Harry Bastermajian, Ph.D.
Harry Bastermajian is a historian of the modern Middle East and Executive Director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program at Harvard University. His work examines the intersections of empire, identity, and migration in the eastern Mediterranean. At Harvard, he leads initiatives that support research, teaching, and international collaboration in the study of Islam and the Middle East. Working across Harvard’s schools and with partner institutions worldwide, he oversees programs that bring scholars, students, and public audiences into dialogue on questions of culture, history, and global engagement.
Dr. Bastermajian also teaches courses on Middle Eastern history, government, and international relations at Harvard Extension School and supervises master’s thesis research. His teaching explores the historical development of the modern Middle East and examines how empire, nationalism, religion, and migration have shaped the region’s political and cultural landscapes.
His scholarly interests focus on the late Ottoman and post-Ottoman eastern Mediterranean, particularly the experiences of minority communities navigating the profound transformations of the twentieth century. His work engages questions of identity, diaspora, and historical memory, with particular attention to how individual lives and family histories illuminate broader regional and global processes.
He is currently developing a historical narrative project that traces the experiences of Armenian families in the eastern Mediterranean during the interwar period and their migration to the United States in the mid-twentieth century. Drawing on oral histories, family archives, and historical research, the project situates personal memory within the broader transformations that reshaped the Middle East following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Through his work at Harvard, Dr. Bastermajian has helped develop international academic partnerships and cultural initiatives linking universities and institutions across North America, Europe, and the Middle East.