Farzaneh Hall, Room 310
Phone: 405-325-1341
Email: shehata@ou.edu
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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 has also been the Middle East Studies Program Coordinator and the Director of Graduate Studies in IAS. Dr. Shehata has previously taught at the American University in Cairo, Georgetown University, and the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies. His areas of research include Middle Eastern politics, Egyptian politics, Islamist politics, U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East, elections, authoritarianism, and democratization. He is the author of Shop Floor Culture and Politics in Egypt (SUNY, 2009 and republished with a new "Afterward" by the American University in Cairo Press in 2010), and editor of Islamist Politics in the Middle East: Movements and Change (Routledge, 2012) and The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century (Edinburgh University Press, 2023). His articles have appeared in both academic and policy journals including the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Current History, MERIP, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, Middle East Policy, Folklore and as book chapters and encyclopedia articles. His analysis and op-ed pieces have been published in the New York Times, Guardian, Al Jazeera, Boston Globe/International Herald Tribune, Salon, Slate, Arab Reform Bulletin, Al Hayat, Al Ahram Weekly and other publications.
Dr. Shehata has testified before the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations in the United States Congress. He has received fellowships from the Social Science Research Council, the Ford Foundation’s Middle East Research Competition, National Endowment for the Humanities, American Research Center in Egypt, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and the Council on Foreign Relations. He was named a Carnegie Scholar in 2009 for his work on Islamist politics.
Dr. Shehata has been interviewed by a wide range of media including CNN, BBC, PBS News Hour, NPR, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, FOX, C-Span, CBC, Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera English, Al Arabiyya, Egyptian Satellite TV, Middle East Broadcasting Company (MBC), New York Times, Washington Post, Time, Christian Science Monitor, Financial Times, Guardian, Le Monde, and the Sydney Morning Herald.
He received a BA from the University of California at Berkeley (magna cum laude), an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge, and a Ph.D. from the Politics Department at Princeton University, where his dissertation received the Malcolm H. Kerr Award from the Middle East Studies Association. He completed post-doctoral fellowships at Columbia University’s Society of Fellows and New York University and has been a visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley, the United States Institute of Peace, and George Washington University.
Select academic publications:
“Introduction,” in The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century, edited volume, (Edinburgh University Press), 2023 (paperback 2024), pp. 1-32, 2023.
“The Regional Dimensions of Egypt’s ‘Failed Democratic Transition,’” in The Struggle to Reshape the Middle East in the 21st Century, edited volume, (Edinburgh University Press), 2023 (paperback 2024), pp. 193-235, 2023.
“Shop Floor Politics in Egypt,” in Everyday Life in the Muslim Middle East, eds., Evelyn Early and Donna Lee Bowen (3rd edition), (Bloomington: Indiana University Press), 2015.
“Introduction,” in Islamist Politics in the Middle East: Movements and Change, edited volume, (London & New York: Routledge), pp. 1-20, 2012.
“Political Da‘wa: Understanding the Muslim Brotherhood’s Participation in Semi-Authoritarian Elections,” in Islamist Politics in the Middle East: Movements and Change, (London & New York: Routledge), pp. 120-145, 2012.
“Egypt: The Founders,” in The Islamists Are Coming, edited by Robin Wright (Washington DC: The Woodrow Wilson Center Press), April 2012 (updated in 2015).
“Inside an Egyptian Parliamentary Campaign,” in Political Participation in the Middle East, eds. Ellen Lust-Okar and Saloua Magrawi, pp. 95-120, (Boulder: Lynne Rienner), 2008.
Select public writing:
“Trump is inciting domestic terrorism,” Al Jazeera, December 10, 2020.
“The Real Reason Donald Trump is terrified of losing the presidency: fear of prosecution,” Guardian, November 3, 2020.
“Understanding Donald Trump’s Victory: Some Methodological and Semiotic Considerations,” Arab Center for Research & Policy Studies, February 2017
“The Military vs. the Islamists,” The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Islamist Politics Project, November 4, 2013.
“In Egypt, Democrats vs. Liberals,” New York Times, July 3, 2013.
