Archive for 2021
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Fashioning an Empire: Safavid Textiles from the Museum of Islamic Art, Doha
December 18, 2021 through May 15, 2022
2. Proposals for New Book Series “Mediterranean Counterpoints”, Malta University Press and Berghahn Publishers
Edited by Jessica Marglin (University of Southern California) and Naor Ben-Yehoyada (Columbia University), the series seeks to publish monographs and edited volumes on any humanistic or social scientific dimension of the Mediterranean.
Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2022.
Information: https://www.um.edu.mt/mup/bookseries/mediterraneancounterpoints
3. CFA: Summer School: The Archives of Islam in the Russian Empire (16th-early 20th Centuries) (Deadline: 28 February 2022)
Call for Applications
Summer School:
The Archives of Islam in the Russian Empire
(16th-early 20th Centuries)
Convenor: Dr Paolo Sartori / Committee for the Study of Islam in Central Eurasia (ÖAW)
When: June 27-July 1 2022 (max. 10/12 students)
Where: Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
Deadline: 28 February 2022
Outline
The summer school is designed to explore a range of scholarly approaches to the hermeneutics of records and the formation of archives on Islam in the territories of the former Russian Empire in the early modern and modern period. Here the term “archive” is used in a broad and all-encompassing sense, which includes all possible activities of record-keeping. The goal of this initiative is to draw attention on practices of information-gathering and knowledge production on the Muslim communities inhabiting the vast area encompassing Inner Asia, Siberia, Central Asia and the Caucasus from the fall of the Khanate of Kazan (1552) to the end of the Russian Empire. In addition, by bringing archival science into conversation with Russian and Islamic studies, the summer school promotes an extended reflection on the institutions and the individuals (archivists, historians, Orientalists, dragomans, and go-betweens of all walks of life) who played a significant role in the creation of the imperial repositories that today preserve records about Islam and Muslim communities in Central Eurasia.
By offering hands-on reading sessions and masterclasses, which are based on material in Russian, Church Slavonic, Eastern Turkic (Tatar and Chaghatay), and Ottoman Turkish, the summer school offers a wide range of activities to familiarize students with writing, documentary, and archival practices in Tsarist-ruled Central Eurasia. Reading sessions will offer ample room for practical exercises in the fields of palaeography and diplomatics. Special attention will be given to records crafted in Cyrillic handwriting (including skoropis) as well as in the Arabic script.
The ideal target of the summer school is a group of max. 10/12 graduate students.
The basic requirement is knowledge of Russian and one Turkic language and willingness to work with records in manuscript form.
The programme of the initiative is a combination of
Reading sessions: faculty members and students read documents and discuss aspects of palaeography and diplomatics, as well as well as practices of filing, preservation, and creation of archives;
Lectures: faculty members offer master-classes in which they reflect on the challenges and the potentials of working in and with records on Islam now preserved in the archives of the former Russian Empire.
Application
Applicants are required to submit a CV, a motivation letter, and a letter of recommendation to paolo.sartori@oeaw.ac.at
The language of instruction is English. Non-native speakers are required to have a command of English equivalent to at least TOEFL 550.
Reading knowledge of Russian and one Turkic language (Ottoman Turkish, Tatar, or Eastern Turkic/Chaghatay) is required.
Deadline: February 28 2022
The organisers will cover participants’ tuition costs, as well as hotel accommodation and lunches for the duration of the course. We will also subsidize travel costs, providing up to a maximum of $500 for travel from within Europe and $850 for travel from further afield. Once selected, participants will be responsible for making their own travel arrangements, and can claim reimbursement upon arrival in Vienna. Selected participants will be required by May 1 2022 to provide documentation showing that they have purchased the necessary flight or travel tickets; anyone failing to observe this commitment will be removed from the course.
Contact Info:
Dr. Paolo Sartori, Senior Research Associate
Austrian Academy of Sciences (Vienna)
Contact Email: paolo.sartori@oeaw.ac.at
URL: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/sice/events/summer-school
4. The Islamic College has organized an Arabic Course for those who want to learn the language of the Islamic revelation.
The course has three semesters which are designed to prepare students with no previous knowledge of Arabic to read and understand Quranic and classical Islamic texts.
At the end of the course, students would have developed the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and grammar. Students who successfully complete the course will be awarded an Islamic College Certificate of attendance.
Arabic Online Language Course
Beginner (Saturday), Intermediate (Sunday), Advanced (Friday)
Starting: 10 January 2022
To register please complete this form or contact the Short Course Department by email: shortcourses@islamic-college.ac.uk
5. Durham University: Assistant Professor of History in the period c.900-c.1250 (CE) (HIST22-3)
The Department of History at Durham University seeks to appoint a talented individual to the role of Assistant Professor of History in the period c.900-c.1250 (CE) whose research focuses on the Islamicate World (including North Africa, Sicily and al-Andalus, the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Khorosan and northern India).
Closing Date: 26 January 2022 at Midnight (UK)
https://durham.taleo.net/careersection/du_ext/jobdetail.ftl?job=21001534&lang=en&src=JB10200
6. The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce its 2022–2023 grant competition.
*** NEW *** Mary Jaharis Center Co-Funding Grants promote Byzantine studies in North America. These grants provide co-funding to organize scholarly gatherings (e.g., workshops, seminars, small conferences) in North America that advance scholarship in Byzantine studies broadly conceived. We are particularly interested in supporting convenings that build diverse professional networks that cross the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines, propose creative approaches to fundamental topics in Byzantine studies, or explore new areas of research or methodologies.
Mary Jaharis Center Dissertation Grants are awarded to advanced graduate students working on Ph.D. dissertations in the field of Byzantine studies broadly conceived. These grants are meant to help defray the costs of research-related expenses, e.g., travel, photography/digital images, microfilm.
Mary Jaharis Center Publication Grants support book-length publications or major articles in the field of Byzantine studies broadly conceived. Grants are aimed at early career academics. Preference will be given to postdocs and assistant professors, though applications from non-tenure track faculty and associate and full professors will be considered. We encourage the submission of first-book projects.
Mary Jaharis Center Project Grants support discrete and highly focused professional projects aimed at the conservation, preservation, and documentation of Byzantine archaeological sites and monuments dated from 300 CE to 1500 CE primarily in Greece and Turkey. Projects may be small stand-alone projects or discrete components of larger projects. Eligible projects might include archeological investigation, excavation, or survey; documentation, recovery, and analysis of at risk materials (e.g., architecture, mosaics, paintings in situ); and preservation (i.e., preventive measures, e.g., shelters, fences, walkways, water management) or conservation (i.e., physical hands-on treatments) of sites, buildings, or objects.
The application deadline for all grants is February 1, 2022. For further information, please visit the Mary Jaharis Center website: https://maryjahariscenter.org/grants.
Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center, with any questions.
7. I am pleased to announce the publication of ChrysoCollate, a free computer program for collation and critical edition in any language (unicode) developed by Sébastien Moureau (FNRS, UCLouvain).
This tool offers:
- two modes: collation mode and edition mode;
- a collation table with automatic distinctive colours and previsional completion of readings;
- annotation tools for the collation table, including a system of references to the images of the witnesses that allows you to navigate easily in your textual tradition;
- automatic apparatus, according to the readings that are chosen by the editor;
- a stemma codicum checker;
- a translation box to manage and synchronise your translation;
- exportation in various formats (odt, cte, etc.).
ChrysoCollate is freely available at https://uclouvain.be/chrysocollate/.
Kind regards,
Sébastien Moureau,
Chercheur qualifié at the FNRS,
Professor at the UCLouvain.
8. Volume 2 of the Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World
https://brill.com/view/journals/mcmw/mcmw-overview.xml
The Journal is available online and in open access, and all the articles are downloadable.
9. Deconstructing the Myths of Islamic Art (Routledge, March 2022)
Edited by Onur Ozturk, Xenia Gazi, and Sam Bowker. For the book’s content see: https://www.routledge.com/Deconstructing-the-Myths-of-Islamic-Art/Ozturk-Gazi-Bowker/p/boo…
Deconstructing the Myths of Islamic Art addresses how researchers can challenge stereotypical notions of Islam and Islamic art while avoiding the creation of new myths and the encouragement of nationalistic and ethnic attitudes.
Despite its Orientalist origins, the field of Islamic art has continued to evolve and shape our understanding of the various civilizations of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Situated in this field, this book addresses how universities, museums, and other educational institutions can continue to challenge stereotypical or homogeneous notions of Islam and Islamic art. It reviews subtle and overt mythologies through scholarly research, museum collections and exhibitions, classroom perspectives, and artists’ initiatives. This collaborative volume addresses a conspicuous and persistent gap in the literature, which can only be filled by recognizing and resolving persistent myths regarding Islamic art from diverse academic and professional perspectives.
10. The Persian Prison Poem
R. Gould
11. “Iran. Five Millennia of Art and Culture” An exhibition in Berlin
04.12.2021 to 20.03.2022
For the first time in a Berlin institution, the cultural history of Iran – from the early civilisations through to the modern era – is the focus of a major art-historical survey exhibition. Some 360 objects from the Sarikhani Collection in London will be on display, alongside exhibits from the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. The works on exhibit bear witness to the central role that Iran played as a site of innovation, as a melting pot and cultural powerhouse connecting Africa, Asia and Europe. Additionally, it presents a rich kaleidoscope of the cultural creativity of urban societies.
The Fascinating Cultural Landscape of Iran
A fascinating cultural landscape developed over thousands of years in Iran. Situated between deserts, mountain ranges and bodies of water, the region was home to great historical civilisations, yet its artistic achievements are unknown to many outside of scholarly circles. This despite the fact that Iran is not only located in one of the oldest and most important cultural regions in the world, but has also been home to key cultural, artistic and scientific trends and discoveries that have had wide-ranging impacts, reaching all the way to Europe. The exhibition features exquisite works of art from the Sarikhani Collection, complemented by unique pieces from the collections of the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. It takes visitors on a journey through time and the country’s rich cultural heritage. Some of the highlights along the way include the empires of the Achaemenids and Sasanids, the formation of a Persian Islamic culture, the extraordinary artistic achievements of the 9th to 13th centuries, and the Golden Age of the Safavids.
A “Cultural Highway” Connecting Asia, Africa and Europe
The exhibition will explore the central role that Iran has played in the context of cross-regional political, economic and cultural relations. As a “cultural highway” connecting Asia, Africa and Europe, Persia is a place of extraordinary ethnic and linguistic diversity. Time and again, migration and the exchange of cultural knowledge and technologies along the Silk Road(s) have formed the foundations for innovation and creativity. From the early civilisations, Elam and the ancient Kings of Persis with their seat in Persepolis to the incursions of Genghis Khan and the important imperial city of Isfahan right through to the beginning of the modern era, the evolution of Iran is arranged into a chronological tour, illustrated with traditions, transformations and complex relationships.
Five Thousands Years of Culture
The exhibition – a must-see for lovers of painting and ceramics in particular – shows how, over the course of several thousand years, a specifically Iranian cultural identity emerged from Farsi as a language of instruction and cultural production, an identity that was continuously transforming, particularly among the cross-regional networks of traders and scholars and at moments of radical change, such as war or forced migration. Time and again, invaders and invaded alike adopted the language and culture, renewing and re-forming it as they went.
“Iran: Five Millennia of Art and Culture” is curated by Ute Franke together with Stefan Weber from the Museum für Islamische Kunst and Ina Sandmann from the Sarikhani Collection. Alongside this exhibition, the James-Simon-Galerie is presenting a special feature concentrating on illuminated manuscripts, titled The Garden as a Place of Refuge: Persian Illuminated Manuscripts Meet Berlin-Style Allotment Idyll in the book art cabinet of the Pergamonmuseum.
During the entire exhibition in collaboration with various organisations and the Friends of the Museum für Islamische Kunst runs an extensive programme of events.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue published by Hirmer Verlag.
Link to the website
https://www.smb.museum/en/exhibitions/detail/iran-five-millennia-of-art-and-culture/
12. “The Garden as a Place of Refuge” Manuscript and photo exhibition in Berlin
30.10.2021 to 20.02.2022
Pergamonmuseum
Whether it’s garden parties or romance in the park, the dream of retreating to places that are suffused with beautiful memories is no new thing. Gardens and parks have always been alluring locations. Places where you can enjoy a barbecue with friends, escape the crowds of the city, or relax under the trees or a gazebo and gaze out onto the verdant landscape. This is particularly true in arid regions like Iran, where cultivated gardens with cooling courses of water and the shade of the trees form idyllic refuges. This social function of gardens as well as the major significance of the culture of gardening as an independent art form find rich expression in Persian poetry and illuminated manuscripts.
As an accompaniment to the exhibition Iran: Five Millennia of Art and Culture, this special display in the book art cabinet of the Museum für Islamische Kunst weaves together the culture of the gardens of Iran and the “longing for the countryside” of today’s city-dwellers. Persian illustrated manuscripts demonstrate in intricate detail and vibrant colours the enchantment of gardens. In this display, they are juxtaposed with the promise of freedom of urban garden allotments, holiday shacks, and the altered significance of parks and gardens in the era of the pandemic.
Link to the exhibition The Garden as a Place of Refuge (smb.museum)
- December 18, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Passing of Bert Fragner
The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) is very sad to report the death today of Professor Bert Fragner (27 November 1941–16 December 2021), shortly after his 80th birthday, following a short illness in hospital. A towering figure in Persian studies and in particular with relation to Central Asian and Turkic aspects of the Iranian world, he created a vibrant school of graduate students at the University of Bamberg, in post from 1984 to 2003, from where he moved to Vienna to take up the directorship of the Institut für Iranistic at the Austrian Academy of Sciences (2004–2010). He was also a founding member and president of the Societas Iranologica Europea (SIE), Europe’s largest regular gathering of scholars researching Iranian themes. He was a regular supporter of BIPS and many years ago gave a fine lecture on food, of which he was a great aficionado. He will be remembered fondly not only for his wide-ranging scholarship but also for his larger than life presence, enthusiasm and warm personality. Our sincere condolences to his wife Christl, always at his side at conferences and convivial gatherings.
https://www.bips.ac.uk/professor-bert-fragner-27-november-1941-16-december-2021/
- December 17, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- December 15, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- December 15, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- December 14, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Second International Congress: “Dynamics of South-South Relations. Permanence and Evolution of the Political Alliances of the Global South (1810-2022)”, Autonomous University of Madrid, 22-23 February 2022
The objective of this Congress is to deepen understanding of the political, economic, and cultural ties estab-lished between the nations of the Global South by reflecting on the transformations, continuities and breaks that South-South ties have experienced from the decolonization processes to the present day.
Information: https://redessursur.wordpress.com/2021/07/16/cfp-ii-congress-south-south
2. Conference: “Forms and Functions of Islamic Philosophy”, Bard College, New York, 31 March – 1 April 2021
The conference seeks to highlight how Islamic philosophy (falsafa/ḥikma) was practiced “in conversation”- between scholars, with various audiences, and with different disciplines, approaches, and rhetoric. Islamic philosophy was composed not only in traditional forms of treatises and commentaries, but also through nar-ratives written in poetry and prose.
Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/8532192/cfp-forms-and-functions-islamic-philosophy
3. Session on “Negotiating Religion, Gender, and Travel in the (Arabic) Medieval Mediterranean” during the “57th International Congress on Medieval Studies”, Western Michigan University, 9-14 May 2021
People in the medieval Mediterranean were connected by networks of trade, family and knowledge. This panel aims to explore how Spanish, French, Arabic, and Italian authors imagined the people who lived these networks and their effects, including enslaved peoples, scholars and merchants.
4. Workshop on “Purity, Pollution, Purification and Defilement in the Premodern Mediterranean”, Haifa University and Tel Aviv University, 28-30 June 2022
Welcome are papers relating to the three Abrahamic religions as well as numerous pagan, local and hetero-dox cults and relating to the concepts of time, space and purity; to rituals and practice of purity; personhood and purity; the relationship between the personal and the communal in respect to im/purity; the transmission of beliefs, texts and practices across the multi-religious/ethnic region; purity and social hierarchies; medical discourses and purity; Im/purity and emotions.
Deadline for abstracts 15 February 2022. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-purity-pollution-purification-and-defilement-mediterranean-seminar-workshop-28-30-june-2022-haifa?e=82aeb6c61d
5. Senior Lecturer at the Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Vienna
Qualification: Diploma/MA in Turkish Studies, mastery of the Turkish language and competence in language teaching, skills in Ottoman Turkish and in the translation of literary texts are desirable, several years of teaching experience at institutions of post-secondary level education in the field of Turkish.
Deadline for applications: 26 December 2021.
Information: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/716140
6. Interdisciplinary Scholar of Places, Movement and Cultural Practices Professor (Tenure Track / Open Rank), New York University Abu Dhabi
We seek a scholar and educator focused on the Middle East, North Africa, or Indian Ocean world whose work and research reflect an interdisciplinary approach.
Deadline for applications: 15 December 2021.
Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/91523
7. Assistant Professor in History of the Pre-1500 Islamicate World, Central Washington Univer-sity
Qualifications: PhD in History with a specialization in pre-1500 Islamicate world history. Ability to teach cross-listed courses in Asian Studies, and/or Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Experience in teaching intro-ductory world history, cross-cultural, or borderlands classes. Experience incorporating multicultural perspec-tives into teaching for 21st century leadership.
Deadline for applications: 3 January 2022.
Information: https://careers.cwu.edu/psc/careers/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM_FL.HRS_CG_SEARCH_FL.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_SCHJOB_FL&Ac-tion=U
8. Postdoctoral Research Associate on Contemporary Politics at the Institute for the Transregional Study of the Contemporary Middle East, North Africa and Central Asia, NES, Princeton University
Applicants can be from the disciplines of history, politics, economics and international relations. The appoint-ment will be for the year, 1 September 2022 through 31 August 2023, with the possibility of renewal.
Deadline for applications: 3 January 2022.
Information: https://puwebp.princeton.edu/AcadHire/apply/application.xhtml?listingId=23761
9. Post-Doc: Byzantine Studies (University of Notre Dame)
Application Deadline: February 1, 2022
10. Fellowship Applications 2022-23 at the Center for Arabic Study Abroad, University of Arizona, MENAS
CASA offers advanced level training in Arabic language and culture to qualified American students at the American University in Cairo and Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or per-manent residents and should have a minimum of 3 years of formal instruction in Arabic prior to joining CASA.
Deadline for applications: 20 January 2022.
Information: https://casa.sbs.arizona.edu/applying-casa-i-program
11. Chapters for Edited Book on “Art against Authoritarianism: Aesthetic Activism in Post-Arab Spring Middle East and North Africa” (IB Tauris)
By analyzing a variety of art practices that are articulated with different collective struggles in the region, this book elucidates the vitality and creativity of anti-capitalist and anti-authoritarian artistic production whose praxis is enmeshed with grassroots movements across MENA.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2022.
12. An Online Course in Persian Calligraphy, Nasta’liq Script
Dates: Friday 11 February 2022 — Friday 15 April 2022
There are ten places available
Price: £300 for ten classes
Pack of materials (sent by post): £25 UK, £35 International
The registration deadline is Friday 11 February 2022. Students requiring a pack of materials are advised to enrol at least 2 weeks prior to the course start date to leave enough time to receive the pack.
For any enquiries please contact charlotte.westbrook@iranheritage.org, Tel: 020 3651 2124
Organised by: Iran Heritage Foundation.
For information and to register, see:
https://www.iranheritage.org/calligraphy-110222.html#pay
13. Spring 2022 Twelve-Week Persian Immersion Program
Dates: February 14 – May 6, 2022
Fees: $3500 (including tuition and accommodation)
Mejlis Institute is inviting applications for a twelve-week Persian immersion program in Spring 2022 at our new location in Lori Province of Armenia. Participants will be provided with full–board accommodation and have a chance to spend three months fully immersing themselves in Persian while enjoying life in a beautiful mountenous region. For more details, please visit our website:
https://mejlisinstitute.org/persian-immersion-program
- December 14, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- December 13, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Call for Papers, ‘Islam in the RE Classroom’
Deadline 28 February 2022
You will be notified of the acceptance of your paper by 17 March 2022.
Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words, and details of your current affiliation, to philip.wood@aku.edu
Papers will be twenty minutes long, followed by ten minutes of Q&A.
We warmly welcome submissions to present papers from teachers, academics and policymakers of different kinds.
These twin online workshops aim to enhance the quality of learning and teaching about Islam at GCSE and A-Levels. They aid both the academic-theoretical and practical-pedagogical aspects of conducting Religious Education through drawing on the best practices in the field in terms of curriculum design, agreed syllabi, textbooks, lesson design and delivery. They are jointly hosted by The Ismaili Tariqah and Religious Education Board (ITREB) for UK and the Aga Khan University – Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilizations, London (AKU-ISMC) and will be held virtually on Saturday 25th of June and Saturday 2nd of July 2022.
On one hand, the workshops aim to make teacher-practitioners more confident in teaching about Islam in mainstream secondary schools in the UK. On the other, they aim to initiate dialogue between the key stakeholders (include curriculum designers, researchers in relevant disciplines, PGCE RE faculty and trainee teachers) to ensure that Islam is represented with greater complexity in textbooks and the classroom.
The study of Islam and Muslims is approached through an inter-disciplinary lens that acknowledges the role of historical and socio-political contexts, ethnic and regional diversities, and Muslims’ overlapping identities. Thus, the lived manifestations of Islam, far from being a monolith, are a mosaic, one comprising a multitude of interpretations, traditions, spaces and practices. This approach to engaging with religion does not only promote human agency and question authority, but also invites curiosity and creativity on the part of teachers and students.
A movement away from essentialist and reified representations of Islam (focusing on beliefs and rituals alone) can also create spaces to engage with the aesthetic, artistic, mystical and poetic expressions of faith over time and geography. Adopting a nuanced approach that takes into account the cultural differences and beliefs that evolved over time and geography, the workshop will provide the much-needed stimulus to the critical discussion of Islam in a secondary RE classroom. The recent works also points towards a worldview based approach that can be crucial towards the understanding of Islam(s) in RE classrooms.
Sessions in the workshop will invite discussion of Islam in different civilisational contexts: instead of seeing Islam as the automatic or inevitable product of a scripture, we will consider how different Islams were produced in different environments, and how these environments invited different interpretations of scripture or led certain parts of scripture to be prioritised over others.
We pursue this interest in how religion is defined, and its practical effects, in two areas where the academic study of religion has had greatest impact, namely the concept of Abrahamic religion, and the identification of different claims to have authoritative interpretation. The enquiry of the study of religion in universities has often been divorced from RE in secondary schools, so this workshop is an attempt to see whether and where there are insights from work in this area that could be brought into schools. Here we ask whether the concept of Abrahamic religion is a useful one? What are its effects on the religions that are included as Abrahamic (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) and those that are excluded (such as Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism)? Likewise, we ask whether an explicit search for agendas in the interpretation of scripture can be an emancipatory tool, in an RE environment where religious leaders often have a role in defining curricula and teaching resources, or whether it is an unjustified intrusion of a sceptical approach into school teaching. The diversity of religious traditions has rightly been an important theme in recent discussions of RE, but here we invite discussion of the other side of this issue, namely why certain agents consider certain kinds of diversity in religion threatening and how they seek to police this diversity.
The workshop also considers the broader social and political context of RE in Britain. What role can RE play in integrating different groups, in a modern Britain where ever larger numbers of children are members of religious diasporas and are highly conscious of political events overseas. The treatment of conflict in Israel-Palestine, Kashmir or Xinjiang are only the most salient recent examples of how global politics might affect the self-identity of Muslim students. One session considers this problem through the lens of government priorities, and how schools should relate to this. Another considers how students might themselves read scriptures, and whether reading scriptures together might develop understanding and solve shared problems. What presumptions do students and teachers bring to scriptures and how does this affect interpretation? And does the development of shared solutions to moral problems represent a step towards social cohesion or the compromise of the core values of a religious tradition?
Finally the workshop also considers pedagogical reflection. Firstly, how diversity can be taught in the classroom: how should we explore the existence of multiple Islams? How are textual traditions embodied in different social and cultural contexts? And what kinds of reflection should this stimulate amongst students? This is a recurrent issue of concern for RE teachers on social media. Secondly, we invite participants to consider how the presence of different kinds of Muslim students offer distinctive challenges and opportunities for the teaching of Islam. Research on RE has often highlighted the importance of the subject to allow students to explore existential and soteriological questions that they cannot pose in other contexts, including those without a formal background in a religious tradition: is this as true for Muslim students as for non-Muslims? To what extent can arts and aesthetics can open possibilities of inter-disciplinary bridges towards the teaching and learning of RE? These pedagogical reflections can include discussions of recordings of teaching practice.
We intend to publish selected proceedings with the ISMC’s Muslim Contexts series with Edinburgh University Press.
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Feriel Bouhafa is temporary University Lecturer at the Faculty of Divinity at Cambridge. She specialises in Islamic philosophy, especially the philosophy of law, and she is particularly interested in the Arabic reception of Aristotle and the thought of Ibn Rushd. (25th June)
Dr. Richard Kueh is Her Majesty’s inspector of Schools and the National subject lead for Religious Education at Ofsted. He has previously been Vice-Principal of a secondary school and RE Specialist for a multi-academy trust. (25th June)
Dr. Anders Ackfeldt is a member of the Centre for Theology and Religious Studies at Lund University in Sweden. He specialises in the study of how Islam is expressed through the medium of hip-hop. In particular, he is interested in African-American Islam and theoretical perspectives on the study of Islam. (2nd July)
Dr. Farid Panjwani is Dean of the Institute for Educational Development, Aga Khan University, in Karachi, Pakistan. He was formerly a member of the Institute of Education in London (now part of UCL) and AKU-ISMC.
Register below:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIodumupz4vHtOkaPAS5KsWmvNgHOqeQxK3
2. The Middle East and North Africa Forum at the University of Cambridge is launching a part-time fellowship, covering the following themes – grand strategy, geoeconomics, warfare, and gender and security matters.
Deadline: January 7, 2022
Questions to:
Elena Ruxandra Seniuc
Strategic Partnerships | MENAF Committee
committee@cmenaf.org | www.cmenaf.org
3. UCLA: Online conference:
Conference on Minoritization in Middle Eastern Geopolitics
Jan. 6 and 7, 9am – 5.40 pm PST
Despite the growing academic interest that Middle Eastern minorities have continued to receive over the decades since the publication of Albert Hourani’s Minorities in the Arab World in 1947, the theme of minoritization has remained a marginal topic in Middle Eastern and North African studies. In this international conference that builds on a series of workshops and lectures funded by Andrew W. Mellon Foundation over the last two years, we revisit from multidisciplinary, geographic and historical perspectives the concept of minority (ethnic and religious). Our objective is to engage with minorities from the angles of the humanities and social sciences by considering the histories, ethnographies, and artistic approaches of ethnic and religious groups, and to interrogate the concept of minority itself.
For full programme and to register for Zoom, see:
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/15226
4. Grabar Travel Grant
Deadline: January 7, 2022
This competition is open to graduate students (doctoral candidates) who have been invited or accepted as participants in a scholarly conference or other professional meeting for the purpose of presenting papers, chairing sessions or moderating discussions.
Applicants must be HIAA members in good standing at the time of application. Grabar Travel Grants must be used within 12 months of the award date.
Applications must include the following five components and be submitted in a single pdf to the Grabar Travel Committee Chair, Matthew Saba (grabar.hiaa@gmail.com) by January 7, 2022:
- Application cover sheet, available here
- A cover letter explaining the applicant’s purpose in participating in the conference, the expected benefits of participation, and an itemized travel budget
- Curriculum vitae
- Letter of acceptance from the conference/session organizer(s).
- Abstract of the paper to be presented.
In addition, a letter of recommendation from the applicant’s primary supervisor should be sent directly to the Grabar Travel Committee Chair, Matthew Saba (grabar.hiaa@gmail.com) by the deadline.
Applicants from outside the United States are responsible for meeting the requirements for and obtaining any visas necessary for visits to or residence and research in the United States. Upon request, HIAA will supply documentation of the grant and/or fellowship award, the dates of the award, and financial support.
For further details and to apply, please visit: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/grabar-grants-and-fellowship
5. UCLA Iranian Studies
From Medieval Afghanistan, “The Most Beautiful of Stories”: Jami’s Yūsuf-u Zulaykhā, a Persian reading group and workshop series
The UCLA CMRS Center for Early Global Studies and the UCLA Program in Iranian Studies, in collaboration with the Center for Near Eastern Studies and the Program on Central Asia, invite scholars and graduate students from across the world to participate in the following research program: From Medieval Afghanistan, “The Most Beautiful of Stories”: Jami’s Yūsuf-u Zulaykhā, a Persian reading group and workshop series, which will take place via Zoom on a weekly basis between January and June 2022.
The reading group and workshop series are convened by Domenico Ingenito (Associate Professor of Persian Literature, NELC) and organized in the context of the UCLA Afghan Scholars at Risk Program, coordinated by the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies and the Humanities Division. The series takes place in conjunction with the cycle of workshops Afghanistan through Afghan Voices, organized by the UCLA Program on Central Asia, in collaboration with the University of Washington, Stanford, and UC Berkeley.
Reading Group Registration Details: Prospective participants may join the reading group by submitting a short description of their background in Persian language and literature to the following email address: dingenito@ucla.edu
For more information:
6. Persian Language Short Course
The Islamic College has organized a Persian Language Course for those who want to learn modern Farsi. The Course has three semesters.
This course offers an excellent opportunity to master a very important language which provides an entry into a rich and diverse culture. Since Persian has not changed significantly in over a millennium, the basic grammar for the classical and modern forms of the language is virtually the same and is relatively easy to learn.
One of the benefits of learning Farsi is the ability to access a huge body of literature and sources of Islamic knowledge.
The Course Registration Fee is £50/semester. The registration deadline is 25th December 2021.
An attendance Certificate would be granted at the end of the course.
Starting: 25th December 2021
Beginners: Every Saturday 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Intermediate: Every Sunday 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Advance: Every Tuesday 5:00 -7:00 pm
Register here: http://www.islamic-college.ac.uk/study/short-courses/registration/
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