Samer S. Shehata

Samer S. Shehata is the Colin Mackey and Patricia Molina de Mackey Associate Professor of Middle East Studies in the Department of International and Area Studies (IAS) at the University of Oklahoma. He serves as Director of Graduate Studies and Middle East Studies Program Coordinator. Previously, he held positions at Georgetown University and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. His research focuses on Middle Eastern politics, Egyptian politics, Islamist movements, and U.S. foreign policy.

Education: B.A. (magna cum laude) from UC Berkeley (1990), M.Phil. from University of Cambridge (1991), Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University (2000). His dissertation earned the Malcolm H. Kerr Award from the Middle East Studies Association.

Research Interests: Combines ethnography with political analysis to study labor movements, authoritarianism, democratization, and Islamist political participation. Notable works include Shop Floor Culture and Politics in Egypt (2009) and The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century (2023).

Awards: Carnegie Scholar (2009), Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Award, fellowships from Woodrow Wilson Center, Council on Foreign Relations, and others.

Media Engagement: Regular contributor to New York Times, Guardian, Al Jazeera, and frequent analyst on CNN, BBC, PBS, and NPR.

Academic Contributions: Edited volumes on Islamist politics, testified before U.S. Congress, and held postdoctoral fellowships at Columbia and NYU. Active in policy analysis and regional conflict studies.