Archive for January 4th, 2022

‘Afghanistan: How Iran and its allies are relying on Soleimani’s deals with the Taliban
The Afghan militants promised Tehran the Shia will be protected. If they break that promise, Iraqi paramilitaries vow to defend their fellow Shia.’

Middle East Eye, 20 August, 2021

1. From Istanbul to Byzantium: Paths to Rediscovery, 1800–1955

“What Byzantinism Is This in Istanbul!”: Byzantium in Popular Culture

23 November 2021 – 6 March 2022

Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation Pera Museum will present two new exhibitions focusing on Byzantium, in November 2021. While From Istanbul to Byzantium: Paths to Rediscovery, 1800–1955 sheds light on the central role of the Ottoman capital in shaping the emerging discipline of Byzantine studies with a rich selection of archives and impressive animations, “What Byzantinism Is This in Istanbul!”: Byzantium in Popular Culture brings together representations of Byzantine history in different art forms such as literature, cinema, graphic novels and fashion, and questions the interaction of popular culture with Byzantine heritage in detail.

Byzantine Istanbul with the guidance of archaeological findings and digital animations.

In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a confluence of geopolitical, diplomatic, academic, artistic, and local interests in Istanbul paved the way for increased awareness of the Byzantine past as a rich and shared heritage. Pera Museum and Istanbul Research Institute’s exhibition From Istanbul to Byzantium: Paths to Rediscovery, 1800–1955, curated by Brigitte Pitarakis, explores the central role of the Ottoman capital in shaping the emerging discipline of Byzantine studies with an impressive array of archival holdings. The exhibition, which conveys the modern discovery of Byzantium and the path toward its heritage becoming an area of academic study, conservation, and widespread interest, brings together Byzantine artifacts along with related books, prints, maps, photographs, documents and paintings from the collections of Istanbul Archaeological Museums, Istanbul University Rare Books Library, Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, German Archaeological Institute in Istanbul, Paris-EPHE, Meşher, Galeri Nev, Ömer Koç, Serap Kayhan, Dr. Safder Tarim, Büke Uras, Birmingham East Mediterranean Archive, EPHE, Fonds Gabriel Millet, Collège de France, Fonds Thomas Whittemore, and Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, as well as a 3D animation by A. Tayfun Öner.

Byzantium(s) in the popular culture and the art world

Opening simultaneously with the exhibition From Istanbul to Byzantium, “What Byzantinism Is This in Istanbul!”: Byzantium in Popular Culture exhibition, which is prepared by Istanbul Research Institute for Pera Museum, navigates through the eclectic presence of Byzantium in popular culture. Curated by Emir Alışık and borrowing its title from Yakup Kadri Karaosmanoğlu’s novel Panorama (1953-1954), the exhibition brings together representations of Byzantium from a variety of art forms: contemporary novels, metal music, comics and graphic novels, visual arts, video games, movies, and fashion. Exploring multiple and conflicting meanings of Byzantinisms and questioning popular culture’s interaction with the Byzantine legacy by scrutinizing a selection of topoi, the exhibition reveals how Byzantinism is a far-stretching phenomenon to be encountered even in places one does not usually look.

Pera Museum’s upcoming exhibitions From Istanbul to Byzantium: Paths to Rediscovery, 1800–1955, and “What Byzantinism Is This in Istanbul!”: Byzantium in Popular Culture can be visited through November 23, 2021 – March 6, 2022.

For more information: https://www.peramuseum.org/

2. ONLINE International Symposium: “Enchantments and Disenchantments: Early Modern Otto-man Visions of the World”, Halcyon Days in Crete XI, 14-17 January 2022

Information, program and registration: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/9366793/international-symposium-halcyon-days-crete-xi-enchantments-and

3. HYBRID 55th Seminar for Arabian Studies for Students and PhD candidates, Humboldt Uni-versity of Berlin, 5-7 August 2022

This Seminar meets annually for the presentation of the latest academic research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula from the earliest times to the present day or, in the case of political and social history, to the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922).

To offer a paper, please send an abstract to seminar.arab@theiasa.com  by 28 February 2022.

4. Extended Deadline for Papers and Panels: 34th Deutscher Orientalistentag / 28th Congress of DAVO, Freie Universität Berlin, 12-17 September 2022

– Submission of panels with at least three confirmed participants has been extended until 10 January 2022. Send to dot2022@fu-berlin.de .

– Registration of individual participants with abstracts has been extended until 31 January 2022 via https://www.conftool.pro/dot2022/

Registration fee of €120/€60 (reduced) is valid until 31 January 2022.

– Further information: https://dot2022.de/en/

5. 3-year Post-doc Position: “Interreligious Communication in and between the Latin-Christian and the Arabic-Islamic Sphere”, University of Konstanz

Requirements: PhD-degree and appropriate number of publications; general interest in the historical rela-tions between Jews, Christians, and Muslims; Very good reading skills in Arabic and/or Latin and Romance languages; German skills are not required but will make communication in Konstanz easier; within the project, the language of communication is English.

Deadline for applications: 1 February 2022. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/apply-3-year-post-doc-interreligious-communication-in-and-between-the-latin-christian-and-the-arabic-islamic-sphere-konstanz-2022-25?e=82aeb6c61d

6. Prix de thèse Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans 2022

Le GIS Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans et l’Institut d’étude de l’Islam et des sociétés du monde musul-man (IISMM, UAR 2500) organisent en 2022 la neuvième édition du Prix de thèse Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans. Sont éligibles des travaux soutenus en français ou en France entre le 1er janvier 2020 et le 31 décembre 2021, dans toutes les disciplines des lettres et sciences humaines et sociales.

Date limite de dépôt des candidatures : 14 janvier 2022. Information : https://irmc.hypotheses.org/3352

7. Uppsala University is seeking a lecturer in Semitic languages with specialization in Arabic, particularly in Arabic literature and/or media.

Deadline 21st January.

Please find the details in the job announcement, at:
https://www.uu.se/en/about-uu/join-us/details/?positionId=440047

8. Exeter Monday Majlis schedule for the Spring Term – all are welcome to register for sessions and join us. 

10th January: Professor Miriam Künkler (Münster Institute for Advanced Study) will talk about her research on the history of female religious authority in Islam: Wither Female Religious Authority?

To register click here:

https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtdOGprzgoHNE69OHi9fc0IrNbt0_N4Cbd

Upcoming Majalis:

17th January  – NOTE: 4.30pm start: Professor Michael Cooperson (UCLA) will talk about his latest project: writing a new history of Classical Arabic Literature.

https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEtcu-uqT4sGtOhimMJqVw6FNBMHvt0nDkS

24th January: Professor David Vishanoff (University of Oklahoma) will talk about his latest research: “Psalms of the Muslim Prophet David: Reconstructing a Document of Early Islamic Asceticism”

https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAlf-ivpz8sG9ahJbnqia-mXG9g3XDdakBS

31st January: Professor Christian Lange (Utrecht) will talk about his research on “Sensory History” as an emerging paradigm in Islamic Studies.

https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAtc-mgrz8rHdedjqnYg1JA20VG6rRTwDiS

7th February: Professor Richard McGregor (Vanderbilt University) discussing his research on the Devotional Object in Islam: “Tomb Dressing as an Islamic Ritual for the Dead in Premodern Egypt and Syria”

https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIqd-6spjgpHdxLvqF1oNFeEwg3ztxmrx3v

The Monday Majlis is an informal online gathering weekly, coordinated by the Centre for the Study of Islam at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter. Each week, we meet with a scholar to discuss their new programme of research or one of their recent publications. Advance registration is required via the link below.  Please register by 0900 on the Monday morning of the Majlis.

9. Dr. Maxim Romanov is offering two Ph.D. positions in the project “The Evolution of Islamic Societies (c.600-1600 CE): Algorithmic Analysis into Social History” (EIS1600). Each position is 2+2 years. The deadline for applications is March 31, 2022.

Successful applicants will work on one of the case studies of the project and will write and defend a Ph.D. thesis on the topic of their choice, within a selected case study. Descriptions of both positions and detailed information on the application process can be found at the following links: https://tinyurl.com/PhD01; https://tinyurl.com/PhD02. The project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) within the framework of the Emmy Noether Program (https://tinyurl.com/EIS1600). It is hosted at the Institute of Asian and African Studies (Islamic Studies Division) of the University of Hamburg.