Archive for 2021

1. History of Hospitals in Iran, 550–1950

W Floor

Mage, 2020

https://magepublishers.com/history-of-hospitals-in-iran-550-1950/

 

 

 

2. Online lecture – Anna Contadini, “Book culture in the Arab world: An illustrated herbal of the 13th century” – 23 February 2021

Professor Anna Contadini (SOAS, University of London) will deliver a lecture on recent research on the illustrated Arabic Dioscorides in the University Library of Bologna. Entitled “Book culture in the Arab world: An illustrated herbal of the 13th century”, the lecture is organized by the Oxford Bibliographical Society and the Centre for Islamic Studies.

Tuesday 23 February 2021 at 17:00 GMT. https://www.oxbibsoc.org.uk/lectures/book-culture-in-the-arab-world

The lecture will be held virtually, by ZOOM. Open to all, to attend please contact sarah.cusk@lincoln.ox.ac.uk

 

 

 

3. Iranzamin is the first survey exhibition of Persian arts and crafts acquired by the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney) since its founding in 1880. It explores the stories behind rarely seen artefacts from the middle of the 19th century to now, shedding light on the diverse social and cultural history of Persia – today’s Iran – and its people.

The exhibition examines how objects inspired by traditional arts and crafts were used in Persian society, focusing on seven themes: Joy and Happiness; Purification and Cleansing; Spirituality and Devotion; Poetry and Calligraphy; Rituals and Performance; Patronage and Craftsmanship; Nature and Design. Iranzamin encompasses a diversity of materials and techniques, including hand-woven crafts, carpets and rugs; arms and armour; glass, ceramics and tiles; textiles, embroidery and foundry.

Iranzamin examines how the influence of Persia, situated between two major trade routes – the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean – spread out into the world. Special attention is paid to the influence of Persian culture on non-Iranian craftsmen and artists such as Australian painter and textile designer Florence Broadhurst. This includes original Broadhurst wallpaper prints titled Persian Phoenix (Simorgh), Persian Birds, and Persian Pomegranates and Flowers.

The opening of Iranzamin coincides with the Persian new year Nowrouz. Programs will include the celebrations of Nowrouz, Haftsin, a table traditionally set for the Persian new year on 20 March, and Sizdehbehdar, the Persian national day for the celebration and admiration of Mother Nature, which will be held in the Powerhouse Museum on 3 April 2021.

https://maas.museum/event/iranzamin/?fbclid=IwAR0-Uw4Jzd55sx-TDJcKMqvJlo8N_PrnpxQo8tChIWXO…

 

 

 

 

4. I B Tauris:

Armenians in the Modern and Early Modern World series

Recent decades have seen the expansion of Armenian Studies from insular history to a broader, more interactive field within an inter-regional and global context. This series responds to this growth by promoting innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to Armenian history, politics, and culture in the period between 1500-2000. Focusing on the geographies of the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Contemporary Russia, it directs specific attention to imperial and post-imperial frameworks.
If you have a book project or idea that you’d like us to consider for the series, please contact the series editor Dr Bedross Der Matossian or Rory Gormley, Commissioning Editor at I.B.Tauris, both of whom will be pleased to give you feedback on your idea.

 

 

 

5. The IISS at the University of Michigan is pleased to announce our next event with Ertuğrul Ökten (Assistant Professor of History, Istanbul 29 Mayıs University), entitled Re-Engaging with Abd al-Rahman Jami: An Intellectual History Project on FEB 16, 1:00 PM.

Please register here: https://myumi.ch/qg71e

For more information: https://ii.umich.edu/islamicstudies/news-events/events.detail.html/80968-20824899.html

 

 

 

 

6. MOSF Journal of Science Fiction has published the latest issue online, with a particular focus on Middle Eastern Science fiction.

This is available Open Access.

 

 

 

7. Afghan Village Voices, Stories from a Tribal Community

Richard Tapper, Nancy Lindisfarne-Tapper

Bloomsbury, 2020

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/afghan-village-voices-9780755600878/

 

 

 

 

8. An Earl, a collection, and a shopping list: Mail-order military manuscripts

The British Library: A lithographed wish-list of titles on Arabic military science testifies to the frustrated literary ambitions of a king’s son.

 

 

 

 

9. Call for papers: Special Issue of the journal Religions “Are Muslim-Jewish Relations Improving in the 21st Century?

We invite scholars to reflect on today’s relations and trends of Muslim-Jewish relations. This issue will be focused on areas where Muslim-Jewish relations seem to be improving but we also welcome submissions that are more skeptical in their outlook. However, we hope to receive well-argued pieces (5,000 to 10,000 words) that help us to identify trends and factors that determine Muslim-Jewish relations today. We especially welcome case studies that look at projects that rediscover the local or regional Jewish or Muslim heritage and case studies of interfaith projects.

Please send an abstract to us by March 15, 2021.

Deadline for papers: April 30, 2021.

For more information, please go to https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Muslims-Jewish

 

 

 

10. IAS Medieval Studies and NES Lecture: The Turn to the Medieval in Ethiopian Studies – The Turn to Ethiopia in Medieval Studies I, February 19, 2021, 12:00-1:30 pm EST

Panelists:
Andrea Achi (Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum) ♦ Marie-Laure Derat (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) ♦ Kristen Windmuller-Luna (Cleveland Museum of Art) ♦ Felege-Selam Yirga (The University of Tennessee Knoxville)

We are eager to think together about the rich and often challenging complexities that have arisen as a result of the intersection of Medieval Studies and Ethiopian Studies over the past several years. These fields developed along very different lines, but have begun to mutually enrich – and interrogate – one another. In terms of regional networks, the two fields overlap in their concern with political, commercial, and cultural connections in the eastern Mediterranean: while Ethiopia represents for Medieval Studies an outgrowth of Mediterranean Studies, extending investigation for such exchanges down the Red Sea, Europe similarly represents for Ethiopian Studies a secondary ring of this zone of contact. Each offers the other a rich comparative (and sometimes connected) context for the study of Christian culture, including monasticism, hagiography, manuscript studies, and art and architecture, and both have investigated interconfessional relations in ways that might be mutually illuminating. Finally, together they contribute to an exploration of what ‘medieval Africa’ might entail, and allow us to explore the potentialities of more integrated, even global approaches to the premodern world. Yet the enrichment that this intersection of fields provides may also be problematic, as the distinctive chronologies, nomenclatures, and scholarly traditions of Medieval Studies and Ethiopian Studies meet. As research on premodern Ethiopia has greatly expanded in recent decades, and as Medieval Studies manifests increasing interest in Ethiopia, these paired webinars seek to explore what is gained and what is lost by more intensive conversation between them.

Register in advance for this meeting here.

The IAS Ethiopian Studies Series is convened by Suzanne Akbari (IAS), Aaron Butts (CUA/IAS), Samantha L. Kelly (Rutgers U/IAS), Sabine Schmidtke (IAS).

 

 

 

 

11. New Open Access Journal: Tarihçi = Historian

Tarihçi / Historian is an international peer-reviewed journal issued three times per year, in January, May and September.
The languages of the journal are Turkish and English.
Editor: Taha Niyazi KARACA

 

 

 

12. Webinar – Islam and the Devotional Object: A Discussion – NYU, Silsila: Center for Material Histories – February 19, 2021

New York University, Silsila: Center for Material Histories

ISLAM AND THE DEVOTIONAL OBJECT: A DISCUSSION
Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University
Azfar Moin, UT Austin
Wendy Shaw, Freie Universität, Berlin
Adam Bursi, Utrecht University
Finbarr Barry Flood, Silsila/NYU
Friday, February 19th, 1:00-3.30 pm ET
[Webinar] Silsila Spring 2021 Series, TranslationsFull 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–islam-and-the-devotional-object–a-discussion.html

 

 

 

13. Comparative Literature and Culture (CLCWeb) is calling for papers for a special issue titled “Humor, the Absurd, and the Abject in Middle Eastern and North African Cultural Production”.

From the films of Elia Suleiman to the cartoons of Ali Ferzat, humor and the absurd have long permeated the landscape of literary and cultural production across the Middle East and North Africa. Writers, artists, and intellectuals have employed an aesthetics of humor in a myriad of forms- from lampooning caricatures and songs, to a cinema of the absurd and satirical theater. While some of the recent scholarship in Middle East humor studies has focused on the role of humor and satire in the Arab uprisings and other mass protest movements as well as the lampooning of contemporary Islamist extremists as forms of resistance, this special issue will focus on new scholarship on the relationships between humor, the absurd, and the abject in works of literature, music, and visual culture.

We invite original contributions that explore these and related questions for a special edition on humor, the absurd, and the abject in all forms of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern cultural production. Please send abstracts of no longer than 250 words, a 100 word biography, and 5 keywords by April 30th, 2021. Full articles of 5,000-8,000 words or critical reviews of 3,000 words will be due by October 1, 2021.

This issue will be edited by Dr. R. Shareah Taleghani and Dr. Yasmine Ramadan.

For those interested, more information is available here: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/callsforpapers.html

See also: http://www.gulfinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/IGA-Impact_report.pdf

1. The Role of Islamic Coins in Reading the History of a Site: Baalbak and Beirut as example, by Dr. Hassan Akra (Lebanese University)

February, 11th (3h-4h PM CET, 4h-5h PM in Amman & Beirut)

https://www.ifporient.org/archaeology-mena/

Join next conference of Ifpo’s webinar “ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA FROM LATE ANTIQUITY TO THE OTTOMAN PERIOD. FIRST SERIES: LEBANON AND JORDAN”

Abstract

Coins have not only an economic function, as a medium of exchange, but also other relevant functions: for instance, they can be a propaganda instrument intended to propagate the ideology of a political or/and religious power in place. The economic aspect revealed through the material aspect of coins, namely their intrinsic value (weight and alloy), makes it possible to perceive the financial and monetary policy of a State at a specific moment in its history and reflects as well the vicissitudes and vagaries of the political or economic situation as it may appear at the time of the strike. However, the coins legend – « any inscription appearing on the obverse and/or reverse of a coin: a name, a title, an indication of the mint, value, a date, a religious motto or not …” (Dictionnaire de Numismatique 2001) – is also rich in information. Here we will focus mainly on these data and their evolution throughout the medieval period.

By crossing these data both with written sources (especially chronicles of historians of the time) and archaeological documentation, coins become a tool of great importance. On the one hand, they enable us to read the history of a site or a city: in this context, we will present here the history of Baalbek in medieval times through coins (636-1516). On the other hand, coin hoards will help to fill monetary and/or historical gaps on a very precise period: in this context, we will present the Abbasid hoard discovered in Beirut and the Crusaders hoard discovered in Sarepta/Sarfand.

 

Dr. Hassan Al-Akra holds a PhD in “Archeology, History and Documents” from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) in Paris. He is specialized in numismatic studies of the medieval period.

He is currently Assistant Professor at the Lebanese University, at the Department of Arts and Archeology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Section 3 – Tripoli. He is researcher at the National Museum of Beirut, where he is studying medieval coins (from Islamic and Crusaders periods) and co-director of the archaeological project at Abu-l-Hasan Fort, a fort of the Medieval period, in Sfaray/Jezzine. He is instructor at the Ministry of Tourism, where he teaches the course “Archeological sites” for the diploma in Tourist Guidance.

He published several articles about the political and religious change in the Middle East through the study of coins, and he has given many seminaries on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage of religious and historical sites and museums.

His books “L’Histoire de Baalbek à l’époque médiévale d’après les monnaies” (Presses de l’Ifpo) won the prize of “Medaille Drouin” from the French Academy and the Samir Shamma Prize from the British Museum in 2018.

Since 2018, he is the General Director of the Lebanese National Library.

 

 

 

2. ONLINE: 18^th Annual Islamicate Graduate Students Association Conference on “What Does Race Have to Do with Religion? Racialization and Worldwide Islam”, UNC-Duke, 20-21 February 2020

Fields inclusive of, but not limited to: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology, History, Art History, Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Philosophy, Asian Studies, African American Studies, Geography, Women and Gender Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, American Studies, and African Studies.

Information: https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/41830/Call-for-Papers-What-Does-Race-Have-to-Do-with-Religion-Racialization-and-Worldwide-Islam

 

 

 

 

3. ONLINE Discussion “Trans/Formations in Arabic Literary Theory: Prospects and Limits”, Columbia University, 19 March 2021, 10:00 am EST; First Session: 14-17 June 2021; Second Session: 14-17 October 2021

We invite scholars to explore a plethora of thematic issues tied to the challenges of mapping, reconstructing, and studying varied sets of Arabic literary theoretical frameworks with the aim of identifying cross-temporal and trans-local conceptualizations and terms for a genealogy of Arabic literary theory.

Information: https://icls.columbia.edu/news/cfp-transformations-of-arabic-literary-theory/

 

 

 

 

4. ONLINE Panel on “What Does Diaspora Mean in the 21^st Century” during the “12^th International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 12)”, Kyoto, 24-27 August 2021

The conference will explore the meaning of diaspora in the 21^st century. The diasporic discourse is at risk of becoming teleological as a means of articulation, and, thereby, masking the very real struggles that may only eventually produce collectiveness. Or, does this disavow any room for dynamics within diasporic studies? The globalisation also brings with it a whole new set of parameters for perspectives on belonging.

Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/6752090/icas-conference-diaspora-call-papers

 

 

 

 

5. Panel on “European Islam and the Emergence of New Religious and Political Authorities between the Local Dimension and Transnationalities” during the “Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion”, Münster, 30 August – 2 September 2021

The papers, with sociological, anthropological, theological and historical approaches, discuss how new forms of authority undermine the traditional ones and redefine the transnational ties between Islamic communities in Europe and Islamic countries which through various mechanisms influence the construction of European Islam.

Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2021. Information: Dr. Minoo Mirshahvalad (University of Turin), mmirshahvalad2@gmail.com

 

 

 

6. Workshop and Publication: “Islamic Legacy: Narratives East, West, South, North of the Mediterranean (1350-1750). A Thesaurus under Discussion”, University Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 7 September 2021

To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the relations between Christianity and Islam, the conference will especially discuss the following specific terms: Orient – Occident, Morgenland – Abendland, Doğu-Batı – Coexistence, Convivencia – Hybridity – Border-Frontier, Center – Periphery, Holy Land – Reconquista, Rückeroberung, Fetih.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 April 2021. Information: https://is-le.eu/calls/islamic-legacy-narratives-east-west-south-north-of-the-mediterranean-1350-1750-a-thesaurus-under-discussion/

 

 

 

 

7. ONLINE Workshop: “Rewiring the House of God: Religious Self-World Relations in the Digital Environment (Including Islam)”, Universities of Birmingham, Graz and Erfurt, 15-17 September 2021

The workshop will examine the mutually transformative relationship between digital technologies and contemporary modes of religiosity.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 March 2021. Information: https://www.uni-erfurt.de/en/max-weber-kolleg/kolleg/recent-news/translate-to-english-veranstaltungen/eventdetail/rewiring-the-house-of-god-religious-self-world-relations-in-the-digital-environment

 

 

 

 

8. Post-doctoral Research Fellow (3 Years, Focus “Age & Generation” in Historical Iran), Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin

The research unit “Age & Generation” studies processes of reshaping inter-generational relations. The candidates must hold a PhD in history, anthropology, sociology, area studies, or cognate disciplines. Applications should preferably have a historical perspective.

Deadline for applications: 15 February 2021. Information: https://www.zmo.de/fileadmin/Karriere/Ausschreibung_Age_Gen_Postdoc_1.pdf

 

 

 

 

9. Academic Coordinator for Joint Project on Democratic Impulses in North Africa and the Middle East since the 19th Century, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin

Requirements: Above-average degree results (MA or equivalent) in the humanities or social sciences, ideally relating to West or North Africa. Very good German and English language skills; French skills desirable. Experience in academic management.

Deadline for applications: 16 February 2021. Information: https://www.zmo.de/fileadmin/Karriere/Ausschreibung_Academic-CoordinatorEZV_ZMO.pdf

 

 

 

10. Post-doctoral Researcher on the “European Qur’an”, Université de Nantes

To join the project “The European Qur’an: Islamic Scripture and European Culture and Religion (1150-1850)”. Requirements: Applicants should have a PhD in a discipline in the humanities by the time of application, or at least strong assurance that they will obtain the PhD by August 2021. Candidates should be fluent in English and French and have strong skills in other languages appropriate to their research topics. Some knowledge of and experience in digital humanities (e.g., XML-TEI) is welcome.

Deadline for applications: 31 March 2021. Information: https://euqu.eu/research-opportunities/

 

 

 

 

11. Lecturer in the History of the Middle East, SOAS University of London

The preferred candidate will be proficient in the regional languages relevant for their research, with a demonstrated openness to transnational and interdisciplinary approaches. We particularly welcome applicants working on histories of gender, migration, and the environment. The periodic focus is open.

Deadline for applications: 14 March 2021. Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/51899

 

 

 

 

 

12. Associate Director, Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University

Requirements: PhD strongly preferred; ability to develop program partnerships and funding sources; excellent oral, written, and analytical skills, exhibiting fluency in area of specialization; ability to oversee and direct staff; basic knowledge of managing budgets and developing financial plans.

Information: https://careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/associate-director-abbasi-program-in-islamic-studies-11439

 

 

 

13. Appel à Candidatures 2021: Prix Michel Seurat, Sociétés contemporaines du Proche-Orient et du Maghreb

Ce programme vise à aider financièrement chaque année (15 000 € en 2021) un jeune chercheur, ressortissant d’un pays européen ou d’un pays du Proche-Orient ou du Maghreb, contribuant ainsi à promouvoir connaissance réciproque et compréhension entre la société française et le monde arabe.

Date limite de dépôt des candidatures : 15 avril 2021. Information : prix.michel-seurat@cnrs.fr.

 

 

 

 

14. Summer Programme: “Gender in Muslim Contexts”, Aga Khan University London, 28 June – 6 July 2021

Run by leading experts on gender and Islam, the programme will bring together scholars and students from diverse backgrounds to discuss key issues in the study of gender in Muslim contexts.

Deadline for application: 16 April 2021. Information: https://www.aku.edu/ismc/study/Pages/summer-programme.aspx

 

 

 

 

15. École doctorale : « Les usages du Coran dans les sociétés musulmanes contemporaines », IRMC, Tunis, 14-18 juin 2021

Cet atelier doctoral entend examiner les modalités de cette reconfiguration en étudiant les incidences et les recompositions induites par ces nouveaux usages du Coran dans les activités ordinaires des croyants, y compris l’éducation religieuse.

Les dossiers sont attendus avant le 15 février 2021. Information: https://calenda.org/830282?file=1

 

 

 

 

16. MIDA/ENIS Summer School: “Spoken Images of/in Islam:Languages and Translations in Texts and Images”, Università degli Studi di Catania, Sicily, New Dates: 5–9 July 2021

The main objective of this school is to investigate the image–text relations in Muslim traditions by applying to different genres of images and texts and by thinking about how they are affected by translation or interpretation.

Deadline for application: 1 April 2021. Information: http://iismm.ehess.fr/docannexe/file/2147/call_ed2021_06_11_20_final3.pdf

 

 

 

 

17. Articles for “Diyâr. Journal of Ottoman, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies“

Diyâr is a new, interdisciplinary and interregional academic journal concerned with research on Turkey, the Ottoman Empire and its successor states, Iran, Central Asia and the Caucasus. We accept articles of a variety of research topics and areas in the field of the humanities, cultural studies and social sciences written in German, English, and French.

Deadline for articles: 15 March 2021. Information: https://www.diyar.nomos.de/index.php?id=7418&L=1

 

 

 

18. Articles on “Muslim Women and Gender at the Margins” for Special Issue of “Religions”

This Special Issue seeks to focus on the heterogeneity and multiply gendered ways of being Muslim by drawing attention to the subjectivities, performativity and experiences of those women who tend to be marginalized even within critical feminist scholarship on women and Islam.

Deadline for manuscripts: 1 December 2021. Information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Muslim_women_margins

 

 

 

 

19. Contributions for “The IASA Bulletin” of the International Association for the Study of Arabia (Spring 2021)

The IASA Bulletin compiles notices on research, publications, fieldwork, museum updates, societies, conferences and events in the Arabian Peninsula as well as feature articles and book reviews.

Deadline for contributions: 14 February 2021. Information: https://www.theiasa.com/publications/bulletin/

 

 

 

 

20. Chapters for the Edited Volume “Marxism in Muslim Contexts: Communist Organizing, Socialist Movement, and Religious Response”

Proposals investigating Muslim responses to Marxism from historical, anthropological, literary, sociological, cultural, and religious perspectives are welcomed.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 March 2021. Information: dwidmannabraham@ursinus.edu.

 

 

 

 

21. Complex Metallurgy of the Bronze Age-Iron Age Transition in Iran: Archaeomaterials and Forensic Investigations

Funded PhD: EU and UK only; March 15 2021

The Cranfield Forensic Institute and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory are offering, in partnership with the British Museum, a fully-funded PhD studentship on the archaeometallurgy of Iran during the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition (c. 1200–800 BCE). The student will investigate an exceptional collection of artefacts that includes substantial quantities of bladed weaponry.

For more information and to apply, see:

https://www.findaphd.com/phds/project/complex-metallurgy-of-the-bronze-age-iron-age-transition-in-iran-archaeomaterials-and-forensic-investigations/?p129335

 

 

 

22. Open Access:

Materials for a History of the Persian Narrative Tradition. Two Characters: Farhād and Turandot.
Author: Orsatti, Paola.
Published: Venezia: Ca’ Foscari, 201

 

 

23. University of California – Berkeley

Lecturer Pool All Specializations – Department of History

The Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley invites applications for a pool of qualified temporary instructors to teach courses should an opening arise. Screening of applicants is ongoing and will continue as needed. The number of positions varies from semester to semester, depending on the needs of the department. Positions may range from 16% to 100% time, which would translate to 1 to 6 courses over a two semester academic year.

The Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley, is generating an applicant pool of qualified instructors to teach courses in all areas of History (Africa, Ancient Greece & Rome, Byzantine, Early Modern Europe, East Asia, North America, Jewish, Late Modern Europe, Latin America, Medieval Europe, Middle East, Science, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and other various needs), pending openings.

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=61008

 

 

 

 

24. The Institute of History and the Research group for the Near and Middle East of the Károli Gáspár Reformed University, and the Department of Turkic Studies of Eötvös Loránd University cordially invite you to the following online event:

VÁMBÉRY STUDIES COLLOQUIUM

12 February 2021 (Friday)

Invite Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81972924889

Meeting ID: 819 7292 4889

Opening address:

09.00. (CET). István Vásáry (member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, ELTE University, Department of Turkic Studies, Budapest):

Has Vámbéry’s lifework any relevance for today?

 

 

 

 

25. The Toronto Initiative for Iranian Studies Presents:

Forugh Farrokhzad, Modernity and Madness

Leila Rahimi Bahmany, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main

Friday, February 12, 4-6 pm EST

Zoom Registration: https://uoft.me/IranianStudies

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/4142168369145728

1.Upcoming conference: Islamic Traditions in ‘Greater Khurāsān’ 

You are warmly invited to attend Islamic Traditions in ‘Greater Khurāsān: Ismailis, Sufis and Sunnis’ (February 24 – 27, 2021) convened by Dr Dagikhudo Dagiev at The Institute of Ismaili Studies.

The goal of this international conference is to explore a variety of manifestations of Islamic culture over a vast geographical area situated in the easternmost part of the Islamic world, including contemporary Central Asia, Afghanistan, north-eastern Iran, the Xinjiang region of western China and northern and western Pakistan. We have chosen to use the medieval geographic term ‘Greater Khurāsān’ to refer to this area.

Click below to learn more, download the conference programme, and register to attend.

 

Dates: 24 – 27 February 2021
Time: Sessions start from 11.30 GMT
Location: Online (Zoom)*

*Please note that the conference will be recorded, and may be published online by the Institute for use in teaching, research and marketing.

 

For further information and registration, please click the above link.

 

 

2.  Qur’an manuscripts from Southeast Asia in the British Library

The British Library’s collections of manuscripts from the Islamic world of Southeast Asia were largely formed during the early 19th century by officials in the service of the East India Company. These early colonial philologists eagerly sought out original literary, historical and legal texts composed in local languages such as Malay, Javanese and Bugis, but paid little attention to the rich corpus of writings in Arabic, constituting the bedrock of Islamic scholarship in the region. Manuscripts of the Qur’an, commentaries and prayerbooks were usually ignored, being regarded as poor copies of canonical texts already well known from multiple ‘better’ and older prototypes from the Middle East.

 

 

 

3. 18 Feb event – Black Monuments Matter – an insider’s guide to the exhibition.

The Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and the Zamani Project at the University of Cape Town are pleased to present an online talk, chaired by Professor Stephane Pradines and given by three of the scholars and surveyors who designed and delivered the site.

Ralph Schroeder, Bruce McDonald and Roshan Bhurtha will cover an introduction to Zamani including some interesting documented sites and the recent House of Wonders collapse in Zanzibar.

The lecture will offer an overview of the Black Monuments Matter website and will share an in-depth look at three of the sites; Zimbabwe, Kua and Meroe using video and modelling to illustrate key points with additional insight into how data was used in the creation of the exhibition. The talk will conclude with  a preview of the team’s upcoming projects.

Black Monuments Matter recognises and highlights African contributions to world history by exhibiting World Heritage Monuments and architectural treasures from Sub-Saharan Africa.

Black Monuments Matter aspires to create links to living African heritage by making it visible, assessable and known to as many people as possible. In general, we would like to raise awareness of and respect towards Black cultures and Africa’s past to a larger audience.

Black monuments matter and black cultures matter. Sites and monuments are physical representations of histories, heritage and developments in society. This exhibition aims to display the diversity and richness of African cultures as part of world history through the study of African monuments; bringing awareness and pride of African roots and contributions to other cultures.

The African continent has numerous sites and monuments of historic and cultural importance, and our exhibition showcases some of its diversity and richness. From the pyramids of Sudan, the Great Mosque of Timbuktu, to the Swahili cities of East Africa, each site is presented in a virtual room and is introduced by short texts written by African scholars.

Through an approach founded on the latest knowledge and technology developed by the Zamani Project, this online exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to learn more about the glorious monuments and sites of African heritage and black cultures across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Time 

18 February 2021 at 12 noon London time

Join Online via Zoom

Meeting ID: 981 1417 2743
Passcode: 017672

Register here for updates.

 

 

 

 

4. From Malabar to Coromandel: Deccan Heritage, Art and Culture

Seminars and lectures co-organized by the Deccan Heritage Foundation, the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, and the HH Sri Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Foundation, Mysore, presenting the pioneering scholarship in various cultural fields from both the Northern and Southern Deccan regions of India.

MARCH 2021

• “The Idea of Sacral Kingship between Islamic and Turco-Mongol Concepts of Politics”

  Evrim Binbas, University of Bonn, March 5, 1pm GMT

• “Written in Stone: Traces of Medieval Architects”

  Subhashini Kaligotla, Yale University, March 26, 2pm GMT

 

APRIL 2021

• “Balsam and Betel Nut Palm: Botanical Representation in the Early Modern Deccan”

Nicolas Roth, Harvard University, April 9, 1pm GMT

• “Jaina Temple Architecture of Coastal Karnataka: Climatic Dependencies and Artistic Freedoms”

Julia A. B. Hegewald, University of Bonn, April 30, 1pm GMT

 

MAY 2021

• “Deccani Portraits in Jahangir’s Albums”

Navina Najat Haidar, Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 14, 1pm GMT

• “Discovering the Deccan”

William Dalrymple in conversation with George Michell, May 28, 1pm GMT

 

JUNE 2021

• “The Persianate World: What is it? How did it appear? Why did it Collapse?”

Richard Eaton, University of Arizona, June 11, 2pm GMT

• “Dressing in the Deccan: Clothing and Identity at the Courts of Central India”

Marika Sardar, Aga Khan Museum, June 25, 1pm GMT

 

Registration: https://www.deccanheritagefoundation.uk/events/webinars

 

Centre for Visual Culture Seminar: New York, Lahore: In Dialogue with Shahzia Sikander and Salman Toor

March 10, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM GMT

Shahzia Sikander changed the game of the art world with her breakthrough at the Whitney Biennial in 1997. This year, Salman Toor, debuted his first solo museum exhibition at the Whitney, How Will I Know. In June, Sikander will open a career retrospective, Extraordinary Realities, at the Morgan Library & Museum co-organised with the RISD Museum. Centered on issues of gender, identity, global affiliations, appropriation, and narrative, this conversation engages the relationship between two artists on how they have navigated the shifting worlds of New York and Pakistan. In dialogue, we will pause and reflect over how we got here and anticipate where we are going.

Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/centre-for-visual-culture-seminar-2020-21-tickets-138079279843

 

 

 

 

5. NES Lecture: The European Qur’ān: The Qur’ān in European Religious and Cultural History, February 10, 2021, 12:00 pm (EST)

Mercedes García-Arenal (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [CCHS-CSIC], Madrid), Jan Loop (Københavns Universitet), John Tolan (Université de Nantes) and Roberto Tottoli (Universita degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale). Hosted by Sabine Schmidtke (School of Historical Studies, IAS).

“The European Qur’ān” (EuQu: https://euqu.eu/) is an ongoing project funded by a Synergy Grant of the European Research Council (ERC), dedicated to the important place of the Muslim holy book in European cultural and religious history. From the 12th century to the 19th, European Christians read the Qur’ān in Arabic, translated it into Latin, Greek and various vernacular languages, refuted it in polemical treatises, and mined it for information about Islam and Arab history. The “European Qur’ān”, in its various manifestations (Arabic editions, Latin and vernacular translations) should be conceived as scholarly efforts to understand Islam; as weapons in polemical exchanges between divergent versions of Christianity; as financial ventures on the part of printers and publishers; and as tools for the understanding of Semitic languages, Arab history and culture, and the history of monotheism.

The team that leads the project —Mercedes García-Arenal, John Tolan, Roberto Tottoli, Jan Loop— with their respective units in Madrid, Nantes, Naples and Copenhagen, will be dealing with various aspects of the transmission, translation, uses and study of the Qur’ān in Europe, on the role the Qur’ān played in debates about European cultural and religious identities, and more broadly about the place of the Qur’ān in European culture.

Register in advance for this webinar here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

 

 

 

 

6. ReOrienting Histories of Medicine, Encounters along the Silk Roads

Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim

Bloomsbury 2021

 

 

 

 

7. Leiden University – Lessons in codicology and palaeographybased on manuscripts from the Middle East, Islamic Africa and beyond

This is a collection of lessons in codicology – the study of handwritten documents or codices – and palaeography from the Muslim world. The lessons will guide you through the ways books were made and used there before the printing press, by investigating the traces left by producers, owners and readers of manuscripts. Using your mouse, you will come close to people in the manuscript age as they produced, transmitted, cherished and “consumed” the written texts.

The lessons are centered around fully digitalised manuscripts from the oriental collection of Leiden University Libraries. They include samples in Arabic, Persian and Coptic, from cultures ranging from the Maghrib to Mughal India. The lessons can be read in any order. All include suggestions for further reading and questions (with answers) or assignments.

 

 

 

8. I am writing on behalf of the Editorial Board of Essays in History (EiH) to announce that the journal is currently soliciting submissions for its upcoming fifty-fourth volume. We welcome submissions from scholars of the history of Middle Eastern politics.

Essays in History (EiH) is an open access journal for emerging historians. EiH publishes peer-reviewed articles and historiographical essays in all areas of historical inquiry, as well as reviews of the most recent scholarship. The journal has been staffed by graduate students at the University of Virginia since 1954. EiH aims to provide a supportive experience for our editors, authors, and referees. The editorial team is committed to ensuring that equity, anti-racism, and accessibility are at the heart of who we are, how we operate, and the work we publish.

Essays in History welcomes submissions from graduate students, scholars who have received their PhD within the last five years, and accomplished undergraduates. The deadline for submissions is April 2, 2021. You may submit your work or volunteer to serve as an anonymous referee through our website: https://www.essaysinhistory.com

Regards,

Alice King, Managing Editor,

The Editorial Team of Essays in History

essays_in_history@virginia.edu

 

 

 

 

9. Arab Translators Association (ArTA) is pleased to invite you to attend the Lecture titled:

Translation as an intercultural encounter

Dr. Ayman Nazzal

An-Najah National University, West Bank, Palestine

Day: Wednesday 10/2/2021

Time: 8 p.m. Jerusalem Time, 6 p.m. GMT

Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89615401270

Free Certificate of Attendance sent to your email on the same day.

Dr. Ayman Nazzal:

Assistant Professor: Taught courses in General Linguistics, syntax and semantics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and Rhetoric & Public Communication

PH.D. in General Linguistics, Speech Communication, and Humanistic Studies

State University of New York at Albany, Albany, N.Y. 1996-2001

M.A. Degree in General/theoretical Linguistics & Cognitive Science

NYU, New York, N.Y. 1990-1993 Part-time

M.A. Degree in Applied Linguistics & Pedagogy

S.U.N.Y AT Stony Brook, N.Y.

Page: https://www.facebook.com/ArabTranslatorsAssociation /

Translation Courses:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArTACourses/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQSdhuPN8G050I_IyqxoAQA

 

 

 

 

10. The programme of the second semester of the monthly seminar “Companies, Policies and Cultures of the Iranian World” organized by the Iranian World Research Center (CeRMI, UMR 8041) can be accessed at:

https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaire-de-recherche/