Archive for February 20th, 2024
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