Archive for January 26th, 2021

1. Online Indian Ocean Studies Conference , 28-20 January, 2021

As the new field of Indian Ocean Studies grows in both scope and ambition,
we would benefit from a regular conference – in part to foster
collaborations between different scholars working on the area and in part
for all us to see how the field is growing and changing. To this end, as
scholars of the region, we announce an inaugural meeting to take stock and
look ahead. Bringing together scholars at various stages in their careers,
including doctoral students, the sessions of this conference are meant to
allow us to develop collaboratively a sharper sense of what the stakes are
in our shared enterprise as researchers and teachers.

The meeting will take place between January 28-30, 2021 on Zoom, and will
feature a series of roundtables on the state of the field in various
thematic areas, along with more informal breakout sessions following each
roundtable. Registration is open to anyone interested in participating.
Details and registration links can be found at http://iowconference.org/ .
We look forward to what will be a stimulating conversation, and the first
of many more to come.

Fahad Ahmad Bishara
Associate Professor of History and of Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Studies
University of Virginia

Ananya Chakravarti
Associate Professor of History
Georgetown University

 

 

 

 

2. Historians of Islamic Art Association at the College Art Association’s Annual Conference, February 10-13, 2021

The schedule for the HIAA Business Meeting and Majlis, held in conjunction with CAA Annual Conference next month:

The HIAA Business Meeting will be virtually on Thursday, February 11 at 12.30pm (EST). To register for the meeting, please sign up here: https://ucr.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEufuihqDkoH9H8pZ-g2v6Dmev6szJI0Sv2

The HIAA Majlis, will take place virtually as a webinar on Thursday, February 11 from 3:30 to 5:30 pm (EST). To attend, please register using the following link: https://yale.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OLkc7lbMTgiuwIat8hCCMw

 

** Andrea Luigi Corsi, Sapienza University of Rome, “The Development of Stucco Decoration During the Early  Abbasid Period: the ‘Miniaturistic Style’ as a Transregional  Artistic Koine.”

** Ariel Fein, Yale University, “Kufic Epigraphy between  Ifriqiyya and Norman Sicily.”

** Holley Ledbetter, University of Michigan, “Gender, Race,  and ‘Ajab: Automata of the Enslaved in al-Afdal’s Drinking  Room.”

** Alison Tendrup, Boston University, “Picture-in-Picture:  Representations of Ottoman-Balkan Princely Identities in  Nineteenth Century Portraiture.”

** Amanda Lanzillo, Princeton University, “Electroplating as  Alchemy: Making metalsmithing Islamic in colonial India,  1870-1920.”

 

The live Q&A for HIAA’s sponsored panel at CAA will be held on Friday, February 12 at 4:00 pm (EST). Please see the CAA website for attendance details.

Digital Humanities + Islamic Visual Culture

** Lyla Halsted, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, “Animating an  Amulet: 3D Modeling, Materiality, and a Medieval Arabic Amulet Scroll.”

** Hussein Keshani, The University of British Columbia, “Soft  Eyes: Software’s Visualities and Islamic Art History in the Digital Age.”

** Yasaman Lotfizadeh, The University of British Columbia,  “Visualizing Creative Collaboration in the Shah Tahmasp  Shahnameh.”

** Michael A. Toler, Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT  Libraries, “Digital Sustainability in DH Projects: The Case  Study of Archnet.”

 

There are a number of other panels and single papers for those interested in Islamic Art and material culture, the most relevant of which are listed below. Note: this is not an exhaustive list.

 

For a full schedule of the conference, please see: https://caa.confex.com/caa/2021/meetingapp.cgi

 

Please note that registration is required to attend CAA. There are several options: https://www.collegeart.org/programs/conference/conference2021/registration

 

 

 

3. Ceramics of Iran: Islamic Pottery in the Sarikhani Collection,

by Oliver Watson with contributions by Moujan Matin and Will Kwiatkowski.

Yale, October 2020; 528pp.; £50 / $60

https://yalebooks.co.uk/display.asp?K=9780300254280

 

 

 

 

4. ONLINE National Conference on “Rahma and Karuna – Compassion as Common Ground for Building Understanding between Islam and Buddhism”, International Islamic University Malaysia, 27 January 2021, 9:30 am – 4:00 pm (GMT+8)

Registeration link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScVpwHoAe3Vd08o70jFdXyh7OJq-j6IrOEGlSCyyyIgmj_wFA/viewform

 

 

 

 

5. ONLINE Seminar: “The Bitter Harvest of Lebanon’s Sectarian Politics”, Arab Center Washington DC, 2 February 2021, 10:00 am – 11:30 am ET

Speakers will discuss the serious problems inherent in Lebanon’s politics and will consider the chances for a breakthrough from the current stalemate, including the prospects for compromise. They will explore how political paralysis affects the country’s economy and development.

Information and registration: http://arabcenterdc.org/events/the-bitter-harvest-of-lebanons-sectarian-politics/

 

 

 

6. ONLINE Seminar by Aili Mari Tripp (University of Wisconsin): “Seeking Legitimacy: Why Arab Autocracies Adopt Women’s Rights”, SOAS Middle East Institute, 9 February 2021, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm GMT

Aili Mari Tripp explains why autocratic leaders in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria embraced more extensive legal reforms of women’s rights than their Middle Eastern counterparts. The study challenges existing accounts that rely primarily on religiosity to explain the adoption of women’s rights in Muslim-majority countries.

Information and registration: https://www.soas.ac.uk/smei/events/cme/09feb2021-seeking-legitimacy-why-arab-autocracies-adopt-womens-rights.html

 

 

 

7. ONLINE Seminar by Aili Mari Tripp (University of Wisconsin): “Seeking Legitimacy: Why Arab Autocracies Adopt Women’s Rights”, SOAS Middle East Institute, 9 February 2021, 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm GMT

Aili Mari Tripp explains why autocratic leaders in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria embraced more extensive legal reforms of women’s rights than their Middle Eastern counterparts. The study challenges existing accounts that rely primarily on religiosity to explain the adoption of women’s rights in Muslim-majority countries.

Information and registration: https://www.soas.ac.uk/smei/events/cme/09feb2021-seeking-legitimacy-why-arab-autocracies-adopt-womens-rights.html

 

 

 

 

8. Postdoctoral Position (Kurdish Studies) and Doctoral Position (Berber/Amazigh Studies), Heidelberg University

We are looking for candidates with a background in Political Science / Middle East Studies with a particular focus on modern Kurdish or Berber/Amazigh politics. For the position as postdoctoral researcher, spoken and written Kurdish is required; for the position as doctoral researcher, a Berber/Amazigh language is required (knowledge of the neo-Tifinagh script is an advantage).

Deadline for applications: 15 February 2021. Information: https://adb.zuv.uni-heidelberg.de/info/INFO_FDB$.startup?MODUL=LS&M1=1&M2=0&M3=0&PRO=29731

 

 

 

 

9. Arcapita Visiting Professor Modern Arab Studies, Middle East Institute, Columbia University

This is a one-semester position for the fall 2021 or spring 2022 semester. We are interested in candidates whose field of research and teaching is in history, culture, or social sciences of the modern Arab world.

Application deadline: 21 April 2021. Information: https://pa334.peopleadmin.com/postings/6940

 

 

 

 

10. Books for New Series “Unsettling Colonialism in Our Times” (I.B.Tauris)

This is the principal venue for research at the intersection of settler colonialism studies, decolonization, and critiques of neoliberalism. . It provides a framework for experts to deconstruct history and present contemporary struggles for freedom and human rights in new ways. Series editors: William Gallois (Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies) and Ilan Pappe (Director of the European Centre for Palestine Studies), both at the University of Exeter.

Information: Contact Sophie Rudland sophie.rudland@bloomsbury.com

 

 

 

 

11. New Website Launched: “Digital Ottoman Studies Platform”

This website is designed as a hub for digital projects, tools, events, publications, and platforms to contribute to Digital Humanities from the perspective of Ottoman and Turkish Studies.

Information: https://www.digitalottomanstudies.com/

 

 

 

 

12. Researchers, teachers and librarians at Leiden university joined forces to create this very innovative free online ‘ textbook’.

Mouse&Manuscript is a collection of interactive lessons on codicology and oriental manuscripts. Its aim is to stimulate teaching on codicology in and outside of the classroom, and to contribute to the disclosure of Leiden University’s rich collection of oriental manuscripts. The lessons are centered around fully digitalised manuscripts from the oriental collection of Leiden University Libraries. They include samples in Arabic, Persian and Coptic, from cultures ranging from the Maghrib to Mughal India. The lessons can be read in any order.

With lock-downs around the world and teachers struggling to give shape to their teaching online, this tool could not have been more timely:

https://mouse.digitalscholarship.nl/

https://mouse.digitalscholarship.nl/lessons

 

 

 

13. CfP : We invite submissions for an international conference on the language of kinship in Islamic(ate) societies before the modern period (622–1500 CE).

The Embedding Conquest (EmCo) team has been investigating the social, political, administrative, religious, and economic ties that sustained strategies and mechanics of protection and dependency in the early Islamic empire, contributing to shaping imperial rule under the Umayyads and the Abbasids. As part of our project, we study how writers and document producers expressed vertical and horizontal relationships, including the use of family terms. We now invite other researchers to join in our conversation focusing on relational ties that were expressed primarily through or as kinship. This international meeting will be a venue for presenting new studies about practices, categories, and discourses through which kinship might

(i) connect individuals and groups to one another

(ii) contribute to binding an empire (or other large political entity) together.

For the full description of the conference and details on sending in your proposal, please check the upcoming events page on our website: https://emco.hcommons.org/events/event/call-for-papers-ties-of-kinship-and-the-early-islam…

N.B. Note that this is a different conference from the one advertised on H-net several weeks ago by the Embedding Conquest research team and for which we are still accepting proposals as well.

For additional information/ questions you can contact us at emco@hum.leidenuniv.nl