Archive for 2017

 

1.The Sixth International Conference on Contemporary Philosophy of Religion

Subject Matter:

Comparative Philosophy of Religion: Basics and Issues

Basics:

– Nature of Comparative Philosophy of Religion

– Possibility of Comparative Philosophy of Religion

– Methodology of Comparative Philosophy of Religion

– Presuppositions of Comparative Philosophy of Religion

– Type of Religion and its Influence on Issues of Philosophy of Religion

– Definition of Religion in Different Philosophies of Religion

Issues:

– Concept of God/Ultimate Reality/the Holy

– Arguments of the Existence of God/Ultimate Reality/the Holy

– Religious Experience and Revelation

– the Afterlife (Immortality)

– The Problem of Evil

– Reason and Faith

– Relationship between God and Nature (Universe)

– Language of Religion (Religious Language)

Time: 6-7 February 2018

Venue: Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Conference website: http://philorconf.org/

Submissions:
Proposals of papers should consist of a title, a 250-300 word abstract, at least 3 keywords, and the author’s affiliation.

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 21 November 2017

Notes!

– Please submit proposals (in both MS Word and PDF formats) to philorconf@gmail.com 

– To register please go to the Registration tab on the left menu.

– In order to get information about conference’s Academic Board, Accommodation, Visa Application Procedure etc. please refer to the correspondent tabs on the left menu.

– Please direct your enquiries to the following email address: philorconf@gmail.com

 

 

2. CFP: Medievalists Without Borders: Cooperative Projects on Popular Culture in Islamic and Christian Lands

International Congress on Medieval Studies

Kalamazoo, MI

May 10-13, 2018

This session came about when we the organizers discovered that we each work on very similar topics in medieval popular culture, one of us primarily in Arabic and one of us primarily in Latin. We seek to build a roundtable at Kalamazoo as a kind of collaborator matchmaking site, finding scholars working on popular culture east and west who could benefit from knowing one another, and asking these pairs to present the results of their collaboration at the conference.

In so doing, we aim to break down some of the artificial barriers between the popular cultures of different civilizations during the European medieval period. Despite the artificial disciplinary boundaries within which we commonly work, these societies were actually quite mobile and intertwined, and their folklore and popular culture shows a great deal of overlap and influence. Our title, “Medievalists Without Borders,” is a gesture toward this breaking down of walls and barriers between scholars, an act we find especially needful at a time when we are witnessing an intensification of disciplinary borders, of disparities between tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty, and of cultural isolationism.

We propose to set up a coterie of collaborations between scholars working primarily in Latin or in the vernacular languages of “Western” Europe and scholars working in Arabic, Persian, or other languages of North Africa and the Middle East, all in the field of popular culture. We will accept proposals both from pairs of scholars who wish to use this as a forum to collaborate and from individual scholars whom we will match with other applicants. The session is open to literary, artistic, historical, folkloric, and musical forms of non-elite production. Because the elite / non-elite divide of “popular culture” has been challenged, we also welcome proposals for work which pushes at this boundary. We are especially seeking inclusivity in our group of participants: not only do we wish to encourage proposals from scholars at all stages and from all types of academic careers, but also from scholars who are marginalized or who work on marginalized populations.

We will accept proposals in two forms:

A joint proposal from two scholars, no longer than 300 words, suggesting a collaboration, or

A request to be paired with a like-minded scholar, consisting of a CV and/or short bio, and a brief description of your interest in popular culture.

Please send materials to Amanda Steinberg (ahsteinberg@gwu.edu) and Kaitlin Heller (kbheller@syr.edu) no later than Sept. 1, 2017. Proposals should be accompanied by the Participant Information Form, available at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions.

 

 

 

3. Media Transitions and Cultural Debates in Arab Societies:
Transhistorical Perspectives on the Impact of Communication Technologies

International Conference of the Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA)

Tunis, 24-26 November 2017

Call for Papers

In the last decades, the Arab world has witnessed the emergence and broad diffusion of ʻnewʼ media, most prominently the Internet. The opportunities provided by these new communication technologies have not only inspired and empowered a new generation of youth for political dissent, but have also fostered the emergence of new modes of cultural expression, literary styles and genres as well as new layers of readers and writers.

Digital media, however, is not the first ‘new media’ to appear in the Arab world. The adoption of Internet technologies in recent times could be compared to the transition from oral to script culture that took place in the 9^th century, the spread of print technologies after several centuries of a flourishing manuscript culture in the 19^th century, or the emergence of audio-visual media (radio, TV, photograpy, film) in the 20^th century. The transhistorical perspective has proven useful in the field of media studies in general, but requires further exploration with specifics to the Arab region.

With regard to different media at different historical moments (9^th-21^st century), the conference aims at exploring how the emergence and diffusion of ‘new media’ or communication technologies in Arab societies have affected the (conditions of) literary and cultural production, distribution, and reception and how cultural debates are shaped by the use of different media.

Organizers: Barbara Winckler (University of Muenster), Teresa Pepe (University of Oslo), Carola Richter (Freie Universitaet Berlin), and Bilal Orfali (American University of Beirut).

Speakers will be requested to give a 15 minutes paper presentation, followed by a 15 minutes discussion. Travel and accommodation expenses of invited speakers will be fully covered by AGYA.

Please submit an abstract of 250 words and a short CV to mediatransitions@agya.info by 31 August 2017. Do not hesitate to contact us for general inquiries.

For further information, see the complete Call for Papers: http://agya.info/upcoming-events/?tx_calendarize_calendar%5Bindex%5D=8&cHash=2abf1299651b0f6fd885b4c17f1ddcae

 

 

 

4. The Al-Hikmah Institute of Al-Mustafa International University Organizes Conference on Islam in Europe.

7 February 2018        Al-Mustafa International University, Qom, Iran.

The areas of interest include:  

Potentials of Islam and Muslims to Interact with Europe

• Potentials of Religious and Cultural Centers in Europe to Promote Positive Interaction
• Impacts of Islam and Muslims on Europe
• Contributions of Muslim Emigrants in European Countries
• Potentials of Islamic Teachings for the Establishment of Peace and Security in Europe
• Morality and Spirituality in Islam and its Role in Positive Interaction with Europe

Europe’s Potentials in Interacting with Islam and Muslims

• Islamic Studies in Europe; History and Pathology; the Role of Academic Studies in Understanding Islam and Muslims.
• Admission of Muslim Immigrants into Europe; Opportunities and Challenges
• Minorities’ Rights in Europe and its Impact on Peaceful Coexistence of Muslims and non-Muslims
• The Role Scientific and Technological Advances in Europe in Constructive Interaction Between Islamic World and European Countries

Prospects and Challenges in the Relation between Islam and Europe

• Racism and HostilityToward Muslim Minorities in Europe
• Limitations of Islamic lifestyle in Europe
• Extremism; The Common Threat of Islamic and European countries
• The Role of Islamic leaders in controlling the Radical Extremists.
• The Return of Terrorists to Europe; a Challenge for security.

Islamophobia in Europe

• European Media and Portrayal of Islam and Muslims
• The Role of Takfiri Movements in Creating Negative Image of Muslims
• The Role and Position of Islamic Centers in Europe in Making Peace and Reducing Extremism.
• The Role of Academic and Cultural Centers of Islamic and European Societies in Creating a Positive Approach oward Both Sides.

For more information and registration, please visit:

http://alhikmah.miu.ac.ir/en/index.php/conference/

For any question regarding the event, send E-mail to conference@alhikmah.miu.ac.ir or Mor.Maddahi@gmail.com

 

 

 

5. Conference: “Makkah and the Hejaz in Emerging Pan-Islamic Thought: Imperial-era South-South Networks, Migration, and Evolving Scholarly Demographics, 1800-2000”, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, Riyad, 5-6 December 2017

The conference will focus on: Scholarly Networks in the Ottoman Hejaz on the Eve of European Imperialism (1500-1800); Imperial Hajj, Exiled Ulema, and Emerging Muslim Internationalism; Merchants, Minorities & Muhājirūn; Identity Politics & The Holy Cities in the 20th-21st Centuries, Between Religious Establishments & Religious Oppositions.

Deadline for abstracts: 17 September 2017. Information: http://www.facebook.com/research.kfcris/photos/pb.178104892527405.-2207520000.1493213561./447714255566466/?type=3

 

 

6. BRISMES Conference “New Approaches to Studying the Middle East”, King’s College London, 25-26 June 2018

The organizers encourage proposals that take up the theme in original ways, exploring not only new approaches, but bringing different new approaches into dialogue with each other, including across disciplines and across regions. In addition, proposals on any topic related to Middle Eastern Studies are invited, regardless of their fit with the conference’s main theme.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 December 2017. Information: http://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference/call-for-papers/

 

7. Two-year Post Doctoral Fellowship in the Social Sciences, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, Massachusetts

Applications are invited from outstanding scholars at the start of their careers whose work combines disciplinary excellence in the social sciences (including law) with a command of the language, history, or culture of non-Western countries or regions.

Deadline for application: 1 October 2017. Information: https://academy.wcfia.harvard.edu/programs/academy_scholar

 

8. Associate or Full Professor in Modern Iranian Studies, Princeton University

Research expertise and teaching interests may concern any aspect of modern Iran, from the 19th century to the present; we particularly welcome applications from historians and social scientists.

Deadline for application: 15 November 2017. Information: https://puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/apply/application.xhtml?listingId=2781

 

9. Assistant Professor, Modern Middle East and/or Modern Africa, Gonzaga University, Washington

We seek a teacher-scholar of the Modern Middle East and/or Modern Africa (1800 to present) with experience teaching History of World Civilization II. Qualifications: Ph.D. in History, with specialty in the Modern Middle East or Modern Africa.

Deadline for application: 16 October 2017. Information: https://gonzaga.peopleadmin.com/postings/10685

 

10. Assistant Professor in Ottoman History, University of Pennsylvania

We welcome a range of scholarship in Ottoman history, including transnational and imperial perspectives as well as approaches that address the political, ethnic, and religious diversity of the Ottoman world. Specialists from any period in Ottoman history may apply.

Deadline for application: 15 September 2017. Information: https://facultysearches.provost.upenn.edu/postings/1146

 

11. Persian Literary Studies Journal(PLSJ), a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary periodical designed to comparatively explore literary, artistic and cultural issues, is seeking book reviewers to write essays about the publications it receives.

We also kindly invite publishers to send their publications of interest to the PLSJ office at Farideh Pourgiv, Dept. of Foreign Languages & Linguistics, Eram Campus, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran.

For inquiries about titles, our stylesheet and preferred format please contact the book review editor at < massihzekavat@gmail.com > and < zekavat@yazd.ac.ir >. Also, please visit us at <http://plsj.shirazu.ac.ir/ >.

 

Africa Federation

Africa Federation Archives – Haji Fazul Cassam Chenai – The Early Settlers of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri in Madagascar Haji Fazul Cassam Chenai was born in Surat, India on 15th July 1877. Since his…

Saudi Arabia: Security Forces Seal Off Eastern Town

(Beirut) – Saudi security forces have surrounded and sealed off the predominantly Shia town of Awamiya in July 2017 as they confronted an armed group hiding in a historic neighborhood slated for demolition, Human Rights Watch said today.

The Evolution of Khojā identity in South Asia – A literature review | Parpia | Interdisziplinäre Zeitschrift für Südasienforschung

The Evolution of Khojā identity in South Asia – A literature review

العوامية: “كُثبان الوهابية” تجتاح السور

بعد 90 يوماً من الحصار، اجتاحت القوات السعودية حيّ المسوّرة التاريخي في العوامية لتسوّيه في الأرض. التشفي والانتقام كانا حاضرين في الهجوم الهمجي الذي ذهب ضحيته أكثر من 30 مواطناً “يقدَّر عمر بناء المسوّرة بأكثر من ثلاثة قرون، أما بيوتها فيراوح عددها من 160 إلى 180 بيتاً، جميعها مبنية بالطين والحجارة، وتتميز بتلاصقها الشديد، وبتصميماتها المراعية لظروف المناخ والبيئة، وبطراز معمارها العربي الأصيل، الذي يتمثّل في مجموعة العقود والنقوش والزخارف والأقواس الإسلامية التي تزين أفنيتها وجدرانها الداخلية.

Saudi Arabia: 14 Shia at Risk of Imminent Execution

Fourteen members of the Saudi Shia community are at imminent risk of execution after Saudi Arabia’s Supreme Court in mid-July 2017 upheld their death sentences from an unfair trial for protest-related crimes, Human Rights Watch said today. Courts convicted the 14 based on confessions they had repudiated in court, saying that they were coerced.

See denunciations of local Shia by governor of Eastern Province.

Buddha or Yūdhāsaf?

Images of the Hidden Imām in al-Ṣadūq’s Kamāl al-dīn Introduction This paper presents a study of one of the earliest Twelver Shi’i works on the occultation of the Twelfth Imām, Kamāl al-dīn wa-tamām al-niʿmah (“The Perfection of Religion and the Completion of Blessing,” hereafter Kamāl al-dīn) by Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad b.

Video Exposes Saudi Special Forces’ Sectarian Doctrine

August 8, 2017 By IGA staff Washington – A video of Saudi Special Forces have exposed the western trained and equipped forces’ sectarian doctrine. The video taken today by a Saudi solider inside the besieged Shia city of Awamya showed him hurling secretin insults at Shia inhabitants and their faith inside a bombed out historical Shia mosque.

1.Announcement of Open Panels for the Fifth World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES-5) in Seville, Spain, 16-17 July 2018

If you want to organize a panel without having the compulsory 4 paper presenters or if you want to invite other potential paper presenters, please submit your proposal to the WOCMES-Secretariat: mailto:wocmes@tresculturas.org.

The proposal should contain the title of the open panel and an abstract of up to 500 words, the name, affiliation and email address of the panel organizer, and the deadline for the submission of paper abstracts to the panel organizer.

The Secretariat will post all the information received at http://wocmes2018seville.org/web/index.php/en/call-for-open-panels so that institutions and/or individuals can contact the panel advertiser.

Further information on WOCMES-5 see http://wocmes2018seville.org/web/index.php/en/
 

 

2. Jobs:

Tenure-Track Professor in Modern Middle East History, Harvard University
The emphasis should be on the Arab world from the late Ottoman to the contemporary era. The appointment is expected to begin on July 1, 2018.
Deadline for application: 15 October 2017. Information: http://academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/7724
 

Assistant Professor, Islamic World History, Lehigh University

The Department of History and the Center for Global Islamic Studies at Lehigh University welcome applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor with expertise in a particular region of the Islamic World combined with broad training in the history of Islam’s transnational, cross-cultural, and global dimensions. This position carries a 2/2 teaching load of graduate (M.A. and PhD in History) and undergraduate courses. Candidates should be capable of teaching introductory level courses in both Islamic World history and a survey of Global History. Thematic research fields are open, with a preference for any of the following: Gender, Intellectual and Cultural Life, Imperialism, Globalization, Religion, Science, Environmental, or Health and Medicine. Fluency in relevant research languages, PhD by August 2018, and evidence of scholarly accomplishment or potential are required.

To apply, please upload letter of application, vita, three letters of recommendation and a writing sample to Academic Jobs Online (https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo). All applications must be complete by October 10, 2017, for full consideration. Questions about the position should be directed to Prof. John Savage (savage@lehigh.edu), Chair, History of Islamic World Search Committee. We are planning on conducting Skype interviews in November and scheduling campus visits in January and early February 2018.

The College of Arts and Sciences at Lehigh is especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the academic community. Lehigh University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

Lehigh University is located on a scenic, 1,600-acre campus in historic Bethlehem Pennsylvania, about one and a half hours from downtown New York City and Philadelphia. The Lehigh Valley is an attractive place to live and work with a reasonable cost of living and abundant cultural activities.

Lehigh University offers excellent benefits including domestic partner benefits. More information about policies and benefits for Faculty at Lehigh can be found at: http://www.lehigh.edu/~inprv/faculty/worklifebalance.html 

History Department: https://history.cas2.lehigh.edu/ 

Center for Global Islamic Studies: https://cgis.cas2.lehigh.edu/

 

 

 

3. Articles on “Creative Dissent: Culture and Politics of Transformation in the Arab World” for Special Issue for the “International Journal of Cultural Studies”

The issue is co-edited by Eid Mohamed, Waleed F. Mahdi, and Hamid Dabashi. The purpose of this issue is to conceptualize new cultural modes of expression, if any, and their function in the process of social change. It should highlight the importance of creativity in both informing and echoing the public search for autonomy, agency, and self-representation since 2011.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2017. Information: http://www.dohainstitute.edu.qa/EN/Research/FR/RP/TCI/Publications/Pages/Call-for-Papers.aspx
 

 

4. New issue of open access Mizan journal now online: “The Evolution and Uses of the Stories of the Prophets”

The new issue of Mizan: Journal for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations has just been published and is now online. The thematic issue, “The Evolution and Uses of the Stories of the Prophets,” represents a selection of revised papers from our 2015 conference in Naples on qisas al-anbiya’.

http://www.mizanproject.org/journal-issue/the-evolution-and-uses-of-the-stories-of-the-prophets/

Mizan is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal published under a Creative Commons license and supported by the generosity of ILEX Foundation. The journal features an integrated annotation functionality and we encourage readers to engage our authors through this medium (using this functionality requires a quick registration process in order to prevent spamming of the site so we can maintain a civil, professional, troll-free environment).

We are currently accepting proposals for short features to be published on the Mizan Project and Mizan Pop sites, as well as proposals for future thematic issues of the journal. Interested parties are encouraged to contact me directly at mpregill@bu.edu.

Thank you,

Michael Pregill

Interlocutor

Institute for the Study of Muslim Societies and Civilizations

Boston University

 

 

 

5. The Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Groningen, seeks to appoint an anthropologist or a scholar from a closely related discipline with expertise in the field of Contemporary Islam (0.8 fte) for a period of 5 years.

The candidate should have a competence in the fields of Islam in relation to migration and identity also with regard to the MENA region in order to be able to teach courses on these themes. Language of instruction is English.

Beside these teaching related competences the faculty is looking for a scholar whose research lies preferably in the field of contemporary Islam in Asia so as to contribute to the Centre for the Study of Religion and Culture in Asia of the faculty. See http://www.rug.nl/research/centre-for-religious-studies/centre-religion-culture-asia/

Early career scholars are explicitly encouraged to apply. For more information, see:
http://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview?details=00347-02S0005NUP&cat=wp

 

 

6. Historians of Islamic Art Association: Grabar Travel Grant

This competition is open to graduate students (doctoral candidates) who have been invited or accepted as participants in a scholarly conference or other professional meeting for the purpose of presenting papers, chairing sessions or moderating discussions. The maximum amount of the award is $700 US. Applicants must be HIAA members in good standing at the time of application.

*The August 1 2017 deadline has been extended to September 15 2017.*

Notification will be sent within six weeks of the application deadline. Grabar Travel Grants must be used within 12 months of the award date.

Applications must be submitted in English and include:
1. Application cover sheet, available at http://bit.ly/2hkyDCO
2. A cover letter explaining the applicant’s purpose in participating in the conference, the expected benefits of participation, and an itemized travel budget
3. Curriculum vitae
4. Letter of acceptance from the conference/session organizer(s).
5. Letter of recommendation from the applicant’s primary supervisor
6. Abstract of the paper to be presented.

All materials should be submitted by email to the HIAA Secretary, sec.hiaa@gmail.com

Membership status will be verified by the HIAA Secretary, as necessary. Applicants from outside the United States are responsible for meeting the requirements for and obtaining any visas necessary for visits to or residence and research in the United States. Upon request, HIAA will supply documentation of the grant and/or fellowship award, the dates of the award, and financial support.

The Grabar Travel grant is offered twice each year, usually with deadlines of August 1 and December 15.

 

 

 

7. CALL FOR PAPERS
Special Issue: Boundaries, Flows, and the Construction of Muslim Selves through Architecture
Thematic volume planned for June 2019
Proposal submission deadline: October 30, 2017
This special issue of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture takes as its starting point how a new sense of ‘boundary’ emerged from the post-nineteenth-century dissolution of large, heterogeneous empires into a mosaic of nation-states in the Islamic world. This new sense of ‘boundary’ has not only determined the ways in which we imagine and construct the idea of modern citizenship, but also redefines relationships between the nation, citizenship, cities and architecture. Whereas political debates today question the compatibility of Islam with the concept of the nation-state, the construction of the twentieth-century Islamic world was embroiled in debates around the nature of the modern state itself. Such debates oscillated between Islam as a political ideology and Islam as a personal belief system. These debates were often troubled by novel uses of ‘boundary’ in both physical and conceptual forms linked to the phenomenon of the nation-state. These boundaries were further challenged by flows of persons, materials, and ideas that destabilized the political configuration of the nation-state itself.
Hence, in this special issue of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture we invite papers that bring critical perspectives to our understanding of the interrelation between the accumulated flows and the evolving concepts of boundary in predominantly Muslim societies, and within the global Muslim diaspora. This special issue seeks to investigate how architecture mediates the creation and deployment of boundaries and boundedness that have been devised to define, enable, obstruct, accumulate and/or control flows able to disrupt bounded territories or identities. More generally, it proposes to explore how architecture might be considered as a means to understand the relationship between flows and boundaries.
Questions of nationhood and boundary-making critically define the modern era. This is particularly true for global Muslim communities. Nation-building efforts have gone through phases of creativity and disillusionment ranging from the Israel-Palestine question, the creation and fragmentation of Pakistan as a spatiotemporal utopia, the Islamic revolution in Iran, to the post-oil prosperity in the Gulf countries, the repercussions of 9/11, the disenchantment of the Arab Spring, and the rise of South East Asian countries as global powerhouses. The plausible image of an ideal Islamic society vis-à-vis the nation-state has shifted along with these major transformations, and an incongruity between ideals and realities has informed resulting spatial expressions as well.

This special issue seeks to explore alternative definitions of bounded identities, facilitating new approaches to spatial and architectural forms. ‘Boundary’ can be ‘hard’, such as the geopolitical boundaries regulated by states. These boundaries often result in conflicts over the ownership of territory and geological resources or even over history, authenticity, and the nature of the past. Yet boundaries can also be ‘soft’ such as those demarcated by religious, cultural, and linguistic differences among different Muslim factions, or associations of a Muslim population within a predominantly non-Muslim society or vice-versa. Through the transition from empires to nation-states, ‘boundary’ has acquired new ideological meanings in response to questions about Muslim selves and citizenship.
The concept of boundary is further intricately entangled with the concept of flows. In the era of global flows of information, commodities, resources and people, boundaries work together with flows as two corresponding factors in constructing the spatial experience of Islamic societies. Several issues nevertheless complicate the relationship between boundaries and flows. For instance, Muslim diasporic movements, through voluntary migration seeking a better life elsewhere or forced displacement due to war, genocide or climate change, challenge our normative view of Islamic architecture outside of the normative Islamic world. The Muslim diaspora creates its own niches that confront and conform to complex global flows of socio-cultural dynamics, ranging from hate crimes and political resentments to a global awareness of diversity and minority.
Against this context of global flows, several phenomena prompt us to rethink the relationship between architecture, urban planning and boundaries. For instance, the transnational flows of heterogeneous Islamic groups as radical as the Taliban and as moderate as Tablighi Jamaat problematize notions of national ‘hard’ boundaries. Or, while the contemporary media presents the international networks of madrasas and mosques as nothing more than a breeding ground of Islamic radicalism, other roles that these spaces play in serving as transnational nodes in an expanding spatial network remain largely unexplored. This special issue seeks to explore how architecture and urban discourses can shed light on these new forms of identity politics and resulting internal dissonances within Muslim and global communities. How, for example, could an architectural imagination bring a critical perspective to the idea of jihad, notions of the umma, and potentials for a pan-Muslim society?
These questions also disrupt typical approaches to architectural history. The architectural forms of twentieth- and twenty-first-century nation building is often narrated through the pivotal forces of the Cold War, Bretton Woods financial policy, the emergence of development studies, and contested theories of modernization, Islamization, and postcoloniality. Within such a context, the global flows of ideas, money and technical expertise took place through intergovernmental agencies such as the United Nations, the European Union, Commonwealth and Muslim League, and the economic and political interest of funding agencies such as the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, European Development Fund and USAID. These contested groups of international stakeholders aimed at creating local technical experts and cultivated architects as development agents. The constituent forces of boundaries and flows eventually materialized to disrupt these forces, as architectural and urban projects ranging from small-scale community development schemes such as low-cost housing and rural development programs to large-scale modernization efforts such as the establishment of nuclear research centers.
Gradually, the flows of architectural philosophies regarding the meaning of Islamic architecture in contemporary time created their own sphere of intellectual debate within Islamic societies. Views were exchanged through symposia, professional meetings, architectural magazines and manifestoes. In addition to Euro-American pedagogical and professional establishments, a parallel educational infrastructure – the madrasa – also enabled formidable transnational flows of knowledge and people across the Islamic world.
The focus of the contributions to this special issue of IJIA should follow these variant forms of disruptive flows and address the question of how architecture – defined broadly – creates nuanced definitions of Muslim selves. With an objective to better understand how, in the age of global capital, architecture mediates the forces that constitute flows and boundaries, the contributions should address architecture not only as the byproduct of socio-political forces, but also as the active promulgator of those forces.
Themes that might be addressed include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. How might architecture be used to explore the ways in which the diverse formation of nationalism within Islamicate worlds cater to trans-local exchanges of ideas, ideologies, and human migration across geopolitical borders? Historically, how were different experiences of partition (i.e. in the Indian subcontinent or the Middle East) and nation-building efforts informed by architectural developments and urban planning?
   2. Who are the agents of the exchanges of architectural knowledge and expertise? How are the international flows of ideas, money and expertise defined in competition and collaboration between local and international professionals? In the global context, how do practicing architects tackle the challenges of boundaries? Questions to address include refugee housing or strategies for negotiating cultural identities of immigrant populations in a ‘foreign’ land.
   3. How could the architecture of the Muslim diaspora be used as a means to better understand Islamicate societies in the contemporary world? How is architecture located at the junction of the experience of war, genocide, migration, and partition? What might the architectural expression of a migrant Muslim community tell us about the politics of construction and destruction of the Muslim self?
   4. How do flows of discourse and expert knowledge navigate between institutions (universities, NGOs, intergovernmental agencies etc.) within and beyond Islamic countries? What is the role of architecture in that process? How do these flows work at the intersection of the training of ‘local’ experts in international institutions and thus contribute to the discourse on ‘modern Islamic architecture’?

Essays that focus on historical and theoretical analysis (DiT papers) should be a minimum of 6,000 words but no more than 8,000 words, and essays on design and practice (DiP papers) can range from 3,000 to 4,000 words. Contributions from practitioners are welcome and should bear in mind the critical framework of the journal. Contributions from practitioners and scholars of art history, anthropology, diaspora studies, sociology, and geography and building construction are particularly welcome.
Please send a 400-word abstract with essay title to the guest editor, Farhan Karim, University of Kansas (fskarim@ku.edu ), by October 30, 2017. Those whose proposals are accepted will be contacted soon thereafter and requested to submit full papers to the journal by May 15, 2018. All papers will undergo full peer review.

For author instructions regarding paper guidelines, please consult: www.intellectbooks.com/ijia

 

 

UK and the Gulf:

Security, political and moral impasse

To mark the Independence Day

Bahrain Opposition Bloc in UK Cordially invites you to a

Seminar and Press briefing

Time: 11.00 Monday 14th August 2017

Place: Diskus Room, UNITE, the Union, 128 Theobalds Road, London WC1X 8TN

Speakers

Andy Murray (Unite)

Ben Petlar (Reprieve)

Jawad Fairooz (Salaam & Former Bahraini MP)

Isla Woodcock (Civil rights activist)

Megha Ramesh (BIRD)

Dr Saeed Shehabi (BFM)

In mid August 1971 British forces were withdrawn from the Gulf region after decades of unchallenged control. Several Sheikhdoms, including Bahrain, gained their “independence”. The British legacy in those new entities has been marred by dictatorship, bleak record of human rights and abandonment of basic values and principles of modern statehood.

The Bahraini people still live the terrifying nightmare of that brutal legacy. Isn’t it time for UK to change its policy in the Gulf, embrace democracy and human rights and end the destructive policy of appeasements of dictators?

Topics

Andrew Murray will discuss the UK’s relationship with Bahrain ​and the Gulf​ and its impacts on human rights​ and political challenges​

Ben Pitler will address the controversial role the UK’s assistance to Bahrain has played in these events​, including public order training​ and the country’s first executions in six years in January

Jawad Fairooz will speak about his direct experiences as a former MP and member of the opposition, and the current political crisis facing Bahrain.

Isla Woodcock will discuss her experiences protesting at the Royal Windsor Horse Show and discuss the controversial royal relationship that event exposed.

Megha Ramesh will discuss the reprisals against women in Bahrain and the unprecedented risks they face from authorities willing to employ torture and sexual violence to suppress women voices.

Saeed Shehabi will present a historical overview of Bahrain’s politics and the UK’s involvement and provide an insight into the roots of the current political and human rights crisis in Bahrain.

For more information please contact Ali Al Fayez on 07965666644