Archive for June, 2019
Shii News – ‘La Preuve de Dieu (Amir-Moezzi)’ wins Prize
Dossier de presse –
Le Prix 2019 d’histoire des religions de la Fondation ” Les amis de Pierre-Antoine Bernheim ” sera décerné le 21 juin par l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres à M. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi pour son ouvrage pour son ouvrage intitulé : La preuve de Dieu. La mystique shi’ite à travers l’œuvre de Kulaynî.
- June 27, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – The Khoja in Dar Es Salaam
Dar es Salaam – Khoja Wiki
Prof Brown’s study of the Arab and German records establish that by 1866 there were not less than 40 Khojas in Mzizima, the tiny fishing village destined to came Dar es salaam.
- June 27, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – International Day in Support of Victims of Torture
On the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, ADHRB Calls for an End to Impunity for Abusers in the GCC – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
26 June 2019 – Today, on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) highlights victims of torture in the Gulf and calls on countries to halt this abusive practice, investigate all allegations of torture, and hold perpetrators accountable. In …
- June 26, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Lawforms Workshop 2019: “Manuals, Stylebooks, and Formularies for Persianate Legal Documents”, Exeter, 8-10 July 2019
This is a project team-centred event, but we have space for a few more people; if you can read Persian, and would like to read manuals for fun, do get in touch!
Information: https://lawforms.hypotheses.org/499
2. 26th International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO) combined with the Conference of the Section for Islam Studies of the Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (DMG), Hamburg, 3-5 October 2019
The deadline for abstracts of papers and panels has been extended until 30 June 2019. Please send your abstracts to the Secretary General of the Congress, amke.dietert@googlemail.com. Further information: https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/en/voror/veranstaltungen/2019-davokongress.html
3. Doctoral Workshop in Late- and Post-Ottoman Studies: “Values and Status Negotiation: Media in the Middle East and North Africa”, University of Basel, 18-19 October 2019
In this workshop, students will engage with understandings of the media in the Middle East from the perspective of the role media plays in society, and the position it commands in relation to power. We seek applicants whose work sets out to discover how these are understood, rationalized, exercised, negotiated and found appropriate and useful within different social milieux.
Deadline for applications: 2 August 2019. Information: https://nahoststudien.philhist.unibas.ch/fileadmin/user_upload/nahoststudien/CfA_MUBIT_2019_Media_in_the_Middle_East_and_North_Africa.pdf
4. 24th Conference of the Comité International des Études Pré-Ottomanes et Ottomanes, Thessaloniki, 23-27 June 2020
The aim is to provide a platform of a high scholarly level, which will promote the knowledge and sustain the memory of Ottoman history. The organizers encourage panels and individual papers that fall under the following topics: the Ottoman Empire in the Age of Revolutions; Sources: New interpretations and approaches; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 October 2019. Information:https://www.univie.ac.at/ciepo/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/CIEPO24_1st_Circular.pdf
5. Fourth European Convention on Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies (“Turkologentag”), Mainz, 16-18 September 2020
We are inviting proposals for papers in the domains of language, literature, history, culture, society, politics, and philology of the Turks and the Turkic peoples. Conference languages are English, German, and Turkish.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 April 2020. Information: http://www.turkologentag-2020.de/Call_for_Papers.html
6. Associate Professorship (Full-Time, Tenure-Track) in Middle Eastern Studies, University of Groningen, The Netherlands
We are looking for candidates with expertise in a range of Middle East related fields, preferably: Politics in the contemporary Middle East; Cultural & literary aspects of the Middle East; The Arab world in relation to Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and/or the Gulf region.
Deadline for applications: 27 June 2019. Information: https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S00073ZP
7. Senior Research Fellow, MENA Peace and Security Program, Emirates Diplomatic Academy, Abu Dhabi
The EDA is recruiting a Senior Research Fellow, with particular expertise in humanitarian aid and development in the MENA region as well as interest and/or experience in stabilisation and post conflict reconstruction. PhD is required.
Deadline for applications: 31 July 2019. For information: victor.gervais@eda.ac.ae
8. Faculty Positions in the Human Rights Graduate Program, Doha Institute
Successful candidates will have a doctorate in Law or Political Science and will be able to teach one or more of the following subjects: Introduction to Human Rights, Public International Law, Human Rights and Islamic Law, Human Rights in the Arab World, Critical Approaches to Human Rights, and Comparative Constitutional Law, and must have the ability to teach in Arabic. The appointment is scheduled for August 2020.
Review of applications will continue until the position is filled.
Information: https://www.dohainstitute.edu.qa/EN/Careers/Pages/Apply.aspx?JobId=DIAC_2019_047
9. Richard Gillespie Mediterranean Prize of the Journal “Mediterranean Politics” for the Best Research Article on the Contemporary Social and Political Dynamics of the Mediterranean Region
We welcome contributions on politics and international relations as well as economics, human geography, sociology, anthropology and other relevant disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.
Deadline for submissions: 31 December 2019. Information: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/journal-prize-richard-gillespie-mediterranean-prize/
10. Grants for Research in Byzantine, Ottoman, Atatürk and Republican-Era Studies, Istanbul Research Institute
- 1 Post-Doctoral Research and Writing Grant (TRY40.000)
- 1 Research and Write-Up Grant for PhD Candidates (TRY30.000)
- 5 Travel Grants (TRY5.000)
- 5 Conference Grants (TRY5.000)
Deadline for applications: 11 August 2019. Information: https://en.iae.org.tr/Content/Grants/128
11. Summer School on “Politics, Islam and Government in Iran”, Regional Studies Committee of Iranian Political Science Association (IPSA), Tehran, 27 July – 7 August 2019
The school is planning to explore Islam, politics and government in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The focus of the courses is to portray and analyze the political power structure as well as the influence of religion on the Islamic Republic ideology.
Deadline for registration: 7 July 2019.
Information: http://www.ipsa.ir/content/2/%D9%85%D8%AD%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D8%AB%D8%A7%D8%A8%D8%AA/13763/Summer-school
12. Summer Course: “Islamicate Digital Humanities for Scholars in Manuscript Studies”, University of Hamburg, 14-18 August 2019
This course is for graduate students and researchers who work with manuscript materials in Arabic script and want to learn how to apply digital technology in their research. It includes both theoretical and practical sessions on digital encoding and editing of manuscript texts, data annotation, search and visualization.
Deadline for applications: 24 June 2019.
Information: https://www.cobhuni.uni-hamburg.de/en/news-and-events/summerschool19.html
13. Third Annual Graduate Student Book Review Colloquium on Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, 11 October 2019
The Colloquium invites advanced graduate students in the social sciences and humanities to submit reviews on noteworthy books published between 2017-2019 in the field of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies.
Deadline for submissions: 1 July 2019.
14. Articles for the First Issue of the Journal “Modern Islamic Studies” on “Islam and/or Tradition? Traditional Islam and Islamic Traditions in the Eastern Europe”
Taken in a broad geographical sense, we are seeking for the papers addressing history and modernity of Muslims in the area from Balkans and Crimea on the South, Baltia on the North and Caucausus on the East, where indigenous Muslim popullation and traditions are represented.
Deadline for full papers: 15 November 2019. Information: https://journals.oa.edu.ua/Islamic/
15. Articles for “Zeitschrift für Recht & Islam / Journal of Law & Islam”
The peer reviewed Journal covers theoretical legal debate as well as the practical application of both secular and Islamic laws. It considers the historical development as well as the interaction of “secular” and Islamic laws in different contexts, and covers key phenomena affecting academic discourse, legislation and legal practice in the relevant states. Languages: German, English or French.
Information: http://zri.gair.de/index.php/en/; contact zri@gair.de
16. Articles on “The State of Islam amidst the Growth of the European Far-Right” for Special Issue of “Islamic Perspective Journal”
Papers are invited on: The state of Islam and Muslims in particular European countries; Critiques of anti-Muslim and anti-Islam ideologies; Critiques of specific anti-immigrant and anti-Islam thinkers as well as far-right political parties and nationalist movements; The effects of such far-right movements on Muslim women, children, and family life and on Muslims in the public sphere, civil society, and in government positions; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 August 2019. Contact Dustin J. Byrd, Ph.D. (dbyrd@olivetcollege.edu)
17. Articles for Journal “Contemporary Arab Affairs (CAA)”
The editors of this peer-reviewed journal published by the Centre for Arab Unity Studies and University of California Press, invite authors to submit original multidisciplinary articles on the Arab World (5,000-7,000 words) to the editor at caa@caus.org.lb.
Deadline for manuscripts: 31 December 2019. Information: http://caa.ucpress.edu/content/submit
18. Contributions to Edited Volume on “Islam and Humour”
Contributions are invited on humour in the lives of Muslims around the world; how Muslim comics use jokes to counteract oppression; how Muslim comics use humour as a tool for social integration into new communities; the role of humour in contemporary mass media in Muslim countries; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 August 2019. Information: Bernard Schweizer (Bernard.Schweizer@liu.edu)
19. Online Resource: “Embedding Conquest: Naturalising Muslim Rule in the Early Islamic Empire (600-1000)”, Leiden University
This blog of a research project focuses on how the Islamic conquests were consolidated in the diverse regions they reached. It is aimed at scholars and students and the interested public.
See https://emco.hcommons.org/2019/05/30/the-governors-orders-part-one/ and links to many other themes.
20. CFP: “Violence” Fall 2019 Mediterranean Seminar Workshop (4 & 5 October: Toronto)
Workshop paper proposals and round-table participants are being sought for the Mediterranean Seminar’s two-day Spring 2019 meeting on the subject of “Violence,” to be held at the University of Toronto on 4 & 5 October 2019.
The meeting is jointly sponsored by the the Malta Study Center at the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library and the Department of History, the Centre for Medieval Studies, the Centre for Jewish Studies, the Institute for Islamic Studies, the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and the Department of Art History at the University of Toronto.
As the principal site of contact and confrontation between Muslims, Christians, and Jews in the premodern world, the Mediterranean presents an ideal geography within which to explore various dimensions of interfaith violence: ideologies and practices of war, conquest and colonialism; conflict between confessional communities within Muslim and Christian states; piracy; slavery; the trauma resulting from such violence; and the memorialization of violence. The Mediterranean also lends itself to the comparative exploration of violence within Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities as a culturally specific form of social discourse, as expressed, for instance, in class conflict and social rebellion, feuds and vendettas, the violence related to gendered notions of honor and shame, and punishment and execution. Since modern (mis)understandings of premodern crusades and jihads, relations between ruling majorities and religious minorities, and the role of violence in gender relations continue to contribute to prejudice and violence throughout the world, the study of violence in the premodern Mediterranean is all too relevant.
Papers and round-table participants from history, art history, religious studies, literary and cultural studies, anthropology or any relevant Humanities and Social Sciences discipline are welcome.
Our Mediterranean is construed geographically as including southern Europe, the Near and Middle East and North Africa and into the Black Sea and Central Asia, and the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
All North American-based scholars (or foreign scholars who will be in the US at this time) working on relevant material are encouraged to apply. Scholars from further abroad may apply but we cannot pay full travel costs. ABD PhD students, junior and non-tenure track faculty are particularly welcome to apply.
For the workshop (to be held on Friday, 4 October), we invite abstracts of in-progress (unpublished) drafts of articles or book/dissertation chapters on any aspect of interfaith or intrafaith violence in the premodern Mediterranean and on literary and artistic representations of such violence. Papers with a comparative approach are particularly welcome.
The workshop will also feature a keynote presentation, “”‘Blood of God! Bowels of God!’: Violence and the Order of Malta”,” by Dr. Emanuel Buttigieg (University of Malta).
The second day, Saturday, 5 October, will feature three round-table conversations, focusing on the following questions:
1. What was the relationship between the practice of violence and its representations (textual, visual, or other) ? Did the rhetoric of violence correspond to its practice ?
2. How has violence shaped Mediterranean art, or popular or material culture, and in what sense can it be seen as legitimate or illegitimate through various medium and modes of expression?
3. How has gender in the Mediterranean defined and been defined by violence?
A separate call for non-presenting workshop and symposium attendees will go out in mid-August.
The deadline for workshop and round-table proposals is 15 July 2019.
Please submit an abstract (250-500 words) and two-page CV by this date to mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org (subject line: Fall 2019 Proposal).
- If you are applying to present at the workshop, please indicate this clearly; state the title of your paper and its nature (e.g. article, book chapter, dissertation chapter). Successful applicants are expected to submit a 35-page (maximum) double-spaced paper-in-progress for pre-circulation by 7 September.
- If you are applying to participate in a round-table, please indicate which round table(s) you are applying for. Round table participates will be required to submit a 3-5 page “position paper’ by 14 September
You may apply for both a workshop presentation and round-table discussion.
For further information, please consult www.mediterraneanseminar.org, or inquire at mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org
21. Naskhi-divani: a little-recognized sultanate script
The art of the book in sultanate India, particularly of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, is notable for its eclecticism. Because of the sultanates’ evolving political terrain, the search for a coherent narrative of manuscript patronage and production is a challenge. In comparison to painting, one relatively overlooked feature of sultanate books is calligraphy. Here, we examine a script found in sultanate manuscripts that scholars have started to call naskhī-dīvānī.
- June 25, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Bahrain’s Last Chance
Bahrain’s Rulers Last Chance to Save Their Country
AT THE height of Bahrain’s riots and protests in 2011 and 2012, some, including certain figures in the U.S. government, argued that Bahrain’s royal family had to give way to the protesters’ demands or be swept away by the tides of history. They were wrong.
- June 24, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Position in Islamic Studies
Harvard University’s Faculty of Divinity seeks to make a full-time, tenure track appointment in Islamic Studies. We are particularly interested in a candidate with scholarly expertise either in: Islam in the Americas, Islam in Southeast Asia, or Quranic Studies. The candidate should be competent in the appropriate research languages and conversant with the broader, global history of Islamic religion and culture.
This is a tenure track position. The successful candidate will work closely with students in the Divinity School’s masters programs and the doctoral program in the Study of Religion. It is likely they will also teach undergraduates in the Comparative Study of Religion and graduate students in related departments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. It is expected that this scholar will be in conversation with those in other programs and schools at Harvard critical to Islamic Studies. Openness to our growing program in ministry studies in Islam will be an advantage.
Applicants should also be able to contribute to the Divinity School’s degree programs, including its multi-religious Master of Divinity program, and be familiar with forms of analysis that address race, gender, and social location. The doctoral degree must be held by June 30, 2020.
Applications should be made online at: http://academicpositions.harvard.edu . A CV, cover letter, writing sample, and the names of three references whom the School may wish to contact will be required of all candidates. Review of applications will begin in September 2019 and continue until the position is filled. Selected candidates may be invited to initial interviews at the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, this coming November.
Letters of nomination are also welcome and should be sent to: Islamic Studies Search Committee, c/o Faculty Search Office, Harvard Divinity School, 45 Francis Avenue, Divinity Hall 417, Cambridge, MA, 02138, or to islamicsearch@hds.harvard.edu . Applicants should address any questions regarding the position itself or the online application system to the Office of Academic Affairs at islamicsearch@hds.harvard.edu .
2. Viola ALLEGRANZI, Aux sources de la poésie ghaznavide. Les inscriptions persanes de Ghazni (Afghanistan, XI-XIIe siècles, 2 vols., Paris: Presses de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2019. (ISBN: 978-2-87854-981-2)
Here in the link to PSN webpage with more information on the book (in French and in English): http://psn.univ-paris3.fr/ouvrage/aux-sources-de-la-poesie-ghaznavide-les-inscriptions-persanes-de-ghazni-afghanistan-xi-xiie-siecles#
3. CfP: CIWAS (The Centre for Islamic and West Asian Studies) Third Annual Conference
‘Urban Islam: Muslim Minorities, Identity and Tradition in West Asian, South Asian, and African Cities’
19 February, 2020
Royal Holloway,
University of London
Deadine for abstracts: 4 October, 2019.
Full details at:
http://ciwas.net/upcoming-events-2/
4. Mosques: The 100 Most Iconic Islamic Houses of Worship
Bernard O’Kane is Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture at the American University in Cairo, where he has been teaching since 1980.
He has also been a visiting professor at Harvard University and the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of Timurid Architecture in Khurasan (1987), Studies in Persian Art and Architecture (1995), Early Persian Painting: Kalila and Dimna Manuscripts of the Late Fourteenth Century (2003), The World of Islamic Art (2007), The Appearance of Persian on Islamic Art (2009), The Illustrated Guide to the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo (2012) and The Mosques of Egypt (2016).
https://www.assouline.com/products/mosque-ultimate
5. Materials and Technologies in the Age of Transition: The Byzantine, Sasanian and Islamic Near East
Wolfson College, University of Oxford, 10–11 July 2019
Organisers: Moujan Matin (moujan.matin@wolfson.ox.ac.uk) and Alain George (alain.george@orinst.ox.ac.uk)
For registration please visit: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/materials-and-technologies-in-the-age-of-transition-the-byz…
Between the late seventh century and the so-called Golden Age of Islam in the ninth to tenth centuries, the patronage of Islamic courts promoted the establishment of learned circles, observatories and semi-public libraries, the conduct of scientific research, and a translation movement from Greek and Sanskrit into Arabic. Various aspects of the transmission of knowledge in this period and the development of more abstract sciences of mathematics and astronomy, as well as medicine, have been discussed in the scholarly literature. However, very little is known about the development of materials technologies in this period, such as metalwork, ceramics, glass, manuscripts, textiles and cosmetics, that originated in the experimentation and hands-on knowledge of miners, smiths, scribes, potters and other craftsmen. Scientific analyses of archaeological materials in recent decades have produced a large body of scientific data on methods of production and technological links. Despite their crucial importance, these archaeological scientific projects tend to focus on only one type of material – e.g. metalwork, or pottery – and hence fail to provide a broader historical perspective on the development and spread of technologies and the cross-technology interactions. This symposium will provide a rare occasion to bring together historians and researchers engaged in scientific study of different materials, and to help transform their respective outlooks on the Byzantine-Islamic transition in different artistic media. This one-and-a-half-day symposium will be divided into six sessions:
6. 12th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age
November 21-23, 2019
Hooking Up
In partnership with the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS) at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries is pleased to announce the 12th Annual Lawrence J. Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age, Hooking Up.
The concept of linked open data is the holy grail of the digital humanities. Yet the problem of how to link information across platforms has existed since civilization began. As knowledge and learning expanded in pre-modern society, the problems associated with collecting, combining, and disseminating information inspired new approaches to and technologies for the material text. In the internet age, we continue to grapple with the same problems and issues. While technologies have changed, the questions remain the same.
This year’s symposium explores the connections between historic and current approaches to data linkage in regard to manuscripts and manuscript research. Hooking Up addresses the topic from a variety of angles and considers how the manuscript book operates as a vehicle for information retrieval and dissemination from the technology of the page and the textual apparatus of a book, to the library, and finally, the internet. We will also consider such questions as how medieval practices of memory shaped information retrieval and gathering, how did the technology of the manuscripts book—in all its many forms—facilitate or hinder information processing, how can medieval solutions inform modern technologies, and how do modern technologies illuminate medieval practices? The program will also feature sessions highlighting projects that are advancing linked data technologies for manuscript researchers, including the T-AP Digging Into Data Challenge project Mapping Manuscript Migrations.
The program will begin Thursday evening, November 21, 5:00 pm, at the Rare Book Department of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Parkway Central Library, with a keynote address by Professor Mary Carruthers, New York University, and All Souls College, Oxford University. The symposium will continue November 22nd-23rd at the Kislak Center of Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts at the University of Pennsylvania.
Other speakers include:
- Benjamin L. Albritton, Stanford Libraries
- Toby Burrows, e-Research Centre, Oxford University,
- Matthew Driscoll, University of Copenhagen
- Christoph Flüeler, University of Fribourg
- Katarzyna Anna Kapitan, University of Copenhagen
- Mikko Koho, Aalto University
- Megan C. McNamee, Warburg Institute
- Aylin Malcolm, University of Pennsylvania
- Sally Ragep, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University
- Helmut Reimitz, Princeton University
- Linda Safran, Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto
- Elly Truitt, Bryn Mawr College
- Kelly Tuttle, University of Pennsylvania Libraries
- Athanasios Velios, Ligatus, University of the Arts London
- Hanno Wijsman, Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes
- Jeffrey Witt, Loyola University Maryland
- Elizabeth Yale, University of Iowa
- Kıvılcım Yavuz, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas
For more information, go to http://www.library.upenn.edu/about/exhibits-events/ljs-symposium12. Registration opens in September 2019.
7. CFP: “Acts of Excommunication” in the Late Antique and Early Islamicate Middle East. March 12-13, 2020, Leiden University
As part of the ERC-funded project, “Embedding Conquest, Naturalising Muslim Rule (600-1000)”, at Leiden University, this conference aims to bring together both senior and junior scholars to present research which illuminates the dynamics implicit in the act of excommunication and associated practices: ostracism, anathema, and other forms of religio-social exclusion, among the major religious communities of the Islamicate world, 600-1200 CE: including various Christian and Jewish denominations, Sunni, Shiʿi, ‘Khārijī’ and other groups within Islam; Zoroastrians and other relevant groups.
The workshop will focus on “acts of excommunication”, meaning that its primary focus will be specific cases, whether real or imagined, which display the dynamics and implications of excommunicatory practices. The discussion of specifc (pseudo-) documents is particularly encouraged. While participants will be asked to focus on specific cases, they should show how these examples illuminate the larger frameworks within which their cases occurred.
Topics to be covered might include the following:
- Excommunicatory statements in contracts and oaths
- Excommunication as a tool in managing institutional hierarchies and hierocracies
- Maximal and minimalist excommunication
- Exclusions from ritual, social activities, trade, place and space
- Political rebels
- Overlapping or contested jurisdictions
- Enforcement issues
- Excommunication at centre and periphery
- Conversion and apostasy
Aims of the workshop
Scholars of Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism and Islam often study excommunication in separate silos, developing separate vocabularies and models. However, during the early Islamic period, these communities shared space and ideas. When compared, various contexts (theology, ritual, eschatology, social mores) indicate isomorphisms which suggest that different religious communities were as connected as they were divided.
Excommunication is a tool of coercion, and as such, it deserves to be studied in comparative context which might highlight the operation of intersecting power dynamics in society.
This workshop aims to move beyond the idea that acts of excommunication were purely the result of theological issues. Instead, this workshop aims to explore acts of excommunication as social and political as well as religious practice, with important implications for activities in local communities, but also for interactions with wider society and with governing authorities within the early Islamic empire.
While the theological, doctrinal and legal backdrop are important, an act of excommunication does not simply flow from the conceptual force of a doctrinal transgression, but rather the act is situated within a set of overlapping fields which may include economic, institutional, familial, political, ethnic, linguistic and generational aspects. These fields, in turn, contributed to how an act of excommunication came to be interpreted and positioned within evolving systems of law, theology and doctrine.
Format and logistics
The workshop will take place Thurs 12-Fri 13 March , 2020, Leiden University
The output of this workshop will be an open-access special issue on the topic of excommunication in and around the early Islamicate empire, to be published in Al-ʿUsur al-Wusta: The Journal of Middle East Medievalists ( http://islamichistorycommons.org/mem/al-usur-al-wusta/).
Contributions to this workshop will be understood to be works in progress, with final versions to be submitted for the special issue.
Please send an abstracts of around 300 words to e.p.hayes@hum.leidenuniv.nl by October 1st, 2019.
Pre-circulation of papers will not be necessary, but final versions of papers for publication will be requested by September 2020.
If you are unable to attend the workshop, but would be interested in submitting to the special issue, please indicate this.
Subsidies will be available for travel and accommodation.
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/research/research-projects/humanities/embedding-conquest#tab-1
- June 22, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Three Years of Detention
Three Years of Arbitrary Detention: ADHRB Commemorates the Anniversary of Nabeel Rajab’s Arrest and Calls for His Release – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
14 June 2019 – Yesterday marked three years since human rights defender Nabeel Rajab was arrested at his home on 13 June 2016 by Bahraini security forces, led by the Ministry of Interior’s notorious Cybercrime Unit in the General Directorate of Anti-Corruption, Economic, and Electronic Security (GDAEES). Nabeel Rajab has …
- June 20, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.37th Annual Symposium of the Association for the Study of Islam and Middle East Law (RIMO): “Informal Dispute Resolution and Islam”, Leiden, 4 July 2019
See program at http://www.verenigingrimo.nl/
2. International Conference: “Global Islamism 2019 – Phenomena, Interdependencies, Prevention”, Potsdam, 15-17 October 2019
The conference will feature discussions along the entire spectrum of transnational Islamism, from legalistic Islamism all the way to violent Jihadism. Besides providing a platform for analysing the phenomena as such, the conference will bring together experts from Germany and around the world to exchange notes on prevention strategies.
Deadline for registration: 27 September 2019. Information:
http://www.bpb.de/veranstaltungen/format/kongress-tagung/290378/glocal-islamism-2019
3. International Conference: “The Qur’an in its Milieu of Origin: Possibilities of the Historical Reconstruction of the Qur’anic Revelation”, Muenster, 8-10 November 2019
This conference is particularly dedicated to the context of the Qur’an in its milieu of origin. We are looking for contributions concerning the following questions: do we have enough authentic Islamic and non-Islamic historical sources to reconstruct the historical context of the Qur’anic revelation? Which sources, studies and academic researchers could be employed to contextualize the Qur’an historically? Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 July 2019. Information: https://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/md/content/zit/veranstaltungen/cfp_quran_conference2_2019.pdf
4. Humanities Multi-Year Research Fellowships for the Study of the Arab World, New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD)
While open to scholars working in all areas of the Humanities, the program aims in particular to build a center of outstanding research capacity in areas of the Humanities that are relevant for the study of the Arabic world. Eligible candidates for the senior fellowships have an outstanding scholarly accomplishment. Mid-career scholars with strong publication records and exceptional scholarly promise may be considered in this category. Eligible candidates for the research fellowships, which are intended especially for young scholars who wish to turn their doctoral dissertations into book manuscripts publishable with major academic presses, have received their PhD within the previous five years and have a strong record of scholarly accomplishment.
Deadline for applications: 1 September 2019.
Information: https://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/research/centers-labs-and-projects/humanities-research-fellowship-program.html
5. Islamic Studies Tenure Track Position, Harvard Divinity School
We are interested in a candidate with scholarly expertise either in: Islam in the Americas, Islam in Southeast Asia, or Quranic Studies. The candidate should be competent in the appropriate research languages and conversant with the broader, global history of Islamic religion and culture.
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2019. Information: http://academicpositions.harvard.edu
6. Cape Town Summer School: “Critical Muslim Studies (CMS): Decolonial Struggles and Liberation Theologies”, 8-15 January 2020
CMS is inspired by a need to open up a space for intellectually rigorous and socially committed explorations between decolonial thinking and studies of Muslims, Islam and the Islamicate. CMS does not regard Islam only as a religio-spiritual tradition, or a civilization, but also as a possibility for a decolonial epistemic perspective that suggests contributions and responses to the problems facing humankind today.
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2019. Information: https://criticalmuslimct.com/
7. Articles on “Contemporary Politics of the Middle-East and North-Africa” for Special Issue of the Journal “Societies”
Articles are invited that deal either with internal political considerations and the governmental systems of one of the countries in the region, or comparisons between different countries or focusing on the international relations of any of the countries.
Deadline for manuscripts: 30 September 2019. Information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/societies/special_issues/contemporary_politics_
8. Research and Publications on “Power and Institutions in Medieval Islam and Christendom”
This is a cooperative effort led by a team that consists of medievalists specialising in Western, Byzantine and Islamic history tackling a vital historical question: Why did the Christendom government and society develop certain processes of institutionalisation that did not characterise the Islamic world, considering that the early medieval situation might have suggested otherwise?
Information: http://pimic-itn.eu/what/
9. CfP: Colophons in Middle Eastern Manuscripts Workshop
Kiraz, George A.; Schmidtke, Sabine
Abstract:
The colophon, the ultimate or “crowing touch” paragraphs of a manuscript, provides readers with a the historical context in which the scribe produced the manuscript. At its basic essence, the colophon gives us the “metadata” of the manuscript: who was the scribe? When and where was the manuscript pro-duced? For whom was it produced and who paid for it? But colophons are far more rich. They are literary works on their own right, having a style and rhetoric independent of the main literary text of the manuscript. In addition, colophons provide historical facts otherwise lost to histories: wars, earthquakes, religious events, etc.
The aim of this workshop is to bring together scholars from various disciplines to study colophons in Middle Easter manuscripts in various languages, including, but not limited to, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopian,* Hebrew, Persian, and Syriac. Scholars interested in participating may send via email a proposal between 750 and 1,000 words. Pro-posals are to focus on the colophon (i.e. not a study of the main literary text of the manuscript). Com-parative analyses across traditions is encouraged but not required.
Submission deadline is January 15, 2020. Submissions are to be sent via email directly to George A. Kiraz at gkiraz@ias.edu.
Scholars are expected to fund their travel to/from and accommodation in Princeton. The Institute will provide meals and a conference celebratory dinner. Speakers will be invited to contribute to a collected volume on an agreed-upon theme.
https://albert.ias.edu/handle/20.500.12111/7776
10. BRAIS – DE GRUYTER PRIZE 2020
The Fifth Round of the BRAIS – De Gruyter Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is now open for submissions.
The British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS) and De Gruyter are delighted to announce the fifth round of the BRAIS – De Gruyter Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World. This international prize will be awarded annually to the best doctoral thesis or unpublished first monograph based on a doctoral thesis. English-language submissions on any aspect of the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world, past and present, including Muslim-minority societies are accepted. Applicants can be based in any country, and manuscripts will be assessed on the basis of scholarly quality and originality.
Documents must be submitted to prize@brais.ac.uk by 5.00 pm GMT, 1 October 2019.
For full details, see https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize
11. We are pleased to announce the upcoming international conference “There was one, there wasn’t one”: Modalities and challenges of the narrative in the Persianate world, in memory of our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Marina Gaillard (1955-2015), in Paris next week.
A prominent specialist of medieval Persian narrative, Marina Gaillard was a member of the “Mondes iranien et indien” CNRS research team and associate faculty member at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales (INALCO, Paris). Her work on prose narrative, and particularly on the modalities of the “semi-popular” romance in medieval Iran, constitutes a major contribution to our understanding of pre-modern Persian literature. Interrupted by her untimely death, her pioneering research continues to nourish and inspire much of our own work.
The conference will be held June 27-28, 2019 at the Auditorium du Pôle Langues et Civilisations (Inalco, Paris).
Attached, please find the conference program, with full description and abstracts.
The program is also available online from the CNRS research team “Mondes iranien et indien”: https://www.iran-inde.cnrs.fr/scientific-events/events-2019/there-was-one-there-wasn-t-one-modalities-and-challenges-of-the-narrative-in.html?lang=en
The event is free and open to the public. Please consider joining us if you are in Paris next week.
12. CALL FOR PAPERS
Global Technology in Local Contexts: Lithography in Asia
A two-day international workshop at the University of Chicago Center in Delhi
16–17 March 2020
Workshop conveners
Prof. Ulrike Stark, Dept. of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago
Prof. Thibaut d’Hubert, Dept. of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago
Prof. Abhijit Gupta, Dept. of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
The year 2022 will mark the bicentenary of the arrival of lithography in India, a watershed moment in the history of printing in South Asia. In anticipation of this anniversary, the University of Chicago Center in Delhi will host a two-day workshop on 16–17 March 2020. We invite scholars working on various aspects of lithography in Asia to submit proposals for papers. We especially welcome proposals from scholars based in South Asia and from early career researchers.
The upcoming anniversary provides a timely moment to review the history of lithography in its technological, sociocultural, economic, and aesthetic dimensions, and from both local and transregional perspectives. Rather than focusing on India alone, the workshop aims to look at the rise of lithography across Asia, from Teheran to Shanghai, and to address the impact of a global technology that bridged traditional and modern practices of textual production from a variety of disciplinary lenses, languages, and local contexts. The workshop will bring together junior and senior scholars from the US, Europe, India and other Asian countries to discuss approaches to the study of lithography in light of recent interest in material cultures, entangled histories, and the circulation of knowledge and technologies. We will explore new lines of inquiry into the relationship between manuscript and print production and the competition between lithography and typography. Possible topics of discussion may include: the social history of lithography; lithography’s trajectory from the sphere of artistic book production to commercial mass printing, lithography as a religious technology, lithography as an art form, the democratizing effect of lithography, lithography and community formation, lithography and the rise of vernacular journalism, global flows of technology and expertise, missionary uses of lithography, lithography in graphic design and advertising.
The workshop will be free and open to invited guest participants. We are unable to cover travel costs for international presenting participants from outside South Asia, but will cover two nights of accommodation in Delhi as well as refreshments and meals for the duration of the workshop. For speakers based in South Asia, we will cover two nights of accommodation and travel expenses (domestic economy round-trip travel).
Proposals
We invite proposals for papers of 30-minute duration. Proposals should be submitted no later than 15 August 2019 and must include:
- An abstract of no more than 350 words outlining your research presentation
- A current CV
- A completed contact information form. A copy of the form can be accessed at: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeAcDs3P9MOeaI04gBtCuL5H8ojY85lFOZsy88fYaVcMQlYqQ/viewform
Please email these materials to Shruti Brar at shrutibrar@uchicago.edu
Proposals may also be sent via mail to the following address:
University of Chicago Center
Attn: Shruti Brar
DLF Capitol Point
Baba Kharak Singh Marg
New Delhi, India 110001
—
Thibaut d’Hubert
Bengali language and Bengal studies
South Asian Languages and Civilizations
The University of Chicago
http://salc.uchicago.edu/faculty/d-hubert
https://chicago.academia.edu/ThibautdHubert
- June 18, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Iran: Academic Learning Tour, 7-21 September, 2019
Hikmat International Institute is organizing a learning tour of Iran from 7 – 21 of September 2019 for professors, students, and anyone else who want to explore Iran and learn more about Shiism and culture, other religions and history of the country. In this tour, the participants will see Iran’s most important tourist attractions in 6 major cities. Also, there will be a session to talk about religion and culture in Iran. The tour will include the unique opportunity to experience the Ashura festival at Yazd. An introduction to the significance and the ritual of the festival will be given. The tour will be held with high standards and is an amazing opportunity.
Further Information and registration can be found at this link:
http://hikmat-ins.com/iran-tour-5/
Registration deadline is August 9, 2019.
The Early Bird Discount is a 100 Eur discount reserved for participants who register before June 30.
(Because of the longer visa processing time for Americans and Canadians, the registration deadline for applicants with American or Canadian passports is Friday June 21)
- June 17, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
1.ISLAMIC PAINTED PAGE DATABASE – EXTENSION
The University of Hamburg’s Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures and Islamic Painted Page are pleased to announce the launch of a new version of the Islamic Painted Page website, www.islamicpaintedpage.com.
The website exists to help users locate reproductions, commentaries and online images for tens of thousands of Persian, Ottoman, Arab, Mughal, Sultanate and other paintings, bindings, illuminations, and decorated Qur’an pages up to c.1900 CE. It is also a signposting site, providing item-specific onward links and references to authoritative online and print publications.
As well as some refinements to the site, we are proud to report the database is now expanded to 42,000 references, of which 21,000 now include images.
Very grateful acknowledgement is made to the Smithsonian Freer Sackler Galleries; The Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Harvard Art Museums; Copenhagen David Collection; the Geneva Musée d’Art et d’Histoire, and Chester Beatty Library, for permission to include images from their collections on this latest version of the database. Together with previous permissions and Creative Commons policies, this enables the database to display images for items from twenty of the world’s most important collections so far.
As a result, the database now covers works from over 270 collections worldwide, with image facilities and direct collection weblinks for 50% of the content. Everything is fully searchable by picture description as well as by place, date, accession number and other metadata, and supportive item-specific links are also provided to VIAF, WORLDCAT and FIHRIST.
The Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures aims to enable the continued development of the Islamic Painted Page database, and the site is now hosted and supported by the University of Hamburg, although the database ownership and maintenance remain unchanged.
We hope that users will find the site increasingly useful, and warmly welcome feedback and any suggestions for future developments.
Stephen Serpell
Islamic Painted Page & Research Associate, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC), University of Hamburg
e-Mail: stephen.serpell@uni-hamburg.de
2. ASPIRANTUM -School of languages and cultures invites international participants to apply and take part in Armenian, Persian and Russian language winter schools from December 1 till December 21, 2019 in Yerevan, Armenia.
You can read testimonials of our alumni here: https://aspirantum.com/testimonials
You may find the details about Persian language winter school here: https://aspirantum.com/topics/persian
You may find the details about Russian language winter school here: https://aspirantum.com/topics/russian
You may find the details about Armenian language winter school here: https://aspirantum.com/topics/armenian
3. Colloque international
Jeudi 27 & vendredi 28 juin 2019
INaLCO, Auditorium de la BULAC (65 Rue des Grands Moulins, 75013 Paris)
« Il y avait quelqu’un, il n’y avait personne »
Modes et enjeux de la narration dans le monde persanophone
Colloque international dédié à la mémoire de Marina Gaillard (1955-2015)
En 2015 disparaissait, fort prématurément, notre chère collègue et amie, Marina Gaillard, spécialiste de littérature persane classique, enseignante à l’INaLCO et membre de l’équipe CNRS « Mondes iranien et indien ». Son travail sur le récit en prose, et en particulier, sur les modalités du roman « semi-populaire » dans l’Iran médiéval, constitue une contribution majeure à notre connaissance de la narration persane pré-moderne. Auteur d’une œuvre pionnière, trop tôt interrompue, elle continue de nourrir nos recherches et d’inspirer nombre de nos travaux. Ce colloque est dédié à sa mémoire.
Du pouvoir salvateur des contes de Schéhérazade au mordant des récits de Hedayat et de Golshiri ; de l’épopée mythique de Ferdowsi aux romances médiévales en vers et en prose ; des anecdotes édifiantes de Sa‘adi à l’humour illustré de Marjane Satrapi ou au cinéma de Kiarostami et de Farhadi : autant de récits qui ont fasciné et continuent de fasciner le public persanophone aussi bien qu’étranger, en offrant un accès privilégié au monde dont ils sont issus, à ses croyances, à sa culture et sa pensée.
Y aurait-il donc un mode spécifique du récit « à la persane » ? Un rapport particulier à l’auditoire ? Une façon de raconter, héritage de pratiques ancestrales, qui aurait perduré à l’époque moderne ? Se pourrait-il que ces récits, dans leurs formes et dans leurs visées, voire dans leurs publics, se soient développés sinon indépendamment, du moins parallèlement aux formes connues du monde occidental ? L’attrait persistant qu’exerce, à ce jour, la narration persane sur un vaste auditoire, mérite que l’on s’attarde sur ces questions.
Comité d’organisation
- Amr Ahmed, Maître de Conférences en langue et littérature kurdes sorani, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, “Mondes iranien et indien” (FRE2018, CNRS-Sorbonne Nouvelle-INaLCO-EPHE)
- Julie Duvigneau, Maître de Conférences en langue et littérature persanes, Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, “Mondes iranien et indien” (FRE2018, CNRS-Sorbonne Nouvelle-INaLCO-EPHE)
- Yassaman Khajehi, Maître de Conférences en Études Théâtrales, Université Clermont Auvergne, Centre d’Histoire “Espaces et Cultures” (CHEC)
- Justine Landau, Assistant Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Harvard University
Programme et Information sur le site web de l’Inalco et de « Mondes iranien et indien »
INALCO : http://www.inalco.fr/evenement/avait-quelqu-avait-personne-modes-enjeux-narration-monde-persanophone
Mondes iranien et indien : https://www.iran-inde.cnrs.fr/evenements-scientifiques/colloques-et-conferences-2019/il-y-avait-quelqu-un-il-n-y-avait-personne-modes-et-enjeux-de-la-narration-dans.html
4. 1st Annual Muslim Minorities and Human Rights Conference – London
This conference aims to encourage academic and quality research on Muslim minorities’ issues, and trying to provide academic and practical solutions to the problems and challenges of social, political, educational aspects that are faced by Muslim minorities in Britain. Aiming also to create a forum of dialogue on related issues for researchers and stakeholders.
Centre for Arab Progress – London is pleased to invite researchers and academics to participate in the 1st Annual Conference, to be held on (5th September 2019), entitled: “Islam, Muslims in Britain: radicalisation, deradicalisation, islamophobia and human rights”.
The conference aims to become an important academic and research platform in the UK on Islam and Muslim minorities and related matters. In addition, the papers that are accepted and presented in the conference will be published as hard copy and in electronic format.
For further information on the conference please visit the conference website on the following link: http://mmhrc.co.uk/
5. Call for papers:
*AFGHANISTAN IN THE WORLD: 100 Years of Independence
*SOAS, University of London*
*18-19 October 2019*
https://afgacademia.wixsite.com/afgindependence
*Deadline: June 30, 2019*
*Subject Fields: *Anthropology, Archaeology, Asian History / Studies,
Geography, Humanities
2019 marks one hundred years since the signing of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty
of 1919. This monumental event resulted in the United Kingdom formally
recognising Afghanistan’s independence, yet at present Afghanistan’s
sovereignty is still being contested. In a year when multiple events will
be taking place globally to celebrate the country’s independence, we seek
to critically engage with the notion of independence in a two-day workshop
marking the centenary of the modern state of Afghanistan with our Keynote
Speaker cited above.
We welcome PhD students and early-career researchers to submit abstracts of
200 words on any of the following themes:
1. Colonialism and imperialism
2. Society, borders and mobility
3. Histories and historiography
4. Insider-outsider perspectives
5. Decolonisation, resistance and resilience
For further details about the workshop and information on applying please
refer to:
*https://afgacademia.wixsite.com/afgindependence/call-for-papers
Completed abstracts should be e-mailed to afg1919soas@gmail.com
*Deadline for abstract submission:* *30th June 2019*
*The workshop will take place on Friday the 18th of October and Saturday
the 19th of October 2019 at SOAS, University of London.*
This workshop is supported by the generosity of the SOAS Early Career
Development Fund and the Association for Central Asian Civilizations & Silk
Road Studies – UK.
*Conveners*: Rabia Khan (SOAS) – Florence Shahabi (SOAS)
*Contact Info: *Florence Shahabi
*Contact Email: afg1919soas@gmail.com
*URL:* http://bit.ly/2HGwc7x
6. MA Iranian Studies: Iran in Antiquity and Late Antiquity
For the autumn 2019/20 (“Wintersemester”) at the Institute of Iranian Studies,
Freie Universität Berlin. This two year (four semesters), full-time study programme
is convened in English , leading to an internationally recognised Master of Arts in
Iranian Studies.
See: https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/e/iranistik/studium/master/index.html
7. « Current Perspectives on Ibn ʿArabī and ‘Akbarī’ Thought »
June 24-25, 2019
UCLouvain | Salle du Sénat académique (Halles universitaires, Place de l’Université 1) – Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
9:30 — 17:30
Keynotes:
Claude Addas | Denis Gril | James W. Morris
Participants:
José Bellver (UCLouvain) | Nicholas Boylston (Harvard) | Stephen Hirtenstein (MIAS)
Giovanni Maria Martini (L’Orientale) | Michele Petrone (UCLouvain) | Ali Reza Pharaa (Stony Brook)
Sophie Tyser (EPHE/Uni. Bonn) | Gregory Vandamme (FNRS/UCLouvain) | Cornelis van Lit (Utrecht)
Organisers:
Cécile Bonmariage & Gregory Vandamme
UCLouvain
Institut supérieur de philosophie (Centre De Wulf-Mansion)
Partners:
RSCS | INCAL
Ecole des Sciences philosophiques et religieuses (USL-B)
F.R.S.-FNRS
- June 15, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment