Archive for 2023
Shii News – Academic Items
1.HYBRID Lecture “Between Religion and Literature: Reimagining Muhammad Abduh’s Religious Thought in Arabic Literature “, by Dr. Zahiye Kundos; Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für die Erforschung der Aufklärung (IZEA), Universität Halle, 16 February 2023, 18:15 – 19:45 Uhr CET
By evaluating the specific modes in which the distinguished religious thinker Muhammad ʿAbduh (1849-1905) was embraced, after his demise, in secular literary texts it will be possible to acknowledge the complex situation of living and writing in a colonial situation, and thus to reconsider the modern Arab renaissance (al-Nahda) beyond the conflict between the religious and the secular.
Registration: https://lmu-munich.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwtdOiurz8qGNPLAIQ7oHaG1mMwU7o2J5ix
2. ONLINE Book Talk “The Sea in the Middle: The Mediterranean World, 650–1650”, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University, 22 February 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST
The authors Thomas Burman (Notre Dame), Brian Catlos (CU Boulder) and Mark Meyerson (U Toronto) will talk with John Esposito on the subject of their new text book. This book is for the diverse student bodies of the twenty-first century, and provides a complete package for college and university professors how wish to engage with this perspective in their teaching.
Information and registration: https://georgetown.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_I68R_-TtQiuPAcFJrfPYbQ
3. International Conference on “Jerusalem – From the Umbilicus Mundi to the Four Corners of the Earth and Back”, Yad Ben Zvi Institute, Jerusalem, 11-14 July 2023
The conference will focus on three main topics: Jerusalem as Umbilicus Mundi in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions; the influence of the city in wide circles throughout the world, and external influences on the city over time.
Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2023. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-jerusalem-from-the-umbilicus-mundi-to-the-four-corners-of-the-earth-and-back-11-14-july-jerusalem?e=82aeb6c61d
4. Section S19 “Islam as the New Normal in the Study of the ‘International’” at the 16th Pan-European Conference on International Relations, Potsdam, Germany, 5-9 September 2023
The section aims to offer a broad understanding of the role of Islam in world affairs by presenting case studies of the worldview of Muslim thinkers and practitioners, the Islamic polity and governance, transnational Islamist movements, Islamic approaches to International Relations Theory, global Islamic governance and institu-tions, the Islamic polity and governance, Islam and Foreign Policy Analysis, etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 March 2023. Information: http://pec2023.eisa-net.org/section-list
5. HYBRID Conference “Colonialism, Slavery, and Local Histories in Early Modern Asia”, Växjö, Sweden, 15-16 September 2023
This conference aims to bring together scholars working on early modern (local) histories of slavery, and slave trade, including related forms of forced labour and relocation in the wider Indian Ocean region, from Cape Town to Tokyo. We invite contributions that address these themes from a (structured) data perspective, or as new and starting research projects, or from a broader theoretical and connective angle.
Deadline for abstracts: 3 April 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/12288459/colonialism-slavery-and-local-histories-early-modern-asia
6. Postdoctoral Fellowships (2023-25) for Historical Studies of the Pre-Modern Mediterranean in Haifa and Israel, Haifa Center for Mediterranean History
We are looking for candidates who demonstrate academic excellence in their respective fields of expertise, together with an extensive background in Mediterranean studies. We encourage applications from candidates working in all related fields. Applicants must hold a Ph.D. by the beginning of the fellowship tenure period, and no longer than five years.
Deadline for applications: 15 April 2023. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/post-docs-haifa-center-for-mediterranean-history-2023-25?e=82aeb6c61d
7. Visiting Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies (1 Year), Department of Religious Studies, Bates College, Lewiston, Maine
We envision a colleague with demonstrated experience in religious studies as an academic discipline. Te Area of specialization is open but the successful candidate will teach “Introduction to Islam” and “Islam in the Americas” in the fall semester and three courses in the winter semester for a total of five courses. The position is beginning in August 2023.
Deadline for application: 8 March 2023. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/121113
8. Articles on “Queer Turkish and Ottoman Literature” for Special Issue of the Journal “Culture, Theory and Critique”
Main objectives: 1) to talk about proto-queer novels and stories written in Ottoman/Turkish; 2) to discuss whether Queer Theory can speak, not for, but about Ottoman/Turkish literature; 3) to show when Ottoman/ Turkish literature is proto-queer and how it can subvert the current, ossified articulations of queerness an-chored around LGBTI+ politics.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 March 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/12299414/special-issue-queer-turkish-and-ottoman-literature
9. MESA 2023 Call for Papers Extended
The Middle East Studies Association continues to welcome proposals from our members for the 57th MESA Annual Meeting, scheduled for November 2-5, 2023, in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
The MESA community has watched with horror and sorrow the images of tragedy and destruction coming from Turkey and Syria after the earthquakes. Our hearts have broken with the news of so much loss. We extend our deepest condolences to all of our members who have lost loved ones, and will stand with them as the grieving continues. There really are no words that can express the magnitude of such pain.
Recognizing the impact on many of our members and sharing their concerns for loved ones and friends, we are therefore extending the deadline for submissions by an additional week for anyone who needs it.
The deadline for all proposals is now February 23, 2023 (11:59PM EST).
Read 2023 Submission Instructions
All submissions must be made through myMESA, MESA’s membership and submissions system. Questions on proposal submissions can be sent to meeting@mesana.org.
MESA membership is required to submit a proposal. To renew your 2023 membership, please login to myMESA. Questions about membership can be sent to the MESA Secretariat: secretariat@mesana.org.
As a reminder, the 2024 MESA Annual Meeting will be held virtually, so we encourage anyone preferring to present in-person to submit your proposal this year for the 2023 meeting in Montréal.
Calls for Participation by Session Organizers
If you are organizing a panel and you want to issue an open call for participants, you may submit a call on MESA’s website (here).
10. « Iran : après une révolution culturelle irréversible. Quelles perspectives géopolitiques ? »,
Conférence par Bernard Hourcade,
Directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS.CeRMI Centre de recherche sur le Monde iranien
Société de géographie,
184 Boulevard Saint Germain Paris 6
Jeudi 16 février 2023 à 18h30, Grand Amphithéâtre, Entrée libre.
11. The Alwaleed Centre at the University of Edinburgh is hosting two in-person events in early March which we hope will be of interest to. Further details below:
Narrating the Pilgrimage to Mecca as a Sensational Form
Friday 3 Maarch, 17:30, 50 George Square, Edinburgh
The Alwaleed Centre is delighted to be welcoming Professor Marjo Buitelaar (University of Groningen) for a special public talk inspired by her new edited volume ‘Narrating the Pilgrimage to Mecca: Historical and Contemporary Accounts’. Chaired by Alwaleed Lecturer in the Globalised Muslim World, Dr Kholoud Al-Ajarma, this event is free to attend and refreshements will be available. For further information and free tickets click here: https://narrating-pilgraimage.eventbrite.co.uk
Book Launch: ‘Islamophobia and Lebanon: Visibly Muslim Women and Global Coloniality’
Friday 10 March, 17:30, Institure for Advanced Study in the Humanities 2 Hope Park Square Edinburgh
Former IASH-Alwaleed Fellow, Dr Ali Kassem (National University of Singapore), returns to Edinburgh to launch his new book ‘Islamophobia and Lebanon: Visibly Muslim Women and Global Coloniality’ published by I.B. Tauris. Tickets are very limited so book early to avoid disappointment. Further information and free tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-islamophobia-and-lebanon-by-dr-ali-kassem-tickets-518605311447
The Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam
in the Contemporary World
University of Edinburgh
16 George Square
Edinburgh
EH8 9LD
0131 650 4615
thealwaleedcentre@ed.ac.uk
12. Symposium & Exhibition
German WWII Internees from Persia and their Fate in Australia
Convenor of Symposium and Curator of Exhibition
Prof. Pedram Khosronejad
School of Social Science, Western Sydney University
Saturday 4-5th March 2023
- February 14, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Hikmat: ‘Medical Bioethics in Shi’i Fiqh’ (Online – 20.2.23 1.30 PM GMT)
Join us in the academic event on “Medical Bioethics in Shi’i Fiqh” on February 20, 2023 at 01:30 PM (GMT)
Google Meet
Dr. Veronika Sobotková is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Czech Republic.
Information and registration at:
https://hikmat-ins.com/events/
- February 13, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Counter/Argument: Episode 1 “Middle East Art is Not Calligraphy” with Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi
Crown Center for Middle East Studies <crowncenter@brandeis.edu>
Alternate text <https://t.e2ma.net/click/kz6htf/07bopb/oyoqor>
Now Streaming: Episode 1 “Middle East Art Is Not Calligraphy”
<https://t.e2ma.net/click/kz6htf/07bopb/4qpqor>
When you think of the Middle East, chances are that modern art is not the first thing that comes to mind. In our first episode of /Counter/Argument: A Middle East Podcast/, we speak with the founder of the Barjeel Art Foundation <https://t.e2ma.net/click/kz6htf/07bopb/kjqqor>, Sultan Sooud Al Qassemi, who argues that modern art is a key component of protest movements across the contemporary Middle East. Join host Naghmeh Sohrabi as she and Al Qassemi discuss misconceptions surrounding the link between politics and art, the significance of modern art in the Middle East, and the history and role of women artists in the region.
Find us on Apple podcasts <https://t.e2ma.net/click/kz6htf/07bopb/0brqor>, Spotify <https://t.e2ma.net/click/kz6htf/07bopb/g4rqor>, Google podcasts <https://t.e2ma.net/click/kz6htf/07bopb/wwsqor>, Stitcher <https://t.e2ma.net/click/kz6htf/07bopb/cptqor>, and wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe, review, rate, and share this episode!
Listen to Episode 1 <https://t.e2ma.net/click/kz6htf/07bopb/shuqor>
2. Webinar – British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS)
‘Agreeable News from Persia: What 18th and early 19th century American newspaper readers knew about contemporary events in Iran’
With Daniel T. Potts
22 February 2023, 5PM GMT
Full information and registration at:
https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/agreeable-news-potts/
3. Durham University
Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
Ann Lambton Lecture Series
Upcoming Lecture
Modern Iran: A global history “from below”
Stephanie Cronin
Elahe Omidyar Mir-Djalali Research Fellow at St Antony’s College
Wednesday, 8 March 2023, 3:00pm – 5.00pm
Room 406, Calman Learning Centre
Further details of the lecture can be found at the following link Ann Lambton 2023 Lecture
4. The Gibb Memorial Trust offers two annual scholarships to students undertaking doctoral research in the field of the Trust’s activities.
The Gibb Memorial Trust’s Centenary Scholarship of up to £2,000 is available to postgraduate students at an advanced stage of their doctoral research in any area of Middle Eastern Studies (7th century to 1918) at a British university.
Centenary Scholarship application form & past recipients
The A. H. Morton Memorial Scholarship for Doctoral Research in Classical Persian Studies is for a maximum of £3,000 and can be applied to any year of a course of doctoral study at a British university, including for an approved period of study abroad.
H. Morton Scholarship application form & past recipients
Applicants may apply for only one of the scholarships in any one year. Previous winners may not re-apply for the same scholarship.
Full information at:
https://www.gibbtrust.org/scholarships/
5. UCSB Iranian Studies Initiative’s online lecture series “Persian and Iranian Literature as World Literature.”
Please join this online event on Saturday, February 18th, at 11 am (PST).
At this event, Dr. Amir Ahmadi Arian will be delivering a lecture on the Iranian realism of Ahmad Mahmoud.
Admission is free for everyone; however, it requires registration. Please register here to receive the Zoom link to the event.
6. The Center of Islam and Global Challenges (IGC) at Faculty of Islamic Studies (FIS) is pleased to invite applications for the Center 2023 fellowship.
The accepted fellows are expected to reside in UIII campus for 3-5 months, work on papers related to the Center area of interest, and engage effectively with the academic life at Universitas Islam Internasional Indonesia including, giving public lectures, attending seminars, and participating in the academic events.
The position is most suitable for people who have just finished their PhDs and seek to use the fellowship to publish a paper based on their dissertations, or scholars who hope to do fieldwork in Indonesia during the time of the fellowship. Also, we are happy to consider applications for the position of associate fellows by MA holders. The center provides housing, return ticket, and a monthly allowance to cover the cost of living in Indonesia. PhD holder will receive 15,000,000 Indonesian rupiah per month while MA holders get 10,000,000 monthly.
Applications can be sent to Dr. Haula Noor at haula.noor@uiii.ac.id. The reviewing of applications will begin immediately and continue until 28, February 2023.
The application should include:
- A cover letter (explaining why you would like to stay at the Center and how you would contribute to the intellectual life at FIS). The name of your cover letter should be containing your name and qualification (example: your name_MA/PhD)
- A CV (max. 4 pages)
- A research proposal (1000-1500 words, including the abstract)
- Two referees.
If you need further information, please, do not hesitate to contact us at haula.noor@uiii.ac.id
7. Encyclopaedia Iranica Fascicle 3 of Volume 17 Published
We are delighted to announce that the third fascicle of Volume XVII of /Encyclopaedia Iranica/, the Yarshater Center’s flagship publication, is now published. The printed Fascicle 3 of Volume XVII contains entries from “King of the Benighted” to “Kokand Khanate.” It also includes a series on “Kingship,” the concept and institution in the Iranian world. For the full table of contents, please see https://cfis.columbia.edu/news/encyclopaedia-iranica-fascicle-3-volume-xvii-published <https://cfis.columbia.edu/news/encyclopaedia-iranica-fascicle-3-volume-xvii-published>
Copies are available from Brill Publishers at https://brill.com/edcollbook/title/62997 <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__brill.com_edcollbook_title_62997&d=DwMFaQ&c=009klHSCxuh5AI1vNQzSO0KGjl4nbi2Q0M1QLJX9BeE&r=UC3zf50f-FbpUjOIniaLkzqWZBPSayaDTDNHicDn15coOLNGk_N0WJ4udaGqM4wt&m=Mc4YSJMtMRnx–O6zrwjZtI4jzYQ3QVMXX49GvGzKvzJQHkEToyKqcln6Nsfq_Vv&s=TPAkpevKRPv8WG7wYUoFTVLrdOFTWDWn0WvrdA3QFhE&e=>
New articles outside of the printed alphabetical range are also continually being added to the*/ /*/Encyclopaedia Iranica Online/ website at www.brill.com/eiro <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.brill.com_eiro&d=DwMFaQ&c=009klHSCxuh5AI1vNQzSO0KGjl4nbi2Q0M1QLJX9BeE&r=UC3zf50f-FbpUjOIniaLkzqWZBPSayaDTDNHicDn15coOLNGk_N0WJ4udaGqM4wt&m=Mc4YSJMtMRnx–O6zrwjZtI4jzYQ3QVMXX49GvGzKvzJQHkEToyKqcln6Nsfq_Vv&s=cp0DNB66wKlNhnLuk72Km5hi23M_s0r10XQYXiWSQUM&e=>. This open-access website is free to use with no log-in required. It is the official website and the exclusive source for new articles and the most up-to-date content from the /Encyclopaedia Iranica./ We encourage you to visit the site often for the latest entries.
Sincerely,
The staff and editors of the Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies
Columbia University
8. Nasser Rabbat, “A Shared Heritage? Classicism in Islamic Architecture” – March 10
Dr. Nasser Rabbat will be giving a lecture titled “A Shared Heritage? Classicism in Islamic Architecture” at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles on March 10th from 12:15 – 1:15 PM. Please find information about this event and the link for registration below.
https://cal.lmu.edu/event/kaleidola_guest_speaker_series_dr_nasser_rabbat
9. Refuge at Risk: Concepts, Infrastructures, Futures
Feb 16–Feb 17, 2023
University of California Humanities Research Institute, UC Irvine
In person and on-line.
For further information:
https://uchri.org/events/refuge-at-risk-concepts-infrastructures-futures/
- February 11, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – AMI Doctoral Scholarship (closing date for applications: 1 April, 2023)
The Al-Mahdi Institute (AMI) welcomes applications for the AMI Doctoral Scholarship to support talented students working on the study of Imāmī (Twelver) Shīʿism. Despite being one of the largest minority denominations, Imāmī Shīʿism is still a relatively small area of focus within Islamic studies. It is the aim of the AMI Doctoral Scholarship to promote and encourage the study of Imāmī Shīʿism in academia.
The Scholarship is open to students of all nationalities successfully admitted to a doctoral programme at universities based primarily – but not exclusively – in the United Kingdom and North America and who are writing their thesis in the English language. For students on doctoral programmes in the United Kingdom, the Scholarship is available at any point from the first year of the programme. For students based at universities in North America, the Scholarship is available at any point after qualifying exams have been successfully completed.
The value of the scholarship is £3,000 per year with scope for this to be renewed for a further two years.
Timeline of the application process:
Applications open on the 1st February, 2023 and close on the 1st of April 2023.
Applications shall be assessed by the committee throughout April 2023. During this process, the committee may request interviews with applicants.
Acceptance and rejection letters shall be sent out in the first week of May 2023.
Applicants must confirm their acceptance onto a doctoral programme by August 2023.
The Scholarship shall be paid directly to the student in the first week after the commencement of their programme.
Full details at:
https://www.almahdi.edu/ami-doctoral-scholarship
- February 10, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘A Senegalese Shi‘i Islamic Development Model’ – M Leichtman
- February 09, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘Two Principles of Evil according to 4th/10th Century Ismailism’ – D De Smet
- February 08, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.ONLINE Webinar “Gendered Perspectives on Culture? Creativity, Art, and Culture in the Arab Countries of the Gulf” by Alia Al-Senussi, Brown University, Providence, RI, 10 February 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST
Recent spasms of activism and massive governmental reform has brought great change to the GCC countries in the creative sectors in terms of trying to breach the gap of representation, recognition, and value, as well as in terms of openness, conversations, and communications. How have these changes impacted the cultural ecosystem and specifically the art world?
Information and registration: https://watson.brown.edu/cmes/events/2023/webinar-alia-al-senussi-gendered-perspectives-culture
2. ONLINE Seminar Series “Medieval Archaeology in Egypt”, Centre for Islamic Archaeology, IAIS, University of Exeter, 15 February and 1 March 2023, 16:00 – 17:00 GMT
15 Feb.: “Sherds and the City: Pottery Production, Society and the Changing Urban Fabric of Fustat” by Alison L. Gascoigne (Prof. of Archaeology, University of Southampton);
1 Mar.: “The Excavation of Sheikh Al-Arab Hammam in Upper Egypt” by Ahmed Al-Shoky (Prof. of Islamic Archaeology, Ain Shams University).
Information and registration: https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEqcuugrTMiG9GV_fp2YxZfQWvNsMjKbHQj
3. ONLINE Lecture “The Politics of the Poor in Egypt – Analytical Reflections and Empirical Findings” by Cilja Harders (ZMO), Leibniz Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 27 February 2023, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm CET
This event is part of the lecture series “The Historicity of Democracy Seminar” which is organized within the framework of the HISDEMAB international and collaborative research programme of the Leibniz-Association (ZMO-ZZF-IEG) in collaboration with IFPO and Manouba University.
Information and registration:
Information and registration: https://www.zmo.de/en/events/the-politics-of-the-poor-in-egypt
4. Panel on “The Limits of Toleration: Ethno-Religious Integration in the Pre-Modern Mediterranean” during the Annual Meeting of the American Historical Association, San Francisco, 4-7 January 2024
Papers are sought that explore the limits of “tolerance” within and along ethno-religiously diverse societies with an aim to considering what the limits of this so-called toleration were. Under what circumstances were integration, cultural exchange, or social or economic alliances with out-groups seen as non-threatening and beneficial, and under what circumstances were they seen as threatening or undesirable? “Pre-Modern” runs from 500 to 1650 CE.
Deadline for abstracts: 12 February 2023. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-the-limits-of-toleration-ethno-religious-integration-in-the-pre-modern-mediterranean-4-7-january-san-francisco-aha?e=82aeb6c61d
5. Arcapita Visiting Professor of Modern Arab Studies, Middle East Institute, Columbia University
This is for a one-semester position for the fall 2023 or spring 2024 semester. The position may be filled at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor, Visiting Associate Professor, or Visiting Professor. We are interested in candidates whose field of research and teaching is in history, culture, or social sciences of the modern Arab world. Experience teaching at a university in the Middle East highly preferred.
Deadline for applications: 30 April 2023. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/120234
6. Sabbatical Fellowship 2023-24 at the Institute for Middle East Studies, George Washington University, Washington, DC
We encourage applications from scholars working on topics such as environment and sustainability; urban studies; migration/displacement; critical security studies; agriculture and food security; race and spatial justice and other topics aligned with the broad field of critical geography.
Deadline for applications: 15 February 2023. Information: https://imes.elliott.gwu.edu/news/knowing-the-world-sabbatical-fellowship-call-for-applications/
7. ONLINE “Working Group on Race & Gender in the Global Middle Ages”, Emory University and the Medieval Academy of America, 17 February 2023 and once per Month, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST
The aim is to bring together scholars from various disciplines (history, art history, and literary studies) who work on Europe and the Mediterranean, the Islamic world, Africa, and Asia to discuss works-in- progress that deal with race and gender from 500 CE to 1600 CE. The working group is open to all medievalists, including graduate students.
Information and registration: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/participate-working-group-on-race-gender-in-the-global-middle-ages-medieval-academy-of-america?e=82aeb6c61d
8. Cours “Introduction à la Codicologie Arabe”, EPHE, PSL, Paris, 6-10 March 2023
Le cours comporte des séances pratiques pour travailler directement avec des manuscrits originaux.
Inscrire avant 15 février 2023. Information : https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/attend-introduction-a-la-codicologie-arabe-paris-6-10-march?e=82aeb6c61d
9. Ottoman Summer School, Istanbul Bilgy University, 3 July – 10 August 2023
The intensive program is designed to improve students’ reading and comprehension skills in Ottoman sources. The Ottoman language courses are complemented by Arabic, Persian and Modern Turkish classes, which are to be taken in line with students’ needs. In addition to in-class activities, a number of excursions aim to introduce the students to the collections of the Ottoman State Archives and the major manuscript libraries in Istanbul.
Deadline for applications: 15 March 2023. Information: https://ottoman.bilgi.edu.tr/
10. 2nd Beirut Summer Institute for Critical Development Studies: “The Sectarian Question”, American University of Beirut, 17-22 July 2023
The workshop is for early career scholars working on issues related to the “Sectarian Question.” Eligible candidates must be in the last year of their PhD or within the first 5 years post PhD. Submissions are open to early career scholars from sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, geography, development studies, etc., whose work is focused on the study of the sectarian question.
Deadline for abstracts: 25 March 2023. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2023/02/03/cfp-the-sectarian-question-beirut-july-17-22-2023
11. Contributions with Focus on the Middle East for the Journal “Protest” (Brill)
“Protest” invites submissions that engage with the most recent theoretical, methodological, and empirical advances in the study of protest. It serves as a forum for capturing the expanding global phenomenon of protest. To this end, “Protest” invites contributors to interpret the evolving nature of power and power dynamics and relations across various terrains of protest.
Information: https://brill.com/view/journals/prot/prot-overview.xml?language=en
12. MESA CFP – Blurring Disciplinary Boundaries: Law and Literature in Middle East, 1200–1600
It has long been a scholarly truism that premodern scholars were adept intellectuals, polymaths trained in and conversant with many scholarly disciplines. This idea exists, in part, because of the range of books that scholars wrote and they variety of topics that they addressed. At the same time, this phenomenon has also been seen through the so-called “adabization” or “literarization” of intellectual production, in which writing generally takes on a kind of conspicuous literary character with particular attention to style. This panel seeks to interrogate these ideas in more detail by looking at the resonances, intersections, and echoes that the literary had on legal writing and that which the legal had on literary writing. How did adabization happen; can we detect a reverse phenomenon? We welcome papers that: compare one author writing in different disciplines; track one idea or concept as it travels across time, space, and scholarly disciplines; a synchronic analysis of one idea or concept in one region, or other studies that take seriously the processes and impacts of this intellectual process.
Please send an abstract (max 400 words) and a 50-word bio to sabaelia@grinnell.edu by February 12, 2023.
13. Invitation to attend the 2023 Consortium of Middle East National Resource Centers Virtual Language Pedagogy Workshop
You are cordially invited to attend the 2023 Consortium of Middle East National Resource Centers Virtual Language Pedagogy Workshop, titled “Resilient Middle East Language Programs; Globally Competitive Graduates”.
This year’s workshop is organized by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin and is co-sponsored by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Arizona, and the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan.
The 2023 ME NRC workshop will take place on Zoom on Thursday, March 2, 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM CST, and on Friday, March 3, 9:30 AM – 3:30 PM CST.
Registration is free and the workshop is open to all interested foreign/second language educators in North America and abroad.
Day 1 Full Program and Zoom Registration Link:
Day 1 Keynote Address Details (and Zoom Registration Link):
Day 2 Full Program and Zoom Registration Link:
We look forward to seeing you there!
The 2023 ME NRC Workshop Organizing Committee:
- Riyad Alhomsi (University of Texas at Austin)
- Olla Al-Shalchi (University of Texas at Austin)
- Mira Angrist (Boston University)
- Jeannette Okur (University of Texas at Austin)
- Babak Tabarraee (University of Texas at Austin)
14. CAll FOR PAPERS – The Journal of Gulf Studies
This journal will be the first to create a solid academic platform for research on the Gulf region (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman) and its neighbouring countries, such as Yemen, Iraq and Iran. The journal will address four key areas of research on the region: History of the Gulf, Culture and Society, Politics and Security and Energy and Economics, in addition to the role of mass media in these four strands. Journal of Gulf Studies will set itself apart from mainstream academic approaches towards the Gulf region, which traditionally narrows the research by categorizing it into the outdated notion of oil revenues and the rentier state. This journal will yield a different approach by presenting contemporary interdisciplinary topics such as but not limited to the interaction between the Gulf States and society, the question of national identity, political reforms, globalization and foreign policy.
The first issue comesout by _April 202__4_, as the journal will be producing two volumes per year, in April and the second in November.
To submit your paper please visit this link: https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-gulf-studies <https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-gulf-studies>
Best Regards
Prof Mahjoob Zweiri
Professor in Gulf Studies & Iran
Director, Gulf Studies Center
College of Arts and Sciences
Qatar University
15. Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature
Please submit the following materials in a single PDF file by March 1, 2023:
- A one-page cover letter that describes the work to be translated, and speaks to its larger import
- An up-to-date CV (no more than 3 pages)
- A bilingual sample of the proposed translation (no more than 20 pages, double spaced, in both languages)
- Proof of copyrights (if applicable)
All further info at:
16. To attend in Cairo: Two Lectures by Christiane Gruber
The Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations at the American University in Cairo is looking forward to welcoming our Bayard Dodge Distinguished Visiting Professor for this year, Professor Christiane Gruber, in late February.
As part of this program, Professor Gruber will be delivering two public lectures. Professor Gruber is one of the leading scholars in Islamic Art today. Her scholarship and publications are among the most cutting edge in the field. For our graduate students, this will be an important opportunity to be exposed to and benefit from new topics and research methodologies, even if they are not part of your specializations. It is also an opportunity to get advice on other matters closer to your research topics and future plans. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend the following events:
Public Lecture 1 (Open to the General Public and AUC Campus Community):
Title: “In Defense and Devotion: Affective Practices in Early Modern Islamic Manuscript Paintings ” (in English)
Date: Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Time: 1:00 p.m. Cairo Local Time
Place: Waleed P071, HUSS Building, AUC New Cairo campus
Abstract: While a number of studies have tackled the question of iconoclasm in Islam, extant paintings reveal that the practice of viewing and responding to images in Muslim lands are much more varied than previously thought. Pre-modern pictorial evidence instead suggests that there existed a range of motivations behind viewers’ engagement with and manipulation of pictorial images. Such interactions highlight the complex confluences between emotive and visual expressions during both the inception and afterlife of a painted image. From inserted iconographic motifs to the performance of symbolic destruction in premodern Islamic manuscript paintings, it becomes clear that affective engagements that eventually resulted in pigment damage could act as pictorially articulated responses in both defense of and devotion to figural representations. As a result, altered images invite us to radically rethink received scholarly paradigms so that evidence that is most frequently interpreted as a form of Islamic iconoclasm may, at least in some cases, provide clues to Islamic iconophilic practices instead.
Public Lecture 2 (Open to the General Public and AUC Campus Community):
Title: “Hima in the House: Avian Architecture across the Islamic World” (in English)
Date: Saturday, February 25, 2023
Time: 6:00 p.m. Cairo Local Time
Place: Oriental Hall, AUC Tahrir Square Campus
Simultaneous Translation to Arabic will be provided.
Abstract: Through its recent ecological turn, the scholarly study of “Islamic” architecture has expanded to take into greater account both the animal and vegetal worlds. As nature’s most accomplished architects, birds have long contributed to the biomorphic landscape and built environment of the greater Middle East. Stretching from Morocco to India, houses made for birds, and made by birds, attest to the thriving of avian architecture across the centuries. Bird houses, whether impromptu or purpose-built, provide a type of sanctuary and refuge—or hima as conceptualized within Islamic philosophical and ecological traditions—dedicated to protecting avifauna and their related regions, the latter used as agricultural lands for human sustenance and/or as biodiversity reserves for non-human survival. Fluttering from nest and nook to tower and palace, this talk examines various types of bird houses, their architectonic language and creative forms, their intersections with vulnerable places and peoples, and their bio-material contributions to an integrated creaturely world.
17. CFP: ‘Positionality in the Study of Islamic Theology’
September 2023
Berlin Institute for Islamic Theoology
The scope of the workshop encompasses reflection upon the positionality of the researcher in their specific field of study, the place of researchers within the wider fields of Islamic theology and Islamic studies, as well as the wider discourse on disciplinary boundaries between Islamic theology and other fields of research and study. It is not only limited to Islamic studies, but includes history, literature, anthropology, etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 February 2023. Information:
https://www.islamische-theologie.hu-berlin.de/de/downloads/cfp_-workshop-positionality_hu-berlin.pdf
18. The Iranian Diaspora in Global Perspective Conference
UCLA
Feb 16-17, 2023
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/15895
- February 07, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘Shia Groups in Nigeria’ – M Ibrahim
- February 06, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Cassettes and Mass Culture in Egypt with Andrew Simon – History Sounds Podcast
In the latest conversation of the Borderlines series History Sounds, Andrew Simon tells Olga Verlato about the history of cassette culture in Egypt, the “death” of public taste, and the advent of cassette piracy, introducing along the way the music of Ahmad Adawiya, Muhammad Abd al-Wahhab, Shaykh Imam and many others.
You can listen to the conversation here and find links to Spotify, Substack, and Apple.
Interview and sound design by Olga Verlato.
2. Scholarly Correspondences Among Orientalists during the Early and Late Modern Period as a Historical Source: A Series of Lectures.
You are cordially invited to join us for the third lecture of the series:
February 10, 9:00 am EST – Ernst Herb, Leo Strauss’s Letters to the Arabist Paul Kraus, between the Search of the Hidden Truth and Exile in Mizraim.
The German born American scholar Leo Strauss has become a lasting influence on US foreign policy as well as the ideological discourse of the Chinese Communist Party. But at his times he was in quest of classic political philosophy, by which he sought to overcome the moral relativity of modern society. One stepping stone to this ideal was medieval Muslim and Jewish philosophy. Letters written by him in the mid 1930s to Paul Kraus, a professor of semitic languages at Cairo University, give insight not only into their common search for underlying meanings in ancient manuscripts, but also his quest of the political refugee for exile in Egypt. While ultimately he would not migrate to Mizraim, his brother-in-law Kraus would stay on in Cairo, where the letters are kept till today in a private archive. The question of how the correspondence has ended up at the present location, is a journey to the lasting fascination of the West with ancient Egypt as well as a region that was already in the 1930s heading towards an ongoing internal and external strife.
Pre-register: http://bit.ly/3CrnUh6. After registering, you will receive an email containing information about joining the event.
The object of this lecture series is to bring together scholars and librarians engaged with collections of correspondences and/or include related projects that use appropriate digital tools to map and analyze such corpora. All lectures will be held online from 12-1 pm (EST) (except February 10 to be held at 9 am). It is hosted by Sabine Schmidtke (NES@IAS) and María Mercedes Tuya (Digital Scholarship@IAS).
For additional information about the upcoming lectures, please visit: https://albert.ias.edu/20.500.12111/8044
3. Zoom: UCLA Pourdavoud Center
Telling Tales: Constructing Sasanian History in the Landscape
Pourdavoud Center Lecture Series: Eve MacDonald
Friday, March 3, 2023 at 11:00am Pacific via Zoom
Register at:
https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/event/pourdavoud-center-lecture-series-eve-macdonald/
4. The Iran Society present:
What have the Persians ever done for us?
with Ali Ansari and Tom Holland
16 February 2023, 7PM. Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS.
Buy your ticket on Eventbrite.
5. The Smithsonian Institution is pleased to announce a new Open Access publication:
Simon Rettig and Sana Mirza, eds., The Word Illuminated: Form and Function of Qur’anic Manuscripts from the Seventh to Seventeenth Centuries, Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2023.
The volume results from the symposium which was held in conjunction with the exhibition The Art of the Qur’an: Treasures from the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts at the Smithsonian’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery (part of the National Museum of Asian Art).
It is available for free download at: https://doi.org/10.5479/si.21948098
6. University of Manchester: Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies Lecture Series
Empowering Muslim Women in History, Literature, and the Arts
Wednesday 08 February 2023, 17:00 GMT in Samuel Alexander A102
and on Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/92724461401
‘One of us will be next’: affect, territory and the (un)making of feminist subjects during the #Mahsa_Amini protests in Iran.
Dr Sara Tafakori
University of Leeds, UK
7. The Planetary King: Humayun Padshah: Inventor and Visionary on the Mughal Throne (Ahmedabad: Mapin in association with The Aga Khan Trust for Culture, 2022). ISBN: 978– 93 –85360 –88 – 6
Ebba Koch
https://www.mapinpub.com/products/the-planetary-king?variant=43461357207766
8. HIAA Events at CAA
See below for details of upcoming HIAA events during CAA 2023.
The full schedule of the conference can be accessed here.
We request that members RSVP for the Majlis by emailing sec.hiaa@gmail.com. Please note that all attendees must be in compliance with NYU’s COVID-19 vaccination requirements (fully vaccinated and boosted, once eligible and by NYU’s deadline) and be prepared to present proof of compliance. Please review the University’s COVID guidelines in advance of your visit.
Please note that registration is required to attend CAA, including the business meeting for which there is a no-cost registration option. To choose a registration option, go here.
The HIAA Majlis will be held in-person on Thursday, February 16, 7 – 9:30 pm (EST) at the Institute of Fine Arts, NYU (1 East 78 Street, New York, NY). The panel will be followed by a reception.
The Majlis will feature the following papers:
** Janet Purdy (Art Institute of Chicago), “Sacred Homes: Recontextualizing Inscriptions on Domestic Doorways in Zanzibar.”
** Sarah Sabban (American University of Beirut), “A History of Arts and Crafts in Late Ottoman Beirut.”
** Saarthak Singh (Institute of Fine Arts, NYU), “The provincial mosque in Indo-Islamic architecture: Moti Masjid at Udaypur in the Malwa Sultanate.”
** Courtney Stewart (Bard Graduate Center), “Arabic and Indian Contributions to the Brilliant Cut Diamond.”
** Selin Ünlüönen (Oberlin College), “The Intelligence of the Page.”
The HIAA-Sponsored panel at CAA will be held in-person on Friday, February 17, 9 – 10:30 am (EST), Madison Suite (2nd floor), Hilton Midtown, New York.
Challenges and Opportunities for the Study of Islamic Art and Architecture – Round
Table Discussion
Chair, Kishwar Rizvi (Yale University)
** Gule Kale (Carleton University), “Islamic art and architecture in conversation with Indigenous, race, and gender studies.”
** Aparna Kuma (University College London), “Challenges and opportunities for the study of Islamic Art.”
** Jennifer Pruitt (University of Wisconsin), “Its fine, I’m fine. Everything is fine: Islamic fieldwork in the 2020s.”
The HIAA Business Meeting will be held in-person on Friday, February 17, 1 – 2 pm (EST), Madison Suite (2nd floor), Hilton Midtown, New York.
We invite HIAA members to join the discussion!
9. ISMC-AKU
Muslim Cultures and Societies: 2023 Online Short Course Series
https://www.aku.edu/ismc/study/Pages/short-courses.aspx
10. Inventing the Middle East: Britain and the Persian Gulf in the Age of Global Imperialism
Guillemette Crouzet,
Montreal/London: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2022
https://www.mqup.ca/inventing-the-middle-east-products-9780228014065.php?page_id=120834&
11. GRM 2023 CALL FOR PAPERS GRM 2023 CALL FOR PAPERS
The Gulf Research Center is pleased to announce that we are accepting abstract applications for the 13th annual Gulf Research Meeting (GRM), an annual academic conference highlighting critical issues of importance to the Gulf region and providing a basis for undertaking and engaging in academic and empirical research. GRM 2023 will take place from July 11-13, 2023.
This year’s GRM workshops will cover a wide range of topics in the fields of politics, economics, gender, culture, energy, security, and the social sciences as they relate to the wider Gulf region (GCC countries in addition to Iraq and Yemen).
GRM 2023 Workshops:
– Sustainable Development Financing and the Role of the Financial Sector in the GCC Region
– Circular Economy and Sustainable Development Model: Its Role in the GCC States’ National Visions
– Perspectives on Hard Security Issues in the Gulf
– Industrial Policies in the Gulf and the Middle East
– The Renewed & Expanded Role of the Gulf on the Global Energy Scene
– Recent Labour and Migration Reforms and Policies in the Gulf: Impact on Economies and Societies
– The Leading Role of Gulf Higher Education in Achieving Sustainability and Addressing Climate Change
– Cultural Heritage in the Gulf – Emerging Trends, Identity Politics Challenges and Concerns
– Women in the GCC: Negotiating Leadership, Power, and Change
– Israel and the Gulf Monarchies: A New Regional Security Complex or Just Complex Regional Security?
– The Future of the GCC as an Institution
– The Gulf and the Horn of Africa: Trans-Regional Competition and Cooperation
– Innovation and Development of Knowledge Societies – The transformational Impact of Intellectual Property on Knowledge based Economic growth with a focus on Frontier Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and IP financing
We welcome applications from both established academics/scholars as well as young and emerging researchers.
More information on the GRM and full descriptions of workshops can be found on the Gulf Research Meeting website at https://gulfresearchmeeting.net/. <https://gulfresearchmeeting.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0fb4e4f66740367d2023bea93&id=cc1bbd73c2&e=0cdea062eb> and you can download the poster _*here <https://gulfresearchmeeting.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0fb4e4f66740367d2023bea93&id=028726ed7b&e=0cdea062eb>The deadline for abstract applications is February 24 and all applications should be submitted at https://www.gulfresearchmeeting.net/register-paper-user. <https://gulfresearchmeeting.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0fb4e4f66740367d2023bea93&id=7cbdce9abe&e=0cdea062eb>
12. ‘From Yazd to Bombay—Ardeshir Mehrabān ‘Irani’ and the rise of Persia’s nineteenth-century Zoroastrian merchants’
| Nasser Mohajer, Kaveh Yazdani
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
|
- February 04, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘The Alawi legacy of heroes’ – Y Friedman
‘The Alawi legacy of heroes: from medieval history to the Syrian Civil War’
Middle Eastern Studies
Y. Friedman
59/1 (2023), 103-125
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00263206.2022.2044317
- February 03, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment