Dr. Hala Auji will become the Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair for Islamic Art at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts (VCUarts), effective Aug. 16.
Dr. Hala Auji
Auji is currently an associate professor of art history at the American University of Beirut (AUB). Before that, Auji was a lecturer in Islamic Art at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a lecturer in art history at Binghamton University in the State University of New York.
“I am thrilled to join VCUarts as the new Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair for Islamic Art, where I will assist in expanding VCUarts’ offerings in Islamic and Middle Eastern art,” Auji said. “I’m also excited about strengthening the institution’s global reach through collaborations with VCUarts Qatar, such as the Hamad bin Khalifa Symposium on Islamic Art.”
She is the author of Printing Arab Modernity: Book Culture and the American Press in Nineteenth-Century Beirut.
“We are excited about Dr. Auji joining VCUarts in the fall,” said Dr. Carmenita Higginbotham, dean of VCUarts and special assistant to the provost for the School of the Arts in Qatar. “Her experience in Islamic and Middle Eastern art education will be undoubtedly an asset to our students and community. We are also looking forward to Dr. Auji’s work with VCUarts Qatar, which will continue to deepen our relationship.”
