Archive for 2020

Gulfization of the Arab World

From projecting ideology and influence, to maintaining a notion of ‘Gulfness’ through the selective exclusion or inclusion of certain beliefs, cultures and peop…

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Sectarianism in Pakistan: State, Society, and Regional Geopolitics. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

With recent developments in Pakistan highlighting the dangers of sectarian violence and the potential for greater social cleavages emerging, this panel discussion will focus on the history and contemporary challenges facing Pakistan regarding sectarianism. Panelists will discuss the complex dynamics between Pakistani state and society, the diversity of cultural, ethnic, and religious identities and movements, and regional geopolitical and security dynamics which impact the country.

Issue Lessons from Occupy Diraz: The Role of Velayati Twelver Activism in the Bahraini Occupy Space Movement.

The paper shows how the Occupy Diraz movement founded on the ideals of radical Islam leads to the prefiguration of a radical Islamic protostate in a space it possesses and controls. The paper provides a rationale for criticism of Occupy Diraz for emphasising the possession of space and doctrinal aspect of ideology espoused by occupiers over an opportunity to expand on the principles of horizontality, embracing reform and principles of democracy.

1.Short Course – Islam and Constitutions.  The Law and Politics of Sharia Provisions

This is a three-day online course, running on the 7, 14 and 21 November from 13:30 – 16:30 on each occasion.

The Agha Khan University, London.

Why all the hype about Islam when drafting a constitution? Why are constitutions so central, to begin with? And what is the politics around references to Islam in them? What are, in particular, the sharia provisions, and how do they work?

This online course introduces participants to the conceptual foundations of constitutional law, the articulations of State-Islam relations in contemporary constitutions, and the various models of sharia provisions in a comparative perspective. Sharia provisions, in particular, are considered both in terms of their wording and the overall design. A close up on the politics of sharia provisions will provide a useful case study. The course also provides practical training in handling constitutional provisions on sharia in different jurisdictions through the direct involvement of participants in class activities.

For further information, see the link above.

 

 

 

 

2. Head Librarian – Library of the Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic 

Description:

The Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences is seeking an experienced and motivated individual to serve as Head Librarian of its library based in Prague, Czech Republic as it undergoes the beginning phases of a planned transition to a new site. The qualified individual’s primary duties will be to oversee day-to-day operations of the library, supervise cataloguing and retro-cataloguing of the library holdings, monitor new acquisitions, and identify and manage special collections. The position is ideal for a self-motivated and self-directed individual who loves books and wishes to implement an exciting and dynamic vision for a 300,000+ volume library housed in one of Europe’s oldest institutes for Oriental Studies. The Head Librarian will supervise the library staff and report directly to the Director of the Oriental Institute.

Qualifications:

• Minimum B.A. degree, background or experience in library sciences strongly preferred
• Fluency or near-native fluency in written and spoken English
• Knowledge of library systems and cataloguing
• Ability to manage a team of librarians and external interns
• Ability to communicate clearly with co-workers, researchers, and library patrons
• Knowledge of one or more of the languages, cultures, and histories related to the Oriental Institute’s sub-fields (Middle East, South Asia, East and Southeast Asia, Central Asia) preferred

Responsibilities:

• Manage day-to-day operations of library and oversee activities of library staff
• Identify and manage special collections (including possible digitalization)
• Support Oriental Institute researchers in utilizing and accessing library materials
• Pursue grants and other sources of external funding for retro-cataloguing of the library holdings, public exhibitions, and new acquisitions
• Formulate a new vision for the library as it undergoes a phased transition

 

Salary and Benefits:

1300-1700 EUR/month depending on experience. Full health benefits, 5-weeks annual vacation, travel and research stipends, and support for professional development and further study.

To Apply:

Please send a statement of interest (no more than 2 pages), C.V., and the names of 2 references to Jakub Hruby (hruby@orient.cas.cz). Any inquiries related to the position may also be directed to Dr. Hruby. Deadline: November 8, 2020

 

About the Library:

The Oriental Institute Library (est. 1929) holds around 300,000 books, periodicals, and manuscripts related to the fields of Middle East, South Asian, Central Asian, and East Asian Studies. In addition to the general collection, the library is home to several rare collections: the 70,000 item Lu Xun library containing Chinese sources, a 3,500 item Korean library, which includes rare items from North Korea, the Tibetan Library, which houses the Tibetan Buddhist canon and other unique materials, Coptic and Arabic papyri collection, and a soon-to-be acquired collection on colonial Manchuria funded by the Japan Foundation and Czech Academy of Sciences, among others.

About the Oriental Institute:

The Oriental Institute (www.orient.cas.cz) is a public non-university research institution. The Institute currently employs approximately 30 researchers from across the Czech Republic, Europe, Asia, and the United States. Formally established in 1922, the Oriental Institute is one of the oldest institutions dedicated to the study of Oriental cultures in Central and Eastern Europe. Since 1993, it has fallen administratively under the auspices of the Czech Academy of Sciences (CAS), an umbrella research institution similar in function to its counterparts in continental Europe, such as the CNRS in France. The CAS was established in 1992 as the Czech successor to the former Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. It is set up as a complex of 54 public research institutions. The primary mission of the CAS and its institutes is to conduct basic research in a broad spectrum of the natural, technical and social sciences and the humanities. This research, whether highly specialized or interdisciplinary in nature, aims to advance developments in scientific knowledge at the international level, while also taking into account the specific needs of both Czech society and national culture. In a country such as the Czech Republic, where university departments dealing with Oriental studies tend to be small and understaffed, the structure of non-university research bodies with permanent research positions brings numerous benefits. Among other things, scholars are enabled to pursue their specializations according to the needs of relevant fields of study, aiming correspondingly at the highest levels of research quality. The framework of the Institute allows for a flexible and open-ended approach to research initiatives in Asia-related topics, creating, in effect, an ideal environment for interdisciplinary research. The research quality is guaranteed by the Council of the Institute, composed of both internal and external members, and regular – both Czech and international – peer-review evaluations. Currently, the work of our researchers is mainly focused on the Arab world, Iran, Israel, Turkey, India, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Tibet, Japan, and the ancient Near East.

 

 

 

3. Call for Book Proposals: Political Communication and Media Practices in the Middle East and North Africa

I.B. Tauris is seeking book proposals for a new academic book series called Political Communication and Media Practices in the Middle East and North Africa. The popular uprisings that rocked several Arab countries at the beginning of 2011, and the more recent ones in Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq, arose, among other things, in the context of changing media practices and political communication in the region. Beyond visible actions by political elites and institutions, several of these movements were characterised by grassroots communication on social media, and many included creative practises by a diverse range of actors.
Books in this series critically engage with the complex and fluid relationship between politics, communication and culture in the Middle East and North Africa, taking into account the specificities of social and political local contexts, diverse political and media systems, media institutions, media and political actors and populations as well as differentiations along religious, sectarian, ethnic, gendered and racial lines.

Further information

 

 

 

4. Locating Afghanistan in the ‘Middle East’ with Moshtari Hilal

LSE Middle East Centre
On this episode of Instant Coffee, Marral Shamshiri-Fard talks to Moshtari Hilal about locating Afghanistan in the ‘Middle East’, as well as her own artistic practice. Moshtari Hilal is a visual artist and researcher working from Hamburg and Berlin.
Listen to the podcast

 

 

 

 

5. The American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT)is pleased to announce 2021-2022 fellowship programs for students and scholars based in the U.S. and Canada: 

 

ARIT / National Endowment for the Humanities Advanced Fellowships for Research in Turkey cover all fields of the humanities, including prehistory, history, art, archaeology, literature, and linguistics as well as interdisciplinary aspects of cultural history.  The fellowships support applicants who have completed their academic training.  The terms may range from four months to a full year.  Stipend per month is $4,200.

ARIT Fellowships for Research in Turkey are offered for research in ancient, medieval, or modern times, in any field of the humanities and social sciences.  Post-doctoral and advanced doctoral fellowships (PhD candidate) may be held for various terms, from one month up to one academic year.  Stipends range from $2,500 to $15,500.

 

Applications for ARIT and ARIT NEH fellowships must be submitted to ARIT by November 1, 2020.  The fellowship committee will notify applicants in late January 2021.

 

 

 

 

6. Online Exhibition – In the School of Wisdom: Persian Bookbinding ca 1575-1890, Curated by: Matthew Elliott Gillman, Columbia University

Now online: A Digital Exhibition of treasures of the art of the book from Columbia University’s Manuscript Collection.

 

In the School of Wisdom: Persian Bookbinding ca 1575-1890.

Curated by: Matthew Elliott Gillman — Ph.D. candidate, Department of Art History & Archaeology, Columbia University

 

This digital exhibition reprises a physical one held in Columbia’s Rare Book and Manuscript Library, in the Chang Octagon, between October 2018 and March 2019. Its restaging might pose an irony, given that the show’s concept and title, drawn from a lyric poem, concerns ephemerality. Translating this experience to the web nevertheless offers an opportunity to underscore its very theme.

 

Few of Columbia’s seven hundred or so Islamic codices have bindings older than 1800, whether the text was copied a millennium or just a century earlier. The exhibition highlights examples of new and especially replacement bindings from the early modern period, supporting practices of collecting and memory.

 

You are most welcomed to browse by clicking:

https://exhibitions.library.columbia.edu/exhibits/show/school_of_wisdom

 

 

 

 

7. ONLINE Webinar of the Yale Program in Iranian Studies, Fall 2020 Events, 16 October – 4 December 2020

 

16 October 2020: “Satan Conquered: The Iranian Revolution and its Demons” by Prof. Alireza Doostdar, University of Chicago

 

30 October 2020: “The Politicization of the Female Body in the Context of Sigheh Marriages”, Prof. Claudia Yaghoobi, University of North Carolina

 

13 November 2020: “Hafiz and His Contemporaries: Time, Place, and Dialogue in the Post-Mongol Persian Ghazal” by Prof. Dominic Parviz Brookshaw, University of Oxford

 

4 December 2020: “Re-discovering a Literary Treasure: The Anvar-e Sohayli Written by Vaʿez Kashefi in Fifteenth-Century Herat” by Prof. Christine van Ruymbeke, University of Cambridge

 

Information and registration: https://iranianstudies.macmillan.yale.edu/calendar/upcoming-events

 

 

 

 

8. ONLINE: “Second Annual Islamic Philosophy Conference”, American Society of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Harvard University, 5-6 December 2020

The aim of the conference is to promote the study of Islamic Philosophy, broadly conceived, in its historical and contemporary context. We welcome panel proposals as well as individual proposals. Papers will be eligible for publication in the Journal of Islamic Philosophy.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2020. Information: https://asipt.org/conferences/conference-paper/

 

 

 

 

9. Assistant Professor of Arabic, Hamilton College, New York

Ph.D in Arabic Language and Literature, Middle Eastern Studies or a closely related field is required. Applicants should have native, or near-native, fluency in Arabic and preferably have a record of excellence in teaching Arabic language, as well as experience in building a successful language program.

Deadline for applications: 21 October 2020. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/78584

 

 

 

10. Canada Research Chair (Tier 2), History of the Modern Middle East, University of British Columbia, Vancouver

The Research Chair with a focus on the history of the modern Middle East, broadly construed both temporally and geographically, is intended for exceptional emerging scholars (i.e., candidates must have been active researchers in their field for fewer than 10 years from their degree at the time of nomination). The thematic focus is open.

Deadline for applications: 1 November 2020. Information: https://hist.air.arts.ubc.ca/canada-research-chair-tier-2-history-of-the-modern-middle-east/

 

 

 

11. Grabar Travel & Post-Doctoral Awards for Ph.D. Candidates and Post-doctoral Scholars in All Areas of the History of Islamic Art, Architecture and Archaeology

The Travel Grant (700 US-$) is open to doctoral candidates who have been invited as participants in a scholarly conference or other professional meeting for the purpose of presenting papers. The Post-doctoral Fellowship (2000 US-$) is intended to spend up to two months as a research scholar at a university, museum, research institute or similar institution, or to support additional research to aid in preparing the dissertation for publication.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 November 2020. Information: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/grabar-grants-and-fellowships

 

 

 

 

12. Articles on “Speaking the Unspeakable – The Attributes of God in Islamic Thought” for Edited Volume in the Series “Horizons of Islamic Philosophy of Religion”

Topics include: doctrines of God’s attributes by various thinkers and thought schools; the ontological, epistemological and cosmological significance of the attributes; the political significance of particular attributes such as ʿadl; the influence of Jewish and Christian theologies; the actuality of the doctrine of God’s attributes for contemporary discourses.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2020. Information: https://www.uni-muenster.de/ZIT/Aktuelles/2020/callforpapers_speakingtheunspeakable___theattributesofgodinislamicthought.html

 

PEETERS ONLINE JOURNALS

Document Details : Title: The Host of Ma’lathāyā Subtitle: A Contribution to the Study of the Imami Shiite Construction of Orthodoxiy Author(s): CAPEZZONE, Leonardo Journal: Journal Asiatique Volume: 306 Issue: 2 Date: 2018 Pages: 187-199 DOI: 10.2143/JA.306.2.3285611 Abstract : After the occultation of the twelfth Imam, within the Shiite communities – especially in Qumm and Baghdad – a critical attitude has begun, involving some aspects of the Gnostic teachings transmitted by the most intimate disciples of the sixth imam Ja’far al-Ṣādiq.

Understanding Sunni-Shi’a sectarianism in contemporary Indonesia

The Sunni-Shi’a sectarian conflicts in Muslim countries have intensified during the last two decades; Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country in the world, is no exception to this trend. While sectarian discourses influenced by geopolitical dynamics are catalysed by many scripturalist groups in local sectarian conflicts, the traditional Islam represented by Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) is left out from the scholarly analysis on sectarianism as it has been largely considered representative of tolerant Islam.

پژوهشنامه تاریخ تشیع – فهرست مقالات

پژوهشنامه تاریخ تشیع (JSH)

1.Manuscripts in Arabic Script: Introduction to Codicology

October 23-24 (11:00-3:00 pm), 2020 London

This online course (2 days) aims to introduce Arabic manuscripts from a codicological and textual point of view. The first day will provide an overview of the field of codicology and it role in the manuscript field in general and in identifying the key features of the manuscript in particular. The second session will be dedicated to writing supports, the structure of quires, ruling and page layout, bookbinding, ornamentation, tools and materials used in bookmaking, and the palaeography of book hands. Some practical examples will be given based on the lecturers’ long experiences. The second day will focus on the importance of manuscripts in research. While the first session will cover the Para-textual features in the Arabic manuscripts, the second session will demonstrate the different approaches in editing manuscripts.

 

This introductory course is intended for students, researchers and librarians who are working in the field of manuscript studies. In the two-day course, the lecturers will cover a wide range of aspects for those who are acquiring basic knowledge in this field.

 

Learning outcomes:

 

– Basic understanding of the field of manuscript studies in general.

 

– Identify the role of manuscripts in knowledge production in different areas studies in Muslim cultures.

 

Length of course: 2 days (4 lectures)

 

Download course structure.

 

Course Lecturers:

 

Dr Walid Ghali is the Head of the Aga Khan Library, London, Assistant Professor at the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and a Chartered Librarian of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). Also, he is a member of the Islamic Manuscript Association, University of Cambridge. Dr Ghali received his PhD from Cairo University, Faculty of Arts in 2012. His current research projects focus on the Islamic manuscript traditions, particularly in Arabic script, and the history of books. Dr Ghali teaches Sufism, Arabic literature and manuscript traditions. Before moving to London, Dr Ghali worked in various librarian roles at the American University in Cairo. He has also held several consultancy roles in and outside Egypt, such as the Ministry of Endowment, Qatar University and the Supreme Council for Culture in Kuwait.

 

Dr Anne Regourd is researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, France. She has published extensively in the fields of History and Philology dealing with Codicology, Paper Studies, and Papyrology. She is the editor of book, The Trade in Papers Marked with Non-Latin Characters, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 2018, and heads the free access online journal, Nouvelles Chroniques du Manuscrit au Yémen.

 

Registration:

 

Tickets: £80 for professionals | £50 for students, AKU alumni and staff. Book your ticket soon.

 

*The course will be delivered via Zoom and further details will be provided later upon registration.

 

 

 

2. Manchester Journal of Transnational Islamic Law & Practice Vol 16, Issue 1 (2020)

Full issue on line at:

https://www.electronicpublications.org/catalogue/244

 

 

 

3. Call for Papers: British Muslims and Covid-19: Impacts, Experiences and Responses

8^th December 2020

A free MBRN online symposium

Last date for submission of abstracts: 30^th October 2020

Research on Covid-19 has highlighted its disproportionate impact on Black and Asian Minority Ethnic groups (BAME) communities (Public Health England, 2020). However, these studies only offer a limited understanding of the particularity of experiences within the umbrella category BAME. For instance, there is only limited discussion around faith in relation to Covid-19, its impacts and the socio-economic fall-outs of lockdown. This MBRN symposium will redress this gap by taking an intersectional perspective in mapping and analysing the impact of Covid-19 on British Muslim communities. By bringing together practitioners and academics, we will examine how diverse British Muslim communities have experienced the pandemic, how their lives have been impacted during and after lockdown and how they responded.

More information at:

http://www.mbrn.org.uk/call-for-papers-british-muslims-and-covid-19-impacts-experiences-and-responses/

 

 

 

 

4. Symposium: “Ottoman Ego-Documents”, Istanbul Medeniyet University, 7-9 April 2021

The symposium will be in English and Turkish. The texts belonging to pre-Tanzimat period are particularly advisedb to present. The primary sources used in the presentations can be in Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, Persian or any other languages spoken/written in Ottoman territories. The main focus would be on the texts written in Ottoman Turkish.

Information: https://benanlatilari.medeniyet.edu.tr/en

 

 

 

5. 27th International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), Institute for Islamic Theology, University of Osnabrück, 16-18 September 2021

It was originally planned that this international congress should take place in September 2020 in the Institute for Islamic Theology at the University of Osnabrück, chaired by Prof. Dr. Bülent Uçar. This event had to be postponed by one year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Further information will soon be available.

 

 

 

 

6. Conference on “The Visual Culture of Mosques”, King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture (Ithra), Dahran, 23-25 November 2021

Architects, designers, archeologists, artists, writers, historians and curators are invited to present their original research, objects or insights about mosques and related cultural objects. Categories of submission include: Research papers; Models, objects; Posters; Audio-visual productions.

Deadline for submissions: 28 December 2020. Information: https://www.ithra.com/en/visual-culture-mosques

 

 

 

 

7. 20^th ISA World Congress of Sociology on “Resurgent Authoritarianism: Sociology of New Entanglements of Religions, Politics, and Economies”, Melbourne, Australia, 24-30 July 2022

Mind this date! Information: https://www.isa-sociology.org/en/conferences/world-congress

 

 

 

 

8. Fellowship of the American Druze Foundation, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University

The Fellowship is to promote research on the Druze and Arab minorities with a concentration in the political, economic, and social history of the Druze. It supports academic research in the disciplines of history, political science, sociology, economics, anthropology, and archaeology.

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2020. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/78701

 

 

 

 

9. Qatar Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University

The fellowship supports a recent Ph.D. working on the topic of U.S.-Arab relations, Arab Studies, or Islamic Studies for one academic year ($60,000 plus benefits). The post-doctoral fellow will transform their Ph.D. dissertation into a publication, teach a small seminar on a topic of their choosing in either the fall or spring semester, and deliver a lecture at CCAS about their research. We also will support the Fellow to travel to Qatar and deliver a lecture at an educational institution in Doha.

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2020. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/78670

 

 

 

10. Mekka and Medina Maps and Illustrations: from 15th to 20th Century

Mehmet Tütüncü with contributions from Atef Alshehri (Medina-Riyadh), Ahmed Ameen (Fayoum University -Egypt) and İbrahim Yılmaz (Erzurum).
30×30 cm, hardcover luxurious paper and print total 182 pages
ISBN 978-90-6921-022-3

SOTA / Research Centre for Tukish and Arabic World

 

 

 

11. Muthanna/Mirror Writing in Islamic Calligraphy. History, Theory and Aesthetics

Esra Akın-Kıvanç

Indiana University Press, 2020

https://iupress.org/9780253049209/muthanna-mirror-writing-in-islamic-calligraphy/

 

 

Ashura in Italy: The Reshaping of Shi’a Rituals

This essay explores the impacts of Italy’s socio-religious tendencies on the Shi’a rituals of Muḥarram and Ṣafar. Ethnography and semi-structured interviews were the main methods adopted for the performance of this research. The implications of commemorating the Karbala tragedy in Italy were studied from four viewpoints.

Why are anti-Shia sentiments on the rise in Pakistan? | The Express Tribune

Between 2001 and 2018, approximately 4847 Shias were killed in incidents of sectarian violence. Some databases estimate over 10,000 innocent lives were lost during this time. The statistics are evidence of the blatant disregard for Shia lives, the complacency of State institutions and their failure to protect minorities.

See also The Diplomat.