1.Call for Papers – Iraqi Studies: Past, Present, and Future

28-29 February 2020

Columbia University

This two-day conference brings together a diverse group of established and emerging scholars working on the history of modern Iraq from the Ottoman period to the present to interrogate Iraqi studies; taking stock of its past, reflecting on the present, and looking towards its future. Studies of modern Iraq have grown qualitatively and quantitatively in recent years. There is now a critical mass of innovative scholars in the US, Europe, and the Middle East who work on Iraq and are exploring new lines of inquiry in a number of different directions. It is common to see Iraq-themed panels and round tables at international conferences. Given this volume of scholarly activity connected to modern Iraq, it is an opportune time to critically reflect on and examine Iraqi studies and its status as a burgeoning sub-field of Middle East Studies.

We aim to discuss research trends, to identify promising new questions and sources, to exchange experiences and insights, and to encourage networking across period-specializations and field boundaries. Each panel will comprise a discussant and several speakers. We will also hold a keynote panel of senior scholars who will critically reflect on the state of Iraqi studies. This panel will serve to guide and orient our discussions during the conference. Confirmed speakers for the Keynote Panel: Dr. Dina Khoury (George Washington University); Dr. Orit Bashkin (University of Chicago); Dr. Eric Davis (Rutgers University).

Among the questions we seek to explore are: How do we define Iraqi studies? What various methodological approaches inform our study of Iraq? Is Iraqi studies an inherently nationalist endeavor? How do different frameworks support or break with nationalist conventions?  How has Iraq’s recent turbulent history affected how scholars access sources to study the country, its geography, its people, its history, its literature, etc.? How can we move past the sectarian and ethnic narratives of understanding the Iraqi past and present?

We welcome submissions that address any of the above questions. Other sub-themes may also include:

• Iraq, Empires, and Imperialism – including the Ottoman, British, and American imperialisms. We welcome work which considers state-society relations as well as the place of Iraq in inter-imperial and international relations.
• Relationship between Iraqi society and the environment – including urban studies, infrastructure, and natural resource extraction.
• Explorations of Iraqi intellectual and cultural production – including how Iraqi intellectuals and other actors have produced theory which can be not only the subject of a historian’s study, but can serve as a framework to better understand such subjects.
• Studies of ethnic and religious minorities – including and beyond histories of sectarianism and ethnic/sectarian conflict.
• Innovative applications of new methods in gender studies to the context of Iraq and in particular works which suggest how such methodologies can be woven into work across sub-disciplines within the field of Iraqi studies.
• Studies that address conflict, violence and war in Iraq’s history, as well as the production of memory, practices of commemoration, documentation, and archives.

Conference Details

1. If you would like to propose a paper for the conference, please submit a completed application form (including a 300 word abstract) via the Google Form by August 31st. 

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScHTNDqkedcMQ_NIL3K0x_HYHYeFp8L4f7YgQ1WVofTCM1DDQ/viewform

1. We seek proposals from junior faculty, post-doctoral fellows, graduate students, and emerging scholars.
2. The conference will have a keynote panel of speakers as well as a final roundtable
3. Meals will be provided for participants. We have limited funding to sponsor accommodation and travel expenses of participants, especially for those travelling from the Middle East. However, participants are encouraged to apply for funds from their home institutions, or to find alternative sources of funding where possible. Please indicate in the Google Form whether you have access to funding when you submit your abstracts.

Organisers:

Zeinab Azarbadegan (Columbia University)

Amnah Almukhtar (Columbia University)

Natasha Pesaran (Columbia University)

Sponsors:

Department of History

Center for International History

Center for the Study of Muslim Societies

Ottoman and Turkish Studies Seminar

Department of Art History and Archaeology

 

 

 

 

2. The Fourth European Convention on Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies (Turkologentag 2020) will be held in Mainz from September 16–18, 2020.

The conference is organized by the Society for Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies (GTOT) in co-operation with the Chair of Turcology of Johannes Gutenberg University.

We are inviting proposals for papers and panels 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.

The deadline for the submission of paper and panel proposals is February 15, 2020.

Detailed information, including guidance on the submission of abstracts and panel proposals, is found on www.turkologentag-2020.de.

 

 

 

 

3. Colloque international : « Les établissements scolaires privés musulmans : une offre éducationelle comme les autres ? », Campus Saint Jean-D’Angély Nice, 7-8 novembre 2019

Dans la perspective de ce colloque, il s’agit d’établir un état des lieux de la situation des établissements scolaires privés musulmans à partir d’une approche croisée avec des chercheurs et des acteurs du terrain (familles, personnels enseignants, responsables académiques et associatifs…). Plusieurs axes composent les orientations pluridisciplinaires en proposant de questionner une intrication des multiples enjeux éducatifs, sociaux, religieux, et politiques pour envisager une approche comparative à l’échelle nationale et internationale.

Deadline for abstracts: 10 September 2019. Information: https://etprimus.sciencesconf.org/

 

 

 

 

4. Muslim Studies Program 13th Annual Conference: “Islam, Environmental Science, and Conservation”, Michigan State University, 16-17 April 2020

This conference aims to foster understanding of the nexus between Islam, environmental science, and con-servation. Topics of interest for submission include, but are not restricted to, the nexus of Islam and the fol-lowing: environmental sustainability; gender and the environment; sustainable development; ecology; envi-ronmental conservation; natural resource management; climate change; etc.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 August 2019. Information: https://muslimstudies.isp.msu.edu/about/conference/

 

 

 

 

5. Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship in Islamic Rational Theology / Philosophy (kalām / falsafa), Aix-en-Provence

Required skills: specialisation in Arabic philosophy/philology/rational theology (PhD level); speaking, writing and oral comprehension of French and English; linguistic skills in Arabic (reading, editing ancient texts); experience in drafting and publishing scientific articles; knowledge of new technologies: research blog on the platform Hypothèses, knowledge of the word-processor Classical Text Editor.

Deadline for applications: 31 August 2019.

Information: http://iremam.cnrs.fr/IMG/pdf/anr-gaia_2019-post-doc_fr-en.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

6. Humanities Research Fellowships for the Study of the Arab World, NYU Abu Dhabi

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, its rich intellectual, religious, and scientific history, its cultural and artistic heritage as expressed in traditional and new media, and its interaction with other cultures in the past and present.

Deadline for applications: 1 October 2019.

Information: https://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/research/centers-labs-and-projects/humanities-research-fellowship-program.html

 

 

 

 

7. Assistant Professor (Four-Year Position) in Sociology, American University Cairo

Requirements: A PhD in sociology or a related discipline with the ability to teach and publish within the discipline of sociology. Commitment to teaching and engagement of students, as well as service to the university, particularly the sociology program and the department, are necessary, as well as an active research agenda.

Priority will be given to applications that are submitted by 1 November 2019.

Information: https://careers.insidehighered.com/job/1587207/sociology-fall-2020/

 

 

 

 

8. Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track) in Islamic Studies, Macalester College, Saint Paul (Minnesota)

A PhD is required by time of appointment (Fall 2020). The successful candidate will be expected to teach a broad range of courses in classical and modern Islam and in the study of religion more broadly. The field of specialty within Islamic Studies is open. We will also consider the candidate’s ability to contribute to other on-campus programs.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2019. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/13798

 

 

 

 

9. Scholarships for Historical Researchers on Western Asia and the Islamic World (2020-2021), Princeton

Members in the School are appointed for either one term (first term 21 September to 18 December, second term 11 January to 9 April) or for two terms, amounting to a full academic year. Eligibility requirements include a substantial record of publication and a PhD awarded by no later than 31 December 2018.

Deadline for applications: 15 October 2019. Information: https://www.hs.ias.edu/mem_announcement

 

 

 

 

10. 4 bourses de Master 2 et une allocation doctorale pour l’année universeritaire 2019-20, La Fondation de l’Islam de France

Au regard de ces grandes orientations, la Fondation soutiendra les chercheurs dont les travaux permettent de mieux cerner les problématiques déclinées selon quatre axes relevant de l’islamologie fondamentale et appliquée. Une excellente maîtrise des langues arabe, turque ou / et persane sera jugée indispensable au soutien par la FIF de toute candidature.

Deadline for applications: 17 July 2019. Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/42213

 

 

 

 

11. Summer School of Iranian Studies and Persian Language

University of Tehran: 16 to 28 August 2019

All the classes will be held outside classrooms in museums, palaces, and historical and cultural settings. Lectures will be held in English by the University of Tehran’s professors. in the end, Participants will be awarded a certificate of attendance, certified by the University of Tehran, together with a memento.

Visa

To apply for a student visa, please visit the following link and fill out the required form. You need to pay an advance of €100. The remainder will be charged in cash in Tehran:

www.event.cins.ir/register/form/5

For questions and inquiries please contact: ialit@ut.ac.ir (Sadegh Hojjati: Executive Secretary)

Office of International Relations,

Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Tehran
Phone Number: +982166477453, +982166978881
Fax:+982166978881

E-mail:ialit@ut.ac.ir
Address: Enqelab Ave.,P.O.Box:14155-6158, Tehran, Iran

 

 

For more information on the Project, click here.

 

1.Omani manuscripts

The Omani ministry of Heritage and Culture has announced it is sharing more than 4,000 manuscripts electronically to researchers on its website. The manuscripts are distributed in four fields, focusing mostly on the humanities, Hadith, Quran, jurisprudence, history, literature, as well as astronomy, medicine and marine science.

See: https://manuscripts.mhc.gov.om/ar/?fbclid=IwAR26WpBU5LvbVZRFnzjJmK7j6cM6kUd4c-4u-ziq4qJVK4uoLDKjFNSqtl4

 

 

 

2. 125 More Arabic Scientific Manuscripts in the Qatar Digital Library

The second phase of the British Library/Qatar Foundation Partnership digitisation project has now come to a successful close.

For further information:

https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2019/07/-125-more-arabic-scientific-manuscripts-in-the-qatar-digital-library.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+asian-and-african+%28Asia+and+Africa%29

 

 

 

3. Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, (JOTSA vol.6.1, Part I) on Ceremonies, Festivals, and Rituals in the Ottoman World. 

Ozgen Felek and Sinem Erdoğan İşkorkutan, “Introduction: Ceremonies, Festivals, and Rituals in the Ottoman World” (pp. 9-19)

Jane Hathaway, “The Ottoman Chief Harem Eunuch in Ceremonies and Festivals” (pp. 21-37)

Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer, “Those Heretics Gathering Secretly …”: Qizilbash Rituals and Practices in the Ottoman Empire according to Early Modern Sources” (pp. 39-60)

Nikolaos Vryzidis, “Textiles and Ceremonial of the Greek Orthodox Church under the Ottomans: New Evidence on Hil’ats, Kaftans, Covers, and Hangings” (pp. 61-80)

Darin Stephanov, “Salvos and Sovereignty: Comparative Notes on Ceremonial Gunfire in the Late Ottoman and Russian Empires” (pp. 81-102)

Hakan T. Karateke, “The Peculiar Status of the Crimean Khans in Ottoman Protocol” (pp. 103-120)

Sinem Erdoğan İşkorkutan, “Between Representation and Reality: A Critical Evaluation of Narratives of the 1720 Festival and Unknown Archival Sources” (pp. 121-140)

Ozgen Felek, “Displaying Manhood and Masculinity at the Imperial Circumcision Festivity of 1582” (pp. 141-170)

See: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/jottturstuass.6.issue-1

 

 

4. University of Exeter

The Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies is seeking applicants for its Visiting Al-Qasimi Professor in Islamic Studies for the academic year 2020-2021.

Details are here:

https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BTO210/visiting-al-qasimi-professor-in-islamic-studies

 

 

Fighting for “Justice”, Engaging the Other: Shi’a Muslim Activism on the British University Campus

While Shi’a Muslims remain in the minority in Europe, including within universities, the past decade has witnessed the growing profile of Shi’ism on university campuses, especially in Britain. In particular, there has been an emphasis on campaigns that prioritise notions of justice, equality, and human rights.

1.An Ocean of Paper Database Search Guide

An Ocean of Paper seeks to stimulate new research in the social history of the Sultanate by collecting, cataloging, and publishing the thousands of deeds (called waraqas) produced by Omanis in South Arabia and East Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These deeds, which exist in private and public collections in Oman and East Africa, recount transactions in money, property, and commodities between Omanis from different parts of the country who engaged in activities around the Indian Ocean. Individually, they tell stories of the lives, fortunes, and trajectories of Omani migrants; together, they constitute some of the richest written records we have on any community in the region, and promise to completely reshape the foundations of Omani social and economic history in the Indian Ocean.

Ocean of Paper is a part of Indian Ocean in World History educational resources project of Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center.

See: http://www.indianoceanhistory.org/oceanofpaper/

 

 

 

 

2. 3^rd Annual Conference of the International Working Group on “State, Society and Dynamics of Political Change in MENA”: “Values and Institutions: What has Changed in post 2011 North Africa?”, Tangier, 25-26 October 2019

This symposium aims to contribute to a preliminary assessment of the political transformations that resulted from the first wave of the Arab uprisings of 2011 from the perspective of the supposed mutual influence between democratic institutions and the democratic value system. Social scientists interested in taking part in this debate are invited to submit their abstracts.

Deadline for abstracts: 7 July 2019. Information: https://www.kas.de/web/marokko/veranstaltungen/detail/-/content/call-for-papers-3

 

 

 

 

3. 15^th International Congress of Ottoman Social and Economic History (ICOSEH), University of Zagreb, 13-17 July 2020

The Executive Committee of ICOSEH and the Organizing Committee invite the submission of abstracts of individual papers as well as pre-organized panels/sessions and workshops. Papers are expected to address various aspects of the economic and social history of the Ottoman Empire. We encourage panels and workshops on any aspects of the Ottomans and the Mediterranean and the Ottomans and Central Europe.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2019. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/4222924/icoseh-zagreb-2020-cfp

 

 

 

 

4. Rosalind Franklin Tenure Track Professorship for Female Scholar in the Research Field of “Islamic Thought and Culture”, University of Groningen

The positon will contribute to one or more of our common themes of inquiry, such as cultural heritage, intellectual history, history of religion, ethics and philosophy, and the contemporary governance of religion. Qualification: PhD degree in Theology/Religious Studies or another field appropriate to the position; etc.

Deadline for applications: 29 August 2019. Information: https://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S000730P

 

 

 

 

5. Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track) in Middle East / North Africa History, Appalachian State University, North Carolina

Minimum Qualifications: ability to teach courses in area of specialization and global history required. Ph.D. in history or a related field, teaching experience, and evidence of scholarly potential expected. Candidates who are ABD will be considered, but the position requires completion of all doctoral requirements by August 2020.

Review of applications will begin on 16 September 2019 and continue until the position is filled. Information: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=58651

 

 

 

 

6. Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track Position) in Law and Politics in Global or Middle East Context, Whitman College, Washington

Candidates should have experience in fieldwork, archival, historical institutional, political theoretical, and/or legal textual approaches. They might offer courses in international law; international politics; decolonization; human rights; theories of empire; comparative constitutionalism; indigenous politics; and/or area-specific courses on Asia and Africa.

Deadline for applications: 15 August 2019.

Information: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=58653

 

 

 

 

7. PhD Dissertation Award 2019 of the “Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies (AGAPS)”

Dissertations from across the disciplines and a variety of perspectives are invited. They must primarily focus on the Arabian Peninsula, but can be inclusive of the transnational flows of people, material and ideas across the Gulf, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean. PhD dissertations (in English) accepted for the degree of PhD between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019 are eligible.

Deadline for submissions: 31 August 2019. Information: https://agaps.org/agapsmesa/mesa-awards/

 

 

 

 

8. Graduate Paper Prize 2019 of the “Association for Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies (AGAPS)”

The research papers must have been written between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2019 and primarily focus on the Arabian Peninsula but can be inclusive of the transnational flow of people, goods and ideas across the Gulf, Red Sea and Indian Ocean. Papers should include an engagement with literature, a clear methodology, and make an original contribution to scholarship in the field.

Deadline for submissions: 31 August 2019. Information: https://agaps.org/agapsmesa/mesa-awards/

 

 

 

 

9. École d’été : “Sources et méthodes pour l’étude du phénomène missionnaire au Moyen-Orient (fin XIXe-nos jours)”,  EFR Rome, 3-7 juin 2019

Écrire l’histoire des missions orientales à partir des archives romaines. Centralisation, classification, conservation?

Programme : http://iremam.cnrs.fr/IMG/pdf/prog-ed-062019-d.pdf

 

 

 

10. Articles on “Sufism and Peace Studies“ for the “Research Journal of Philosophy and Practice“

Research scholars, authors are welcome for submitting their valuable research work related to Sufi practice, philosophy and teaching of Sufi saints.

Deadline for articles: 30 September 2019.

Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/4243789/cfp-sufism-and-peace-studies-research-journal-sufi-philosophy

 

 

 

 

11. CfP: Sharḥ, tafsīr, and ḥāshiya. A workshop on the form, function and context of pre-modern commentary-writing in Arabic

University of Zurich, 15-16 June 2020

The pre-modern Arabic literary landscape is full of commentaries meta-commentaries and auto commentaries of various shapes and sizes, such that commentary-writing indisputably stood as one of the main forms of scholarly textual output over the centuries Some features of this tradition have received their fair share of attention; others remain yet to be explored. While the importance of, for example, Quranic or philosophical commentary as a source for Muslim intellectual history has been recognised in the last decades, commentaries in other fields are often mentioned only for the purpose of proving the popularity of the commentated text. The questions of why commentaries were composed in the first place, in what institutional settings, according to what conventions and with what techniques remain under-explored.  This workshop will focus on two principal aspects of the study of commentary and commentating practices: (1.) the techniques of commentary-writing; and (2.) its audience and reception. In the first area, we are interested in the interaction and connections between text and commentary.  This could be summarised with the simple question, “how does commentary work?”. In the second, we encourage papers that give consideration to readers and likely readerships of commentaries, either by studying the para-texts of commentaries (e.g. marginalia etc.) or sociologically, by looking at groups of readers, and owners of manuscripts. This could be summarised with the question, “how was commentary used?”.

We invite papers dealing with commentaries written in Arabic any time before roughly the 15^th century, belonging to any genre (philosophy, theology, literature, medicine, sciences, etc.).

Possible questions to be dealt with may include (but are not limited to):

• How does a commentary work? Which elements of a text receive what kind of attention, which parts are not commentated upon?  What kinds of relationship exist between the text and the commentary?
• What is considered a good commentary, a bad commentary?
• Why was it ever important to write a commentary? Are there different kinds of motivation that lead to different kinds of commentary?
• Who wrote commentaries and when? Is commentary writing something a beginner does or rather the opposite? Do people write different kinds of commentaries at different stages in their careers?
• Who are the intended readers and audiences?
• Who really commissioned, read, owned, or taught a commentary? Where were they composed?
• How are commentaries presented in their manuscripts? How is the link between the base-text and the commentary established, both linguistically and at the level of layout?
• Why are there so many “auto-commentaries”, i.e. commentaries written by the author of the commented work?

Please send a 400-word abstract to james.weaver@uzh.ch and forster@zedat.fu-berlin.de not later than August 31, 2019.

The selected participants will be notified by October 30, 2019.

Speakers’ costs for travel and accommodation will be covered.

Conveners:

Dr James Weaver, University of Zurich

Prof Dr Regula Forster, Freie Universität Berlin/University of Zurich

 

 

 

12. Call for papers for the session “Ethnic Diversity and Spatial Segregation; Cities in Motion in the World of Islam” at the European Association for Urban History Conference, Antwerp, 2-5 Sept. 2020: https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/conferences/eauh2020/papers/. The call will be open until 4 October 2019.

 

 

 

13. In the period 2009-14 a relational prosopographical database MP3 was constructed at Ghent University for the study of late medieval Syro-Egyptian political elites, institutions and practices, in the context of a specific collaborative research project on ‘Mamluk’ state formation. In the period 2015-16 new funding was obtained to create from MP3’s Filemaker 12 database a more widely accessible, connected and multifunctional research infrastructure and to expand its textual component and analytical potential. This project is currently known as the MPP project, and it now is conceptualised as a pilot project for the Islamic History Open Data Platform(IHODP) that we are developing.

IHODP will be an Open Source & Open Access Data Platform for ’Medieval’ Arabic Humanities Research. It is being constructed from, and integrates, several interconnected open data projects, including MPP and the Arabic historiography project MMS-II. IHODP will be a flexible, sustainable, user-friendly and multi-purpose solution and allowing for the creation of multiple independent and/or integrated data projects with freely definable multiple user roles, default back up and export facilities, and opportunities to work with various metadata ontologies, annotation tools, and Arabic text corpora.

After extensive testing we are ready to launch a beta-version of the Islamic History Open Data Platform (IHODP) in which MPP runs as a first project. Two other related and interconnected projects, Corpus: Texts from Late Medieval Egypt and Syria (Corpus) and Bibliography of 15th Century Arabic Historiography (BAH), are soon going to be launched on IHODP too. You can find a detailed explanation with demo’s of IHODP and MPP on our MMS-website.

Kind regards,

Maya Termonia

Jo Van Steenbergen

 

 

14. Annual meeting at Leeds, UK (1-4 July), the International Medieval Congress, “Europe’s largest forum for sharing ideas in medieval studies”.

With at least 65 papers relevant for Arabic and Islamic Studies (accessible via https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc2019/programme/ > paper keyword > Islamic and Arabic Studies) the IMC has a lot to offer to Middle East Medievalists.

For the 2020 meeting (6-9 July) the special thematic strand will be ‘Borders’, a term that is meant to designate a wide variety of phenomena, from physical boundaries and material borders to dynamic social and spatial relationships. The IMC welcomes session and paper proposals related to this special thematic strand, or to any other aspect of the study of the period 300-1500 CE.

Individual paper proposal deadline: 31 August 2019; session proposal deadline: 30 September 2019.

For further information, and online proposal guidelines, please visit the IMC website at www.imc.leeds.ac.uk

 

 

Art, Allegory and the Rise of Shi’ism in Iran, 1487-1565

Explores the ways in which esoteric religion shaped the masterpieces of classical Persian painting Transforming our understanding of Persian art, this impressive interdisciplinary book decodes some of the world’s most exquisite medieval paintings. It rev