Amira Bennison
{{short description|Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Cambridge University}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2016}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Amira K. Bennison
| honorific_prefix = Professor
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| birth_name = Katherine Nicole Bennison
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| nationality = British
| occupation = Historian
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| alma_mater = University of Cambridge
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| workplaces = Magdelene College, University of Cambridge
| main_interests = Medieval Middle Eastern and Maghreb history
| notable_works = {{Unbulleted list|Jihad and Its Interpretation in Pre-colonial Morocco: State-society Relations During the French Conquest of Algeria (2002)|Cities in The pre-Modern Islamic World: the urban impact of religion, state and society (2007)|The Great Caliphs: the golden age of the ‘Abbasid empire (2011)|The Almoravid and Almohad Empires (2016)}}
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Amira K. Bennison is a professor of the history and culture of the Maghreb at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Cambridge. She is a fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge.
Education
Bennison studied history at Cambridge University, graduating in 1989University of Cambridge. Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. [Bennison's home page {{cite web|url=http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/general_info/biographies/islamic/Bennison.htm |title=Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies | General Information | Teaching Staff | Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies Teaching Staff |accessdate=2011-09-24 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926145820/http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/general_info/biographies/islamic/Bennison.htm |archivedate=26 September 2011 }}] before switching to Arabic. She then pursued graduate work, with an MA at Harvard in Middle Eastern Studies in 1992, and her PhD at SOAS in Moroccan History in 1996.
Career
Bennison began her career as a Leverhulme research fellow at the University of Manchester. She began lecturing at Cambridge University in 1997, before going on to become a fully tenured member of the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.
She has made several TV appearances to speak about the history of the Middle East and North Africa, and regularly contributes to BBC Radio 4's In Our Time. She has also appeared on the BBC You're Dead to Me podcast.
Bennison's 2009 book The Great Caliphs: the golden age of the ‘Abbasid empire was reviewed by Hugh N. Kennedy, who said she has "a lively and engaging style", and the book will be "the first port of call for anyone looking for an introduction to the 'golden age of Islam'."Historyextra.com, The official website of BBC History Magazine. The Great Caliphs. Reviewed by Hugh Kennedy. [http://www.historyextra.com/book-review/great-caliphs-golden-age-abbasid-empire Book Review]
In 2022, Bennison was elected chair of the Cambridge University Press academic committee.{{cite web |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/bennison-made-chair-of-cups-academic-committee |title=Bennison made chair of CUP's academic committee |work=The Bookseller |first=Ruth |last=Comerford |date=16 November 2022}}
Publications
- Amira K. Bennison. The Almoravid and Almohad Empires. The Edinburgh History of Islamic Empires. Edinburgh University Press 2016. {{ISBN|9780748646807}}
- Amira K. Bennison. The Great Caliphs: the golden age of the ‘Abbasid empire. I.B.Tauris 2011. {{ISBN|978-1-84885-976-0}}
- Amira K. Bennison and Alison L. Gascoigne (editors). Cities in The pre-Modern Islamic World: the urban impact of religion, state and society. Routledge 2007. {{ISBN|978-0-415-55381-0}}
- Amira K. Bennison. Jihad and Its Interpretation in Pre-colonial Morocco: State-society Relations During the French Conquest of Algeria. Routledge 2002. {{ISBN|978-0-7007-1693-7}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- University of Cambridge. Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. [https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/people/professor-amira-k-bennison Dr Amira K Bennison's home page]
- Project Muse. An Interview with Amira Bennison [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/historically_speaking/summary/v012/12.1.yerxa.html Historically Speaking]
- The Institute of Ismaili Studies. Conferences, Workshops Content. February 2008. [http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=109257 Video: Interview with Dr Amira Bennison]
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Alumni of SOAS University of London
Category:Historians of the Middle East
Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Category:Fellows of Magdalene College, Cambridge
Category:Harvard University alumni