Archive for February, 2024
Shii News – ‘Entreaties to the Shi`i Imams in the Ninth Century CE’ – E Hayes
- February 29, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Zoom: ‘The Safavid Rule and a Shi’i Theory of Sovereignty’ – Y Ünal (4 March, 17:00 UK time)
Yusuf Ünal, “Our State in the End Times:” The Safavid Rule and a Shi’i Theory of Sovereignty
Monday Majlis Online on the 4th of March, 17:00-18:30 (UK time)
Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter.
To register:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkdOCprT8rHNUwXWY8VYfJrzgd5SvjHczR#/registration
- February 28, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.ONLINE Webinar “Public Diplomacy and New Leadership of Civil Society Organisations: DSA NGOs in Development Study Group”, 29 February 2024, 12:00 – 14:00 GMT
Bringing together case studies from Cameroon, Egypt, Poland, Palestine, Lebanon and Libya, this webinar reflects on how external calls for proposals in the fields of women’s empowerment, community development, education, training, exchange programmes, democracy, human rights and peacebuilding influence the way civil society organisations contribute, deliver, intervene and position themselves in various societies.
Information and registration:
https://nomadit-co-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcvcu6prTMpH9I40Wjbz0FB9RUnQoYczOpn
2. Colloque « Généalogies arabes des dynasties non arabes : une quête de légitimité inattendue en Islam médiéval et moderne ? (IXe-XVIIIe s.) » – MMSH (Aix-en-Provence), 5-6 mars 2024
Programme : https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2024/02/Colloque-genealogies-Programme.pdf
3. ENIS Spring School 2024 “Peripheral Islam: Muslims on the Geographical, Normative, Political and Religious Margins”, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, 4-7 June 2024
This Spring School focusses on Muslims living, working and writing in the periphery and welcomes papers that show how, where and why peripheral Muslims – varying from marginalised areas and controversial scholars to ostracised politicians and heterodox sects – have shaped this periphery and have been shaped by this periphery.
Deadline for registration: 1 May 2024.
Information: https://nisis.sites.uu.nl/2024/02/09/call-for-papers-enis-spring-school-2024
4. Workshop „Religion, Race, and Concepts of Difference in the Modern Middle East”, Oxford University, 14-15 June 2024
We are especially interested in contributions that engage with the history of concepts of difference across the 19th and 20th century Ottoman Empire and post-Ottoman Middle East: The transformation (or persistence) of concepts of difference rooted in terms like the Arabic jins, the Turkish millet; the colonial racialization of Islam, Judaism, Eastern Christianity, and other traditions; theoretical reflections on the relationship between race and religion in Middle Eastern contexts; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 7 March 2024.
Information: https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/b1ccebda-68f8-4ea5-98de-debee0911478
5. International Conference “Evliya Çelebi and Eastern Croatia under Ottoman Rule”, University of Osijek, Croatia, 14-15 November 2024
Themes: The period and/or events immediately preceding the establishment of Ottoman rule in eastern Croatia and immediately following the retreat of the Ottoman Empire; Evliya Çelebi’s Seyahatname as a source for the history of eastern Croatia and the neighboring regions; comparative cases of historical inter-actions between eastern Croatia and the neighboring regions, especially during the 17th century. The working language of the conference will be English.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 May 2024. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20025046/international-conference-evliya-celebi-and-eastern-croatia-under
6. 15th Conference of the Asian Federation of Middle East Studies Associations (AFMA): “Towards an Optimal Framework for Middle East Studies: Asian and Middle Eastern Perspec-tives in an Era of Global Challenges”, Doshisha University, Kyoto, 7-8 December 2024
Themes: Politics and society in the Middle East. – Religious and intellectual lives in the Middle East. – Society and environment in the Middle East. – Historical experiences of the Middle East seen from Asian per-spectives. – Changing energy situation in the world and the future of the Middle East. – Economic rela-tionships between Asian and Middle Eastern countries. – Cultural interactions between Asia and the Middle East. – Middle East studies in the West and Middle East studies in Asia. Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2024. Information: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/s1l3d5b5w7k5v8dyq9iay/h?rlkey=5t8nqp8weocj9cl3ix1uq7w11&e=1&dl=0
7. International Conference of the Emmy Noether Junior Research Group TRANSLAPT: “Empire in Translation: Perso-Arabic Knowledge and the Making of Early Modern Ottoman Civilisa-tion”, University of Münster, Germany, 15-17 January 2025
The Research Group “Inner-Islamic Transfer of Knowledge within Arabic-Persian-Ottoman Translation Pro-cesses in the Eastern Mediterranean (1400-1750)” aims to investigate the transregional transfer of knowledge by focusing on translation as a concept, process, and product. We invite contributions that focus on early modern translation processes between Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish, with particular attention to the study of manuscript copies of these translations.
Deadline for abstracts: 17 March 2024.
Information: https://www.uni-muenster.de/ArabistikIslam/translapt/call_for_papers/index.html
8. Postdoctoral Fellowship (2 Years) in the History of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, Duke University, Durham, NC
We seek candidates with broad knowledge of the history of the region in its global context. Teaching experien-ce is a must. The successful candidate will teach one introductory lecture course on the Modern Middle East in the fall of 2024, and a gateway or advanced undergraduate seminar in the Spring of 2025.
Deadline of applications: 1 April 2024. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/27206
9. Visiting Lecturer of Persian Language (1 Year +), Indiana University, Bloomington
Qualifications: A doctoral degree in a relevant field, such as Persian Language pedagogy, second language acquisition, linguistics, or language education. Experience developing Persian language materials, including web-based materials; experience using digital instructional technologies; experience in conducting pedago-gical research on the Persian language is highly desirable, but not required.
Deadline for applications: 1 March 2024. Information: https://indiana.peopleadmin.com/postings/22568
10. Scholarships for MA Iranian Studies at SOAS, University of London
The scholarship is open for UK/EU and overseas fee-paying SOAS students, normally providing a contribu-tion towards fees or a full fee waiver.
Deadline for applications: 29 April 2024. Information: https://www.soas.ac.uk/study/student-life/finance/scholarships/kamran-djam-scholarships , Contact; Dr. Ali Alavisa137@soas.ac.uk
11. Articles on “Trans, Queer and « Third Gender » People in Muslim Countries” for a Special Issue of the Journal “Anthropology of the Middle East” (20.1, 2025)
Anthropologists are invited to contribute to this issue, but also contributors from various disciplines as histo-rians, sociologists and jurists. Proposals could also come from literary scholars working on a corpus (novels, short stories, poetry, etc.) from Muslim countries of a certain period that feature a trans, queer or third-gender character. Researchers in visual, theatrical or film studies are also invited to analyze one of these countries’ films featuring a trans, queer or third-gender character.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 April 2024.
Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2024/02/Call-for-papers.pdf
12. Articles on “Infidels, Enemies or Humanists? The European-Italian “Renaissance” and the Fictional Imaginary of the Muslim-Ottoman Turk” for a Special Issue of the Journal “Religions”
This issue focuses on the inter-connection between the Ottoman world and the Western Europe in the Quattrocento and Cinquecento; in specific, the idea is to work on the reciprocal imaginary that the Ottoman sulta-nate and the European-Italian potentates reciprocally played in this specific age. The argument is open to a multi-disciplinary approach able to consider the historical, religious, political, artistic, and literary approaches as international relations topics.
Deadline for manuscripts: 30 September 2024.
Information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Z3H162B632
13. “NEXUS” – New Online Platform on Religions and Politics in the Middle East, Created by the Haifa Laboratory for Religious Studies
NEXUS will feature a blend of scholarly articles, research contributions, and semi-popular essays, creating a space where complex ideas are presented in a manner that resonates with a diverse audience. We aim to transcend traditional boundaries, making our platform a valuable resource for policy-makers, practitioners, scholars, and students alike.
Information: https://nexus.haifa.ac.il
14. Harvard University – Harvard University AKPIA Postdoctoral Fellowships
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=66959
15. Call for Submissions | BRISMES Early Career Development Scholarship
Submissions are invited for the 2024 BRISMES Early Career Development Scholarship. The aim of this award is to support activities geared towards strengthening the academic profile and CV of an early career scholar. Two awards of £3,000 each are available. The deadline for submissions is midnight (UK time) on 31 March 2024.
16. Call for Papers | Building Past, Present and Future
First International Conference on Iranian Studies, University of Bucharest, 2-4 October 2024
The Persian Language and Literature Section at the University of Bucharest is pleased to announce its inaugural conference, “Bridging Past, Present, and Future”, dedicated to celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Persian Language and Literature Section and honoring its founder, Professor Viorel Bageacu (1936-2015). We invite scholars and researchers to submit abstracts for papers in all subfields of Iranian Studies, exploring the connections between the past, present, and future.
Deadline | 25 March 2024
17. Call for Applications | BIAA Grants & Scholarships
Funding Call, British Institute at Ankara (BIAA)
In recent years, the BIAA has launched a range of scholarships aimed at supporting students from undergraduate to doctoral level embarking on fieldwork and research in Türkiye and the Black Sea region. Applications are invited for the following:
- BIAA David Edwin Jameson Scholarship
- BIAA David French Scholarship
- BIAA Doughty-Wylie Scholarship
- Turkish and Black Sea Scholar’s Fund
Deadline | 17 April 2024
18. Call for Papers | Societies in Transition: Law, Culture and Politics in the Middle East
30th International DAVO Congress, University of Göttingen, 26-28 September 2024
This congress invites submissions on topics in the humanities and social sciences that deal with research on the Middle East, North Africa and other states influenced by Islam or their relations with other regions. You can register individual presentations as well as panels (with 3-4 contributions). As a separate category, the workshop talks provide space for the presentation of final theses and doctoral projects.
Deadline | 30 April 2024
19. Iranian Kurdistan Since 1979
Workshop | LSE Middle East Centre | 6 March 2024
This day-long workshop will bring together scholars from across disciplines to explore contemporary Iranian or ‘Rojhelati’ Kurdistan. Panels will explore Kurdish identity and gender, history writing and politics, and representation and resistance. Researchers will present their ongoing work for constructive feedback and discussion.
More information
20. Translanguaging and Linguistic Diversity in Arabic
Conference | University of Cambridge | 18 April 2024
Registration is open for the 4th Biennial Conference on Arabic Language Teaching and Learning in HE which will be hosted at the University of Cambridge. The conference aims to delve into Translanguaging and Linguistic Diversity in Arabic, and provide a platform for robust discussions and networking opportunities. The deadline for registrations is 28 March 2024.
More information
- February 27, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 26, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Milkvetch & Violets: Poems (Expanded Bilingual Edition)
Mohammad Reza Shafi’i-Kadkani
Mage, 2024
https://magepublishers.com/milkvetch-violets-poems-expanded-bilingual-edition/
2. Medieval Arab Music and Musicians (Brill, 2022) is now available in an OpenAccess edition. The volume includes complete annotated translations of three medieval texts that may be of interest to a broad audience among scholars and students of the Middle East:
1) The Biography of Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī from al-Iṣbahānī’s Kitāb al-Aghānī
2) The Biography of Ziryāb from Ibn Ḥayyān’s Kitāb al-Muqtabis
3) Ibn Sanā’ al-Mulk’s treatise on the muwashshaḥ, Dār al-Ṭirāz
Each section is available for download separately to make them easier to use as assigned readings in university courses. An additional option to download the entire work as a single PDF will be added to the website soon:
https://brill.com/display/title/61295
Additional Information:
The biography of the famous 8th-century musician and courtier Ibrāhīm al-Mawṣilī offers an intimate portrait of life in the ‘Abbasid court in Baghdad during the reigns of the caliphs al-Mahdī, al-Hādī, and Hārūn al-Rashīd. This translation contains an introduction, the complete text in translation, including isnāds and musical indications, along with explanatory annotations, and therefore allows readers to get a sense of how Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī gathered and organized his materials. In many ways, this single biography is a miniature version of the Kitāb al-Aghānī as a whole. Since substantive complete translations from KA into English are few in number, this text may be useful in courses on medieval Islamic history, the history of Arabic literature, and of course the history of Middle Eastern music. Passages on the purchase, selling, and training of “singing girls” (qiyān) may also be helpful in addressing issues of gender in medieval Islamic society.
The Andalusi historian Ibn Ḥayyān’s 11th-century biography of the most famous of all Andalusian singers, Ziryāb, is the longest and most detailed account of the life of a figure who has become legendary in recent centuries. The modern “mythic Ziryāb,” however, emerged entirely from the rather hyperbolic account penned by al-Maqqarī in his Nafh al-Ṭīb in the 17th century. While al-Maqqarī’s text paints an entirely laudatory portrait of Ziryāb, Ibn Ḥayyān’s much earlier text preserves conflicting versions of who Ziryāb was and how he was viewed by his contemporaries. It is also a fascinating portrayal of the 9th-century Cordoban court of the Emir ‘Abd al-Raḥmān II.
Ibn Sana’ al-Mulk’s 12th-century treatise Dār al-Ṭirāz is the single most important medieval source on the emergence and spread of Andalusi muwashshaḥ poetry and song. Although a Spanish translation was published some 60 years ago, that translator misunderstood, and therefore dismissed, the musical information contained in the text. This translation thus offers a significant re-interpretation of a very significant text in the history of Arabic literature and music.
Dwight F. Reynolds
3. Monday Majlis of the Centre for the Study of Islam, Exeter:
Austin O’Malley,
The Hoopoe on the Pulpit: Narrative Structure and Imagined Performance in ʿAṭṭār’s Manṭeq al-ṭayr
Monday Majlis Online on the 26th of February, 17: 00-18:30 (UK time)
Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, Exeter.
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEkfu6spjoqHNaVnyqf46nrm_nhZIkepjtD
4. A Story of Islamic Art,
Routledge, 2024
Marcus Milwright
More information about the book can be found at:
https://www.routledge.com/A-Story-of-Islamic-Art/Milwright/p/book/9781032448152
5. Lecture – 2024 Calderwood Lecture on Islamic and Asian Art, Dr. Marianna Shreve Simpson, Boston College – April 2
Paintings as Prelude and Postscript in Deluxe Persian Manuscripts of the Early Modern Period
Deluxe Persian manuscripts of the early modern period often open, and sometimes
close, with double-page paintings of court receptions, literary gatherings, hunts and
other scenes. While such ubiquitous compositions are generally thought to be
independent of specific literary texts, closer consideration suggests fascinating
thematic connections, and also points to particular centers of artistic production.
Tuesday April 2, at 5:30 pm
Hill Family Conference Room
McMullen Museum
2101 Commonwealth Avenue
Brighton, MA 02135
Reception to follow
Sponsored by the Calderwood Professorship in Islamic and Asian Art
Art, Art History and Film Department, Boston College
Contact Information
Emine Fetvaci
Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art
Boston College
Contact Email
6. Zoom- Circle for Late Antique and Medieval Studies
The Circle for Late Antique and Medieval Studies is pleased to present two events in the Spring 2024 semester:
Friday, March 1 – “The Military Origins of the Persian Language (6th-9th Cent.)” a lecture by Étienne de la Vaissière, professor at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales in Paris
Friday, April 5 (TBC) – Panel discussion on numismatics in late antique and medieval studies.
Date & Time
Mar 1, 2024 05:00 PM
Apr 5, 2024 05:00 PM
London times
Register at:
https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vc-2hrT0oH9HkUY0X__Me1Rlc3wlzB_Yl#/registration
7. INTENSIVE English-Arabic TRANSLATION COURSE
This in-depth program caters to students and colleagues interested in developing expertise in translation theories, techniques and cultural nuances.
Course Content: This course aims at training students of translation and translators on the translation of journalistic, political, commercial, legal, and scientific texts from Arabic into English and vice versa. The course includes the presentation of linguistic and cultural issues affecting meaning transfer from the original text into target language. Personalised one-on-one guidance and practical exercises ensure skillful navigation of cultural and linguistic nuances, empowering participants to excel in this dynamic field.
Course Dates & Duration: Two weeks 21st April – 2 May 2024 (5 hours a day, total of 50 hours).
Tuition: 1520 USDS
For more information please contact us at: info@jordanla.com
We look Forward to welcoming your students to this unique learning experience.
Sincerely,
JLA team
Jordan Language Academy
Mobile: +962 779502220
Tel: +962-6-5820985
info@jordanla.com
www.jordanla.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/jlaarabic
facebook: www.facebook.com/jlaarabic
8. Intellect is pleased to announce that Journal of Contemporary Iraq & the Arab World 18.1 is out now!
Special Issue: ‘Interventions in Film Studies’
For more information about the journal and issue click here>>
https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-contemporary-iraq-the-arab-world
9. CfP Cross-Points: A Cambridge–Stanford Graduate Conference in Arabic Literature
We are looking for papers for a conference on Arabic Literature to be held at the University of Cambridge, UK on 12th and 13th September 2024
This two-day conference, hosted jointly by the PATH+ Research Unit at Stanford University and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, will bring together doctoral students of Arabic literature, with the aim of building an inter-institutional community, fostering collaboration, and imagining new directions and methodologies for research. Conscious of the limitations imposed by adherence to temporal, geographical, and generic boundaries, we shall arrange our panels thematically. This approach will allow us to tease out connections between customarily diverse subfields. As such, we encourage applicants to engage with the broader implications of their research when submitting abstracts. Potential themes include but are not limited to:
- Textual ecologies
- Formulaic transgressions
- Canon (trans)formation
- Con-, sub-, and inter-textualities
- DisOrienting theory
We invite submissions for ten-minute papers on any aspect of Arabic literature. Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words and brief biographical information to camstan.arablit@gmail.com by 31st March 2024. Participation is restricted to doctoral students. Funding will be available to offset travel and visa costs, and accommodation will be provided. Further information on travel reimbursements will be sent to participants upon acceptance of their proposal.
10. Symposium: Challenging Empire: Women, Art, and the Global Early Modern World
March 1-2, 2024, Online and in Person
- Symposium title: “Challenging Empire: Women, Art, and the Global Early Modern World”
- Conference dates: March 1 – 2, 2024
- Venues: The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and the Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, Alabama
The symposium “Challenging Empire: Women, Art, and the Global Early Modern World,” part of the project Global Makers: Women Artists in the Early Modern Courts of Europe and Asia, is intended to extend and expand knowledge of cultural production by and for early modern women – particularly those associated with the courts – on a global scale. While numerous conferences, symposia and resulting publications in the past several decades have addressed women as producers, consumers and subjects of European art during the early modern period (c. 1400-1750), less consideration has been given to women’s roles in the courts – particularly as informed by the steadily increasing cross-cultural interactions (i.e. between Europe and Asia, the Americas, Africa, etc.) that characterized the period. This symposium aims to address this lacuna while de-centering the traditional Euro-centric model of study in the analysis of women’s cultural production, presentation and consumption surrounding courts and empires (institutions associated with ruling power). The goal is to encourage a more equitable view of early modern women’s experiences of and with art globally, across traditionally held national and continental boundaries.
For information and registration, please visit: https://art.ua.edu/challenging-empire-symposium/
11. MLA 2025 LLC West Asia Call for Papers
Between Land and Sea: Literatures in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Peninsula
Literary cultures of the Arabian Peninsula / Persian Gulf beyond citizenship and monolingualism. Topics may include petrofiction and ecocriticism; Gulf futurism; Indian ocean; diasporic writing; race, ethnicity, gender and sexuality; neoliberal cultural industries.
~ 250 word abstracts to alon@umn.edu by March 15, 2023
- February 24, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 23, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Hybrid – “End-of-Time Trends in Contemporary Thought & Messianic Beliefs”
Islamic Research and Information Center (IRIC) in collaboration with the Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, is holding a meeting entitled “End-of-Time Trends in Contemporary Thought and Messianic Beliefs” on Wednesday 21 February 2024 from 2pm to 4pm (Tehran Time).
The meeting will take place in Hannaneh Hall, Faculty of World Studies, Northern Campus of University of Tehran and will be streamed live on Zoom too.
This program includes a panel discussion with distinguished experts
- Mohmmad Nahavandian,
- Seyyed Mohammad Kazem Sajjadpour,
- Mahdiyeh Pakravan,
moderated by Sareh Taromirad.
Please note that the program is in English.
For more information:
https://iric.org/events/end-of-time-trends-in-contemporary-thought-and-messianic-beliefs/
2. Dick Davis Talk at Georgetown University about Khosrow and Shirin
Monday 26 February, 2024 at 3:30pm McGhee Library, ICC
to attend in person
The event will also be live streamed HERE
3. Washington and Lee University: Middle East and South Asia Studies
Location Lexington, VA
Open Date
Feb 14, 2024
Description
The Middle East and South Asia (MESA) Studies program at Washington and Lee University invites applications for a Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic for the 2024-2025 academic year. We seek candidates with native or near-native fluency in Arabic, and fluency in English, who have teaching experience at the university level. The teaching load for this appointment is six courses per year. The successful candidate will teach undergraduate Arabic at the introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels.
The Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic will be a core member of the university’s interdisciplinary MESA program. Participation in this program includes attendance of the cohort’s monthly meetings, as well as contributions to student-focused extracurricular activities (e.g., film screenings, cooking classes, poetry readings). Members of the cohort are actively engaged in research relating to the Middle East and South Asia. Though research is not a formal requirement of this position, opportunities for scholarly engagement and collaboration with existing faculty will be available.
Washington and Lee is a top-ranked, highly selective university devoted to the liberal arts. We are committed to excellence in teaching and to the research and professional activity that support it. Situated in the Shenandoah Valley, three hours southwest of Washington, DC, the university enrolls approximately 1,860 undergraduates and 380 law students.
Washington and Lee affirms that diverse perspectives and backgrounds enhance our community. We are committed to the recruitment, enrichment, and retention of students, faculty, and staff who embody many experiences, cultures, points of view, interests, and identities. In keeping with the University Strategic Plan, we encourage applications from underrepresented minority candidates and members of other communities that are traditionally underrepresented in academia.
Qualifications
Applicants must have a PhD (or ABD status) in Arabic or a related field (e.g., Middle Eastern Studies, Islamic Studies) by the time of appointment, which begins July 1, 2024.
Application Instructions
All application materials must be submitted online through Interfolio at http://apply.interfolio.com/140901. Applications must include a cover letter, curriculum vitae, graduate transcript (unofficial is acceptable for initial application), student evaluations, and contact information for three professional references. At least two of these references should be able to speak to your teaching abilities. Women and minority candidates are especially encouraged to apply. Please send any inquiries about the position to Seth Cantey at canteys@wlu.edu.
Review of applications will begin on March 11 and will continue until the position is filled.
4. Workshop: Aesthetics, Rituals, and Narratives in Islamic Mobilization
Date: 24th October 2024
Venue: The Middle East Centre, University of Oxford, Woodstock Rd, Oxford OX2 6JF (UK)
Workshop funded by Sasakawa Peace Foundation
For over four decades, the Middle East has witnessed the (re)emergence of Islamic mobilization—a multifaceted phenomenon that involves diverse groups advocating for visibility, political legitimacy, and resonance in response to social and political grievances. When analysing Islamic narratives of resistance, it is imperative not to underestimate the importance of aesthetic, ritualistic, and entertainment characteristics. These elements play a pivotal role in capturing people’s attention and motivating them to participate in collective actions.
In this workshop, we will investigate how art, rituals, performances, music, and symbolic meanings contribute to creating a cohesive narrative that shapes various forms of Islamic mobilization across the Middle East. We invite abstracts that explore aesthetics, rituals, and narratives within the context of Islamic movements in the Middle East. Submissions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- The Aesthetic of Armed Resistance:
_Analysing the expressive dimension of Islamic militant activism, focusing on the interplay between symbolic meanings, visual representations, and emotions in influencing militant groups to challenge their antagonists.
_Examining the contribution of art, slogans, graffiti, and music in shaping narratives of armed resistance.
- Rituals and Islamic Mobilisation:
_Investigating the incorporation of religious festivals, communal rituals, and traditions in Islamic mobilization.
Examing the role of rituals in the identity formation of Islamic movements.
- Narratives in Action:
_Investigate how activists construct narratives about memories of past struggles and current experiences of grievances to foster or resist political changes.
_Examine the role of oral histories, art, literature, and cultural expressions as essential components of collective action frames, elucidating how activists express their grievances.
- Digital Storytelling:
_Exploring the role of digital platforms in enabling Islamic groups to share the experiences of activism through multimedia representations.
_Analysing the impact of digital activism on mobilization by unfolding the relationship between online campaigns and aesthetics of protest in the digital era.
How to Apply:
Applicants must submit an abstract of 400-words, a 100-words biography, and a two-page CV to info_workshop_mena2024@area.ox.ac.uk by 22 March 2024.
Please note that we will be selecting only 15 abstracts for presentation. Notification of acceptance will be sent by April 2024. Papers to be submitted after the notification of acceptance will be 4000-words for work in progress and 8000-words for full articles.
Partial funding is available to support accommodation in Oxford for participants, with priority given to individuals with limited institutional support. If you require funding for accommodation, please indicate your request in your submission.
Conveners: Dr Antonella Acinapura (Antonella.acinapura@area.ox.ac.uk ) and Dr Kenichi Tani (kenichi.tani@area.ox.ac.uk )
5. The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture and the Mashtots Professor of Armenian Studies at Harvard University are pleased to announce the next lecture in the 2023–2024 East of Byzantium lecture series.
Tuesday, February 27, 2024 | 12:00 PM (EST, UTC -5) | Zoom
Political Rituals and Urban Communities in Cilician Armenia
Gohar Grigoryan, University of Fribourg
Advance registration required. Register: https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/
6. A new documentary THROUGH THE MIRROR OF CHESS: A CULTURAL EXPLORATION which explores the remarkable impact of chess on culture, art, literature, science and more in an attempt to comprehensively address the question of what makes the game so unique.
The viewer is taken on an exhilarating journey across a wide range of times and places, touching on Asian studies, Islamic art, Medieval romance, Enlightenment philosophy, psychology, linguistics, game theory, gender bias, literature, computer science, educational theory, empirical economics, sporting culture, penal reform, social empowerment and more.
Part 2 of the film provides a detailed exploration of the history and widespread social and cultural impact of chess over its first thousand years, from roughly 500–1500 CE. Beginning in Northern India, the film follows the evolution of the game into the Sasanian Empire, its incorporation into the Islamic world through the Arab Conquest, and its eventual penetration into Medieval Europe, highlighting its many influences on art, literature and politics throughout a broad range of very different societies.
Professor Antonio Panaino, University of Bologna, examines the strong cultural role that games played in the Sasanian world, reflecting prevailing societal norms, while describing the very real activities that young noble warriors were engaged in as a means of training and education.
Professor Jenny Adams, UMass Amherst, is featured in the film and talks about what medieval literary representations can tell us both about the ways the game changed as it was naturalized in the West and about the society these changes reflected. In its Western form, chess featured a queen rather than a counselor, a judge or bishop rather than an elephant, a knight rather than a horse; in some manifestations, even the pawns were differentiated into artisans, farmers, and tradespeople with discrete identities.
The film explores how a careful investigation of chess pieces over the ages sheds highly revealing light on the artistic and courtly values of many different civilizations. At the same time, a close examination of the many chess-related literary references, from epic Persian poems to medieval romances and political allegories, provides an additional array of unique insights into a tapestry of distinct yet overlapping traditions.
On the film page, https://ideasroadshow.com/libraries_chess/, you can find more details. Attached is a detailed study guide with additional information. Feel free to contact me directly, irena@ideasroadshow.com , for more information about this film and upcoming films on the Italian Renaissance.
Contact Email
URL
https://ideasroadshow.com/libraries_chess/
7. The Al Babtain-Leiden University Centre for Arabic Culture will offer the sixth Leiden Summerschool on Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World, with lectures by experts, hands-on classes and much practice with manuscripts from its famous collection of oriental manuscripts. The course is meant for graduate students (MA and PhD) and researchers. It will take place from August 19 to 30, 2024. More information will soon be available on the website mentioned below (page Summerschools.) Or send an e-mail to Fons Hooft for more information.
The deadline for applications is Wednesday May 1, 2024. Participants will be informed about the selection by Friday May 3, 2024.
Contact Information
Mr Fons Hooft, student-assistant.
Contact Email
URL
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/humanities/institute-for-area-studies/arab…
8. Cambridge Blue Story of Muhammad Hanafiyyah from Java
Majid Daneshgar’s article on a rare copy of the Hikayat Muhammad Hanafiyyah kept at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge. This work is inscribed on a BLUE paper from the mid-17th century.
This copy was produced in Java, and it contains more Persian poetic accounts. Here is the online article:
https://specialcollections-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=27592
- February 20, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 19, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Mediterranean Seminar Summer Skills Seminars are intensive, interactive four-day workshops that provide students, scholars and professionals with foundational training in technical skills related to Mediterranean Studies. The Seminars, run by leading scholars, emphasize hands-on reading complemented by supplementary and contextual topics.
All Skills Seminars are held synchronously by remote client (i.e.: Zoom, Teams. etc.), and are open to all. Meeting times are set to accommodate the most possible participants taking into account the effects of time zones. The meeting times noted below are given in MDT (Mountain Daylight Time), which is EDT -2, CDT -1, PST +1, GMT -8, and WET -9.
“Mediterranean Magic: An Introduction” 10–13 June 2024
This Summer Skills Seminar provides participants with an overview of magic and its ability to intersect with religion, ethnicity, gender, and more across transnational networks. While anchored in the premodern cultural and literary past we will also explore some contemporary echoes.
Contact Email
mailbox@mediterraneanseminar.org
URL
https://www.mediterraneanseminar.org/overview-mediterranean-magic-2024
2. Archaeology, Text, Narrative, and the Usable Past in Global Perspective (Session #1108, EAA Rome)
The concept of the/a “usable past” was coined by Van Wyck Brooks in 1918 in an attempt to retrospectively bind together disparate cultural elements in the USA. The instrumentalising of the past to shape collective memory is a feature of all human collectivities. Salient examples of this in the politics of the present and the past are to be found in the use of the shared-but-exclusive heritage of perceived golden ages from around the globe—e.g., the Rashidun Caliphate, Roman Empire, Gupta Empire, Tawantinsuyu, Mali Empire or Tang era, among many other points in space and time—to justify contemporary political systems, social stratification and inter-polity relations. However, it would be difficult to argue that the deployment of a usable past by established social groups this is ever totalising, with individuals and groups having complex relationships with the past and narratives associated with it.
This session seeks to take stock of the research being done across the globe on these issues, both in the present and the use of the past in the past. Papers are encouraged in relation to both case-studies where textual and archaeological evidence intersect and contradict, and on areas for which documentary narratives do not survive. Studies treating these processes outside Europe are particularly encouraged, as are comparative treatments of the problematic. Research questions that could be posed include—but are not limited to—why usable pasts are so often linked to military highpoints; the use of the past by groups writing against one another in narrative complexes; gatekeeping and selectivity and the past; the removal of the past in colonial relations; archaeology shaping and being shaped by narrative; and on the past as a socio-political and cultural resource more widely.
Session #1108, The European Association of Archaeologists, 30th annual meeting in Rome, 28-31 August 2024
Additional details:
- Presentations are planned for 15 minutes each.
- Abstracts need to have between 150 and 300 words. 3-6 keywords should be added.
- The maximum number of authors is 10, the main author.
- For submitting an abstract, consult https://submissions.e-a-a.org/eaa2024/
- Please note that ultimately all Annual Meeting delegates must be current EAA members (paid-up for 2024) and pay the Annual Meeting registration fee.
Contact Information
Russell Ó Ríagáin, University College Dublin (Ireland)
Hagit Nol, Goethe Universität, Frankfurt-am-Main (Germany)
Contact Email
URL
https://submissions.e-a-a.org/eaa2024/
3. Edinburgh – Hybrid: Islam and Christian Muslim Relations (ICMR) Research Seminars
The talks will take place on Tuesdays in the Martin Hall at New College from 16:10 until 17:30 (unless otherwise stated), in hybrid form. Those wishing to attend online may do so by following this link: https://ed-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/83079577369 and entering passcode cWg5iQ5U.
30 Jan
Professor Nahyan Fancy (University of Exeter)
‘The Brain Never Shuts Down’: Sleep Theory and Practices in Premodern Islamic Societies
20 Feb
Professor Andrew Peacock (University of St Andrews)
Translating the Bible in Mongol Tabriz: Persian manuscripts, Syriac Translators and European Patronage.
5 Mar
Professor Emily Selove (University of Exeter)
Book Talk: The Donkey King: Asinine Symbology in Ancient and Medieval Magic
19 Mar
Dr Sofia Rehman (independent scholar)
Book Talk: Gendering the Hadith Tradition: Recentring the Authority of Aisha, Mother of the Believers
*** Online only from 10am to 11:30am ***
2 Apr
PhD Student Panel in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
Speakers TBA
All best wishes,
Salam Rassi
Contact Email
4. Book: Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage
GINGKO has published Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage, a beautiful two volume book including twenty seven essays responding to objects associated with the arts of pilgrimage, from the remarkable collection of Professor Sir Nasser David Khalili.
Each of the essays are written by prominent specialists in the field. The volumes are beautifully illustrated with full-colour images of objects from the collection, some of which have never been seen before. Together, the essays in Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage provide a comprehensive overview of Hajj, illustrating the religious, spiritual, cultural, and artistic aspects of pilgrimage to the Holy Sanctuaries of Islam and the cosmopolitan nature of Hajj itself.
Edited by Qaisra M. Khan with Nahla Nassar
Foreword by Julian Raby
Essays by Bilal Badat, Sergio Carro Martín, Sami De Giosa, Sabiha Göloğlu, Alastair Hamilton, Edmund Hayes, Qaisra Khan, Janie Lightfoot, Jan Loop, Michael Christopher Low, Ulrich Marzolph, Richard McGregor, Luitgard Mols, Harry Munt, James Nicholson, Nahla Nassar, Seif el Rashidi, Yousuf Saeed, Saarthak Singh, John Slight, Mehmet Tütüncü, Aram Vardanyan, Arnoud Vrolijk, Michael Wolfe, Muhammad Isa Waley, Peter Webb.
Hajj and the Arts of Pilgrimage is available to buy from our website: https://www.gingko.org.uk/publishing/books/hajj-and-the-arts-of-pilgrimage/
5. Online summer course in Persian at UT: Iranian Cinema
Re-initiation of the online, higher-intermediate/advanced summer courses in Persian at UT Austin.
Our first summer course will be IRANIAN CINEMA, to be taught entirely in Persian in summer session 1 (June 6-July 11, 2024).
Enrollments are open to any language learners anywhere in the world, with the condition of taking the placement exam.
You can read more about this summer course on the attached flyer or by clicking on (or copy/pasting) this link: https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/mes/languages/persian/iranian-cinema-summer-course-prs-329.html.
Fellowships available.
6. SOAS Iranian Women Visual Artists – 27 February 2024
SOAS Middle East Institute and the SOAS Centre for Iranian Studies
Iranian Women Visual Artists – NOW!
5.30pm-7.00pm, Tuesday 27 February 2024
More info and register at:
https://www.soas.ac.uk/about/event/iranian-women-visual-artists-now
7. Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life: New Frontiers in Science and Religion
Bloomsbury, 2024
Jörg Matthias Determann and Shoaib Ahmed Malik, eds.
More information:
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/islamic-theology-and-extraterrestrial-life-9780755650880/
8. Prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien”, jeudi 29 février 2024, 17h, à l’INALCO
Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien”, qui se tiendra le jeudi 29 février 2024, 17h-19h, en salle 3.15 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 3e étage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir M. Yavuz Aykan, spécialiste de l’histoire du droit et de l’histoire sociale de l’Empire ottoman, Maître de conférences en histoire moderne à l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, pour une conférence intitulée: “L’Empire et son madhhab: vers une relecture de l’impérialisation ottomane“.
Résumé
Cette communication a pour point de départ la question suivante : quel rôle a joué le droit musulman dans l’intégration des périphéries à l’empire ottoman à l’époque moderne ? Pour éclairer le problème dans sa complexité, je me concentrerai sur le déploiement de la doctrine juridique hanafite dans la ville d’Amid (aujourd’hui Diyarbakır), limitrophe des territoires safavides, et interface du monde iranien. J’examinerai en particulier le sort du terme juridique de hakk-ı karar, comparable au principe romain de l’usucapio, qui désigne littéralement le droit du cultivateur sur la terre agricole “en vertu de la résidence”. Jusqu’au XVIIe siècle, ce principe était régi par les règles du kanun, sorte de code administratif imposé par le souverain. Avec l’intégration de ce principe dans les textes hanafites, on observe l’interpénétration progressive des règles du kanun et de la doctrine sunnite-hanafite, et le déploiement de cette dernière dans les pratiques juridiques ottomanes. En me fondant sur l’analyse d’un procès complexe concernant le destin d’une terre vacante dans la ville d’Amid au XVIIIe siècle, je soutiendrai qu’en s’appropriant les principes du kanun ottoman, la doctrine sunnite-hanafite s’est constituée en soutien aux prérogatives d’État sur les terres agricoles, notamment en période de crise. Ma conclusion mettra en perspective ce processus dans le contexte des politiques sunnites dans la région, pour mieux comprendre le renforcement du hanafisme ottoman aux frontières de l’empire safavide.
Orientations bibliographiques
- Aykan, Yavuz, Rendre la justice à Amid: procédures, acteurs et doctrines dans le contexte ottoman du XVIIIe siècle, Leyde, Brill, 2016 (en part. p. 183–84).
- Abou Al-Hajj, Rifaat, “Power and Social Order: the Uses of Kanun”,dans Irene A. Bierman, Rifaat Abou-El-Hajj et Donald Preziosi (dir.), The Ottoman City and its Parts: Structures and Social Order, New Rochelle, N.Y., A.D. Caratzas, 1991, p. 77–99.
- İnalcık, Halil, The Ottoman Empire: The Classical Age 1300-1600, Londres, Phoenix, 2000 (en part. p. 179–85).
Pour rappel, vous retrouverez le programme 2023-2024 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien” sur le site du CeRMI :
Dans l’attente du 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), nous vous adressons tous nos vœux les meilleurs pour la nouvelle année.
Contact: justine.landau@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr
9. A Stroll in the Enchanting Sphere of Persian Wisdom, Language, and Culture
A Series of Courses Introducing Masterpieces of Persian Literature
Course 1:
With Sa‘di in the Delightful Gardens of Golestan
Lecturer: Dr Isa Jahangir
April 16 – July 16
Tuesdays 6-7:30 pm
Venue: The Islamic College 133 High Road London NW102SW
To register:
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/study/short-courses/persian-language-culture/
10. Webinar:
Silk in Ottoman Safavid Trade, Warfare, and Urban Life in the Early Modern Period,”
Professor Fariba Zarinebaf
4 March, 5 pm EST
https://unc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ss4GNLt9TamA9rTT9vRjkQ#/registration
11. GINKO Grants
GINGKO provides grants to support academic research into the history, art history and religions of MENA. GINGKO also offers grants for people organising transformative interfaith and intercultural encounters between people from MENA and the West.
In 2023 successful applications included a workshop entitled ‘From West Africa to South East Asia: The History of Muhammad al-Jazuli’s Dala’il al-Khayrat Prayer Book (15th-20th centuries)’ to be held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and New York Public Library and a conference entitled ‘Searching for the light: The life and work of Mahmoud Saïd, pioneer of Egyptian and Arab Modernism’ to be held at the Università La Sapienza in Rome.
If you have a research project or an encounter that you would like to pursue, pleases consider applying.
We are open for applications until 6 April 2024. You can read more about the GINGKO Grants Programme and find information on how to apply by visiting:
gingko.org.uk/how-to-apply
12. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Programoffers over 400 unique awards for U.S. citizens to teach, research, and conduct professional projects in more than 130 countries, including projects in the areas of study of Islamic art. Explore awards available in the 2025-26 competition. You can join the more than 400,000 Fulbrighters who have come away with enhanced skills, new connections and greater mutual understanding.
We encourage you to visit our website for application resources:
– Getting Started
– Application Guidance
– Open Awards in the 2025-26 Competition, searchable by discipline, country/region, etc.
– Webinar Schedule and Archive
– Office Hours, a great way to get your questions answered live by Fulbright staff
View our webinar schedule for presentations throughout the year, sharing opportunities for specific regions, countries, and disciplines.
We look forward to receiving your application by our deadline of September 16, 2024. To receive program updates and application resources, connect with Fulbright.
- February 17, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – AMI CfP: ’12th annual AMI Contemporary Fiqhī Issues Workshop’ – (Birmingham, 4-5 July, 2024)
Call for Papers: Language and Meaning in Islamic Legal Theory
The deadline for submissions is 19th April 2024.
- February 15, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment