Archive for March, 2024

1.The Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of the University of Chicago is honored to have Prof. Dominic Parviz Brookshaw as the fourth speaker in the Franklin Lewis Lecture Series of 2022-2025. The lecture will be in person and on zoom on Friday, April 19 at 5:00-7:00 PM US Central Time.

Title: ‘Illusory Originality: Appropriation, Repurposing, and Response in the Poems of Tahira Qurrat al-‘Ayn’

Zoom link:

https://uchicagogroup.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0ocuqpqzkuHdC41RztwbolJdTYUouiJ6d1#/registration

 

 

 

2. At the end of last year, GINGKO published Precious Materials: The Arts of Metal in the Medieval Iranian World.

First published in French in 2021, the book showcases the pre-Mongol metalwork held at Louvre in Paris and has now been translated into English in an edition revised by the author, Annabelle Collinet.

 

 

 

3. Online: “The Introduction of Islamic Coinage in 697-98″

with Michael Bates, Stephen Heidemann, and Stuart Sears.

Friday, April 5th, @12 noon EST

https://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/introduction-islamic-coinage-697-98-and-after

 

 

 

 

4. Caliphate and Imamate

An Anthology of Medieval Muslim Texts on Political Theology

H Ansari, N Husayn, eds.

Cambridge, 2023

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/caliphate-and-imamate/93727020916F4855058FD7DC472C8EBD

 

 

 

 

5. World Cultures Curator (Arabic and Persian)
The University of Edinburgh
This post sits within Heritage Collections, Research Collections team working within the Centre for Research Collections in the Main Library in George Square. It reports to The University Archivist and Research Collections Manager. The working hours and pattern are usually 35 hours a week with much of this on campus working with the collections.
Deadline | 4 April 2024
More information

 

 

 

 

6. Bennett Boskey Fellowship in Modern Global History (1700 -present)
University of Oxford
Exeter College invites applications for the Bennett Boskey Fellowship in Modern Global History (1700-present). The Fellowship, which is strictly temporary, will be tenable for a period of up to 36 months (with effect from 1 September 2024, or as soon as possible thereafter). We particularly seek applications from candidates who focus on the history of the Middle East (including North Africa) or the South Atlantic (West Africa and Latin America).
Deadline | 5 April 2024
More information

 

 

 

 

7. Irish Research Council (IRC) Doctoral Researcher
University College Dublin
Applications are invited for a PhD doctoral researcher within the UCD School of Politics and International Relations to deliver the research objectives of a project funded by the Irish Research Council. The project applies methods from quantitative text analysis/NLP in Arabic and cognitive mapping (Axelrod 1976) to examine interviews with participants in Muslim resistance movements.
Deadline | 8 April 2024
More information

 

 

 

 

8. Lecturer in Arabic Studies
The University of Manchester
To further strengthen our teaching portfolio, the Department of Modern Languages and Cultures wishes to appoint a Lecturer in Arabic Studies. The post is tenable from September 1st 2024 to June 30th 2027. This post in Arabic Studies is a teaching and scholarship position. Applicants must have a relevant PhD and demonstrate the ability to meet flexible curricular and teaching needs and demonstrate capability to contribute organisationally to the wider Departmental community.
Deadline | 8 April 2024
More information

 

 

 

 

9. Research Associate in Early Modern Global History (Islamic World Focus)
The University of Manchester
Applications are sought for a full-time Postdoctoral Research Associate to work with Dr Edmond Smith, conducting research for the ERC-selected, UKRI-funded project “Institutional Transformation and the Entangled Commercial Cultures of International Trade, 1450-1750” (INTRECCI). The successful applicant will hold a PhD in the field of early modern, global, or economic history, or in another relevant field, with expertise in the history of trade and empire in the Islamic World.
Deadline | 10 April 2024
More information

 

 

 

 

10. Research Associate in Early Modern Global History (Islamic World Focus)
The University of Manchester
Applications are sought for a full-time Postdoctoral Research Associate to work with Dr Edmond Smith, conducting research for the ERC-selected, UKRI-funded project “Institutional Transformation and the Entangled Commercial Cultures of International Trade, 1450-1750” (INTRECCI). The successful applicant will hold a PhD in the field of early modern, global, or economic history, or in another relevant field, with expertise in the history of trade and empire in the Islamic World.
Deadline | 10 April 2024
More information

 

 

 

 

11. Evans-Pritchard Lectureship 2024-25
All Souls College, Oxford
Applications are invited for the Evans-Pritchard Lectureship, to take place during the academic year 2024-2025. The Lecturer will deliver a series of four to six lectures in the course of a month, usually during May, based on fieldwork or other indigenous primary materials concerning Africa, the Middle East or the Mediterranean, and offering an empirical analysis of social relations.
Deadline | 7 May 2024
More information

 

 

 

 

12. Call for Submissions | Second Symposium on Middle Eastern, North African and Central Asian Dances, Music and Performing Arts

Symposium, Pomona College (Claremont, CA), 3-6 October 2024

Submissions are invited for the second scholarly symposium on MENA and Central Asian dances. This year’s topics include music and performing arts from the same regions. The goal is to gather as many scholars as possible in one academic environment to present their most recent research. All submissions must be accompanied by an abstract (150-250 words).

Deadline | 1 April 2024

More information

 

 

 

 

13. Hudood: Rethinking boundaries
Exhibition | Brunei Gallery | 11 July-21 September
The exhibition introduces contemporary art from the Barjeel Foundation, with a focus on the overarching theme of “Boundaries” as both a subject and a tool for meaningfully accessing a diverse array of art from the SWANA region. Delving into the profound implications of walls and borders on artistic expression, the exhibition prompts the question of whether it is the artist’s perspective that ultimately transcends these boundaries.
More information

 

 

 

 

14. ONLINE Webinar “Staging Piety: The Takkiyya Muʿavin al-Mulk in Kermanshah”

With Nahid Massoumeh Assemi 

British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 4 April 2024, 5:00 pm UK Time

This talk gives a brief account of the development of the rituals of commemoration of the Battle of Karbala in Iran, and their patronage by the state and the elites of society, who solicited the loyalty of the broader public by building takkiyyas, providing the venues for pious forms of entertainment. It also argues for the role of takkiyyas in creation of a sense of community and group identity; the formative stage of the emergent idea of nationhood at the time.

Information and registration:

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/3717098146803/WN_Wc0se2GzSxC0F4HCmWxgEg#/registration

 

 

Registration is required.

UN WGAD finds the detention of four elderly Bahraini opposition leaders arbitrary and subjected to torture, coerced confessions, enforced disappearances, unfair trials, and medical neglect

For the ADHRB’s latest weekly newsletter, click here.

1.HYBRID Lecture “Roads to Civilization: Imagining, Mapping, and Integrating Dersim into the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish State” by Cevat Dargın, New York University, 11 April 2024, 10:30 pm CET

This talk explores the historical journey of Dersim in eastern Anatolia with a predominantly Kizilbash Kurdish population, as it transitioned from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish state. It analyzes how racialized ideologies and colonial policies influenced the treatment and perception of this ethno-religious group across both the empire and the nation-state. The talk provides critical insights into broader issues of identity, violence, and statecraft in the region.

Information and registration: https://nyu.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYvcOutqjIjGNH17xw2qwwQRtSOZdzulNtE#/registration

 

 

 

 

2. „DAVO-Werkstattgespräche” to Promote Young Scholars during the Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), University of Goettingen, 26-28 September 2024

Young scholars will have the chance to present their scientific theses (Master thesis, PhD) in progress in German or English language. Since the general idea of the workshop is not to present finished works, young scholars are explicitly invited to contribute their projects in an early stage of conception or implementation.

Deadline for proposals: 15 May 2024. Information: contact Dr. Tobias Zumbrägel (tobias.zumbraegel@uni-heidelberg.de)

 

 

 

 

3. Conference “The Social Sciences and Humanities in Iran: Possibilities and Constraints”, Iranian Studies Unit of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Doha, Qatar, 9-10 October 2024

The conference will reflect on the state of social sciences and humanities in theory, methodology, and practice, and will examine how they are taught and researched in Iran. In addition to looking at some of the key institutions that have shaped social sciences and humanities research in Iran, the conference will examine the impact of the Islamic Republic’s establishment and its policies on research and teaching.

Deadline for abstracts: 17 April 2024. Information:

https://www.dohainstitute.org/en/Events/iranian-studies-unit-2024-conference-/Pages/index.aspx

 

 

 

 

4. International Conference “A Decolonial Mediterranean? Disparities, Imaginations, Power Relations“, Merian Center for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM), Tunis, 4-6 November 2024

The conference aims at critically investigating the legacies of European colonialism in the subsequent states around this maritime space and at addressing different or complementary representations of the Mediterranean within the Maghreb or other regions of the world, such as the interconnections between “White”, “Red” and “Black” Sea, put forward by intellectuals and politicians of the Ottoman Empire or other spatial imaginations, historical legacies, ideas and practices.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2024.

Information: https://application.trafo-berlin.de/procedure/6c6c7876-9bf8-4349-8b45-1504b5a4b033

 

 

 

 

5. Workshop “State Islam and Authoritarian Rule: Comparing Control Over Religious Institutions in Muslim-majority States”, Lancaster University, 11 December 2024

Contributions should discuss the role of state Islam in a Muslim-majority state or states within a particular region, including the Middle East and North Africa, sub-Saharan Africa, Central or South Asia, or East Asia. What is the extent and form of state control over religious institutions? In what ways have these controls been shaped by historical state-religion relations? Why do states intervene in the religious sector? To deny space for Islamist opponents to operate? To combat the threat of religious extremism?

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2024.

Information: https://www.sepad.org.uk/announcement/call-for-papers-state-islam-and-authoritarian-rule

 

 

 

 

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

In this position you are expected to write a dissertation in a stimulating environment using the university’s infrastructure. You will hold your own lectures, tutor students and participate in administration. 50% of the working time is reserved for the thesis

Deadline for applications: 1 April 2024.

Information: https://lfuonline.uibk.ac.at/public/karriereportal.details?asg_id_in=14072

 

 

 

 

7. Postdoctoral Researcher (12 Months), Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies / Gender Studies and Islamic Studies, University of Zurich

This is a position in the research project “Fragmented Sovereignties in the Colonial Age: ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jazāʾirī (1808-1883) and the Making of an ‘Arab Hero'” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation. Your profile: PhD in Middle Eastern Studies/Islamic Studies or a related field; relevant research expertise in the area; proficiency in both Arabic and French is essential; knowledge of Ottoman Turkish is desirable.

Deadline for applications: 31 March 2024. Information:

https://jobs.uzh.ch/offene-stellen/postdoctoral-researcher/3403c21c-9fb1-4a40-a70a-8eb202065f28

 

 

 

8. Postdoctoral Fellowships of the Marie S. Curie Actions (MSCA), Ghent University

The European Fellowships provide postdocs with a budget to work for one or two years at a European institution in a different country from where they have been working and residing in the past years. With a Global Fellowship, postdocs can go to an institution outside of the EU Member States or Associated Countries for 1 to 2 years, and then come back to a European institution for the final year of the fellowship.

Deadline for applications: 11 September 2024.

Information: https://bozi.ugent.be/nl/bozi/c83B4eMbBdJ53L2tNRm3WJ

 

 

 

9. ERC Postdoctoral Researcher for the “Invisible East Research Programme”, University of Oxford

You will be responsible for carrying out research on medieval writing in the Islamicate East and its connections with the history of language. You will contribute to building an online digital corpus of documents written in Persian, Arabic, Bactrian, Pahlavi, Hebrew and other languages of the medieval Islamicate East. You will have expertise in a language of the Islamicate world, and knowledge of the history and civilisations of Islamicate world.

Deadline for applications: 2 April 2024.

Information: https://my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.display_form

 

 

 

10. Project Manager in Conflict Transformation in Erbil, Iraq, forumZFD

You will support local communities and contribute to non-violent conflict transformation. Your profile: University degree in social/political sciences, law, peace and conflict studies or other relevant discipline. – Minimum of 5-years professional experience in conflict transformation and peacebuilding in a conflict or post conflict setting. – Experience as Civil Peace Service Expert and regional knowledge of the Iraqi context is an asset.

Deadline for applications: 31 March 2024.

Information: https://www.forumzfd.de/en/job/project-manager-mfd-erbil-iraq-3

 

 

 

 

11. ONLINE Intensive Course “The Tenth Yemen Exchange”, Sana`a Center and The Exchange Foundation, 22 April – 3 May 2024

The course is designed to provide unique access to information, perspectives, updates, and analysis on Yemen for those seeking to develop a working background on the country as well as those already thoroughly versed in its dynamics.

Deadline for application: 31 March 2024.

Information: https://sanaacenter.org/event/the-tenth-yemen-exchange

 

 

 

 

12. Summer School for “Current Issues in Middle East Politics”, Bodrum Institute, Bodrum/Turkey, 2-7 June 2024

The program will focus on the Middle Eastern regional order, regional conflicts, alliances, wars, and peace-making as well as the state-society dynamics. The course will cover the Arab world, Iran, and Israel.

Deadline for applications: 15 April 2024. Information: http://www.bodruminstitute.com/index.php/educations/126-current-issues-in-middle-east-politics

 

 

 

13. Grant of the British Yemeni Society for Academic Study Related to Yemen (up to £1,000)

Applications are invited from anyone carrying out research in, or on Yemen, at a university, preferably one that is based in Britain or Yemen. Applicant’s nationality is irrelevant. Applications may be made to assist with study in any subject or field, so long as it is concerned with Yemen, and is for a specific qualification (e.g., BA, MA, PhD etc.).

Deadline for applications: 31 May 2024. Information: https://britishyemenisociety.org.uk/what-we-do/

 

 

 

 

14. Articles for “Keshif: E-Journal for Ottoman-Turkish Micro Editions”

Ottoman Studies is a manuscript science, and all scholars who work on manuscripts know this situation: one “discovers” accidentally short texts in manuscripts–single poems, letters, contracts, and marginal notes of different, often private matters. Our vision for Keshif is to provide a forum for researchers to make these frag-ments accessible to a wider audience, i.e. to bring together the many pieces of the mosaic, such that complete pictures gradually emerge.

Deadline for contributions: 5 June 2024. Information: https://journals.univie.ac.at/index.php/keshif/index

 

 

 

15. Arabic Lectureship, UC Santa Barbara

The Department of Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara invites applications for a lecturer position in Modern Standard Arabic beginning in the 2024-2025 academic year.

Responsibilities consist of teaching both first-year Arabic (Introductory Arabic) and second-year Arabic (Intermediate Arabic). The total teaching load is six courses over the three quarters of the academic year. A reasonable estimated full-time rate for this position is $66,259-$72,404. Position percent time is 67%. The anticipated start date for this Appointment begins July 1, 2024.

This lecturer position will complement core faculty in Islamic Studies (Religious Studies), Middle Eastern history, Global Studies, Comparative Literature, Middle Eastern Ethnomusicology, and other disciplines. In addition to its strong graduate program in Islamic Studies, the department of Religious Studies administers an undergraduate B.A. degree in Middle East Studies. UCSB is also home to a vibrant Center for Middle East Studies (www.cmes.ucsb.edu).

The department is especially interested in candidates who contribute to the diversity and excellence of the academic community through research, teaching, and service. UCSB has recently been designated a Hispanic serving institution under the U.S. Department of Education’s guidelines (where total Hispanic enrollment constitutes a minimum of 25% of total enrollment).

Applicants should submit: (1) cover letter; (2) curriculum vitae; (3) statement of teaching pedagogy; (4) summary of teaching experience; (5) summary of teaching evaluations; and (6) arrange to have three letters of recommendation submitted through UC Recruit at https://recruit.ap.ucsb.edu. Inquiries may be addressed to the department’s Academic Personnel Coordinator, Kasey Odell, at kodell@hfa.ucsb.edu.

 

 

 

 

16. Breathtaking Revelations:
The Science of Breath from The Fifty Kamarupa Versesto Hazrat Inayat Khan
by Carl W. Ernst & Patrick J. D’Silva

This contains translation of a 14th-century Persian text on the power of breath and yogic practices, The Fifty Kamarupa Verses, plus an English text on the same topic written by Hazrat Inayat Khan and edited by Patrick J. D’Silva.

The book is available from Suluk Press at https://sulukpress.com/books/breathtaking-revelations/

There will be an author chat about the book on Saturday, April 27 at 3-4:15pm EST at Breathtaking Revelations Author Chat Tickets, Sat, Apr 27, 2024 at 3:00 PM | Eventbrite

 

 

 

17. Course name: Arabic Manuscripts Codicology and Philology

Course venue: Library of the Academy of Science, Lisbon, Portugal

Course dates: 08 – 11 July 2024

Course details: https://www.aku.edu/ismc/events/pages/event-detail.aspx?EventID=2533&Title=Arabic%20Manuscripts%20Codicology%20and%20Philology

 

 

 

 

18. Where did Homo sapiens go after leaving Africa? New study has an answer

https://www.reuters.com/science/where-did-homo-sapiens-go-after-leaving-africa-new-study-has-an-answer-2024-03-25/?user_email=512cf21627ad6d0030cfefd64893c4cd7b26f9b8526e567a740198ca4e3f48b6

 

 

 

19. Hybrid event – Edinburgh’s Alwaleed Centre is delighted to be hosting Dr Shabana Mir (American Islamic College, Chicago) for a special hybrid seminar this coming Thursday 28 at 4pm GMT.

‘Campus Connections and Ruptures: Muslim Students in the United States’ will explore the first ethnographic study of Muslim American college students, asking listeners to reflect on their implications for Muslim belonging, in the United States especially but in Western nations generally.

This event is available to attend in-person at the Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh, or online via Zoom.

For further information and to register for free, click here: www.alwaleed.ed.ac.uk/events/shabana-mir

 

 

 

20. Centre of Islamic Studies Cambridge Events:

Wednesday 27 March 

Afterlives of Urban Muslim Asia

Paul Anderson with Professor Magnus Marsden & Dr Vera Skvirskaja

2:00 – 3:30 – Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies

Booking email address:  cis@cis.cam.ac.uk

All talks are free and open to all.

 

 

 

21. Armenian School of Languages and Cultures – ASPIRANTUM is organizing the seventh 16-week Persian language semester program in Yerevan, Armenia. The 16-week semester program of Persian language will start on August 18, 2024, and will last till December 6, 2024 (111 days, 300 hours of Persian language instruction).

For more details and to apply, please visit https://aspirantum.com/courses/study-persian-language-semester-abroad

During the Persian language summer classes, the following components will be covered every day to foster the Persian language knowledge of participants:

Grammar: Every day class will cover the main grammatical concepts of the modern Persian language as well as parallels with classical Persian.
Vocabulary: During the 16-week course, it is anticipated that the participants will learn more than 3000 new Persian words from literary language and words used in everyday life.
Listening: The classes are scheduled so that participants, with the guidance of an experienced instructor, learn the Persian language through songs and movies, watching and listening to news and other short videos about interesting and sometimes funny topics and stories about Iranian realities.
Speaking: Every day, the Persian language classes will push the students to exercise their speaking abilities through discussions, conversations, and role-plays about different texts and topics.
Writing: Each day, the participants of the Persian language class will have assignments and homework to complete for the next day, and the homework will primarily involve writing assignments.
Reading: Every day, students will read and discuss political texts, prose and poetry, conversations, and news. The corpus of texts to be read and discussed during the classes comprises different prominent Persian authors, daily conversations, and news of the day.

You can check the video testimonials of our previous students here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQXUOf6S4Po

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfQMbcNJrvY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0BG9AJb-XU

During our summer school, we have planned exciting trips to some of Armenia’s most renowned cultural heritage sites. These include the Quba Mere Diwane Yezidi Temple, the Garni Pagan Temple, the Geghard Monastery, the Mausoleum of Kara Koyunlu Emirs, the Amberd Fortress, and the picturesque Lake Sevan. We will also visit Martuni, Ayrivank on Lake Sevan, Ejmiatsin, Tsaghkadzor, Bjni, Khor Virap, Noravank, and more.
These tours offer students a unique opportunity to immerse themselves in local culture. They will have the chance to milk and shear a sheep, savor cheese under a shepherd’s tent, and sample the finest Armenian cuisine in traditional restaurants. Additionally, they can enjoy a refreshing swim in Sevan Lake, which is 1900 meters above sea level, and Kari Lake, which is at an elevation of 3185 meters.
To get a glimpse of what these tours entail, you can watch a recap of our previous excursions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3PmyCWDsvg and here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R4JlteBOxw

Participation fee:
The participation fee is 12,900 USD for the 16 weeks of the Persian Language course.
Discount: The participation fee will be 10,900 USD if you apply before April 25, 2024, and pay by April 30, 2024.
For more details and to apply, please visit https://aspirantum.com/courses/study-persian-language-semester-abroad

 

 

 

 

22. Uyghur Women Activists in the Diaspora

Restorying a Genocide

Susan J. Palmer, Dilmurat Mahmut and Abdulmuqtedir Udun

Bloomsbury, 2024

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/uyghur-women-activists-in-the-diaspora-9781350418332/

 

The Māḥauls of Oratory: Urdu Shi`i Khiṭābat in contemporary Karachi
In this talk, I attend to the material and the historical māḥauls within which Urdu Shiʿi khiṭābat (oratory) unfolds in Karachi. My attention to these contexts aims to move beyond a solely discursive approach to public language-use, in which much of the emphasis lies on referentiality, or what do orations mean. Instead, I foreground the physical and ideological contexts of khiṭābat to lay bare the newness of practices and concepts that undergird oratorical speech-events.
Registration required
Zoom webinar:https://utoronto.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_mV4_DL0DRNasaRxDpRT5uw

1.Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à laprochaine séancedu séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien”, qui se tiendra le jeudi 04 avril 2024, 17h-19h, en salle 3.15 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 3^e étage

Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir Mme Camille Rhoné-Quer, Maîtresse de conférences à l’Université d’Aix-Marseille en délégation au CeRMI, pour une conférence intitulée : « Histoire environnementale du monde turco-iranien médiéval : état des lieux, perspectives et étude de cas (bassin versant de l’Amou Darya) ».

 Résumé

L’histoire environnementale, qui analyse les rapports des sociétés à l’environnement, est née aux États-Unis dans les années 1970 et connaît un important renouveau depuis les années 2000. Toutefois, cette approche a encore été peu adoptée par les historiens des espaces turco-iraniens médiévaux. Les facteurs de ce « retard », multiples, incluent notamment la persistance d’un cloisonnement disciplinaire et épistémologique. Or, depuis quelques années, l’essor des études sur le paléoenvironnement de l’Iran oriental et de l’Asie centrale (archéobotanique, archéozoologie, etc.) permet de renouveler nos connaissances et de pallier en partie les lacunes des textes.

Lors de cette conférence, seront abordés les apports des études paléoenvironnementales des vingt dernières années sur les espaces turco-iraniens (thématiques et zones étudiées ; disciplines impliquées), ainsi qu’une réflexion sur la place qu’occupe l’époque islamique médiévale dans ces travaux, souvent consacrés à la longue durée. Nous nous intéresserons aussi aux limites scientifiques et épistémologiques de ce champ.

Enfin, après avoir abordé rapidement, en guise d’exemple, le débat historiographique sur les facteurs des migrations turkmènes et des conquêtes seldjoukides, nous proposerons une étude de cas sur l’Amou Darya : quels rapports les sociétés des premiers siècles de l’Islam entretiennent-elles avec ce fleuve ? De quel type de données (sources textuelles, archives « naturelles ») dispose-t-on pour proposer une histoire environnementale de l’Amou Darya ?

Orientations bibliographiques

• Arezou AZAD.“The Ecology and Economy of Khurasan in the 7th-8th Century,” dans A. Marsham (ed.). The Umayyad World. Londres: Routledge, 2020, p. 332-354.
• Guillaume BLANC, Élise DEMEULENAERE, Wolf FEUERHAHN (dir.). Humanités environnementales. Enquêtes et contre-enquêtes. Paris: Éditions de la Sorbonne, Série histoire environnementale, 2017.
• Richard BULLIET. Cotton, Climate, and Camels in Early Islamic Iran: A Moment in World History. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009.
• Basira MIR-MAKHAMAD, Sirojidin MIRZAAKHMEDOV, Husniddin RAHMONOV, Sören STARK, Andrey OMEL’CHENKO, Robert N. SPENGLER III.“Qarakhanids on the Edge of the Bukhara Oasis: Archaeobotany of Medieval Paykend,” Economic Botany, 75, 2021, p. 195-214.
• Jürgen PAUL.“Nomads and Bukhara. A Study in Nomad Migrations, Pasture, and Climate Change (11th century CE),” Der Islam, 2016, 93 (2), p. 495-531.
• PORTERO, A. FUSARO, R. PIQUÉ, J. M. GURT, M. ELORZA, S. GABRIEL, & S. R. PIDAEV.“The Environment in the Islamic City of Termez (Uzbekistan): Zooarchaeology and Anthracology of a 9th-century tannur,” Journal of Islamic Archaeology, 8 (1), 2021, p. 1-21.
• Liang Emlyn YANG, Hans-Rudolf BORK  et alii(eds.). Socio-Environmental Dynamics along the Historical Silk Road. Cham: Springer, 2019.

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 :

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

 

 

 

 

2. Call for Papers:  Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference, 27th and 28th June 2024

Seeing Muslimness

Deadline for proposals: 30th April 2024

University of Cambridge (In Person)

Seeing, whether through the lens of perception or representation, plays a pivotal role in shaping our understanding of the world and of those who inhabit it. Within this web of visual perception, knowledge construction, and power dynamics, we take ‘Muslimness’ as a focal point at which various modes of seeing converge, intersect, and often clash. This inquiry encompasses a study of ‘Muslimness’ as expressed in literature, film, culture, architecture, food, animal studies, fashion, and more broadly, as ‘presence’ in physical digital and spectral forms. The act of seeing goes beyond mere observation; it influences our perception, understanding, and further representation of Muslimness. These modes of seeing, whether they be oppressive, digital, communal, individual, self-perpetuating, or self-fulfilling, create discursive notions of authenticity, representation, and self-fashioning within Muslim communities. We seek to explore the multifaceted dimensions of seeing, presenting, and representing Muslimness and its profound impact on being. Building on scholarship that considers Muslimness as a plural and heterogenous social category, we aim to query what epistemological hierarchies determine how Muslimness is seen, shown and performed. What are the affective responses to Muslimness, and how do they manifest? In other words, what does Muslimness do, and what does seeing Muslimness do.

We invite scholars, researchers, and practitioners from across disciplines and genres to unpack these complex ways of seeing Muslimness and question its forms, formations and transformations. We welcome interdisciplinary perspectives from scholars engaged in fields such as cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, media & film studies, digital humanities, literature, and architecture. Potential paper topics include but are not limited to:

1. Gaze, surveillance, and stereotyping
2. Ideas of ‘Muslimness’ in animals, the supernatural, and the extra-human
3. Digital/Physical Visual symbols in local, vernacular and global contexts
4. Built and Digital Infrastructures
5. Muslimness in Everyday Life: personal and communal experiences.
6. Cross-border and cross-cultural Muslimness: Diasporic and migrational perspectives
7. Politics of unseeing, exclusion, and erasure
8. Politics of secularization
9. Violence (material and non-material)
10. Digital Activism
11. The Spectacle and the Narrative in art, media and popular culture
12. Muslimness in/as Environmentalism
13. Humanist and Posthumanist Perspectives

Please submit an abstract, not exceeding 300 words, along with a brief biography.

Deadline for submissions: 30 April 2024

Notification for final acceptance: May 15 2024

Please note that this is an in-person conference. Participants will be required to be present in Cambridge on the date of the conference. We would not be able to provide travel or accommodation bursaries for the participants.

Please direct all queries to seeing.muslimness@gmail.com

For more info, please visit: https://www.crassh.cam.ac.uk/events/41566/#description

 

 

 

 

3. IJIA OPEN FORUM ON GETTING PUBLISHED 

Wednesday, March 27, 2024 (Noon–1:00PM US Eastern Time)

The International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) invites readers and potential authors – researchers, graduate students, university faculty, and professionals in architecture and related fields (including art history, urban planning, landscape design, sociology, anthropology, preservation, archaeology, etc.) – to join members of its editorial staff on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, Noon–1:00PM US Eastern Time for an open conversation on research and the publication process. The informal session will provide an opportunity for a discussion, questions, and answers regarding the IJIA publication process, the state of publication in the field, potential avenues for publishing success, and the journal’s perspective on the future of architectural studies in the Islamic world.

Please sign up at this link in order to register for this free event and for access to the Zoom session link.

 

 

 

4. UCLA Pourdavoud Lecture Series with Hilmar Klinkott

Consolidation of Law, Legal Order, and the Question of Constitutionalizing Processes in the Achaemenid Empire

Wednesday, April 17, 2024 at 4:00pm Pacific

Royce Hall 306

Hybrid Zoom Option Available

Registration Required

 

 

 

5. The Arabic Language and Literature department at UAE University is currently advertising a full-time professor position in Classical Arabic. They are seeking a scholar who can teach in Arabic and possess a distinguished profile in Scopus in terms of publications and citations. UAEU provides exceptional benefits, including free accommodation, a tax-free salary, a children’s school allowance, return tickets in the summer, and comprehensive health care coverage. Please feel free to reach out if you require further information.

The deadline is 31/03/2024. Here is the link to apply:

https://jobs.uaeu.ac.ae/Postings/PostingDetails/3996

 

 

 

 

6. Women Fighters in the Kurdish National Movement Transforming Gender Politics and the PKK

M Topal

Bloomsbury, 2024

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/women-fighters-in-the-kurdish-national-movement-9780755648368/?mc_cid=bf536a8e53&mc_eid=cf8726f727

 

 

 

 

7. Islam in North America

H Rashid et al eds.

Bloomsbury, 2024

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/islam-in-north-america-9781350385085/

 

 

 

8. MIT Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture 2024-2025 POSTDOCTORAL / POST-PROFESSIONAL DEGREE FELLOWSHIPS FOR RESEARCH IN ISLAMIC ART, ARCHITECTURE, URBANISM, DESIGN, AND PRESERVATION

Closing date 11.4.24

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=67076

 

 

 

 

9. Call for Applications – Resident Scholar Program for Lebanon-based and Lebanese Scholars

The Finnish Institute in the Middle East in Beirut is excited to announce the call for applications for its Resident Scholar Program for the period of 1 September 2024 to 28 February 2025. The application period is now open, ending on 21 April 2024.

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=67073

 

 

 

10. Registration is now open for the conference ‘Arts of the Indian Ocean’.

April 27 (online), May 2 – 4 (in person and online), Toronto, Canada

Registration for one or more days and the full conference program can be found on this link:

https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dvs/arts-indian-ocean

All presentations will be livestreamed and can be viewed virtually.

Attending the conference virtually is free of charge, but registration is required.

The in-person conference (May 2-4) is free to students, but others will be asked to contribute $50 CAD, which covers refreshments and receptions

We look forward to seeing you online or would love to welcome you in Toronto!

Conveners:

Ruba Kana’an

Zulfikar Hirji

Sarah Fee

Sanniah Jabeen

Arts of the Indian Ocean brings together knowledge producers working on the Indian Ocean’s arts from diverse backgrounds and scholarly arenas to present and discuss research and work on the materialities and artistic expressions in the Indian Ocean world, across geographies — from eastern and southern Africa, through the Gulf and Red Sea to South and Southeast Asia and the south China Sea — as well as across temporalities — from antiquity up until the present-day. Through the examination of the creation, production, and circulation of material culture in a wide range of forms including the visual arts, portable objects, manuscripts and maps, ships and navigational instruments, landscape, architecture, and the built environment, textiles and dress, photography and film, as well as the digital and plastic arts, the conference seeks to: provide a platform for scholars and artists to exchange current research; map the field of Indian Ocean arts; and open up new questions on Indian Ocean pasts, presents, and futures.

Contact Information

Sarah Fee, Sr. Curator, Royal Ontario Museum

Contact Email

sarahf@rom.on.ca

URL

https://www.utm.utoronto.ca/dvs/arts-indian-ocean

 

 

 

11. Please join the National Museum of Asian Art online on Tuesday, March 26, 12 pm EST for Partying Like It’s 599: On Feasting in Iranshahr with Touraj Daryaee, University of California, Irvine.

Multiple sources, both textual and pictorial, document banquets and feasting in late antique Iran. At the court and among the local notables of Iranshahr (Empire of the Iranians), the banquet, which in Persian is called bazm, created solidarity among the elites and imposed itself culturally among the populace. But to eat at the table of the ruler also symbolized one’s status in an empire that stretched from Balkh to the Euphrates and from the Caucasus to Arabia. The sharing of food with the king at his table meant one was held in the highest esteem and implied the distribution of the king’s glory, power, and beneficence to those seated with him. In this program, professor Touraj Daryaee will discuss the forms and ways of feasting that took place at the court of the king of kings, which reached its zenith in the sixth century CE.

Touraj Daryaee is the Maseeh Chair in Persian Studies & Culture and the director of the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies & Culture at the University of California, Irvine. His work revolves around the history of the Sasanian Empire and the Iranian world. He is the author of Sasanian Persia: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (I.B. Tauris, 2009) and is the editor in chief of the E.J. Brill Ancient Iran Series. He is also the editor of Sasanian Studies (Harrassowitz, 2022) as well as Dabir, an online journal at UC Irvine.

Register here

View the event listing here

Contact Information

Lizzie Stein, Scholarly Programs and Publications Specialist

National Museum of Asian Art

Contact Email

AsiaScholarlyProgram@si.edu

URL

https://asia.si.edu/whats-on/events/search/event:173394391/

 

 

 

 

12. The Dunhuang Foundation (https://dunhuangfoundation.us/) announces our first in-person event for 2024. Dr. David Roxburgh, the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Islamic Art History at Harvard University, will be presenting his lecture, “Herat, the Pearl of Khurasan: Urban and Cultural Transformation under Shahrukh (r. 1409-1447)”. 

The lecture will be held at the Lynn Wyatt Theater at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, on Wednesday, April 10th from 6:00 – 7:00 PM. The lecture is free, but does require registration. Please visit:  https://bit.ly/RoxburghLecture.

Abstract

“Herat, the Pearl of Khurasan: Urban and Cultural Transformation under Shahrukh (r. 1409-1447)”

Following Timur’s death in 1405, his son and successor Shahrukh (r. 1409-1447) established Herat as the capital and embarked on a program of redevelopment. Joined by other patrons of the Timurid elite, especially his son Baysunghur, Shahrukh created optimal conditions for cultural production in the arts. His rule also witnessed a resurgence in contacts with east Asia under Ming dynasty emperor Yongle (r. 1402-1424), exchanges that brought a new wave of contemporary objects from China to the “western lands.” Focusing on selected elements of the city and its life in the 1420s and 1430s, the lecture explores the dynamics and outcomes of a cultural achievement which secured Herat’s importance as an artistic center for centuries.

Contact Information

Rachel Parikh, Deputy Director

Contact Email

rparikh@dunhuangfoundation.us

URL

https://bit.ly/RoxburghLecture

 

 

 

13. UCLA Iranian Studies Program:

And, Towards Happy Alleys

A Film Screening

Wednesday, April 3, 2024 at 4:00pm Pacific Time | Royce Hall 314

https://nelc.ucla.edu/event/iranian-studies-and-towards-happy-alleys-film-screening/

This Summer Skills Seminar introduces participants to Islamic law. The seminar is focused on developing the skill of reading Islamic legal texts as opposed to surveying Islamic legal doctrines. It is designed for beginners seeking to build their capacity to investigate Islamic law.

Professor Ali will lead participants in a methodical reading of an introduction to Islamic law. Participants will read the chapters on legal obligation (taklīf) and ritual purity (ṭahāra) in Durūs tamhīdiyya fī l-fiqh al-istidlālī by Muḥammad Bāqir al-Īrawānī (b. 1949). In addition to the text itself, the course will cover selected topics in jurisprudence (uṣūl al-fiqh) and bio-bibliography (rijāl). Topics covered include: the meanings of ʿaql; the principle qubḥ al-taklīf bi-mā lā yuṭāq; repairing weak chains of transmission; exceptions to general rules and the principle of istiṣḥāb; al-shubuhāt al-miṣdāqiyya; al-tawthīqāt al-ʿāmma; tasālum versus ijmāʿ; al-qāʿida al-mirzāʾiyya; and al-sīra al-ʿuqalāʾiyya.

Participants are required to have intermediate Arabic,* but they are not required to have a background in Islamic law. The seminar will be held via Zoom over 4 days, with two 2-hour sessions each day. At the end of the seminar, participants will have gained some of the basic tools needed to read Islamic legal texts independently.

The deadline to register is April 15.

Full information at:
https://www.mediterraneanseminar.org/overview-islamic-legal-texts-2024

The Book of Unveiling: Early Fatimid Ismaili Doctrine in the Kitab al-Kashf,
attributed to Ja’far b. Mansur al-Yaman

https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/book-of-unveiling-9780755653867/

This text is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) Ismaili sources to have reached the present day. The book consists of the first full translation of the text to a European language (English), and is accompanied with a general presentation and detailed commentary.

Also available OpenAccess here: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/88170<

1.Conference “Muslims in Britain, 1800‒1970, and Beyond: Historical Approaches & Why”,

Muslims in Britain Research Network (MBRN), University of Westminster, 17-18 June 2024

Topics: • Intersectionality in historical Muslim identity in Britain • Post- and de-colonial approaches within

history • Contemporary impact of historical British Muslims • Experiences of racism in early British Muslims •

Histories of Muslim Institutions • Contestations in ‘British Muslim’ identity • Socio-political activism to date •

Significant ‘British Muslim’ public figures • Recent publications on the history of Islam and Muslims in Britain.

Deadline for abstracts: 11 May 2024. Information: https://www.everydaymuslim.org/events/conference-muslims-in-britain-1800%E2%80%921970-and-beyond-historical-approaches-why/

 

 

 

 

2. Panels for the Session 13 “Politics, Religion and Conflicts” at the Conference of the Società Italiana di Scienza Politica (SISP), Triest, 12-14 September 2024

Topics: Public role of religions – Use of religious symbols/discourses in politics – Religion, politics and marketing – Religion and populism – Religion and (social) media – Religion and gender – Religious pluralism – Religion, rights and freedoms – Religion and education – Transnational religious movements – Religion and international politics – Religious mobilization and authority between war and peace – Religious extremism, radicalization and de-radicalization.

Deadline for panels: 5 April 2024. Information:  https://www.sisp.it/en/conference2024/sezioni_upd

 

 

 

 

3. Annual Conference of the DGFG-Working Group Geographies of Religion: “Religion and Space in the Digital Age”, University of Jena, 21-22 November 2024

Topics: Changing relationships between space, society, religion, and digitality. – Case studies on various forms of religious socialization. – Digitalization, digital media, digital religion, e-religiosity, and the media turn in the context of religious studies and religious geography research. – Societal contexts of digitalization movements in the religious field. – Specific forms of digitality. – Places of religion in the digital realm. – Etc.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2024.

Information: https://vgdh.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AKReligionsgeographie-2024-Jena-Call-eng.pdf

 

 

 

 

4. “2024 Suad Joseph Student Paper Award” of the “Association of Middle East Anthropology (AMEA)”

Eligibility: A graduate student at any stage in an MA or PhD program. Paper components: 15-35 pages long.

– Anthropological focus.- Regional focus on the Middle East and/or North Africa and/or diasporic communities. – Excellent standards of writing, argumentation, evidence, and ethnographic representation. – Significant contribution to knowledge production.

Deadline for paper: 1 September 2024.

Information: https://mideastanthro.com/suad-joseph-student-paper-award-2/

 

 

 

 

5. Articles for Journal “Forum Islamic-Theological Studies”

Papers in English and German are invited in the following areas:- Qur’anic Studies and Qur’anic Exegesis (tafsīr) – Hadith Studies – Sufism – Islamic Legal Theory and Hermeneutics (fiqh) – Islamic Ethics – Islamic Philosophy – Systematic-Discursive Theology (kalām) – Islamic Religious Education – Sociology of Religion on Muslims in Europe or the West – Contributions on current discourses on Islam and Muslims in Europe – Islam and Pluralism, Islam in Europe – etc.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2024. Information: https://ojs.nomos-journals.de/index.php/fits/CfP

 

 

 

6. CFP: The map as the “eye of history” (16th-18th centuries)

The map as the “eye of history” (16th-18th centuries)

The idea of geography being the “eye of history” is a common expression in the early modern period, but it is articulated in a specific way if we take the cartographic object as the point of observation. The aim of this study day is to reinvestigate the relationship between maps and history in the chronological span from the 16th to the 18th century, in Europe and its imperial extensions, from three angles: the analysis of the place of maps in the teaching and reading of history, an investigation into history on and through maps, and a reflection on the porosity between the producers of historical and cartographic knowledge.

Terms and conditions of submission

Proposals in English or French, no more than 300 words long and accompanied by a brief curriculum vitae, should be sent to oeildelhistoire2024@gmail.com by May 15, 2024.

Organisational arrangements
With the support of the Centre Alexandre-Koyré (CAK) and the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF), the study day will take place on Tuesday 8 October 2024 in the conference room of the Maps and Plans Department of the BnF on the Richelieu site (Paris).
The organisers will cover meals, travel expenses and, where possible, overnight accommodation. The study day will take place exclusively on site.

Organisers 
Oury Goldman, doctor from EHESS and associate researcher at TEMOS
Lucile Haguet, doctor and curator at Le Havre municipal library
Catherine Hofmann, Curator, Maps and Plans Department, BnF (French National Library)
Geoffrey Phelippot, doctor from EHESS and member of CAK

 

 

 

7. AKU-ISMC: 13 Dec 2023 Virtual Open Day

Join AKU-ISMC students, staff and academics online for a Virtual Open Day on Wednesday 17 April 2024 3 December at 12:00 -13:00 (London Time) to learn about our MA in Muslim Cultures, find out about admissions, quiz current students on academic life, and have the opportunity to ask your own questions.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/aku-ismc-virtual-open-day-tickets-863008119517?aff=oddtdtcreator

The Aga Khan University Institute’s for the Study of Muslim Civilisations

Handyside Street
London, | N1C 4DN United Kingdom

 

 

 

8. Middle Eastern SciFi Translation Contest

The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin is holding a Middle Eastern Science Fiction translation contest open to all translators of languages from the MENA region.

The winner will receive $1000 and the winning translation will be published in the fall issue of Y’alla: A Texan Journal of Middle Eastern Literature.

The deadline is July 1^st, 2024.

More at:

https://sites.utexas.edu/yalla/?page_id=32

 

 

 

 

9. Persian Composer Ahmad Pejman Honored at UCLA (Video)

https://youtu.be/uTucT8V5Clg

1. Approaching Architecture in the Muslim World: Novel Paths of Investigationsquestions the historiography of the field of ‘Islamic Architecture’ by scoring particular instances that fractured its foundations or methods that shaped its objects of study. Collectively, the contributions in this issue address the topic from theoretical concerns as well specific case studies andaddress three moments of rupture in the architecture of the Muslim world: ‘visuality’, ‘typology’, ‘displacement’. The aim of this issue, then, is to open new horizons for rethinking ‘Islamic’ architecture and suggest novel interrogative paths in order to challenge the canonical frameworks, which have dominated our approaches in discussing architecture in the lands of Islam, namely ‘typology’, ‘regionalism,’ ‘master narratives,’ and ‘patronage’.

See: https://brill.com/view/journals/mcmw/4/2/article-p279_8.xml

 

 

 

 

2. The Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien invites researchers to apply for up to 4 postdoctoral fellowships for the academic year 2024/2025 for the research program EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST—THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE (EUME).

Location: Berlin / Closing Date: 8 April 2024, 12.00h (noon) CEST

Call for Applications (PDF)

FAQ (PDF)

Also see:

The Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien invites researchers to apply for up to 4 postdoctoral fellowships for the academic year 2024/2025 for the research program EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST—THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE (EUME).

Location: Berlin / Closing Date: 8 April 2024, 12.00h (noon) CEST

Call for Applications (PDF)

FAQ (PDF)

Also see:

https://application.trafo-berlin.de/procedure/758011e1-f349-4f6a-bf79-ae9d9dee2e69

 

 

 

 

3. Mosque: Approaches to Art and Architecture,

Idries Trevathan, ed..

Routledge, 2024

https://www.routledge.com/Mosque-Approaches-to-Art-and-Architecture/Trevathan/p/book/9781032510750#:~:text=Description,rugs%20and%20Qur%27an%20stands.

 

 

 

4. The Sharafnāma as a Case Study in the Ecolinguistics of Kurdistan

Wednesday, March 20^th, at 2 p.m. Eastern the third event in our Spring Speaker Series.  (Note: Please check the time difference as daylight savings time started once again in the US.)

The event will take place on Zoom. It will be free and open to the public.

During this event, Sacha Alsancakli will present, “The Sharafnāma as a Case Study in the Ecolinguistics of Kurdistan.” Sacha is a cultural historian of the Islamic world, whose work focuses on historiography and the history of the book. His presentation will delve into the Sharafnāma, which is regarded as an important text on Kurdish history. He will examine its author’s discourse on the Kurdish language and the ecolinguistics of the multilingual land of Kurdistan.

Speaker Series: The Sharafnāma as a Case Study in the Ecolinguistics of Kurdistan

When: 2:00 pm Eastern, Wednesday, March 20th

Where: https://zoom.us/j/92784270041?pwd=MFhBUmtkMVR1OGN0V2JtQTZycGwwQT09

For more information on Zahra Institute and our upcoming events, visit our website: https://www.zahrainstitute.org/.

 

 

 

5. The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers over 400  unique awards for U.S. citizens to teach, research, and conduct professional projects in more than 130 countries. 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

We look forward to receiving your application by our deadline of September 16, 2024.  To receive program updates and application resources, connect with Fulbright.

 

 

 

 

6. CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS

‘Securitizing the Sacred: Pilgrims’ Trails across Digital Landscapes’

(University of Toronto, August 22-24th, 2024)

We invite abstracts for a three-day International Symposium on the state of pilgrimage (incorporating religious tourism) in the context of global security. The event will bring together specialists in different areas of pilgrimage, including academics, tourism providers and operators, local authorities and infrastructure administrators, religious communities, civil liberties organizations, art specialists and artists, and social media influencers. Our aim is to enable different stakeholders to collaborate in considering issues of digitality, security, datafication and mobility that form increasingly significant dimensions of the underlying socio-technical infrastructures of religious journeying.

THE THEMES OF THE SYMPOSIUM

Over the past two decades, physical travel has increasingly been aided by digital technologies. Some of the questions that drive our inquiry include: Who is responsible for gathering data on pilgrims, and how is such data used? What policies exist regarding types of information and knowledge that can be gathered from pilgrims? What aspects of pilgrims’ data can be deemed sensitive and in need of protection? Are there cross-cultural differences in data collection and practices over how pilgrims’ data is used? What are the implications for pilgrims regarding conditions or situations that may render them ineligible for or excluded from pilgrimage, and who gets to decide?

Behind such empirical questions are powerful concerns relating to data justice that we wish to explore: How might we determine whether there is sufficient transparency about where data is stored and processed, and by whom? What criteria should we use to decide these questions over justice, identity, and mobility? We also invite papers on broader conceptual and theoretical questions concerning the intersections of pilgrimage, mobility, and security.

SUBMISSIONS

In addition to our keynote speakers, we also seek submissions in the following categories:

• Papers (includes completed research papers and research-in-progress papers)
• Posters (need not be in English)
• Sessions (one or two hours) for Interactive Engagement (including hands-on workshops developed around case studies, panels with a range of stakeholders, scenarios, etc.)
• Alternative formats (we have an exhibit space for photographs, films, material objects that speak to the theme, and artefacts exemplifying data trails, etc.)

We invite abstracts from scholars and practitioners working on different religious traditions and disciplinary perspectives. We also encourage community engagement projects, and practical applications of theory. We welcome submissions from outside of Canada.

Examples of topics include:

• Pilgrims’ online activities including information gathering prior to the journey, or using web-based booking systems
• The role of social media in maintaining contacts and networks during and after the pilgrimage
• Pilgrims as producers of data that may be circulated and accessed through digital trails
• Travelers’ risks of exposure to multiple forms of bio- and market-related surveillance and associated data mining
• Roles played by political and commercial organizations who are increasingly significant gatherers of information from and about pilgrims
• Examples of assemblages of systems including booking systems, apps, CCTV, biometrics, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), ID cards, and other monitoring mechanisms
• Security measures, security infrastructure in sacred places and in pilgrim destinations

Submissions will be accepted through April 20, 2024 by 11:59pm EST. All submissions will be refereed and must be in English (even if for a poster). They must include the author’s name and position; full affiliation including email and telephone; a brief bio; presentation title, up to five keywords, and an abstract of no more than 500 words for individual submissions and no more than 1000 words for panels/sessions. Email your submissions to: securitizingthesacred@gmail.com

TIMELINE

• April 20, 2024 (11:59pm EST): Proposal submission deadline (extended abstracts).
• May 15, 2024: Refereeing/peer-review completed; acceptance/rejection decisions.
• August 22-24, 2024: Securitizing the Sacred Symposium, Toronto (Canada).

ORGANIZERS AND SPONSORS

The symposium will be held at the University of Toronto. The local organizers are Dr. Nadia Caidi (nadia.caidi@utoronto.ca) and Dr. Simon Coleman (simon.coleman@utoronto.ca).

For inquiries, email us at securitizingthesacred@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

7. The School of Law and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh seek to appoint a Lecturer in Law in the Globalised Muslim World for a September 2024 start.

This three-year fixed term appointment is ideal for scholars seeking to develop their teaching and research profile. The Lecturer will contribute to the development of the Edinburgh Law School and the Alwaleed Centre’s research profiles as well as to their teaching and outreach activities. The Lecturer will undertake programme and course organisation as part of the Edinburgh Law School and Alwaleed Centre’s MSc and Honours programmes. The Lecturer will also take the lead in teaching and dissertation supervision, as well as contribute to other subject areas as appropriate. Ideally the expertise of the successful candidate will enable them to cover key aspects of Islamic/Sharia law and positive law in the contemporary Muslim world.

For further information including how to apply, click here: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DGK877/lecturer-in-law-in-the-globalised-muslim-world.

The closing date for applications is 5 April 2024.

 

 

 

 

8. The Journal, Iranian Studies, invites proposals for roundtables. Topics in all areas of social sciences are welcome.

Iranian Studies inaugurated the roundtable initiative in issue 2 of 2023, with a roundtable on Writing capitalism in Iran. Since then, three more roundtables have been commissioned: in issue 3 of 2023, we hosted a roundtable on the Woman Life Freedom movement, in issue 2 of 2024 one on minoritized communities in Iran, and one on diaspora politics is forthcoming.

Roundtables typically include 5-7 short pieces, each consisting of approximately 3,000 words, to showcase new research in the field, re-assess well-established interpretative trends by bringing to light new evidences or introducing new approaches, and/or offer focused analyses on important issues in current affairs, whose impact may be long lasting. Our goal is to centre the journal of Iranian Studies in discussions and exchanges between social scientists, introducing new debates and ground-breaking analyses in our journal.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the sociology and history of modern Iran, the Persianate world and their diasporas; social aspects of the arts, religions and literature; Iran’s domestic and international politics, and politics of the Persianate world and their diasporas; transborder and transcultural contamination in the arts, culture, political thought and policies, between the Persianate regions and the world; history and politics of slavery, capitalism, racism, transnational solidarities, civilizational exchanges and contemporary political mobilizations.

Proposals should include a 500-700-word description of the topic and rationale for the roundtable, highlighting its contribution to existing scholarly debates. Proposals may include a list of contributions, each with a title, author, and a 300- word abstract. Roundtables should have one or more editors. Editors will be responsible for leading the publication process and making sure that every contribution conforms to the journal style and is ready for peer review. All roundtable contributions go through an expedited review process, which assesses the quality of each piece and makes a recommendation about its feasibility for publication.

Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis. They are competitively selected on the basis of their quality and innovation.

You can submit your proposal to Dr Paola Rivetti at paola.rivetti@dcu.ie by June, 17, 2024.

 

 

 

 

9. 3rd Annual Khamseen Graduate Student Presentation Award

Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online offers Topic and Term talks to support teaching, learning, and research in Islamic art, architecture, visual culture, and related fields. Since the website’s launch in Fall 2020, new contributions by scholars in the field have consistently grown our catalogue. In 2022, we successfully launched the first annual Khamseen Graduate Student Presentation Award; Sylvia Wu’s winning contribution on the Ashab Mosque in Quanzhou, South China, can be viewed here. The second iteration followed in 2023, when Namrata Kanchan won the award for her talk on figural obliteration within an early modern South Asian manuscript, available here.

While the PhD is a requirement for general submissions, Khamseen‘s Graduate Student Presentation Award enables advanced PhD students to feature their expertise and contribute to Khamseen.

For the 3rd Annual Khamseen Graduate Student Presentation Award, we invite PhD candidates (ABD) to submit a polished script of ca. 1,500 words and an accompanying PowerPoint slide show for a Topic presentation. The award recipient will work with our team to revise and then record their presentation, and they also will receive a $500 honorarium upon their presentation’s launch on the Khamseen website.

Submission Guidelines:

Applications due: April 15, 2024 

Notification of decisions: May 15, 2024

Eligibility: 

PhD candidates (ABD) and advanced PhD students in their third year or above (for doctoral programs without candidacy) enrolled in a degree-granting program in Islamic art and allied fields. We do not accept applications from undergraduate and Masters students.

Application Procedures:

Candidates should submit a polished script of ca. 1,500 words and an accompanying PowerPoint slide show for a Topic presentation. Additionally, applications should include a 3-5 sentence summary of the presentation, a 2-page CV, and a note of support from a PhD advisor or dissertation committee member.

Please submit materials to TeamKhamseen@umich.edu; notes of support by advisors and queries by candidates also should be sent to TeamKhamseen@umich.edu.

https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/khamseen/announcements/2024/3rd-annual-khamseen-graduate-student-presentation-award/

 

 

 

10. Islamic Studies PhD and MA scholarships, Exeter

The Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies is pleased to announce it MA and PhD scholarships for the academic years 2024. Please do distribute them widely.  These are dedicated funded scholarships for Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies students, and the details are as follows:

Al-Qasimi PhD Studentships can be viewed here.

IAIS Masters Excellence Awards

2x Home award here and 2x International here.

Shireen Abu Akleh MA Scholarship in Palestine Studies

1x Home OR International here.