Maria De Cillis is an Associate Professor and Head of the Shi平i Studies (Interim) at the Department of Academic Research, where she is also the Managing Editor of the Shi平i Heritage Series. Dr De Cillis obtained her bachelors degree (with honours) from the Faculty of Languages and Literatures in the Department of Arabic and English Studies at the Universita’ degli Studi di Napoli LOrientale, Naples, Italy.
She completed her masters in Islamic Studies (with distinction) and was awarded her PhD in Islamic Studies from the Department of Near and Middle East, Faculty of Languages and Cultures, SOAS University of London.
Dr De Cillis has authoredSalvation and Destiny in Islam: The Shi平i Ismaili Perspective of 畍am朝d al-D朝n al-Kirmn朝油(2018),油Free Will and Predestination in Islamic Thought: Theoretical Compromises in the Works of Avicenna, al-Ghazl朝 and Ibn 平Arab朝(2014) and has co-editedL辿sot辿risme shi平ite, ses racines et ses prolongements/Shi平i Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments(2016), as well as writing a number of book chapters, journal articles and encyclopaedia entries. She has taught the Qur幣an at SOAS University of London, medieval Islamic philosophy and speculative theology at Birkbeck College, University of London.
She continues to teach on Shi平i Islam and Islamic intellectual history at the IIS.
