Leila Ahmed was appointed to the Women's Studies in Religion professorship in 1999; she is the first person to occupy that chair. Before that, she has been professor of women's studies and Near Eastern Studies at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst since 1981. While at the University of Massachusetts, she was director of the women's studies program from 1992 to 1995 and director of the Near Eastern studies program from 1991 to 1992. In 1992, she was a distinguished visiting professor at the American University in Cairo. In 1997, she was elected to a life membership at Clare Hall in the University of Cambridge. Her latest book, A Border Passage, has been widely acclaimed. Her other publications include the books Women and Gender in Islam--The Historical Roots of a Modern Debate and Edward William Lane--A Study of His Life and Work and of British Ideas of the Middle East in the Nineteenth Century, and many articles, including "Arab Culture and Writing Women's Bodies" and "Between Two Worlds: the Formation of a Turn of the Century Egyptian Feminist."
 
courses recently taught:
Issues in Feminism and Islam: A Historical Overview