Archive for October 5th, 2024

1.Annemarie Schimmel-Foundation for Islamic Studies Research Award

(PhD thesis award)

The Annemarie Schimmel-Foundation for Islamic Studies (Bonn) calls for recommendations for the 2025 grant of its PhD thesis award. Eligible for the award are outstanding PhD dissertations in the field of Islamic Studies. The awardee will be honored at a ceremony at the Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025 in Erlangen (8–12 Sept 2025) and will receive a 5000 Euro prize. The board of the Annemarie Schimmel-Foundation, in cooperation with the DMG section for Islamic Studies, will evaluate all eligible proposals after the call’s closure. Please note that the award may be shared.

Only contributions in English or German that have been published since 2022 will be considered. PhD dissertations that have been submitted and defended but not yet published may also be considered if accompanied by the supervisor’s report and an additional expert opinion.

Recommendations may be submitted by all university professors and by PhD-holding members of the DMG. Recommendations of non-German studies are explicitly welcomed. A submission should include an electronic version of the research work (either in its published form or, if not published, in the form submitted) and a short explanatory statement (1–2 pages).

Self-nominations by candidates are also accepted. If you plan to submit your own research

contribution, please do so in electronic form, including an abstract and a CV.

Please submit your recommendations by 31st March 2025 to the Board of the Annemarie Schimmel-Foundation at: Prof. Dr Regula Forster, regula.forster@uni-tuebingen.de

 

 

2. Annemarie Schimmel-Foundation for Islamic Studies Research Award

(advanced scholars)

The Annemarie Schimmel-Foundation for Islamic Studies (Bonn) calls for recommendations for the 2025 grant of its advanced scholars award. Eligible for the award are outstanding monographs in the field of Islamic Studies. The awardee will be honored at a ceremony at the Deutscher Orientalistentag 2025 in Erlangen (8–12 Sept 2025) and will receive a 5000 Euro prize. Please note that the award may be shared. The board of the Annemarie Schimmel-Foundation, in cooperation with the DMG section for Islamic Studies, will evaluate all eligible proposals after the call’s closure.

Only monographs written in English or German that have been published since 2022 will be considered. They must not be PhD dissertations or books developed from a PhD dissertation.

Recommendations may be submitted by all university professors and by PhD-holding members of the DMG.

Recommendations of non-German studies are explicitly welcomed. A submission should include an electronic version of the monograph and a short explanatory statement (1-2 A4 pages).

Self-nominations by candidates are also accepted. If you plan to submit your own research contribution, please do so in electronic form, including an abstract and a CV.

Please submit your recommendations by 31st March 2025 to the Board of the Annemarie Schimmel-Foundation at: Prof. Dr Regula Forster, regula.forster@uni-tuebingen.de

 

 

 

3. Yale University seeks to appoint a Postdoctoral Associate for a two-year position beginning in the academic year 2025-2026 within Archaia: the Yale Program for the Study of Global Antiquity.

Archaia is a collaborative forum that brings together scholars and graduate students working on early and pre-modern cultures and civilizations at Yale in the Humanities and Social Sciences in addition to the Divinity and Law Schools and various University collections and libraries, including the Yale University Art Gallery, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and the Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. Participating departments and disciplines include Classics, East Asian Languages and Literatures, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, History, Religious Studies, Archaeology and Anthropology, History of Art, and the Divinity School. In addition to hosting conferences and colloquia, the year-long Ancient Societies Workshop (ASW), and study tours, Archaia offers a graduate qualification for students interested in research beyond departmental lines. For additional information, see https://archaia.yale.edu/certification. Information about past post-doctoral fellows can be found here.

Past Archaia seminars and ASW topics have included ancient music, comparative linguistics in pre-modern languages, ancient comparative law, ancient ritual, antiquity through the digital humanities, and the archaeology of Dura Europos. Anticipated upcoming topics include environmental determinism, constructions of the human body and race and how these ideas travel cross culturally, and the archaeology of Gerasa; we are also open to other innovative and cross-disciplinary proposals for future workshops and core seminars. We especially welcome applicants working in areas beyond the ancient Mediterranean world.

The postdoctoral associate is expected to take an active role in Archaia programming while pursuing research in their own area of expertise. Additionally, the associate’s duties include: (1) participating in the Archaia Steering Committee, coordinating the graduate certification program, and participating in the graduate forum as a mentor; (2) offering, in the first year, a graduate seminar and/or a study tour (the seminar may be connected with the tour); (3) in the second year of the appointment, co-teaching the Archaia core seminar with a Yale faculty member and/or co-organizing the Archaia Study Tour. The postdoctoral associate will receive guidance from and report to the Archaia co-chairs and will also be provided with at least one mentor from a field/department close to their area of training and expertise.

Salary is commensurate with education and experience along with Yale’s benefits package that includes health insurance.

Requirements

• A Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Classics, East Asian Studies, South Asian Studies, History, Religious Studies, Archaeology, Anthropology, History of Art, or a related field.
• The intellectual training and trajectory of the postdoctoral associate must show a commitment to cross-disciplinary or cross-cultural research in more than one of the areas, languages, and/or disciplines represented by Archaia.
• The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate a desire and ability to build collaborative relationships across departments and collections.
• We especially encourage applications from scholars underrepresented in the study of antiquity.

Applicants and referees should upload documentation via Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/155704 .

Applicants must supply:

(1) a cover letter,

(2) a curriculum vitae,

(3) a research statement (1000 words max.) detailing the work that the associate wishes to pursue at Yale,

(4) three brief descriptions (not syllabi) of up to 500 words each, for

1. a co-taught global antiquity seminar to be offered as an Archaia core course;
2. a graduate seminar related to your own research specialization, and with some concern for global antiquity;
3. a travel study opportunity (5-10 days)

(5) a teaching portfolio (including teaching evaluations or other evidence of teaching       effectiveness and syllabi for courses taught or planned),

(6) three letters of recommendation addressed to the Chair of the Search Committee, Prof. Molly Zahn.

Review of applications will begin Dec. 1, 2024.

 

 

 

 

4. Qeshm: The History of a Persian Gulf Island

W Floor and D T Potts

Mage, 2024

https://magepublishers.com/qeshm/

 

 

 

5. The Department of Middle Eastern Language of the University of Chicago is honored to have Prof. Nasrin Rahimeh as speaker in the Franklin Lewis Lecture Series of 2024-2025. The lecture will be in person and on zoom on Thursday, October 24 at 5:30 PM US Central Time at SHFE 146.

Please see below the information about this talk and our speaker, and attached the poster of the lecture.

Title: Iranian Women Writers and the Question of Reader Responsibility

Abstract: In this presentation, I examine the question of readers’ responsibility vis-à-vis fiction by contemporary Iranian women writers.  Against a backdrop of Iranian women’s writing being treated as a barometer of women’s agency and/or subjugation, I propose ways of reading that complicate the assumption that women’s writing merely mirrors Iranian society today.  Drawing on works by Belqeys Soleimani and Fereshteh Sari, I focus on the ways their fiction complicates questions of subjectivity, challenging us to read beyond the binarism of resistance or conformity.

Register for Zoom:
https://uchicago.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUucuytqzIjGNS9EN2u7jsUOVxjGIQTgYnV 

 

 

 

6. Zoom: Zahra Speaker Event on Oct 9: Berlin Circle (1916-1925) and the Rise of Pan-Persianism in the Early 20th Century, 9.10.24

Join us for the second event of our 2024 Fall Speaker Series on Wednesday, 9 October. Our speaker, Dr. Ahmad Mohammadpour (Bentley University), will present on, “Berlin Circle (1916-1925) and the Rise of Pan-Persianism in the Early 20th Century.”
Dr. Mohammadpour is a Kurdish sociologist and anthropologist whose research focuses on contemporary Iran’s intellectual thought, internal colonialism, ethnoreligious minoritized communities, and the political economy of de-development, with a focus on Kurds in Iran. His presentation will examine how the Berlin Circle and the rising Pan-Persianism of the early 20th century shaped the Kurdish identity and resistance in Iran.
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Berlin Circle (1916-1925) and the Rise of Pan-Persianism in the Early 20th Century.
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧: 12:00 pm Central /1 pm Eastern, Wednesday, October 9
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: Zoom, https://zoom.us/j/96379904649?pwd=H9bzjq3yRq37e43eJeFfDqKe4BdJBL.1

 

 

 

7. Two faculty positions currently available in the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Georgetown University.
1. Assistant Teaching Professor of Arabic

• Location: Main Campus, Washington, DC
• Position Type: Faculty – Main Campus Non-Tenure Line – Instructional
• Start Date: August 1, 2025

Description:  
The Department invites applications for a full-time Assistant Teaching Professor of Arabic, beginning in August 2025. This is a three-year renewable contract pending a successful first-year review. We seek a dynamic individual with expertise in teaching Modern Standard Arabic within the context of Arab-Islamic culture. Native or near-native fluency in Modern Standard Arabic and an Arabic dialect is required, along with proficiency in classical Arabic language and culture.
Qualifications: 
Ph.D. by Summer 2025 preferred; advanced ABDs considered.

• Experience in proficiency-based, communicative methods of teaching.

Application Deadline: October 15, 2024
Apply Here: [Assistant Teaching Professor of Arabic]
 2. Teaching Professor of Arabic, Open Rank

• Location: Main Campus, Washington, DC
• Position Type: Faculty – Main Campus Non-Tenure Line – Instructional
• Start Date: August 1, 2025

Description:  
We invite applications for a full-time Teaching Professor of Arabic (open rank) with responsibilities to direct our Arabic language program. This position starts in August 2025 and involves a three-year renewable contract. The successful candidate will be responsible for teaching Arabic language courses and coordinating the Arabic Language Program. Native or near-native fluency in Modern Standard Arabic and an Arabic dialect, along with a solid foundation in classical Arabic, are required.
Qualifications:  

• Ph.D. by Summer 2025 preferred; advanced ABDs considered.
• Experience in proficiency testing and language program coordination is preferred.

Application Deadline: October 15, 2024
Apply Here: [Teaching Professor of Arabic, Open Rank]

 

 

8. Digital Resource – New Podcast episode on Iranian Mina’i wares with Dr Richard McClary

The ART Informant podcast is back with a new episode dedicated to the study of Iranian mina’i wares with Dr Richard McClary, Senior lecturer in Islamic art history at the University of York.

Throughout his career, Dr McClary has published extensively on artistic and architectural productions across the Islamic world. In July 2024, his latest monograph was published at Edinburgh university press, titled “Mina’i Ware: A Reassessment and Comprehensive Study of Iranian Polychrome Overglaze Wares through Sherds”. 

The episode dives into this production of ceramic, limited to Iran between 1180 and 1220, its technique, classification, use, and the problems of fakes and forgeries tied to the art market at the end of the 19th century.

The ART Informant is a space for collectors, connoisseurs, students, experts, and people who love Islamic and Indian Arts, to explore the different areas of the art world including the market, exhibitions, latest research and much more!

Every month, join Isabelle Imbert as the Art Informant in conversations with some of the best and most interesting people of the industry, such as market experts, scholars, curators and many others.

Contact Email

contact@isabelle-imbert.com

URL

https://isabelle-imbert.com/art-informant-podcast/richard-mcclary/

 

 

9. CFP – 35th Deutscher Orientalistentag, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg

We cordially invite you to participate in the 35th Deutscher Orientalistentag (DOT) at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 8-12 September 2025. The section on Material Culture, Art History and Archaeology is open for papers referring to periods and regions covered by Oriental Studies at large, although traditionally there has been a focus on Islamic cultures. The section will be organized by Ilse Sturkenboom (LMU Munich) and Lorenz Korn (University of Bamberg). This is an opportunity to meet and to discuss ongoing research and to be in touch with other areas of SWANA-related academia. Please submit your abstract through the conference portal until 31 January 2025. Pre-organized panels on specific topics are also welcome. For all technical issues concerning registration, submission of abstracts etc. please refer to the conference website: https://www.dot2025.fau.eu/

Contact Information

Else Sturkenboom, Institute of Art History, LMU Munich

Lorenz Korn, Institute of Oriental Studies, University of Bamberg

Contact Email

lorenz.korn@uni-bamberg.de

URL

https://www.uni-bamberg.de/islamart

 

 

10. LSE: Gholam Reza Nikpay Annual Lecture 14 November
The Iranian History Initiative at LSE is pleased to invite you to attend the Gholam Reza Nikpay Annual Lecture in modern Iranian history, which this year will be delivered by Professor Ali Ansariof the University of St Andrews, on 14 November at 6pm in the Wolfson Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building, LSE.

Professor Ansari will be speaking on ‘History and Historical Writing in Pahlavi Iran.’

Full events details: https://www.lse.ac.uk/International-History/Events/2024/History-Historical-Writing-in-Pahlavi-Iran-the-Gholam-Reza-Nikpay-Annual-Lecture

Event Registration: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrj7dhbA8UWu-dWUVP7Tu873m7wYE_3bq9EbLirEe61cpWTA/viewform

 

 

 

11. The Department of Humanities at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice (Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici dell’Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia) invites applications for a fellowship in: “Environmental History in the medieval Islamicate Mediterranean, c. 650-1050”,

Academic discipline: STAA-01/J History of Islamic Countries, area Cod. GSD (vd. DM 639/2024) – 10/STAA-01, duration 24 months, tutor Prof. Helen Foxhall Forbes, financed by the ERC COG project “SSE1K – Science, Society and Environmental Change in the First Millennium CE”, Grant Agreement n. 101044437, CUP: H73C22001720006, Principal Investigator Prof. Helen Foxhall Forbes.

Abstract: The research fellow will examine the history of water and the broader environment in the Islamic Mediterranean from the 7th century to the early 11th century, focusing on social and/or intellectual themes. They will conduct original research on Arabic sources, and may also use archaeological evidence, to examine human relationships with the environment, with particular attention to the role of water and climate fluctuations. They will collaborate with the SSE1K research team to make comparisons between different contexts and regions across the Mediterranean. The research fellow will define a topic of study and the most promising approach suited to their skills in discussion with the PI and the research team. Applicants should therefore outline their proposed area of research in the motivation letter (maximum 500 words). The research fellowship is particularly, but not exclusively, focused on water in terms of toponymy, ritual practices, resource management, reaction to climate events, and scientific knowledge. The geographical area of interest ranges from Mesopotamia to the Islamic West, with a particular focus on the latter. Excellent knowledge of the Arabic language and research experience with premodern Arabic written sources is required. Knowledge of other languages relevant to this area, such as Syriac, Hebrew, or Greek, is desirable. In addition to preparing their own research for publication, the fellow will collaborate on various activities of the SSE1K project, including participating in team meetings and dissemination activities (conferences, seminars, workshops) on the project’s topics. The research may be carried out in English.

Deadline: Nov 12, 2024, 12 noon Italian time.

Full details at:

https://apps.unive.it/common2/file/download/assegni_ricerca/66fbae5d6018c

 

 

12. UCLA: The ‘Arabicate’ World: Arabic in the Making of African, Asian, and Mediterranean Literatures

A one-day conference organized by the Center for Near Eastern Studies and the Ibn Khaldun Chair in World History

Friday, October 18, 2024

8:30 AM – 4:30 PM PST

UCLA Royce Hall & Online

https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/16782

 

 

 

 

13. AUC: Entertainment in the History of the Middle East: 

The Serious Business of Leisure and Fun 

The Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations (ARIC) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for its Annual History Seminar 2025. The upcoming round of the seminar aims to explore various aspects of the social and cultural history of entertainment and entertainers and analyze the roles they played in the history of the Middle East.
The seminar sessions will be held in Cairo, Egypt, at AUC Tahrir Square Campus on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 April 2025. Abstracts of around 300 words, in either English or Arabic, along with a recent CV are expected by 1 December 2024. Please send abstracts and CVs to ahs@aucegypt.edu . Unfortunately, we do not have funds to assist with air travel or accommodation. However, there are no registration fees for the seminar.

Call for Papers 

Historicizing entertainment and leisure is one of the growing areas in the social and cultural history of the Middle East. While it has often been approached from the perspective of court and high culture, recent scholarship also pays attention to forms of entertainment beyond the court and ones that crossed various social boundaries including from the perspectives of “history from below”. The work of storytellers, poets and poetry reciters, singers, dancers, acrobats, magicians, as well as games, shadow plays and sports, can help us understand various aspects of past societies.

The upcoming round of the Annual History Seminar aims to study various aspects of the social and cultural history of entertainment and entertainers in the Middle East. The aim is to analyze the various roles that entertainers and entertainment activities played in different historical contexts in the past of the Middle East. Through studying various forms of entertainment and the positionality and dynamics between entertainers and other social actors we can better understand some of the worldviews and mentalities of historical societies. Rather than describe the work of particular entertainers, we hope to probe the relations between various social actors and analyze changing social, economic and political relations among them. We aim to look at the social and cultural history of the Middle East through the lens of entertainment.

 We invite abstracts of around 300 words in either English and Arabic for presentations that would revolve around the broad theme of entertainment and leisure activities in the history of the Middle East. Possible themes include:

 Historicizing Entertainment: What are the sources we can use to shed light on entertainers, usually associated with the lower strata of society? Can some traditional sources, such as al-Maqrizi’s seminar Khitat, be used differently to study entertainment? Are there alternative archives or untraditional sources that can be approached?

Regulating Entertainment: Although their arts were much in demand, entertainers, especially dancers and singers, had to deal with the antagonism of ruling and religious authorities. How did entertainers navigate this tension between popular demand and moral censorship and regulations? What roles did state officials, such as muhtasibs and qadis, play in this dynamic? What were the discrepancies between those different perspectives and how wide were they? How did different social groups moralize different forms of entertainment? What were the varying attitudes towards music for example and how did they shift over time and space? What were the various licit and illicit forms of entertainment and did this distinction shift over time? What aspects of entertainment were criminalized in a given society and how was that regulated?

Literature and History as Entertainment: Middle East historiography has been dominated by textual studies, and yet the entertainment aspect that many texts provided has not always received enough attention. Which literary genres developed as forms of entertainment and in which historical contexts? How did history as a genre become popular and when and why can it be considered a form of entertainment? What about folk epics (siyar) and popular tales (such as Alfa Layla wa Layla)?What roles did they play in entertaining? What themes were more prevalent in these genres?

Medieval Popularization: Medievalists speak of a bourgeois trend and popularization in the society and culture of the Middle East. How was this trend reflected in the entertainment practices of the time?

Mulids and Entertainment: The period 1200-1900 witnessed a significant expansion of mulids and saint festivals in different parts of the Middle East and across religious communities. What impact did this have on the different entertainment crafts. Can we link the history of mulids to the expansion of entertainment crafts?

Parody, Satire, Jokes, and Carnival: Entertainment activities often have a light aspect to them, yet one that carries very serious connotations at times. What roles did parody and satire play in some of the entertainment activities of the past? Can the concept of “carnival” help us understand some aspects of popular celebrations and entertainment in Middle East history?

The Crafts and Skills of Entertainers: Some forms of entertainment (dancing, shadow plays, poetry-reciting) required a high level of skill and craftsmanship. Can they be classified as high culture, low culture, popular culture? To what extent, how, when and why, were some forms of entertainment classified as crafts?

Organizing Entertainment: How were entertainers organized, both in terms of their own structures (guilds), and from the point of view of ruling authorities in terms of tax-paying? Did crafts remain within families?

Entertainment and the Margins? Where did different entertainers fall in the social structure of the city? Were they necessarily part of the urban poor? Were some entertainers marginalized and others celebrated? Where did entertainers lie within rural society? What chances did entertainers have for social mobility?

Locating Entertainment: Where did entertainment activities take place within the urban and rural landscape contexts?  Where did they live? Were there specific areas and times in cities that were set aside for entertainment? How did this change from one historical context to another? How did the development of the urban landscape in critical turning points, such as the mid-Ottoman period of growth or the 19th century, affect the position and location of entertainment?

Coffee Shops and Entertainment: Since the early 16th century, coffee shops have become an integral component of social and cultural life in the Middle East. What roles did this new space play in entertainment? What forms of art, culture and play did it encourage?

Class and Entertainment: What roles did cultural salons play in the medieval Middle East? What, if any, parallels did these gatherings have across different social classes and periods? How did literacy or lack thereof affect entertainment? How did class and taste intersect?

Gendering Entertainment: How were certain entertainment activities gendered? And how did this differ from one region or period to another? What roles did women play in entertainment and in which contexts? How were aspects of the management of entertainment businesses and taxation gendered? What roles did enslaved people play in the entertainment business and how was that gendered? How gendered was the management of entertainment and its administration?

Sports and Games: Games and spectator sports have a long history in the Middle East but they are not often studied for the medieval period even though military regimes such as the Mamluks encouraged some of them such as polo. What public games were popular in different historical periods? Who patronized these games and public spectator sports? What political and social roles did these activities play? How was this different at various historical junctures?

Modernity and Entertainment: How did the changes in the 19th century impact people and practices of the entertainment business? How did the Arab Nahda affect entertainment in particular? How did ideas of social reform as well as religious reform movements affect the culture of entertainment? How did new forms of entertainment such as the press and the theater affect the culture of entertainment and affect other traditional forms of entertainment? How did the social placement of entertainers and the functions of entertainment change with modernity? What new forms of entertainment arose with changing social and political circumstances and why? How did changes in urban landscapes affect entertainment practices?

The sessions of the seminar are scheduled for Friday 11 and Saturday 12 April, 2025 at the Oriental Hall of the Tahrir Square Campus of the American University in Cairo. Participants should plan to speak for around 20 minutes in either English or Arabic. Abstracts of around 300 words, in either language, along with a recent CV are expected by 1 December, 2024. Graduate students and PhD candidates are encouraged to apply. Participants will be informed by late December 2024. Please send abstracts and CVs to ahs@aucegypt.edu.

Inquiries can be directed to either of the organizers:

Dr Nelly Hanna nhanna@aucegypt.edu

Dr Amina Elbendary abendary@aucegypt.edu

 

 

 

14. Literary Modernity in the Persophone Realm: A Reader

Editors: C. Nolle-Karimi et al.,

Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2024

https://www.scienceopen.com/book?vid=1a31f3ab-1a9d-44c3-a865-1eab2df9fe96

 

 

 

 

15. IIS: Listening in Many Tongues: Multilingual interpretive communities and acts of translation in Early Modern South Asia
This conference seeks to bring together scholars working across diverse fields, languages, and geographies on ideas of translation. For example, these would include scholars concentrating on Ismaili and Sufi studies in Persian and South Asian vernaculars and those working across Arabic, Malayalam, scholars working on Jain and Apabhramsa texts in translation, and on sites in South India.
Please note: this conference will take place on 21-22 October 2024.
The conference will be followed by a musical performance entitled Sham-i Mousiqi: An evening of Persian, Afghan, and South Asian Music. The concert will be held at The Ismaili Centre London on 21 October

https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/listening-in-many-tongues/

 

 

 

 

16. IIS: Conference on Afghanistan
The Central Asian Studies Unit at IIS and The Collective for Afghanistan Studies are organising an international conference entitled, “Afghanistan: Continuity and the Persistence of Tradition, Culture, and Identity”. Conference presentations will focus on history, identity, women, community, heritage, literature, and other topics in Afghanistan and its diaspora.
This conference will take place on 8-9 November 2024.

https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/afghanistan-conference/