Archive for September, 2022
Shii News – Academic Items
1.CHAT PREMODERN RESEARCH FORUM SYMPOSIUM
Epidemics and the Environment in the Pre-Modern World
Temple University
Friday, September 30, 9:00 am-6 :30 pm
Webinar Registration Link: https://temple.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_sIp1vOwQStep7H0czB49lg
This symposium will explore the wide array of environmental and institutional factors that influenced the way in which plague, in the broadest sense, and other epidemics originated and spread, as well as their intellectual, artistic, demographic and socio-economic consequences at a local and global scale throughout history from Antiquity to the 18th century. How did Pre-Modern societies cope with epidemics that presented challenges and upheavals comparable to the ones we are currently experiencing in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic? What can the Pre-Modern past offer to better prepare us for our present and future?
2. ASIAN CULTURAL RESEARCH WEBINAR
Mardomname and Ahmadabad University Fourth Webinar
This webinar brings together two different perspectives on ethnographic methods, as employed by an Iranian anthropologist and an Indian one in relation to their respective fields.
THE OUTSIDE: TRANSLATION AFTER THE REVOLUTION
Milad Odabaei is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at Princeton University.
ENGLISH LANGUAGE, ACADEMIC BORDERS AND THE MAKING OF THE INDIAN HIMALAYAN FRONTIER
Suchismita Das is an Assistant Professor in the Social Sciences Division at Ahmedabad University.
22 SEPTEMBER 2022 — 6 pm IST — 5 pm IRDT — 1:30 pm GMT
Meeting ID: 969 9161 8262 Passcode: 207524
3. Conference “The Theory and Practice of Rebellion in the Early Islamicate World”, University of Hamburg, 22-24 September 2022
See program at https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/voror/forschung/score/news/conf-prog-2022.html . Registration: score.aai@uni-hamburg.de .
4. ONLINE Meeting “The Ongoing Struggle for Academic Freedom and Autonomy at Boğaziçi University”, Series Turkey Now, Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association (OTSA) 23 September 2022, 9:00 am PT
Boğaziçi University faculty members and instructors Can Candan, Mine Eder, Çiğdem Kafescioğlu, Cengiz Kırlı, and Ünal Zenginobuz will provide an update on the recent developments that continue to threaten academic freedom and autonomy at Boğaziçi University gravely. Laurie Brand, the chair of the Middle East Studies Association’s Committee on Academic Freedom (MESA CAF), will be the moderator.
Information and registration: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEvcOuoqj0oGdX7TpPw2T9qDH965LZhu-V9
5. ONLINE Webinar “Blasphemy Laws in Islam and in Muslim-Majority Countries – Do They Violate Qur`anic Teaching?”, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), 24 Sep-tember 2022, 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST
Speakers: Prof. Khaled Abou Elfadl (UCLA Law School), Mustafa Akyol (Senior Fellow, Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, Cato Institute), Prof. Ahmet Kuru (San Diego State University), Dr. Basheer Ahmed (Southwestern Medical School, Dallas TX), Dr. Radwan A. Masmoudi (President, Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy).
Information and registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Ua0k6XDkSeO7rRqa5IyfIQ
6. ONLINE Session “Connected Crusaders. Expert Knowledge and the Plans for the Recovery of the Holy Land (1291–1336)”, German Historical Institutes in Paris and Rome, 27 September 2022, 5:00 pm – 6:15 pm CET
The Egyptian sultans conquered the last remaining Crusader states in the Levant between 1289 and 1291. Faced with this defeat, the Latin rulers began to question their military modus operandi and tried to find entirely new ways and means of reconquering the Holy Land. The session examines the creation and dissemination of knowledge in the subsequent 40 years of crusade planning and discusses these and related topics with the audience.
Information and registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYqfuCrqD4oGNf2g4qTKIbOJWbDsH0wSKEN
7. International Conference: „Rationality in Islamic Theology in the Post-Classical Period (1200-1900)“, Department of Islamic-Religious Studies, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, 28-29 Sep-tember 2022
The post-classical period is a very important period and the connecting bridge between the classical and the modern Islamic thought. In this period interdisciplinary connections between the Islamic sciences became an important characteristic element and took place between many disciplines. The conference will shade a special light on the importance of this period.
Deadline for registration: 25 September 2022. Information and program: https://www.dirs.phil.fau.de/files/2022/09/DIRS-Tagung_GoldenAge_8Seiter_400mm-breit_B.pdf
8. HYBRID Panel “Petitions and Petitioning in Iranian & Ottoman Constitutionalism”, Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative at NYU, 13 October 2022, 12:30 pm ET This panel will examine the constitutionalism processes in the Ottoman and Iranian contexts with a particular focus on the meaning, institution, and transformation of petitioning. Yuval Ben-Bassat will explore the Ottoman institution of petitioning following the Young Turk Revolution of 1908. Nader Sohrabi will explore the democracy of petitions in Iran’s constitutional movement. Etc. Information and registration: https://nyu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEsdOutpzMsHdRaDkhIKnnZ8wHmuFYZ_RyL
9. Conference “The Futures Past of the Ottomans”, Université Paris Cité, 12-13 October 2023
The program of the conference intends to examine how Erdoganism brings together 1) anti-Kemalism: revolutionary utopia as the rejection of the old order and the shaping of a new man leads to a multi-faceted counterrevolution; 2) post-Kemalism; 3) Neo-Ottoman Kemalism: modelling on the sultan, the Turkish president ensures the redistribution of resources and the balance of justice; 4) anti-Westernism.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2022.
10. Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of Art and Visual Culture (Premondern Islamic, Christian, Jewish Cultures), Bates College, Lewiston, Maine
The Department of Art and Visual Culture, in conjunction with the Religious Studies Department and the Classical and Medieval Studies Program, seeks a tenure-track colleague in premodern visual cultures with an emphasis on visual cultures produced in and among varied religious cultures, including Islamic, Christian, and/or Jewish, in the centuries before 1500 CE.
Deadline for application: 1 November 2022.
Information: https://www.bates.edu/employment/opportunities/?job=492560
11. Book Chapters for Edited Volume “Timurid Manuscripts in Context: Prince Baysunghur, Before and After” of the Persian Manuscripts Association
The edited volume can cover a range of topics, periods, and regions, from Jalayirid Iran to the early modern Persianate world at large, and cross several disciplinary boundaries, including but not limited to history, literature, codicology, conservation, and art history, in relation to the connoisseurship and patronage undertaken by the Timurid Prince Baysunghur and his corpus.
Deadline for abstracts: 17 October 2022. Information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/edited-volume/
12. Articles on “Middle East and North African Archives” for Special Section of the “American Archivist Journal”
Articles may cover records management, repositories, archival practices, the content of specific collections, or other topics which affect archival collections in the region. While articles are free to engage archival theory, in general they should discuss actual records and collections and not approach archives solely as metaphor.
Deadline for submissions: 1 February 2023. Information: https://www2.archivists.org/news/2022/american-archivist-calls-for-articles-on-middle-east-and-north-african-archives
13. Articles on “Manuscript Studies” for the Online, Open-Access Journal “Shamsa: The Journal of the Persian Manuscripts Association”
Articles and research notes are invited for the inaugural 2024 volume of Shamsa. The journal focuses on Islamic manuscript studies in the historically Persianate world (including Iran, Iraq, South Asia, Central Asia, and Turkey). We welcome submissions that focus on manuscripts and related media from the Late Antique up to the modern periods and discuss material written in Persian, Arabic, Turkish and other related languages like Urdu, Chagatai, and Uyghur. Deadline for submissions: 24 February 2023. Information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/journal/
14. Articles for “Indonesian Journal of Religion, Spirituality and Humanity”, State Islamic University (UIN) Salatiga, Indonesia
This Journal focuses on the works which deal with anthropology of religion, sociology of religion, psychology of religion, philosophy of religion, history of religion, religious education, religious literature, theology, religious law, religious studies, Islamic studies, and religious tourism.
Submission deadline: 30 September 2022. Information: https://e-journal.iainsalatiga.ac.id/index.php/ijoresh/index
15. Articles for Journal “Forum Islamic-Theological Studies”, University of Innsbruck
This peer-reviewed, international journal isdevoted to the interdisciplinary study of Islamic Theology and Reli-gious Education, principally in Europe. Papers can be submitted in Qur´anic Studies and Qur`anic Exegesis (tafsīr); Hadith Studies; Sufism; Islamic Ethics and Philosophy; Islamic Religious Education; Sociology of Religion on Muslims in Europe; Islam and Pluralism, Islam in Europe; Interreligious Studies; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2022. Information: https://ojs.nomos-journals.de/index.php/fits/CfP
16. CYCLE DE CONFÉRENCES PUBLIQUES
22-23 IISMM-BULAC
Prêcher et convaincre en contexte musulman
La naissance de l’islam : convaincre entre apocalyspe, conquêtes
et empire
Paris, 4 October, 2022, 18.30-20.00
Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2022/08/AfficheConf_Oct.pdf
17. Call for Papers on Science & Religion in the MENA Region under the auspices of the International Research Network for the Study of Science & Belief in Society based in the University of Birmingham.
Unpublished papers (between 8,000 and 10,000 words) on subjects such as those outlined above should be emailed by November 15, 2022 to mena.science.religion@gmail.com
The best six papers will receive an award of GBP 1,000. The best among the six selected will be awarded a further GBP 2,000.
For more information contact: mena.science.religion@gmail.com
18. MA programs in Middle Eastern Studies & Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut
The spring semester application deadline is approaching for the following Master of Arts programs at the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES) at the American University of Beirut:
An interdisciplinary program which provides students with a broad knowledge of the history, culture, and politics of the contemporary Middle East. Students may structure their own course of study in order to develop a critical understanding of the region as well as to conduct in-depth, independent research. Arabic language study is a required part of the program.
An interdisciplinary program which provides students with a broad knowledge of classical and modern Islamic religious thought and textual traditions, and offers critical insight into the political, intellectual, literary and social history of Islam up to the present day.
The deadline to apply for Spring 2022-23 is November 3, 2022. Both programs offer students funding opportunities.
For information on how to apply to graduate programs at AUB, please visit the Office of Admissions website and the Graduate Council website.
For any questions about our programs, please email us on cames@aub.edu.lb.
19. Highlights from the Lawrence J. Schoenberg Collection at the University of Pennsylvania
Friday, 30 September at 10am EDT / 3pm GMT / 4pm EET (via Zoom)
In collaboration with Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS), Lynn Ransom, Curator of Programs, and Nicholas Herman, Lawrence J. Schoenberg Curator of Manuscripts, at the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies will present highlights of the Schoenberg Collection’s Islamicate manuscripts and the various ways in which SIMS encourages and engages scholars around the world in support of research involving the collection.
Arabic simultaneous interpretation will be available throughout the event.
- September 20, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. MERIP is hiring for a new social media coordinator! https://mailchi.mp/0efa0abac2b3/merip-is-hiring?e=88dd2708f5
2. The Politics of Engaged Gender Research in the Arab Region
Feminist Fieldwork and the Production of Knowledge
S Joseph, et al., eds.
IB Tauris, 2022
https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/politics-of-engaged-gender-research-in-the-arab-region-9780755645220/
Enter the code BTU22UK at the checkout for 25% off
3. Call for Applications for Postdoctoral Fellowships, 2023/2024
The Dan David Society of Fellows aims to support outstanding postdoctoral research in the study of the past. The Society’s two-year postdoctoral fellowship provides generous funding for international and Israeli scholars, to pursue innovative research at the highest level while enjoying the professional mentorship of faculty members at Tel Aviv University. Candidates who have completed their PhD in any discipline involved in the study of the human past, including but not limited to history, archaeology, history of the arts, history of education, history of science and medicine, physical anthropology, literature, philosophy and digital humanities are eligible to apply.
Researchers who have completed their PhD at Tel Aviv University are not eligible for the Fellowship. Candidates must have their PhD degree in hand no earlier than October 1, 2018 and no later than September 1, 2023. (applicants who were on maternity leave are entitled to add an extra year for each child born since receiving the PhD degree). The fellowship will be awarded without regard to ethnicity, religion, gender or age.
Up to four fellowships will be awarded for a maximum of two years each, beginning October 1, 2023. Those accepted to the program must commit to completing a full two-year term. Fellows will be asked to spend at least three days a week at Tel Aviv University and be active members of the university’s scholarly community. They will be required to fully participate in the activities of the Dan David Society of Fellows, including a twice-monthly seminar dedicated to cutting-edge methodologies and historiographic approaches, and to present their research to the other fellows once a year. The program’s academic activities will all be conducted in English.
Fellows will receive an annual scholarship of $40,000. Non-Israeli fellows will also be eligible to partially subsidized on-campus housing.
Applications should include the following documents in English: CV (including a list of publications and a list of research languages); a statement of research plans (max. 5 pages); summary of PhD dissertation (max. 1 page); and 2 letters of recommendation (one from the applicant’s doctoral supervisor)
The deadline for applications for the 2023/2024 academic year is December 1, 2022.
4. 2023 Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship, Durham University, call for applications
Applications for the 2023
The Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship is hosted by Durham University and is awarded to early career (post-doctoral) or established scholars. The Mohamed Ali Foundation is a UK charity whose aims include advancing the education of the public in the history of the Islamic World, of Egypt and of the Mohamed Ali Family in particular, especially the period of the reign of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II (1892-1914).
In June 2018 the Mohamed Ali Foundation announced the launch of this Fellowship Programme, and which is established to devote scholarly attention to the Abbas Hilmi II Papers held at Durham University and to make the collection’s strengths more widely known to scholars. It is hoped that the fellows’ work will foster deeper understanding of an important period of Egyptian history, and of a transformative era in East-West relations.
The fellowship programme is based at Durham University and managed by an international Advisory Panel comprising academic subject specialists. The programme began in 2019 with the residency of the first fellow Dr Pascale Ghazaleh of the American University in Cairo: her inaugural lecture is now available online. Fellowships will be awarded over the next 5 years. An Advisory Panel, chaired by Professor Anoush Ehteshami will appoint one or two fellows each year.
Fellows will be early career (post-doctoral) or established scholars. The nature of the collection will often require good reading knowledge of Arabic, Ottoman Turkish, French, and English. The online catalogue of the collection indicates the languages of each file of material.
Fellows will research the Abbas Hilmi II Papers, on an agreed topic, and deliver a lecture at Durham University. Each lecture will ultimately form a chapter in a volume of high quality and original research to be edited by Dr Ghazaleh. In the interim the lectures will be published in the university’s Middle East Papers series. The breadth of material in the Abbas Hilmi II Papers will reward an interdisciplinary approach. In order to guide candidate fellows an outline of the collection’s subject strengths is now provided in the fellowship application documentation. This is not intended to be prescriptive and the Advisory Panel will consider alternative suggestions so long as they are well-grounded in the Abbas Hilmi II Papers and this is evidenced in the application proposal.
The Fellowship, tenable in the Institute for Middle Eastern & Islamic Studies, entitles the holder to full access during their residency to departmental and other University facilities such as Computing and Information Services and the University Library. Accommodation is provided at Durham during the Easter term (late April-late June), but fellows may request to reside elsewhere for the duration of the fellowship. All fellows will visit Durham, if only briefly, in order to deliver their lecture. Lectures and other activities elsewhere during the fellowship will be encouraged.
Fellows who do reside at Durham will also be encouraged to take a full part in academic and collegiate life, delivering the already mentioned lecture and perhaps also contributing to seminars.
Fellows will be awarded an honorarium and accommodation and all meals will be provided for the duration of the fellowship; a research travel grant is also available to each fellow.
Applicants are advised to familiarise themselves with the online catalogue of the Abbas Hilmi II Papers, or the collection itself, and to review the outline of the collection’s subject strengths provided below. More detailed information on the fellowship programme is also provided.
Applicants for the 2023 Fellowship (24 April-23 June 2023) should send a CV (of no more than 2 pages), a two to three-page outline of their proposed research and contact details for two referees, preferably by e-mail, by Tuesday 1 November 2022 to:
The Secretary
Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship programme
Durham University Library
Palace Green
DH1 3RN
United Kingdom
Email: maf.fellow@durham.ac.uk
For further details please see the online notice
5. DePaul University – The Department of Religious Studies at DePaul University invites applicants for a tenure-track appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor beginning July 2023. We are looking for a candidate who specializes in Contemporary Islam in the Americas.
Full info at: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=63947
For full consideration please upload a letter of application, curriculum vitae, a research statement, a recent writing sample, one sample syllabus, and the names and addresses of three referees by October 15, 2022.
6. University of Pittsburgh – Assistant Professor, Modern Islam, and Race
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=63916
In order to ensure full consideration, applications should be received by October 24, 2022.
7. Tenure Track Professor of Iranian-Persian Linguistics and Literature, Open Rank
The Department of Central Eurasian Studies in the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies at Indiana University Bloomington announces an Open Rank, Tenure Track search for a Professor of Iranian-Persian Linguistics and Literature focusing on Persian (Farsi) and its historical developments.
Applicants should be capable of conducting research and teaching on topics relating to the literatures and linguistics of Persian or its earlier versions. Candidates should demonstrate commitment to excellence in research, teaching, public engagement, and program development of Iranian-Persian Studies within Indiana University’s world-class Central Eurasian Studies faculty as well as within the Hamilton Lugar School. Candidates are expected to teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels as determined by the department. The appointment begins August 1, 2023.
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled, with all applications received by October 11, 2022 being assured full consideration.
Interested candidates should review the application requirements and submit their application at: https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/13663
Departmental Contacts for Questions:
Professor Jamsheed Choksy
Interim Chair and Distinguished Professor
Department of Central Eurasian Studies
jchoksy@indiana.edu
Ms. April Younger
Administrative Assistant to the Chair
Department of Central Eurasian Studies
ayounger@indiana.edu
Fuller information:
8. The Association for Iranian Studies (AIS) is seeking a new Editor-in-Chief for its flagship journal, Iranian Studies: Journal of the Association for Iranian Studies. This multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal is dedicated to the study of all aspects of Iran and the Persianate world from the pre-Islamic period to the present. As the official publication of the Association for Iranian Studies, it has served as the leading forum for the exchange of ideas and promotion of discipline-based and interdisciplinary research in all fields of Iranian Studies since 1967.
The Editor-in-Chief oversees the journal’s online peer review and editorial processes and gives strategic direction to the journal. As an officer of the Association for Iranian Studies, the Editor-in-Chief receives, annually, an honorarium of $10,000 USD, funding up to $10,000 for two course releases, support for travel to the AIS biennial conference, and a $10,000 USD operating budget to support the editorial process with the expectation of additional support from the scholar’s home institution. The position is a five-year appointment and renewable for a second term.
Applicants should be active and published scholars in fields covered by the journal; demonstrate an interest in, and ability to work with, a diverse team of editors and AIS council members; and build relationships with researchers in the field of Iranian Studies. Some previous editorial work and familiarity with digital media are preferred. We especially welcome applications from tenured mid-career scholars and institutional applications from scholarly research centers. The disciplinary field and period of scholarly concentration of the Editor-in-Chief remain open. We also invite inquiries from members of underrepresented groups in the field.
The deadline for applications is October 15. Applications should include a CV and a letter of intent explaining your vision for the journal and the resources your home institution can provide to support your efforts for augmenting the operating budget. Please send application materials to Sussan Siavoshi (Chair, Iranian Studies Search Committee) at ssiavosh@trinity.edu . Informal queries are welcome and encouraged.
9. Call for Contributions to the 8th IDHN Conference
The 8th IDHN Conference which will take place on Thursday, November 17, 2022.
We are now calling for contributions from both members and guests, who are developing or deploying digital methods and tools in the study of Islam and Muslim communities and languages. Our conference is open to participants from both humanistic and scientific disciplines. We would also like to encourage Master’s and PhD students to share their Digital Humanities research with our forum.
If you wish to participate in the conference, please send an email to team@idhn.org with a preliminary title, abstract (150-300 words), and your academic affiliation by Thursday, October 13, 2022.
We will select four to six presentations for our conference. Each presentation will be 20 minutes long, followed by Q&A for 10 minutes. We will hold the meeting online on ZOOM; the access code and link will be sent to you in the network’s newsletter. We will schedule our conference to accommodate presenters from all time zones. This schedule will correspond with the morning hours in the Americas and evening hours in Europe and the Middle East.
With warm wishes,
Irene Kirchner (Georgetown University)
10. On-line Wed 21 Sep, 12:00pm – 2:00pm
Book Launch: Rethinking Islam and Space in Europe
(Dr Tobias Muller (Woolf), Prof. Esra Özyürek (University of Cambridge) Prof. Sarah Bracke (University of Amsterdam
Centre of Islamic Studies
University of Cambridge
11. CFP/Institute for Mediterranean StudieS: Dictionary of Mediterranean Inter-Civilization Exchanges
We are writing to find authors for the second edition of the Dictionary of
Mediterranean Inter-Civilization Exchange.
Its first edition was published in 2020, demonstrating its academic
significance by being awarded as “Achievement of Excellence” by the Ministry
of Education in Korea.
And in the year 2022, we would like to expand the authors to scholars and
institutes of international society, who are interested in civilization
exchange based on their relationships.
If you are interested, please feel free to contact us by Oct, 31st, 2022.
(We do have a guide and reference for your understanding)
Thank you. We hope you all the best.
Sincerely,
Institute for Mediterranean Studies
Institute for Mediterranean Studies,
Busan University of Foreign Studies
E-mail : icims@ims.or.kr/imsmr@ims.or.kr
Phone : + 82-51-509-6695
11. Ibn Arabi PhD Scholarship
Monash University in Australia is hiring a PhD student who will specialise in Ibn Arabi (1165-1240), his work, heritage, later influence, and/or reception. You can find the call here: https://careers.pageuppeople.com/513/cw/en/job/640536/phd-scholarship-in-islamic-intellectual-history-through-the-lens-of-sufism-global-dissemination-of-knowledge-in-islam
Deadline: Sunday 16 October 2022, 11:55pm AEDT
Enquiries: aydogan.kars@monash.edu
13. In-Person Lecture – “The Külliye as Hypotext: A New Reading of Histories of Imperial Mosques and Tombs,” Nebahat Avcıoğlu – October 25
Lecture by Nebahat Avcıoğlu, Hunter College and Graduate Center/CUNY
Date: October 25th 2022, 6:15 to 8:00 pm
Place: Columbia University, 612 Schermerhorn Hall
The Külliye as Hypotext: A New Reading of Histories of Imperial Mosques and Tombs
Universally described as a ‘city of mosques and minarets’, Istanbul is invariably symbolized in literature and visual arts by its Ottoman skyline as a means to make people see and imagine the glorious or oppressive histories and cultures of the empire. Nowhere are these two classic city-features, urban landscapes and iconic shapes, so tightly knit than in Istanbul. But when and how exactly did this form—the mosque—, once an integral part of a building complex commonly known as külliye, the Ottoman version of an urban unit combining three key functionalities for nomadic conquerors—the spiritual (a praying room), the practical (lodgings for travellers and sufis) and the communal (soup-kitchen)—become the sum and substance of an entire city? By the end of the eighteenth century, külliyes were everywhere and everything to the city, however, the proliferation of this ideal type, highly codified, could not be replicated without modification or distortion. As ‘Istanbul’ became the key-metonym of the Ottoman empire itself, its cityscape and urban fabric evolved into the new scale of the külliye-practice, and came to be reimagined mostly through self-standing singular buildings amidst growing neighborhoods and ceremonial sites, with the mosque and the tomb in particular becoming separated and made self-sufficient. Focusing on imperial complexes exemplary of Istanbul’s urban expansion from the conquest to the Tanzimat, this talk will make use of Gérard Genette’s theoretical toolbox and show how this process of reduction took place through excision, condensation, and concision of the original külliye prototype. In turn, this methodology activates a critical paradigm of Istanbul as palimpsest.
14. Fellowships – American Research Institute in Turkey, Fellowships for 2023-2024 – Due November 1
The American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) is pleased to announce 2023-2024 fellowship programs for graduate students and scholars based in the U.S. and Canada:
ARIT Fellowships for Research in Turkey support projects in ancient, medieval, or modern times, in any field of the humanities and social sciences. Post-doctoral and doctoral dissertation fellowships may be held from one month to one academic year.
ARIT / National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowships for Research in Turkey cover all fields of the humanities, including prehistory, art, archaeology, anthropology, literature, and linguistics as well as all aspects of history. The fellowships support applicants who have completed their academic training, for terms ranging from four months to one year.
Applications for ARIT and ARIT-NEH fellowships must be submitted by November 1, 2022.
ARIT Summer Fellowships for Advanced Turkish Language offer intensive advanced study at Bogazici University in Istanbul during the summer 2023. Partiipants must have two years of Turkish language study or its equivalent. The application deadline will be in early February 2023. The fellowships provide airfare, application and tuition fees, and a maintenance stipend.
Additional information at https://aritweb.org/fellowships/
15. 2022 Riggsby Lecture: “A Mediterranean Divide: Islamic versus Christian Experiences of the Black Death”, 22 September 2022 – Monica H Green
The lecture will be virtual and open to the public. It will be held at 5pm Eastern Time (US) on Thursday, 22 September. Here is the link for further information and registration: https://marco.utk.edu/riggsby-lecture/.
Monica H. Green, PhD
ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8978-9631
Fellow, Medieval Academy of America
Independent Scholar
https://independentscholar.academia.edu/MonicaHGreen
Twitter: @monicaMedHist
16. 14th Annual International Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Conference (IRTP) on 21st June – 24th June 2023 Medjugorje/Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
All detailed information about the Conference can be found at our web site: www.irtp.co.uk
- September 17, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- September 16, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- September 14, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- September 13, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.CFP: The Quest for Modern Language between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, University of Chicago, April 2023
Language ideologies were an important component of modern nationalism, and figured prominently in the cultural and political discourses of modernity and modernization in and around what came to be known as “the Middle East” in the 19th and early 20th centuries. We invite submissions for a two day workshop, to be held at the University of Chicago on April 13-14, 2023, which seeks to bring together scholars across humanistic and social scientific disciplines (such as History, Literary theory, Linguistic and Anthropology) to explore the articulation, circulation, and mobilization of ideas about language death and revival, language reform, and language modernization in the contexts of empire, emerging nationalisms, and a modernized / quickly modernizing world.
Invited speakers:
Dima Ayoub, Middlebury College
Johann Strauss, Université Marc Bloch, Strasbourg
Some of the topics we hope to see addressed include:
(a) What does / did it mean for a language to be or become a modern language within the relevant discourses?
(b) How does multilingualism and translation figure within projects of language modernization in the relevant geopolitical contexts?
(b) How, if at all, did developments in linguistics, philology, and adjacent disciplines inform and shape ideas about “modern language” and related ideas such as “modern / national literature”?
(c) How do notions of native tongue, language family, vernacular dialect or register interact with concepts such as empire, nation, motherland?
(d) How does the relation between language and the body figure in projects of (re)generation of modern polities and individuals?
1-page abstracts for a 30 minute presentation should be sent to ifrancez@uchicago.edu
Submission deadline: December 15th, 2022
Notification of acceptance: January 2022
2. Call for Papers
Proposal for Special Issue of Critical Comparative Studies, Edinburgh University Press
Iranian Comparative Literature: Between Chaos and Discipline
This special issue is building on two panels organized in the XXIII Congress of International Comparative Literature Association in Tbilisi, Georgia, in July 2022. The issue seeks two aims: a historical and a methodological. First, to study the development of Comparative Literature in institutional settings during the past two decades in order to critically review the current state of the discipline as it is practiced in Persian and other Iranian languages, in Iran and diasporic locations. Second, to investigate the impact of comparative methodologies that have contributed to the formation of modern literary studies – in particular Orientalism and Eurocentric knowledge – and to examine the effects of this (comparative) literary studies as a “local” form of knowledge in Iranian academia.
Historically, the study of modern foreign literatures was part of the curriculum at the first modern Iranian university (i.e. University of Tehran) in the 1920s, but a department of Comparative Literature proper did not – and does not – exist in Iranian academia. During the past two decades, the discipline has been developed as a subfield under the department of national literature, i.e. Persian Language and Literature. It is probably in response to this change that there has been a sharp increase in the number of books on Comparative Literature translated into Persian, as well as in the number of academic journals published in Persian with “comparative” as part of their titles. Outside Iran, the majority of students and scholars who contribute to the field have conventionally been located in Area Studies departments, engaging, and oftentimes extending, the legacies of Orientalism.
On the methodological side, this issue seeks to discuss the disciplinary adjustments needed for the practice of Comparative Literature – or rather comparative literary studies – in the Iranian context. The structures of knowledge formulated during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were based on two fundamental postulates: the centrality of capitalism and secularism as the defining essence of modern culture; the history of European cultural development as the norm against which other cultural histories would be assessed. In this structure, Area Studies was created in Europe for introducing non-European literatures – placed outside capitalism – to European readers.
As a result, the study of modern Iranian literatures in Iran, positioned on the margins of capitalism, via Eurocentric knowledge would encounter deep epistemological and, subsequently, methodological problems: Orientalism places – via cliched images constructed through romanticist interests – the “golden age” of literary creativity in the past, consistently positioning modern Persian as an outsider to modern literary studies; energized by romantic nationalism, it has failed to consider and incorporate the diversity of Iranian literatures beyond Persian in the body of literary knowledge; it assesses a culture that has developed in the periphery of capitalism with the norms suitable to evaluating European literature and, therefore, cannot account for formal innovations and developments, if form is understood as the literary effect of negotiations between multiple cultural forces. In short, it is not clear what methodologies would be suitable to the study of Iranian literary traditions in a comparative setting.
As a result of these concerns, in order to integrate Persian in comparative literary practices, a number of changes are needed to formulate the critical position(s) and priorities of the discipline. First, disentangling the history of Iranian cultural development from the global history of colonialism, particularly European modern history. The normative assumptions of the discipline must be dealt with as fluid frames that essentially fall short of describing the peripherality and diversity of the Iranian condition. This critical perspective must extend to a critical review of Area Studies and the Orientalist knowledge it produces. Second, the problem of a temporal lag in a context that has been on the margins of the modern world, hence a latecomer to both capitalism and disciplinary knowledge, must be tackled, too; this temporal lag is most evident in the way Comparative Literature subfields have been formed, and journals founded, without having developed a linguistic pedagogical program or a clear research method.
Approaching Comparative Literature as a transdisciplinary field, with a Eurocentric and colonial history, this special issue takes into account contemporary questions and lived experiences that engage and promote the causes of comparative literary studies within and beyond Persian – as Iran’s lingua franca. Given the modern history of the nation, and the academic system, can Comparative Literature be practiced at all as a discipline in the Iranian context? What new theoretical interventions are essential to render the discipline not only productive but also critically relevant? This special issue invites researchers to share their thoughts and research on the state of the discipline. Topics of interest are – but not essentially limited to – the following:
– The history of modern (foreign) literary studies at Iranian universities
– The legacies and limits of Area studies and Orientalist knowledge
– “Internal colonialism” and non-Persian Iranian languages and literary traditions
– Being/becoming World Literature: peripherality and universality
– Formulating the condition: Is combined and uneven development sufficient?
– The “literary” and comparatism: discipline building and curriculum development
– Conceptualizations of translation, imitation, and adaptation in a romanticist culture
– Disciplinarity and the question of visual cultures, digital literatures and future research.
Please send a 300-word abstract to both Omid Azadibougar omid.azadi@hunnu.edu.cn and Laetitia Nanquette l.nanquette@unsw.edu.au by 31 January 2023.
Timeline:
Abstract submission deadline: 31 January 2023
Notification of acceptance: 28 February 2023
Paper submission deadline: 31 December 2023
Paper acceptance notification: 30 June 2024
Publication: December 2024
3. ONLINE Turkish, Hebrew, Persian and Arabic Roundtables “Lexicons of Race Projects”, Middle East Studies Association (MESA), 12-15 September 2022, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EDT
When and where are racial histories and hierarchies embedded in languages of the Middle East and North Africa? How do vocabularies of race, Blackness, and minoritization travel across languages? What are the intellectual and political benefits of centering Blackness in Middle East Studies?
Information and registration: https://mailchi.mp/mesana/lexicons-of-race-virtual-roundtables-in-arabic-hebrew-persian-and-turkish?e=6c5710e83c
4. HYBRID Third JaNeT Workshop “Janissaries in Ottoman Port-Cities: Muslim Financial and Political Networks in the Early Modern Mediterranean”, Istanbul Medeniyet University, 14-15 September 2022
JaNet investigates the economic and sociopolitical role of the Janissaries in the 18th and early 19th centuries through their examination as a complex of interconnected networks in the Mediterranean. By studying the Janissary corps, the project brings forward a radically new historical analysis concerning the role of Muslims in the Ottoman and wider Mediterranean commercial economy.
Information and registration: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/10812519/third-ja-net-workshop-14-15-september-2022-istanbul
5. HYBRID Third JaNeT Workshop “Janissaries in Ottoman Port-Cities: Muslim Financial and Political Networks in the Early Modern Mediterranean”, Istanbul Medeniyet University, 14-15 September 2022
JaNet investigates the economic and sociopolitical role of the Janissaries in the 18th and early 19th centuries through their examination as a complex of interconnected networks in the Mediterranean. By studying the Janissary corps, the project brings forward a radically new historical analysis concerning the role of Muslims in the Ottoman and wider Mediterranean commercial economy.
Information and registration: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/10812519/third-ja-net-workshop-14-15-september-2022-istanbul
6. Section « L’islam dann la culture populaire : reconfigurations et nouvelles visibilités » dans le cadre du treizième congrès des francoromanistes, Universität Wien, 21-24 septembre 2022
Information, programme et abstracts: https://frankoromanistentag.univie.ac.at/fr/sections/etudes-culturelles/
7. Conference “The Middle East in Myth and Reality”, 2022 Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies Conference, University of Iceland, 22-24 September 2022
Program: https://conference.hi.is/nsmes2022/files/2022/08/Nordic-Middle-Eastern-Conference-Program-.pdf
8. ONLINE Webinar “Struggling for Reproductive Rights: Perspectives from Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East”, Center for Middle East Studies, Brown University, Provi-dence, RI, 30 September 2022, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm ET
Information and registration: https://brown.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0fmbG0nyR7uTXb6hc1vtxA
9. HYBRID Conference “Faith Saving Water: Muslims, Christians and the Environment”, Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, 28 November 2022
The conference will focus on Muslim and Christian perspectives on water from environmental, theological and practical points of view. The scope of the conference encompasses all topics and disciplinary approaches relating to the study of Islam and Christianity and their encounter around water as a shared natural resource. The main case study for the conference will be the water crisis in Jordan.
Deadline for abstracts: 7 October 2022. Information: https://www.cmcsoxford.org.uk/cmcs-news/faith-saving-water-conference-28th-november-2022-call-for-papers
10. “3rd Mediterranean Studies Symposium”, Centre for Mediterranean Studies (CMS), Dubrovnik, Croatia, 29 June – 1 July 2023
Interdisciplinary approaches from humanities, social sciences, media studies, and other fields of research are pivotal. Any historical period of reference is welcome, though we would strongly encourage presenters to look at the region’s current complexities.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 November 2022.
11. Doctoral or Post-Doctoral Position (3 Years, TV-L 13, 65%-100%) for Research on “Jews and Christians in Arabia: Between the Qur’an and Early Islam”, University of Tuebingen
Holding at least an MA or a PhD, the successful candidate will possess a very good command of Arabic and detailed knowledge of the early Islamic tradition. In addition, the candidate should have good knowledge of the disciplines of historiography and Qur’anic Studies. They must be able to work with further late antique Jewish and Christian primary sources relevant to the study of early Islam.
Deadline for application: 30 September 2022.
12. Assistant or Associate Professorship of the Arab American Educational Foundation, History Department, Rice University, Houston, TX
The Department seeks a historian of the modern Arab World who has an outstanding record of research, competence in the Arabic language, demonstrated expertise in Arab culture and history, and proven excellence in teaching.
Deadline for applications: 15 November 2022. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/112001
13. Tenure-Track Assistant Professor for Comparative Literature of the Early Global South (1000 – 1600 C.E.), University of California, Los Angeles, CA
The ideal candidate should work in the Middle East, Asia, Africa, or the Americas. Applicants should have a PhD in Comparative Literature or a related field. The candidate will show broad and sophisticated theoretical competence. We seek the potential for exceptional research and excellence in teaching.
Deadline for application: 30 November 2022. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/job-assistant-professor-early-global-south-comparatist-comp-lit-ucla?e=82aeb6c61d
14. Tenure-Track Assistant Professor of International Relations and Global Studies, West Chester University, PA
Qualification: Experience teaching courses in International Relations, Comparative Politics, and/or Global Studies. Experience teaching specialized courses in Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and/or transnational issues.
Deadline for applications: 1 November 2022.
Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2022/09/08/tenure-track-faculty-position
15. 3 and 10 November 2022 Short Course – Arabic Transliteration for Academics, Publishers and Librarians
AKU- ISMC
More information at:
https://www.aku.edu/ismc/study/Pages/short-courses.aspx
16. CFP – Interiors Reconfigured: Changing Materiality and Craftsmanship in the Decorative Arts of the Middle East and North Africa (18th-20th centuries) – Due October 15
Vitrocentre Romont, November, 3-4, 2023
Organizers: Francine Giese and Sarah Keller (Vitrocentre Romont), Mercedes Volait (CNRS / InVisu)
Keynote Speaker: Stefan Weber (Museum for Islamic Art in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin)
Call for papers
Deadline for submissions: October 15, 2022
Notification of acceptance: November 30, 2022
We are pleased to announce the call for papers for an international conference dedicated to the decorative arts of the Middle East and North Africa with a special focus on material aspects and local practices. The 19th century witnessed an unprecedented disassembly of historical interiors in the cultural centers of the region, be it Cairo, Damascus or Istanbul. Dismounted architectural elements such as wood panels, ceilings, domes, marble incrustations, tiles, stucco glass windows or textiles reached the West via collectors or the art market, leaving behind a fragmented cultural heritage. This trend followed profound changes in the countries of origin since the 18th century, in the course of which local tastes and craftmanship began to mutate under Ottoman and Western influence.
The conference is jointly organized by the Vitrocentre Romont and the CNRS (InVisu research center in Paris), and will address the growing importance of material-based analysis in the field of Middle Eastern and Maghrebi décors. The starting point are the interiors of residences and palaces in the above-mentioned region, which have been extensively documented and described by Western architects, artists, and travelers. Some have undergone substantial restorations in recent times that have erased their most modern layers. Their exploration has so far often been limited to what they can tell about domestic architecture at the time of their building, or more recently with questions dealing with provenance, art market or cultural appropriation, without their original material composition being investigated by means of micro-analyses. When non-invasive analyses are possible, they may help to collect reliable data on the different components of a historical interior, with the aim of virtually reconstructing their furnishings and the changes undergone during their period of existence.
The organizers welcome proposals on the following topics:
- Case studies of the different materials used in interiors of the mentioned period
- Transformation of interiors across time: reuse, substitution and reassembly
- Material characterization and technical analysis of the different components of interiors
- Local versus global manufacturing practices, including all the range of hybridisations
- The potential of virtual 3D reconstructions for art historical research
The presentations should be max. 20 minutes and may be given in French or English. Please submit a proposal of maximum 300 words and a brief curriculum vitae by October 15, 2022 to franziska.niemand@vitrocentre.ch.
Accommodation and meals during the conference will be covered. Participants are expected to pay for their own transportation.
For further information, see www.vitrocentre.ch
17. Webinar – Ditch the Negativity and Transform Your Relationship With Writing – September 28
During her first year as an assistant professor, Jane Jones, developmental editor, academic book coach, and founder of Up In Consulting, found it challenging to navigate her tenure-track responsibilities. She ultimately decided to leave this career path to become a writing coach and developmental editor. Jane decided to make it her mission to help other scholars achieve access to proper support, feedback, and mentorship and, ultimately, restore their faith in their work.
Join us as Jane shares what scholars, like you, can do to best mitigate these challenges in order to positively transform your relationship with writing. You will learn how to:
- Schedule and plan your writing process from the outset
- Overcome the magnitude of the task and find joy in writing
- Identify writing communities that support and hold you accountable
September 28 at 4:30 PM Israel time / 1:30 PM GMT / 9:30 AM EDT on Zoom
The ‘Publication Success Interview Series’ offers unique insights into the publishing world through in-depth conversations with leading editors, publishers, and other influential figures in the industry. Through exploring relevant topics, the interviews address and answer pressing issues in order to make the publishing process more accessible to authors.
- September 13, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Au coeur du harem
Les princesses ottomanes à l’aune du pouvoir (XVe-XVIIIe s.)
J Dumas
Brill, 2022
https://brill.com/view/title/61197
2. The Land between Two Seas: Art on the Move in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea 1300–1700
A Payne
Brill, 2022
https://brill.com/view/title/61882
3. AKU-ISMC: 28 October 2022 – ‘Sisters in Resilience: Women’s Movements in Muslim Contexts’
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4. Language Position at US Naval Academy
POSITION TITLE: Instructor (Senior Lecturer) in Foreign Languages and Cultures
LOCATION: Languages and Cultures Department, United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD 21402
APPLICATION TIMELINE: Review of applications will begin on 01 October 2022 and continue until the position is filled.
POSITION DESCRIPTION: The Languages and Cultures Department invites applications for the position of Instructor (Senior Lecturer) in Foreign Languages and Cultures, beginning as early as spring semester of 2023. This is a three-year renewable (non-tenure-track) teaching position. The anticipated teaching load is four courses per semester. The successful candidate should have expertise in foreign language pedagogy, second language acquisition, literature, cultural studies, or a related field. Candidates should be able to teach at least two of the seven languages offered in the department – Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish – across all levels of proficiency. The successful candidate will be expected to collaborate with faculty colleagues in support of the departmental and institutional educational mission.
Please visit https://www.usna.edu/HRO/jobinfo/Instructor-LCD-2022.php for more information about the position and instructions on how to apply.
5. The Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies Oxford is delighted to announce a conference on the intersection of faith and the ecological environment with particular focus on water as a constituent element of creation.
The event on 28 November 2022 will be the first in-person conference for over two years (with the possibility to join online). We look forward to reconnecting with colleagues and friends in the beautiful surroundings of Oxford. We now invite proposals for individual papers from postgraduate students, early career and established academics, as well as from professionals who have specialist expertise or unique insights into water management and religious responses. https://www.cmcsoxford.org.uk/cmcs-news/faith-saving-water-conference-28th-november-2022-call-for-papers
Abstract deadline: Friday 7 October 2022
6. The Invisible East Project:
Afghanistan: from Buddhism to Islam (8th to 13th century)
15 September 17:00 to 13 October 17:00
Zoom webinar
Full details at:
https://invisibleeast.web.ox.ac.uk/event/mooc-afghanistan-from-buddhism-to-islam
7. “Olfaction in the Medieval Islamic World: Perfumes, Incense, and Material Culture” [Silsila Fall 2022 Series]
Sterenn Le Maguer-Gillon, CEFREPA/Institut Catholique de Paris
Wednesday, September 14th, 12:30pm EDT
[Webinar] Silsila Fall 2022 Lecture Series, Body and Senses
Fragrant substances such as musk or camphor appear several times in the Qur’an. In addition, the use of perfumes and scented smoke is recommended for purification before prayer in some hadiths attributed to the Prophet collected by authorities such as al-Bukhari. This lecture will shed light on the use of perfumes and incense in medieval Arab society between the 7th and the 15th centuries.
Full details of the event and a link to register as an attendee can be found at:
Only registered attendees will be able to access this event.
8. Dear Colleagues,
It is my pleasure to announce the release Podcasting the Ottomans series entitled “Navigating ‘the Book of Navigation’.” (on SoundCloud and Apple Podcasts). The series was produced by Boston College undergraduates.
The podcast is about the Book of Navigation (Kitab-ı Bahriye), an atlas of the Mediterranean composed by the Ottoman navigator, cartographer, and pirate-turned-admiral, Piri Reis (d. 1553). We used the images of the marvelous manuscript copy (ms. W.658) preserved at the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore.
Thank you,
Dana Sajdi, Boston College
9. The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University presents
Fall 2022 AKPIA Lecture Series
A Forum for Islamic Art & Architecture
(All lectures are in person, in Cambridge MA)
October 13, 2022, 6:00pm
“The Textility of the Alhambra”
Olga Bush
Visiting Scholar, Vassar College
November 10, 2022, 6:00pm
“Islamic Architecture for Wisdom: Looking Back on the Classical Legacy”
Susana Calvo Capilla
AKPIA Fellow; Titular Professor, History of Art Department, Complutense University of Madrid
November 17, 2022, 6:00pm
“The Extraordinary Architectural Patronage of a 13th Century Sultan-Queen: Shajar al-Durr of Egypt”
Fairchild Ruggles
Debra L. Mitchell Chair in Landscape Architecture; Director of the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
Co-Sponsored with the Standing Committee on Medieval Studies at Harvard University
The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University
Lectures are open to the public and held Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm,
at 485 Broadway (Basement Auditorium), Cambridge, MA.
For further information, call 617-495-2355 or email agakhan@fas.harvard.edu
Visit the website: https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events
We anticipate that the Calvo Capilla and Ruggles lectures will be recorded and made available at the AKPIA website, after the event date.
10. Online Workshop
HIAA Workshop: Applying for Museum Jobs
Panelists: Ladan Akbarnia (San Diego Museum of Art), Mariam Rosser-Owen (Victoria & Albert Museum), Laura Weinstein (Boston Museum of Fine Arts)
Friday, September 16, 2022
12 pm EDT on Zoom
Register here
This event will not be recorded
- September 10, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- September 09, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- September 08, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- September 07, 2022
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment