Archive for September, 2017

Washed up: Malaysian launderette refuses non-Muslim customers

“For Muslim customers only. Leave your shoes outside,” The owner of a self-service laundrette in the historic town of Muar in the Malaysian state of Johor likely had little inkling of the hornet’s nest he would stir up by putting up a sign barring non-Muslim from using his services.

See also ‘Malaysian launderette owner stirs Asian hornet’s nest’.

Bahrain’s debt levels and associated costs need a check

Bahrain has the means, stamina and experience in addressing some of the socioeconomic challenges engulfing the smallest state within the Gulf Cooperation Council. On the economic side, problems include the yawning budgetary deficit, growing public debt, poor credit ratings and the disturbing youth unemployment levels.

1.The Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics at Florida State University invites applications for a full-time Visiting Teaching Faculty I in Arabic for the academic year 2018-2019. This position is for one year with the possibility of renewal.

QUALIFICATIONS

Applicants should be able to teach Arabic at all levels (including advanced content courses) for an average of twelve hours per week according to the needs of the Arabic Division. Applicants should have university teaching experience and experience in integrating both standard and spoken Arabic (preferably Levantine Arabic) into their teaching. The successful candidate will work closely with other faculty members in Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, assist in program coordination in collaboration with program faculty; and perform service to the department, college, university, and the profession. The successful candidate will be a native or near-native speaker of Arabic and will have a MA or PhD in teaching Arabic as a foreign language or a related field. Interest in film and cultural studies is a plus.

INSTRUCTIONS
The application deadline is November 1, 2017. Evaluation of applicants will commence immediately thereafter and will continue until the position is filled. Possibility of a preliminary interview at MESA, November, 18-21 in Washington, D.C.

The Florida State University takes online applications at https://jobs.fsu.edu (Job ID: 42365). To apply, submit an application package that should include: a letter of interest with a section addressing the candidate’s approach to Arabic language teaching and his/her prior experience teaching Arabic at the university level, curriculum vitae, graduate transcripts, statement of teaching philosophy, and formal student evaluations. All documents should be uploaded as a single PDF. The three required recommendation letters should be requested through our system at http://jobs.fsu.edu.

Inquiries regarding this position should be directed to Dr. Zeina Schlenoff at zschlenoff@fsu.edu

FSU is an Equal Opportunity/Access/Affirmative Action/Pro Disabled & Veteran Employer.  FSU’s Equal Opportunity Statement can be viewed at: http://www.hr.fsu.edu/PDF/Publications/diversity/EEO_Statement.PDF

 

 

 

2. The Beinecke Rare Books Library at Yale University offers a number of visiting fellowships. Details can be found here: http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/fellowships.

 

 

3. Workshop: “Rulers as Authors in the Islamic World. Knowledge, Authority and Legitimacy”, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University Hamburg, 18-19 December 2017

The workshop is organized by Sonja Brentjes (Max Planck Gesellschaft, Berlin), Maribel Fierro (ILC-CSIC, Madrid), Tilman Seidensticker (CSMC, Hamburg).

Information on the programme: http://www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de/cal-details/2017_12_18%20CMSC%20WS%20Rulers%20as%20Authors%20Programme.pdf

 

4. Assistant or Associate Professorship in the Study of Religion (Focus on Islam), Aarhus University, Denmark

Qualification: Knowledge of formative, classical or medieval Islam; Knowledge of contemporary and lived Islam and of modern Arab and Islamic societies and their history and culture; The ability to work in Quranic and classical Arabic as well as Modern Standard Arabic.

Deadline for application: 3 October 2017. Information: http://mideast.unc.edu/aarhus-university-assistant-or-associate-professorship-in-the-study-of-religion/

 

5. Two PhD Students with a Focus on “Middle Eastern and North African Studies” and with a Focus on “Turkish Studies”, Stockholm University

The positions will be associated with the department’s aim to become a research hub dedicated to Middle Eastern and North African Studies as well as to Turkish Studies. All proposals are welcome which fall within the range of our expertise.

Deadline for application: 16 October 2017. Information: http://www.su.se/english/about/working-at-su/jobs?rmlang=UK&rmpage=job&rmjob=3878

 

6. Three Post-Doc Positions in the Project “The Origin and Early Development of Philosophy in Tenth-Century al-Andalus: The Impact of Ill-Defined Materials and Channels of Transmission”, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium

The positions of three years each (to start from 2 January 2018) are offered in relation with the following sub-projects: 1) the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’, 2) Ibn Waḥshiyya and the Nabatean Corpus; 3) Ibn Masarra. Qualifications: PhD in Islamic Studies, in Middle Eastern Studies, or related fields; excellent command of Classical Arabic (ancient Greek, Latin and in particular Hebrew is considered an advantage); etc.

Deadline for application: 10 November 2017. Information: http://calenda.org/416228

 

7. Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

We encourage applicants whose specializations relate to early and classical Islam up to the early Ottoman era (strong preference for research proficiency in Persian and/or Ottoman Turkish). Applicants should have a PhD on hand by June 2018.

Deadline for application: 15 October 2017. Information: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/apply/JPF03055

 

8. Open-Rank, Tenure-Track Professor of Islamic Studies, Bucknell University, Pennsylvania

The ideal candidate will be an expert in Islam as a global religious tradition, with interdisciplinary research that highlights trans-regional or trans-national connections between the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, or beyond. Ph.D. in Religious Studies/Islamic Studies is required by start date.

Deadline for application: 1 October 2017. Information: http://jobs.bucknell.edu/cw/en-us/job/493822/openrank-tenuretrack-professor-of-islamic-studies  

 

9. Assistant Professor of Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, Queens College, the City University of New York (CUNY)

A Ph.D. degree in Arabic literature, Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic Studies or comparative literature is required. Also required is native or near-native competency in Arabic and English.

Information: http://www.qc.cuny.edu/Academics/Degrees/DAH/CMAL/Documents/Arabic_Advertisement.pdf
 

 

10. Junior Research Fellow 2018-2020 at the Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University, MA

This two-year fellowship is offered to outstanding scholars of Middle East politics, economics, history, religion, anthropology, or sociology. The fellowship is targeted at junior scholars with PhD in hand and not yet tenured.

Deadline for application: 31 October 2017. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/9758
 

 

11. Associate or Full Professor in the Sociocultural Anthropology of the Middle East, Brown University, Rhode Island

We are looking for a scholar whose work addresses on one or more of the focal areas: security (studies of violence, war, policing, military policy, and borders), development (inequality, gender, humanitarianism, ethical dimensions of intervention), and governance (ethnographic study of states, transnational governance, civil society, policy, social movements, NGOs, human rights).

Deadline for application: 15 October 2017. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/43477

 

12. Assistant or Associate Professor of Israel/Palestine Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder

Qualification: PhD in History or a related discipline such as Jewish Studies or Middle Eastern Studies; Proficiency with Hebrew and Arabic.

Deadline for application: 16 October 2017. Information: https://cu.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=10192
 

13. Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies (tenure-track), Emory University, GA

Qualifications:  PhD in Arabic Studies or related field; native or near native proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic as well as fluency in one or more dialects; documented excellence in teaching Arabic language, literature, and culture at the undergraduate level.

Deadline for application: 27 October 2017. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/43881
 

 

14. New Survey: “Research in Arabic-speaking Countries: Funding Competitions, International Collaboration, and Career Incentives”

Bruce Currie-Alder, Rigas Arvanitis and Sari Hanafi analysed the expansion of research funding in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Qatar. Published: 8 September 2017.

See article at: https://academic.oup.com/spp/article/doi/10.1093/scipol/scx048/4107903/Research-in-Arabicspeaking-countries-Funding

 

15. Call for Papers

Representing Religion

Boston College Biennial Conference on the History of Religion
March 23-24, 2018

From illuminated manuscripts to Buddhist stupas to the Pope’s twitter account, the representation of religion has taken many forms over time. Further, the question of who represents religion — lay people or priests, men or women, believers or non-believers — has been a central debate. This conference seeks to explore the varied formats, means, and meanings behind how religion is represented in art, culture, the media, and practice. By exploring themes ranging from authority and politics to pedagogy, reception and format, this conference will examine the history of religious representation in public and private spheres from the medieval to the modern period.

We are particularly interested in paper or panel proposals from the field of public history. How is religion represented through museums, monuments, and historic sites? How have authors or directors crafted their representations of religion in popular books or movies? How do different religions represent their own histories, through their digital presence?

We welcome proposals for individual papers and full panels, from both established scholars and graduate students in all academic disciplines, on topics that consider the representations of religion throughout history. We hope to include papers that explore these questions in Christian and non-Christian contexts alike, and encompass a wide geographic scope. Suggested themes for papers include, but are not limited to,

-Secular representations of religion

-Religious art and architecture

-Visual and written interpretations of other religions

-Public history and pedagogy

-Material culture

-Race and religion

-Gender and sexuality

-Politics and the public sphere

-Religious and secular media

-Religious practice and ritual

Individual paper proposals should include a 300-word proposal, paper title, and a one-page CV. Panel proposals for two to three presenters should include a 250-word panel abstract (including panel title), a 300-word proposal for each individual paper (including paper title), and a one-page CV for each presenter.

The deadline for submission is November 15, 2017.

Please submit your proposals to the conference committee at bchistoryofreligion@gmail.com. Further conference details including a schedule, registration form, and travel information will be available at a later date.

 

 

 

1.The department of Religion at Colgate University invites applications for a tenure-stream position in Islamic Studies at the rank of Assistant Professor, beginning fall semester 2018. Ph.D. degree is expected prior to or shortly after the start date. Candidates with expertise in Islam in any period or region are encouraged to apply.  Familiarity with the wider discipline of Religious Studies and issues in the Study of Religion is desirable.

All Colgate University faculty are also expected to maintain an active research agenda and participate in all-University programs, which include the Liberal Arts Core Curriculum. Many faculty also serve in off-campus study and interdisciplinary programs, such as Middle East and Islamic Studies, Asian Studies, Africana and Latin American Studies, Film and Media Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, LGBTQ Studies, Women’s Studies, among others.  An annual five-course teaching assignment may include an introductory course in Religion and a course in the Core Curriculum.

A cover letter, CV, three current reference letters, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and a writing sample must be submitted through: http://academicjobsonline.org/.

Preliminary interviews will be held at the American Academy of Religion / Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting in Boston, November 18-21, 2017, or via remote technologies, as needed.

Colgate strives to be a community supportive of diverse perspectives and identities. Candidates should describe in their cover letter how their teaching and scholarship might support the university’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.  Review of applications will begin on October 1, 2017, and continue until the position is filled. Applicants with dual-career considerations can find postings of other employment opportunities at Colgate and at other institutions of higher education in upstate New York at http://www.upstatenyherc.org .

Colgate is a highly selective liberal arts university with an ambitious study-abroad program. It comprises 2900 students and is situated in rural New York state. Colgate faculty are committed to excellence in both teaching and scholarship. Further information about the Religion department can be found at http://www.colgate.edu/.

 

 

 

2. After a hiatus of more than 10 years, The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum is pleased to announce the relaunch of the Textile Museum Journal. Returning November 7, 2017, the journal’s publication is made possible by generous support from the Markarian Foundation.

Learn more at  http://museum.gwu.edu/tmjournal

 

Table of Contents
The Textile Museum Journal, Volume 44

Toward a Grammar of Textiles: A Reconsideration of Medieval Textile Aesthetics and the Impact of Modern Collecting
Arielle Winnik

Nomad Textile Bags from Central Asia in the 19th and 20th Centuries: Geographic Distribution, Decoration, Semantics
Irina Bogoslovskaya

Through the Renaissance Frame: Carpets and the Beginnings of ‘Islamic Art’ in Nineteenth-Century Vienna and Berlin
Denise-Marie Teece

Pope Innocent VIII’s Mamluk Carpets from Cairo in Context: Their Manufacture and Acquisition
Rosamond E. Mack

Rethinking Mamluk Carpet Origins
Gerald Pollio

Book Reviews

Tentage at the Calico Museum and its Patterns, by Peter Alford Andrews and Mugul Andrews
Mattiebelle Gittinger

Imprints of Culture, by Eiluned Edwards
Sarah Fee

Pattern and Loom, by John Becker
Ruth Barnes

Textiles of the Banjara, by Charllotte Kwon and Tim McLaughlin
Cristin McKnight Sethi

 

 

 

3. Bibliography Among the Disciplines, a four-day international conference to be held in Philadelphia from 12 to 15 October 2017, will bring together scholarly professionals who are poised to address current problems pertaining to the study of textual artifacts that cross scholarly, pedagogical, professional, and curatorial domains. The conference will explore theories and methods common to the object-oriented disciplines, such as anthropology and archaeology, but new to bibliography. The Bibliography Among the Disciplines program, supported by Rare Book School and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, aims to promote focused cross-disciplinary exchange and future scholarly collaborations. The project will culminate in 2019 with a volume of essays contributed by conference participants. Both the conference and subsequent volume will seek to build on the ongoing series of symposia conducted by Rare Book School’s Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship of Scholars in Critical Bibliography, established in 2012 through funding from the Foundation.
Among the panels is this plenary session featuring François Déroche and Anthony Grafton:

Historicizing Critical Bibliography

Friday, 13 October, 8:30–10:00 a.m.

Anthony Grafton (Princeton University)
“Bio-Bibliography in Early Modern Europe: Towards a History of Practice”

François Deroche (Chair in the History of the Qur’an, Text and Transmission, Collège de France)
“From One Giant to Another: Bio-Bibliographical Practice in the Islamic World (10th–17th Centuries)”

Session Organizers: Vera Keller (University of Oregon), Yael Rice (Amherst College)

For more information, including registration details and the full conference schedule: http://rarebookschool.org/bibliography-conference-2017/

 

4. Comparative Persianate Aesthetics Symposium

Boston University
September 28-29, 2017

154 Bay State Road, Second Floor Ellis Room
Free and open to the public

Middle Eastern and South Asian studies in the last decade have been energized by the idea of the “Persianate” cultural realm in which the Persian language and courtly conduct (adab) played a central role in societies from the Balkans to Bengal, giving rise to a transnational Muslim cosmopolitanism. This intellectual framework has enabled scholars to examine modes of cultural exchange between powerful polities such as Ottoman Turkey, Safavid Iran and Mughal India, as well as with Europe. Gift-giving between the different courts resulted in a unprecedented movement of objects in this cultural region. Until today important paintings and manuscripts of literary and historical works are preserved in far-flung libraries from Sarajevo to Patna as scholars retrace their early modern itineraries.

Our symposium will focus on the changing relationship that literary and historical texts and paintings had to Persian cosmopolitan models in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries, and how they themselves became starting points for distinctive traditions that drew inspiration from local and regionally-specific cultural practices, including the non-courtly. We will also examine the ways in which vernacular production in turn transformed Persian culture. We will approach this topic through a variety of conceptual frameworks: translation, imitation, hybridity, and innovation, across various humanistic disciplines. Individual papers will discuss textual genres such as epic and love lyrics, images in illustrated manuscripts and albums, practices and performances, in their cultural contexts, but also comparatively.

Program

Thursday, September 28, 2017 (4-5 pm)

KEYNOTE:
Poetics of Influence: Diverse Origins and Diverging Paths of Persianate Cosmopolises / Selim Kuru (University of Washington)

 

Friday, September 29, 2017

 

Panel 1 (9:30-10:30 am)
Persianate Royal Biographies in Verse / Sunil Sharma (Boston University)

Heroic Verse and History-Writing in the Deccan: Nusrati Responses to the Shahnamah / Subah Dayal (Tulane University)

Coffee break (10:30-10:45 am)

 

Panel 2 (10:45 am-1 pm)
Safavid Shahrashub: Literary Form and City Experience in Seventeenth-century Isfahan / Farshid Emami (Oberlin College)

The Persianate in Paris: Mughal Manuscript Culture and French Knowledge Production in the Eighteenth Century / Chanchal Dadlani (Wake Forest University)

Branding Iran: Persian Art and Culture in the Age of Global Early Modernity / Kishwar Rizvi (Yale University)

Lunch (1-2:15 pm)

Panel 3 (2:15-3:15 pm)
‘Calligraphers Renowned in the Lands of Rum and Ajam’: Ottoman nastaliq in the Seventeenth Century / Emine Fetvaci (Boston University)

Two Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Sakinames in Persian / Sooyong Kim (Koc University)

Panel 4 (3:30-4:30 pm)
The Persian Sources of Mem û Zîn the First Kurdish Love masnavi / Amr Ahmed (Harvard University)

Dastan literature in late Mughal Bengal: Shah Garibullah’s Dobhashi Amir Hamjar puthi / Thibaut d’Hubert (University of Chicago)

 

 

 

5. The Institute of Ismaili Studies cordially invites you to attend the lecture Pluralism and Perennialism: A Historical Investigation of Two Key Concepts​

By: Professor Mark Sedgwick, Arab and Islamic Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark.

Date: Thursday, 15th June
At:  16:00 (GMT)

To attend the event or view the live webcast, please ensure you                   pre-register by clicking on : http://iis.ac.uk/events/pluralism-and-perennialism-historical-investigation-two-key-concepts

For further information, email: nshariff@iis.ac.uk

 

Pluralism and Perennialism: A Historical Investigation of Two Key Concepts

Approaches to the plurality of religions vary from exclusivist monism to all-inclusive universalism.

Mark Sedgwick will examine these approaches from a historical perspective. He will discuss perennialism, an approach that in the West has its origins in the Renaissance concept of the prisca theologia, an ancient universal revelation.

Sedgwick will follow the development of perennialism alongside other approaches such as Deism and Pantheism during the Enlightenment, through the nineteenth-century, to the modern perennialism of René Guénon and Aldous Huxley and thence into contemporary Traditonalism, in and beyond Islam.

He will close with a comparison between these forms of perennialism and contemporary universalism.​

 

 

 

6. A team is coming together to translate and edit an Ottoman sourcebook of readings in Ottoman History.

We have our editors set, but there are specialized texts that we would welcome the help of contributors with, with no commitment needed to the more extensive responsibilities of editorship. Those able to fluently translate texts bearing upon Ottoman history from less-commonly used languages among Ottomanists, such as Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, Armenian, the Balkan languages, Georgian, Farsi, and Russian are particularly sought after. The general chronological division of the work is likely to be 1300-1520, 1520-1699, 1699-1837, and 1837-1923.

Those interested in joining the team should contact matthew.lubin@email.unc.edu or ldarling@email.arizona.edu by December 1.

 

 

 

7. The Department of History at Stony Brook University invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor of late antique or medieval history.  Our search encompasses all fields and areas of medieval European, Mediterranean, and/or Near Eastern history, ca. 200 – 1400 CE.

Position starts August 2018.

Preferred qualifications: ability to teach a range of undergraduate lectures and seminars in late antique and/or medieval history, as well as contribute to one or more of our graduate program thematic clusters (Global connections, empire, capitalism; Health, science, environment; Race, citizenship, migration; Religion, gender, cultural identity; States, nations, political cultures). We also welcome interdisciplinary candidates whose historical work addresses social, cultural, economic, and/or political processes; who engage with material and/or visual cultures; and/or who can participate in Stony Brook’s Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations.  Required Qualifications: Ph.D. (in hand or expected by August 2018) in late antique or medieval history, medieval studies, or related field.

Application Procedure: Interested individuals should apply through Academic Jobs Online: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/9802.

A complete application consists of the following:
1) cover letter,
2) curriculum vitae,
3) teaching statement,
4) research statement,
5) three letters of reference, and
6) a completed State employment application form.

Inquiries may be directed to Prof. Sara Lipton (sara.lipton@stonybrook.edu)

To receive consideration, applications must be received no later than December 1, 2017.

Sara Lipton
Professor of History
State University of New York at Stony Brook
Stony Brook, NY 11794-4348

 

 

 

8. Starting from 2016, Koç University Vehbi Koç Ankara Studies Research Center and the Skilliter Centre for Ottoman Studies, Newnham College, University of Cambridge agreed to start a joint three year project on the Socio-Economic History of Anatolia in the Ottoman Period.

The Project consists of three symposiums on three themes,  Disease and Disaster (both man-made and natural disasters), Trade and Production and Social Life. The first symposium was held at Newnham College, University of Cambridge on 18-19 March 2016. The second symposium, Trade and Production in Ottoman Anatolia will be held on September 28-29, 2017 at the premises of VEKAM in Ankara Turkey.

We are pleased to announce the sympoisum and believe that it will contribute to new research on Ottoman Studies.

PROGRAM <<

for detailed information please see https://vekam.ku.edu.tr

 

 

 

9. University of Alabama – Tuscaloosa – Associate/Full Professor, Middle
Eastern Culture and Islamic Religious Studies
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=55533

Connecticut College – Assistant Professor, Continuing Part-time,
Mughal India and the Islamic World
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=55536

American University – Beirut – Assistant/Associate Professor of Media Studies – Arab Media Studies
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=55432

University of California – San Diego – Assistant Professor: Early Modern Mediterranean and the World
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=55454

 

 

10. The School for Advanced Research Seeks Nominations for the Linda S. Cordell Prize for Outstanding Books in the Field of Archaeology

This award recognizes innovative books in archaeology or anthropological archaeology that best exemplify excellence in writing, significantly advance archaeological method, theory, or interpretation, and inform other subfields of anthropology or related disciplines.The research approach may be grounded in archaeology or another field where archaeological data, method, and theory are brought to bear on a broader anthropological problem.

Past awardees are Dr. Julia A. Hendon for her book, Houses in a Landscape: Memory and Everyday LIfe in Mesoamerica; and Dr. Scott G. Ortman for his book, Winds from the North: Tewa Origin and Historical Archaeology.

Deadline for the 2019 prize is January 15, 2018

Go to sarweb.org for more information on this program, including eligibility criteria and nomination guidelines.

 

 

 

11. The Margaret B. Ševčenko Prize in Islamic Visual Culture

Submission deadline: December 15, 2017
The Historians of Islamic Art Association (HIAA) is pleased to invite submissions for the 2018 Margaret B. Ševčenko Prize for the best unpublished article written by a junior scholar (pre-dissertation to three years after the Ph.D. degree) on any aspect of Islamic visual culture. Awarded annually by HIAA, this prize is named in memory of Margaret Bentley Ševčenko, the first and long‐serving Managing Editor of Muqarnas, a journal devoted to the visual culture of the Islamic world and sponsored by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and at MIT. Papers should not exceed 7000 words in length and can be accompanied by 15 low-res illustrations maximum.

The competition is open to HIAA members only. As well as receiving an award of $500, the recipient of the prize will be announced at HIAA’s next business meeting in 2018. The winning essay will also be considered for publication by the Muqarnas Editorial Board.

Submission must include the paper in both Word and PDF format, and a separate sheet with the author’s contact information (address, telephone number, and email address). A letter of recommendation for the paper should be sent separately by the author’s adviser or referee.

All materials (under 5 Mb) should be submitted by email to mercedes.volait@inha.fr by December 15, 2017. Files exceeding 5 Mb should be transfered by FTP.
 

 

The Second Workshop – Edinburgh, 19-21 May, 2017

THE ROLE AND DEPICTION OF IRANIAN/PERSIANATE SUBALTERNS FROM THE 13TH CENTURY TO THE MODERN PERIOD A multi-year research project funded by the British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS). The second of four workshops – on subalterns across the entire Persianate world in the Safavid and Afsharid periods (1501-1747) – was held at the University of Edinburgh, UK, on 19-21 May, 2017.

Before the Printed Word: Texts, Scribes and Transmission | The Institute of Ismaili Studies

Ismaili historiography has often lamented the destruction of renowned libraries developed under the Fatimids in Egypt (10th-12th centuries) and the Nizaris of Alamut times (11th-13th centuries). In many ways, this loss represented the eclipse of an important chapter in Muslim history that had witnessed the flourishing of learning and intellectual exchange across different societies.

Merits of the Bāṭiniyya : Al-Ghazālī’s Appropriation of Ismaʿili Cosmology | Journal of Islamic Studies | Oxford Academic

This paper discusses the question of an Ismaʿili influence within the cosmology of al-Ghazālī and argues that al-Ghazālī appropriated certain features of the Ismaʿili cosmology from the Persian Ismaʿili thought of Nāṣir-i Khusraw (d. ca. 481/1088).

1.BRAIS 2018 CfP

The call for papers for BRAIS 2018 is now online.  The conference will be hosted by the University of Exeter, UK; the deadline for abstracts is midnight (UK time) on Sunday 3^rd December.

Following BRAIS’s successful conferences in Edinburgh (April 2014), London (April 2015 and April 2016) and Chester (April 2017), the organisers invite proposals for whole panels or individual papers for the Fifth Annual Conference of BRAIS. Islamic Studies is broadly understood to include both Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority contexts as well as historical, textual, and contemporary anthropological and sociological approaches.

Pre-arranged panels are particularly welcome on themes within the subject area, such as:

• Qur’anic studies
• Sociology of Islam
• Law
• Muslims in Britain/Europe/North America and other minority contexts
• History, Medieval and Modern
• History of Science
• Philosophy and Theology
• Muslims in Africa and Asia
• Intellectual History
• Islamic Art and Architecture
• Diversity within Islam
• Economics and Finance
• Education
• Gender Studies
• Islam in the Media
• Interreligious Relations

Individual proposals will also be considered, and, if accepted, will then be grouped with similar submissions by the conference organisers.

See: http://www.brais.ac.uk/conferences/brais-conference-2018

 

 

 

2. The Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Cultures at Barnard College, Columbia University, seeks a full-time tenure-track teacher and scholar for the Moinian Professorship in Pre-modern Middle Eastern Cultures and Civilizations, starting July 1, 2018. Preference for candidates with a strong record of teaching and research and a mastery of the languages relevant to their specialization. Candidates should demonstrate a broad interest in the history, cultures, and/or literatures of the Middle East and related regions; discipline and geographic area of specialization are open. Teaching responsibilities will include undergraduate general education courses such as “Middle Eastern Civilizations” and “Asian Humanities: Colloquium on Major Texts of South Asia and the Middle East,” as well as more specialized undergraduate and graduate courses. The successful candidate will be responsible for helping to build a Program in Middle Eastern Studies at Barnard, and for coordinating with the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies, Columbia University. Ph.D. required.

Application, including a curriculum vitae, a writing sample, and the contact information for three references, to be sent directly to: http://careers.barnard.edu/postings/3023.

Review of applications will begin on October 1, 2017, and continue until the position is filled.

Barnard is an independent college of liberal arts and sciences for women that is affiliated with Columbia University. Barnard College is an Equal Opportunity Employer and is actively committed to creating a diverse and inclusive community. We especially encourage women and candidates from diverse backgrounds to apply.

 

 

 

3. Call for Abstracts for a seminar on humor in the Middle East and North African Modernities to be held on March 29 until April 1, 2018 at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA.

Scholars interested in participating in this seminar are invited to submit their 250-word
abstracts via the ACLA portal, which will open Sept. 1 and close Sept. 23, 2017. Please
contact Mostafa Abedinifard for questions, comments, and your proposal ideas:
m_abedinifard@yahoo.com

 

 

 

4. Iran Heritage Foundation’s programme of grants for the year 2018 session is now open

Applications are accepted for both categories of Academic and Contemporary Arts

Deadline for receipt of applications is October 31, 2017

See further: http://www.iranheritage.org/grants.html

 

 

 

5. The Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Colorado Boulder invites applications for a tenure-track appointment as Assistant Professor of Modern Arabic Literatures and Cultures to begin August 2018. Candidates should have a PhD in Arabic literature or a related field, as well as a minimum of one year of research experience in one or more of the following areas: Arabic fiction, drama/theatre, film, poetry. Research expertise may have been obtained during doctoral studies. ABD candidates will be considered. However, if the PhD degree is not conferred by August 20, 2018, the candidate will be appointed initially as an Instructor. Job duties include teaching courses in Arabic literature and culture to undergraduate and graduate students, as well as service to the university.

Applicants must apply online at www.cu.edu/cu-careers, job number 10162 to create and complete the online application. Please include a letter of application, current CV, writing sample, and copies of syllabi of courses taught or proposed. You will receive a confidential email requesting contact information for three references.

Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2017 and will continue until the position is filled. The University of Colorado is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. The appointment will be contingent upon the satisfactory completion of a criminal background check as required by the University.

 

 

 

6. The History Department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville invites applications for a tenure-track position field in the History of Medicine or Science with a non-US focus. Faculty in the Department of Historical Studies teach three courses per semester. The Department emphasizes innovation in our undergraduate courses by highlighting historical thinking skills including primary source analysis in history “labs,” applied historical methods, interdisciplinary courses, and opportunities to collaborate with professional schools. Teaching responsibilities in the 3/3 load include introductory survey courses in World History or Western Civilization, service courses for majors on historical research or careers in history, and upper-level, including graduate, courses in the candidate’s field of expertise and broader non-US teaching fields. The candidate is also encouraged to teach interdisciplinary courses with faculty in CAS as well as with our professional schools, such as Nursing, Pharmacy, and Engineering. Faculty who can foster collaborative interdisciplinary research and apply for external funding are highly desirable.

Additionally, the Department offers an MA degree and a PhD in History through our cooperative doctoral program with Southern Illinois University Carbondale, as well as a post-baccalaureate certificate in museum studies. The History Department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville is a dedicated group of teacher-scholars who value both teaching and research excellence.

Minimum Qualifications
A Ph.D. in History or closely related discipline is required at the time of employment beginning in August 2018. Persons who have not completed all degree requirements by the beginning of the contract period (ABD) may be considered for a one-year term appointment at the rank of instructor until the degree is completed. College-level teaching experience and grant-writing experience is preferred.

See:  http://www.siue.edu/employment/employmentopportunities/cas/FY18-030.shtml.

 

 

7. Conference: “Orientalism, Neo-Orientalism and Post-Orientalism in African, Middle East, Latin and Central American, Asian/Chinese Studies”, Center for Global Studies, Shanghai University, 17-18 May 2018

On the occasion of the 15th Anniversary of Memory of Edward Said (1935-2003) and 40th Anniversary of His Book (1978).

Deadline for abstracts: 29 February 2017. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/22055/discussions/229960/cfp-orientalism-neo-orientalism-and-post-orientalism-african

 

 

 

8. Senior Lectureship or Readership in Arabic, University of St. Andrews, Scotland

The position will start 1 January 2018. Applicants should possess native or near-native language skills in Arabic and English and will be expected to demonstrate the ability to attract grant funding and lead high quality externally funded research projects.

Deadline for application: 21 September 2017. Information: Catherine Cobham arabhod@st-andrews.ac.uk

 

 

 

9. Tenure-Track Position in History of the Modern Muslim World/Middle East (post-1500), University of St. Thomas, Minnesota

Position begins in Fall 2018. We are looking for a scholar-teacher who is committed to excellence in undergraduate teaching and who can demonstrate scholarly productivity and promise for ongoing research in their field. Ph.D. in History or a related field required or alternatively, ABD candidates will be considered.  All applicants must have demonstrable skills necessary for excellence in teaching.

Deadline for application: 16 October 2017. Information: www.Click2apply.net/txx7sr4dht7tz2tc

 

 

 

10. Faculty Position in World Literature (Focus Middle East), Fashion Institute of Technology, New York

This is a full-time, tenure-track position beginning in Fall 2018. Candidates will have a PhD in English, Literature, or Comparative Literature with a regional specialization including, but not limited to African, Caribbean, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Oceanic, or South/South East Asian literary traditions by the date of appointment.

Information: https://fitnyc.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp;jsessionid=EC4CACE8BFACA3E8D1316CE39B945AE9;jsessionid=CFB3F9BDEC5EF77FAF56F68C6A93362C?JOBID=87689

 

 

 

11. Open Rank Faculty Position in Anthropology of Islam and Muslim Societies, Stanford University

The successful candidate will be appointed in the Anthropology Department and is also expected to contribute to the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies’ curricular and outreach efforts.

Deadline for application: 3 November 2017. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/9609

 

12. Zahedi Family Fellowship, Stanford University

This is a twelve-week residential fellowship focusing on the new Zahedi Archive. The fellowship is open to scholars working on the modern history of Iran, particularly the period of 1941 to 1979. Preference will be given to scholars who have worked on aspects of modern Iranian foreign policy, history, and culture. Fluency in Persian is required.

Deadline for application: 20 October 2017. Information: http://web.stanford.edu/~rparhad/zahedifellowship.fb

 

At least 50 die in twin attacks in Iraq

At least 50 people have been killed in two attacks in southern Iraq, health officials say. In the first attack, a suicide bomber detonated his vest and gunmen opened fire inside a roadside restaurant near Nasiriya, the capital of Dhiqar province, security sources said. Soon afterwards, a car bomb exploded at a nearby checkpoint.

See also alJazeera
See also Washington Post

Saudi Arabia on brink of flare up as HRC chief blasts Bahrain VOB.ORG

The situation in Saudi Arabia is deteriorating sharply due to the ill-conceived policies of the ruling Al Saud family. In the past week, the regime arrested scores of prominent figures including religious scholars who had supported the regime in the past. They include Salman AlAwdah and Aa’edh Al Qarni.