BA. Ankara University
MA. Marmara University
MA. Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
PhD. The University of Chicago, Divinity School
Specialization: Qur’anic Studies, Sufism, Ottoman History, Islamic History

Halim Calis graduated from Ankara University (Ankara, Turkey) and completed his MA on Islamic Theology at Marmara University (Istanbul, Turkey). He completed another MA on World Religions at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, Divinity School. His doctoral dissertation is on Shams al-Dīn al-Fanārī (d. 1431), an Ottoman scholar who appropriated Akbarī hermeneutics in his Qur’an commentary. Besides the formal education Halim has received, he has been studying the classical sources of Islam since 1990’s. His research interests include the Qur’anic Studies, Sufism, Ottoman History and Islamic History. He conducts research in English, Turkish and Arabic. He can also read French and Persian. He has published encyclopedia entries, book chapters and articles for Turkish and English magazines.