Archive for 2021

1 November 2021
It is with a very heavy heart and great sorrow that I have to inform you of the passing away of Professor Mahmoud Ayoub today. He was a mentor, teacher, friend and colleague to many. He was also a colossal figure in Islamic Studies, having written many articles, authored and edited books and taught many, including myself. He was also a very fine human being. He will be missed. May Allah rest his soul in peace and grant him a special place with His chosen ones.

Best Wishes
———————
Dr. Liyakat Takim
Sharjah Chair in Global Islam
Dept of Religious Studies
McMaster University
1280 Main Street West
University Hall, B125
Hamilton, Ontario
Canada, L8S 4K1

(905) 525-9140 ext 20521 (office)
Website: LTakim.com

See also Hartford International University obituary statement.

ONLINE Humboldt Research Award Lecture / Goettinger Orient-Symposium: “Towards a History of Libraries in Yemen” by Prof. Sabine Schmidtke, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, NJ, 3 November 2021, 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm CET
Zaydi Yemen is characterized by a religio-dynastic continuance that stretched over nearly a millenium until the abolition of the Zaydi imamate in 1962. During this periods, the production of books increased exponentially and new libraries were founded. The preserved material allows for a meticulous longue durée study of Yemen’s religio-cultural history through its libraries, the outlines of which will be sketched out in the lecture.
Information and registration: https://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/651367.html

‘Nearly ten years after Ali al-Nimr was arrested by Saudi authorities in February 2012, he was finally released from prison this week. His mother tweeted a video <https://twitter.com/NasrahAlahmed/status/1453380165388615684?s=20> showing their emotional reunion. But amid the relief and celebration, al-Nimr’s ordeal highlights the cruelty of the Saudi justice system, which the country’s rulers have failed to meaningfully reform.’
Human Rights Watch, 28.10.21

1.City in the Desert, Revisited: Oleg Grabar at Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi, 1964-71

Christiane Gruber and Michelle Al-Ferzly, with a foreword by Renata Holod

Kelsey Museum, 2021

An interactive PDF of the book is available for free download through the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology website, myumi.ch/0WvOk

 

 

 

2. Manchester Journal of Transnational Islamic Law and Practice
Volume 17 Issue 1 2021, ISSN 2633-6626

The issue can be read or downloaded at:

https://www.electronicpublications.org/catalogue/253

 

 

 

3. Position in the Institute of Islamic Studies, Faculty Lecturer in Persian Language

McGill University

Position Description:This position is a Faculty Lectureship in Persian Language. The appointee will be responsible for all elements of the Institute of Islamic Studies’ Persian language program. This includes teaching Persian at all three levels offered to graduate and undergraduate students. The Faculty Lecturer also coordinates and manages the program.
Job Duties: The coordination, teaching, and implementation of all elements of the Persian language program, including teaching to graduate and undergraduate students at the Institute of Islamic Studies.
Qualifications and Education Requirements:MA or PhD in Applied Linguistics or relevant related degree required. Competence in teaching elements of Iranian and Persianate culture/s is not required but will be an advantage. French is an asset.
Faculty/Department/Unit:Institute of Islamic Studies
Job Type:Contract Academic Staff (Academic Contractual)
Rank:Faculty Lecturer
Length of Appointment:Three (3) years [August 1, 2022 to July 31, 2025]
Salary:Salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.
Posting Period:Please submit your application by December 1, 2021 

Contact persons:  Professor Michelle Hartman, Director (IIS)   –director.islamic@mcgill.ca (academic) or anne.farray@mcgill.ca (administrative) queries.
Required Documents: • Cover letter and curriculum vitae   • Statement of teaching philosophy (MAX: one page) • Names and contact information of three (3) referees (to be contacted later) • Further information may be asked in the application process including: lesson plans, recorded class sessions, a remote interview and/or other material.​Please submit your application using Workday – the link to apply is here: https://www.mcgill.ca/hr/careers .  Use a personal email address when creating an account in Workday to submit your application. Do not use @mail.mcgill.ca or @mcgill.ca email accounts to apply.  See here How to Apply for a Job (for External Candidates) – McGill Academic & Administrative HR Knowledge Base_KB – Confluence
Advertisement in English:
https://mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/mcgill_careers/job/Morrice-Hall/Faculty-Lecturer–Persian-Language-_JR0000018907
Advertisement in French:https://mcgill.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/fr-CA/mcgill_careers/job/Morrice-Hall/Faculty-Lecturer–Persian-Language-_JR0000018907

 

 

 

4. Online seminar – 1 December 2021 – The Power of Documents: Passports and ID Cards

AKU-ISMC

Governance Programme Dialogue Series 2021/2022: Population Surveillance, the Body, and Mobility
The series examines twenty-first century population surveillance (ID cards, passports, checkpoints, and policing) in the Global South and/or spaces of its intersection with the Global North. It examines how population surveillance has been transformed through new technologies, whilst also seeking to uncover continuities with the colonial past/present. It asks how do forms of population surveillance today affect the body, movement, and power?

Lecture 2 – The Power of Documents: Passports and ID Cards
Passports, ID cards, birth certificates, and other material artefacts are crucial to how we navigate the world today. New computerised and biometric technologies also mean documents carry significant amount of personal information and data on them. Join us in this session as we discuss how states uphold regimes of deportation through documentation and databases, the politics behind how documents are designed, and the greater capacity for state control over the body.
Speakers

Mahmoud Keshavarz is a Senior Lecturer in Design Studies at HDK-Valand Academy of Art and Design, University of Gothenburg. Keshavarz is the author of The Design Politics of the Passport: Materiality, Immobility, and Dissent (Bloomsbury 2019).

Nisha Kapoor is Associate Professor in Sociology at Warwick University. Her research interests are broadly concerned with racism and the security state covering topics relating to immigration, citizenship, criminalisation, Islamophobia, segregation and authoritarianism. Theoretically, she draws on critical race, postcolonial, and political theory to assist in the undertaking of this work. Her current research, still in its early stages, explores the role surveillance processes and technologies play in bordering practices in different national contexts (UK, India). She is the author of Deport, Deprive, Extradite: 21st Century State Extremism (Verso 202).
Moderator

Sai Englert is a lecturer in the Institute for Area Studies. Sai Englert works on political economy and development in the Middle East, with a focus on settler colonialism and settler labour movements. Authored works include Settlers, Workers, and the Logic of Accumulation by Dispossession, Antipode 52(6): 1647-1666.
Date and Time

Wednesday 1 December 2021, 17:00 – 18:30 (London).
Registration

Join us online via Zoom by registering here.

 

 

 

 

5. ISLAMIC ARCHAEOLOGY AND THE MUSEUM
Nadia Abu El-Haj, Barnard College/Columbia University

Renata Holod, University of Pennsylvania

Mohammad Fahim Rahimi, National Museum of Afghanistan

Alison Gascoigne, University of Southampton

Christian Greco, Museo Egizio, Turin

Ahmed Adam, University of Khartoum
Friday, November 5th, 11:00am ET

PLEASE NOTE: The US adopts winter daylight saving time slightly later than other regions. As a result, for this one event the time differences from New York vary slightly. This event begins at 11am New York time (15h London, 16h Lagos/Berlin, 17h Cairo/Beirut, 18h Addis/Istanbul, 20.00 Islamabad, 20.30 Delhi)
[Webinar] Silsila Fall 2021 Lecture Series

Expectations regarding the context and value of excavated material vary across the fields of Islamic archaeology and museology, fields with competing epistemologies and theoretical approaches. Focusing on practices of excavation and display, this panel aims to explore the often-contentious relationships between these fields. The topic is especially relevant to a moment when the colonial and racist legacies of the academy and the museum have come under increased scrutiny. The presentations will explore the implications of archaeological research conducted by museums, the legacies of such projects, and their relevance to contemporary discussions regarding the exhibition of archaeological material from the Islamic lands. A central aim is to explore the potential meaning of context, extending the term to the modern life of objects and to the human relations enabled by it.

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

https://as.nyu.edu/silsila/events/2021-2022/islamic-archaeology-and-the-museum.html

Only registered attendees will be able to access this event

 

 

 

6. Webinar Series – SOAS Research Seminar in Islamic Art

We are delighted to say that we are able to start the SOAS Research Seminar in Islamic Art (ReSIA) again, after the pause last year due to the pandemic. Thank you for all your requests for the seminar to resume.

The seminars will take place on the Zoom platform, at least for the moment, and because of the logistics related to Zoom the time will be 6 pm (instead of the usual 5.30 pm), London time.

You will have to register with Matty Bradley at mb@royalasiaticsociety.org who will then send you the Zoom link to access the seminar.

Our first three seminars are:

Thursday 25th November, 6pm with

Sohelia Sokhanvari – In the Age of Delirium

Abstract: This presentation will cover Sokhanvari’s artwork and explain the ideas behind how the female image has become synonymous with Iran’s ideologies. Including some of the latest works for her upcoming major solo show in 2022, she will present the story of the struggle of female cultural icons against the backlash from the conservative reactionaries and explain how after the revolution their voices were silenced, and their images banned. Sokhanvari will introduce the techniques employed in her paintings and drawings, such as the medieval process of egg tempera on calf vellum and the Iranian crude oil on paper, and will highlight how the material itself carries a strong political message that has been a matter of debate in the media.

Thursday 2nd December, 6pm with

Natasha Morris – The King and I: Qajar Portrait Miniatures

Abstract: Both portable and precious, bejewelled portrait miniatures of the Qajar Shahs were given as both diplomatic gestures and for the endowment of favour within the court. In being extensively worn and displayed on the male body, they became symbols of reverence, embodiment and fraternity. Whilst there are obvious parallels with the European production of portrait miniatures of notable persons, there are stronger links to local conceptualisations of both image and subject, specifically Shi’i traditions of portable, idealised portraits of Imams (shemayel). These glittering mementos, therefore, reveal not only a self-contained dynastic vision that could be charted in mise-en-abyme from the chest of one Qajar ruler to the next, but they also pertain to notions of the iconic and an inherently devotional attachment to a male image of power. In being passed with reverence from one man’s body to another, portrait miniatures implicate concepts of masculinity, charisma and authority that are both regal and religious.

Thursday 16th December, 6pm with

Maximilian Hartmuth – The phenomenon of ‘Oriental rooms’ in Central European residences, museums, and exhibitions, ca. 1850 to ca. 1930 – Historicity, materiality, aesthetics

Abstract: In the Europe of the long 19th century, ‘Arab’ or ‘Turkish’ rooms were far from uncommon in residences of aristocracy and bourgeoisie. Interiors with (real or alleged) provenances in Islamic lands were also exhibited at museums and fairs. There, they purported to offer insight into an alien dwelling culture. Whereas some ‘rooms’ were shipped from Damascus or Cairo, others purported to be authentic takes on their style. Occasionally, an original and an original supplement became amalgamated. This paper will present findings of a recent conference and publication venture, conducted in the context of ERC project #758099. It brought together researchers and curators to ruminate about the place of Central Europe in this international phenomenon, bringing to light (again) several truly fascinating cases. I will survey some of these cases, discussed in greater detail in a volume (“Gezimmertes Morgenland [etc.]”) published this year, with additional reflections about patterns and logics of reception, design, and appropriation.

Hope to see many of you at the events.

 

 

 

7. Online Symposium – Bektashism in the Southern Balkans – 30-31 October

BEKTASHISM IN THE SOUTHERN BALKANS: 

Online Symposium in Memory of Efstratios Zeginis

Organisers: Paschalis Androudis (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) & Dimitris Loupis (Harvard University)

To register send an email to dimitrisloupis@gmail.com. Zoom codes will be sent prior to the symposium.

Note: Times are Saturday [Athens, GR (UTC/GMT +3 hours)] & Sunday [Athens, GR (UTC/GMT +2 hours)]

 

DAY 1  Saturday 30 October 2021

OPENING REMARKS 

16:00 – 16:15 Paschalis ANDROUDIS – Dimitris LOUPIS: The study of Bektashism in the Southern Balkans and Efstratios Zeginis

16:15 – 16:30 Chrysanthi ZEGINI – Nikolaos ZEGINIS: Our father Efstratios Zeginis and his work

SESSION A – BY WAY OF INTRODUCTION (Chair: Dimitris LOUPIS)

16:30 – 16:50 Levent KAYAPINAR: The stages of development of Bektashism in the Ottoman Period

16:50 – 17:10 Rıza YILDIRIM: Balım Sultan and the institutionalization of the Bektashi Sufi order

17:10 – 17:30 Aggeliki ZIAKA – Ioannis MYLONELIS: Bektashism, Balkan Islam and the work of Efstratios Zeginis

17:30 – 17:50 Ayşe KAYAPINAR :The process of the formation of heterodox understanding and its centers in the Balkans

17:50 – 18:20 Questions – discussion

SESSION B – SEYYID ALI SULTAN. MOVING BEKTASHISM TO THE BALKANS (Chair: Paschalis ANDROUDIS)

18:30 – 18:50 Yeliz TEBER: Tracing the life of Kızıl Deli from Anatolia to Thrace

18:50 – 19:10 Ali YAMAN – Mehmet ERSAL: The role and Importance of Seyyid Ali Sultan (Kızıl Deli) and the ocak founded on his behalf in the Alevi-Bektashi communities

19:10 – 19:30 Ayfer KARAKAYA-STUMP: A new perspective on the Çelebiyan-Babagan division within Bektashism

19:30 – 20:00: Questions – discussion

 

DAY 2 Sunday 31 October 2021

SESSION C – BEKTASHI SITES FROM ANATOLIA TO THRACE (Chair: Paschalis ANDROUDIS)

16:00 – 16:20 İkgül KAYA: The lodge of Seyyid Battal Gazi in the context of social continuity in a confraternity

16:20 – 16:40 Dimitris LOUPIS: Reshaping rural and urban space. Bektashi dervish settlers along the Via Egnatia in Western Thrace

16:40 – 17:00 Ayşegül KILIÇ: The impact of Bektashism on the Ottoman settlements in the Southern Balkans. Ottoman dervish lodges of Feres and their role at the security strategy

17:00 – 17:20 Aikaterini MARKOU: Sharing sacred places. The Case of two shared Muslim/Bektashi-Christian sanctuaries in Greek Thrace

17:20 – 17:40 Vanessa R. DE OBALDÍA: Megalo Dereio / Büyük Dervent Cemevi: The first official cem house in the Thracian lands of the Hellenic Republic

17:40 – 18:10 Questions – discussion

SESSION D – BEKTASHI SITES IN THE BALKANS (Chair: Dimitris LOUPIS)

18:20 – 18:40 Theodora IOANNIDOU – Evangelos Ath. PAPATHANASSIOU: Islamic graffiti in a Christian church: An unknown episode in Kastoria’s History

18:40 – 19:00 Paschalis ANDROUDIS: New historical and archaeological evidence on two 15th century Βektashi tekkes in Thessaly: Hasan Baba in Tempi and Durbalı Sultan in Asprogeia, Pharsala

19:00 – 19:20 Dragi GJORGIEV: Some traces of crypto-Christianity and links between Bektashism and Christianity on the Balkan Peninsula (XVI-XIX centuries)

19:20 – 19:50   Questions – discussion

CONCLUDING REMARKS

19:50 – 20:20 Paschalis ANDROUDIS – Dimitris LOUPIS

Organised under the aegis of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Society for the Study of Greek Orthodox East, the Greek Committee & Center of South-Eastern European Studies, and the Seminar of Ottoman Language and Palaeography.

E-flyer:

https://www.academia.edu/59896055/BEKTASHISM_IN_THE_SOUTHERN_BALKANS_An_e_Symposium_in_Mem…

The Clergy and the Modern Middle East
Shi’i Political Activism in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon
M Kalantari
Bloomsbury, 2021

Turkish Journal of Shiite Studies is an academic peer-review journal that publishes on Shiite studies.
Submission of articles for the new issue (December 31, 2021, Volume:3, Issue:2) continues to Nov 30. Turkish Journal of Shiite Studies is a double-blind peer review and no fee is requested from the author before or after the publication.

For the details and submission:
https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/siader

 

1. New Exhibition – “Hidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads” at the Aga Khan Museum

The Aga Khan Museum is proud to announce the new exhibition Hidden Stories: Books Along the Silk Roads, which opened to the public on October 9th.

The exhibition is a collaboration with the Book and the Silk Roads (BSR) Project led by Alexandra Gillespie and based at the University of Toronto.

Please visit both the museum and the digital exhibition.

We look forward to sharing these Hidden Stories with you!

Filiz Çakır Phillip (Hidden Stories co-curator, Aga Khan Museum)
Suzanne Conklin Akbari (Hidden Stories co-curator and BSR co-Principal Investigator, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)

 

 

 

2. DECOLONISING KNOWLEDGE ON EURO-MEDITERRANEAN RELATIONS
PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE | THURSDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2021, 11am CEST

Panelists will discuss the relevance and implications of “decolonising knowledge”, while also addressing Euro-Mediterranean relations in the present.

Information and registration: https://www.dipstudistorici.unito.it/do/avvisi.pl/Show?_id=j0kg

 

 

 

 

3. ONLINE Conference: “Ignaz Goldziher and His Correspondents: Islamic and Jewish Studies around the Turn of the Twentieth Century”, Universität Göttingen, 12-13 November 2021

This correspondence of over 13,000 letters constitutes the single most important source informing about the history of Arabic, Jewish, and Islamic studies and cognate fields during Goldziher‘s time.

Information, program and registration:

https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/8328500/ignaz-goldziher-and-his-correspondents-islamic-and-jewish

 

 

 

4. Colloque : « Islam et altérité : Quelle théologie islamique du pluralisme religieux ? », l’Institut Catholique de Paris, 19-20 novembre 2021

Ce colloque porté par le Laboratoire de recherche « Islam et altérité » permettra de dégager les lectures et les principes théologiques en islam qui président aujourd’hui pour rendre compte du pluralisme religieux. Il interrogera la manière dont est pensé le lien entre unité et diversité.

Information et inscription : https://www.eventbrite.fr/e/billets-islam-et-alterite-quelle-theologie-islamique-du-pluralisme-religieux-164822407257?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

 

 

 

 

5. Workshop: “Travel, Mobility, and Cultural Conflict in the Middle East and North Africa”, South-east Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Society, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, 9-10 April 2022

We invite paper proposals from any discipline in the humanities or social sciences that address topics relating to travel and mobility in, to, and from the MENA region in any historical era.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 December 2021. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2021/10/22/call-for-papers-travel-and-mobility-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa

 

 

 

 

6. Conference: “Gramsci in the Middle East and North Africa”, London School of Economics, 9-10 May 2022

Antonio Gramsci has emerged as a popular theorist in work focused on resistance, revolution, popular move-ments, capitalism, political economy, memory, temporality, transnationalism and internationalism. In the wake of 2011 there is a significant revival in Gramscian perspectives in Middle East Studies. How can his work help us make sense of a moment marked by a significant expansion in resistance and uprising.

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

 

 

 

 

7. HYBRID Workshop: “The Making and Unmaking of Identities in the Early Modern Mediterra-nean”, European University Institute, Florence, 12-13 May 2022

When and how did people across the Mediterranean defend their identitarian boundaries? When did show-ing/claiming an identity become a necessity? When did people lose their identity? We anticipate new insights from reconsidering these terms and demanding attention to the concepts of difference and diversity in differ-ent political and religious groups.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/8617952/cfp-making-and-unmaking-identities-early-modern-mediterranean

 

 

 

 

8. Call for Applications for scholarships and places in our doctoral programme

Deadline: 1 November, 2021, 12 noon CET

The Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies will admit up to ten PhD fellows to its three-year doctoral programme, which is to begin on 1 October 2022. The Graduate School is a joint institution of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, which brings together scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and area studies. The Graduate School investigates the plurality, changeability, and global connectedness of Muslim cultures and societies. Successful applicants will have a master’s degree in Arabic Studies, Central Asian Studies, History, Human Geography, Iranian Studies, Islamic Studies, Political Science, Semitic Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, South and Southeast Asian Studies, or Southeast European History.

Deadline for applications: 1 November 2021. Information: https://www.bgsmcs.fu-berlin.de/application/call_for_applications/index.html

 

 

 

9. Research Associate (Postdoc, 3 Years) in Oriental or Classical Studies: Ruhr University Bochum

Your task: Translation and commentary of the treatise Naḥw al-qulūb (‘Grammar of the Hearts’), written by the Arab-Persian Sufi Al-Qushayrī (376-465 AH = 986-1072/73 CE). Your profile: PhD in Oriental or Classi-cal Studies; Language skills: Arabic (excellent), Latin (desired), Experience in the field of digital processing of historical text sources (appreciated):

Deadline for applications: 31 October 2021. Information: https://www.stellenwerk-bochum.de/jobboerse/postdoc-tv-l-e-13-100-bochum-210920-491841

 

 

 

 

10. Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Postdoctoral Fellowship (2 Years), Northwestern University

We welcome applications from early career scholars whose work focuses on non-dominant and underrepre-sented groups including but not limited to religious, ethnic, and LBGTQ minorities and otherwise marginalized groups. Scholars in all branches of the Social Sciences and Humanities may apply.

Deadline for applications: 13 January 2022. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/8661283/call-applications-keyman-modern-turkish-studies-postdoctoral

 

 

 

 

11. Winter School on “Variations in Populism”, Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS), Doha, 3-13 January 2022

I aims to provide an in-depth and critical look at selected topics in the broader study of the Middle East. For participating early career scholars, it provides an opportunity to network with regional scholars, gain substan-tive knowledge and insight unavailable in their home institutions and countries, and receive feedback from respected scholars. Funding of travel expenses available.

Deadline for applications: 30 October 2021. Information: https://www.dohainstitute.org/en/Events/Winter-School-Third-Round-2022/Pages/index.aspx

 

 

 

 

12. Summer School for Doctoral Students on “The Qur`an in Inter-Christian Polemic”, Nantes, 13-17 June 2022

How have Christian authors in Europe used and appropriated the Qur’an? We are interested in how the Qur’an was used as a historical and linguistic archive, as a mine of heretical ideas and as a tool used in confessional rivalries.

Deadline for proposals: 15 December 2021. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/summer-school-the-quran-in-inter-christian-polemic-nantes-13-17-june?e=82aeb6c61d

 

 

 

 

13. New Book Series: “Cinema and Media Cultures in the Middle East” (Peter Lang Publishing)

The purpose of this series is to demarcate and critically examine the shifting terrain of film- and media-making in the Middle East, and of practices of film and media studies regarding it, testing them both against their larger, social enabling conditions at the national, regional, and transnational levels.

Please send your book prospectus to Terri Ginsberg (Concordia University, Montréal) terri.ginsberg@con-cordia.ca . Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/8688549/cinema-and-media-cultures-middle-east

 

 

 

14. Upcoming Arabic Calligraphy Talk and Workshop at the Warburg Institute

A Bridge Between – The Art of Arabic Calligraphy – Online talk (4th November)  & In-person workshop (11th November)
How can the art of Arabic calligraphy offer a bridge between the material and the spiritual? The visual and the verbal? As a living tradition, Arabic calligraphy is a vital element of Islamic art. In this way, it offers an important platform for discussing the nature of, and intersections between, language, art and belief. The early development of Arabic calligraphy was intimately tied not only to the emerging civilisation of Islam, but also innovations in writing materials and shifting perspectives on geometry and cosmology. Over centuries, Arabic calligraphy has evolved from its pre-Islamic conception to the modern styles of writing that are in use today. The styles and techniques that were codified and elaborated through Arabic calligraphy’s evolution continue to be taught.  This two-part event series is made up of an online talk and small in-person workshop. In the online talk, Soraya Syed will describe her journey and practice as a calligrapher, drawing on both her experience as an apprentice in Istanbul and a practicing artist in London. In the small in-person workshop, Soraya will introduce participants to the materials used in calligraphy and teach them its foundational techniques.
Soraya Syed is a classically trained calligrapher, artist and filmmaker. She is considered the first Briton to receive the coveted icazetname, or calligraphy license, from Istanbul in 2005. She is part of an unbroken silsila, or chain of transmission, that goes back centuries. While embracing traditional techniques and materials, her recent practice incorporates new digital media.  In this way, Soraya continually works to push the boundaries of what is expected from this traditional art form.
The online talk takes places on Thursday November 4th, 6-7.30pm GMT. More information can be found here: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/events/arabic-calligraphy-lecture.
The in-person workshop takes place on Thursday November 11th, 5.30-7pm GMT. More information can be found here:https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/events/arabic-calligraphy-workshop
This workshop is limited to 15 participants – please book ahead to avoid disappointment.
Both events are free and open to the public thanks to the London Arts and Humanities Partnership.

 

 

 

15. Fall 2021 AMECYS Graduate Student Discussion Series

The Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies (AMECYS) welcomes you to listen and engage with graduate students who will present on their research on young people in the Middle East and North Africa, and its diasporic communities.  The format of the sessions is thirty minutes of presentation by the speaker followed by thirty minutes of discussion and Q&A with the audience.  The AMECYS Graduate Student Discussion Series is intended to be a space for graduate students to share their cutting-edge research as well as workshop their dissertation material.

Please RSVP to Dylan Baun to attend (djb0035@uah.edu) and receive the zoom link

Friday December 10^th, 11 am CST 

Melis Sulos, PhD candidate, Graduate Center – CUNY

Power, Architecture, and Childhood in Turkey: The case of Children’s Palace

This paper focuses on an innovative architectural structure, Cocuk Sarayi (Children’s Palace), in Ankara in the 1930s. It attempts to locate the transformation of children’s spaces within the politics of social hygiene and modernity in the 1930s. How, for instance, did the Children’s Palace serve the medicalization of the childrearing practices in post-war Turkey? And, how did it act as a performative and symbolic space shaping the imagery and the iconography of the nation state? Putting together visuals and pamphlets, I try to discuss the influence of architectural and spatial reorganization on the history of childhood in early republican Turkey.

 

 

 

16. Online Conference: Expectations of justice and political power in the Islamicate world (ca. 600-1500 CE)

28 and 29 October – Online Conference

Speakers: Or Amir, Sean Anthony, Nasrin Askari (Keynote), Mustafa Banister, Enki Baptiste, Linda Darling, Sébastien Garnier, Hanna-Lena Hagemann, Najam Haider, Angela Isoldi, Büşra Kaya, Noëmie Lucas, Taryn Marashi, Christian Mauder, Aseel Najib, Marta Novo, Rana Osman, Marina Rustow, Deborah Tor. 

Expectations and notions of just rule

In the Islamicate world, as elsewhere, requests for just rule surface constantly as notions of justice are debated and contested. Exemplary rule can be sought in direct and open ways, through entreaties and demands, but also subversively through irony, flattery and satire. Expectations of justice can be pursued through reform or revolution, or via secession, utopianism and millenarianism. Participants will present case studies discussing how just rule was defined and what actions and reactions it precipitated in specific historical, geographical and cultural contexts.

To view the programme see: https://emco.hcommons.org/events/event/970/

To sign up to attend the Zoom meeting mail: emco@hum.leidenuniv.nl

 

 

 

17. Invitation to 6th IDHN Conference on November 17, 2021

We would like to invite you all to attend the 6th IDHN Conference on Wednesday, November 17, 2021. Please find the full program of the conference as a pdf attachment below. You are welcome to share the program and invite interested colleagues and students.

We will hear four exciting presentations:

Metin M. Coşgel, Emre Özer, and Sadullah Yıldırım: Gender and Justice: A Quantitative Analysis of Women’s Participation and Victory in Ottoman Courts

Wafa Fatima Isfahani: Tracing Genealogies: Using Network Analysis to Model the Spatiotemporal Distribution of Sufi Orders

Noëmie Lucas, Clément Salah, and Chahan Vidal-Gorène: RASAM – A Dataset for the Recognition and Analysis of Scripts in Arabic Maghribi scripts

Sohaib Saeed: Al-Rāzī’s Great Exegesis: Can text reuse detection solve a longstanding debate over his sole authorship?

The Zoom link to the event will be shared with you in a separate email on November 15, 2021.

Members of the IDH Network do not have to register in order to receive the link. If you are not a member of IDHN but wish to attend the event as a guest, please register by sending us an email at registration@idhn.org.

 

18. Online Seminar – Islamophobia and Racism in the Secular University: An Examination of the Muslim Student Awarding Gap (Edge Hill Research Seminar 28th Oct)

Dr Reza Gholami

28^th October 12 noon (Online)

More info: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/education/research/events/

Book via: https://forms.office.com/r/hEqfQ6gUCK

This paper engages with a dominant model of Islamophobia which gives race and racism primacy. It argues that such an approach is parochial, conceptually narrow and practically ineffective. I take as my case the UK’s Muslim student awarding gap – Muslims are currently the worst performing religious group at UK universities. Existing work explains this problem in terms of racism/Islamophobia. These factors are correctly identified, but a lack of analytical precision around race and religion has led strategies to fall back on ‘standard’ and largely ineffective ideas.

I argue that racial and religious disadvantage must be understood separately, though intersectionally, through Critical Race Theory and the concept of ‘religification’. Such an analysis sheds light on how institutional approaches to race and religion play a key role in the structuration and perpetuation of educational disadvantage for Muslim students. It also paves the way for more effective strategies for eradicating the awarding gap.

Reza Gholami is a Reader in Sociology of education at the University of Birmingham where he is also the Deputy Director of the Centre for Research in Race and Education (CRRE). His research interests are Islamophobia and racism in education as well as community-based forms of education. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and an Honorary Senior Research Associate at the UCL Institute of Education. He earned his PhD in the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at SOAS, University of London, where he also conducted postdoctoral research funded by the AHRC working with diverse youth and community organisations in London to improve educational and citizenship outcomes for young people. Currently, he is leading an ESRC-funded project working with non-formal educators in Birmingham to develop innovative educational materials to foster intercommunal learning.

Reza is the author of numerous books and articles in his field including co-editing the book Education and Extremisms: Re-Thinking Liberal Pedagogies in the Contemporary World (Routledge 2018). He also regularly appears in national and international media, including featuring in the BBC Radio 4 documentary ‘The Corrections’ about the Birmingham ‘Trojan Horse’ affair.

 

1. Book Launch (London, 8.11.21)

An Anthology of Qur’anic Commentaries, Vol. II: On Women

We are delighted to invite you to attend this book launch in-person at the Aga Khan Centre in London, and online from around the world, for this long-awaited and highly anticipated volume, published in partnership with Oxford University Press.
This work offers a thematic overview of the subject of women in the Qur’an and in the commentarial tradition known as tafsir. In this special event, the editors Dr Karen Bauer and Dr Feras Hamza will be in discussion with a panel of discussants including Dr Sarah Savant, Dr Walid Saleh, Dr Yasmin Amin, and Dr Anna Chrysostomides.
Registration is essential (via Eventbrite or Zoom). Please note the event will be filmed and livestreamed.

Date: Monday 8 November, 5:00pm-7:15pm (GMT)

Venue: Aga Khan Centre (register on Eventbrite)

For more information and to register, visit:

https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/book-launch-anthology-qur-anic-commentaries-volume-ii-women?utm_source=D1021&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=AOW

 

 

 

 

2. The University of Oslo invites applications for the MA program in Middle East Studies.

Tuition-free two year graduate program at a leading European University. Courses are taught in English. Student visas give work permit up to twenty hours per week. See program page here for more information.

 

 

 

3. Lecturer in Arabic Language, University of Pennsylvania

The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Pennsylvania announces a position at the rank of full-time Lecturer in the Arabic Language Program starting in the academic year 2022-23. The appointment will be for an initial year with the possibility of annual renewal for up to two additional years, contingent upon a satisfactory performance review and approval of the Dean. Employee benefits are provided. Applicants for the position should demonstrate a primary focus on language education, and should have received at least a Master’s degree, and preferably a Ph.D., in Education, Arabic Language, Literature, Linguistics, or a related field. Native or near-native competency in Arabic language, and fluency in English, are required. Preference will be given to applicants who have significant teaching experience at all levels of Arabic language at post-secondary American institutions. Demonstrated proficiency in current second/foreign language teaching methodologies (especially content-based instruction) and meaningful application of technologies in language instruction are highly desirable. Duties include teaching Arabic language classes (five classes per academic year) at any assigned level, holding regular office hours and attending meetings of the Arabic Language Program.  Additional responsibilities could include working with the appropriate faculty to develop and design the curriculum, and to evaluate teaching goals, student outcomes and programmatic effectiveness.

We seek a language educator interested in furthering the study of Arabic language and culture at Penn, and who values interdisciplinary research, collaboration, and collegiality and the promotion of a culturally diverse intellectual community. Candidates should apply online at: https://apply.interfolio.com/96530.

Please submit: a cover letter, CV, teaching statement, sample syllabus for the most advanced language course taught (including content courses), and contact information for a minimum of three individuals who have agreed to provide a recommendation letter. The University will contact the recommenders with instructions on how to submit their letters. We also encourage applicants to upload additional documents if available: 1) recent teaching evaluations including written comments, 2) a link to a video recording of a class, and 3) a description of the video and relevant materials. The review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

 

 

 

4. Ḥajar invites you to the first Online Workshop on the topic:

“Muslim and non-Muslim identities through material culture in the medieval Islamic world“, 29 October 2021.

Ḥajar is a collective of archaeologists working in different parts of Islamic history and geography and on different topics (https://hajar.hypotheses.org/about).

The program of the first workshop:

Muslim and non-Muslim identities through
material culture in the medieval Islamic world

Friday, 29th of October 2021
15:45 – 19:00 UTC+2 (Paris/Brussels time)

Chairs: Sterenn Le Maguer-Gillon (Institut Catholique de Paris) and José C. Carvajal López (University of Leicester)

First Part (speakers: 25 min each)

Marcos García-García (University of York): Eat not its flesh: food and Islamic identity during the emergence of al-Andalus (8th-11th c.)
Atiyeh Taghiei (University of California): Porous boundaries and unexpected practice: aninterdisciplinary lens on identity in early Islamic Iran
Robert Carter (Bahrain Authority for  Culture and Antiquities): Material culture, identity and faith at the Christian sites of the Arabian Gulf region (ca. 6th-9th centuries AD)

Question session (15 minutes)

Break (15 minutes)

Second Part (discussants: 25 min each)

Uriel Simonsohn, University of Haifa
Delphine Ortis, ceias-EHESS/INALCO

Open debate (30 minutes)
Public invited to participate

Free registration at hajararchaeology@gmail.com
A link will be sent in due course
Deadline: 26th of October 2021

In each event there will be a particular topic brought up for discussion. Three speakers will present a brief lecture each (no more than 25 mins long) and after a break, two discussants of different disciplines will have the same time to develop their thoughts on the topic and the presentations added. Finally, the event will close with a 30-min debate in which the public will be allowed to address questions and comments to the speakers and to the discussants.

 

 

 

5. HIAA Graduate Programmes – Writing a Dissertation in Islamic Art & Architectural History – 15 November

The HIAA Board is pleased to announce the first event of our graduate student programming, please see the details below:

Panel: Writing a Dissertation in Islamic in Islamic Art & Architcctural History

Panelists: Catherine Asher (University of Minnesota), Martina Rugiadi (Metropolitan Museum of Art), Chanchal Dadlani (Wake Forest University), Zohreh Soltani (Ithaca College)

Date & Time: Monday, November 15, 2021 at 12 pm (Eastern)

Register at: https://umn.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkdeyuqDkoG9PjMJJFMDvn8LI_pQ2rXtM1

This panel discussion is open to all graduate students working in topics related to Islamic art.

We encourage faculty members to circulate this to their students.

To make the discussion as relevant as possible, we ask participants to complete this questionnaire in advance: https://forms.gle/7PpkdiVoZ9VhC3E39

Please submit responses by Monday, November 8, 2021.

 

 

 

 

6. PAINTING IN EARLY MODERN BAGHDAD
Wednesday, October 27th, 12:30pm ET
[Webinar] Silsila Fall 2021 Lecture Series

This talk focuses on the rise and fall of a vibrant yet short-lived art market in early modern Baghdad. From the final decade of the sixteenth to the first few years of the seventeenth century, a period of relative peace, there arose a lively art market – as witnessed by over thirty illustrated manuscripts and sundry single-page paintings, most of which show a stylistic coherence. The paintings appear to draw on elements from Ottoman, Safavid, and Indian paintings. This talk will try to contextualize this corpus of works that appeared in the frontier province of Baghdad.

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

https://as.nyu.edu/silsila/events/2021-2022/painting-in-early-modern-baghdad–melis-taner-.html

Only registered attendees will be able to access this event

 

 

 

 

7. CFP – Stucco Decoration in the Architecture of Iran and Neighbouring Lands: New Research – New Horizons (University of Bamberg, 5-7 May 2022)

Islamic Art and Archaeology at the University of Bamberg is pleased to announce the forthcoming conference dedicated to research on stucco decoration in Iran and the neighbouring lands. The aim of this conference is to bring together scholars from several countries and to communicate the latest research finds and innovative methodology for research of stuccos.

The conference will take place in presence, possibly with extension in hybrid-remote form, at the University of Bamberg, May 5-7, 2022.
We warmly invite paper abstracts for participation at the conference by  December 1, 2021

For the full CfP and further information, please refer to https://www.uni-bamberg.de/en/islamart/events-and-cooperations/stucco-conference/

 

 

 

8. ONLINE PANEL: Open Access Week and International Resources: the South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) and the Arabic Collections Online (ACO)

Next week (October 25- 31) is International Open Access Week, and we would like to invite you to a special panel entitled “Open Access Week and International Resources: the South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) and the Arabic Collections Online (ACO).” It will take place 2:00-3:00pm on Tue, October 26th. In this panel, four area studies subject experts, from the Columbia University and NYU Libraries, with an expertise in the Middle East and South Asia, will discuss two collaborative open access projects, namely the CRL member based South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) project, and the inter-institutional collaborative Arabic Collections Online (ACO).
The South Asia Open Archives (SAOA) is a collaborative partnership of 27 major research libraries and archives in the United States, India, Nepal and Pakistan. This open access initiative is aimed at addressing both the current scarcity of digital resources relevant to South Asian studies and the costliness of commercial databases by giving researchers worldwide open access to collections. More than 24,000 items (over 700,000 pages) have been made accessible thus far.
The Arabic Collections Online (ACO) is a partnership of several major research libraries in the United States and the Middle East. It aims to digitize Arabic monographs in the partners’ collections and more generally, enhance access to non-Roman resources from and about the Middle East. To date over 17,000 volumes from Arabic-speaking countries, Turkey and Iran have been digitized and made available.
The panel begins with a talk by two SAOA member librarians, who will provide background on the rationale and vision of this project, and address challenges and accomplishments thus far. Then two Middle East Studies librarians will offer an overview of the ACO project, focusing on the Open Access nature of the project, international collaboration and copyright issues.
Speakers: Aruna Magier, Librarian for South Asian Studies, International Relations & Food Studies, NYU Libraries; Gary Hausman, South Asian Studies Librarian, Columbia University Libraries; Guy Burak, Librarian for Middle Eastern, Islamic and Jewish Studies, NYU Libraries; Peter Magierski, Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Librarian, Columbia University Libraries.
Please register for the event to receive the Zoom invitation.

Register here: https://events.columbia.edu/cal/event/eventView.do?b=de&calPath=%2Fpublic%2Fcals%2FMainCal&guid=CAL-00bbdb71-7c97929e-017c-9a2986ff-00003967events@columbia.edu&recurrenceId=

 

‘Iraq’s Marsh Arabs battle drought and pollution
Posted October 14, 2021
On an island surrounded by the narrow waterways of the Chebayesh Marshes in southern Iraq, Raad Hamid Hashem rises with the sun to milk his herd of water buffalo. But thanks to drought, this summer has been tough for Hashem. Soraya Ali reports.’

‘Dynamic Quietism and the Consolidation of the ḥawza ʿilmīyya of Qum during the Pahlavi Era’
Mohammed Mesbahi,
British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies,
20 October, 2021