Dr Akel Ismail Kahera holds a PhD in Near Eastern Studies, with Honours from Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. He currently serves as a Professor of Islamic Art, Architecture and Sustainable Urbanism at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), Doha, Qatar. As an educator, Professor Kahera has over three decades of research, teaching and scholarly publications on the subject of Architectural History Theory and Criticism, Islamic Art and Architecture, Non-Western Architecture, Urbanism, The American Mosque, and Design Studio.
Prior to his appointment at HBKU, Professor Kahera served as Dean at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts, Doha, Qatar. He also served as Professor of Architecture and Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA. He has taught courses on Islamic Art, Architecture and Urbanism at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas; Texas Tech University and Prairie View A & M University, USA, where he served as Director of Graduate Studies & Professor of Architecture & Community Development; Director of the Texas Institute for the Preservation of History &Culture and the Executive Editor of the Journal of History & Culture. Professor Kahera has been a member of several national and international scholarly boards/committees, most notably the Editorial Board, International Journal of Islamic Architecture; Scholar/Reviewer American Society of Learned Scholars and the Editorial board of The Journal of Design Ideas.
Professor Kahera has published over three dozen scholarly/peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and encyclopaedia entries. His books include Deconstructing the American Mosque: Space, Gender & Aesthetics; Reading the Islamic City: Discursive Practices & Legal Judgment; Design Criteria for Mosques & Islamic Centers: Art, Architecture & Worship. The Place of The Mosques: Genealogies of Space, Knowledge & Power. With over twenty years as a professional architect/practitioner, he has performed a vital role as a designer and project manager in the USA, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt which led to the design and construction of several projects with a commensurate construction value of $950 mn.
