Archive for 2023
Shii News – ‘The Influence of Philosophy and Sufism on the Imamology of Twelver Shī`ism in the 14th Century (in Japanese)’ – N Nishiyama
Oriento, 65/2 (2022), 115-127.
http://www.j-orient.com/backnumber/
Abstract:
Although Imamology has always been central to the theological doctrines of Twelver Shī`ism (al-Ithnā `Asharīya), the matter of how it was developed and revised during the Il-Khanid period has not yet been satisfyingly studied. According to previous research, although Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī (d. 1274) and his disciple al-`Allāma al-Ḥillī (d. 1325) tried to integrate the Islamic philosophy which had been systematized by Ibn Sīnā (d. 1037) into their traditional theology, the philosophy had little effect on their Imamology. With regard to theologians’ attitude to Sufism, it has been the common view that most Twelver thinkers did not approve of merging Sufi ideas into their theology before Ḥaydar Āmulī (d. 1385), who is known as a Shī`ite adherent of Ibn `Arabī (d. 1240). This paper argues that Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn al-Ḥillī (d. 1369/70), who was a son and disciple of al-`Allāma and a teacher of Āmulī, but who as yet has been scarcely studied, introduced the philosophical theory of the soul and the training theory of Sufi sm into his Imamology. It also shows that philosophy and Sufism already had influenced the Imamology of Twelver Shi`ism in the 14th century. Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn’s predecessors such as al-`Allāma had limited the role of the imams in divine assistance (luṭf) to physical actions and denied any impact on people’s hearts. However, Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn interwove these outside theories into traditional theology, and developed his Imamology in that he expanded the imams’ instructive role in divine assistance into the psychological realm. Moreover, he developed a new description of the imams’ infallibility (`iṣma): he formulated that the imams can act rightly in all circumstances by virtue of the perfect asceticism (zuhd), achieved by the perfection of their rational souls.
- June 12, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Jameel Scholarships
The Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK is a leading academic institution for research and teaching about Islam and Muslims in Britain.
We have 1 International PhD Jameel Scholarship and 2 UK PhD Jameel Scholarships in British Muslim Studies available for suitably qualified students with an innovative and significant PhD proposal.
The PhD is based at the School of History, Archaeology and Religion and supervised by the Islam-UK Centre at Cardiff University.
We are seeking exceptional applicants with a First Class or high Upper Second Class Honours Degree or Masters’s Degree (or equivalent).
Research proposals are invited on topics that clearly align with the research interests and expertise of staff at the Islam-UK Centre. Proposals must demonstrate exceptional academic merit, potential and relevance to Muslims in the UK.
Relevant areas of research interest include:
- Islam and Public Life
- Islam in Prison and Rehabilitation
- Islam and the Media
- Muslim Religious Professionals including Chaplaincy and Imams
- Mental Health and Islam
- Pastoral Care and Pastoral Theology
- Imams and Religious Leadership
- Islamic Law in Britain
- Religious Authority, Revival Movements, Tradition, and Modernity in Britain
- Islam and Muslims in Wales, British Muslim History
- Socio-economic inequality amongst British Muslims
- Mixed methods research
- Muslim Women and Islam
The scholarship is funded by the Jameel Foundation.
How to apply
For further details on the scholarship and information on how to apply, please visit the PhD studentships and projects webpage.
The deadline for receipt of applications is 23:59 Monday 3 July 2023.
https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/centre-for-the-study-of-islam-in-the-uk/study/jameel-scholarships
2. Science Communication, Islam and Muslim Communities
A lecture on Muslim perceptions of science hosted by the Institute for STEMM in Culture and Society (ISTEMMiCS) and the Science and Technology Cluster in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Policy, University of Birmingham
29.6.23, 6.30 pm UK time.
While there have long been lively discussions about gender and racial inclusiveness in science communication, Muslims, one of the UK’s most marginalised populations, have largely been ignored. This is despite Muslims being a group whose members are often described as being especially resistant to science, with news media regularly claiming they stand in opposition to everything from evolution to COVID regulations.
In this public lecture, Stephen H. Jones will use a range of data to look at what British Muslims really think about science and at the question of whether, and how, science communicators should engage Muslim members of the public. Drawing on a new research project hosted at the University of Birmingham, ‘Science and British Muslim Religious Leadership’, the lecture will offer particular insight into Islamic authorities’ role in arguing for and against scientific theories and how they approach issues such as human origins, organ donation, and engaging with secular society.
This lecture is free to attend. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. You can register at the following link:
3. CHSTM working group on Medieval European Medical Manuscripts, Monday 12 June: Ayman Atat on Arabic manuscripts as witnesses of pharmaceutical knowledge
CHSTM working group on Medieval European Medical Manuscripts takes place next week, Monday, 12 June, 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm BST/11:00 am to 12:00 pm EDT. We are very pleased to welcome Dr Ayman Yasin Atat (Technical University of Braunschweig).
* Please note that we are meeting on a Monday rather than our usual Thursday slot! *
To join the working group and receive the Zoom link, visit
Ayman Yasin Atat (Technical University of Braunschweig), ‘Manuscripts as Storytellers. What Could Manuscripts as Witnesses of Pharmaceutical Knowledge Tell Us? A Case Study of Rawḍat al-ʿiṭr Manuscript’
4. Bloomsbury Webinar:
‘Presentism in Teaching History: A Live Webinar with Professional Historians’
26 June, 10 am ET/3pm UK time
The trend of presentism in history has caused sufficient controversy over the past year to garner mainstream media coverage in The Atlantic, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and more.
Join six professional historians and go beyond the headlines to explore the trend of presentism in teaching history. Drawing on their teaching experience as well as their recent exclusive articles in the digital resource ‘Bloomsbury History: Theory & Method’, each historian will discuss their article in turn, including how its subject matter lends itself to presentism, before turning to a panel discussion with all six participants about the overall trend of presentism in teaching.
This event is chaired by Associate Professor Tyson Retz, who is a member of the editor team for ‘Bloomsbury History: Theory & Method’.
For more information and to register:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/9716850295599/WN_PEMb5t30Tpa20WkyzsLraw#/registration
For the texts to be discussed (free access), see:
https://www.bloomsburyhistorytheorymethod.com/featured-content
5. Doha Residence Program in Advanced Arabic & Social Studies
Spring Semester 2024
A limited number of merit-based tuition waiver and housing support
The Language Center at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI) is pleased to announce its Spring semester 2023-2024 Residence Program in Advanced Arabic Language and Social Studies.
The Program is a unique forum for academic and cultural exchange between the DI’s predominantly native Arabic- speaking graduate students and faculty (from across the Arab world) and their international non-native or heritage peers.
The Residence Program is offered for one semester on site in Doha. It meets the language, culture, and academic needs of advanced non-native and heritage graduate students who wish to strengthen their language and cultural skills, as well as prepare for specific challenges related to their academic areas of expertise. The Program is delivered entirely in Arabic and consists of a twin advanced language-training and academic components.
The language-training component prepares students to function professionally in Arabic and offers dedicated courses in language, translation, and content-based instruction. The program adapts to the academic needs of students as a base for linguistic and cultural acquisition, emphasizes productive and presentation skills, and develops higher levels of proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and translation.
The academic component gives fellows the opportunity to take advantage of the wide array of unique graduate-level courses the DI distinguished faculty teach in Arabic through its academic units: The School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the School of Public Administration and Development Economics. For more detailed information about the DI, please go to:
https://www.dohainstitute.edu.qa/EN/Pages/default.aspx
The Residence Program is an important part of the DI’s mission to establish, maintain, and nurture intellectual links and two-way dialogues between its students, faculty, and the international learning and research community. The DI aims to create an enduring legacy of intellectual innovation and education within the Arab world and beyond. It assumes and promotes the Arabic language as a tool of scientific inquiry, an official language in public discourse, and a primary language for teaching and research.
To Apply to the Doha Residence Program, click on the link below:
https://dilc.wufoo.com/forms/zvlz3kp0kd4036/
Semester Program Features:
- 6 credits of Intensive Arabic,
- A language partner,
- Option to audit graduate academic courses taught in Arabic if eligible,
- Option to have an academic partner,
- Access to the DI rich conferences, symposia, and guest lectures.
Admission Requirements:
- Advanced level in Arabic,
- Tuition fees: 9,000 QAR (approximately 2,250€ or 2,465$),
- Housing: 11,000 per semester (approximately 2,650€ or $3000).
Program Dates:
- Application Deadline: August 15, 2023
- Start of Classes: January 07, 2024
- End of Program: April 25, 2024
6. Zoom: SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry Memorial Lecture – The Sassanian Empire: A Fire That Was Extinguished
6.00pm, Tuesday 13 June 2023
This lecture is about the Sassanian Dynasty which ruled Persia for over 400 years and was a bulwark against the Roman Empire, which could never cross the Euphrates river because of the resistance put up by the Persians.
The lecture takes the audience through a series of remarkable Monarchs, some of whom ruled a vast empire with justice and sagacity. Zoroastrianism was the state religion for these 400-odd years, which was finally put out by the invading Arabs who imposed Islam on this great nation. Two earlier dynasties had ruled Persia for 200-odd years, and 400-odd years respectively.
To register:
7. Leighton House
Imagination Unbound: An Evening of Persian Poetry
7.00pm-8.30pm, Thursday 22 June 2023
Poetry is the art par excellence of Iran and the Persian speaking world. For more than a thousand years, poetry has enhanced and sustained the lives of Persian speakers, and for many centuries now, these rapturous expressions of love, longing, and acceptance of providence are enjoyed by Western audiences through translation.
Join Narguess Farzad, author and Senior Lecturer in Persian Studies, as she discusses how Persian poetry remains the unrivalled means of encapsulating experiences and emotions, memories, traumas, and delights. The evening will include a selection of classical and contemporary poetry, recited in Persian and in English translation, by British actor Matt Addis.
To attend:
https://leightonhouse.digitickets.co.uk/event-tickets/49169?catID=48518&
8. The British Museum
Luxury and power: Persia to Greece
04 May – 13 August 2023
Drawing on dazzling objects from Afghanistan to Greece, this exhibition moves beyond the ancient Greek spin to explore a more complex story about luxury as a political tool in the Middle East and southeast Europe from 550–30 BC. It explores how the royal Achaemenid court of Persia used precious objects as markers of authority, defining a style of luxury that resonated across the empire from Egypt to India. It considers how eastern luxuries were received in early democratic Athens, self-styled as Persia’s arch-enemy, and how they were adapted in innovative ways to make them socially and politically acceptable. Finally, it explores how Alexander the Great swept aside the Persian empire to usher in a new Hellenistic age in which eastern and western styles of luxury were fused as part of an increasingly interconnected world.
More information:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/luxury-and-power-persia-greece
9. Frontline Club
Screening +Q&A: Nazanin with Richard Ratcliffe
7.00pm-8.30pm, Thursday 06 July 2023
The behind-the-scenes account – part love story, part thriller – of how Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was thrown into a Tehran jail, and how her family battled to get her home.
Chaired by Ramirta Navai, an Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award-winning British-Iranian journalist, documentary producer and author. She has reported from over forty countries and has a reputation for investigations and work in hostile environments.
Registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/screening-qa-nazanin-with-richard-ratcliffe-tickets-641440805717
10. ‘Current debates and emerging trends in the history of science in premodern Islamicate societies’
History of Science, 2023
N Fancy, et al.,
This roundtable brings together contributions from nine senior, mid-career and junior scholars who work on the history of science in pre-1800 Islamicate societies. The contributions reflect upon some of the challenges that have historically constrained the subfield, how they have sought to overcome them, and what they see as some of the more productive and fruitful turns the field has taken and/or should take in the future. A central trend in all contributions is how they seek to confront the combined weight of colonialism, Orientalism, and the teleological history of science that continues to haunt contemporary discussions in both academia and the general public with regards to science in pre-1800 Islamicate societies.
Without diminishing the pioneering achievements of the generations of historians who have preceded us, and upon whose work we continue to rely, this combined weight has tended a) to marginalize the study of occult sciences in Islamicate societies; b) to emphasize investigations of content from an etic perspective of how we got to the present, which is primarily seen as how the scientific content is connected to the rise of modern science in Europe; and c) to concomitantly marginalize the study of science in post-1200 Islamicate societies, particularly those with little to no connection to the rise of “Western” science. The contributions build upon conversations that took place among participants in December 2019 at a workshop at New York University (NYU), Abu Dhabi Institute in New York City, funded by a grant from NYU Abu Dhabi.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00732753231154690
11. Early Sciences 2023 Essay Prize
Early Science and Medicine and the Early Sciences Forum of the History of Science Society are joining together to run a prize competition for the best essay focusing on early science, medicine, technology, and other forms of natural knowledge across the globe before 1800. We especially welcome submissions from early career scholars. The author of the winning essay will receive a $200 award and the piece will be published as an article in Early Science and Medicine 29 (2024) subject to peer review; the committee will provide mentorship throughout the process. The winner will be strongly encouraged to attend the 2023 History of Science Society Conference meeting on November 9-12 in Portland, Oregon as the prize will be awarded at the Early Sciences Forum Meeting.
We invite you to submit unpublished essays between 8,000 and 15,000 words in English that are not under consideration at another journal. Please follow the ESM style guide and make sure that your paper has been anonymized. ESM publishes images in color and black-and-white; the author will handle permissions. Please submit essays by August 1, 2023 via this form (https://forms.gle/5bzAJigAaAruSRfQ9). For questions, please email earlysciencesforum@gmail.com.
12. Position: UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Associate Director
Job Title: Associate Director, UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start date: Monday, August 7, 2023
Hours: 40 hours per week
Pay: $64,500 – 79,100
Mode: Hybrid, Monday-Friday 8-4:30, occasional evening/weekends
Apply online here – due Thursday, June 22
Position Description:
This position is located in the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences. The staff and programs of the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies work to provide the University and the people of North Carolina with a campus hub to promote an understanding of the Middle East through teaching, research, and community outreach, and to explore and promote cross-regional approaches to Middle East and Islamic studies, including sponsorship of a wide variety of activities that bring together interested faculty and students from a large number of academic disciplines. The Associate Director will be involved in all aspects of Middle East and Islamic studies program development, including management of the Center’s Title VI and Foreign Language and Area Studies award from the U.S. Department of Education while organizing and overseeing day-to-day center programs such as workshops, conferences, and lecture series. The Associate Director will also work closely with the Center’s Director, Outreach Manager, and Business Manager, as well as the Center’s partners at Duke University and Durham Tech.
Required Qualifications:
M.A. or Ph.D. in a Social Science or humanities field required, with academic background and experience in Middle East or Islamic Studies; candidates demonstrating comparable independent research productivity or comparable background in independent academic or instructional activities, will accept a relevant bachelor’s degree (or foreign degree equivalent) and 3 or more years of relevant experience in substitution. The candidate will have expert knowledge of Middle East or Islamic studies, well-developed communication skills, experience in writing and administering grants, and administrative experience.
Preferred Qualifications
At least two years of experience in a professional capacity in the field of international studies, such as teaching in a related field, budget management, program development, grant proposal, and/or research. Basic knowledge of at least one Middle Eastern language preferred
Apply online here – due Thursday, June 22
For questions about the position, please contact Claudia Yaghoobi yaghoobi@email.unc.edu
- June 10, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- June 09, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- June 08, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- June 07, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- June 07, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Conference “(Un)growing Into Generational Roles”, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 8-9 June 2023
The conference aims at understanding intergenerational relations as a key intersection where the transformation of family relations, social power relations, and translocal transformation processes can be observed. It brings together scholars from anthropology, sociology, and history presenting research extending across Euro-American, Middle Eastern, Central, South and Southeast Asian and other localities and migratory trajectories.
Information and registration: https://www.zmo.de/en/events/ungrowing-into-generational-roles
2. ONLINE Book Presentation “The Mosul Incident of 1909 – Its Sociopolitical, Judicial and Military Consequence” by Nurkan Sever (Pavia University), Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Ber-lin, 13 June 2023, 1:00 pm, CET
The banishment and murder of Sheikh Said Barzanji who was the family head of Sadaat al-Barzanjiyya as the most influential religious organization of region, created a critical threshold in the history of Mosul. As the urban shootout on January 5 turned into a provincial bloodshed, Kurdish Sayyids, tribes and religious orders consolidated and revolted against the Ottoman authorities.
Information and registration: https://www.zmo.de/en/events/the-mosul-incident-of-1909
3. ONLINE Webinar “The Arabic Documents from Early Islamic Khorasan” by Geoffrey Khan (Pro-fessor of Hebrew, University of Cambridge), University of Oxford, 15 June 2023, 5:00 pm UK Time
The speaker describes the Arabic documents from early Islamic Khurasan, which he published in 2007 and will discuss their importance for the understanding of the development of Arabic documentary culture. The corpus is datable to the 8th century AD. The documents exhibit innovations in formulae that appear in the Arabic papyri from Egypt several years later.
Information and registration: https://invisibleeast.web.ox.ac.uk/event/the-arabic-documents-from-early-islamic-khurasan
4. Conference “Anti-Feminism and Anti-Gender Politics in Authoritarian Regimes. The Role of the State, Religion, and Feminist Counter-Strategies in the Near and Middle East and Eastern Europe”, Herder-Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe, Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS), University Marburg, 21-23 June 2023
The purpose of this conference is to compare the anti-feminist politics of authoritarian regimes in the Near and Middle East and Eastern Europe. To that end, it brings together two strands of research – the study of anti-feminism and anti-gender politics and the study of authoritarian populism – and focus on two regions that have previously been under-researched from a comparative perspective.
Deadline for registration: 18 June 2023. Information and program:
5. ONLINE Webinar “The Village and the Archive: On Documents in Iranian Languages (11th-13th Century)” with Arezou Azad, University of Oxford, 20 July 2023, 5:00 pm UK Time
Dr Azad presents samples of documents in the Bamiyan Papers written in 11th to 13th century-Khurāsān (in today’s Afganistan), some of which are the oldest pieces of Perso-Arabic writing in the original in the world. We will see how this archive has been reconstructed, what sorts of documents are in it, and how closely they are aligned with prescriptions in administrative manuals (inshāʿ).
Information and registration: https://invisibleeast.web.ox.ac.uk/event/the-village-and-the-archive-on-documents-in-iranian-languages-11th-13th-century
6. ONLINE 52nd Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS): “Creating Islamic Spaces and Places”, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, Indiana University, Indianapolis, 19 October 2023
Papers are invited papers from professors and advanced Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences on the themes: The Quest for Muslim Spaces and Places in Travelogue Literature; How Migration and Trade Shape Muslim Experiences of Space & Place; African Muslims Experience of Slavery in the USA; Being an American Muslim Woman in the Workplace; American Muslims in the Public Sphere; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 16 June 2023. Information: https://naaims.org/52nd-annual-conference/
7. Workshop “The Urban and Local Dimensions of Political Violence in Syria and the Middle East”, SUR-Project and the Alliance of Civilizations Institute (MEDIT), Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, 27-29 October 2023
The workshop seeks to understand how political violence becomes “urbanized” and transformed within cities in the Middle East. The organizers are hosting a workshop for postgraduate students and young scholars to present and develop their research using georeferenced datasets. The workshop will include training on mapping and visualization skills, provided by Beirut Urban Lab.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 July 2023. Information: https://sur-project.com/workshop
8. Mediterranean Seminar Fall 2023 Workshop on “Mediterranean Studies, Present & Future: The “California School” Twenty Years On”, UC Santa Cruz, 3-4 November 2023
Contributions are invited that reflect the depth and breadth of Mediterranean Studies and its approaches, whether applied to the Mediterranean itself or adjacent or comparable regions, from the earliest historical period up to today.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 August 2023. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-mediter-ranean-studies-present-future-med-sem-fall-2023-workshop-santa-cruz-34-november
9. Panel on “Muslims in America”, SAMLA 95 Conference, Atlanta, GA, 9-11 November 2023
This panel intends to examine the works of Muslim American poets, novelists, playwrights, jazz musicians, punks, hip hop artists, filmmakers, and visual artists. Papers are invited that explore the diverse compositions of Muslim American identities in cultural texts as they challenge and engage with the canonical codes and sociopolitical norms of national, theoretical, literary, and aesthetic spaces.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 June 2023. Information:
https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/12686252/muslims-america-panel-samla-95
10. Assistant Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (CTR) and Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), Lund University
Qualifications: PhD or the corresponding research expertise that is of value in view of the subject matter of the post (Islamic Studies); ability to teach in English; research expertise and progression in Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern Studies; demonstrated ability to obtain external research grants; ability to carry out high-quality research on Islam in the contemporary Middle East ; ability to conduct research in at least one lan-guage of the contemporary Middle East.
Deadline for application: 17 August 2023.
Information: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:616354/type:job/where:4/apply:1
11. New Research Program “Horn & Crescent. Connections, Mobility and Exchange between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East in the Middle Ages”
Le projet ERC HornEast a pour objectif de documenter les relations entre les sociétés chrétiennes de la Corne de l’Afrique (Éthiopie, Nubie) et leur environnement islamique aux échelles locale et régionale (Égypte, Palestine, péninsule Arabique), afin de mieux comprendre les modalités du processus d’islamisation à l’oeuvre dans la région au cours du millénaire médiéval (VIIe – XVe siècle).
Information: https://horneast.hypotheses.org/presentation-du-programme-2
12. “Schools” Comprising Reading Classes and Excursions for Turkish and German Students/Postdoctoral Researcher in the DAAD-Project “Aesthetic Approaches beteen the Early Christian, Byzantine and Early Islamic World”
This project aims to connect different disciplines and bring students from Turkey and Germany together through scientific and cultural dialogues. It is open to advanced BA and MA students, PhD candidates as well as Early Career Researchers of disciplines such as Art History, Byzantine Studies, Archaeology, Islamic Studies, Sociology, etc. The common language will be English; knowledge of Turkish would be advantageous.
Deadline for applications: 15 June 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/12871505/call-student-applications-aesthetic-approaches-between-early
13. Health and health policies in the Mediterranean region [CALL FOR PAPERS]
This issue of Confluences aims to examine the state of health systems around the Mediterranean, in a com-parative perspective, as health issues will have to be placed in their political, economic and social context. It aims to gather contributions addressing different aspects of implemented policies and their impact, as well as the behavior and expectations of the populations, not to mention the situation and strategies of health professionals.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2023. Information:
https://iremmo.org/contribuer-a-la-revue/health-and-health-policies-in-the-mediterranean-region/
14. 18th Annual UMAA Conference 2023: Islam in America : Challenges, Opportunities and Advocacy
June 30 – July 2, 2023
https://www.umaamerica.com/?mc_cid=f793ae7313&mc_eid=745ddc2b63
15. The Islamic College (London)
Monthly Seminar: Islamic Medicine- the cases of Prayer and Hijama: Some Critical Considerations
A Talk by Professor John Mayberry
Thursday 22 June 2023
6 pm – 8 pm (London time)
Venue: The Islamic College London 133 High Road London NW10 2SW
Register to attend:
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/monthly-seminar-islamic-medicine/
16. Conference
The migration of objects between Islam and Christianity in the medieval and early modern Mediterranean: new uses, new meanings
June, 15-16 2023
University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Philosophy
Franje Račkog 1. 71000 Sarajevo – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Details:
17. La 9ème séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien” aura lieu le jeudi 15 juin 2023
17h à 19h, salle 3.15 à l’INALCO 65, rue des Grands-Moulins 75013 Paris
Pour cette séance, nous recevons Nina Soleymani Majd (Maître de conférence, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle) pour une conférence intitulée :
« Récits de voyageuses britanniques en pays bakhtiyāri (XIXe-XXe siècle) »
Résumé
Respectivement en 1890 et en 1927, Isabella Lucy Bird-Bishop puis Vita Sackville-West se rendirent en pays bakhtiyāri et en tirèrent des récits de facture fort différente, entre relation épistolaire scientifique, et voyage d’inspiration romantique.
Elles y rapportent leurs observations avec le tranquille sentiment de leur supériorité d’Européennes, laissant transparaître une adhésion au projet interventionniste anglais dans le pays qu’elles appellent encore la Perse à cette époque. Voilà comment il faut comprendre les constantes associations de « l’Occident » avec la « civilisation », au point que les deux termes sont souvent utilisés par elles comme de parfaits synonymes, et de l’autre côté l’assimilation de « l’Orient » à un ensemble de pays figés dans un passé immuable, et a fortiori incapables d’un progrès qui les ferait entrer dans la modernité attribuée à l’âge industriel. À cet égard, le nomadisme fait à première vue figure de preuve irréfutable de ce fossé qui sépare à leurs yeux Orient et Occident, en ce qu’il est le mode de vie le plus éloigné de l’idée qu’elles se font de la civilisation. Et pourtant, grâce à cette position qui le place à l’extrême opposé du spectre s’étendant de la civilisation à l’état de nature, le nomadisme est paradoxalement pour ces voyageuses la meilleure porte d’entrée vers la découverte d’un monde radicalement différent, dépouillée des vaines comparaisons entre habillement, architecture, ou encore système politique occidental et oriental. Ainsi naît l’opportunité d’une véritable ouverture à l’autre, opportunité dont elles se saisissent à des degrés divers, en fonction des contraintes littéraires ou scientifiques qu’elles se sont fixées.
Orientation bibliographique
- Isabella L. Bird-Bishop, Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Londres, John Murray, 1891, 2 vol. [Online]
- Laurence Chamlou, Mirages persans : Les récits de trois voyageuses au tournant du XXe siècle, Grenoble, UGA Éditions, 2022.
- Jean-Pierre Digard, Une Épopée tribale en Iran : Les Bakhtyâri, Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2015.
- Vita Sackville-West, Twelve Days : An account of a journey across the Bakhtiari Mountains in South-western Persia, Londres, Hogarth Press, 1928. [Oline] ; trad. fr. Une Aristocrate en Asie : Récit d’un voyage en pays bakhtyar, dans le sud-ouest de la Perse, trad. Isabelle Di Natale, Monaco, Éditions du Rocher, 2000 [rééd. Payot/Rivages 2006]. [Online]
Retrouvez les détails de cette séance et le programme complet du séminaire sur le site web du CeRMI : https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-de-recherche/societes-politiques-et-cultures-du-monde-iranien-2022-2023/
18. Elements and Environment in the Middle Ages: A Multidisciplinary Workshop
Belfast, Thursday 29 June 2023
Queen’s University Belfast
The Graduate School, ROOM TR6
Programme and to Register to attend online:
19. Winner of the Inaugural Mo Habib Translation Prize
The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC) is thrilled to announce the winner of the inaugural cycle of the Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature: Dr. Michelle Quay, for her translation of Reza Ghassemi’s novel Woodwind Harmony in the Nighttime (Hamnava’i-ye shabaneh-ye orkestr-e chubha). Dr. Quay and Mr. Ghassemi will be awarded $10,000 and $5,000 respectively while the novel will be published by Deep Vellum Publishing in 2025. The judges would like to recognize Hajar Hussaini for her translation of Khosraw Mani’s Death and Its Brother as an honorable mention.
The second cycle of the Mo Habib Translation Prize will be announced in September and will focus on Persian poetry.
More information at:
https://melc.washington.edu/news/2023/06/05/announcing-winner-inaugural-mo-habib-translation-prize
20. Persian lacquered bookbinding: A journey through its layers and conservation challenges, Mandana Barkeshli (Oxford) – June 27
Tuesday 27 June 2023
11–12pm
At the Weston Library, University of Oxford
Persian artisans are known for their contributions to the field of bookbinding, with the lacquered bookbinding technique being one of their notable breakthroughs. This intricate technique involves multiple layers, each with their own materials, methods, and motifs that have been used from the Safavid to Qajar periods.
Professor Barkeshli will delve into the details of each layer and explore the various treatments used during manufacture, as well as providing insight into the environmental enemies of the lacquered bookbinding.
Prof. Dr. Mandana Barkeshli is Head of Research and Post Graduate Studies of De Institute of Creative Arts and Design in UCSI in Malaysia and Principle Fellow at University of Melbourne. Her current research project is titled, ‘Paper Dyes Used in Persian Medieval Manuscripts: Creating a Materials Construction Digital Database’.
21. Hybrid conference “Empires of Language in Islamicate Eurasia” on June 9-10 at Simon Fraser University
Please join us at our hybrid conference at Simon Fraser University titled “Empires of Language in Islamicate Eurasia on June 9-10 (this Friday and Thursday.
Here is a link to the program with the zoom link through which both the paper presentations and Nile Green’s (UCLA) keynote address can be listened to.
https://events.sfu.ca/event/35260-empires-of-language-in-islamicate-eurasia
https://events.sfu.ca/event/35292-keynote-by-nile-green-from-but-to-buddha-the
- June 06, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
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- June 05, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – Academic Items
1. Zoom: The British Institute of Persian Studies/The British Museum
‘Open Sesame: Ancient Persia and the Greek Imagination’
with James Fraser & Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
Tuesday, 13 June, 2023, 5pm UK time
For information and to register:
https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/ancient-persia-and-greek-imagination/
2. The Latin America and Caribbean Islamic Studies Newsletter
Vol. 3, no. 3 | Spring 2023
Available at:
https://www.lacisa.org/newsletter
3. BATA 2023 Conference: Registration and Provisional Programme
We are delighted to announce that registration for the 2023 BATA 3rd Annual International Conference, 6th – 7th July, University of Manchester, is now OPEN!
The Conference will feature a wide range of themes covering different aspects of Arabic language, culture and pedagogy, linguistics, literature and translation. The programme consists of over 58 papers delivered by over 60 presenters from 60 institutions in 23 countries, in addition to two eminent keynote speakers, Professor Hussain Al-Qarni, King Saud University, and Dr. Ruba Khamam, University of Leeds.
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME: A copy of the provisional programme can be found HERE.
REGISTRATION (conference in-person)
To attend the conference, please register at: bit.ly/3BZKTiu. In order for your paper to feature in the final conference programme, please register as soon as possible and no later than 5pm on Saturday 10th June.
For further information on the registration and the categories, please check BATA website. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to drop us a line at bata.conference.2023@outlook.com
4. Open Access articles on Ibn Batuta and medicine
- Tresso, Claudia Maria. “India’s Epidemics in the Riḥla of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa: Plague, Cholera or Lexical Muddle?,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, published online 29 May 2023, 1-30. doi:10.1017/S0041977X23000204, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/indias-epidemics-in-the-rihla-of-ibn-battuta-plague-cholera-or-lexical-muddle/36992C41ABCF7658A275114DBE812AB7.
- Tresso, Claudia Maria. “Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s ‘Prayer of Damascus’: A Window on to Damascus in the Hell of the Black Death (Part One),” Kervan: International Journal of African and Asiatic Studies 25, no. 1 (2021), 131-161, https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/kervan/article/view/5785.
- Tresso, Claudia Maria. “Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s ‘Prayer of Damascus’: A Window on to Damascus in the Hell of the Black Death (Part Two),” Kervan: International Journal of African and Asiatic Studies 25, no. 2 (2021), 207-235, https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce433-e084-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/The%20Prayer%20of%20Damascus%2C%20Kervan%2025.2%2C%20207-235.pdf.
- Tresso, Claudia Maria. “A Two-year Journey under the Arrows of the Black Death: The Medieval Plague Pandemic in Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s Travels,” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 21 (2021), 137-189, https://journals.uio.no/JAIS/article/view/9292.
5. CALL FOR PAPERS AND PROPOSALS
XXIst Biennial Symposium of the American Council for Southern Asian Art (ACSAA)
April 4 – 7, 2024
We are happy to announce that the XXIst Biennial Symposium of the American Council for Southern Asian Art (ACSAA) will be held in Ann Arbor, MI. It will be hosted by the University of Michigan with generous support from the Department of the History of Art.
ACSAA symposia occur in alternating years and serve as opportunities to meet colleagues, reconnect with mentors and graduate school cohorts, and share one’s current research with the field. From senior scholars to graduate students, ACSAA symposia are one of the primary ways ACSAA members gather and support one another, develop ideas in a collegial environment, and participate in the ACSAA community.
This is a call for:
- Individual paper submissions
- Proposals for pre-formed panels
Individual papers and panels alike should reflect original and unpublished scholarship in the history of South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan art. All members are welcome to propose ideas for new papers or panels, even if they presented a paper or chaired a panel at ACSAA XX held in Georgia in 2022. To encourage a diversity of voices, an individual scholar’s participation in the symposium will be restricted to no more than two formal roles (e.g. as a speaker in one panel and as a chair/discussant of another panel).
All presenters, panel chairs, and discussants must be ACSAA members in good standing. To join or renew your ACSAA membership, please visit https//acsaa.us/membership/
The Organizing Committee welcomes proposals on a broad range of topics in our field. The Committee would especially like to encourage submissions informed by new archaeological research, ethnographic fieldwork, careful attention to primary textual sources, as well as those that are informed the study of race, caste, and Indigeneity, and by ecocriticism and materiality, irrespective of medium, region, and time period. Individual papers and/or panel proposals honoring the life and work of ACSAA’s founding members and the organization’s supporters, especially those who have passed away recently, are also welcome.
Individual paper proposals should include a title, abstract (250 words maximum), and one-page CV of the presenter. Pre-formed panel proposals should include a panel title and abstract (250 words maximum), individual paper titles and abstracts (each 250 words maximum), and a one-page CV for the panel chair and each presenter. Panels may include a minimum of three and a maximum of five speakers. Each panel will have an allocated time of ninety minutes.
Submit all materials and inquiries to: acsaa2024@gmail.com
A symposium website will be launched in the coming weeks and be updated periodically.
Individual Paper Proposals due: August 1, 2023
Pre-Formed Panel Proposals due: August 1, 2023
Final Selection Announcement: December 1, 2023
6. Scents of Religious Authority
https://www.alchemiesofscent.org/events/workshop-scents-of-religious-authority
At this workshop, we take a cross-cultural look at the scents of religious authority in sources from Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Medieval Europe. We will read about and smell the scent of divinity and death as they pertain to religious figures and their claims to authority.
Guest Speaker: Joëlle Rollo-Koster, Rhode Island, “The Fragrance of Authority: Did Medieval Folks Smell Power? And Did Power Want to be Smelled?”
Abstract: “Growing from research undertaken for my latest book, The Great Western Schism, 1378-1417: Performing Legitimacy, Performing Unity (CUP, 2022) my new project emphasizes the sense of smell as a vehicle to inculcate political authority. While seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching are overly emphasized by the historiography, smell has not been fully considered. Looking at the ceremonials surrounding the granting of the Golden Rose, a precious object that the pope offered to the most ardent defensor of Christianity of his time, I will discuss how the rose taught its audience (via its aroma) how to recognize legitimate authority, and maybe how authorities “controlled” this smell to assert themselves.”
Hosted by Alchemies of Scent, Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought & Centre for Medieval Studies, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
Programme
MONDAY 5 JUNE 2023
Location: Alchemies of Scent, FLU AVCR Husova 7, 110 00 Prague 1
10.00–10.30. Scent in the Egyptian Temple: Worshipping the Gods with Fragrance in the Daily Ritual (Heike Wilde)
10.40–11.10. “Death seems to me today like the fragrance of myrrh”: Scent and stench in the Egyptian realm of the dead (Diana Míčková)
11.20–11.50. Later Greek Medical Sources of Religious Scents (Sean Coughlin)
12.00–13.30. Lunch
(Note change of location)
*Location: Center for Medieval Studies, FLU AVCR Jilska 1, 110 00 Prague 1
14.00–16.00. The Fragrance of Authority: Did Medieval Folks Smell Power? And Did Power Want to be Smelled? (Joëlle Rollo-Koster)
18.00. Dinner
TUESDAY 6 JUNE 2023
Location: Alchemies of Scent, FLU AVCR Husova 7, 110 00 Prague 1
10.00–12.00. Smelling: rose, “musks,” balsam
12.00–13.30. Lunch
13.30–17.00. Blending and experiment
ONLINE (via Zoom)
Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/640737070827
Zoom link (direct): https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/98787379977?pwd=Yk9HSytrVFlULzAxVUczVjRFNERKQT09
Meeting ID: 987 8737 9977
Passcode: 253969
7. Prelude to a History of Naqḍ (Inconsistency and Untenable Entailment) in Islamicate Dialectics
Dr. Walter Edward Young,
Lecture, June 8 at 8:00 pm (Moroccan time) and 3:00 pm (Montreal time).
This lecture is the eighth in the second season of the series of lectures organized by Philosmus. (www.philosmus.org)
You can also follow the lecture on Philosmus’ page on Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Philosmus
For a link to attend on line, email beahmedf@gmail.com
8. Call for papers
Symposium: The Mashrabiya Project, craft and architecture
Organizers: Museum for Art in Wood and the Center for Architecture + Design
Date: July 20–21, 2023
The mashrabiya is an iconic component of Islamic architecture. A scalable window lattice that facilitated ventilation while providing privacy and shade, the mashrabiya also brought ornament to severe building façades. Found across North Africa, West Asia, South Asia, and the islands of the Pacific, the mashrabiya can be made from lathe-turned or carved wood, stone, or cement.
Its porosity, material versatility, geometric patterning, and adaptability present unexplored opportunities for architecture. From Hassan Fathy, I. M. Pei, and Jean Nouvel in the twentieth century, to Farshid Moussavi, Zaha Hadid, and Senan Abdelqader in the twenty-first, architects and designers have studied this form for inspiration and found innovative ways to incorporate it.
What applications does the mashrabiya present for the future of architecture? Despite its power as a signifier for Islamic material culture, little material has been dedicated to the study of the mashrabiya. In this two-day symposium co-hosted by the Museum for Art in Wood and the Center for Architecture + Design, architects, designers, engineers, and makers are invited to discuss the potential of the mashrabiya on architecture that is sustainable, culturally meaningful, and supports the needs of our future spaces.
The Museum for Art in Wood seeks emerging scholars and practitioners to present during this symposium, held in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition, The Mashrabiya Project. Selected papers will be awarded an honorarium.
Please email up to 250 words and a brief CV for consideration no later than June 15, 2023, to info@museumforartinwood.org ; subject line should read MASHRABIYA SYMPOSIUM.
9. ONLINE Webinar “Conflict and Consensus: Decision-Making and Leadership Selection in Cairo’s Guilds, Late Eighteenth / Early Nineteenth Centuries” with Pascale Ghazaleh (AUC), Historicity of Democracy Seminar, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 5 June 2023, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm CET
The Ottoman courts of Egypt produced abundant documentation, which allows historians to trace some of the social dynamics that animated Cairo under Ottoman rule. The craft and trade groups of the Ottoman period appeared in court to resolve and register their disputes and agreements. The scholar looks at a specific type of document involving guilds, and examines its implications for what we know of decision-making, state intervention, and autonomy with regard to this social group.
Information and registration: https://www.zmo.de/en/events/deliberation-and-self-autonomy-in-ottoman-egypts-trade-and-crafts-community
- June 03, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
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