Archive for 2016
Shii News – al-Wefaq Dissolved
Bahrain’s main Shia opposition group, Wefaq, ‘dissolved’ – BBC News
See also: al-Jazeera
See also: Statement by John Kerry, US Secy of State
- July 18, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – Academic Items
1. University of California – Berkeley – Temporary Part time Lecturer Pool – Arabic
2. Call for Expressions of Interest in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships 2016
The Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London, United Kingdom (“the Institute”) is currently inviting expressions of interest for Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships. Holders of Fellowships will have the opportunity to pursue research within a stimulating and supportive environment by playing an active role in the intellectual life of the Institute. The Institute does not itself award the Fellowship but supports selected applications to the European Commission’s programme.
Details at: https://www.aku.edu/ismc/research/fellowships/Pages/home.aspx
3. Open Access:
Onomasticon Arabicum (OA) is a long-living database project. This new online-version informs on more than 15000 scholars and celebrities from the first Muslim millenary. Its entries in Arabic are compiled from ancient biographical dictionaries, a veritable treasure of Islamic culture. Crossed search allows separate interrogation on any of the different elements of the Arabo-Muslim names, dates and places, reconstructing the identity of a person, trace ways of knowledge transmission and frame historical contexts.
See http://onomasticon.irht.cnrs.fr/
4. A website whose main purpose is to solve illegible words in Ottoman Turkish which is especially critical for those dealing with archive documents.
5. AIMA V – FIRST CIRCULAR
International Association for the Study of Middle and Mixed Arabic
Fifth International Symposium (University of Strasbourg 20-23 March 2017)
Middle and Mixed Arabic in the History of the Arabic Language and Today
The objectives of the Fifth Symposium are the same as those of the four preceding ones, i.e. to study written varieties of Middle Arabic and varieties, particularly oral, of contemporary Mixed Arabic. The proposed subject of the Symposium is: “Middle and Mixed Arabic in the History of the Arabic Language and Today”. The conference theme will deal with questions such as: How is MMA used in contemporary forms of written Arabic? What was the role of Middle Arabic in the evolution of the Arabic Language? What is the role of Mixed Arabic in the contemporary Arabic Language? How is the Arabic continuum used? How is MMA used in literary classical and modern texts?
Of course, this theme is only indicative and proposals of papers on other topics will be accepted, provided they fit into the general theme of Middle / Mixed Arabic. You will find a list of other possible themes hereunder in document 2.
Colleagues and researchers who plan to attend the Symposium are kindly requested to fill up and to send back the Answer form upon receipt of this circular to the following address :
Dr Julien DUFOUR
If you are planning to attend the Symposium, please let us know before 2 September 2016 (and send your provisional title if you are intending to give a paper).
Participants who wish to give a paper are also requested to send an abstract (maximum half a page), as well as their academic affiliation and complete contact information, by e-mail, not later than 1 October 2016. Title and abstract will be passed on to the Scientific Committee which is expected to give you its definite answer before the end of November 2016. Papers may be given in Arabic, English or French and should not exceed 20 minutes. Every paper is planned to be followed by a 10 minutes discussion.
6. Open Access Manuscript Collection: Koç University Manuscript Collection
http://digitalcollections.library.ku.edu.tr/cdm/landingpage/collection/MC
7. AIIS Book Prize Competition
In order to promote scholarship in South Asian Studies, the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) announces the award of two prizes each year for the best unpublished book manuscript on an Indian subject.
– The Edward Cameron Dimock, Jr. Prize in the Indian Humanities
– The Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences
+ $2500 Subvention for the press publishing the manuscript.
+ Junior scholars who have received the PhD within the last six years (2009 and after) are eligible.
+ Must be the first book by the author.
+ Unrevised dissertations are not accepted.
+ There is no designated press for publication.
+ Applicants need not have held any AIIS fellowship nor studied in an AIIS language program
+ Manuscripts under review or under contract with a press are eligible.
Send ONE pdf and ONE paper copy of your manuscript,
postmarked NO LATER THAN September 30, 2016, to:
Anand Yang
Chair, Department of History
College of Arts & Sciences
Term Professor of International Studies and History
Box 353650, Henry M. Jackson School
University of Washington
Seattle, Wa. 98195
8. International Journal of Islamic Architecture 5.2 (July 2016): Special Issue – Heritage and the Arab Spring
Special issue on Heritage and the Arab Spring (Vol. 5, Issue 2). This is the tenth of a bi-annually published peer-reviewed journal on architecture, urban design, planning, and landscape architecture. IJIA aims to encourage dialogue between practitioners and scholars and enhance appreciation for the urban heritage in the region and pioneering design work. The journal is committed to inviting new research on understudied topics and reaching out to a broad international readership.
This volume contains an editorial essay by the guest editor, Dr. Heghnar Watenpaugh, book and exhibition reviews, conference précis, and articles that treat issues connected to heritage preservation, social changes, documentation of war damage, and urban development in Egypt, Syria, Turkey, the West Bank, and Yemen.
The tenth issue of the IJIA is available in print and online. Please click on the link below to preview the sixth issue abstracts:
www.intellectbooks.com/ijia
9. Open Access Exhibition: Identities: Understanding Islam in Cross-Cultural Contexts
http://marb.kennesaw.edu/identities/
10. First online URDU THESAURUS and mobile app launched
Author and translator Musharraf Ali Farooqi is the editor of the first online Urdu Thesaurus (www.urduthesaurus.com) and its free mobile app, developed and launched through the publishing house KITAB.
The Urdu Thesaurus welcomes data licensing and data download queries at info@urduthesaurus.com
11. Visiting Research Fellowship 2017, Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies and Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin
We are interested in attracting outstanding researchers who are engaged in research projects that are relevant to the respective research profiles at the BGSMCS and at the ZMO.
Deadline for applications: 14 August 2016. Information: www.bgsmcs.fu-berlin.de/en/studies/cfa_visiting_research_fellowship_2017.html
12. Professeur-e associé-e en Etudes Islamiques au Centre Suisse Islam et Société de l’Université de Fribourg
Expertise en Etudes Islamiques ou dans le domaine Islam et Société avec une approche interdisciplinaire requise. Le/la futur-e titulaire doit lier les traditions de savoirs islamiques pluriels avec des questions philosophiques, éthiques et sociétales dans un contexte contemporain.
Les dossiers de candidature devront être adressés avant 15 septembre 2016. Information: http://www3.unifr.ch/lettres/fr/assets/public/files/pdf/faculte_postes%20vacants/160707_annonce_etudes_islamiques_fr.pdf
13. Funded PhD Studentship, School of Humanities (History), University of Glasgow, Scotland
PhD studentship in history/archive studies, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, investigating the capture, transfer, and reconstitution of Iraqi archives in the USA, commencing Oct. 2016. Open to UK and EU students.
Deadline: 29 July 2016. Information: www.gla.ac.uk/colleges/arts/graduateschool/fundingopportunities/leverhulmetrustscholarships(scroll down); contact: benjaminthomas.white@glasgow.ac.uk
14. Farsi/Persian Language Speaker and Researcher within the Business Intelligence Services Team in Beirut and Dubai
Deloitte’s Business Intelligence team is seeking a young graduate (0-3 years work experience). The candidate will conduct research on MENA-based entities in English and Farsi and produce business intelligence reports. A qualification in Business, Economics, Political Science, International Relations, Middle Eastern Studies is preferred.
Information: mailto:mkasdano@deloitte.com.
15. Free Two-month Professional Training for Arabic and Farsi Speaking Journalists Who Have Fled to Berlin in the Last 2-3 Year
After the workshop – starting on 26 September and organized by the Protestant School of Journalism – the participants will form the editorial board for a mobile based news service to provide the growing Arabic and Farsi speaking community with news from the German capital.
Information: https://amalberlin.net/. Contact: julia.gerlach@ev-journalistenschule.de
- July 18, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
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- July 14, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
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- July 13, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
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- July 13, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
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- July 12, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
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- July 12, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Memorial for Abdul Sattar Edhi (London,14.7.16)
A memorial to honour the life of great humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi will be held at the House of Lords on Thursday 14th of July from 2-4 pm. As Edhi Sb would have wanted we will take this as an opportunity to highlight the plight of orphans including refugee orphans entering UK without parents.The focus being on the need for communities throughout the UK to support these unfortunate children through a whole hearted participation in fostering and even adoption. Expected Speakers and audience include people from key academic and leadership positions.
Host Peer- Lord Ahmed
Expected Speakers
Minister KPK Haider Ali Khan
Speeches from Parliamentarians
Philanthropists-
She has also been a Presenter on both TV & Radio since 2006 both in the UK & Pakistan.
From the years of 2006 to 2008 Ms Khan focus was the Home Office & immigration.
She was actively involved in projects focusing on representation of women & ethnic minorities in the Police Force & is an advocate of integration.
Since 2012 she has been living in the North West of Pakistan focusing on areas which have been linked to & have been victims of terrorism.
Her extensive work with IDP’s of North Wazirstan following the Army operation there has been much appreciated.
She has personally spearheaded a project that has put 950 children back into school following displacement. This was done without any official or Government support.
Her initiative Mashoom is a national social movement aimed at protecting children from abuse in all its formats sexual, physical & emotional & providing them with quality education.
Mor is a sister organisation of Mashoom & focuses on protecting women from abuse & providing them with better healthcare & financial freedom.
Ms Khan is also a filmmaker & her first commercial venture due to release in September is the most awaited film of this year.
Azim Kidwai, CEO of Mercy Mission UK is a social entrepreneur. After leaving government service which spanned the range of GCHQ to the Department of Health, Azim launched into the third sector in 2009. Azim has led the development of Mercy Mission in the UK, and launched some of its largest projects including the National Zakat Foundation, Ramadan TV and Charity Right. This effort has been supported by facilitating the international growth of a number of these projects.
In 2016, Azim launched The Muslim Foster Network and is currently coordinating efforts with a diverse range of community and media partners to improve Muslim participation in fostering and availability of support to Non Muslims seeking to care for Muslim children.
Keith Best -TD, MA, MinstF, FRSA, Cert in Public Management Services
* Currently Chief Executive SurvivorsUK (caring and campaigning for those affected by male sexual violence); Chair of the Executive Committee of the World Federalist Movement/Institute for Global Policy (New York) that seeks improved international governance structures; Chair of Wyndham Place Charlemagne Trust; Chair of Charity 2020; trustee and secretary Parliamentary Outreach Trust, trustee Universal Peace Federation; Vice Chair L4E (London for Europe); Secretary of the European Movement; Patron of TEAMGlobal (The European-Atlantic Movement); frequent media appearances on migration and other matters.
* Freeman of the City of London; liveryman (Loriner).
* Author of several books and articles; delivered keynote speeches both in the UK and abroad. He speaks French and Welsh and is married with two daughters. He ran the London Marathon in 1982 and abseiled down the highest hospital tower in the world (Guy’s) in 2009 for charity. Enjoys being useful!
* Former Chief Executive of national charity Freedom from Torture 2010-2014; Vice Chair of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles; served on the Foreign Secretary’s Advisory Panel on Torture Prevention.
* Former Chief Executive of IAS (Immigration Advisory Service) 1993-2009.
* Former Director of Prisoners Abroad (national charity) 1989-1993.
* Barrister and former Member of Parliament (Anglesey/Ynys Môn) 1979-87; Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Wales; named in the Society Guardian as one of the 100 most influential people in public services in the UK.
* Major in airborne and commando forces; awarded the Territorial Decoration.
* Formerly founder Chair of the Association of Registered Immigration Advisers; Chair Electronic Immigration Network [national charity]; Chair Electoral Reform Society and Council member; Chair Electoral Reform International Services undertaking democracy work worldwide; Chair International Council of Parliamentarians for Global Action (Five Continents Peace Initiative with six Presidents and Prime Ministers of Non Aligned Movement); Brighton Borough Councillor (Chair of Lands Committee).
Saghir Aslam was born in Jullundur India in 1936. At approximate age of 10, his family migrated to newly created Pakistan, after studies and jobs in Pakistan, in 1957 he went to USA for further studies where he graduated in business studies. He started various small businesses during studies and was a self-funding student. After doing a first job he started his own business his first store “Golden Needle” at South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA. Business started to flourish, he expanded it to a chain of 7 stores from Laguna Hills to Santa Monica. His Golden Needle Store became so famous that movie stars and people from across America. Along with business interests he carried out numerous charity activities as well as community where he was the founding member for building first Muslim school in California.
After retiring in USA he opened a state of the art institution in Rawalpindi, Pakistan for the orphan girls to be groomed, mentored and educated to become future leaders who will change the whole society in a positive way. Leaders that will cater for the needs of poor and needy and not for the rich and their own benefits. There are currently 40 girls at Saba homes and approximately 250 who are sponsored at their guardian’s places, new school and boys homes are under construction.
Margaret Owen- Role elderly can play in supporting unaccompanied children.
Despite Ms Khan’s very public profile as the most googled personality in Pakistan of 2015 her work remains at grassroots level & she is very much a hands on individual.
As a single parent with 3 children she brings her personal experience to guide her in her philanthropic endeavours
For further information, contact: rubabmehdi@hotmail.com
- July 12, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. International Tashkubrīzādah Symposium, which will be organized in November 18-20, 2016 by Scientific Studies Association (ILEM), Istanbul Medeniyet Univeristy and the Foundation for Science, the Arts, History and Literature (ISTEV), aims to introduce a sixteenth century scholar, Abū al-Khayr ʿIsām al-dīn Aḥmad Tashkubrīzādah, one of the most important figures in Ottoman intellectual tradition, to local and international scientific milieus, as well as to discuss his contribution to Islamic philosophy-science tradition.
Although Tashkubrīzādah is the author of nearly two hundred works from a variety of topics including philosophy, politics, kalām, mathematics, astronomy, fiqh, linguistics, Sufism, tafsīr, the classification of sciences, and history, with a few exceptions, they are yet to be edited, thereby unknown in the scholarly milieu. For almost three years, some of Tashkubrīzādah’s ouevre have been edited and translated into Turkish by more than twenty scholars. This symposium, which will be a fruit of this three-year-preparation, aims to unfold Tashkubrīzādah’s world of thought on the basis of his works prepared for publication, as well as to shed light on Ottoman world of thought in the sixteenth century with reference to him. The publication of Tashkubrīzādah’s almost thirthy works before the symposium, as well as with the outcomes of the symposium will make a substantial contribution to studies on Islamic philosophy after Ibn Sīnā, and on Ottoman thought.
The organizing commitee invites scholars to participate in the symposium with their papers, thereby to contribute to studies on Tashkubrīzādah.
See: http://taskopruluzade.org/en/
2. Call for Papers
Society for the Medieval Mediterranean conference – Ghent University, Belgium, 10-12 July 2017
“Communities, Imaginations and Emotions in the Medieval Mediterranean”
Topics of the conference include, but are by no means limited to:
- Emotional and imagined communities
- Selfing and othering
- Identity and alterity, senses of belonging, ties that bond
- Memory, nostalgia and the imagined or idealized past
- Mirabilia, wonders and magic
- Worldviews and other social schemata
- Mobility across borders
- Emotional and communal dimensions to identity
- Honour and shame, social codes and values
- Emotions bodily felt, orally expressed
- Reading and sharing emotions
- Methodological problems when inquiring emotions and imaginations
Abstract: We invite 200-300 word abstracts for individual 20-minute papers relating to the conference theme (including name, title, affiliation, most important publications, keywords). Participants are encouraged to submit proposals for panels of 3 papers – in this case, the panel proposer should collate the three abstracts and submit them together, indicating clearly the rationale behind the planned panel.
Deadline: Abstracts for individual papers and proposals for panels should be emailed to the conference email address (smm2017@ugent.be) by Monday 31st October 2016. Applicants will be notified regarding the acceptance of their panel or paper by January 2017.
Postgraduate student bursaries: We will offer up to 10 bursaries for MA and PhD students who are interested in presenting at the Conference. The bursaries, which will cover the Conference fees, will be assigned to those proposals, which best fit the theme of the Conference.
Publication: Presenters will be invited to submit their papers for publication in the Society’s journal, Al Masaq: Journal of the Medieval Mediterranean (http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/calm20/current#.U9TZnONdXng), published by Taylor and Francis. Previous conferences have resulted in the publication of special issues of the journal as well as individual articles.
Queries: Specific questions about the conference can be directed to the conference organizers, Professor Jo Van Steenbergen, Dr Kristof D’hulster and Dr Joachim Yeshaya at the conference email address (smm2017@ugent.be).
Conference website: http://www.smm2017.ugent.be
3. Intelligence mapping of British East Africa: a new online resource from the British Library
With generous funding from the Indigo Trust the British Library has published online over 550 colonial-era military intelligence maps relating to the former British East Africa: modern-day Kenya and Uganda, and adjacent parts of Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Somalia. The sheets were created between 1890…
4. Call for Papers: Ways of Knowing 2016 Conference
The Science, Religion, and Culture (SRC) Program at Harvard Divinity School announces the 5th annual “Ways of Knowing: Graduate Conference in Religion,” to be held October 27-29, 2016, on the campus of Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, MA.
Last year, 128 students and early career scholars representing over 60 graduate programs worldwide gathered to present their research. Following the success of our previous conferences, we invite graduate students and early career scholars to submit paper proposals from of a variety of theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary perspectives. This year is a particularly momentous year as the conference will celebrate its fifth anniversary alongside the bicentennial of Harvard Divinity School.
We seek papers that explore religious practices and modes of knowing, especially in relation to this year’s central theme, “Religion and Time”. We welcome the use of all sorts of theoretical tools, including discourse analysis, gender theory, race theory, disability theory, postcolonial theory, performance theory, and ritual theory. Papers may focus on any period, region, tradition, group, or person. They may address a set of practices, texts, doctrines, or beliefs. Projects that are primarily sociological, anthropological, theological, ethical, textual, historical, or philosophical are welcome, as are projects that draw on multiple disciplines.
Proposals for papers and pre-organized panels are now being accepted. For more information about the sorts of papers invited, please visit:
http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gradreligionconference/general-call-papers
http://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gradreligionconference/special-call-papers
Proposals are due by July 17, 2016.
Inquiries can be directed to Khytie Brown or H. McLetchie-Leader, Conference Coordinators, at wokconference.harvardsrc@gmail.com.
5. Two full-time PhD positions in Semitic Languages at the Department of Linguistics and Philology, Uppsala University, are open for applications.
For full details, see: http://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/join-us/details/?positionId=104778
6. Workshop: “Key Concepts in Interreligious Dialogue: The Concept of Revelation in Judaism, Christianity and Islam” (KCID), University of Erlangen, 21-22 July 2016
The conference is hosted by the “Lehrstuhl fuer Orientalische Philologie und Islamwissenschaft” and the Eugen-Biser-Stiftung. The conference unites innovative studies to important concepts and metaphors of the three monotheistic religions. See the program at http://www.orientalistik.uni-erlangen.de/KCID/Revelation/the-concept-of-revelation_folder_web.pdf
7. Conference: “Media in Muslim Contexts – Inventing and Re-Inventing Identities”, Aga Khan University, London, 3-4 November 2016
The conference seeks to bring together academics and media professionals to discuss the central role of mass media in the contemporary Muslim World.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 July 2016. Information: http://www.aku.edu/events/pages/event-detail.aspx?EventID=362&Title=Media
8. International Seminar: “The Other Europe. Eastern Europeans and Safavid Communities in Spain and Its Wider World (State of the Art and Lines of Research)”, University of Alicante (Spain), 10-11 November 2016
The concept of Eastern Europeans here is meant to be understood broadly and the session hopes to have a wide range of languages represented in order to promote discussion of this field and its future.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 September 2016. Information: http://web.ua.es/es/iranian-studies-seminar/anuncios/the-other-europe-eastern-europeans-and-safavid-communities-in-spain-and-its-wider-world-state-of-the-art-and-lines-of-research.html
9. Workshop: “Transnational Relations between Eastern Europe/Russia-USSR and the Middle East, Late 19th Century to 1991”, Princeton University, 10-11 February 2017
Part of a Université de Genève/Princeton University partnership grant co-directed by Sandrine Kott (UNIGE) and Cyrus Schayegh (PU).
Deadline for abstracts: 15 September 2016. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/132448/transnational-relations-between-eastern-europerussia-ussr-and
10. International Workshop: “Rethinking Islam at the Turn of the 21st Century: Liberal Trends, Agents of Change and Reassessments of Islamic Traditions”, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 5-7 June 2017
The workshop will explore the ideas and forces that aspire to bring about change in Muslim societies, with special emphasis on liberal trends.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2016. For information contact Dr. Muhammad Al-Atawneh: mailto:alatawnh@bgu.ac.il
11. PH.D. Grant to Prepare a Doctoral Thesis in Pre-modern Islamic History (Diplomatic Relationships), University of Antwerp
This full-time position to prepare a doctoral thesis is funded for four years.
Deadline for application: 15 August 2016. Information: www.uantwerpen.be/en/jobs/vacancies/ap/2016bapdocproex184/. Contact: Malika.Dekkiche@uantwerpen.be
12. Sir William Luce Fellowship on Middle Eastern Studies, Term 24 April – 23 June 2017, Durham University
The Fellowship is awarded annually to a scholar at post-doctoral level, diplomat, politician, or business executive, working on those parts of the Middle East to which Sir William Luce devoted his working life (Iran, the Gulf States, South Arabia and Sudan).
Deadline for application: 6 October 2016. Information: www.dur.ac.uk/sgia/imeis/lucefund/fellowship/
13. 5th Annual Dissertation Award and Graduate Paper Prize of the Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies (AGAPS)
AGAPS seeks to recognize exceptional scholarship on the Gulf. These awards really boost the visibility of young scholars on the job market.
Deadline for submissions: 31 August 2016. Information: http://agaps.org/agapsmesa/mesa-awards/
- July 11, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
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- July 09, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
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