administering at Harvard University, Georgetown University, and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She has extensive research experience in Egypt, Italy, Sri Lanka, and Turkey. She sits on the editorial board of the Contemporary Levant Journal, Hawwa: Journal of Women of the Middle East and the Islamic World, and Jesuit Education Quarterly. Her most recent book is entitled, The Late Ottoman Empire and Egypt: Hybridity, Law and Gender.Elizabeth Shlala was co- President of the Wellesley Education Foundation after four years serving on the board. She is an elected Town Meeting Member and was appointed to the Board of the Wellesley Historical Commission.She holds a B.S. in Foreign Service, M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Georgetown University. She was a Fulbright-Hays fellow in Egypt, Italy, and the U.K. She holds a certificate in Migration Studies from the Robert Schumann Center for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute. She is a former Fellow at the LSE, Oxford University (COMPAS), and Harvard University (Center for Middle East Studies and the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights). She currently is working on a Certificate in Jesuit Studies at the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies at Boston College.

Experience

1. Associate Dean for the Core Curriculum & Professor of the Practice at Boston College

   Boston College

   Sep 2023 — Present · Chestnut Hill, MA, US

Education

• Università degli Studi di Firenze

  BSFS, International Affairs

  1995 — 1996

• Georgetown University

  PhD, M.A., History - Middle East and North Africa

  2001 — 2009

• Georgetown University

  BSFS, International Affairs

  1993 — 1997

• European University Institute

  Certificate, Migration Studies

  2008 — 2008

• Columbia University

  Visiting Scholar, History Department

  2005 — 2006

Skills

• Political Science
• Ethnography
• Higher Education
• Qualitative Research
• Writing
• Research
• Literature Reviews
• Grant Writing
• Public Speaking
• International Relations
• Policy Analysis
• Policy
• Human Rights
• Community Outreach
• Editing
• Lecturing
• University Teaching
• Statistics
• Teaching