Archive for 2021

1.”Teaching the ‘Long’ 18th Century”

Friday, April 23, 2021; 9-11 am ET

Register Here

Organized by Sarah Betzer, University of Virginia, and

Dipti Khera, Art History and Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

Roundtable featuring:

Anna Arabindan-Kesson, Princeton University

Nebahat Avcıoğlu, Hunter College, City University of New York

Emma Barker, The Open University, London

Ananda Cohen-Aponte, Cornell University

Prita Meier, Art History and Institute of Fine Arts, New York University

Nancy Um, Binghamton University, State University of New York

Stephen Whiteman, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London

This roundtable brings together scholars from a broad array of geographical foci and institutional perspectives who have been at the forefront of efforts to rethink approaches to thinking, researching, and, crucially, teaching the art and material culture of an interconnected “long” eighteenth century. Convened in conjunction with a session at the 2021 College Art Association conference, the roundtable will appear in distilled form in a dedicated issue of Journal18, forthcoming in Fall 2021.

Two key aims animate the roundtable and its afterlife in Journal18: 1) to reflect upon teaching the “long” eighteenth century, particularly in light of renewed debates on the reparation of objects, revision of histories, and inclusion of colonized and enslaved voices in museums, plantation sites, and public squares; and 2) to compile a list of resources and open-access supporting materials that are pragmatically useful for colleagues engaged in teaching the “long” and “broad” eighteenth century.
Register on Zoom:

https://virginia.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qPSWyVTlSzCdu6PkVWVUlw

 

 

 

2. Anthony Welch

29 April 1942 – 10 February 2021

 

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Anthony Welch, noted art historian, scholar and academic leader. Tony had a long and distinguished career at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada, beginning in 1971 as a lecturer with the Department of History in Art (now Art History & Visual Studies) and progressing to full professor in 1980. He also served as Associate Dean (1982-1985) before becoming the longest-serving Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts for a remarkable 13 years (1985-1998).

 

In the 1960s and early 1970s, there were few opportunities in North America to study Islamic art history. In the US, only Harvard University, New York University and the University of Michigan offered degrees in the subject. When he took up his position at the University of Victoria in 1971, Tony was the first fulltime lecturer in Islamic art history in Canada, and he remained the only one for much of his career.

 

Despite his administrative duties, Tony continued to teach throughout his career. He was an enthusiastic and inspiring lecturer, whose passion for the field of Islamic art history was immediately evident to all who knew him and which served to motivate and excite his many students. As a teacher, he was kind and encouraging and always willing to take the time to talk to any student individually, even during the years when his administrative duties weighed heavily upon him. He greatly influenced the careers of many of his students, especially those who continued on to study with him at the MA and PhD levels.

 

Having received his doctorate from Harvard in 1972, Tony’s dissertation formed the basis of his book, Artists for the Shah: Late Sixteenth-Century Painting at the Imperial Court of Iran (Yale University Press, 1976). Between 1972 and 1978, his four-volume catalogue, Collection of Islamic Art: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, was privately published by Prince Sadruddin; this was an especially important contribution to the field as it made available material that was at the time little known.

 

In the early years of his career, Tony curated several exhibitions, each time authoring an accompanying catalogue of the same name. The first of these, entitled Shah ‘Abbas and the Arts of Isfahan, took place at The Asia Society in New York in 1973. A second exhibition, Calligraphy in the Arts of the Muslim World, was unique in its time for its singular focus on calligraphy, specifically the inscriptions found on various media and the inclusion of a translation of each one. This exhibition, too, opened at The Asia Society, in 1979, and then, over the following months, travelled to three other venues in the US. At Harvard, Tony had studied under the supervision of the renowned connoisseur and collector of, and lecturer on, Islamic painting, Stuart Cary Welch, with whom he co-curated the exhibition Arts of the Islamic Book: The Collection of Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, which was first shown at the The Asia Society, in 1982, and then also travelled to three other venues in the US.

 

In later years his scholarly interests turned more to South Asia. Despite his increased administrative responsibilities, this engagement led to the publication of important studies on Delhi Sultanate and Mughal architecture, epigraphy, urbanism and landscape design, including, (co-authored with Howard Crane) “The Tughluqs: Master builders of the Dehli Sultanate,” Muqarnas 1 (1984): 123–36; “Architectural patronage and the past: The Tughluq sultans of India,” Muqarnas 10 (1993): 311–22; (co-authored with Hussein Keshani and Alexandra Bain), “Epigraphs, scripture and architecture,” Muqarnas 19 (2002): 12–43; and

“The Emperor’s Grief: Two Mughal Tombs,” Muqarnas 25 (2008): 255-273. He also published on other topics including hydraulic engineering and Indian manuscript painting.

 

In the latter part of his career at the University of Victoria, he turned his attention also to cataloguing and analyzing the archive of architectural drawings made by Richard Roskell Bayne (1801–78), who worked in the Indian subcontinent, resulting in an article (co-authored with Martin Segger and Nicholas DeCaro) entitled “Building for the Raj: Richard Roskell Bayne,” RACAR: revue d’art canadienne / Canadian Art Review 34.2 (2009): 74-86. Long a student of travelogues and their use for writing art and architectural history, he also edited, annotated, and wrote a substantial introduction for a translation by Clara Bargellini of the journal of a seventeenth-century Venetian traveller: The Travels and Journal of Ambrosio Bembo (University of California Press, Berkeley, 2007).

 

Throughout his academic career, Tony was a member of numerous departmental, faculty and university committees. As Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts (1985-1998), he was a significant and influential contributor to the administration and development of the university. Following his tenure as Dean, he served as executive director of the Office of International Affairs (1998-2003), during which time he travelled extensively in Europe, Asia and South America promoting academic agreements between UVIC and various international universities. He also played a role in the wider community, and in 1992 was awarded a Canada 125th Anniversary Silver Medal in recognition of his work (1987-1991) in the development of an Arts Policy for the City of Victoria.

 

However, it is perhaps Tony’s very particular and subtle sense of humour that will be most fondly remembered by his former students and colleagues.

 

He is survived by his wife Hyesoon Kim, his son Nicholas, and his daughters Bronwen and Emily.

 

Submitted by Marcus Milwright and Elaine Wright

(With thanks to Hussein Keshani, Eleanor Sims, Lisa Golombek, Lesley Jessop and Janis Elliott for their comments and input.)

 

 

 

3. ONLINE Seminar “Alternative Dispute Resolution in Islamic and Middle Eastern Law” by Dr Jonathan Ercanbrack (SOAS), London, 8 April 2021, 5 pm – 6:15 pm GMT

The panel of distinguished experts will explore the practice of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in Islamic and Middle Eastern law and share practical insights on the arbitration practice in Qatar and Turkey. The webinar provides an in-depth opportunity to explore the latest arbitration trends and controversies in the region.

Information and registration: https://www.soas.ac.uk/law/events/08apr2021-alternative-dispute-resolution-in-islamic-and-middle-eastern-law.html

 

 

 

4. ONLINE Roundtable “Umayyads, Early ʿAbbāsids, and Historical Periodization”, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 9 April 2021, 11:00 am PST

The temporal specificity of this subject speaks not onlx to the unstable boundary between Eurocentric Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, but more importantly to local schemes of periodization – Islamic, Jewish, and Christian. Likewise, the geographic specificity of empire that is implied by these dynastic subjects extends beyond the Middle East and cannot be contained by that area studies construct. These dual, overlapping frameworks for analysis offer opportunities for investigation and reflection.

Information and registration: https://mcusercontent.com/4eead3c27d77b3e347cf43c18/files/1ff58878-47ec-4036-84d8-30f3fadcb364/CMES_Periodization_Roundtable_papers2.pdf

 

 

 

 

5. ONLINE Seminar “Islam, Judaism, and Decoloniality” with Santiago Slabodsky and Sanober Umar, Jewish-Muslim Research Network, University of Michigan, 12 April 2021, 10:00 am ET

The authors suggest some paths towards disrupting/decentering (Eurocentric) intellectual epistemic hegemonies in the broadly defined fields of Jewish Studies and Islamic/Muslim Studies. Together, they will reflect on how we can draw on Southern epistemologies to broaden the horizon of Jewish and Muslim studies.

Information and registration: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/jmrn/upcoming-events/islam-judaism-and-decoloniality-with-santiago-slabodsky-and-sanober-umar/

 

 

 

 

6. ONLINE International Conference on “Canon and Censorship in the Islamic Intellectual and Theological History”, Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 8-10 October 2021

Muslim societies and theologies did not witness the emergence of a single institution that establishes a binding canon for everyone who adheres to Islam. Instead, the constitutional positions are (re)negotiated constantly in a scholarly discourse. Against this backdrop, the conference focuses on the question of how certain texts and positions evolve to a canon while others get lost in time.

Information: https://www.islamische-theologie.hu-berlin.de/de/copy_of_forschung/islamische-ideengeschichte-1200-1800/medien/call-canon-and-censorship-1.pdf

 

 

 

 

7. Annual Conference of the Central Eurasian Studies Association (CESS), Ohio State University, Columbus, 14-17 October 2021

Submissions relating to all aspects of humanities and social science scholarship are invited. The geographic domain encompasses Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, the Black Sea region, East and Central Europe etc.

Deadline for abstracts: 3 May 2021. Information: https://www.centraleurasia.org/conferences/annual/

 

 

 

 

8. 4^th IDEO Conference: “The Cairo Edition of the Qurʾān (1924): Texts, Histories and Challenges”, Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies, Cairo, 16-17 October 2021

The conference examines the Cairo edition of the Qurʾān printed under the authority of the al-Azhar committee in 1924. The edition`s advent bears a significance that goes beyond the sphere of belief and takes an important place in the history of Islamic civilisation, including the history of institutions, material history, history of religious thought and history of Islamic studies. Papers in Arabic, French and English are welcomed.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2021. Information: https://www.ideo-cairo.org/en/2021/03/call-for-papers-the-cairo-edition-of-the-qur%ca%bean-1924/

 

 

 

 

9. Journée d’études : « Articuler l’histoire sociale et environmental : Proche-Orient, Maghreb, Afrique, XIX^e-XXI^e siècles », Aix-en-Provence, 20 mai 2022 (date à confirmer)

Cette journée d’études a pour objectif de rassembler des historien-ne-s contemporanéistes spécialistes du Proche-Orient, du Maghreb et de l’Afrique travaillant dans une optique environnementale.

Date limit pour les propositions de communication : 30 avril 2021. Information : https://iismm.hypotheses.org/51458

 

 

 

 

10. 6^th World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES-6), University of La Manouba, Tunis, 19-23 September 2022

Mind this date!

 

 

 

11. Posts:

Lecturer in Arabic Language (2 Years), University of Bayreuth, Germany

Candidate profile: Native or near-native proficiency in Arabic;  knowledge of German or English;  A. degree or higher in Arabic language and/or linguistics; specialization or certificates in TAFL (Teaching Arabic as a Second Language) are especially welcome; university-level teaching experience.

Deadline for application: 12 April 2021. Information: https://www.uni-bayreuth.de/de/universitaet/arbeiten-an-der-universitaet/stellenangebote/wiss-personal/SZ-Lektor-ArabischDuE/index.html

 

 

Postdoctoral Researcher in Islamic Theology, University of Tübingen

Qualification: Doctorate in the field of Islamic Studies, Arabic Studies or Islamic Theology. We are looking for a highly motivated and talented scholar who is interested in conducting research in the field of theological Hadith studies and who is familiar with the relevant areas.

Deadline for applications: 15 April 2021. Information: https://professorpositions.com/postdoctoral-researcher-in-islamic-theology,i19353.html

 

 

 

 

12. Articles on “The Qur’an in History: The History of the Qur’an: From Canonization to Critique and Semantic Hermeneutics” for Special Issue for Journal “Religions”

This is issue will explore the correlation between the Qur’an and the historical events that in different ways have affected its understanding and interpretation during the thirteen centuries of Islamic history. The main idea is to work on specific verses, precise suwar (part of them), or singular words through a historicized hermeneutical approach which could frame and share facets, insights, and makings which have settled the understanding of this revelation in a specific phase of Islam and human history.

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2021. Information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/QH_HQ_FCCS

 

 

 

 

13. New “Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies (JLAIBS)”, Edinburgh University Press

The JLAIBS as a hotspot for interdisciplinary dialogue aims to disseminate new approaches and methodologies that intend to transform our understanding of broader Late Antique and Medieval phenomena, such as knowledge transfer and cultural exchanges, by looking beyond single linguistic traditions or political boundaries.

Information: https://www.euppublishing.com/loi/jlaibs

 

 

 

 

14. New Book Series “Islam, Culture and Society” Leuven University Press

Topics that are of particular interest to the series are the interdisciplinary roles of history, social behaviours, religious (and other) identities, local traditions, cultural and legal systems, as well as diversity, inclusion, and tolerance in (re)shaping the plurality, changeability, diversity and global connectedness of Muslim cultures and societies.

Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/52884

 

 

 

 

15. An ‘enhanced’ Qur’an manuscript from Madura

The British Library

 

 

 

16. Digital Archive of Persian Periodicals

In order to facilitate interchanging the ideas using a community service with both private and public messaging features, a Twitter account (@PersianProject) has just been opened for the project as following:

http://twitter.com/PersianProject

You are kindly requested to join now (if your professional limitations allow) and share your comments and queries while following development of the project.

We will be pleased to discuss on your specific concerns.

Kind regards,

Majid Samavi
Head of the Persian Archives Project

 

 

 

 

17. The American Lafayette of Iran: The Story of Howard C. Baskerville

by Reza Aslan,  April 23, 2021 2:00 pm (EST.

You can register here:   https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RPfjuWavSGqJ4t02duXPPw

Aslan’s forthcoming book, BASKERVILLE, will be published by W.W. Norton & Company.

 

 

 

18. On April 14th at 6pm EST Dr. John Seyller will be giving the 2021 Ananda Coomaraswamy Annual Lecture on South Asian Art at the MFA, Boston.

His lecture, titled “A Rediscovered Mughal Master,” will present new research on Ilyas Bahadur, a long-overlooked artist active in India in the late 17^th century.

For information on the lecture click here.  Free registration can be found here.

 

 

 

 

20. La prochaine séance du séminaire “Littératures d’Asie du Sud” accueillera Marc Toutant (CNRS/CETOBaC)pour une communication intitulée :

Le turk est « la langue des rois »

Nouvelles sources manuscrites sur la description de la langue turke dans l’Inde moghole (XVII^e-XIX^e siècles)

Le séminaire se tiendra en visioconférence, le vendredi 9 avril 2021, entre 10h30 et 12h30 (heure de Paris). Les personnes souhaitant y assister devront se connecter sur BigBlueButton à partir du lien suivant :

https://webinaire.ehess.fr/b/cas-it0-7mq

 

Séminaire de recherche « L’ismaélisme, une version ésotérique de l’islam » avec Daniel de Smet — En ligne, 13h-15h, 09/04/2021

1.Call for book proposals
I.B.Tauris is seeking book proposals for a new academic book series: Political Communication and Media Practices in the Middle East and North Africa.
Books in this series critically engage with the complex and fluid relationship between politics, communication and culture in the Middle East and North Africa, taking into account the specificities of social and political local contexts, diverse political and media systems, media institutions, media and political actors and populations as well as differentiations along religious, sectarian, ethnic, gendered and racial lines. Topics and themes include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

-Political communication and crises (wars, conflict, unrest).
-Digital activism in the Middle East and North Africa.
-Social networks as spaces for political communication.
-Gendered political communication in the Middle East and North Africa.
-Political communication and popular culture.
-Affective political communication.
-Journalism as political communication.
-Ethical political communication practices
-Media and emerging political alliances.
-Religion and political Communication
-Hate speech/racism as political communication.
The series publishes monographs and edited collections. All proposal and manuscripts are subject to rigorous peer review.
To submit a proposal, please fill out the form on our website here and submit it to series editors Dr Dina Matar – dm27@soas.ac.uk, Dr Zahera Harb – zahera.harb.1@city.ac.uk, or Rory Gormley, Commissioning Editor at I.B.Tauris – rory.gormley@bloomsbury.com.

 

 

 

 

2. The Contemporary Turkey book series is open for submissions.
The Contemporary Turkey monograph series is a joint initiative by the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA), internationally renowned for its support of independent academic research, and leading publisher of Middle East and Turkish Studies I.B. Tauris, an imprint of Bloomsbury Academic.
The series publishes cutting edge research monographs and edited collections from a new generation of scholars working on modern Turkey across the social sciences and humanities. In bringing to light new data and insights directly from the field, this series is distinguished by its emphasis on innovative approaches that challenge established ways of examining Turkey.
The series is seeking proposals on the following topics:

• Society and politics
• Political economy
• Alternative histories
• Gender studies
• Contentious politics
• Nationalism and politics of identity

If you have a book project or idea that you’d like us to consider for the series, please contact the lead editor Dr Ceren Lord at the University of Oxford, UK – ceren.lord@area.ox.ac.uk, or Rory Gormley, Commissioning Editor at I.B.Tauris – rory.gormley@bloomsbury.com – both of whom will be pleased to give you feedback on your idea.

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/series/contemporary-turkey/

 

 

 

3. Posts:

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston – Curatorial Assistant, Art of the
Islamic Worlds
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=61195

 

 

Colgate University – Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=61173

 

 

University of Alabama – Birmingham – College of Arts and
Sciences-Visiting Assistant Professor- Art and Art History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=61095

specializing in either the Islamicate World or Africa, with a research focus on transcultural exchange. This is a one-year position, with the possibility of renewal for a second year, and begins in August of 2021.

 

 

 

 

4. ‘A Mughal Queen and her Manuscript: The Ramayana made for Hamida Banu Begum’

Webinar

12 April 2021

6 pm (Doha, GMT+3)/ 11 am (EST)

 

MIA is delighted to welcome our former curator Dr. Marika Sardar, Prof. John Seyller, and Prof. Audrey Truschke for a webinar about the publication of our new book – the Ramayna of Hamida Banu Begum.

To book, please visit https://www.qm.org.qa/en/mughal-queen-and-her-manuscript-ramayana-made-hamida-banu-begum .  This webinar will be delivered in English.

 

 

 

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. ‘Plague and the Fall of Baghdad (1258)’

Nahyan Fancy  and Monica H. Green

Medical History 65/2, April 2021

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/medical-history/article/plague-and-the-fall-of-baghdad-1258/C0E179EB4890C10BBFAE5C11DFC8DF36

 

 

 

 

7. University of Edinburgh – Research fellow in Coptic papyrology:

European Research Council (ERC) project: The Finances of the Caliphate: Abbasid Fiscal Practice in Islamic Late Antiquity (CALIPHAL FINANCES)

UE07, £33,797 – £40,322 – Full-time fixed-term position (35 hours per week) – available from 1st September 2021 to 31st August 2025 (4 years).

The Research Fellow in Coptic Papyrology will be studying the published corpus of Coptic documents relating to fiscal practices, publish new material in this language and research a topic of fiscal history based on that documentation.

Deadline: 23rd April 2021, 05:00 PM (GMT).

How to apply: Research Fellow in Coptic Papyrology – University of Edinburgh Jobs Careers (oraclecloud.com)

For questions, contact:

Dr Marie Legendre

Lecturer in Islamic History

Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES)

Marie.Legendre@ed.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

8. Lecturer in Arabic and Comparative Literature (T&R)

Queen Mary University of London – School of Languages, Linguistics & Film

Closing date: 29.4.21

 

 

 

 

9. Gramsci in the Middle East and North Africa Conference

9-10 May 2022, LSE

Receipt of abstracts: Monday 13 September 2021

https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/news/gramsci-in-middle-east-conference

 

 

 

10. The Social Science Research Council’s Transregional Collaboratory on the Indian Ocean was established in 2019, with generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to catalyze research into the intersections of social and environmental change in the region.

Drawing together scholars and institutions from across the globe, the program funds cutting-edge social inquiry about the Indian Ocean region. It also supports the development of new models of international research partnerships, grounded in principles of ethical collaboration and equity in the production and dissemination of knowledge in and about the Global South. The Collaboratory’s inaugural funding phase, in 2020, focused on the collaborative research planning process, and supported the work of eight interdisciplinary research teams through the Transregional Planning Grants initiative.

This year, the Collaboratory invites proposals for 12-month collaborative research grants to conduct fully conceptualized research projects that deepen understanding of the effects of political, economic, and social processes in contexts of profound climate and environmental change in and across Indian Ocean countries. This competition is open to research teams intending to embark on new research projects or to expand research in progress in novel directions.

The deadline for applications is April 26, 2021, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern time.

https://www.ssrc.org/fellowships/view/transregional-collaborative-research-grants/

 

 

 

 

11. Understanding the Middle East: The unfinished Arab revolutions: Power, Politics and Governance in the Middle East

Turin, 5-9 July

Application deadline: 17.6.21

The 8th edition of the summer school “Understanding the Middle East” critically unpacks power, politics and governance, exploring the role they have in re-defining the trajectories of Arab states

https://www.tomideast.com/

 

 

 

 

12. 10 years So-called Arab Spring – a critical perspective
Online Lecture Series | KIARA, University of Leipzig | Wednesdays, 19:30 (CET)
The Critical Students of Islamic and Arabic Studies (KIARA), part of the University of Leipzig, was founded last summer by students from various disciplines. The programme for upcoming lectures in the series ’10 Years So-called Arab Spring – a critical perspective’ is now available. These lectures are intended to offer
a space for critical reflection. The main questions will be the following: What happened in West Asia and North Africa 10 years ago? Which critical perspectives should be included?

Further information

 

 

 

 

13. Ottoman Historical Documents, The Institutions of an Empire

V.L. Ménage
Edited by Colin Imber

Edinburgh, 2021

 

 

 

 

14. Histories and Archives of Arabic Publishing

Between April-June 2021 the British Library and Murray Edwards College, University of Cambridge, will co-host Histories and Archives of Arabic Publishing: an online series of talks exploring publishing practices in Arabic as a site for unfolding intellectual networks, artistic practices and political imaginaries from the 1960s until the present.

 

 

 

 

15. FIRST IMPRESSIONS: PRINT MEDIA IN THE MODERN ISLAMIC WORLD
Mira Xenia Schwerda, Harvard University
Hala Auji, American University of Beirut
Yasemin Gencer, Indiana University
Aditi Chandra, University of California-Merced
Elizabeth Rauh, American University in Cairo
Friday, April 9th, 12:00pm ET
[Webinar]Silsila Spring 2021 Lecture Series, Translations

The first examples of print in the Islamic world, in the form of block print amulets and scrolls, date to the tenth century. From those early productions until the present, various printing technologies and practices have played an important role in Islamic art and visual culture, particularly during the 19th-century when lithography and new engraving methods shaped the technologies of image making. Despite the central role printing plays in producing, circulating, and disseminating visual material and expressions in the Islamic world, studies of print culture rarely feature in textbooks or surveys on Islamic art. One reason is the medium’s resistance to traditional fine art categories: print is a mechanical technology as well as an art form. It also crosses media borders in other ways. As print operates in multiples, the old art historical model centered on the “original” artwork does not apply in studies of printed images and texts.

In Islamic art history, studies of printing and its spread largely focus on surviving medieval examples, cross-cultural encounters, and the introduction of the modern press, and less on the persistent evolution and generative power of this artistic technology. This panel proposes a reframing of how the field addresses the medium of printing by centering the art form as a driving force in image production and artistic developments in the modern Islamic world. The papers will discuss different examples of printing visual culture, from engraved portraits, to photographic postcards, lithographed illustrated periodicals, and examples of contemporary printmaking and popular devotional prints. Such printed images offer new insights into the visual materials and cultural practices of the modern Islamic world.

Full details of the event and a link to register as an attendee can be found at:

https://as.nyu.edu/silsila/events/2020-2021/-webinar–first-impressions–print-media-in-the-modern-islamic-w.html

Only registered attendees will be able to access this event.

 

 

16. BIPS ONLINE LECTURES 22 APRIL 2021, 5PM BST

‘The Unheard Voices from Eastern Iran and the Eastern Islamicate World’
Dr Arezou Azad (University of Oxford)

For further information and to register, see: https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/unheard_voices/

 

 

 

 

17. The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at Harvard University seeks applications for a preceptor in Persian Language. The appointment is expected to begin on July 1, 2021. The preceptor will be responsible for teaching five courses per academic year, participating in curricular development, and training and supervising teaching fellows.

The position is three years, renewable for a term of up to five years, contingent on performance, enrollments, curricular need, position availability, and divisional dean authorization.

The successful applicant should have an Advanced degree in Persian, Applied Linguistics, or foreign/second-language acquisition and pedagogy, and native or near-native proficiency in Persian.

Extensive experience and demonstrated excellence in college-level Persian language teaching at all levels (novice to advanced) is preferred.

Please submit the following materials through the ARIeS portal (https://academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/10183).

1. Cover letter, including a description of teaching/advising experience and philosophy and comments on any efforts to encourage diversity, inclusion, and belonging.
2. Curriculum Vitae
3. Two sample syllabi
4. Link to a 20-minute teaching demo by URL through the ARIeS portal
5. Names and contact information of three to five referees, who will be asked by a system-generated email to upload a letter of recommendation once the candidate’s application has been submitted. Three letters of recommendation are required, and the application is considered complete only when at least three letters have been received.

Minimum Number of References Required: 3

Maximum Number of References Allowed: 5

Applications must be submitted no later than April 30, 2021, 11:59 pm Eastern Time.

Contact information:

Soma Roy, Search Administrator

Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

6 Divinity Avenue

Cambridge, MA 02138

 

Contact email: roy@fas.harvard.edu

 

For more information, and to apply : https://academicpositions.harvard.edu/postings/10183

 

Kashmir Shia Clergy Charts New Course In View of ‘Adverse’ Situation

The current online study day on Shi’ism in Europe is a unique opportunity for young and senior scholars to deliberate on each other’s concerns and research outcomes in a particular collaborative atmosphere. We are honored to contribute to this first online study day on Shi’ism in collaboration with some scholars motivated by the shared objective of mapping the research agenda on Shi’a studies in some European and Middle Eastern countries. These contributions will certainly help us understand the multiple ways in which Shi’ism evolve in the European and Middle Eastern contexts. We hope that this event will facilitate scientific exchange on the contemporary Shi’ism and introduce new research ideas and collaboration opportunities between scholars of this field of study.

The conference language is English. Each speaker will present his/her paper in 20-minutes, followed by 10 minutes Q&A.

For further information, click here.

1. Webinar – Ziad Jamaleddine, “Drawing The Isolated Mosque” (Series: Re-Approaching Architecture of the Lands of Islam) – 6 April, 2021 / 1 PM EST

From the early nineteenth century onwards, the depiction and analysis of mosque architecture by Europeans, central to the Western discovery of the lands of Islam, has been heavily shaped by Orientalist visual constructs. From the exoticized but scenographic environments depicted by Orientalist painters to the later “scientific” and technical drawings produced by archaeologists and historian, the representation of mosque architecture has had deep impact on disciplinary understandings of these buildings. To trace this effect, this paper will analyze the evolution and reproduction of the plans of five historical mosques through their publication in several of the canonical survey texts of Islamic architecture produced by Western scholars in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Through this study of the shifts in each building’s representation, the paper will argue for a relationship between the purification and isolation of the drawing and the translation of the mosque into an idealized and timeless monument. Articulating this connection highlights the gaps of knowledge reproduced with these canonical texts and their impacts on the discipline of architecture.

Jamaleddine is an Assistant Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (NY), and co-founder of L.E.FT Architects (Beirut). His writings have been published in Climates: Architecture and the Planetary Imaginary (Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, 2016), The Arab City: Architecture and Representation (Columbia Books on Architecture and the City, 2016). Among his built projects is the award-winning Moukhtara Mosque (2017).

Register here for the link: https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-c8k2dqKQqqg0fIEoaIrEA

 

 

 

 

2. Medieval & Early Modern Studies Festival 18-19th June 2021

This two-day event celebrates Medieval and Early Modern history, 400 – 1800, and encourages applications from a wide range of interdisciplinary topics, including but not limited to, politics, religion, economics, art, drama, literature, and domestic culture. MEMS Fest aims to be an informal space in which postgraduate students, early career researchers, and academics can share ideas and foster conversations, whilst building a greater sense of community. Undergraduate students in their final year of study are also welcome at the conference.

We invite abstracts of up to 250 words for individual research papers of 20 minutes in length on ANY subject relating to the Medieval and Early Modern periods. The research can be in its earliest stages or a more developed piece.

We also encourage 700-word abstracts proposing a three-person panel, presenting on a specific subject or theme in Medieval or Early Modern studies. If you have an idea and would like us to advertise for it, please contact us at memsfestival@gmail.com.

Deadline for all Paper and Panel Proposals is Friday 30th April 2021. All applications must be sent to memsfestival@gmail.com with ‘MEMS Fest 2021 Abstract’ as the subject of the email. 

This opportunity allows you to showcase your research in a friendly environment and to network with fellow scholars from far-reaching institutions. For more information please contact us on Facebook, Twitter, or at memsfestival.wordpress.com. Please do not hesitate to ask questions.

MEMS Festival 2021 is supported by the Centre of Medieval and Early Modern Studies at the University of Kent.

 

 

 

 

3. ONLINE Seminar “Obscene and Sacred Dimensions of Medieval Persian Poetry: Sa’di’s Literary Pornography as “Counter-Text” to Mystical Lyric” by Domenico Ingenito (UCLA), 31 March 2021, 4:00 pm-6:30 pm GMT

As a part of a LGBTQ Iran series, this webinar talks about pornographic depictions of , often same-sex, sexual passions as portrayed in classical Persian literature.

Information and registration: https://www.soas.ac.uk/smei/events/31mar2021-obscene-and-sacred-dimensions-of-medieval-persian-poetry-sadis-literary-pornography-as-cou.html

 

 

 

 

4. ONLINE Lecture: “Esoteric Authority and Sufi Networks of the hajj. East African hajj Accounts, 1898-1951” by Anne K. Bang (University of Bergen), Leibnitz Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 1 April 2021, 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm CET

This talk presents a selection of East African travel and hajj accounts and takes note of how the hajj itself is described. It argues that travellers tended to emphasize the esoteric authority they had obtained on their journey (encounters with shaykhs dead and alive) over normative rituals such as the hajj.

Information and registration: https://www.zmo.de/en/events/esoteric-authority-and-sufi-networks-of-the-hajj-east-african-hajj-accounts

 

 

 

 

5. ONLINE Seminar: “Mosques and Islamist Activism: Spatial Evidence from Interwar Cairo” by Steven Brooke, Middle East Studies Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 19 April 2021, 12:00 pm CST 

The author`s findings seek to deepen our understanding of the conditions under which certain mosques become sites for Islamist mobilization, and demonstrate how historical spatial data can be utilized to study political activism.

Information and registration: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nSoGrP0TT1O0rfdJoPE2Hg

 

 

 

 

6. ONLINE 7^th International Graduate Conference on “Materiality In the Eastern Mediterranean World”, Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies (CEMS), Central European University (Vienna/Budapest), 28-29 May 2021

We welcome approaches that focus on the relations between humans and their physical surroundings, the way they understand, perceive, and use them. Moreover, in turning towards the material, the conference intends to explore connections and entanglements between human/non-human, spiritual/physical, and phenomenological/epistemological.

Deadline for abstracts: 5 April 2021. Information: https://cems.ceu.edu/cems-graduate-conference-2021

 

 

 

 

7. International Conference: “Musical Sources and Theories from Ancient Greece to the Ottoman Period”, Ruhr-University Bochum, 10-12 June 2021

Papers will focus on Arabic, Persian and Byzantine music theory, instruments and ways of transmission, with their roots in Ancient Greece and an outlook onto Ottoman and Safavid music. Call for Papers closed. Guests are welcome!

Information: https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/orient/aktuelles/index.html.en

 

 

 

 

8. ONLINE International Society for the Sociology of Religion 36^th Conference: “Religion in Global/Local Perspective: Diffusion, Migration, Transformation”, 12-15 July 2021

Global migration, labor mobility and travel lead to the diffusion of religion, but also to the questioning of religious boundaries and their potential transformation. The difference between religion, spirituality, culture, and nonreligion become themselves diffuse and even blurred. People feel, rediscover and redefine their religious and non-religious horizons in new ways through their everyday lives. This conference highlights the transnational, global and local character of these issues and aims to explore the nature of religious diffusion, encounters, and transformation.

Information: https://conference-system.sisr-issr.org/conferences/conference-2021/#papers

 

 

 

 

9. ONLINE Summer Conference of the “Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East (ASTENE)”, 24-25 July 2021

ASTENE organises conferences biennially to allow for a coming together of those with an interest in early travel and early travellers in Egypt and the Near East.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2021. Information: conference.astene@gmail.com;  http://www.astene.org.uk

 

 

 

 

10. ONLINE or HYBRID: Fifth Annual Doctoral Conference in Religious Studies: “Wellbeing, Harm, and Religion”, Masaryk Universita, Central European University, Charles University, University of Pardubice, Brno, Czech Republic, 9-11 September 2021

The aim of the conference is to create a platform for the study of the intersections amongst religion, health, and diverse cultural conceptions of harm and wellbeing.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2021. Information: https://religionistika.phil.muni.cz/where2021

 

 

 

 

11. International Conference: „Media Aesthetics of Occidentalism“, Centre for Near and Middle East Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, 26-28 January 2022

The conference pursues the central question “How do media aesthetic qualities contribute to the constitution of Occidentalist discourses?”

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2021. Information; https://www.online.uni-marburg.de/okzidentalismus/index.php/2021/02/08/internationale-abschlusstagung-26-bis-28-januar-2022/

 

 

 

 

12. Eight Fellowships (2 years) of the “Academy in Exile” at the Forum Tansregionale Studien in Berlin and the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI) in Essen

Eligible are scholars from any country, who have a PhD in the humanities, social sciences, or law, and who are at risk because of their academic work and/or civic engagement in human rights, democracy, and the pursuit of academic freedom.

Deadline for applications: 31 March 2021. Information: https://www.academy-in-exile.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/AiE_Call_for_Applications-VW-February_2021-Extension.pdf

 

 

 

 

13. Assistant Professor in Middle Eastern Studies (Focus Israel and the Jewish World), University of Groningen

Candidates should have a broad expertise in the contemporary Middle East, with focus on the (modern) history, politics and culture of Israel and the Jewish world in their Middle Eastern context; proficiency in Modern Israeli Hebrew and in Modern Standard Arabic.

Deadline for applications: 12 April 2021.

Information: https://www.rug.nl/about-ug/work-with-us/job-opportunities/?details=00347-02S00087BP

 

 

 

 

14. Assistant/Associate Professor of Arabic, American University in Dubai, Fall 2021

Qualification: Ph.D. in Arabic Literature and/or Linguistics from a Western accredited university; previous experience of teaching Arabic in a Western higher education system, with high ratings of teaching effectiveness.

Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2021/03/23/assistant-associate-professor-of-arabic

 

 

 

 

15. Visiting Assistant Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies, Colgate University, Hamilton, New York

One-year appointment, beginning fall semester 2021. The successful candidate should have expertise in a field of broad concern to peace and conflict studies, including but not limited to: regional or transnational conflict, gendered conflict, ethnic or religious conflict, racialized policing/violence, etc. We welcome applicants with disciplinary training in sociology, anthropology, political science, international relations, international studies, history, or geography.

Review of applications will begin on 26 March and continue until the position is filled.

Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/18202

 

 

 

 

16. Assistant Professor in Critical Middle East/North Africa Studies and/or Middle East/North African Diaspora Studies, University of Illinois, Chicago

We are especially interested in candidates with a critical approach whose work addresses one or more of these themes: transnationalism, critical race and/or empire, militarism/war, social movements, gender/sexuality, energy and climate justice, critical health/medicine, and media/popular culture.

Deadline for applications: 9 April 2021. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2021/03/26/assistant-professor-anthropology-middle-east-and-muslim-societies

 

 

 

 

17. Funding up to £20,000 with Large Research, Research and Study Grants, British Institute at Ankara (BIAA)

The BIAA supports academics and research focused on Turkey and/or the Black Sea region. The Institute welcomes applications across the arts, humanities and the social sciences, including but not limited to archaeology, ancient and modern history, heritage management, and contemporary issues in public policy and political sciences.

Deadline for application: 28 April 2021. Information: https://biaa.ac.uk/opportunities-grants/open-calls

 

 

 

 

18. ONLINE Residence Program in Advanced Arabic Language and Social Studies, Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, Fall Semester 2021

The program meets the language, culture, and academic needs of advanced non-native and heritage graduate students who wish to strengthen their language and cultural skills, as well as prepare for specific challenges related to their academic areas of expertise. The Program is delivered entirely in Arabic.

Deadline for application: 31 May 2021.

Information and registration: https://dilc.wufoo.com/forms/ra88et51c17saf/

 

 

 

 

19. Chapters for Edited Book on “Muslims and Societies in Africa” (Including Arab Muslims of North Africa), University of Abuja

To what extent has the Muslim life been resilient or influenced by colonialism and globalisation? What is the extent of conformism or dissonance from the various constructs that determine Muslim identity. How does being a Muslim matter in the social, political and economic spheres of African societies.

Deadline for abstracts: 10 April 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/7149932/muslims-and-societies-africa

 

 

 

 

20. Articles on “Theoretical and Experimental Issues in Arabic Linguistics” for Special Issue of “Al-Karmil: Studies in Arabic Language and Literature”, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Haifa

Articles are invited on: Phonology and morphology; Grammar of Classical and Modern Standard Arabic; Semantics and pragmatics; Sociolinguistics; Psycholinguistics; Discourse analysis; Syntax of the Qurʾān, written in English or Arabic.

Deadline for submissions: 10 April 2021.

Information: http://alkarmil.haifa.ac.il/index.php/en/instruction-for-authors

 

 

 

 

21. Tomayto, Tomahto: Identifying Azerbaijani Manuscripts in the British Library Collections