Dr. Akel Kahera is a Professor of Islamic Architecture and Urbanism at CIS, HBKU. His research, teaching, and scholarly publications include architecture, sustainable urbanism, and design. With over 20 years as a professional practitioner, he has performed a vital role as designer and project manager primarily in the international arena, which has led to the construction of several major projects with a commensurate construction value of $500 million. He is a native of Brooklyn, New York, where he attended Pratt Institute’s School of Architecture and later completed graduate studies (M. Arch) at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and obtained a PhD with honors from Princeton University.
Dr. Kahera has held multiple teaching and senior positions, including professor and dean at Virgina Commonwealth University's School of the Arts in Qatar; professor and senior associate dean of research and graduate studies at Clemson University, South Carolina; and professor and director at Prairie View A&M University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Texas Tech University. Dr. Kahera has published over three dozen peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, encyclopedia entries, and three books: Deconstructing the American Mosque (University of Texas Press, 2002/2008), Reading the Islamic City: Discursive Practices & Legal Judgment (Rowan & Littlefield/ Lexington Press, Maryland; 2012), and Design Criteria for Mosques (Architectural Press, Oxford, UK; 2009).
CIS, HBKU
2019 – PresentVirginia Commonwealth University in Qatar’s School of the Arts
2015 – 2018College of Architecture, Art and Humanities, Clemson University, South Carolina
2012 – 2015School of Architecture, Prairie View/Texas A & M University
2005 – 2012University of Oxford
2017Reed College, Portland, Oregon
2016Reed College, Portland, Oregon
2016Princeton University
1997Massachusetts Institute of Technology
1987Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY
1977Maryland: Rowan & Littlefield/Lexington Press.
2012Austin, TX: University of Texas Press. (Reissued in paperback edition, 2008).
2002Oxford, UK: The Architectural Press.
2009In Gharipour, M. (Ed.), Contemporary Urban Landscapes of the Middle East. UK: Routledge. 171–89.
2016In Brunn, S. (Ed.), The Changing World Map: Sacred Spaces, Identities, Practices and Politics. UK: Springer.
2015In Bell, C.J. (Ed.), Space Unveiled: Invisible Cultures in the Design Studio. UK: Routledge. 37–50.
2014In Hammer, J., & Safi, O. (Eds.), The Cambridge Companion to American Islam. UK: Cambridge University Press. 228–245.
2013The South Carolina Review, 46(2). 126–34.
2014Encounters: An International Journal for the Study of Culture and Society, 6. 151–68.
2016Journal of History & Culture, 1(3). 57–79.
2010Journal of History & Culture, 1(2). 39–52.
2009Journal of History & Culture, 1(1). 62–76.
2008Space and Culture, 10(4). 384–396.
2007Al-Shajarah: Journal of International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 4(1). 75–92.
1999Journal of Islamic Law and Society, 5(2). E.J. Brill. 131–64.
1998In Uddin-Khan, H., & Moore, K. (Eds.), The Religious Architecture of Islam, Vol 1. Brepols Publishers.
2021In McCloud, A.B. (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of African American Islam. UK: Oxford University Press.
2014In Smith, J., & Haddad, Y. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of American Islam. Oxford University Press NY (2014), 404–25.
2014In Encyclopedia of Urbanism. UK: Sage Publications. 401–405.
2009In Ciment, J. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of American Immigration. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. 768–776.
2001