Archive for February, 2020
Shii News – Academic Items
1. The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) will agan offer its Persian Miniatures Course in partnership with the Centre for Iranian Studies (SOAS). The course will run on Monday evenings from 20 April to 22 June 2020 inclusive.
Please note the deadline for registration is 13 April 2020. BIPS members are offered a 10% discount on the course fee.
See https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/persian-miniatures-course-2/ for further information.
2. Lecturer in History, SOAS University of London
The School of History, Religions and Philosophies invites applications for a three-year fixed-term lectureship in history starting in July 2020. The preferred candidate will engage in language-based scholarship on the history of the Middle East, with a demonstrated openness to transnational and interdisciplinary approaches. We particularly welcome applicants working on histories of gender, migration and diasporas, and the environment. The periodic focus is open.
Closing Date | 27 March 2020
https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BYX316/lecturer-in-history-3-year-ftc
3. Call for Contributions: Protecting Religious Freedoms and Minorities in MENA
Rowaq Arabi
Rowaq Arabi, an electronic magazine specialising in human rights studies in the Middle East and North Africa, is calling for contributions under the theme of ‘Protecting Religious Freedoms and Religious Minorities’. Submissions can include papers, analyses, and book reviews, and are accepted in Arabic or English.
Deadline for submissions | 31 March 2020
https://rowaq.cihrs.org/protecting-religious-freedoms-and-minorities/?lang=en
4. CfP: “Diasporic Political Communication: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives”
TIMETABLE
15 April 2020: Deadline for abstracts (approx. 500 words, to be sent to this email: mediasp@hum.ku.dk)
1 May 2020: Editors’ response to abstracts.
1 October 2020: Deadline for full chapters (8,000 words).
15 November 2020: Authors receive reviews.
15 December 2020: Deadline for revised chapters.
Spring 2021: Publication of edited book.
For further information contact the email address above.
5. The interdisciplinary Research Training Group funded by the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz on “Early Concepts of Humans and Nature” invites applications for five doctoral positions, starting at October 1st, 2020. The disciplines cooperating in this programme are Classical Archaeology, Classics (Greek and Latin), Byzantine Studies, Egyptology, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Pre- and Protohistorical Archaeology (Pleistocene Archaeology), Near Eastern Archaeology and Medieval German Studies.
Please submit your complete application in electronic form (pdf) no later than April 30th, 2020 to the Research Training Group’s spokesperson Univ.-Prof. Dr. Tanja Pommerening (grk1876@uni-mainz.de ).
For all information, see the webpage: https://www.blogs.uni-mainz.de/fb07-grk-man-nature/available-positions/
6. Arizona State University seeks a faculty associate to teach elementary or intermediate intensive Persian in its 2020 summer Critical Languages Institute. Candidates must have a Master’s degree or higher in philology, linguistics, language teaching or a closely related field by the time of appointment; possess native proficiency in Persian; and have at least one year’s experience teaching Persian at the university level to non-native speakers. Strong preference will go to candidates who have successfully taught in intensive language programs, to candidates with experience teaching independently, and to candidates with high levels of proficiency in English. The successful candidates will teach Persian 4 hours a day, five days a week, for eight weeks and will contribute to cultural programming.
Information on the ASU summer Persian program is available at http://cli.asu.edu/Persian
Compensation for the 7-week 2020 program consists of a salary of $8960, housing in Tempe (a taxable benefit), and reimbursement for air/ground travel of up to $500.
The application package must include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, and a teaching portfolio (recent syllabi and teaching evaluations). Materials should be emailed to: cli@asu.edu.
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.
Arizona State University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. Please see ASU’s complete non-discrimination statement at: http://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/acd/acd401.html and https://www.asu.edu/titleIX/.
7. Open Letter of Support for the Recognition, Preservation and Preparation for Study of Historical Texts from Ghur, Afghanistan – invitation for signature
We are writing to you as a scholar working on Afghanistan’s history or related fields to ask for your support for an open letter urging the Afghan authorities to safeguard a set of more than ninety 11th and 12th century manuscripts of texts cared for by a local resident in Ghur province, Afghanistan. The details are spelled out in the letter.
If you would like to sign, please click on this hyperlinked Google document and add your name. Alternatively, if you are unsure about how to do it, just send us an email and we will add your name for you. We will keep the letter open for signature for the next nine days until Sunday, 8th of March 2020 (international women’s day) at 23:59, after which we will issue it to the Afghan authorities.
It would be wonderful to have your support!
With best wishes,
Jawan Shir Rasikh (Visiting Research Associate, University of Toronto)
Arezou Azad (Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford)
- February 29, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Bahrain’s Nine Years of Worsening Human Rights
Nine Years After Bahrain’s Uprising, Its Human Rights Crisis Has Only Worsened
It’s been nine years since Bahrain’s February 2011 uprising. Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in cities and towns across the country to protest the ruling Al Khalifa family’s tight grip on power, discrimination against the country’s majority Shia population, and arrests of political critics.
- February 26, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Ten student travel grants of 100€ to attend the Avicenna Study Group.
This group will come together for its third meeting from 03–05 June to discuss the relations between and among Avicenna’s eight main works. The conference bears the title “Surveying the summae: Comparisons and Contrasts among Avicenna‘s Eight Main Works” at Trier University, Germany.
Ten travel grants of 100€ each will be given to interested BA, MA or PhD students to support them and cover some of the costs to attend the Avicenna Study Group meeting.
Interested students are asked to submit a short letter of motivation of 200-300 words together with a CV via email to lammer@uni-trier.de by 28 February 2020. Selected students will be informed by 01 March 2020.
Fourteen papers will cover different philosophical disciplines (e.g., logic, physics, psychology, metaphysics) across the eight main works of Avicenna (al-Ḥikma al-ʿArūḍiyya, ʿUyūn al-ḥikma, al-Hidāya, al-Šifāʾ, al-Naǧāt, Dānešnāme-ye ʿAlāʾī, al-Ḥikma al-mašriqiyya, al-Išārāt wa-l-tanbīhāt).
They will investigate and asses the relations between these eight works, their intended readership and Avicenna’s intentions in them alongside his style, terminology, and arguments as well as his personal and scientific development.
The confirmed speakers are: Asad Q. Ahmed, Tommaso Alpina, Silvia Di Vincenzo, Dimitri Gutas, Jules Janssens, Yuta Komura, Olga Lizzini Wahid Amin, Amos Bertolacci, Nadja Germann & Mostafa Najafi, Shahrzad Irannejad, Dustin Klinger, Alexander Lamprakis and Jon McGinnis
2. CfP: 2nd Symposium on Translation
Friday November 6, 2020
The Iranian Studies Initiative
University of California, Santa Barbara
Keynote Speaker:
Dr. Franklin Lewis
Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
The University of Chicago
This symposium looks at the role of translation in bridging the growing political gulf between the Middle East and the United States. Our goal is to create a transnational conversation between the two regions, specifically translations of texts from Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, and Kurdish into English, and the reverse. Although in recent years, border politics have been restricting the physical movements of people, as Lovejoy has stated, “Ideas are the most migratory things in the world.” In the age of Internet and Facebook, images, beliefs and speeches have become more mobile than ever before and no border or boundary can reverse this process. We welcome a wide array of papers across all relevant disciplines that would shed light on the ways in which the act of translation has become a radical project, building bridges between people and not “walls.” The symposium is interested in papers that would explore the following issues:
- How have major historical events of the 20th and 21st centuries impacted the choice of texts to be translated?
- Is translation a political and/or literary act?
- How has globalization impacted the choice of texts for translation?
- How has migration, and the creation of Middle Eastern diaspora communities, impacted the reception of translated texts?
- Do translators create a utopian vision of the unseen culture through their work?
- What role does ideology play in selection of texts for translation?
- Do the tastes and needs of an American audience impact the choice of texts to be translated? If so, how does a translator address this issue?
Please send a 250-word proposal for a 20-minute individual presentation exploring one or more of the above issues. Please send your abstracts to translationucsb2020@gmail.com by April 15, 2020. Include the title of your presentation, any academic affiliation, and a brief (100-150 words) bio.
3. Conference: “Iraqi Studies: Past, Present, and Future“, Columbia University, New York, 28-29 February 2020
See program at http://cih.columbia.edu/iraqi-studies-past-present-and-future/
4. Graduate Student Conference of the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University, 5-6 March 2020
The conference brings together graduate students working on the social and intellectual traditions of those three regions related to political economy and social history; study of mysticism; devotional traditions; imperialism and colonialism; law and political structures; etc.
5. 2nd Mid-Atlantic Ottoman Studies Workshop on “Global Ottoman Empire”, Hagop Kevorkian Center for the Near Eastern Studie, New York University, 27-29 March 2020
The workshop will emphasize the connectivity not only between the Ottoman Empire and the surrounding polities, but also among communities, individuals, and many other groups within and beyond its imperial boundaries. Submissions are from history, literary studies, manuscript studies, art & architectural history.
6. Conference: “The Influence of Islam in Politics and Society: Civic Engagement, Social Inclusion and Political Participation”, American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS), Villanova University, PA, 27-28 March 2020
The conference puts particular emphasis on socio-political dimensions of Islam and covers a vast range of topics and areas from Sufism, the so-called apolitical dimension of the faith to economic and financial aspects of Islam, both in Muslim and non-Muslim societies.
Information: https://www1.villanova.edu/villanova/publications/jsames/acsis/conference.html
7. 11th Western Ottomanists’ Workshop, California State University Sacramento, 10-11 April 2020
Scholars and graduate students interested in Ottoman studies will present work in progress, and engage in broad dialogue with colleagues in different fields and disciplines.
8. 16th Convention of the “Great Lakes Ottomanist Workshop”, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Montreal, 25-26 April 2020
See program and abstracts at
https://www.mcgill.ca/islamicstudies/files/islamicstudies/glowprogramabstracts.pdf
9. Academic Roundtable: “Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem”, Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem, 25-28 May 2020
This conference will reflect on how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions of the religiously remembered past and the religiously anticipated future shape understandings of Jerusalem within each tradition. It also aims to apply these reflections to an analysis of current views of Jerusalem within diverse religious traditions, through an investigation of how these sacred histories and eschatologies shape the way that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities understand the significance of the complex and conflicted city of Jerusalem today.
10. 42nd Annual Conference of Middle East Librarians (MELCom International), University of Marburg, 26-28 May 2020
The local convenor is Dr Susanne Saker. Papers focus on: Librarianship, collection development and acquisition policies of Middle Eastern collections as sources for area studies; Cataloguing policies and practices; Current issues in information studies on the Middle East, etc. An excursion will also take place on 29 May.
Information: http://www.melcominternational.org/; Contact: melcomintl.secretary@gmail.com
11. 4th International Conference on Kurdish Studies, University of Exeter, 18-20 June 2020
Thematic areas include Kurdish literature, women’s participation in politics, cultural production, history, political international relations, governance, civil society, civil rights, diplomacy, conflict and democratization, forced displacement, internal and external interference, internal colonialization and rewriting Kurdish history.
12. 4th Australasian Conference on Islam: “Muslim Youth in the West: Social, Religious, Political Challenges and Opportunities”, Deakin University, Melbourne, 9-10 July 2020
This conference aims to explore the social, religious and political challenges affecting Muslim youth in Western societies and the ways in which Muslim youth have responded to these issues.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 March 2020. Information: cisac@csu.edu.au
13. Annual Conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, 10-13 October 2020
MESA is primarily concerned with the area encompassing Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, and the countries of the Arab World from the 7th century to modern times. Other regions including Spain, Southeastern Europe, China and the former Soviet Union, also are included for the periods in which these territories were parts of the Middle Eastern empires or under the influence of Middle Eastern civilization.
Information: https://mesana.org/
14. Conference: “Knowledge Systems and Ottoman-European Encounters: Spatial and Social Dynamics”, University of Zurich, 21-23 January 2021
The conference will focus on knowledge from or about the Ottoman Empire in the early modern period, addressing two questions: from a spatial perspective, how can the Ottoman Empire be included into a European history of knowledge? From a social viewpoint: how was knowledge inside or about the Ottoman Empire organized and what kind of social functions can there be distinguished?
15. Full PhD Scholarship (Fees and Maintenance) in any Area of Law, Politics, or International Relations, Dublin City University
Outstanding PhD candidates will be offered a fee waiver and a tax-free scholarship of €16,000 per annum for four years. The School operates a full-time four-year PhD programme with a range of taught courses in the first year and further professional training offered in other years. The school provides a supportive atmosphere for research postgraduates with dedicated supervisory teams, weekly research seminars in both law and politics, and opportunities to teach.
Deadline for application: 29 March 2020. Information: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BYR192/phd-research-in-any-area-of-law-politics-or-international-relations
16. Invitation for New Members of the “Arab-German Young Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA)”
Excellent young scholars (3-10 years after PhD) from Germany and all Arab countries are invited to apply for membership in AGYA.
Deadline for application: 29 March 2020. Information: www.agya.info/cfm2020
17. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston – Curatorial Assistant, Art of the Islamic Worlds
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=59954
| Closing Date | 05/19/2020 |
18. University of Southern California – Postdoctoral Scholar – Teaching Fellow in Middle East Studies
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=59955
| Closing Date | 05/19/2020 |
19. CfP | Second Annual Armenian International Congress on Oriental Studies – ACOS’20
The Department of Oriental Studies at the Yerevan State University (Armenia) invites you to the Second Annual Armenian International Congress on Oriental Studies – ACOS’20 – to be held on October 23-24, 2020 in Yerevan (Armenia). The First Congress was held in 2018 and around 70 scholars and researchers participated from more than 10 countries.
The Armenian International Congress on Oriental Studies is a bi-annual conference, which aims to provide a unique platform to discuss the most critical problems of contemporary studies in the broad field of Middle Eastern studies.
We invite proposals for papers and pre-arranged panels from graduate students, faculty, and independent scholars working on the Middle East from the ancient times to the present day, including but not limited to history, religious studies, geography, anthropology, political science, literary studies, linguistics, philosophy, art history, and media studies.
Theme. We also encourage submissions related to the theme of this year’s conference, Sovietization of the Caucasus and the Greater Middle East. Questions of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Consequences of the Sovietization of Southern Caucasus: demographic change, formation of identity, cultural transformations, new border identity.
- Communism in the Middle East in 1920s: from internationalism to nationalism?
- The perception of the sovietization of South Caucasus in the Middle East: a threat, an inspiration or ideological transformations?
Application. Please send submissions electronically to orientconference@ysu.am, no later than Friday, July 31, 2020. Please include each presenter’s name, institution, and position, as well as a separate file including a 250-word abstract with a tentative title. For pre-arranged panels, please send a single email with an overall panel description plus individual paper abstracts. The best abstracts will summarize the paper’s topic, its relationship and contribution to the existing scholarship and preliminary conclusions. Abstracts will be evaluated anonymously by the organizing committee; therefore, please do not include names or any identifying information in the abstract. Please feel free to email us for any inquiry at the above address. Accepted abstracts will be announced by August 17, 2020. Accepted papers should be sent by September 25, 2020.
Best papers will be published in the special issue of the “The Problems of Oriental Studies”.
A limited number of funding is available for accommodation in Yerevan (based on needs).
Please circulate widely!
For questions and accessibility concerns, please write to orientconference@ysu.am. Further information can also be found at our website – acos.ysu.am.
20. Roshan Lecturer in Persian Studies
College of Arts and Humanities, School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
Roshan Institute for Persian Studies in the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at the University of Maryland seeks applications for a position as a full-time lecturer, professional track, beginning Fall 2020. Candidates should have a track record in teaching Persian language as well as the ability to offer undergraduate courses taught in English in one or more of the following areas: Iranian art, society and culture, and social media. Through teaching both upper- and lower-division language and culture courses, the Roshan Lecturer will play a key role in attracting talented undergraduates to UMD’s Persian program and familiarizing them with contemporary Iran. Applicants must have a commitment to excellence in teaching; native or near-native fluency in Persian and English; and a Ph.D. in hand by August 2020. Experience with fundraising is a plus.
To apply, please submit a copy of your CV, personal statement, and two syllabi (one for a language course, and one for a content course) designed, and preferably already taught, by the applicant, along with contact information for three references who will be asked to provide a confidential letter of recommendation, all through the University of Maryland online employment application system at: https://ejobs.umd.edu.
Priority will be given to applications received by March 27, 2020. Review of applications will continue until the position is filled. This position is contingent on the continued availability of funds.
The School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures seeks to investigate and engage with the linguistic, cultural, cinematic, and literary worlds of speakers of Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, as well as questions surrounding language learning itself. Its 15 units are organized into 7 Departments (Arabic; East Asian Languages and Cultures; French and Italian; Germanic Studies; Persian; Russian; Spanish and Portuguese); 4 independent programs (Central European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies; Film Studies; Hebrew; Second Language Acquisition); the Center for East Asian Studies; Roshan Institute for Persian Studies; the Language House Living-Learning Program, and the Summer Institute. To learn more about the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, please visit our website at: www.sllc.umd.edu.
The University of Maryland is an EOE/AA Employer Minorities, Women, Protected Veterans and individuals with disabilities are Encouraged to Apply.
- February 25, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Ma’rifa, 2020, Cambridge, Mass. (28-29 Feb.)
Ma’rifa: A Shi’a Youth Conference
Shi`a students today find themselves dealing with a myriad of challenges. Between the struggles of navigating faith in America, creating spaces to cultivate spirituality, balancing several identities, as well as being a minority within the Muslim community, students need a meaningful forum to engage these issues.
- February 22, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – BIRD Report on Human Righs in Bahrain
Human Rights “Continued to Deteriorate” in Bahrain in 2019, Finds BIRD Annual Report
20 February 2020 – Today, The Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) launched its 2020 Annual Report to mark the ninth anniversary of the Bahraini Uprising. BIRD’s inaugural annual report gives a comprehensive oversight of the human rights developments in Bahrain during 2019, concluding that the human rights situation has “continued to deteriorate”.
- February 21, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘Approaches to the Qur’an in Contemporary Iran’ – A. Cancian, ed.
Approaches to the Qur’an in Contemporary Iran
Approaches to the Qur’an in Contemporary Iran explores the importance of the Qur’an in the religious, artistic, political, and intellectual discourses in modern and contemporary Iran from the nineteenth century to the present. The chapters included in the volume have been written by some of the most authoritative specialists in the modern history of Iran.
- February 20, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘Structural Anti-Shī’ism’ – H. Katebi
Understanding Structural Anti-Shī’ism in Sunnī Diaspora Spaces
Anti-Shia rhetoric continues to dominate Sunni-majority Muslim diasporic spaces across the Western world in MSAs, mosques, relationships, and third spaces. This piece works to break down the beliefs, attitudes, political dynamics, and behaviors I have been able to understand in which structural Sunni normativity and anti-Shi’ism exists and thrives in Sunni Muslim spaces.
- February 19, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – UN Rapporteurs Condemn Bahrain
8 UN Experts Condemn Bahrain’s Treatment of Political Prisoners – Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain
17 February 2020 – 8 UN Special Rapporteurs have expressed “grave concern” about the mistreatment of political prisoners Hajer Mansoor, Medina Ali and Nabeel Rajab in Bahraini detention centres, “which may amount to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.” In a letter to the Bahraini government, the experts …
- February 18, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Arab Diaspora Conference 2020: “Reclaiming the Public Narrative, Voices of the Middle East“, University of Ottawa, 24 February 2020
This is a unique gathering that brings together around 30 Middle East and North Africa (MENA) human rights and democracy defenders from the MENA region. Defenders will present on public panels with participants invited from the public sector, academia, civil society and activist communities in Canada.
Information and registration: https://uocal.uottawa.ca/en/node/24419
2. Conference: “Acts of Excommunication in the Late Antique and Early Islamicate Middle East”, University of Leiden, 12-13 March 2020
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.
3. 3rd Islamicate Digital Humanities Conference (Online Conference) of the Islamicate Digital Humanities Network (IDHN), 29 April 2020
We are calling for contributions from scholars employing digital methods in their research within the Islamicate Studies and related fields in the Humanities, as well as from our colleagues in Linguistics and Computer Science. We will have 4-6 presentations of 20 minutes each in which you can introduce your project and share your expertise and questions with the network.
To contribute, send an email to info@idhn.org with a description of your presentation. Information https://idhn.org/conferences/ and join the network at https://idhn.org/contact/.
4. 10 Postgraduate Bursaries for the MA Programme at the Centre for Islamic and West Asian Studies, Royal Holloway University of London
The bursaries will reduce tuition fees by between £500 and £5000.
Deadline for application: 30 March 2020.
Information: https://bit.ly/37tQgFh; contact: ciwas@rhul.ac.uk
5. GTOT Grant for Innovative Projects by Young Scholars – Funding Period: 2020, Society for Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies
All proposals aiming at supporting young scholars and/or Turkology as a study program will be considered.
Extended deadline: 21 February 2020.
Information: http://www.gtot.org/news/gtot-call/?lang=en
6. Intensive Ottoman Summer Program, Koç University Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations (ANAMED), Istanbul, 6 July-14 August 2020
The program aims to develop the students’ reading and comprehension skills and expertise on a variety of Ottoman sources including archival documents, manuscripts, and epigraphic material. The material will accordingly present a wide array of content and narrative types.
Deadline for application: 9 March 2020.
Information: https://anamed.ku.edu.tr/en/summer-programs/ottoman-summer-program/
7. CFP: Ceramics from Islamic Lands – V&A, Dec. 3-5
International conference:
Ceramics from Islamic Lands
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
3 to 5 December 2020
Organised by Mariam Rosser-Owen (V&A) and Leslee Michelsen (Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art)
The V&A proposes to hold a conference on the theme of ceramics from Islamic lands. Proposals are invited for 20-minute papers on any theme, including but not limited to: significant bodies of archaeological material, ceramic imports into the Islamic world, trade with China, Europe and the Americas, ceramics produced in South and South-East Asia under Muslim rule, object-focused and art historical studies, studies in conservation or restoration, scientific analysis, technology and technique, architecture, epigraphy, historicism and revival (in particular within the region), the formation of private and public collections from the 19th century to today, continuity and change under colonialism, modernism, contemporary artistic practice, and contemporary craft traditions.
Please send abstracts of 250 words to ceramicsfromislamiclands@gmail.com by 30th April 2020. We aim to contact those selected to participate by the end of June. We plan to cover speakers’ travel and accommodation costs for the duration of the conference. We also hope to provide fellowships to support the travel of a limited number of colleagues and students from under-represented institutions and countries who wish to attend the conference. Further information on these will be announced later in the year.
This conference is being organised to coincide with two exhibitions taking place at the V&A this autumn: Epic Iran (17 October 2020-3 May 2021) and Contemporary Ceramics from the Middle East (8 June 2020-31 January 2021). The backdrop to the conference will be one of the greatest collections of ceramics in the world. The V&A’s holdings include examples of the earliest type of glazed wares made in the Middle East as well as pieces from the 19th century, and they range across all the geographies encompassed within the discipline of ‘Islamic art’, with particularly large and significant groups of ceramics from medieval and Safavid Iran and the Ottoman world. The Museum also holds important European material inspired by Islamic designs. Today its curators are actively bringing these collections into the 20th and 21st centuries.
For further information, please contact the organisers on the above email address.
8. Aga Khan Museum Collection Online
The Aga Khan Museum is proud to announce that 500 artworks in our collection are now available online, where they can be studied by researchers and enjoyed by the general public.
The Museum launched this digitization project in 2017, three years after opening. At the outset of the project, we focused on digitizing the majority of our Shahnameh paintings, most of them dispersed; our Tiraz textiles; and our Iranian ceramics from different eras. In 2018, we turned our attention to manuscripts, other paintings, and drawings; and last year, artworks in different media were our primary focus.
I would like to acknowledge and thank all of you—including more than 30 scholars worldwide and Aga Khan Museum staff—who have devoted time and expertise to this ambitious endeavour. The digitization of the collection is an ongoing project, and, in time, we aim to provide free online access to our entire collection.
Please visit us at agakhanmuseum.org to explore our collection. To view a selection of published artworks, see AKM165, AKM673, AKM289, AKM646, AKM386,AKM809.
9. Call for Applicants – An Introduction to Islamic Manuscript Culture Workshop, University of Michigan Library – 28-29 Oct.
An Introduction to Islamic Manuscript Culture
Workshop with curator and manuscript specialist, Evyn Kropf
28-29 October 2020, Special Collections Research Center, University of Michigan Library
Offered in conjunction with the HIAA 2020 Biennial Symposium “Regime Change” at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, this intensive workshop will provide participants with a broad introduction to the study of Islamic manuscript cultures and will feature exemplars from the Islamic Manuscripts Collection preserved in the University of Michigan Library.
The workshop will be structured around lectures interspersed with hands-on sessions presenting fundamental elements of Islamic manuscript studies with a focus on codicology & palaeography. The following topics will be covered:
-An introduction to codicological studies
-Writing material: parchment and paper
-Structures: the codex & beyond
-Bindings
-Layout / ruling, media and ornament
-Scripts & hands
-Paratexts, annotations, marks of ownership, etc
-Overview of describing manuscripts
Attendance will be capped at fifteen participants. Priority will be given to graduate student attendees of the symposium, but applications from postdocs and established scholars will also be considered.
Through generous grants from the U-M History of Art Department and University Library, fees will be waived, and selected participants will be offered two nights’ accommodation (Tuesday 27 October and Wednesday 28 October) as well as refreshments and lunch each of the workshop days. Participants will be expected to cover their own travel and dinners.
Interested applicants should submit this form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc1qDF0JlNSRQkg6ZOo5YiXqvXRBlqGmF3xzl_IEYtzzsUTJA/viewform) and email a copy of their CV to ekropf@umich.edu.
Applications will remain open until 15 March 2020.
Selected participants will be notified by 15 April 2020.
Feel free to contact ekropf@umich.edu with any questions.
10. Umayyad Art Re-examined: A New Attitude to Images and Discourse in Visuality
with Dr Valerie Gonzalez, Research Associate, SOAS
on Thursday 27 February 2020 from 5.30 pm to 7 pm
SOAS, 10 Thornhaugh St, Bloomsbury, London WC1H 0XG Room 4426 (4th floor, Main Building)
Convenor: Professor Anna Contadini
This seminar will re-examine the established scholarly findings of Umayyad art as a transitional production essentially anchored in the Western and Eastern Late Antique traditions that have inspired it. It will be argued instead that the Umayyads brought about an aesthetic revolution laying out the fundaments of what has become known as ‘Islamic ornament’, a predominantly aniconic form of visual expression. For beyond the adaptive borrowing of pre-existing forms, the Umayyads redefined the art’s condition of meaning based on an unprecedented attitude to images and visual discourse informed by Islamic ontotheology and metaphysics.
For further inquiries, contact Dr Tanja Tolar on tt30@soas.ac.uk.
- February 18, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – SRW: Annual Report, 2019
Pushing for Protection: Advocating for the Shia – Shia Rights Watch
Annual Report 2019 In this report, Shia Rights Watch quantifies violence against Shia Muslims and presents the dynamics of anti-Shiism in various nations of the world. This report reflects year-round investigations arranged by native activists and international researchers on actions taken to endanger populations based on their Shia identity.
- February 17, 2020
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment