Archive for 2016
Shii News – Bahrain 5 Years After
Bahrain: Five years after the protests
Activist Maryam al-Khawaja in debate with Mansoor al-Arayedh, the chairman of the Gulf Council for Foreign Relations.
- February 13, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘Bahrain Watch’ News
5 years on: Reflect, Reassessing and Rejuvenating the spirit
Note: LSE MENA Society Event On Monday 15 February (6-8pm) (London): Ala’a Shehabi and Ali Abdulemam will be speaking alongside Toby Mathiessen at the London School of Economics. The talk will discuss a range of issues, including repression, reform, prospects for revolutionary change and the role of Bahrain’s regional and international allies like Saudi Arabia, Britain and the United States. It will then be followed by a Q&A with the audience. More information can be found here.
- February 12, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – CfP: Diaspora: Khoja Studies conference (Paris, Nov., 2016)
Proposition de Conférence/ Conference Proposal
Inaugural Khōjā Studies Conference, Autumn 2016
Call for Papers
Venue: Paris at Le Centre d’Études de l’Inde et de l’Asie du Sud (CEIAS)
Date: 1-2 November 2016
Theme: Religious identities in the construction of communal Khōjā historical memory
Agenda: A two-day conference with a public keynote bringing together interdisciplinary Anglophone and Francophone scholars in the humanities, generally defined, to present and discuss the development of Khōjā identity over the past three centuries among transnational communities in South Asia, East Africa, Western Europe, and North America. The output of the conference will be an edited volume published by École Française d’Extrême-Orient.
Theme: This conference is intended as an inaugural conference in the collaboration among FIU in Miami and CNRS- CEIAS in Paris. Its focus is to develop a rigorous transdisciplinary international programme of research on the history of the Khoja peoples through recherche scientifique on manuscripts, printed texts, oral traditions, and material culture. The preservation of multilingual materials in Sindhi, Kacchī, and Gujarati are important links that bridge the premodern- modern divide of Khōjā historiography. Coordinating ways to preserve these materials and make them available for academic research is a priority that necessitates international coordination and cooperation. This gathering will explore religious and social transformations that occurred as a result of migration and cosmopolitanism. It seeks to be inclusive of various modern academic interpretations of Khōjā identity and history in conversation with one another on the frames used in the interpretation of primary texts. Moreover, the Khōjā cannot be understood in isolation therefore research on related communities, such as the Lōhāṇā and Bohra, are particularly welcome as this helps to better contextualize what is sometimes a more insular Khōjā self-articulation of identity narratives.
Some of the questions posed by this conference include: What makes a religious text uniquely ‘Khōjā’ and how does has that identity evolved diachronically in various spacial contexts? How can the ginan (jñānō) corpus be categorized to reflect its interpolation over time, script changes, and space. How did the extinction of the Khōjā Sindhi script create a discontinuity that aided the development of modern Khōjā creedal Islamic identities? How does the tension between and ethnic Indic and Near Eastern Islamic identities manifest itself in the preservation of Khōjā heritage? How is communal religious authority constructed and contested transnationally?
Deadline: Call for papers due by 1 May 2016 to be submitted at- http://www.khojastudies.org/
Funding for participant attendance is available.
- February 12, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 11, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 11, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 10, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – AMI, CfP: ‘The Status of Non-Muslims in Sharīʿa’ (UK, June, 2016)
Call for Papers:
‘The Status of Non-Muslims in Sharīʿa’
The 4th AMI Contemporary Fiqhī Issues Workshop
June 2-3rd 2016
Al-Mahdi Institute
60 Weoley Park Road
Birmingham B29 6RB
UK
www.almahdi.edu
The 4th annual fiqhī workshop at Al-Mahdi Institute aims to facilitate scholarship directly addressing questions relating to the topic of “the status of non-Muslims in Sharī ͑a”. We especially encourage, and invite, paper proposals engaging with the methodological questions involved in justifications for both traditional and alternative perspectives on fiqhī̄ (juristic) readings of matters related to the status of non-Muslims in Islam.
In recent years one of the major aspects of Sharī ͑a, or more precisely “fiqh”, that has been subject of much debate and discussion pertains to the status of non-Muslims within Sharī ͑a. Apparent tensions have arisen in the understanding and practice of fiqh in the context of challenges from international law, extremist trans-national and terrorist organisations, domestic legal frameworks and the private practice of Muslims living in an increasingly interconnected and globalized world. From private issues related to permissibility of marriage with non-Muslims or eating non-Muslim prepared food, to societal or state imposed regulations pertaining to transactions, capital punishments, compensations, and political rights and duties, we find that the legal edicts of mainstream Muslim jurists demonstrate widespread distinctions/discriminations between Muslims and Non-Muslims. The impact of such distinctions/discriminations not only affects non-Muslims residing in pre-dominantly Muslim societies but also affect Muslims who reside in minority contexts.
The workshop seeks to explore fiqhī or juristic justifications and challenges to such positions and emerging alternatives. As in previous gatherings such fiqhī debate will be situated alongside contributions dealing with broader theological, legal, historical, anthropological and sociological approaches that can enrich a multidisciplinary understanding of contemporary visions for the status of non-Muslims in Sharīʿa.
Proposals for a single presenter should include the following:
➢ Contact information, and a brief bio of presenter(s),
➢ Tentative title(s),
➢ Abstract(s) (300- 500 word).
The deadline for submission of proposals is 8th April 2016. Successful applicants will be notified by 15th April 2016.
Accepted applicants from within the E.U. will be supported for their travel and hospitality during the workshop, with a further limited number of travel bursaries available for those applying from outside the E.U.
Proposals and queries should be sent by e-mail to: Dr Hashim Bata (hashim@almahdi.edu)
- February 10, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 09, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The International Qur’anic Studies Association announces the calls for papers to be presented at the 2016 Annual Meeting to be held in San Antonio, Texas. The Annual Meeting dates are November 18-22, 2016.
The paper proposal submission deadline is March 2, 2016.
For each of IQSA’s five program units please find a detailed call for papers below. Click on the title of the program unit or link below description to be directed to an external link for further instructions on submission of proposals for that unit. For additional information about a specific program unit, contact the unit chairs.
https://iqsaweb.wordpress.com/annual-meeting-2016-call-for-papers/
2. Faith and Power: Undergraduate Conference in History
Call for Applications | April 1, 2016, Central European University
3.CALL FOR PAPERS- III International Conferences “MEDITERRÁNEOS 2016”
III International Conferences “MediterráneoS 2016”
Early-Stage Researchers in Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean
and the Near East
Madrid, 26th, 27th and 28th of October 2016
4. Call For Book Proposals, The Early and Medieval Islamic World
I.B.Tauris invites submissions for inclusion in a new academic monograph series, The Early and Medieval Islamic World. Led by series editor Professor Roy Mottahedeh (Harvard University), the series will promote innovative research on the period 500–1500 AD with the Islamic world, as it ebbed and flowed from Marrakesh to Palermo and Cairo to Kabul, as the central pivot.
Thematic focus within this remit will be broad, from the cultural and social to the political and economic, with preference given to studies of societies and cultures from a socio-historical perspective. It will foster a community of unique voices on the medieval Islamic world, shining light into its lesser studied corners.
5. Call for Middle East Medievalists (MEM) sponsored panels at MESA 2016
A major part of Middle East Medievalists’ (MEM) mission is to raise the profile of medieval studies at MESA. As a MESA Affiliate, we are able to offer MEM sponsorship to up to three medieval panels at each annual MESA meeting. MEM cannot offer financial support but the three selected panels will appear as MEM-sponsored panels on MESA program. We urge medievalists organizing panels at MESA 2016 to submit all the relevant material about their panels (title, participants, abstracts) by February 15, 2015, so they can be considered for MEM sponsorship by MEM’s board. Please email your submissions or questions with regard to potential MEM sponsorship to MEM’s secretary, Antoine Borrut (aborrut@umd.edu).
6. Armenian Studies for a long time has been considered as a part of a bigger Iranian Studies academic domain. Many Linguists, Historians, Anthropologists and other specialists have mastered Armenian language in order to better study and understand Iranian realities.
For the third time we organize an Armenian Studies Summer School in Armenia and I hope, that many of you will be interested to participate or will forward the information about Armenian Studies Summer School to interested parties.
This 21 days summer school offers participants to master skills in written and oral modern Armenian, reading and interpreting Armenian texts from different periods as well as rapidly deepening their knowledge in Armenian Literature, History and Arts. During the summer school we also offer cultural trips, visits and meetings, which will transform your stay in Armenia into an unforgettable, academically oriented endeavour.
For more information please visit: http://armacad.info/a/armenian-studies-summer-school-15-jul-5-aug-2016-yerevan-armenia
7. Conference: “Globalisation and its Discontents: Past, Present and Future”, St Antony’s College, Oxford, 5 May 2016
This university-wide interdisciplinary graduate research conference invites graduate students of the humanities and social sciences from all colleges to submit abstracts, regardless of the stage of their research. This conference will offer presenters the opportunity to introduce and receive feedback on their work from an encouraging but critical audience of both students and established academics at the University of Oxford.
Deadline for abstracts: 21 February 2016. Information: http://st-hughsmcr.blogspot.de/2016/02/st-antonys-graduate-research-conference.html
8. Conference: “Talking About ‘Arabs’. Echoes from Different Europes”, Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, 27-28 May 2016
On the basis of concrete empirical studies, the workshop seeks to investigate the nexus between three different fields of knowledge production and diffusion in today’s Europe: media, academic/intellectual and policy-making. The goal is to examine the ways in which different scholarly traditions, journalistic cultures and political interest (or disinterest) affect knowledge on the Middle East in different parts of Europe.
Deadline for abstracts: 21 February 2016. Information: www.orient.cas.cz/miranda2/export/sitesavcr/data.avcr.cz/humansci/orient/akce/aktuality/2016/Talking-about-Arabs-Call-for-Contributions.pdf
9. Workshop: “The Global Middle East in the Age of Speed”, University of Birmingham, 2-3 June 2016
The social and political issues the motor age brought with it remain critically relevant and timely today, across the disciplines and to the wider public. Questions of automobility are central to citizens and policymaking around the world.
Information: www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/activity/ias/workshops/2016/jackson.aspx
10. Seminar: “Good, Evil, and the Grey Zone: Religion’s Role in Genocide from the Holocaust to ISIS”, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, DC, 27 June – 1 July 2016
The Museum’s Program on Ethics, Religions, and the Holocaust is pleased to announce its annual seminar for faculty from all disciplines but particularly for professors of theology, ethics, and religion at theological schools and other institutions of advanced education.
Deadline for application: 1 April 2016. Information: www.ushmm.org/research/competitive-academic-programs/faculty-seminars/seminar-for-seminary-and-religious-studies-faculty/annual-seminar-for-seminary-and-religious-studies-faculty
11. Doctoral Programme, German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg
GIGA is an independent social-science research institute. It analyses political, social and economic developments in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. The GIGA Doctoral Programme invites applications from Prospective Doctoral Students to join the three-year structured programme on 1 October 2016.
Deadline for application: 1 March 2016. Information: https://giga.hamburg/en/dp
12. Tenured Academic Staff in Modern History of the Islamic World, University of Antwerp, Belgium
This is a full-time position as a lecturer or senior lecturer in the tenure track for a term of five years, leading to a permanent appointment, if the performance is assessed favourably. The date of appointment will be 1 October 2016. A PhD in History or an equivalent discipline as well as several years of postdoctoral experience are required.
Deadline for application: 24 March 2016. Information: www.careeredu.eu/index.php?post_id=14334
American University – Sharjah – Head of the Department of Arabic and Translation Studies
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=52550
Full-time, Open Rank Position in Sociology, Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Media Studies, American University of Beirut
All specialties are welcome but the department is particularly interested in applicants with expertise in economic sociology, political sociology and/or social movements relevant to the region. The position is to begin September 2016. A Ph.D. in Sociology is required.
Deadline for application: 15 March 2016 Information: www.aub.edu.lb/fas/fas_home/academic-employment/Pages/academic_positions.aspx#27
13. Le livre de Justine Landau, De rythme & de raison: lecture croisée de deux traités de poétique persans du XIIIe siècle aux éditions des Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, vient de recevoir le prix iranian du meilleur livre de l’année 2016.
Pour plus d’information veuiller consulter le lien suiavnt:
http://www.irna.ir/fa/News/81953437/
14. The Ernst Herzfeld Society for the Research of Islamic Art and Archaeology and the Berlin Institute of Technology have the pleasure to invite you to the 12th Colloquium of the EHG. It will be held at the Department of Building Archaeology and Built Heritage Conservation (Fachgebiet Historische Bauforschung und Baudenkmalpflege, Technische Universitaet Berlin) between July 1st and 2nd, 2016.
The meeting will not be focussed on a topic. Rather, it is supposed to provide a platform for discussion and exchange on ongoing research. We invite you to present current research projects and new results from the areas of History of Islamic Art, Islamic Archaeology and Building Archaeology.In addition to the open panels there will be one thematic panel focussing on activities in the relevant fields in Berlin and its surroundings. We would appreciate if you submit your title and an abstract of no more than 1.500 characters of your presentation until March 1st, 2016.
Each presentation will be limited to 20 minutes and followed by 10 minutes of discussion. The official conference languages will be German, English and French.
Please direct your conference to Martin Gussone from the Berlin Institute of Technology, who is organising the meeting: martin.gussone@tu-berlin.de
Registration and participation are free for members of the EHG. Guests are supposed to pay a conference fee (50.-€/red. 25.-€).
On the occasion of the conference the annual members meeting of the EHG will be held on Friday, July 1st, 2016.
The Graduates Meeting of the EHG is scheduled for Thursday, June 30th. This meeting will be hosted by the Museum of Islamic Art in Berlin. For more information on the Graduates Meeting please contact Simone Struth:
simone.struth@googlemail.com
15. The Ehsan Yarshater Book Award
The deadline is extended to receive nominations for The International Society for Iranian Studies (ISIS) Ehsan Yarshater Book Award. Please use the link below to nominate a book suitable for this award:
http://www.iranianstudies.com/awards/ehsanYarshater
The ISIS 2016 Biennial Conference
Continuing updates and information regarding the ISIS 2016 Biennial conference in Vienna Austria are available using this link:
16. Call for Participants in a Panel at MESA 2016 dedicated to the History of the Islamic Book
Panel organizer: Ahmad Nazir Atassi, Louisiana Tech University
The field of Book History as it applies to manuscripts or printed books in the Islamic world has a
lot of potential that still remains untapped. Dr. Dagmar Riedel (Columbia) has a very informative blog titled “Islamic Books” that showcases well the range of topics that can be discussed within this filed.
In 2012 I organized a panel at MESA dedicated to the history of the Islamic book and in 2014 Kathryn Schwartz organized another panel. Last MESA, there were several papers pertaining to the same field but dispersed over many panels (Bowen Savant for example). It is time to seriously advocate the potential of the field whether in intellectual history, social history, the industry of the book, the medieval “book milieu”, and the history of education in the Middle East, to name a few subjects.Today with the digitization of books and manuscripts and the online database technology, many of these topics are possible; the agency of the physical object can now be fully revealed.
If you are planning to go to MESA 2016 (Boston) and have a paper related to Book History you can join us in this panel that is dedicated to the topic. The deadline for submission is February 16. It is preferable to notify me of your interest to participate a couple of days ahead so I can invite you through the MESA website as a participant in an organized panel. My email is: aatassi@latech.edu
- February 09, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 08, 2016
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment