Archive for September, 2023

1.ONLINE Launching Event of the Muslim Worlds Network: “Rethinking the Anthropological Enterprise in Light of Muslim Ontologies: Secular Vestiges, Spiritual Epistemologies, Vertical Knowledge”, 7 September 2023, 15:30 – 17:30 Istanbul Time

Because of the difficulty anthropology continues to face in relinquishing its secular vestiges, field encounters with a not-immediately-perceptible reality have usually been deemed insignificant in anthropological ac-counts. In dialogue with the ontological turn and other recent developments in anthropology, we introduce our network advocating for a more profound reconsideration of the role that the encounter with other modes of knowing in the field might have for the discipline tout court.

Information: https://www.easaonline.org/networks/mwn .

Registration: https://www.facebook.com/events/1392692727946547

2. ONLINE Book Talk ” Animal Sacrifice and the Origins of Islam” (Cambridge University Press, 2022) by Prof. Brannon Wheeler, Center for Islam in the Contemporary World, Shenandoah University, VA, 14 September 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST

Islam is the only biblical religion that still practices animal sacrifice. Every year more than a million animals are shipped to Mecca from all over the world to be slaughtered during the Muslim Hajj. This multi-disciplinary volume is the first to examine the physical foundations of this practice and the significance of the ritual.

Information and registration: https://www.contemporaryislam.org/brannonwheelertalk.html

3. ONLINE Lecture on the Book “The Kurdish Nobility in the Ottoman Empire: Loyalty, Autonomy, and Privilege” by Nilay Özok Gundogan, Center for Middle East Studies, Brown University, 26 October 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET

Focusing on one noble Kurdish family based in the emirate of Palu, a fortressed town in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire, the book provides the first systematic analysis of the hereditary nobility in Kurdistan between 1720 and 1895. The abolishment of the Kurdish nobles’ hereditary privileges and the confiscation of their landholdings in the 1840s triggered a five-decade-long conflict.

Information and registration:

https://watson.brown.edu/cmes/events/2023/nilay-ozok-gundogan-kurdish-nobility

4. Research Student Workshop on “Interreligious Relations in the Middle Ages” with Prof. John Tolan (University of Nantes), University of Haifa, 23 November 2023

Prof. Tolan will conduct a workshop on interreligious relations in the Middle Ages. A selected group of re-searcher students will be invited to present their work as part of the workshop.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2023. Information: https://euqu.eu/2023/07/26/call-for-participation-in-a-research-student-workshop-on-interreligious-relations-in-the-middle-ages/

5. 2nd World Congress of the Society for Global Nineteenth-Century Studies: “Translation, Transposition, and Travel in the Global Nineteenth Century”, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait, 16-19 January 2025

We welcome proposals for papers that explore transits between places, languages, cultures, and ideas. Top-ics: •Travel and adventure • Travel narratives and nautical fiction • Pilgrimage • Slave trade and the forced movement of peoples • Circulations, transfers, and migrations • Nomadism • Exile and displacement • Ex-plorers and expeditions • Colonization • Translation and life writing • Travel maps and cartographies of navi-gation • The re/discovery of ancient civilizations/Egyptomania

Deadline for abstracts: 15 November 2023. Information: https://www.sgncscongress.com/call-for-papers

6. Tenure-Track Assistant Professor on European Imperialism, Colonization, Decolonization (Focus Middle East), Department of History, Boston University

We welcome candidates specializing in either the early modern or modern period. Candidates should demon-strate a commitment to excellence in research and teaching. Responsibilities include teaching undergraduate and graduate core courses and in fields of specialization. Ph.D. in hand by beginning of employment

Deadline for applications: 1 October 2023. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/25412

7. Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Position in Classics (Mediterranean or Near Eastern Culture Beyond Greece or Rome), College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA

Candidates should be prepared to teach courses on ancient peoples and cultures beyond Greeks and Ro-mans as well as on a language of the ancient Mediterranean or Near East other than Greek or Latin, such as Akkadian, Ancient Egyptian, Aramaic, Classical Arabic, Hebrew, or Phoenician. The teaching and research should be informed by one or more interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks, such as Critical Race and Ethnic Studies; Environmental Studies; or Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies.

Deadline for applications: 22 September 2023. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/130024

8. Chapters for Edited Book on “Disability History in the Middle East”

There are historians contributing chapters from late Ottoman-era Istanbul and Cairo to points east, including early twentieth-century Iran, but we seek one or two scholars of North Africa to make our volume more inclu-sive.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 September 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20003893/cfp-disability-history-middle-east-edited-volume

9. Persian Language Pedagogy lecture series to begin this Saturday, Sep 9

We are resuming our virtual lecture series on Persian pedagogy. Please join us for the first lecture in our 2023 autumn lecture series on Persian Language Pedagogy: New Trends and Innovations organized jointly by the University of Chicago and the University of Toronto. You can register in the link below.

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkf-yoqDwrEtRnTBB_LZR6s8lKntJmiaHV

Saturday, September 09, 2023 

12:00 PM Eastern Time 

Discourse Markers in Persian: Description and Instructional Implications  

Ali R. Abasi, Associate Professor of Persian, University of Maryland 

An examination of naturally occurring instances of talk-in-interaction across various speech exchange systems readily reveals the ubiquity of discourse markers in contemporary Persian. Given their prevalence, one aspect of communicative competence in Persian as an additional language, or in any language for that matter, involves control over their use. Teaching these consequential markers, however, is a challenge for two main reasons. One is that their instruction needs to draw on their empirically grounded functional descriptions – which are largely scares. A second reason has to do with the indexical character of the markers that renders them sequentially contingent, hence surprisingly complex, and rather unwieldly to master. Their status as interactional devices, therefore, entails the relevance of the ongoing debate around teaching interactional/pragmatic competence in instructional contexts. In this light, this paper examines some highly recurrent markers in contemporary Persian and then considers some options for their teaching in classroom contexts.

Bio:  

Ali R. Abasi is an Associate Professor of Persian at the School of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Maryland. Trained as an applied linguist, his primary research interests include second language writing, discourse analysis, and teaching Persian to speakers of other languages. Some of his publications have appeared in such journals as Journal of Second Language Writing, English for Specific Purposes, Journal of Language and Politics, and International Journal of Applied Linguistics.

1.Call for Applications

http://apply.interfolio.com/129608

Visiting Fellow In Gender, Body Politics and Iranian Art

The initiative, developed jointly by the Center for Middle East Studies at Brown University and the Middle East Studies Institute at Columbia University, focuses on gender and body politics in relation to Iran. We are inviting applications from an artist to spend one entire academic year residing one semester at each institution starting January 2024 to December 2024.  This fellowship is generously supported by the Persian Heritage Foundation.

Project Description 

The project seeks to highlight and amplify the resistance to authoritarianism and prevailing gender norms in Iran, while simultaneously challenging western stereotypes about women in Iran. The artist in residence’s work and public engagement will directly link to questions of gender, body politics and transnational feminism in relation to Iran and the Iranian diaspora.  The artist will be in conversation and engage with the host community while also being in conversation and engagement with the partner institution.

The Center for Middle East Studies at Brown and the Middle East Institute at Columbia both offer rich and extensive programming that extends across their respective campus communities and beyond to reach a broad, diverse and international audience.  This project will be a strong focal point for the cultural offerings of each institution.

Proposed Project Outcomes

The following outcomes are expected:

• The artist will engage in individual and joint moderated conversations and seminars on-line and in person at both institutions. These conversations will feed into the wider Gender & Body Politics: Art in the Middle East and its Diasporas
• The artist will teach a total of four master classes over the year.  The classes will be open to both undergraduate and graduate students.
• An exhibition towards the end of the residence period to be shown at Brown University
• Public panel discussion with the Fellow and a selection of speakers followed by a concert with an Iranian musician at Columbia University.

Qualifications:

Successful candidates possess an established body of work that reveals a command of processes and techniques within a conceptual framework. A related degree and/or relevant teaching experiences are recommended but not a requirement.
The Centers are especially interested in qualified candidates who can contribute, through their research, teaching, and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the academic community.

Requirements:

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Submission Process and Deadline: The review of applications will begin on October 6, 2023, and will continue until the position is filled. To receive full consideration, the application and the following materials should be received before that date via the application portal in Interfolio. http://apply.interfolio.com/129608

Required Materials 

• Statement of Artistic Purpose
• Curriculum Vitae or Resume
• Artist portfolio
• Two letters of recommendation

The compensation amount is fixed and will be discussed with the finalists.

We will conduct online interviews with short-listed candidates at the end of October – early November 2023. The award will be announced in mid-November 2023.

Contact: For further information, please visit the Center for Middle East Studies website. For inquiries, please contact CMES_director@brown.edu.

2. Assistant Professor – Persian Literature

The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Persian Literature and Culture with an expected start date of July 1, 2024 or as soon as possible thereafter. Research expertise may be in any period of Persian literature or culture, with a preference for candidates with broad interests in all eras of Persian culture and a specialization in pre-1800 Classical Persian literature. Applicants’ research may focus on any region of the larger Middle East with significant production of Persianate literature.
Qualifications
Applicants should have an active research agenda that would lead to publication in prominent venues in their field or the potential to develop such a publication record and the ability or potential to be an excellent teacher and mentor at the undergraduate and graduate levels. The successful candidate will demonstrate a wide-ranging familiarity with Persian literature and culture and be knowledgeable in the historical contexts in which such literary works were produced. Applicants are expected to have an excellent command of pre-modern and modern Persian. Knowledge of Arabic or Turkish is also desirable. The successful applicant will collaborate with faculty from the adjacent fields and lead the Persian program at the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
Candidates must have completed all requirements for receipt of a Ph.D. in a field related to the search prior to the start of the appointment.
Application Instructions
To apply for this position, please submit the following application materials through the University of Chicago’s academic recruitment site (Interfolio) at http://apply.interfolio.com/130829:
• a cover letter,
• cv,
• a published article or a dissertation chapter,
• a research statement,
• and the names and contact information of three recommenders
All materials from the applicant must be submitted by 11pm Central Time/Midnight Eastern Time on October 16, 2023. Only complete applications can be considered. Applicants may be asked to provide additional materials following initial review.
For information on the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, please go to http://nelc.uchicago.edu. For further questions about this position, please contact Annie Diamond, Academic Affairs Coordinator, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, anniediamond@uchicago.edu.
This position is contingent on final budgetary approval.

3. Irrationality and Madness

Panel convened by:

David Bennett (Institute of Ismaili Studies) and Filip Radovic (University of Gothenburg)

2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies

9-11 May 2024, Kalamazoo, Michigan USA

This panel explores medieval views of madness and irrationality in medical, philosophical, theological and popular literature in various language traditions. We are particularly keen to include contributions from the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian traditions. Behaviour and beliefs that are considered to be pathological, irrational, excessive, or odd are documented and theorised differently in different periods, places and contexts; this panel will seek to discover cross-cutting themes. Some fundamental questions include: How was madness delineated in relation to feeblemindedness and eccentric behaviour? Did medieval people suffer from the same delusions that are commonly documented in modern and contemporary psychiatric literature? The history of the irrational is an understudied topic that connects to our own era of fact resistance, conspiracy theories, and contested criteria of psychiatric disorders.

Submit paper proposals online at the ICMS site: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2024/cfp.cgi

DEADLINE: 15 September 2023

(Be sure to select our panel, Irrationality and Madness)

For more information, contact:

David Bennett (dbennett@iis.ac.uk)

Filip Radovic (filip@filosofi.gu.se)

4. Arab World English Journal for Translation and Literary Studies welcomes the submission of papers for the October Issue – 2023. The deadline for manuscript submission has been extended to September 7, 2023.The issue publication date is October Issue – 2023. For more information, please click here.

5. Due to the burning of the Qur’an and the backlash in Sweden…

With the help of the Almighty God, the idea of International Qur’anic Parliament (IQP) was proposed on Tuesday, August 15, 2023, with the participation of the Al-Farabi College of Tehran University and the Higher Al-Qur’anic School of the Al-Mustafa International University. It is known that IQP will be active in cultural, academic and political affairs, and it is hoped that the first session will be held in 2024 and in one of Islamic countries.
This parliament, with more than 200 seats from different countries, will guide and protect all matters related to the Holy Quran in the three areas of Quran education and research, Quran recitation and preservation, and communication and culture. The annual meeting of this parliament will be held in one of the Islamic countries.
Each country will have at least 2 seats according to the population as follows:
1. Candidate of the scientific and research department (Group 1), member of the university faculty in the field of Islam and the Holy Quran
2. Candidate of Reciting and Memorizing Qur’an(Group 2) ranked in international competitions
✅ Deputies of IQP:
A) Quranic Education and Research
1. Providing international Quranic scholarships
2. Creating a communication network between Quranic scientific centers
3. Supporting interdisciplinary Quranic research
4. Establishing ISI Quranic research
B) Reciting and memorizing the Holy Qur’an
1. Promoting the skill of reciting the Holy Quran
2. Training Quran memorizers and reciters in the form of support scholarships
3. Supporting Qur’an memorizers and reciters and granting scholarships
C) Culture and Communication
1. Development of Quranic culture in scientific, cultural and political dimensions
2. Defending the sanctity of the Holy Quran against doubts and insults
3. Communication with international associations and organizations such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Union of Universities of the Islamic World,…
https://farabi.ut.ac.ir/fa/news/36265
https://www.hawzahnews.com/news/1105398
https://en.abna24.com/story/1389359

Dr. Mohammad Hasan Ahmadi
Asso. Prof. University of Tehran
Islamic Historical Philology
Executive Director of IQP(Ind. Int. Quranic Parliament)
Website:http://zabanshenasitarikhi.ir
Email: ahmadi_mh@ut.ac.ir

6. 10th IDHN Conference: Call for Contributions

The 10th IDHN Conference will take place on Thursday, November 09, 2023.

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.

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 Sunday, October 08, 2023.

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 best wishes,

Irene Kirchner (Georgetown University)

7. Latin America & Caribbean Islamic Studies

Latest newsletter, Vol 3, no. 4, summer 2023

https://www.lacisa.org/newsletter?lightbox=dataItem-llz45nez

8. Forma Fluens blog, Medieval Armenian Medicine.

Dr Viktorya Vasilyan (National Academia of Sciences – Armenia) outlines a fascinating historical fresco of medieval Armenian medical culture, revealing the many parallels between East and West.

See here: https://csmbr.fondazionecomel.org/blog/forma-fluens/medieval-armenian-medicine/