Archive for March, 2021
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Pourdavoud Center (UCLA) is pleased to announce the public launch of a new major research project, the UCLA Archaeological Gazetteer of Iran, led by our colleague and Pourdavoud Associate, Dr. Ali Mousavi. This project is a free-access, web-based encyclopedia of archaeological sites, places, and monuments of the greater Iranian World. The Pourdavoud Center envisions the Gazetteer to become a major vehicle for archaeological research on ancient Iran, as well as a digital resource for scholars and students worldwide.
As we celebrate the first day of Norouz 1400, on March 20, 2021, we invite you to visit the UCLA Archaeological Gazetteer of Iran at: irangazetteer.humspace.ucla.edu.
2. ONLINE 3ème Forum du GIS MOMM : “Au-delà des frontières. La recherche française et les nouvelles circulations régionales des savoirs au Maghreb et au Moyen-Orient”, 23 mars, 30 mars et 6 avril 2021
Le Forum a pour ambition d’ouvrir un espace de travail commun rassemblant les laboratoires de recherche métropolitains membres du GIS, les UMIFRE du Maghreb et du Moyen-Orient, et un certain nombre d’acteurs locaux ou régionaux de la recherche.
Information et programme : http://majlis-remomm.fr/71441
3. ONLINE Seminar: “On Origin Myths and Genealogical Imagination: The Marginalization of Yemen’s Black Community” by Gokh Amin Alshaif, Department of History at Brandeis University, 24 March 2021, 11:00 am EST
Gokh Amin Alshaif will examine the origin myths and racialized genealogical imagination at the root of Black Yemenis’ (known as Muhamasheen) marginalization. She will discuss the ways in which some Yemenis deploy imagined genealogies to justify the Muhamasheen’s status and construct the categories of “Arab” and “Black” as mutually exclusive. Finally, she will explore acts of resistance by Muhamasheen activists today and their struggle to reclaim power over naming and genealogy.
Information and registration: https://brandeis.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1NgKuKcrSFOzuTjEj37Bdw
4. ONLINE Lecture Series: “’Happy Together’ – The Entangled History of Jewish Communities in Ottoman Lands and Turkey”, Institut für Orientalistik, University of Vienna, Every Wednesday 24 March – 23 June 2021, 6:30 pm CET
The lecture series is dedicated to the history of Jews in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey as well as “Turkish” Jews in Europe. It will deal with important stages of Jewish history, beginning with the pre-modern period up to the republican period. Another thematic strand will be devoted to “Turkish” Jews in Europe, especially Vienna.
Information and registration: https://orientalistik.univie.ac.at/aktuelles/dauerveranstaltungen/ringvorlesung-turkologie/
5. ONLINE Inaugural Talk: “The Road to the Quran Keyword Database” by Prof Elie Wardini (Stockholm University), Institute for Advanced Study, in Partnership with Gorgias Press, 25 March 2021, 12:00 pm EST
The author`s work on the lexicon of the Quran stems from his interest in contact between Aramaic and Arabic. A question to ask is: ‘What has the Quran contributed to the lexicon of Arabic? And what are its sources?’ The data from the Quran offered much more information than anticipated.
Information and registration: https://theias.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZArdOyqqDwuHt1OZ0yfJesHTQmnfG4tH51D
6. ONLINE Conférence publique de l’IISMM : « Les épidémies en Islam: la question de la contagion et sa gestion religieuse et politique » par Anne-Marie Moulin et Sylvia Chiffoleau (CNRS), 6 avril 2021, 18h30 à 20h30 CET
Si vous souhaitez accéder à la visioconférence merci de bien vouloir rejoindre la salle en renseignant votre nom et choisissant “écoute seule” à l’adresse https://webconference.ehess.fr/b/bil-kca-tri.
7. 8e Journées de la Halqa “Mobilisations et engagements dans les mondes arabes et musulmans (XVIIe-XXIe siècles)” Aix-en-Provence, 1-2 juillet 2021
Cette journée inviter les doctorant·e·s et masterant·e·s à présenter leurs travaux portant sur le monde arabe et musulman afin de faire un état des lieux collectif des recherches sur ces mobilisations et révolutions, ainsi que sur toutes celles qui y advinrent depuis plus de deux siècles.
Les propositions de sont à envoyer avant le 30 avril 2021. Information : https://halqa.hypotheses.org/4740
8. “Fourth European Convention on Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies (Turkologentag)”, Vienna, 21-23 September 2023
The conference is organised by the Society for Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies (GTOT) and the Chair of Ottoman and Turkish Studies at the University of Vienna.
Stay tuned to https://turkologentag2023.univie.ac.at and subscribe to our Newsletter for updates and further information.
9. Lectureship in Islamic Studies, Cambridge Muslim College
The College is seeking an outstanding candidate to join its faculty with a specialization in at least one of three areas: (1) Qur’anic studies, (2) Hadith studies, (3) Islamic theology.
Deadline for application: 30 April 2021. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2021/03/18/lectureship-in-islamic-studies
10. Visiting Assistant Professor (One Year) in Middle East and North African History, Claremont McKenna College
We especially encourage applicants capable of teaching courses that draw connections between the Middle East, Africa, and/or Latin and Central America.
Deadline for applications: 5 April 2021. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2021/03/16/one-year-vap-in-middle-east-history-at-claremont-mckenna-college
11. ONLINE Intensive Course on Yemen: “The 7th Yemen Exchange”, Sana`a Center for Strategic Studies, 19-30 April 2021
The course is designed to provide unique access to information, perspectives, updates and analyses on Yemen for those seeking to develop a working background knowledge of the country as well as those already thoroughly versed in its dynamics.
Deadline for application: 28 March 2021. Information: https://sanaacenter.org/files/The_Seven_Yemen_Exchange_2021.pdf
12. ONLINE Course: “Islam and Constitutions. The Law and Politics of Sharia Provisions“, Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London, 12, 19 and 26 May 2021, 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm GMT
This 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.
Information and registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/142490233123
13. ONLINE Course: “Introduction to the Study of Islam and Muslims“, Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London, 9,11, 16, 18, 23 and 25 June 2021, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm GMT
The course provides an introduction to the development of Islamic thought and institutions from the seventh century to the present day. It surveys basic sources and terminologies as well as providing an introduction to major trends in scholarship.
Information and registration: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/142719703475
14. ONLINE Summer Language School Program in Modern Turkish, Arabic and Persian, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, 5 July – 27 August 2021
The program offers intensive language instruction for international students and professionals. A wholly immersive experience is designed to comprise co-curricular and extra-curricular activities such as conversation tables and study hours; seminars by top scholars on Turkish history, politics, literature, and art; cultural events, movie screenings and, field trips to historical sites and archives.
Application deadline: 29 May 2021. Information: https://summer.ihu.edu.tr/ihu-summer-school-languages-program-2021/
15. The British Library
A beautiful Qur’an manuscript from Kampar, Riau, digitised through EAP
A recent Endangered Archives Programme (EAP) project in Indonesia – EAP1020, ‘Preserving and digitising the endangered manuscript in Kampar, Riau Province, Indonesia’, led by Fikru Mafar and colleagues – has digitised one of the finest illuminated Qur’an manuscripts documented in Sumatra.
16. The second in a series of dialogues between scholars in the U.S. and Iran, jointly organized by the University of Michigan (Middle East Studies) and the University of Chicago (Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations):
A Dialogue on Pre-Modern Persian Literature
featuring
Maryam Hosseini (Al-Zahra University)
Mohammad-Jafar Yahaghi (Ferdowsi University Mashhad)
and
Franklin Lewis (University of Chicago)
moderated by Shahla Farghadani (University of Michigan)
Date: Saturday, 27 March 2021 / 7 Farvardin 1400
Time: 10:30am EDT / 7:00pm Tehran
Please note the discussion will be in Persian. To attend, please register at https://umich.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eFg73zCeSD6XcuBz3lH-KA
17. Free 5-week online course ‘The Sharia and Islamic Law: An Introduction’: Starts Monday 5th April
The University of Edinburgh will be running its popular FREE online course “The Sharia and Islamic Law: An Introduction” for the third time this year.
Join experts from the University of Edinburgh and other leading universities, as well as thousands of students from over 150 countries for this rich and dynamic short course. For further information and free registration, follow this link: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/an-introduction-to-the-sharia-and-islamic-law
18. Northern Arizona University – Lecturer (Non-Tenure-Track), Islamic World and Global History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=61187
Review of applications begins April 12, 2021.
- March 23, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Postponed: Discussion Forum on Divine Scriptures (DFDS) 3rd Meeting (to 31.3.21)
The Third installment in the series of DFDS Seminars. Mohammad Hasan Ahmadi (University of Tehran) presents on:
“Figurative approach to the Islamic Texts”
Time: Mar 24, 2021 12:00 AM Amsterdam, Berlin, Rome, Stockholm, Vienna
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76530875449?pwd=Y211MUtIU3RqZDFkMXhrUTJPckdsdz09
Meeting ID: 765 3087 5449
Passcode: 8m9T2Q
Kind Regards;
DFDS Executive Director;
zabanshenasitarikhi.ir
- March 22, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- March 22, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Postdoctoral Fellowship in Indian Ocean World Studies
The Indian Ocean World Centre (IOWC), McGill University, welcomes applications for a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Indian Ocean World Studies, starting in September 2021. This position is for one year, with possibility of renewal for a second year.
Of particular interest are projects that examine the causes and impacts of environmental catastrophes in the eastern Indian Ocean World (from eastern India to China and Japan).
Successful candidates will work with IOWC Director, Gwyn Campbell, and a vibrant IOWC community of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and affiliates. In addition to their own research, fellows will be expected to participate in and help organize IOWC activities, including a Speaker/Podcast Series, conferences, Graduate Working Paper Series, and multidisciplinary research projects, as well as to assist in the teaching of IOW history.
Eligibility
Scholars who have received their PhD after September 2018, or who will have completed their PhD degree requirements by August 2021 in any discipline applicable to Indian Ocean World studies are eligible to apply. We particularly encourage applications from scholars with the ability to conduct archival research in one or more IOW languages. A high standard of written English is expected and editing experience desirable. Experience with digital humanities and GIS is an asset – and a willingness to learn necessary. A valid work permit will be required from international postdoctoral scholars for registration.
Salary
The annual salary for this position is $34,611.00 CAD
Applications must include:
1) a statement of interest and research proposal (maximum 2 pages)
2) a full curriculum vitae
3) a writing sample, not to exceed 20 pages.
Applicants must apply through McGill’s online portal in Workday (https://www.mcgill.ca/hr/careers<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.mcgill.ca/hr/careers__;!!FjuHKAHQs5udqho!b6zd8IBTc40vLZ9oYl92ZAYHHoTY4SWWiHzCDKcMKzGIF5voU8Pue5rZxykaCBM$>). All materials must be uploaded, preferably as one document. A copy of the application should be sent to iowc (at) mcgill.ca. Shortlisted candidates will be asked to send two letters of recommendation, sent directly from their referees to gwyn.campbell (at) mcgill.ca and iowc (at) mcgill.ca in a single message under the title: IOWC Postdoctoral Fellowship.
For questions about the Fellowship, please contact Prof. Gwyn Campbell at gwyn.campbell (at) mcgill.ca .
All applications must be submitted in full by 15 April 2021.
2. The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) has several opportunities available in conjunction with its Fourteenth Annual ASMEA Conference being held in Washington, D.C. November 13 – 15, 2021.
To stimulate new and diverse lines of discourse about the Middle East and Africa, ASMEA will once again offer its Research Grant Program. This program seeks to support research on topics that deserve greater attention. An applicant may submit a proposal that constitutes new and original research within these five areas: minorities and women, military history, governance and economy, faith, and Iran. Grants of up to $2500 will be awarded. Learn more and apply HERE.
The ASMEA Travel Grant Program provides funds primarily to Ph.D. students, post-Docs, and junior faculty studying the Middle East or Africa interested in presenting their research at the Annual ASMEA Conference. Grants of up to $750 will be awarded and may be used to cover expenses associated with attending the Annual Conference. Learn more HERE.
New this year, ASMEA has announced the Bernard Lewis Prize for scholars or practitioners working on issues of antisemitism. The $2500 prize will be awarded at the Fourteenth Annual Conference. Learn more HERE.
The deadline to submit a Research or Travel Grant application is April 30, 2021. The deadline to submit an application for the Bernard Lewis Prize is June 30, 2021.
Questions can be directed to info@asmeascholars.org.
3. ONLINE Research and Training Workshop / Atelier de recherche et de formation
Reading Sources in Area Studies
Contribution of biographical data for the social and cultural history
of Turko-Iranian societies (9th-18th c.)
Lire les sources en études aréales
L’apport des données biographiques pour l’histoire sociale et culturelle
du monde turko-iranien (IXe-XVIIIe s.)
Panel 1: Friday 26 March 2021 / vendredi 26 mars 2021:
From biographical production to history / De l’écriture biographique à l’histoire
Panel 2: Tuesday 20 April 2021 / mardi 20 avril 2021:
Epigraphy and craftsmanship in the Iranian world / L’épigraphie et l’artisanat du monde iranien
PhD candidate students and advanced MA students are invited to apply for participation
Doctorants et étudiants de Master sont encouragés à participer
To register to get the Zoom link / inscription à la visioconférence
http://www.inalco.fr/webform/ateliers-sources-etudes-areales
Historiographical tradition in the Persian language has been particularly abundant in the Mediaeval and Modern periods. Most often, history was recorded at court, often upon the order of patrons, some of whom belonged to the reigning dynasty, and others who came from circles close to power. The historiography produced in this context offers an official version of history, but it is far from being the only version. Here, we are interested in another kind of historiography, that produced in a non-official context, outside the court and away from the seat of power, in the peripheral regions, in various socio-professional and family contexts. This account of history, often a complement, sometimes in contradiction with official historiography, can be seen in a variety of forms: the texts of chronicles or local histories, biographical accounts, archive documents as well as architectural or funerary inscriptions. We hope to provide a glimpse of this wealth during the two workshop sessions.
La tradition historiographique en langue persane est particulièrement riche aux époques médiévale et moderne. L’histoire s’écrit la plupart du temps à la cour, souvent suite à la commande de mécènes dont certains sont issus de la dynastie régnante, et d’autres proviennent de milieux liés au pouvoir. L’historiographie produite dans ce contexte présente une version officielle de l’histoire, mais elle est loin d’être la seule : c’est à une autre historiographie, celle qui est produite dans un contexte non-officiel — en dehors de la cour et du siège du pouvoir, dans les régions périphériques, dans des contextes socio-professionnels et familiaux variés —, que nous entendons nous intéresser ici. Cette narration de l’histoire, souvent en complément et parfois en contradiction avec l’historiographie officielle, est perceptible sur une multitude de supports : textes des chroniques ou des histoires locales, recueils biographiques, documents d’archives, mais aussi inscriptions funéraires ou monumentales. Nous en espérons donner à voir la richesse lors des deux séances de cet atelier.
Convenors/Responsables : Maria Szuppe (CNRS / CeRMI), Camille Rhoné-Quer (Université Aix-Marseille / IREMAM), Sacha Alsancakli (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle / CeRMI)
Panel 1/ Session 1: Friday 26 March 2021 / vendredi le 26 mars 2021:
From biographical production to history / De l’écriture biographique à l’histoire
Speakers / Intervenants:
-Christoph Werner (University of Bamberg): Sources on the biographies of Sayyid Families in Mashhad…
-Maria Szuppe (CNRS, Paris / CeRMI): Biographical collections from Early Modern Central Asia (16th-17th c.)…
-Camille Rhoné-Quer (Aix-Marseille University/ IREMAM): Contribution of biographical sources for a history of rivers in pre-Seljukid Iran
Panel 2 / Session 2: Tuesday 20 April 2021 / mardi le 20 avril 2021:
Epigraphy and craftsmanship in the Iranian world / L’épigraphie et l’artisanat du monde iranien
-Sacha Alsancakli (Université Sorbonne nouvelle, Paris / CeRMI): Prospects for training and research in France in the field of Turko-Iranian studies/ Perspectives de formation et de recherche en France dans le champ des études turco-iraniennes
-Ashirbek K. Muminov ( Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture, IRCICA, Istanbul): Epitaphs of Muslim Scholars from Samarkand (10th to 14th c.)
-Viola Allegranzi ( Institut für Iranistik, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna): Royal lineage in epigraphic sources from pre-Mongol Iran…
-Sandra Aube (CNRS, Paris /CeRMI): What Woodworks Divulge About Woodworkers: Some remarks on families of craftsmen … (Iran – Mazandaran , 15th c.)
Full details and program: https://cermi.cnrs.fr/reading-sources-in-area-studies-contribution-of-biographical-data-for-the-social-and-cultural-history-of-turko-iranian-societies-9th-18th-c/
Contacts: maria.szuppe@cnrs.fr / camille.rhone@univ-amu.fr
4. Call for Papers
Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture
ISSN: 2333-5904 (Print) 2333-5912 (Online)
Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture is a peer reviewed international scholarly journal. The journal is dedicated to the scholarly study of all aspects of Islam and of the Islamic world. Particular attention is paid to works dealing with history, geography, political science, economics, anthropology, sociology, law, literature, religion, philosophy, international relations, environmental and developmental issues, as well as ethical questions related to scientific research. The journal is committed to the publication of original research on Islam as culture and civilization. It particularly welcomes work of an interdisciplinary nature that brings together history, religion, politics, culture and law. The Journal has a special focus on Islam in Africa, and on contemporary Islamic Thought. Contributions that display theoretical rigor especially work that link the particularities of Islamic discourse to the enterprise of knowledge and critique in the humanities and social sciences, will find Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture to be receptive to such submissions.
The journal is published by the American Research Institute for Policy Development that serves as a focal point for academicians, professionals, graduate and undergraduate students, fellows, and associates pursuing research throughout the world.
The interested contributors are highly encouraged to submit their manuscripts/papers to the executive editor via e-mail at editor@aripd.net, editor.aripd@gmail.com
Please indicate the name of the journal (Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture) in the cover letter or simply put ‘Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture’ in the subject box during submission via e-mail.
Dr. Mohammad Reza Iravani, Azad University of Khomeinishahr & Islamic Azad University, Khomeinishahr branch, Khomeinishahr, Esfahan, Iran.
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Islamic Studies and Culture
Website: www.jiscnet.com
Email: editor@aripd.net, editor.aripd@gmail.com
5. The Research and Academic Program at the Clark Art Institute presents Conservation | Making | Art | History, a virtual conference.
April 8–9, 2021
The conservation, preservation, and restoration of material culture has historically been closely joined to artistic practice and the study of the history of art. Over the last century, art conservation, art making, and the discipline of art history have become increasingly specialized and separated from one another—until recently. Developments in all three areas encourage a reconsideration of the innumerable threads that connect them to each other and to larger questions of cultural and environmental theory, anthropology, and philosophy. In this conference we will consider many past and present processes of maintaining, handling, reframing, and repurposing works of the past. Our aim is to put those methods into dialogue with wider frames of practice and thinking. The contributors to this conference consider how conservation involves forms of artistic making, frames philosophical examinations of time, shapes inquiry into human and non-human agency, focuses ethical debates about memory and identity, and models forms of inhabitation and cohabitation.
To view the full program, read speakers’ bios and abstracts, and register for the live virtual conference, visit clarkart.edu/rap/conference
6. New Lecture Series Announcement
Centre for Late Antique and Medieval Studies – Leiden University
The Leiden University Centre for Late Antique and Medieval Studies is proud to present the Spring 2021 Lecture Series:
All the lectures will take place from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m (online via Zoom. Links for individual lectures will be appear on the Centre‘s webpage).
24 March (5.00 pm CET)
Johannes Zachhuber (Oxford University)
The Philosophical Dimension of the Christological Controversy.
15 April (5.00 pm CET)
Lieke Smits (Leiden University)
Clay Play: Animated Images in the Biblical Apocrypha
6 May (5.00 pm CET)
Jan Opsomer (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)
Conflicting Argumentative Models? Nicholas of Methone vs Proclus of Lycia
19 May (5.00 pm CET)
Alison Vacca (University of Tennessee)
Arabic-Armenian Exchange: Sources of al-Balādhurī’s Account of the Islamic Conquest of Armenia, Albania, and Georgia
2 June (5.000 CET)
Claire Weeda (Leiden University)
The Making of Ethnicity: Environmental Medicine, Religion and Power in Europe, 950-1250
16 June (5.00 CET)
Peter Van Nuffelen (University of Gent)
What Difference did Christianity Make?
For the series webpage: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2021/03/lams-lecture-series-spring-2021
For further details please contact us at: a.bdaiwi@hum.leidenuniv.nl
7. The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at UT Austin is launching a new online journal for literary translation, Y’alla: A Texan Journal of Middle Eastern Literature. We are now accepting submissions of translated fiction, poetry, and creative non-fiction from the Middle East and North Africa.
Please send all submissions and queries to the editor, Dena Afrasiabi, at dena.afrasiabi@austin.utexas.edu . Submissions will be accepted until July 1st, 2021.
8. THE MAQAMAT TRADITION AND THE PRE-MODERN ROOTS OF ARAB MODERNISM
Maurice Pomerantz, NYU Abu Dhabi
Matthew Keegan, Barnard College
Saleem Al-Bahloly, Independent Scholar
Elizabeth Rauh, American University in Cairo
Anneka Lenssen, UC Berkeley
Friday, March 26th, 11:00-2.30 ET
PLEASE NOTE:The US has already adopted summer daylight saving time in advance of other regions. As a result, for this one event the time differences from New York vary slightly. This event begins at 11am New York time (15h London, 16h Lagos/Berlin, 17h Cairo/Beirut, 18h Addis/Istanbul, 20.00 Islamabad, 20.30 Delhi)
[Webinar] Silsila Spring 2021 Lecture Series, Translations
One of the most popular texts chosen for illustration in the medieval Islamic world was the Maqamat (Assemblies) of Al-Hariri of Basra (d. 1122). The text combines linguistic pyrotechnics with morally ambiguous tales of a roguish protagonist who beguiles and charms through verbal dexterity. The accompanying images are among the most engaging ever produced in the medieval Arab world. The most celebrated illustrated copy of the manuscript, famed for the conceptual sophistication, scale and quality of its images, was calligraphed and painted by Yahya al-Wasiti in Iraq (probably Baghdad) in 1237 CE.
The genre of the maqama left a rich legacy to modern literary traditions in the Arab world. Similarly, the images in the 1237 manuscript (now in the Bibliothèque nationale in Paris) proved inspirational to a wide range of artists and artistic movements across the modern Arab world from the Maghreb to Iraq. Both phenomena are marked by numerous paradoxes: the idea that the genesis for Arab visual or literary modernisms might be sought in medieval genres and idioms; the reception of figural paintings by modern champions of abstraction; or, the fact that most artists could access the medieval paintings that so inspired them only in reproduction.
The workshop attempts to complicate the temporalities of Arab modernism arising from the continuities and disjunctions that mark these kinds of productive paradoxes, exploring a remarkable series of transtemporal intersections between literary and visual cultures.
Full details of the event and a link to register as an attendee can be found at:
Only registered attendees will be able to access this event.
9. Indian Ocean Exchanges is an art history research, fellowship, and travel program that aims to build a robust network of international scholars and professionals who are committed to advancing Indian Ocean art history. The program posits the collective experiences of cross-cultural travel, exchange, and community formation as the foundation to cultivate this sub-field in formation, with the goal of widening and amplifying the expertise that develops in any single regional (and landed) context.
The program will host a cohort of 15 international fellows, mainly emerging scholars, providing opportunities for connection along shared intellectual affinities. Indian Ocean Exchanges will be launched through a series of virtual meetings that will begin in Summer 2021. In 2022, the cohort will embark, as a group, on three international study trips, to be held on the Arabian Peninsula (2022), in Southeast Asia (2022), and on the coast of East Africa (2023). Each of these study trips will provide opportunities to visit local archaeological and heritage sites and museum collections. They will also entail public presentations of ongoing research to the local community. These plans may be modified or delimited, however, based on COVID travel restrictions.
This project is organized by Nancy Um (Binghamton University). The project team includes Prita Meier (NYU), Trinidad Rico (Rutgers), Imran Bin Tajudeen (National University of Singapore), and Athman Hussein (National Museums of Kenya).
The eligibility requirements and application form can be found here: http://indianoceanexchanges.com/application/
An open information session about the program will be held on Monday, March 29, 8 am EDT New York | 3 pm EAT Mombasa | 4 pm GST Doha | 5:30 pm IST Mumbai | 8 pm SGT Singapore. Register via Zoom: https://binghamton.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYpf–vpzMrG91QS9ZjcfBfjQVRd1_-BcxX
This program is made possible with support from the Getty Foundation through its Connecting Art Histories initiative.
10. The HIAA Biennial Symposium, originally planned for October 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. We are now delighted to hold the HIAA Biennial Symposium remotely at the University of Michigan on April 15-18, 2021.
Please sign-up and register here!
Registrants will receive meeting links via email two days prior to the Symposium.
The event will be live on Zoom. All panels will be held on Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).
You can visit the HIAA Symposium website here.
A PDF of the Symposium program is also attached herewith.
11. Online Lecture – “The Umayyad and early Abbasid Reservoir-Enclosure of ‘Ayn Sawdā (Azraq Oasis, Jordan)” by Lorraine Abu-Azizeh, Julie Bonnéric, Barbara Couturaud, Aurélien Stavy (Ifpo)
March, the 25th (3h-4h PM CET, 4h-5h PM in Amman & Beirut)
https://www.ifporient.org/archaeology-mena/
12. Call for Papers – From Morning Hunt to Beloved Gazelle
15-16th December, 2021
University of Cambridge Literary and Visual Representations of Animals from Central Asia to the Maghreb
This conference seeks to rethink the literatures and arts of the Middle East, North Africa, and the Persianate and Turkish lands through the presence of non-human animals situated within their ‘worlds’, whether these be pastoral gardens, constructions of the wild, or the interstices of human habitations.
We invite papers that consider what these imagined animal worlds say about human animals, and how they shape the structure, imagery, and language of literary and artistic creativity.
Through tracing the migration of animals across aesthetic forms, we seek to gain fresh
perspectives on the entanglement of species, on literary, cultural, and creative boundaries, and the development of genres, as well as their rooting in the material world.
Contributions are invited that address literature, art, and film from the early Medieval period to the present, and that establish connections across eras, geographies, and languages. We hope in the process to address the primarily Eurocentric foundations of Critical Animal Studies, and to provide an impetus for further study of the rich presence of animals in Middle Eastern literatures, art, and film.
Proposals for individual contributions and panels are invited, particularly, but not
exclusively, papers (max. 20 minutes, exclusive of Q&A) that address the following:
- Comparative perspectives on animal tropes, motifs and genres
- Animal intertextuality between and within classical, popular, and modern traditions
- The influence of religious/spiritual beliefs on the representation of animals
- Animals and environment as agentive presences within literature and art
- Animals in allegorical narratives
- Texts written through and about animal worlds
- Human and animal interactions; human interference in animal worlds
- The use and transformation of zoological reality into artistic vocabulary
- Fantastical creatures
- Investigations and deconstructions of the human-nonhuman boundary
- Cross-regional and generic perspectives on specific species
Please submit abstracts of between 300 and 500 words to Dr Charis Olszok
(co383@cam.ac.uk ) by Friday 30th April. Decisions will be sent out by the 31st May. We hope to hold the conference in person, at Cambridge (the conference language will be
English). In addition, we intend to publish select conference papers in a peer-reviewed
journal by Spring 2023.
13. The Persian Presence in Victorian Poetry
Reza Taher-Kermani
British Institute of Persian Studies
Zoom webinar, 7 April, 2021
5pm Uk time.
https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/persian-presence-in-victorian-poetry/
14. The David Collection is happy to announce the publication of Fighting, Hunting, Impressing – Arms and Armour from the Islamic World 1500–1850, the book behind the exhibition of the same name, that will open at The David Collection in spring 2021 – Danish corona restrictions allowing – and run until autumn 2021 (check the museum’s website).
English edition: ISBN 978-87-92596-10-9
Danish edition: ISBN 978-87-92596-28-4
Size: 296 pages, richly illustrated
Publisher: The David Collection in commission with Strandberg Publishing
15. I am the editor of a new, peer-reviewed volume entitled, The Routledge Handbook of Islam and Race. This Call for Chapters (CFC) has a short deadline; so, it’s probably best-suited for contributors with a work-in-progress, an unpublished paper, article or dissertation/thesis section, or even a published work that can be reimagined, expanded and taken in a new direction or unpacked for new understandings.
Moreover, this CFC is a call for specific topic areas with an open time period (feel free to make suggestions or proffer other subject ideas):
- Iran, Islam (Muslims) and race
- Muslims (Islam) and Race in the West Indies (Caribbean)
- Race and Uighur Muslims (China)
- Islam (Muslims) and Myanmar (China)
- Racialization and Islam (Muslims) in Turkey
- Islam (Muslims) and Race in Scandinavia [?]
- Muslims in Ireland and Race
- Germany and the Racialization of Muslims
- Modern Spain, Islam (Muslims) and the Process of Race (Maurophobia, etc)
- Muslims (Islam) in East Africa and Race [?]
- North Africa, Muslimness (Islam) and Racial Identity
The Routledge Handbook of Islam and Race brings together established scholars and specialists to provide a scholarly overview of the complex interdependencies of Islam or Muslims and race across six continents and throughout time. Taken together, these essays challenge the common way of discussing Islam, as if it were timeless and predictable. At the same time, contributors to the volume view race not as an innate biological fact but as a product of historical invention with deep social implications. The authors recognize that similar to the need to be critical about the presumed nature of race, Islam cannot be simply regarded as supernatural; rather, it must be scrutinized and discussed as an entity deployed in myriad ways. The chapters do not merely treat Islam as a religious system and race as a minority issue. Instead, the authors demonstrate how Islam, Muslims and race intersect, shot through with other cultural, social, and political realities like gender, class, and sexuality.
The volume will be a great resource for upper level undergraduate and graduate students as well as researchers in religion and related disciplines. These commissioned chapters are devoted to up-and-coming subjects right across religion and race studies, with a roster of international contributors. The entries act as an authoritative starting point for anyone coming to a new field, desiring a state-of-the-art survey rather than diving headfirst into the literature without knowing where to start. The study of Islam and race is an explosive field with a global reach, and this makes the volume well-suited to the handbook model.
These books are written at an accessible level for upper-level undergraduate students. So, we aren’t expecting high level research; however, the entries should offer unique contributions to the field. The selling point of the series is that the reader is being provided a comprehensive overview of the topic, as well as any emerging areas within the field. The handbooks are typically around 225,000 – 250,000 words (30-35 entries). As a contributor, you would be expected to submit a chapter of about 7000 words or about 20 pages (including bibliography, notes, etc).
Interested authors should send to the editor on or before Monday, March 22nd a proposed title and short abstract (200-300 words). Covid-19 forced delays but most of the chapters are already submitted. The deadline for a full draft chapter is April 23rd. We are completing a review of the full manuscript and preparing to submit it for production by May 1st.
Thank you, and I look forward to hearing from potential contributors.
Best Regards,
Zain Abdullah
2018 FORD FOUNDATION SENIOR FELLOW
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” –Margaret Mead
Zain Abdullah, PhD
Associate Professor of Religion & Society and Islamic Studies
Religion Department
Temple University
627 Anderson Hall
1114 Polett Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19122
office: 215-204-2047
email: zain@temple.edu
- March 20, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- March 19, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- March 18, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Zoom: ‘Agents of the Hidden Imam’ – E. Hayes (22.4.21)
- March 17, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Zoom Book Launch: ‘Angels Hastening: The Karbalā’ Dreams’ – C. Clohessy (25.3.21)
- March 16, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.CFP – Different Visions Issue on Visual History of the Working Class in the Middle Ages (400-1530)
CALL FOR PAPERS
The discipline of art history is closely tied to the art market and to wealthy donors and collectors, and for this reason has long identified with the upper class. Many art historians betray a tendency to identify with the elite. For example, Ruth Mellinkoff, in her fine book Outcasts, expresses a typical attitude when she asserts, “While we who live in the era of the common man publicly extol his virtues, privately we admire and covet the attributes of the upper class.” There are innumerable publications on medieval queens, wealthy art donors, and the luxury objects that they commissioned, but few studies concern the laboring class. In part this is because medieval sources are less interested in workers than in the elite. It is more difficult to write an art history from below because there are fewer textual and visual sources, but it can be done, as earlier scholars have shown. Outstanding examples include J. J. G Alexander’s study of peasants, Deidre Jackson’s essay on labor, and Ruth Mellinkoff’s book Outcasts, among others.
A future issue of Different Visions will be devoted to exploring those who labored. We welcome proposals for articles that explore any aspect that builds towards a visual history of the working class in the Middle Ages (400-1530). Essays may examine images of the laboring class or the objects that were part of their lives, or any other relevant topic. Michael Uebel and Kellie Robertson have shown that in every European language the medieval word for “labour” had an “unambivalent connotation of pain, suffering, and fatigue.” Do visual images confirm this? How is labor depicted? What role does the intersection of gender, race, and class play in medieval images of laborers? How does medieval art show animals or other nonhumans who labor? Have medieval images been used to support modern ways of seeing labor and capital, production and consumption? Does the Aristotelian contempt for labor affect medieval images? Which objects were associated with working class? Which material and immaterial qualities were associated with workers?
Please submit an abstract of about 150 words by March 30 to Diane Wolfthal at dianewolfthal@yahoo.com. Those whose abstracts are selected for publication will be asked to submit their article by July 30. Contributors will then share their research through a zoom conference to be held Aug. 15. Final, revised drafts will be submitted Dec. 31.
2. Open Access Bibliography (in German) of Arabic and Islamic Studies by Serdar Aslan
The Islamic Scholar Serdar Aslan has created a very comprehensive bibliography (work in progress) of the whole range of sciences related to Arabic and Islamic Studies.
3. Islamic Art and Architecture, Robert Hillenbrand (Thames & Hudson) – March 2021
https://thamesandhudson.com/islamic-art-and-architecture-world-of-art-9780500204559
- March 16, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- March 15, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment