Archive for 2023

Turkish Journal of Shiite Studies is an academic peer-review journal that publishes on Shiite studies.

Submission of articles for the new issue (December 31, 2023, Volume:5, Issue:2) continues to Nov 30. Turkish Journal of Shiite Studies is a double-blind peer review and no fee is requested from the author before or after the publication.

Our journal is indexed in EBCO,Central & Eastern European Academic Source (CEEAS) and Proquest Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory

For the details and submission:

1. The conference Perfume Production in the Ancient World will take place 7-8 November 2023 at the Vila Lanna of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague.

The conference’s aim is to challenge familiar ideas of ancient perfumery cultures (“Egyptian”, “Mesopotamian”, “Roman”) and explore (a) how ingredients and methods of using scented materials were transmitted across cultures, and (b) how perfumery and the production of scented materials varied within the same culture across place and time. It is a multidisciplinary conference with talks from historians, scientists, perfumers and olfactory artists.

Organized as part of Grant 21-30494M, “Alchemies of Scent,” a research group in the history of science, funded by the Czech Science Foundation and coordinated by the Research Team for Ancient Thought of the Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought at the Institute of Philosophy of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Additional financial support comes from a generous Subject Development Award from the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry.

Programme

Tuesday 7 November 2023

09:00. Welcome and Introduction. Sean Coughlin, Heike Wilde, Laurence Totelin.

Part 1. People of Perfumes

09:15. Giuseppe Squillace (Calabria): Perfumers in the ancient world. Techne and professional secrets.

10:15. Laurence Totelin (Cardiff): ‘Plunge the jar in a well of cold water for 40 days’: Greek and Roman medical authors on perfume manufacture.

11:15. Break.

11:45. Roberto P. Dario (perfumer): From “Myrepsos” to modern “Noses”: knowledge, techniques and perfumery evolution.

12:45. Lunch.

Part 2. Tools and Techniques

13:45. Maria Rosaria Belgiorno (ISPC-CNR): “Eau de B.C.”, perfumed, alcoholic, intoxicating spring of human pleasure. (Mesopotamian and Aegean origins of Mediterranean distillation).

14:45. Bastien Rueff (École française d’Athènes): Was the firebox an incense burner? Preliminary Research on Minoan Perfumery.

15:15. Break.

15:30. Laura Prieto (FLU / IOCB Prague): The Influence of Modern Chemistry on the Development of Fine Fragrance.

16:00. Eduardo Escobar and Giacomo Montanari (Bologna): The “First” Perfume Recipe: Why Water Matters in Ancient Assyrian Perfumery.

17:00. Break.

17:15. Andrea Salayová (Masaryk): Castoreum and its uses through times: from perfumes to medicine.

17:45. Anya King (Southern Indiana): Innovation and Heritage in Early Islamicate Perfumery.

Wednesday 8 November 2023

Part 3. Novel Methods for the Study of Perfumery’s History

09:00. Jay Silverstein (Nottingham Trent) and Robert Littman (Hawaii Manoa): Making the Mendesian: The Hellenistic Perfume Industry at Tell Timai.

10:00. Alice Capobianco (Genova): Ethnoarchaeology as a tool for understanding the production cycle of scented ointments in the Roman period.

10:30. Marie Theres Wittmann (Oxford): The Price of Smell: An Economic Approach to the Economy of Perfume in Pompeii.

11:00. Break + Discussion. Coughlin (FLU): Digital Approaches to Studying Perfume Recipes.

11:30. Béatrice Caseau (Sorbonne): Christian perfumes: incense and liturgical Myron, sources to understand how perfumes were created.

12:00. Klara Ravat (olfactory artist): Working creatively with raw materials: naturals vs. synthetics.

13:00. Lunch.

Part 4. Cultures of Scent

14:00. Miguel Matos (author / perfumer): Against All Odds: On Becoming a Self-Taught Perfumer While Developing Personal Composing Methods and Techniques.

15:00. Barbara Huber (Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology): Arabian “Perfumes”.

16:00. Break.

16:20. (via ZOOM) Mohammadreza Jalali (independent scholar): The Persian Scents of Antiquity: A Cultural History of Ancient Iranian Perfumes.

16:50. (via ZOOM) Katarzyna Gromek (independent scholar): Introducing xiāng: the reconstruction of the olfactory landscape of early China in practice.

17:20. Break.

17:30. Heike Wilde (FLÚ): Sources for Perfumery and Scent in Ancient Egypt.

18:00. Demi Lizzann Williams (Worcester Polytechnic Institute): African Ritual Aromatics and Cosmetics. Exploring Cultural Significance and Global Impact.

18:30. Closing discussion.

More information is available at our website: https://www.alchemiesofscent.org/perfume-production-in-the-ancient-world

 

 

 

2. J.B. Harley Research Fellowships – applications deadline extended to 1 DECEMBER 2023

In light of the cyber incident affecting the British Library from Saturday 28 October 2023, which has rendered the Harley Trust’s principal contact and applications email address temporarily inaccessible, the deadline for applications to the J.B. Harley Research Fellowships in the History of Cartography has been extended from 1 November to 1 December 2023.  

We would like to reassure anybody who has applied or sent a question to the Harley Trust on or after 27 October that their contact will be acknowledged or answered as soon as possible.

Thank you for your understanding,

Tom Harper, Hon. Secretary. J.B. Harley Research Fellowships Trust,

Lead Curator of Antiquarian Mapping, The British Library

Contact Email

tom.harper@bl.uk

URL

https://www.maphistory.info/application.html

 

 

 

3. Call for Submissions: Princeton University’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center 2024 Book Award

Books must be received before April 30, 2024.

For more information:

https://cipgs.princeton.edu/funding/book-award

 

 

 

 

4. Historical and Contemporary Migrations of Central Asian Muslims: History, Culture and Identity

Central Asian Studies Unit, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 3-5 April 2024

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for our upcoming conference on Central Asia (CA), a vast geographical area stretching from Western China to Caucasus in the west and from Kazakhstan to Afghanistan in the south. The conference aims to bring together scholars from various disciplines to discuss and exchange ideas on a wide range of topics related to the historical and contemporary regional and transnational migrations of Central Asian Muslims.

Migration is a complex, multi-layered, multi-generational, and meta-territorial phenomenon which is triggered and influenced by multiple factors including personal and family decisions, socio-economic and political conditions in the lands of origin and destination, and international rules and regulations. Migration acquires various forms and often leads to the formation of diaspora, with its own case-specific dynamism rooted in the history, contextual realities and culture of the migrant communities. Central Asia has witnessed intense movements of people in the course of history which shaped the cultural composition of Central Asian nations with their dominant Muslim population. In contemporary period the outward migration has become an important characteristic of the developments in the region. The conference aims to explore and analyse the trends, the forms and the transformations experienced by the Central Asian migrant communities in various contexts and their influence on the homeland.

We invite the submission of original research papers that contribute to the advancement of knowledge and to our deeper understanding of the migration in its various manifestations. The exchange of ideas and research findings by scholars from different disciplines will result in new insights into historical and contemporary regional and transnational movements of Central Asian Muslims.

The conference will cover a broad spectrum of subjects, including but not limited to:

Historical and Contemporary Cases of Central Asian Regional and International Movements

• The socio-economic, political and ecological factors which contribute to migration from Central Asia;
• The region’s history of colonization and Soviet influences;
• Regular and irregular migration from CA countries.

Forced Migration and its Consequences for Migrant Communities

• Refugee, asylum and immigration laws and policies in host countries;
• Inclusion and exclusions (citizenship, social mobility);
• Support networks (friends, family, and communities) during separations and reunions.

Transforming Identities of Migrant Communities

• Preservation of ethnic, national, and religious identities and cultural practices (language, food, music, clothes, and art) in the host country;
• Migratory transformations in host and migrant communities;
• Formation of diasporas and organisation of migrants;
• Gender, marriage, educational opportunities, and multi-/bi-cultural identity.

This will be a hybrid event and the papers accepted can be presented on-line or in person.

Important dates:

Abstract deadline: Authors are expected to submit their abstract (up to 500 words) by 15 December 2023 to hcmcamconference@iis.ac.uk

Notification of accepted abstracts: Submissions will undergo a rigorous peer-review process to ensure the quality and relevance of accepted papers. Accepted papers will be notified by 10 January 2024.

Dates of the Conference: 3-5 April 2024

 

 

 

5. Assistant Professor of Persian Literature and Culture, University of Virginia

Tenure Track Position

The Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Virginia invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Persian Literature and Culture.

We seek scholars who draw on deep training in the history of Persian literature to engage with contemporary forms of cultural production, especially as embedded in their political and cultural contexts, inorder to broaden understanding of our globalized world. We encourage application from those who work on literature in any part of the Persian-speaking world, including transnational and diasporic locations, and those whose work brings them into conversation with emerging trends within theoretical paradigms, such as: translation studies, migration and diaspora studies, disability studies, sexuality and gender studies, or democracy and human rights.

Preference will be given to candidates who can teach undergraduate and graduate-level courses in both Classical and Modern Persian literature, as well as to those who can contribute to the intellectual community of a department diverse in language and discipline.

Review of applications will begin 5 January 2024 and continue until the position is filled.

We seek scholars with an active program of research and publication in Persian literature, cinema, or related specialty, and with a commitment to excellence in teaching.

The successful candidate must have a PhD completed by the time of appointment, 25 August 2024, and must have native or near-native fluency in Persian and English.

Application Instructions : Visit http://apply.interfolio.com/130434 to apply.

Attach the following to your application:·

Curriculum vitae including the names of three referees;

• Cover letter addressing your research trajectory, areas of scholarly and teaching interest, potential collaborations at UVa or beyond, and how your skills and experiences could advance the University’s ambition to cultivate the most vibrant community in higher education in order to prepare students to be leaders in a diverse and globally connected world;

A sample of your scholarly writing.

Please direct any questions about the position to: Farzaneh Milani atfmm2z@virginia.edu .

For question about the application process, contact Melanie Sponaugle, Academic Recruiter atunw5dq@virginia.edu .

 

 

 

6. UCLA, IRANIAN STUDIES OUTREACH, BILINGUAL LECTURE SERIES

 

Rethinking Gender, Ethnicity and Religion in Iran

Azadeh Kian

 

Monday, December 4, 2023 at 2:00pm Pacific Time via Zoom

For more info, and to register (required):

https://nelc.ucla.edu/event/bilingual-lecture-series-rethinking-gender-ethnicity-and-religion-in-iran/

 

 

 

7. Call for Papers: Forgotten Voices from Mongol Eurasia

International Conference,  Ewha Womans University, Seoul, June 25-26, 2024
Conveners: Michal Biran, Jong-kuk Nam, Dongkyung Shin

Deadline: December 1, 2023

At its height the Mongol Empire (1206-1368) ruled over two-thirds of Eurasia. Connecting
east, west, north, and south, the Mongols integrated most of the Old World. Mobilizing
people, ideas and artifacts in an unprecedented scale, the Empire promoted cross-cultural
contacts, triggered the reshuffle of religious, ethnic, and geopolitical identities, and opened a
new chapter in world history.

While the study of the Mongol Empire has made tremendous strides in the last decades,
enabling us to portray the contours of the Empire’s political history and the Chinggisid
exchange, there are still many voices that are yet to be heard. These are mainly the voices of
the common people (nomads, farmers, sailors, slaves, women, artisans..), lesser elites, or
people living at the empire’s peripheries. New sources (e.g. inscriptions, manuscripts),
innovative techniques (e.g. micro-archaeology, aDNA) as well as a fresh look on our sources
or new combinations of them, can now allow us to broaden and deepen our understanding of
the Mongols and the life under their rule.

Our conference aims to shed light on people, ideas and artifacts that have so far received less
attention from historians or have been barely discovered, and yet can illuminate the economic
and cultural exchange that took place under Mongol rule or the daily life of the Mongols and
their various subjects. By “Voices” we mean not only people (including diasporas, border
communities, commercial or intellectual networks of various scales), but also cultural
commodities (texts, images, paintings), as well as specific artifacts or trade goods (including
plants, animals, slaves). We hope that such heretofore forgotten voices will enable us to get a
“thicker description” of life under Mongol rule.

We especially welcome papers dealing with (but not limited to):
Micro-history
Cultural biographies of objects or sites
Slaves and slave trade
Daily life in the Mongol Empire- archaeological, visual or literary perspectives
Migrant and border communities

We plan to publish a selected number of the papers in an edited volume.

Practical details:
The conference will be held on June 25-26, 2024 in the Department of History at Ewha
Womans University, Seoul and hosted by the Ewha Frontier 10-10 Project “Research in
Global History for Peaceful Coexistence.” The hosts will provide three-nights’
accommodation (June 24-26) near Ewha Womans University, one of the most beautiful
campuses in South Korea located in central Seoul. We also hope to be able to offer partial or
full refund of airfare travel (economy ticket) to some of the presenters. if you wish to be
considered for funding, please state so when submitting the abstract.

We welcome proposals of panels and/or individual papers. Please send abstracts (up to 250
words) together with a short (maximum 1 page) CV for individual papers in one file. Panel
proposals should also include an abstract of the panel’s theme (up to 250 words) as well as
abstracts of each paper, and CVs of the organizer/s and each panelist, all in one file.
Abstracts and CVs should be sent to: ewhahistory1010@gmail.com  by December 10, 2023.
For question please contact ewhahistory1010@gmail.com or Michal Biran at
biranm@mail.huji.ac.il
Presenters will be notified of acceptance no later than February 1, 2024.

Contact Information

Michal Biran

Contact Email

biranm@mail.huji.ac.il

URL

https://www.academia.edu/107823900/CFP_Forgotten_Voices_from_Mongol_Eurasia_Seo…

 

 

 

8. Upcoming online short course on Warfare in Muslim Material Cultures: From Egypt to Bilad al-Sham

Course name: Warfare in Muslim Material Cultures: From Egypt to Bilad al-Sham

Course registration link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/warfare-in-muslim-material-cultures-from-egypt-to-bilad-al-sham-tickets-528327741497?aff=oddtdtcreator

Course dates:

04 December| 13:30 – 16:00 (London time)

11 December | 13:30 – 16:00 (London time)

Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
The Aga Khan University (International) in the United Kingdom

 

Profile in Persecution: Abdulla Mohamed AlDurazi

For ADHRB Weekly Newsletter 441, click here.

 

1.HYBRID Lecture “Invisible Hands: Forgery and Finance in a Colonial Art Market” by Margaret Graves, Center for Middle East Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, 9 November 2023, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm

This project re-encounters ceramics faking and forgery in the Middle East during the late 19th-/early 20th-century as an economically logical, indigenous form of skilled craft participation in modern global capitalism, where the structures of antiquities collection derive ultimately from colonial-era resource extraction and inter-national banking.

Information and registration: https://watson.brown.edu/cmes/events/2023/margaret-graves-invisible-hands

 

 

 

 

2. ONLINE Seminar “Constructing Culture: Art and Racial Capitalism in the Gulf” by Maia Holtermann Entwistle (QMUL), Centre for Gulf Studies, Exeter, 14 November 2023, 17:00 – 18:30, GMT

Since the early 2000s, a bumper crop of new or transformed museums, commercial galleries, art fairs, herit-age sites, arts festivals, and cultural districts have opened their doors to the public. Artists, curators, cultural institutional managements, and dealers working in the Gulf are keenly aware of how the cultural production occurring across these new spaces is shaped by censorship and underpinned by the exploitation and dis-possession of migrant construction workers.

Information and registration: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/events/details/index.php?event=13228

 

 

 

 

3. ONLINE Lecture “Brigand Poets (Sa’ālīk) in Ancient Arabia: Social Outcasts and Ascetic Rebels” by Nora Schmid (University of Hamburg), SCORE Lecture Series, Hamburg, 12 December 2023, 4.00 pm – 5.30 pm CET

Information and registration:

https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/voror/forschung/score/news/lecture-series/winter-term-2023-24.html

 

 

 

 

4. Professeur-e ordinaire, professeur-e associé-e en études arabes

de la période moderne (18e siècle à nos jours)

Le/la candidat-e idéal-e sera spécialisé-e dans le monde arabe depuis le 18e siècle, idéalement en histoire intellectuelle et/ou en productions culturelles (arts, littérature, cinéma) ainsi qu’avec une expertise sur les questions de religion, globalisation, immigration/émigration, ou minorités, et pouvant faire état d’une excellente maîtrise de l’arabe, attestée notamment par des travaux et publications sur la base de sources dans cette langue.

Délai d’inscription : 30 novembre 2023.

Information : https://jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_portal.show_job?p_web_site_id=1&p_web_page_id=62210

 

 

 

 

5. Tenure-track Assistant Professor of the History of the Middle East/North Africa, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh

We invite applications from scholars with disciplinary backgrounds in History or historically-informed scholars working in the fields of Anthropology or Middle East Studies – especially in the history of the modern or early modern Middle East, North Africa, or the Persian-speaking or Turkic-speaking worlds. We welcome applica-tions from scholars working on a broad range of thematic and topical areas, including the history of science, technology, environment, or medicine in the region.

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2023. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/134185

 

 

 

 

6. Tenure-track Assistant Professor of Art/Architecture of the Middle East, North Africa, and Iberia, 600-1500 CE, Northwestern University, Illinois

We particularly welcome scholars whose work engages with transregional and intercultural contexts within and beyond the Islamic world; visual and material culture; architecture, urbanism, and the environment; ar-chaeology, heritage, and preservation; or technical art history.

Deadline for applications: 15 November 2023.

Information: https://arthistory.northwestern.edu/about/open-positions/index.html

 

 

 

 

7. Tenure-track Assistant Professor in International and Global Studies (Focus Middle East), University of the South, Sewanee

Areas of expertise could include (but are not limited to): the capitalist world system, international media and the arts, migration, postcoloniality, transnational social movements, urbanization, environment and sustaina-bility, and digital and technology studies. We have a preference for individuals who work on Asia or the Middle East but are excited to consider anyone who works in a non-US field and is committed to interdisciplinarity.

Deadline for applications: 10 November 2023. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2023/10/23/international-and-global-studies-assistant-professor

 

 

 

8. ‘The Natural World and the Making of the Modern Middle East’

with Peter Frankopan,

British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS)

27 November 2023, 6pm-7pm (UK time)

The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH

This is an in-person only event.

Please register in advance, at:

https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/natural-world-and-the-making-of-modern-middle-east/

 

 

9. CfP: 2024 BRISMES Annual Conference

Lancaster University, Lancashire • 1-3 July 2024

Submissions are now open for our 2024 Annual Conference – Proliferating Entanglements: Matter and Meaning in the Middle East

Recognising the challenges of these devastating times, we remain steadfast in our commitment to the value of knowledge sharing and community building, which our annual conference has long championed. With this commitment in mind, we announce that submissions for the 2024 BRISMES conference, hosted by the Richardson Institute, SEPAD, and the Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion at Lancaster University, are now open. Please take a look at our full call for papers and submit an abstract for an individual presentation, panel and/or roundtable by 14 December 2023. BRISMES warmly welcomes submissions on any topic or area related to the MENA region. In addition to the main theme and focus of the conference, which changes annually, areas of relevance to BRISMES include (but are not limited to): politics, culture & society, language, literature, history, linguistics and translation studies, in and related to the MENA region.

More info at:

https://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference/for-delegates/call-for-papers

 

 

 

10. Museum am Rothenbaum. Kulturen und Künste der Welt (MARKK), Hamburg, Germany – Full-time Curator for the East and South Asia Collections

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=66360

Closing Date: Dec 4, 2023.

 

 

 

11. Meriem Ben Ammar (University of Cagliari) will present “The Study of the Sābāt in the Islamic City: Relationships between Architecture and Jurisprudence,” Nov 3, 2023

The next VIAHSS lecture will take place on Friday, November 3, 2023. Please note the time carefully!

Due to the time change in Europe, this talk will take place at noon EDT/4PM UK/5 pm France/7PM Turkey.

Meriem Ben Ammar (University of Cagliari) will present “The Study of the Sābāṭ in the Islamic City: Relationships between Architecture and Jurisprudence.”

To attend, please make sure to register in advance here: https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYkdu2tqz8pG9yy15JOtkAh9_V8UC_XJVur
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.

As always, you can find a full schedule of upcoming talks and register for our list-serv on our website at viahss.org. Although not every talk is recorded, we also have recordings of several recent talks available on the VIAHSS Vimeo page at vimeo.com/viahss. Lastly, you can follow us on X at @viahss and on Instagram at @theviahss to stay up to date on upcoming events!

Contact Information

Dr. Alexander Brey and Rachel Winter

Contact Email

winterr6@msu.edu

URL

https://viahss.org

 

 

 

 

12. CFP – Creating Holiness: Books, Scrolls and Icons as Carriers of Sacredness, Interdisciplinary Conference in Mainz – deadline: December 15

Every written culture has its sacred texts. Through the regular reading of these texts, which is usually guided by a fixed rite in the same direction, a group of people reassures themselves of their community and constructs a place of cultural identity beyond the profane. The sacred text not only defines the respective beliefs, but also represents the physical expression of divine revelation, and is often itself revered as a representative of the divine in ritual. Such a text has a special quality as a manuscript, since its value can be increased not only by the high quality of the material and decoration, but also by the extraordinary virtues of the scribe and the circumstances of the act of writing itself. There are notions of what requirements such a scribe should fulfill and what rituals writing itself is subject to. The process of writing becomes a sacred act, a divine service, or an ascetic practice.

This conference will address the questions of what turns a book – or an icon of the Eastern churches – into a sacred object in Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Buddhist cultures, and how is sacredness connected to the material.

• Are there material elements – writing surfaces, inks, colors, letterforms – that are preferred in the making of the sacred artifact? What expectations, memories, or theological concepts are associated with the material?
• Is the manufacturing process subject to ritual rules? What requirements are imposed on the scribe? Is the scribe distinguished by a certain way of living or a special position within society?
• What does the special handling of the sacred writings and icons, their veneration and performative choreography within the liturgy or prayer tell us about their functions within the religious community?
• How are the sacred artifacts received? Are there legends about the scribes and the documents they produced? How are narratives about the magical potential of sacred objects to be assessed?

Please send your abstract (150-200 words) to PD Dr Annett Martini by December, 15th 2023. (see contact address below)

Travel and accommodation costs can be covered by the organizers on behalf of the ToRoll project.

Visit our website for more information about the research project ToRoll: Materialized Holiness

Contact Information

ToRoll: Materialized Holiness (Freie Universität Berlin)

Principal investigator: Annett Martini

Contact Email

amartini@zedat.fu-berlin.de

URL

https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/e/materialisierte-heiligkeit/index.html

Recruitment Opportunity: Fully Funded PhD Studentship
Department of English, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
Term of Employment: 4 Years (Full Time)
Start Date: 1st February, 2024, or as agreed
The Opportunity
The University of Fribourg seeks to recruit a PhD student to join the project “Women, Martyrdom, and Religious Drama in the Abrahamic traditions.” The project is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and is headed by PI Professor Elisabeth Dutton, with the collaboration of Professor Babak Rahimi, University of California San Diego, who will jointly supervise the doctoral student. The team will also include two postdoctoral researchers based at the University of Fribourg, one of whom (Dr Lucy Deacon) is a Persianist. The project will commence on 1st February 2023, and will run for 48 months. The successful candidate will receive a competitive salary. They will be based at the University of Fribourg, and will spend a 6-month period at the University of California San Diego as a visiting student.
The Project
“Women, Martyrdom, and Religious Drama in the Abrahamic traditions” is an ambitious project that will carry out comparative research on the dramatic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Shi’i Islam, through both the study of their scripts and the staging of performances. Understanding these traditions as historically independent, yet intrigued by their common characteristics, the project seeks to offer new insight into religious drama’s impulses, purposes, and interactions with secular forces. It will include the editing and translation of plays pertaining to the Jewish purimshpil and Iranian ta’ziyeh tradition to be studied alongside examples of European biblical drama. An essential aspect of the PhD student’s job will be to work on the transcription, editing and translating of Persian language plays from manuscript sources.
Requirements of the role
Essential:
• High level of spoken and written fluency in both Persian and English
• Master’s degree or equivalent in a relevant subject field
• Experience using handwritten historical texts in research
• Demonstrated interest in the field of drama; performance traditions; popular religious practices/cultural production
• Strong commitment to delivering a high standard of work within stipulated time frames
• Excellent inter-personal and collaborative skills
• Ability to work independently
• Comfortable adapting to new environments
• Creative and critical thinking
Desired:
• Language abilities in French, German, and/or Italian
• Publication record in relevant field
Key dates to note:
The closing date for applications is Sunday November 26th
Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm CET.
Interviews will be held online on Monday Dec 18th
How to apply
To apply please send your CV (maximum 3 pages) and a cover letter (maximum 1 page) to
WOMARD@unifr.ch
Over-length applications will not be considered.

1. CFP : Mediterranean Review Vol.16, No.2 (Extended)
Mediterranean Review, issued by the Institute for Mediterranean Studies,
Busan University of Foreign Studies, is calling for papers.
Mediterranean Review (MR) is an official journal of Asian Federation of
Mediterranean Studies Institutes (AFOMEDI), and the Association of History,
Literature, Science and Technology (AHLiST).
MR widens the scope of Mediterranean Studies by publishing academic articles
on the diverse ‘mediterraneans’ distributed all around the world where
civilization exchange occurs, including the Baltic Sea, the Yellow Sea, or the
Caribbean Sea area.
We welcome the submission of articles that covers all fields of the
Humanities, Social Sciences as well as Science and Technology Studies in
relation to a Mediterranean setting.
A special emphasis is on the past and present modes of interactions and
exchange in global mediterraneans.
* Date of Submission : November 15th, 2023. (Wednesday)
* Address to submit : imsmr@bufs.ac.kr
* Date of publication:
No.1) 30th of June
No.2) 31st of December
Before submitting your paper, please refer to our code of research ethics as
well as to the text formatting and citation rules on our website:
http://www.imsmr.or.kr.
– Published Articles :
http://imsmr.cafe24.com/go/bbs/board.php?bo_table=Articles (click to move)
– Submission Guide :　http://imsmr.or.kr/go/bbs/content.php?co_id=Guidelines
(click to move)
– Code of Ethics :
http://imsmr.cafe24.com/go/bbs/content.php?co_id=Code_of_Ethics (click to
move)
– Please notice that we only accept manuscripts in the English language.
– All submitted papers will be evaluated under a strict and fair peer review
process.
– Please notice that there is no guarantee for a submitted article to be
published.
The Editorial Board, Mediterranean Review
Institute for Mediterranean Studies
Busan University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea
Institute for Mediterranean Studies
Busan University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea
65, 485-beon gil, Geumsaemro, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, Republic of Korea
Tel) +82-51-509-6695
E-mail) imsmr@bufs.ac.kr

 

 

 

2. The Circle for Late Antique and Medieval Studies
is pleased to present:

Fiscal Regime and Social Conflict
in the Early Islamic Near East:
Or, a New History of the Abbasid Revolution 

A lecture by:
Mehdy Shaddel
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
Aga Khan University London

Wednesday, November 8, at 12:00 pm EST.
The event will be held virtually only.

This talk maps out the outlines of a research project to revisit the nature of the fiscal regime and social change in the early Islamic Near East. Bringing together untapped literary, papyrological, and other evidence, it argues that the seventh-century conquerors who established themselves in garrison towns all across the territories of the Caliphate self-identified as members of a new ruling elite who called themselves muhājirūn and inscribed themselves as such in registers called dīwān for the purpose of receiving stipends. Over time, however, this initially workable system became increasingly imparticable as growing numbers of converts demanded to join the ranks of the conqueror class but were turned away by the government. The failure of successive attempts at reform (notably by the caliphs Sulaymān and ʿUmar II) left these converts a constituency to be courted by the opposition, and many of them were recruited into various rebel causes, including the Hashemite movement that brought down the Umayyad regime in 750. Having attained power with the help of this constituency, the Abbasids saw to a revision of the fiscal system whereby it was Muslimness (rather than muhājir status) that entitled one to membership of the ruling classes and taxes were assessed on the basis of religious status, thus giving shape to classical Islamic fiscal law as we know it.
Register here!

 

 

 

3. 10th IDHN Conference on November 9, 2023.

We will hear four exciting presentations:

Joshua Little (Independent): Revolutionising Hadith Diagrams: A New Resource for the Field

Ali Aghaei (Paderborn University): Digital Edition of Early Quranic Manuscripts: Methodological Considerations from the Irankoran Project

Ali Cebeci (Georgetown University): Do Transmitters Leave Fingerprints? Profiling Hadith Transmission through Mass-Data Analysis

Salwa Alahmari (University of Leeds): ChatGPT for identifying Saudi Dialects

In order to attend the conference please register at: https://georgetown.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMpdeCoqzksHdXWpday6cDQsnsnVJFJfERc

 

 

 

4. CallFront Seminar, Calligraphy on the Frontiers of the Islamic World, Umberto Bongianino – November 8

We are pleased to welcome Umberto Bongianino (Oxford University) for the next session of the seminar CALLFRONT Calligraphy on the Frontiers of the Islamic World, which will take place on November 8th, 2023, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (Paris), salle Walter Benjamin :

“De la calligraphie à l’uranographie : concevoir et dessiner le firmament au Maghreb médiéval” – Umberto Bongianino (Oxford University)

Abstract : Deux manuscrits peu connus du Kitab Suwar al-kawakib al-thabita (Livre des étoiles fixes) de Abd al-Rahman al-Sufi nous permettent de réfléchir sur la façon dont les constellations ptolémaïques étaient représentées au Maghreb médiéval, au confluent de diverses traditions iconographiques asiatiques et européennes. De plus, la haute qualité calligraphique et artistique d’un de ces manuscrits, achevé en 1224 à Ceuta pour un savant philanthrope d’origine andalouse, révèle plusieurs aspects fascinants de la culture bibliophilique de l’époque.

Zoom available

Contact Email

callfront@inha.fr

URL

https://callfront.hypotheses.org/4669

 

 

 

5. JOB – University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, Assistant Professor, East Asian or South Asian Art History

University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Assistant Professor, East Asian or South Asian Art History

The Department of Art & Art History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill invites applications for a full-time tenure-track Assistant Professorship in East Asian or South Asian Art History. The successful candidate will have a Ph.D. by the start date of July 1, 2024. We seek a dynamic scholar with a strong commitment to teaching and research in either East Asian Art History or South Asian Art History who will contribute to our vibrant academic community while expanding our current fields of art historical expertise. A demonstrated engagement with evolving directions in the field will be of particular interest. The successful candidate will be expected to develop and teach undergraduate and graduate courses in East Asian or South Asian art; to maintain an active and productive research profile; and to contribute to departmental and university service. The University of North Carolina has substantial resources to support this position including the extensive collection in the Ackland Art Museum, one of the strongest collections of Asian art in the southeast, the Sloane Art Library, the Carolina Asia Center, and the academic programs in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies. The teaching load for tenured and tenure-track faculty members is two courses per semester. Our service responsibilities include membership of departmental committees, advising, and participation in shared governance.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Art History or closely related field with a specialization in East Asian or South Asian art.
• Demonstrated potential for excellence in teaching and a commitment to innovative and inclusive pedagogical practices.
• A strong research profile with a record of, or clear potential for, scholarly publication and presentation.
• Ability to contribute to the department’s interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment.

Required materials

• Applicants must apply online at https://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/267491
• Cover letter detailing your specific interests and qualifications for the position.
• c.v.
• One recent publication or similar writing sample
• Sample syllabi for two courses on Asian art that you have taught or would like to teach.
• Statement of research interests
• Statement of teaching philosophy
• Contact information for four academic references.

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=66313

Closing date: Nov 16, 2023

 

 

 

6. JOB – Northwestern University, Assistant Professor of Art/Architecture of the Middle East, North Africa, and Iberia, 600-1500 CE

Northwestern University

Closing date 1.1.24

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=66334

 

 

 

7. Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à laprochaine séancedu séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien”, qui se tiendra le vendredi 10 novembre 2023, 17h-19h, en salle 3.03 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 3^e étage).

Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir Mme Maryam Nourzaei, chercheuse rattachée au Département de Linguistique et de Philologie à l’Université d’Uppsala, pour une conférence intitulée: “Mamabies ritual tradition among African diaspora in Balochistan“.

Résumé

The goal of this presentation is to examine the content and themes found in the ritual Mamaby songs performed within the Afro-Baloch communities residing along the coast in Sistan and Balochistan. The term “Afro-Baloch” refers to individuals of African descent who were brought to Balochistan from Africa. Over time, they abandoned their original language and adopted Balochi. What sets them apart from other regional groups is their practice of unique traditions (Nourzaei, in print and prep).

The term “Mamabies” (coined for this study) pertains to songs sung by women specifically for a pregnant women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. The data used for this study is derived from a growing collection of songs performed by four elderly Afro-Balochi female singers from the towns of Dashtiyari, Chabahar, Negor, and Konarak. These singers range in age from 38 to 80 years and have not received formal education. The ritual songs are characterized by their brevity and frequent repetition, and they are exclusively sung by women. Typically, a group consists of one lead singer and seven ordinary women.

The data reveals that the forms and themes of these ritual songs have become entirely intertwined with their Balochi counterparts.

Pour rappel, vous retrouverez ci-joint le programme 2023-2024 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien” au format pdf. Pour plus de détails, veuillez vous reporter au site web du CeRMI :

https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-de-recherche/societes-politiques-et-cultures-du-monde-iranien-2023-2024/

Au plaisir de vous retrouver à l’occasion de ces séances, qui se déroulent en présentiel sur le site de l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII).

 

 

 

 

8. Call for Applications: 2 Year Postdoc in South Asian Literary Cultures at Hamilton College

2 year postdoc in the field of South Asian Literary Cultures and their Languages at Hamilton College starting 1 July 2024. The search is particularly interested in teacher-scholars whose research and teaching engages with Persian, Hindi, and/or Urdu. Candidates should also indicate their experience in language instruction. For application details please see this link.

Candidates should submit (1) a cover letter, (2) CV, (3) a writing sample, and (4) at least one course syllabus (for a course already taught or for a proposed course) via interfolio at http://apply.interfolio.com/132491. Questions regarding the search may be directed to Abhishek Amar, Search Committee Chair, at aamar@hamilton.edu.

The review of applications will begin on December 15, 2023.

 

 

 

 

9. Qur’ān Translation as a Modern Phenomenon

El-Hussein A.Y. Aly

Brill, 2023

https://brill.com/display/title/62095

 

 

 

10. The Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh seeks to appoint a Fellow in Contemporary Muslim Societies in a Globalised World.

This is a three-year, fixed term position ideal for a scholar who is established in their field and looking to further develop their research, teaching and outreach skills and experience.

Further information about the role, including how to apply, can be found here: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DDL185/alwaleed-fellow-in-contemporary-muslim-societies-in-a-globalised-world

Closing date: 10 Nov 2023

 

 

11. Al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation:

The Translation Movement Between East and West

29.11.23

For information and to register:

https://al-furqan.com/events/translation-movement-between-east-and-west/?mc_cid=979f8fa0d3&mc_eid=97e989224a

 

 

 

12. 14th Jaleh Esfahani Poetry Prize

Jaleh Esfahani Foundation and SOAS Iranian Society in association with the Centre for Iranian Studies, SOAS

14th Jaleh Esfahani Poetry Prize

2.30pm-5.30pm, Sunday 29 October 2023

The Persian language bonds the three neighbouring countries of Afghanistan, Iran and Tajikistan and the Diaspora. Young poets, under the age of 30, from the region and all over the world, compete annually for this reputable prize.
The winners will be announced at the event and read their poems, while talks by famous speakers from the three countries, intertwined with music and dance from their countries will inform and entertain the audience.
Please note that all of this event’s proceedings are in Persian language.
For further information please email:

• fsp@parand.co.uk

 

Further Information

 

 

 

13. Figurations and Sensations of the Unseen in Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Contested Desires

Birgit Meyer and Terje Stordalen (eds)

Bloomsbury, 2016

Now available open access:

https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/monograph?docid=b-9781350078666&st=9781350078666

 

 

 

14. The SCORE research team at Hamburg is delighted to announce the CfP for our second conference, which will take place at the University of Hamburg (Germany) on 12-13 September 2024! The conference theme is ‘How Rebellion Ends’, and we aim to bring together scholars of late antique and early Islamicate societies for a fruitful interdisciplinary engagement with (shared?) cultures of conflict resolution.

Interested parties should submit an abstract (300 words) and a short biography to hannah-lena.hagemann@uni-hamburg.de  by 15 December 2023. We welcome submissions from established as well as junior scholars, advanced PhD students, and independent researchers. Travel and accommodation will be covered.
You can find all the details, including a broad range of research questions we hope to address over the course of the conference, in the CfP on our website: https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/voror/forschung/score/news/conferences/conference-2024.html.  If you’d like to know more about our research group, please visit www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/score.

 

 

 

15. ACP is the first open-access project aimed at unlocking the potential of Arabic audition certificates (سماع, طبقة السماع or إجازة) for our research community. ACP 1.0 has now been launched, https://www.audition-certificates-platform.org/, and will be regularly updated. The data set underlying ACP is available open access in the Research Data Repository at Universität Hamburg, https://www.fdr.uni-hamburg.de/record/13525. The data set is published under a CC BY 4.0 license allowing it to be reused for other projects.

 

 

 

16. Call for Papers: International Workshop for Early Career Researchers

Decline and Transition in the History of the Fourteenth Century’s Chinggisid Khanates

University of Bonn, Department of Sinology

Friday-Saturday, 7-8 June 2024

Convener: Dr. Ishayahu Landa

We are happy to announce the convening of an international workshop, dedicated to the transition and decline periods in the history of the Chinggisid Khanates of the fourteenth century. The primary aim of the workshop is twofold. On the one hand, the goal of the workshop is to highlight the various aspects of the mid-fourteenth century’s transformation of Eurasia under the Mongol rule, known otherwise as the “Great Chinggisid Crisis”. We invite papers in all fields of research, encouraging early career researchers in the fields beyondthe “classical” text-oriented humanities corpora (e.g.numismatic, climatic research, history of medicine, archaeology etc.) to submit their proposalsas well. On the other hand, this workshop is explicitly thought to engage early career researcherfrom all over the field and give them an opportunity to share their findings and approaches.

Thus, beyond one or two keynotes of senior scholars, to be announced later, all participants of the workshop should belong to this target group.

Practical details: Please send the abstract of individual papers (up to 250 words) along with a short (1-2 pages) CV by 1 December 2023. The abstracts and the CV must be sent to Dr. Ishayahu Landa (ilanda@uni-bonn.de ).

Participants will be notified of acceptance not later than 1 January 2024.

Remote participation is not possible.

Accommodation and transportation: Accommodation in Bonn will be covered for up to max. 3 nights, meals during the two days of the conference will be also completely covered. Unfortunately, our funding is limited. However, we will be able to offer at least a partial refund for the transportation to some or to most of the guests (depending on the way of traveling and the number of participants).If you wish to be considered for travel funding, please state so when submitting the abstract.For queries, please contact Dr. Ishayahu Landa (ilanda@uni-bonn.de ).

 

 

 

17. The Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series (VIAHSS) is pleased to announce the launch of our Call for Proposals for the 2024 program of VIAHSS.We are now inviting proposals for paper presentations on topics related to the history of art, architecture, and visual culture of any time period from the Islamic world for spring and fall of 2024. We welcome submissions from current graduate students, faculty, curators, and independent scholars.

The virtual seminar series will take place on Zoom from mid-January onwards. Each session will include a 20-30 minute presentation followed by a 20 minute discussion in a constructive and friendly manner. In addition to individual proposals we are also open to workshop proposals, which might include moderated discussions of pre-circulated papers, roundtables, discussions with practicing architects or artists, or other formats.
If you are interested, please send an abstract detailing your topic (not more than 500 words) and your CV or resume by Friday, December 1, 2023,to Dr. Alexander Brey (alexander.brey@wellesley.edu) and Rachel Winter (winterr6@msu.edu) with the phrase “VIAHSS 2024 proposal” in the subject line. Please include information about your location and time zone in your email as we will have to find a time that works well for most participants. You may also express a preference or dispreference for a specific month based on your anticipated activities in the spring.

About VIAHSS:

Founded at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in May 2020, the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series (VIAHSS) has brought together a diverse community of researchers from around the world through its virtual seminars and workshops, thereby filling a new niche in academic discourse.

While travel has resumed and in-person events have begun again, the need for a forum which brings together international and intergenerational audiences in an inclusive and supportive fashion still continues to exist. We believe that this is the time to encourage researchers to connect in different ways and to include and pay attention to voices that have been heard less.

We hope to expand our understanding of Islamic art history and discuss those geographical areas and time periods that have previously been defined as marginal.

Contact Information

Dr. Alexander Brey (alexander.brey@wellesley.edu) and Rachel Winter (winterr6@msu.edu)

Contact Email

winterr6@msu.edu

URL

https://viahss.org/

 

 

 

18. Online: Yale Persian Writers’ Conversation: Homeira Qaderi and Aliyeh Ataei, Nov. 15, 11:30am EST

For further information and to register:

https://yale.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_J9VbNtN2Ro2mDhSeXjC7rA#/registration

 

 

19. The Islamic College:

Monthly Seminar: Mohammad’s Message for the 21^st Century

A Talk by Professor Juan Cole

Wednesday, 8 November 2023,

 6 pm to 7:30 pm UK time

on Zoom

Meeting ID: 885 5362 5514

Passcode: 797518

Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88553625514?pwd=cKlE0M3udJ9bvTLTNiSYMylL8s6hee.1

Register at: https://islamic-college.ac.uk/event-registration/

 

 

 

 

20. The Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures and the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago invite applications for a Professorship in Ancient Near Eastern Art, with appointment beginning July 1, 2024, or July 1, 2025.

For information, and to apply, visit:

https://apply.interfolio.com/135096?fbclid=IwAR0ysB4l6PjhUH87bR-mrQKPZxvX766AHkK-Z2WxmM9yuz93CCEn8PyXQF4
Review of applications will begin on December 1, 2023.

1. ONLINE Book Introduction “The Power of the People: Everyday Resistance and Dissent in the Making of Modern Turkey, 1923-38” by Murat Metinsoy (İstanbul University), Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, 26 October 2023, 12:00 EDT

The co-winner of the 2022 OTSA Book Prize will introduce his book. Burak Gürel (Koç University) will be the discussant and James Ryan (Foreign Policy Research Institute) will moderate the session. This text reveals a historian who seemed to conceive of the historical Egypt as a core territory of the Roman empire by virtue of the province’s role in Christian history.

Information and registration: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAvdeyupj0rGdabaMGF7XE8G7KXkDRG9F7N#/registration

 

 

 

 

2. “6th World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES-6)” Hosted by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre in Cooperation with New York University Abu Dhabi, American University of Beirut and University of St Andrews, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 17-21 February 2025

The International Advisory Council of WOCMES has just decided that the next World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies will take place in Abu Dhabi. By planning other conferences, the organisers should avoid the period 17-21 February 2025 when up to 3500 scholars of Middle Eastern Studies are expected in Abu Dhabi.

The Call for Papers with detailed information is expected in early 2024.

 

 

 

 

3. University Assistant (PhD Position), Department of Islamic Theology and Religious Education, University of Innsbruck

Main tasks: Dissertation in the field of Islamic religious education; independent research in the field of Islamic religious education; independent teaching; training and further education; administrative tasks. Required qualifications: completed relevant Master’s degree; please include written reflections on your dissertation project (max. 5 pages) with your application; ability to work in a team. Language skills German C2 is required.

Deadline for applications: 22 November 2023.

Information: https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/karriereportal.details?asg_id_in=13806

 

 

 

4. Instructional Professor in Northwest Semitics, University of Chicago

We invite applications for appointment as Instructional Professor (open rank) in Northwest Semitics, particularly Aramaic, Biblical Hebrew, Syriac, and related dialects/languages.

Deadline for application: 1 November 2023. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/131663

 

 

 

5. Articles for “Al Noor, the Undergraduate Middle Eastern Studies Journal of Boston College”

We are accepting submissions for the Fall/Spring 2023-2024 issue. We are looking for original research papers about the politics, history, culture, religion, or art of the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa. Academic papers should typically be approximately 8,000 words. We will also consider features and photo essays with a word count of approximately 1,500.

Deadline for submissions: 3 November 2023.

Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2023/10/12/call-for-submissions