Trained in classical Islamic studies and the history of Islam in Indonesia - in Italy (University of Rome) and London (SOAS) respectively, Chiara Formichi has held positions in Singapore (post-doctoral fellow at the Asia Research Institute), Leiden (research fellow at the KITLV), and at the City University of Hong Kong (as Assistant Professor in Asian and International Studies, and Associate Director of the Southeast Asia Research Centre, SEARC).

Mostafa Minawi studies different forms of imperialism in the Middle East and Northeast Africa.

Gail Holst-Warhaft is an adjunct professor in the Departments of Classics, Comparative Literature, and Near Eastern Studies. Her research interests include translation, modern Greek literature and music, Greek literature from antiquity to the present, water, and culture.

David Powers is a Professor of Near Eastern Studies.