Dr. Ryan J. Lynch is a specialist of Middle Eastern and Islamic history and the Director of The Citadel Honors Program. His research interests primarily focus on the Islamization of the Middle East, Arabic historiography, the representation of an Islamic state from the foundational period through to the present day, and the misappropriation of the Islamic past by modern jihadist terror groups.
Dr. Lynch received his Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) from the University of Oxford, in addition to holding degrees from the University of St Andrews and Stetson University. He joined The Citadel faculty having previously taught at Oxford, Columbus State University, Middlebury College, and Stetson. He is the author of Arab Conquests and Early Islamic History, which was the recipient of the SERMEISS book prize for best monograph. He also served as a writer and lead editor for the two volume OpenStax World History, an Open Educational Resource (OER) textbook used by professors and students around the world for university-level world history courses.
Dr. Lynch leads the Honors Program, The Citadel’s premier initiative which recruits and supports some of the highest achieving and highest potential students from around the country over the four years they spend within the Corps of Cadets. Both in Honors and the History Department, he teaches interdisciplinary freshman seminar courses as well as upper-level and graduate courses on everything from late antiquity to the Global War on Terror, embracing digital humanities approaches in both teaching and research.
Degrees:
DPhil Middle Eastern Studies (University of Oxford)
MPhil Islamic Studies and History (University of Oxford)
MLitt Middle Eastern History and Culture (University of St Andrews)
B.A. History and Religious Studies (Stetson University)
Research Interests: Islamic history, Umayyads, Abbasids, al-Baladhuri, Digital humanities