Archive for February, 2021

How Biden should engage Bahrain

1.Digital Islamicate Paleography and Codicology Summer School

June 1-August 20, 2021

 

The Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland (Roshan Institute-UMD) is offering a free, stipend-supported twelve-week online summer course on digital Islamicate paleography and codicology. We are seeking graduate students interested in the intersection of Arabic-script paleography and codicology with digital humanities methods and technologies. The course will run from June 1st to August 20th, and will be capped at five graduate students. The course will be free of charge, and students selected for participation will be given a $5,000 stipend in return for their participation and completion of the course requirements.

 

Please see the course website for more details: http://islamicate-dh.github.io/AboutDPC.

 

Inquiries and applications (an up-to-date CV and a cover letter explaining interest and applicability) can be directed to the course instructor, Dr. Jonathan Parkes Allen: jallen22@umd.edu, or to the director of the ACDC project, Dr. Matthew Thomas Miller: mtmiller@umd.edu. Applications will be accepted up until March 15th; we will notify students selected for participation by March 20th.

 

 

2. UCLA Iranian Studies

Book Talk – Women in Place: The Politics of Gender Segregation in Iran (University of California Press, 2020)

by Nazanin Shahrokni

Sunday, March 7 at 11:30am Pacific via Zoom

To register and receive the Zoom webinar information, please click here.

This lecture will be in Persian.

https://nelc.ucla.edu/event/bilingual-lecture-series-nazanin-shahrokni/

 

 

 

3. The Umayyads from West to East: New Perspectives

International Online Workshop
22-23 March 2021
RomanIslam Center. Universität Hamburg.

The conference will be transmitted online via ZOOM and external
participants are welcome. Please contact Laura Donath
(laura.donath@studium.uni-hamburg.de) by March 18/2021 to gain access to the
link.
Please find the program in the following link:

https://www.romanislam.uni-hamburg.de/events-news/news/workshop-umayyads.html

 

 

 

4. IMEST Lecture Series

Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies in Taiwan is a listserver aiming to promote Islamic and Middle Eastern studies in Taiwan and connect Taiwanese scholarship with academics in the field based in different parts of the world. Taking the advantage of the lockdown and the consequent webinarisation of the intellectual activities, IMEST will start out by holding a series of lectures on different topics on monthly or bimonthly basis.
If you would like to invite your colleague(s) to this email-list or circulate information about relevant events of interest, useful websites and news of publications and other academic activities, please send to isu@nccu.edu.tw .
Our first speaker, Yasmin Amin, phD candidate and soon phD, will talk about her new book: Islamic Interpretive Tradition and Gender Justice (https://www.mqup.ca/islamic-interpretive-tradition-and-gender-justice-products-9780228001638.php )
The talk will be held on March 8, 2021, 17.30 (GMT +8).
For registration, please sign before March 5, 17.00 (GMT+8): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYXJb3Ze-cb8tRikkYyhS8totzb08IjnbcwjqwlxFJpS1xWA/viewform?usp=sf_link
Further information about the talk and the speaker will be circulated.

all the best,

Dr. I-Wen Su, Associate Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Culture, National Chengchi University
Author of The Shīʿī Past in the Great Book of the Songs (New Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2021)
Director of Center for the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies

 

 

 

5. The Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) is pleased to announce that our intensive summer Arabic programs will be offered online between June 14 and July 30, 2021.

CAMES offers two separate seven-week programs that provide intensive online instruction in Arabic through a rigorous academic curriculum, complemented by an integrated series of films, guest lectures, and other online activities:

• Arabic Language and Culture Program: this program is designed for learners who want to develop their overall proficiency in Arabic in both its Standard and Lebanese varieties. The program emphasizes the development of various skills within a communicative, proficiency-based framework that considers Arabic in all its varieties as “one language”. To this end, it integrates Standard Arabic and Lebanese Arabic within the same course, and gives special attention to the development of intercultural competence in Arabic.
• Lebanese Arabic Program: this program is designed for learners who want to develop their proficiency in Lebanese Arabic. The program focuses on speaking and listening skills, as well as building/enhancing intercultural competence in Lebanese Arabic.

Each program provides nine credit hours of instruction at various levels of proficiency. Students may transfer the credits earned to their home institutions.

The application deadline is April 14, 2021. For detailed information about the academic content of our programs, application forms, costs, and financial support, please visit our website.

Contact us on cames@aub.edu.lb if you have any questions.

 

 

 

 

6. Qur’an manuscripts from Southeast Asia digitised by the Endangered Archives Programme

From the British Library

 

 

 

7. British Society for Middle Eastern Studies

BRISMES Early Career Development (ECR) Prize (2 prizes of £2000 each)
The aim of the BRISMES Early Career Development Prize is to support activities geared toward strengthening the academic profile and CV of an early career scholar. More information
BRISMES Conference Student Paper Prize (£300)
The aim of the BRISMES Conference Student Paper Prize is to support BRISMES student members in the development of peer-reviewed work. The prize winner will be mentored through a review process at BJMES, by a senior member of the BRISMES academic community. More information

 

Upcoming Event: Publishing in Leading MENA-Focused Journals in the UK and the USA
Join us on Wednesday 17 March at 5:00 PM (GMT) for this event hosted by the Middle East and North Africa Centre at Sussex (MENACS). BJMES editor Dr Lloyd Ridgeon will join Dr Andrew Arsan, editor of Mashriq & Mahjar, in a Zoom webinar for an insightful conversation on academic publishing in the UK and USA. The editors will share the history, aims and scopes of their journals, compare peer-reviewed publishing in the USA and the UK, provide tips on submitting manuscripts, and take questions from the audience. Find out more about the event and how to attend on the BRISMES website.

 

 

 

 

8. The Arab Winter: Democratic Consolidation, Civil War, and Radical Islamists
SOAS University of London | 2 March 2021, 5:30 PM
This is the next event in the SOAS Lecture Programme on the Contemporary Middle East. This unique comparative analysis of countries before, during and after the Arab Spring seeks to explain the divergent outcomes, disappointing and even harrowing results of efforts to overcome democratic consolidation challenges, from the tentative democracy in Tunisia to the emergence of the Islamic State, and civil war and authoritarian retrenchment everywhere else.

Further information

 

 

 

 

9. H.M. King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan Fellowship for the Study of Love in Religion
Regent’s Park College | University of Oxford
Regent’s Park College, a Permanent Private Hall within the University of Oxford, welcomes applications for the H.M. King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan Fellowship for the Study of Love in Religion which will run for a term of five and one-half years from 1 September 2021. The post is situated at present within a wider project for the Study of Love in Religion at Regent’s Park College, a research programme of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture.
Closing date for applications | 9 April 2021
Further information

 

 

 

 

10. Revelation in the Qur’an: A Semantic Study of the Roots n-z-l and w-ḥ-y (Brill, Texts and Studies on the Qurʾān, Volume 18, 2021)

Simon P. Loynes.

https://brill.com/view/title/59761

 

 

 

 

11. Arabic Language at Duke University (Instructor or Visiting Lecturer / Prof. of the Practice)

for details see: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/18209
Instructor, Visiting Lecturer or Visiting Assistant Professor of the Practice of Arabic
The Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina invites applicants for one full-time Instructor or Visiting Lecturer / Professor of the Practice in Arabic language beginning August 1, 2021. The contract for the position is for a one academic year (2021-2022). Applicants should be prepared to teach Arabic at all levels. The teaching load is five courses (3/2), and active participation in Arabic language curricular and co-curricular activities is required. Applicants should hold an MA or a higher degree in Second Language Pedagogy, Applied Linguistics, Arabic Literature, or a related field with native or near-native proficiency in Arabic and English. Experience in teaching undergraduates in North America is required. Adaptability with instructional technologies, experience with team-teaching, and demonstration of active participation in the professional field are highly desirable.
To be assured of consideration, submit an application by April 1, 2021, consisting of: 1) a current CV; 2) a letter of application detailing professional activities, scholarly interests, and teaching experience; 3) a portfolio including, but not limited to, the following: sample syllabi for core courses taught in Arabic sequence; a 15-30 minute video of teaching demonstration; official teaching evaluations for the past year; 4) the names of two referees (the search committee will request these letters at a later stage of the search). Application materials should be uploaded to this Academic Jobs Online Portal at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/18209. Additional information may be obtained at amesdept@duke.edu.

 

 

 

 

12. Reprint of the Persian Mahabharata from Shirazeh Publishing

The Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS) is pleased to announce the reprint edition of the monumental 4-volume Persian translation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata that was completed under the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the sixteenth century. The text was edited by the late distinguished Professors Jalali Naini and N.S. Shukla, and published in 1979-81 by Kitabkhaneh-ye Tahuri. Records in Worldcat indicate that very few libraries own a copy. The reprint will not be available in bookstores or through booksellers but must be ordered from ASPS and will be sent directly from the publisher in Shiraz.

The cost of the 4-volume set inclusive of postage is: US $125 or €100.

To order please send an email to Professor Alyssa Gabbay (Alyssa Gabbay <abgabbay@uncg.edu>).

 

 

 

 

13. OIMP 40. Antoin Sevruguin: Past and Present

Tasha Vorderstrasse, ed. Chicago, 2020

Explore the changing world of late nineteenth-century Iran through the gaze of one of its most renowned photographers, Antoin Sevruguin. This volume, which will be accompanied by a forthcoming exhibition, publishes for the first time the Oriental Institute Museum’s complete collection of nineteenth-century Iranian photographs, most of which were created by Sevruguin. Sevruguin’s artfully staged photographs still resonate with us today. Accompanying the print catalog is a series of essays that investigate Sevruguin’s life and photographic career, including the lasting impact of his unique vision, as demonstrated by the work of contemporary artist Yassaman Ameri.

https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oimp/oimp-40-antoin-sevruguin

 

 

 

 

14. Afghan Newspaper Now Available Online Open Access

Over 1,200 issues of the Afghan newspaper Kārawān are now available.

published: 2020/09/04

contact: Amy Schindler – Archives and Special Collections

phone: 402.554.6046

email: acschindler@unomaha.edu

https://www.unomaha.edu/criss-library/news/2020/09/afghan-newspaper-open-access.php

 

 

 

 

15. CONF: The Other Asia: Central Asia and Library Collections (online, 18 March 2021

Opening Remarks: Professor David W. Roland-Holst, Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Berkeley

 

Speakers:

Mr. Andy Spencer, Librarian,  Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies Librarian, University of Wisconsin-Madison

 

Dr. Akram Habibulla, Librarian for Middle Eastern, Islamic, and Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University

 

Dr. Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, Professor of History and the founding coordinator of the Middle Eastern Communities and Migrations minor, James Madison University

 

Emily Laskin, Ph.D. Candidate Slavic Languages and LiteraturesUC Berkeley

 

Organizer: Dr. Liladhar R. Pendse, UC Berkeley

 

Event Registration: http://ucblib.link/3c7

 

March 18, 202111 am-12:30 PST/ 1 pm-2:30 EST

 

 

 

 

16. Urdu Summer Language Program (Lahore University of Management Sciences)

The LUMS Urdu Language Program, is a brand-new opportunity for students from around the world to study Urdu language and literature and learn about Pakistani society and culture firsthand at LUMS, the leading university in Pakistan’s cultural capital, Lahore.

Urdu is a key research language for students of South Asian history, geography, politics, art history, literature, cinema, religion, and other fields; we aim to provide an immersive program in Pakistan for students of Urdu as a second language that also will facilitate their other scholarly work in the region. The LUMS Urdu Language Program is housed on our secure campus where students will have access to our world-class library, gym, dining facilities, medical center, and other university amenities and student services.

In Pakistan and at LUMS we will provide students with a truly immersive Urdu experience. In Lahore, students will have the opportunity to be immersed in a world of Urdu both inside and outside of the classroom. Not only they will be able to explore the city of Urdu literary giants such as Iqbal, Faiz, and Manto, but also have the chance to be surrounded by Urdu in public spaces and most importantly to experience daily interactions in the language.Our cutting-edge, student-centered curriculum has been developed by a team of specialized instructors with extensive pedagogical training and experience in the United States. Our teachers have taught at leading universities including the University of Virginia, Indiana University Bloomington, Michigan State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and have been trained in Urdu language pedagogy at the University of Texas at Austin and at UC Berkeley.

Any further inquiries can be directed to: urdu@lums.edu.pk or by replying to this email. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions regarding the program!

Best wishes,

LUMS Urdu Language Program Team

https://www.facebook.com/LUMS-Urdu-Language-Program-173837317500630

Saturday 27 Feb. 2021 @ 9:30am CST / 10:30am EST / 7pm Tehran

The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at University of Chicago
and
the Department of Middle East Studies at the University of Michigan

announce a joint initiative for a series of dialogues with scholars in Iran
about the current state of study in various topics/fields of Iranian Studies.

The inaugural conversation (in Persian) will feature a discussion between:

Prof. Kathryn Babayan of the University of Michigan
Prof. Rasul Jafarian at the University of Tehran, and
Prof. Nozhat Ahmadi at the University of Isfahan

about the state of Safavid studies.

Please register here: https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_h80X2M-sSmC3NZeJmtwHwQ

The Arab Spring in the Gulf countries – 10 years later

For ADHRB Weekly Newsletter #387, click here.

1.Online Webinar – What can Islamic Law teach us about Islamic Art and Architecture, Ruba Kana’an – February 25

The Department of Art History and Visual Studies, University of Victoria is delighted to be hosting a webinar discussion featuring Dr. Ruba Kana’an, entitled “What can Islamic Law teach us about Islamic art and architecture?” Dr. Kana’an will be in discussion with Dr. Marcus Milwright with the Q&A session facilitated by Zahra Kazani.

 

The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 4:00 – 5:30 pm (PST).

 

Dr. Ruba Kana’an is an assistant professor of Islamic art and architecture at the Department of Visual Studies, University of Toronto Mississauga and was the 2018-2019 Barakat Senior Fellow in Islamic Art, University of Oxford. Dr. Kana’an’s primary research focuses on the Intersections between art, artists, art production and law in historical and contemporary contexts. She is author of the forthcoming book The Friday Mosque: Law, Architecture, and Authority in Pre-Modern Muslim Societies.

 

For registration to the webinar, see:

 

https://uvic.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Sln8sUXHQrmnjBmYNadfNw

 

This event is part of the Orion Series in Fine Arts, and is co-sponsored by the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria and the Middle East and Islamic Studies Consortium of British Columbia.

 

 

 

2. ASPIRANTUM language school has announced 2 new online courses:

Middle Persian Course: https://aspirantum.com/courses/middle-persian-pahlavi-school

Old Persian Course: https://aspirantum.com/courses/old-persian-school

 

Our other Persian language courses:

 

Persian through the Shahname: https://aspirantum.com/courses/learn-persian-through-shahname

Persian Summer School in Yerevan: https://aspirantum.com/courses/persian-language-summer-school-04-july-28-august-2021-yerevan-armenia

Persian Semester in Yerevan: https://aspirantum.com/courses/study-persian-language-semester-abroad

 

 

 

 

3. ONLINE Colloquium: “Qur’ān Translations and Interpretations by European Muslims”, ERC Project “The European Qur’ān, 1150-1850” (EuQu), University of Amsterdam, 5 March 2021

This one-day colloquium aims to foster existing collaborations of the team at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) with the project members, as well as to facilitate knowledge exchange with other scholars working on similar topics outside the EuQu. The discussion will focus on Qur’ān translation and interpretation practices adopted by Muslims in different regions of wider Europe, as well as on Muslim-Christian interactions brought about by those translation activities.

Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/attend-qurn-translations-and-interpretations-by-european-muslims-5-march-remote?e=82aeb6c61d

 

 

 

 

4. ONLINE Conference: “Qur’an and Bible”, ERC Project “The European Qur’an”, University of Notre Dame, 22-26 March 2021, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm CET

 

This workshop will explore the changing ways in which Medieval and Early Modern Jewish, Christian and Muslim readers relate Biblical literature and Qur’an. How did medieval and early modern readers assess the relationship between the two scriptures? How did they account for narrative parallels as well as the differences they found in them?

 

Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/attend-quran-and-bible-22-26-march-remote?e=82aeb6c61d

 

 

 

 

5. International Conference: “Arabic Historiography, Narratives of Order, and Discourses of Sovereignty in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria” (ERC Project, Gent University, 2017-21), Cairo, 28-30 November 2021

Papers are invited on the Arabic historiographical traditions of the ‘Mamluk’ Sultanate of Cairo (7^th – 13^th centuries) that question the complex contextual, textual or semiotic layers which connect texts of history in diverse ways to the social, cultural and above all political environments of their production, reception and circulation.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 April 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/8330/discussions/6971193/call-papers

 

 

 

 

6. Research Associate for the Project “Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity – Transcultural Processes on the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa”, DFG Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe “RomanIslam”, Universität Hamburg

Requirements: an excellent university degree (MA) in a relevant field of Middle Eastern history and culture; excellent Arabic skills; experience with Arabic historical primary sources; excellent knowledge of English, and French. The knowledge of further relevant languages, such as Latin, and Spanish, etc. is advantageous. Experience in working with additional sources, such as archaeological, numismatic, and geographical material is welcome but not a requirement.

Deadline for applications: 15 March 2021. Information: https://www.romanislam.uni-hamburg.de/documents/66-gw-28-3-research-associate-phd.pdf

 

 

 

 

7. Appel à projets 2021 « Islam, religion et société (en France) » du ministère de l’intérieur, Paris

Le ministère soutient la recherche et notamment les jeunes chercheurs et post-doctorants dans les champs disciplinaires de l’islamologie et des sciences humaines sur l’islam en France.

La date limite de candidature est fixée au 29 mars 2021 par : bureau-central-cultes@interieur.gouv.fr. Information : https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Publications/Cultes-et-laicite/Appels-a-projets-AAP-Islam-religion-et-societe.

 

 

 

 

8. Appel à contribution pour la nouvelle revue « Bidaya – Revue étudiante francophone en sciences humaines et sociales sur le monde arabe»

Cette revue vise à soutenir l’entrée des étudiants dans le monde de la recherche, en leur fournissant des conseils sur les techniques de rédaction d’articles et un espace de publication inédit. La revue sera composé du dossier principal et d’un dossier thématique, qui, dans cette édition, traitera le sujet « femmes et révolutions arabes ». Au-delà, la revue accueillera des articles variés portant sur le monde arabe et contient une rubrique pour des recensions et critiques.

Date limite d’envoi des propositions : 28 mars 2021. Information : https://www.carep-paris.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Appel-a-contribution_revue_revue_Bidaya_N%C2%B01.pdf

 

 

 

 

9. Articles on “The Politics of Syria” for Special Issue of Journal “Siasat-al-Insaf”

In this edition, we seek scholarly and opinionated papers that explore topics, discourses, motifs, interests, or perspectives that go beyond the image of Syria as a conflict zone, or the country which is the product of a conflict zone. The issue aims to incentivize Syria in a positive light, focussing on the contributions of Syria (politically, economically, literarily, historically, and socially) in the world order.

Deadline for articles: 20 April 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/7277183/politics-syria

 

 

 

10. Paid Research Articles on “What has Changed in the Decade since the Outbreak of the Arab Uprisings?” for a Special Issue of the Journal “Rowaq Arabi”

This issue aims at providing original research in English or Arabic on the changes that occurred during the past decade following the Arab Uprisings. Evidently, protesters across the region have learnt lessons from their failures, while the existing authoritarian elites have as well learnt their own in repressing and circumventing any potential political mobilisation.

Deadline for manuscripts: 15 March 2021. Information: https://rowaq.cihrs.org/call-for-papers-what-has-changed-in-the-decade-since-the-outbreak-of-the-arab-uprisings/?lang=en

 

 

 

 

11. Patchwork for a Prince: Exploring Persian Anthology British Library Or.13193

Aq Qoyunlu prince ‘Abu’l-‘Izz [Yamin al-Din] Yusuf Bahadur Khan. Yusuf was one of the sons of Sultan Uzun Hasan Aq Qoyunlu, and brother to Sultan Ya’qub Aq Qoyunlu.

 

 

 

12. Call for papers: Archaeology of Islamic Society at ASOR 2021

We invite you to submit a paper abstract for the Archaeology of Islamic Society session for ASOR 2021. We would welcome papers on any period or region involving Islamic archaeology.

The deadline to submit abstracts is March 15.

This year, ASOR will consist of an in-person component in Chicago from November 17–20 and a virtual component on December 9–12. Please see here for more information on how to submit a paper: https://www.asor.org/am/2021/call-for-papers-2021. You can submit an abstract to either session or you can submit the same abstract to both sessions and it will count as a single paper presentation.

We look forward to seeing you in Chicago or online! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Ian Jones, University of California, San Diego (ijones@ucsd.edu)

Tasha Vorderstrasse, University of Chicago (tkvorder@uchicago.edu)

 

 

 

 

13. I have the great pleasure in announcing the publication of our new Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World and our inaugural double issue 2020.
https://brill.com/view/journals/mcmw/1/1-2/mcmw.1.issue-1-2.xml
The Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW)​​ is published by BRILL with the support of the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.​

MCMW aims to be a new reference for field archaeologists, (art) historians, anthropologists, curators, and scholars and students of the (art) history, archaeology, architecture, anthropology and ethnography of the Muslim world. This readership represents a new broader definition of material culture that includes not only artefacts, architectural structures and monuments, but also crafts. The journal also aims to inform (other) disciplines and historiographies, by including (unreviewed) archaeological field surveys for example.

The journal focuses on un(der)explored Muslim regions outside of the Middle East and North Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Ocean, Central Asia, India, South-East Asia and Europe.

The journal accepts submissions in English, French, German and Spanish and short reports in Arabic, Persian and Turkish with an English abstract. Submissions should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief at: Stephane.Pradines@aku.edu. ​​