Archive for January 13th, 2024

1.Conference – ‘The other narratives of early Islam’, Frankfurt, Germany – March 22-23

The conference aims at allowing a direct dialogue between the various semi-disciplines of early Islamic history (the 7th to 9th century). For that purpose, it brings together scholars who study early Islam either through contemporary sources or through a critical reading of later texts. One objective is to introduce the different methodologies and discuss their merits and flaws. As part of the first objective, we hope to advance the use of both archaeological methods and archaeological theory in Islamic history in general and in discussions about early Islam in particular. The second objective is to examine which kind of historical questions can be answered by contemporary sources – fragmentary and local as they are. The third objective is to encourage students to use contemporary sources and critical methods by highlighting their advantages and slightly breaking the central position of the later narrative texts.

THE CONFERENCE TAKES PLACE IN FRANKFURT, in person.

First day: Friday March 22^nd

10:00-10:50 registration

10:50-11:00 A very brief introduction: Hagit Nol

11:00-12:30 The Qur’an and Qur’an manuscripts, chair: Serap Ermis

Guillaume Dye, Université libre de Bruxelles

What is the Qur’an’s representative potential?

Alba Fedeli, Universität Hamburg

Reading the manuscript text as a system to find its narrative: methodologies and criticism of early Qur’anic manuscript studies

12:30-13:30 lunch

13:30-15:00 Manuscripts and narratives in Syriac, chair: Nathan Gibson

Adrian C. Pirtea, Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna

Monastic book culture in Syro-Palestine and Sinai. Syriac and Christian Arabic manuscripts as sources for early Islamic history

Marianna Mazzola, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität

A critical reading of Christian sources on the surrender agreements during the Arab Conquest

15:00 coffee break

15:30-17:00 Poetry, chair: Bekim Agai

Adam Talib, The American University in Cairo

The taphonomy of early Arabic poetry

Kirill Dmitriev, University of St. Andrews

The poetry of al-Walīd Ibn Yazīd (709–744), methodological approaches in recent scholarship

17:00 coffee break

17:30-19:00 Isnad-cum-matn applications, chair: Mark Chalîl Bodenstein

Jens Scheiner, Universität Göttingen

Isnad-cum-matn-analysis: chances and limitations

Marjan Asi, University of Edinburgh

Hadiths and isnad-cum-matn: tools for Islamic ideological history

19:00 reception

 

Second Day: Saturday March 23rd

9:30-11:00 Texts: narratives and papyri, chair: Hartmut Leppin

Hagit Nol, Goethe-UniversitätFrankfurt

‘Big Data’, patterns and contexts: examining the terminology used for early mosques

Lajos Berkes, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Navigating Greek, Coptic, and Arabic papyri from early Islamic Egypt

11:00 coffee break

11:30-13:00 Documents: papyri and coins, chair: Hagit Nol

Arietta Papaconstantinou, Aix-Marseille Université

Do papyri only allow a ‘micro’ economic history?

Stefan Heidemann, Universität Hamburg

Reconstructing historical evidence (coins)

13:00-14:30 lunch

14:30-16:00 Inscriptions and excavations, chair: Sepideh Maziar

Ilkka Lindstedt, University of Helsinki

New inscriptions, old poems: pre-Islamic waṣiyyas on stone and in verse

Alison Gascoigne, University of Southampton

Digging in and for dirt: archaeology, interpretation and story-telling

16:00 coffee break

16:30-18:00 Laboratory archaeology, chair: Astrid Stobbe

Vladimir Dabrowski, University of Créteil

Sowing the seeds of archaeobotany: variety of disciplines, methodological challenges and application to the early Islamic Arabia

Marcos García-García, Universidad de Alicante

Putting flesh on the bones: archaeo(zoo)logical approaches to the study of al-Andalus

18:30 dinner

Registration: by 10.3.24.

Contact Information

Hagit Nol, Goethe-University Frankfurt

Contact Email

h.nol@em.uni-frankfurt.de

URL

https://www.academia.edu/109546060/The_other_narratives_of_early_Islam_contempo…

 

 

 

2. Persian Summer School 2024 in Yerevan

We are pleased to announce some updates to the schedule of ASPIRANTUM’s Persian Language Summer School 2024. Originally, the program was set to run from July 7 to August 30, spanning 8 weeks. However, in response to feedback from students whose university classes commence in mid-August, we have decided to offer more flexible start dates.
Students now have the option to begin the program on June 23, June 30, or July 7, and can choose to participate in a 4 to 10-week course. This adjustment allows students who start the summer school on June 23 to complete an 8-week (160-hour) course by August 16.
More details about the course below.
To apply, please visit: https://aspirantum.com/courses/persian-language-summer-school

10 weeks – 200 contact hours (1 hour = 60 minutes)
9 weeks – 180 contact hours
8 weeks – 160 contact hours
7 weeks – 140 contact hours
6 weeks – 120 contact hours
5 weeks – 100 contact hours
4 weeks – 80 contact hours
The deadline to apply to the 4-10 weeks 2024 Persian language summer school is May 15, 2024.

ARMACAD Scholarships
Eligible candidates can apply for ARMACAD Scholarships. Please see the details here: https://aspirantum.com/scholarships/scholarships-for-persian-language-courses-from-armacad

To apply for summer school, please visit https://aspirantum.com/courses/persian-language-summer-school

 

 

3. Job advertisement – Lecturer in Modern Islam

The University of Chester is recruiting a 0.5FTE Lecturer in Modern Islam for three years; subject specialism is open. The closing date is 12 February. Please circulate to any potential candidates, and I’m very happy to answer any queries!

https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DFE449/lecturer-in-modern-islam-05fte-ftc-until-march-2027

 

 

 

4. Intellect is pleased to announce the launch of the inaugural issue of Journal of Gulf Studies! The issue is out now and available to read freely via the Discover platform.

See: https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/jgs

The first volume of JGS will offer refreshing perspectives on a number of topics that will set the scene for further academic debate. This volume features articles spanning from Gulf foreign policies to education, the role of scent and perfumery and the scholarship on Gulf studies in India.

For more information about the journal and issue click here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-gulf-studies

 

 

 

5. The Doha Residence Program in Advanced Arabic & Social Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies for the Fall semester 2024-2025.

Application is now open!

Residence Program in Advanced Arabic & Social Studies

Fall Semester 2024

A limited number of merit-based tuition waiver and housing support

The Language Center at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI) is pleased to announce its Fall semester 2024 – 2025 Residence Program in Advanced Arabic Language and Social Studies.

The Program is a unique forum for academic and cultural exchange between the DI’s predominantly native Arabic- speaking graduate students and faculty (from across the Arab world) and their international non-native or heritage peers.

The Residence Program is offered for one semester on site in Doha. It meets the language, culture, and academic needs of advanced non-native and heritage graduate students who wish to strengthen their language and cultural skills, as well as prepare for specific challenges related to their academic areas of expertise. The Program is delivered entirely in Arabic and consists of a twin advanced language-training and academic components.

The language-training component prepares students to function professionally in Arabic and offers dedicated courses in language, translation, and content-based instruction. The program adapts to the academic needs of students as a base for linguistic and cultural acquisition, emphasizes productive and presentation skills, and develops higher levels of proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and translation.

The academic component gives fellows the opportunity to take advantage of the wide array of unique graduate-level courses the DI distinguished faculty teach in Arabic through its academic units: The School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the School of Public Administration and Development Economics. For more detailed information about the DI, please go to:

https://www.dohainstitute.edu.qa/EN/Pages/default.aspx

The Residence Program is an important part of the DI’s mission to establish, maintain, and nurture intellectual links and two-way dialogues between its students, faculty, and the international learning and research community.

The DI aims to create an enduring legacy of intellectual innovation and education within the Arab world and beyond. It assumes and promotes the Arabic language as a tool of scientific inquiry, an official language in public discourse, and a primary language for teaching and research.

To Apply to the Doha Residence Program, click on the link below:

https://dilc.wufoo.com/forms/zk8g94411azft3/

Semester Program Features:

• 6 credits of Intensive Arabic;
• A language partner;
• Option to audit graduate academic courses taught in Arabic if eligible;
• Option to have an academic partner;
• Access to the DI and rich conferences, symposia, and guest lectures.

Admission Requirements:

• Advanced level in Arabic;
• Tuition fees: 9,000 QAR (approximately 2,250€ or 2,465$)
• Housing: 11,000 per semester (approximately 2,650€ or $3000)

Program Dates:

• Application Deadline: March 15, 2024
• Start of Classes: August 18, 2024
• End of Classes: November 30, 2024

 

 

 

 

6. The Latin America and Caribbean Islamic Studies Newsletter
Vol. 4, no. 1 | Winter 2023/24

https://mailchi.mp/53804d626df4/latin-america-caribbean-islamic-studies-newsletter-vol4-no1

The British Institue of Persian Studies presents

‘Persian Poetry on the High Seas: Migration and the Making of an Early Modern World Literature’

| 17 January 2024; 5PM |

Over the course of the 17th century, many hundreds of professional poets active in Persian travelled across the western Indian Ocean, moving between Safavid Iran, Mughal North India, the sultanates of the Deccan Plateau, Qasimi Yemen and Ottoman-controlled North Arabia. Wherever they journeyed, these writers managed to form bonds with the people that they encountered by composing and sharing poetry. This talk discusses why Persian poetry was such a successful tool for creating communities of shared interests and explores the impact of literary networks on the formation of shared political cultures.

James White studies late medieval and early modern Iran from a transregional perspective, examining how writers and their patrons used shared sets of cultural concepts to construct what scholars now call the Persianate World. His recent book, Persian and Arabic Literary Communities in the Seventeenth Century, explores the agency of early modern writers who migrated between Iran, India and the Arabian Peninsula, forming a consciously globalising literary culture. He is currently Departmental Lecturer of Persian Studies at Oxford University, and previously held research and teaching roles at Cambridge, Oxford and FU Berlin.

To register:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3316977115841/WN_TA8x_w2_QqqL3JLa7p6wWw#/registration