research overview
- John Willis is a cultural historian of the modern Middle East and Islamic world. He is a specialist in the histories of the Arabian Peninsula and the Indian Ocean World.
- Contact Info
Willis, John Matthew
Positions
- Associate Professor, History
Research Areas
Research
Publications
selected publications
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book
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journal article
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Sunni chauvinism and the roots of Muslim modernism.
Politics, Religion & Ideology.
139-141.
2025
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A History of Jeddah: The Gate to Mecca in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.
International Journal of Middle East Studies.
2023
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Dislocating the Orient: British Maps and the Making of the Middle East, 1854-1921..
The Journal of modern history.
177-178.
2020
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Beyond the Arab Cold War: The International History of the Yemen Civil War, 1962-68.
International Journal of Middle East Studies.
655-657.
2019
- Yemen in Crisis: Autocracy, Neo-Liberalism and the Disintegration of a State. Middle East Journal, The. 709-710. 2018
- Governing the Living and the Dead: Mecca and the Emergence of the Saudi Biopolitical State. American Historical Review. 346-370. 2017
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Azad’s Mecca.
Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
574-581.
2014
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The Language of Secular Islam: Urdu Nationalism and Colonial India.
Journal of Asian Studies.
1021-1022.
2013
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Empire, Islam, and Politics of Difference: Ottoman Rule in Yemen, 1849-1919.
Journal of Islamic Studies.
378-381.
2013
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Debating the Caliphate: Islam and Nation in the Work of Rashid Rida and Abul Kalam Azad.
International History Review.
711-732.
2010
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MAKING YEMEN INDIAN: REWRITING THE BOUNDARIES OF IMPERIAL ARABIA.
International Journal of Middle East Studies.
23-38.
2009
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Sunni chauvinism and the roots of Muslim modernism.
Politics, Religion & Ideology.
139-141.
2025
Background
education and training
- Ph.D., New York University 2007
- M.A., Georgetown University 1997
- B.A., University of Louisville 1994
awards and honors
International Activities
geographic focus
- Canada Country
- India Country
- Israel Country
- Lebanon Country
- Netherlands Country
- United Kingdom Country