Daoud Family Lectureship in Middle Eastern Studies, March 23, 7pm, Bobbitt Auditorium

The Daoud Family Lectureship in Middle Eastern Studies was created by Tarik S. Daoud and his family to promote a better understanding of Middle Eastern history, peoples, and cultures, and of the crucial role the Middle East plays in today’s world.  The series brings to campus speakers with expertise on different aspects of this diverse and fascinating region.  This year’s speaker is Dr. David Commins.  His lecture is “One Battle After Another:  The Opposition in Saudi Arabia.”  Dr. Commins is the Benjamin Rush Chair in the Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of history at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.  His most recent book is Saudi Arabia: A Modern History (Yale UP, 2025).  He is also the author of Islam in Saudi Arabia (Cornell University Press, 2015), The Gulf States (I.B. Tauris, 2012), and The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia (I.B. Tauris, 2009).  He was a visiting scholar at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh.  Please join us on Monday, March 23, 2026 at 7:00pm in the Bobbitt Visual Arts Auditorium.  The event is free and open to the public.  Please contact the Religious Studies Dept. for more information.