Archive for October 10th, 2023
Shii News – Academic Items
1.HYBRID “Christian Theological Engagement with Islam: A Study Day at PISAI”, Rome, 26 October 2023, 14:30 h – 19:00 h
Topics covered included current academic debates about Islamic origins, Muslim approaches to the Bible, and the death and resurrection of Jesus in the Qur’ān. The first session will feature a panel discussion involving Muslim and Christian scholars on “Muslims, Christians and Law” prompted by Joshua Ralston’s “Law and the Rule of God: A Christian Engagement with Sharīʿa” (Cambridge University Press, 2020). In the second session Gavin D’Costa will deliver a lecture.
Information and registration: https://pluriel.fuce.eu/christian-theological-engagement-with-islam-a-study-day-at-pisai/?lang=en
2. “Afghanistan Regional Symposium: Confronting the Impasse”, Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), Georgetown University Qatar, 11 November 2023, 9:00 am – 7:00 pm
The symposium gathers leading experts, scholars, and policymakers in a collective pursuit of exploring and addressing the intricate challenges surrounding Afghanistan and its neighboring region. Through insightful panels, including discussions on the Afghan peace process, climate change, food security challenges, education, and humanitarian concerns, the symposium fosters a nuanced understanding of ongoing challenges and paves the way for informed impactful solutions.
Information, program and registration: https://cirs.qatar.georgetown.edu/afghanistan/
3. Journée d’études ReLRace 6 « Lexique racial et religions. Traduction des textes sacrés, encyclopédisme, textes normatifs contemporaines (XVIe-XXIe s.), Le Mana Université, 18-19 mars 2024
Le premier axe consiste à travailler sur les traductions en langues vernaculaires de la Bible et du Coran. Afin de scruter précisément les phénomènes de translation, un travail lexicologique et philologique pourra être effectué à travers un corpus numérisé de traductions de la Bible et du Coran étalé du XVIe au XXIe siècle, et pris dans plusieurs milieux (catholique, protestant, juif, musulman) et plusieurs langues (espagnol, portugais, anglais, allemand, français, italien, arabe).
Limite des propositions de communication: 10 décembre 2024.
4. Visiting Fellowships at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies 2024-2025
We welcome fellowship applications from scholars conducting research on a diverse range of topics: Muslim Societies Past and Present; Identity and Citizenship: Muslims in Britain and the West; Classical Islamic Sciences; Economic and Human Development and Islamic Finance; Science, Technology, Environment and Muslim Societies.
Deadline for applications: 9 January 2024. Information: https://www.oxcis.ac.uk/visiting-fellowships
5. Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies/Islamic Humanities, School of Humanities and Social Sciences (SHSS), Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane (AUI), Morocco
Qualification: Ph.D. in Islamic Studies or a closely related field. – The ability to teach in English. – Experience in the US and US-inspired global liberal arts system. – A good working knowledge of Arabic and other Islamic languages. – Regional research interest in Africa and the Middle East, or the Global South.
Deadline for applications: 23 October 2023. Information: https://www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/details.cfm?JobCode=178559012&Title=Islamic%20Studies%20%2F%20Islamic%20Humanities
6. ADF Fellowship in Druze and Arab Studies (9 Months), Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University
The fellowship will be awarded to a doctoral graduate (Ph.D.). The fellowship is based on an international competition. Applicants must have a record of relevant research in the disciplines of history, political science, sociology, economics, anthropology, and archaeology. Applicants will be assessed on the originality of their scholarship and the high quality of their academic record.
Deadline for applications: 5 January 2024. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/133436
7. Associate Professor / Professor in “Arabic Language or Linguistics”, Georgetown University in Qatar
ideal candidate should have stature and experience in programmatic leadership with qualifications in applied linguistics or language pedagogy and experience in an American university context. Candidates should have native fluency in Modern Standard Arabic; experience in proficiency-based, communicative approaches to teaching the language; and be familiar with proficiency testing and ACTFEL standards.
Deadline for applications: 15 October
Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/129108
8. New Journal of Reviews “Orientalia Antiqua et Nova”, A Different Look at Eastern Issues
The ambition of the review is to propose a different look at both the ancient and modern history of the Middle East, and the current developments occuring in these regions.
Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2023/09/Orientalia-A-et-N-brochure-2023-English.pdf
9. Saints hommes de Chiraz et du Fārs
Pouvoir, société et lieux de sacralité (Xe-XVe s.)
D Aigle
Brill, 2023
https://brill.com/display/title/64599
10. Faces of God: Images of Devotion in Indo-Muslim Painting, 1500–1800
M K Mumtaz
Brill, 2023
https://brill.com/display/title/65073
11. Bahrain 1975/76 – 2020
Editors: Anthony Axon and Susan Hewitt
Brill, 2023
https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/60031
12. Call for Papers: Femininity and Masculinity in Persian culture and literature
On 11 and 12 April 2024, we are organising an international conference on Femininity and Masculinity at the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. The conference is part of the ERC Advanced Grant Beyond Sharia: The Role of Sufism in Shaping Islam. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 20 October 2023.
Conveners
Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Zhinia Noorian, Arash Ghajarjazi, Leila Rahimi Bahmany, Maarten Holtzapffel, Amin Ghodratzadeh, Alexandra Nieweg, Fatemeh Naghshvarian
Why a Conference on Femininity and Masculinity in Persian Classical Romances?
Gender and sexuality are among the most controversial yet understudied areas in Persian culture and literature. As an indispensable part of Persian culture, poetry has played a major role in shaping concepts such as femininity and masculinity. For example, one of the major genres of Persian poetry in which male Persian poets have created their masterpieces is the genre of romance. This genre centres around the two key concepts of masculinity and femininity and the interplay between them. Such literary heritage informs us about the male poets’ perspective about gender and power dynamics. The other players of the arena of poetry, female poets, bring in a different perspective into the scene. One example is the Īnjūʾīd princess, Jahān-Malik Khātūn (d. about 1393). With a Dīvān of 15 thousand couplets, three times larger than that of her contemporary world-renowned poet, Ḥāfiẓ (d. 1390), she complained about being ostracised. In the preface she wrote to her Dīvān, she excused herself for entering the craft of poetry as a woman. Parvīn Iᶜtiṣāmī (d. 1941) is a more contemporary example of being subject to gender bias in the world of Persian literature. Being disbelieved as a female poet, she wrote a poem to assert that she was a woman. The paradoxical overview of gender in the Persian literary tradition brings to mind questions such as: How does this imbalance crystallise in Persian poetry? How do Persian poets incorporate the patriarchal gender construct into their narratives? How does such a liminal gender construct influence the particular dynamics of genres such as the romance in Persian poetry? How did male Persian poets contribute to perpetuating the biased gender construct of femininity in their work? How did female poets deal with gender-biased power dynamics? If the patriarchal gender norms promote leaving women out of the arena of poetry, how does the communication of the genders take place in a genre like romance?
Aim of the Conference
This conference brings together scholars who have worked or are working on various aspects of Persian poetry, and the problem of gender and sexuality. The conference is organised to encourage discussion on understudied the formation of concepts such as femininity and masculinity in the Iranian-Muslim cultural context through Persian poetry.
Call for Abstracts
We would like to invite abstracts of maximum 300 words together with one paragraph CV (maximum 250 words) by 20 October 2023. Research master and PhD students are encouraged to apply as we would like to create a mixture of early-career and mid-career scholars. Accepted contributions will be asked to submit the draft paper of about 2000 words before 15 February 2023. After the conference, we shall invite a selected number of scholars to submit their papers for publication in a peer-reviewed university press.
Timeline
20 October 2023: Deadline abstract submission
15 November 2023: Decision on accepted abstract
15 February 2024: Submission of the draft papers (2000 words)
15 March 2024: Submission of the final paper
11-12 April 2024: Conference at Utrecht University
How to submit
Please send your abstract and CV in one document to Femininity@uu.nl
If you are interested to join the conference online or on location, please contact us via
For more information see Beyond Sharia – The Role of Sufism in Shaping Islam
13. The Invisible East programme in Oxford is looking for a new Programme Coordinator to join the team!
We are looking for a driven and organised individual who can help us grow an exciting academic project with direct links to the wider public. The job description can be seen at this link. The deadline to apply is 26 October 2023. We look forward to receiving your application!
14. Open Access – The Cooing of the Dove and the Cawing of the Crow: Late `Abbāsid Poetics in Abū al-`Alā` al-Ma`arrī’s Saqt al-Zand and Luzūm Mā Lā Yalzam
Suzanne Stetkevych
Brill, 2022
https://brill.com/display/title/61169
15. 2024 Critical Language Scholarship Program Application Now Open!
The application is now open for the U. S. Department of State’s 2024 Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program and its virtual initiative, CLS Spark! We welcome your students to apply now to learn a critical language on a funded virtual or overseas summer program. The application is available at https://clscholarship.org/apply. The deadline for applications is 8:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, November 14, 2023.
The CLS Program provides intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences designed to promote rapid language gains. Depending on language and level, U.S. students can either apply for the overseas CLS Program or its virtual initiative, CLS Spark. The CLS Program offers in-person cohort-based programs at partner institutions abroad that provide instruction at various levels for U.S. graduate and undergraduate students in 13 critical languages: Arabic, Azerbaijani, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu
The CLS Program, through its CLS Spark initiative, provides beginner-level virtual instruction for Arabic, Chinese, and Russian for competitively selected U.S. undergraduate students whose home campuses do not offer these languages. More information on eligibility is available at: https://clscholarship.org/applicants/eligibility.
The CLS Program will host webinars, Q&A sessions, and alumni panels for students and advisors throughout the fall. A full calendar with these events and corresponding registration links is available at: https://clscholarship.org/events.
The CLS Program is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, with funding provided by the U.S. Government and supported in its implementation by American Councils for International Education. It is part of a wider government initiative to expand the number of Americans studying and mastering foreign languages that are critical to national security, economic prosperity, engagement with the world.
If you have any questions, please contact the CLS Program team at: cls@americancouncils.org.
16. Open Rank Professor of Native and Indigenous Feminisms & Colonial Studies Application Deadline: Jan 5 2024
Location: Occidental College: Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice
The Department of Critical Theory and Social Justice at Occidental College is committed to fostering critical and interdisciplinary scholarship that engages with pressing issues of social justice, inequality, and power dynamics. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to contribute to our vibrant academic community, work alongside dedicated colleagues, and shape the future of our department.
We seek an outstanding scholar who specializes in Native and Indigenous Feminisms and Colonial Studies. The ideal candidate will demonstrate a strong commitment to research, teaching, and community engagement. Applicants should hold a Ph.D. in a relevant field and have a proven track record of excellence in both research and pedagogy.
At Occidental College, we are dedicated to creating a diverse and inclusive academic environment that values equity and fosters a sense of belonging for all members of our community. We encourage applications from candidates who share our commitment to these values and who will contribute to the diversity of our department.
Should you have any questions or require further information about this opportunity, please do not hesitate to contact the Search Committee Chair, Mary Christianakis, mary@oxy.edu .
17. Female Bodies and Sexuality in Iran and the Search for Defiance: Book Talk with Author Nafiseh Sharifi, Soraya Batmanghelichi and Rassa Ghaffari
Date: Wednesday, 25 October 2023
Time: 16:00-17:30 (BST)
Location: Online via Zoom (registration essential)
More information and registration: www.brismes.ac.uk/events/nafiseh-sharifi-book-talk
18. ‘”COCO-DE-MERKASHKULS, MATERIALITY, AND OCEANIC JOURNEYS”
Peyvand Firouzeh, University of Sydney
Webinar, Silsila, NYU, Wednesday, October 11th, 6:30pm EDT
The coco-de-mer nutshell, native to the islands of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, is an object of various mobilities. This talk follows the real and imagined journeys of the coco-de-mer from miraculous mythological journeys to those driven by natural sea currents, as well as the trans-oceanic trade networks of the early modern world, in order to focus on the adoption of the nutshells for kashkuls (beggars’ bowls), an attribute of Sufis. Shifting the focus of Eurocentric histories of the nutshell, I explore how the materiality and metaphorical meanings of the coconut shell collided with those of the kashkul. The coalescence of coco-de-mer and kashkul, which swayed between buoyant, drifting objects, bulky containers, and monumental metaphors, brings allegories of wine and drinking vessels, boats and sea travel, light and mosque imagery into dialogue with monsoon winds and broader material histories of the Indian Ocean.
For full details and to register to attend online please visit the Silsila website:
19. Acquisitions and Provenance of Islamic Art between 1933-1945: Current Research and Networking, Berlin, October 13-14 2023
The Museum für Islamische Kunst in cooperation with the Zentralarchiv der Staatlichen Museen, Berlin and the Institute of Art History and Musicology at Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz will host a workshop entitled, “Acquisitions and Provenance of Islamic Art between 1933-1945: Current Research and Networking.”
This workshop represents a pioneering initiative among researchers both within and beyond public collections in Germany. It aims to facilitate discussions about the challenges associated with tracing the provenance for objects of Islamic art history and to present ongoing projects in the field. The workshop seeks to identify parallels in collecting practices and object biographies in comparison with non-European collection contexts.
We cordially invite you to participate in this two-day workshop to be conducted in German.
A detailed program can be found here: https://kulturgutverluste.de/sites/default/files/2023-09/Workshop_Programm_13%2614.10.2023.pdf.
Please note that due to limited seating capacity, we kindly request your registration by the 10th of October 2023, via naneuman@uni-mainz.de.
For Yuka Kadoi’s public evening lecture “Lost, Found or Vanished. Three Cases of Persian Carpet Provenance in the Lands of the Former Habsburg Empire”, no prior registration is necessary.
Further information can be found here: https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/museum-fuer-islamische-kunst/events/detail/lost-found-or-vanished-2023-10-13-180000-139506/
With further inquiries, please contact us at isl@smb.spk-berlin.de.
20. International conference: Interiors Reconfigured
Vitrocentre Romont, the Swiss research center on stained glass and the art of glass, is organizing, in collaboration with French research center InVisu, an international conference on the decorative arts of the Middle East and North Africa with a special focus on material aspects and local practices. In the course of profound changes since the 18th century, local tastes and craftmanship began to mutate under Ottoman and Western influence. The conference will address these changes and emphasise the growing importance of material-based analysis in the field of Middle Eastern and Maghrebi décors.
The conference will take place in Romont on 2 and 3 November 2023.
The participation is free of charge, registration is required by 30 October 2023 at claudine.demierre@vitrocentre.ch
The programme can be accessed here: https://vitrocentre.ch/international-conference-interiors-reconfigured/
21. From Konkan to Coromandel: Cultures and Societies of the Deccan World,Autumn 2023
Webinars co-organized by the Center of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge, and Art, Resources and Teaching Trust, Bangalore, presenting the pioneering scholarship across various fields of knowledge from both the Northern and Southern Deccan regions of India.
OCTOBER
Performance, Poetry, and Painting: Towards a History of Music in the Deccan Sultanates
Richard David Williams (SOAS, University of London) on October 20th at 1 PM London (8 AM New York, and 5:30 PM Mumbai)
NOVEMBER
Penning Poetry: Prevalence of the Naskh Script in Early Modern Dakani Literary Manuscripts
Namrata Kanchan (University of Texas at Austin) on November 17th at 2 PM London (9 AM New York, and 6:30 PM Mumbai)
DECEMBER
Transformation at the heart of tradition: Cheriyal paintings from Telangana India
Anaïs Da Fonseca (University College London) on December 1st at 1 PM London (8 AM New York, and 5:30 PM Mumbai)
All webinars will take place on Zoom. Free and open to the public. Prior registration is mandatory.
Please visit https://www.cis.cam.ac.uk/activities/lectures-workshops/from-malabar-to-coromandel/
to register
- October 10, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment