Archive for November 9th, 2024
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence
Call for Papers
27 – 28 March 2025
Hochhauser Auditorium, V&A South Kensington, London
This conference is organised in conjunction with the V&A exhibition The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence (9 November 2024 – 5 May 2025). This major exhibition celebrates the extraordinary creative output and internationalist culture of the ‘Golden Age’ of the Mughal Court (c. 1560–1660) during the reigns of its most famous emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Continuing the V&A’s long history of fostering advanced research in the field of South Asian art history, this conference will provide an opportunity to share impactful, innovative and emerging research on Mughal art and design.
Participation in the two-day conference will be both in person at V&A South Kensington and online. Keynote speakers will include Rajeev Kinra, Associate Professor of South Asian history and comparative literature at Northwestern University, and Susan Stronge, Senior Curator in the Asia Department at the V&A and curator of The Great Mughals exhibition.
We welcome proposals from researchers at all stages of their careers, including academics, curators, conservators and scientists, especially those which respond to the Mughal collections of the V&A or place them in their wider context. We particularly welcome proposals from early career scholars. Topics of particular interest include:
• Mughal patronage and collecting
• Mughal workshops and regional production
• The impact of Iran on Mughal art and design
• Hindus at the Mughal court
• The Mughals and Europe
• Mughal architecture and gardens
• Technology, especially relating to Mughal warfare
• Museum practice in displaying, conserving, and interpreting Mughal collections
Conference papers will be 20 minutes each.
Proposals for papers, comprising a 250-word abstract and 150-word biography, should be
sent to greatmughals.conference@vam.ac.uk by Friday 6th December 2024.
Deadline: 6th December 2024
Notification to speakers: 20th December 2022
Please send all enquiries to greatmughals.conference@vam.ac.uk
2. CFP – “The image in Muslim religious contexts”, Congress of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies – deadline: December 8
Dear colleagues,
I am writing to share the CfP for a panel I am organizing at the 6th Congress of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in France, Strasbourg, 24-27 June 2025. I hope you will consider submitting a proposal.
The CfP for the panel is below.
The full congress CfP can be found here: https://momm-strasbourg.sciencesconf.org/
To offer a paper:
- You need to provide your name and institutional affiliation (if any), a title and an abstract (up to 2000 characters) for a 20-minute paper.
- Please upload your paper proposal directly via this link: https://framaforms.org/proposition-de-contribution-individuelle-a-un-atelier-du-6e-congres-du-gis-momm-strasbourg-24-27
- Deadline for submissions: 8 December 2024
Contact Information : benazzouna@unistra.fr
CfP: The image in Muslim religious contexts
The “Bilderverbot“, the ban on images of living creatures in Islam, and its circumventions, have been the subject of constant debate for several centuries. As far as we know, the first traces of such debates, or more accurately accusations, date back to the Council of Nicaea II in 787. The first “Critical Dissertation” devoted to “this question, whether the figures of men and animals are banned in the Alcoran” was published in 1789 (Toderini 1789). There are still many publications on the topic today. These debates themselves have been the subject of historiographical analyses, for example by Christiane Gruber (Gruber 2019) or Finbarr Barry Flood (Flood 2022). The longevity and passionate nature of the discussion can be explained, among other things, by the fact that it is marked by the radical paradigms of incoherence and even contradiction. As Islam is generally considered to be “a fiercely trancendent and iconoclastic doctrine” (Moin 2015), the image is often confined to the limbo of anomaly, from “irregularity” (Toderini 1789) to “implausibility” (Papadopoulo 1976).
The aim of this workshop is to contribute to the debate precisely by reconsidering the supposed fundamental contradiction between the Muslim religion and the representational image, by crossing the testimony of Muslim normative texts and Islamic representational images. While the Qur’ān contains no passage comparable to the second commandment, it is the Ḥadīth, the Traditions of Prophet Muḥammad, and Muslim law that are considered the reference sources on the status of the representational image in Islam. Yet neither of these two corpora has yet been the subject of an in-depth study from this perspective. What might the “isnād-cum-matn” or “matn-cum-isnād” method (Motzki 2005; Natif 2019) contribute to our knowledge of the history of the status of the image in the traditionalist milieu? Similarly, what would a systematic analysis of the legal corpora, from fiqh manuals to collections of fatwās, reveal? And more importantly, how to evaluate the impact of the ulamāʾ on the conception and practice of the image and, more generally, of the visual arts in the Islamic world?
Cross-referencing textual and visual sources is also possible at the level of material culture. In fact, many Islamic works bear both texts and images in dialogue. While the text-image relationship is beginning to be studied in scientific and narrative illustrated manuscripts, this is not yet the case in other forms of material culture, from architecture to art objects. There are many cases where not only a text, but also a religious text such as an excerpt from the Qur’ān, a reference or an invocation to God, the Prophet or another holy figure, is displayed alongside an image. The best-known case is that of the coins predating the reforms of Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik in 77 H / 696-7, but many other examples can be cited. In this respect, pre-Islamic spolia reused in Muslim monuments deserve particular attention. For example, are there convergences between Byzantine capitals and reliefs incorporated into mosques such as al-Aqṣā or al-Azhar? How do Qurʾānic quotations and iconographic spolia interact in public buildings, from Seljuk Anatolia to Mamluk Egypt? How do Muslim texts and images created ex nihilo fit together in Andalusi and Fatimid textiles, Iranian and Iraqi inlaid metalworks or lustre tiles from Kashan…?
In attempting to address some of these questions, the contributions will take a fresh look at both well-known and lesser-known works, with particular attention to the relationship between religious texts and representational images. The aim is to move beyond the paradigm of anomaly towards an analysis of the image as a language in its own right in Islamic societies.
References cited :
Flood, Finbarr Barry, “Islam and image: Paradoxical histories», in Axel Langer (ed.), In the name of the image. Figurative representation in Islamic and Christian cultures, Berlin, 2022, p. 301-318.
Gruber, Christiane (ed.), The Image debate: Figural representation in Islam and across the world, Londres : Gingko, 2019.
Moin, A. Azfar, 2015, “Sovereign violence: Temple destruction in India and shrine desecration in Iran and Central Asia”, Comparative Studies in Society and History 57/2, pp. 467-496.
Motzki, Harald, 2005, “Dating Muslim Traditions: A survey”, Arabica 52/2, pp. 204-253.
Natif, Mika, 2019, “‘Painters will be punished’ – The politics of figural representation amongst the Umayyads”, in Gruber, Christiane (ed.), The Image debate: Figural representation in Islam and across the world, Londres : Gingko, 2019, pp. 33-45.
Papadopoulo, Alexandre, 1976, L’Islam et l’art musulman, Paris : Editions d’Art Lucien Mazenod.
Toderini, 1789, « Dissertation critique sur cette question, si les figures d’hommes et d’animaux sont défendues dans l’Alcoran », in De la littérature des Turcs, trad. de l’italien par M. l’abbé de Cournand, Paris : Poinçot, vol. 3, pp. 47-78 (le texte original est daté de 1785).
Key words
Art history, image, figurative representation, Islam, Muslim religion, religious space, text-image relationship
Contact Email
URL
https://momm-strasbourg.sciencesconf.org/
3. Persian cultural heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina
SOAS Centre for Iranian Studies,
5.00pm, Monday 18 November 2024
Dr. Haverić will present the Bosniaks’ Literary Legacy in Persian, highlighting valuable manuscripts of Persian works preserved in libraries in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Her talk will explore the Influence of Persian Classics on the literary heritage of Bosniaks written in Persian, Turkish, and Arabic. Bosnian writers have drawn inspiration from prominent writers and poets of Arab, Turkish, and Persian literature, resulting in a significant body of works in these oriental languages. Her book, “Words of Persian Origin in Bosnian Language,” co-authored with Amela Šehović, contains a comprehensive list of 1,808 words of Persian origin
Registration is necessary.
4. SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Book Launch: Zoroastrianism in India and Iran by Alexandra Buhler
6.30pm, Thursday 21 November 2024
This book examines the cultural, religious, and political ties between the Zoroastrian communities of Iran and the Zoroastrian communities of India during the late Qajar and early Pahlavi periods.
A major theme is the increase in philanthropy directed to the Zoroastrians of Iran by the Parsis and the involvement of the British in encouraging Parsi feelings of patriotism towards Iran. Not only were Parsis affected by events taking place in Iran, they also contributed to the broader change in attitudes towards Zoroastrians in that country.
Registration is necessary.
5. SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Film screening: Derbent: What Persia Left Behind
7.00pm, Tuesday 26 November 2024
“Derbent: What Persia Left Behind” is a comprehensive documentary that explores the unique history and archaeology of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The documentary features exclusive footage shot in Derbent just before the Russo-Ukrainian war, along with interviews with renowned scholars who illuminate the rich yet often overlooked history of the fortifications. Funded by the Persian Heritage Foundation and the Soudavar Memorial Foundation, the film also highlights the critical condition of the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) inscriptions found in the region, the northernmost of their kind in the world.
6. School of Arts, SOAS
2025 Yarshater Lectures in Persian Art
16 – 21 January 2025
This four-part series looks at both familiar and overlooked aspects of deluxe Persian manuscript production during the early modern period, roughly the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries.
Individual lecture topics include paintings as frontispieces and finispieces, the presence of page markers, manuscript illuminators and their graphic styles, and the image of the book in illustrated manuscripts. The overall aim is to explore some of the material and artistic features, forms and functions that shaped the making of Persian manuscripts in the past and that contribute to the continuing appeal of this celebrated tradition in the present.
The Yarshater Lectures in Persian Art at SOAS are sponsored by the Persian Heritage Foundation.
7. Inperson only: AKU-ISMC Studying State Muftis: The Case of Egypt,
Lecture by Professor Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen
4 December, 2024
London, 5.30
8. Call for Submissions to Oxford Middle East Review
OMER is currently accepting submissions that reflect on the position of the MENA’s people, civil societies, organisations, and governments, within a broader context of hegemonic and subaltern powers, with a broad temporal theme (though typically the contemporary MENA world, from the mid-1800s onwards).
Papers will be considered for the journal’s two sections: a policy section (shorter pieces up to 2,000 words in length) and a research section (in-depth articles from 7,500-10,000 words).
They are also welcoming interest in individuals who would like to review some of the latest books on the MENA region.
Students can enquire about the book review at omerjournal@gmail.com, and can submit to editors@omerjournal.com.
Further information about the theme and this call are in the attached document.
Deadline for Submissions: January 3, 2025
Full Submission Guidelines: https://omerjournal.com/submit/
To submit, please email: submissions@omerjournal.com
For general queries, please email: editors@omerjournal.com
9. Call for Papers: Muslims of the UK and Europe Postgraduate Symposium
Organised by the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge
The Centre of Islamic Studies invites applications from current Masters and PhD candidates to present their research on issues pertaining to Muslims of the UK and Europe, from any discipline. This postgraduate symposium, taking place on 29th/30th September 2025 at the Moller Centre in Cambridge, will be a platform for students to present and exchange current research on any topic in this field in a dynamic forum. Papers should present, analyse or interpret research findings, data or material. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. Accommodation will be provided and economy travel expenses will be reimbursed up to £300.
To apply please submit a 500-word abstract, with curriculum vitae outlining current research interests, to admin@cis.cam.ac.uk by 15 January 2025.
Successful candidates will be notified at the start of March 2025 and invited to submit draft papers of no more than 3000 words by 1 Sept 2025.
Click here to read about the bi-annual ‘Muslims of the UK and Europe’ Postgraduate Symposium.
10. IQP Series of Meetings (15th):
Partners in Sacred History
(The Animals in the Qur’an and hadith and early Islamic history)
Prof. Sarra Tlili, University of Florida
Nov. 13, 2024
11:30 AM – 13:30 PM (UTC)
For Registration and to receive the meeting link, send your name and affiliate to:
11. The Making of Persianate Modernity: Language and
Literary History between Iran and India
A Jabbari
Cambridge University Press, 2023
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-of-persianate-modernity/A796FA74ABF9B0B6FAE1C81F60D75891
12. ONLINE Conference “58th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA)”, 11-16 November 2024
Information, final programme and registration: https://mesana.org/pdf/MESA2024_Nov4_sm.pdf
13. ONLINE Lecture “Re-Imagining Jerusalem: The Ritual Recreation of Pilgrimage between Syria and Georgia” by Prof. Emma Loosley Leeming, University of Exeter, 15 November 2024, 6:00 pm CET
This lecture will introduce some of the ways that believers recreated the rituals of Jerusalem pilgrimage without leaving their hometowns and villages. It will introduce examples from Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and encourage future research in this widely under-studied area of ritual practice.
Information and registration:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vWTAIvvFQPiKXEjgPRFszA#/registration
14. PhD Fellowships in the Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies Program, University of Ghent
PhD candidates are invited for studies on: The history of Egypt, historical Syria, and the Ottoman Empire (focus on state formation, knowledge practices, historical consciousness, etc.). – The anthropology of the Middle East (focus on love, sexuality, materiality, identity, gender and modernity). – The analysis and preservation of source materials relevant to the study of epigraphy, historiography, and documents in various languages.
Deadline for applications: 1 December 2024.
Information: https://www.middleeast.ugent.be/en/research/research-fellowships/
15. Junior and Senior Postdoctoral Fellowships via the Research Foundation Flanders (3 Years) in the Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies Program, University of Ghent
The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) funds postdoctoral fellowships at junior and senior levels for excep-tional researchers to pursue independent research projects for three years. If you are interested in pursuing one of these fellowships, please contact the professor in the program whose research interests most closely align with the project you would like to pursue.
Deadline for applications: 2 December 2024.
Information: https://www.middleeast.ugent.be/en/research/research-fellowships/
16. Lecturer or Assistant Teaching Professor of Arabic, Pennsylvania State University
Requirements include native or near-native fluency in English and Arabic, a Master’s degree or its equiva-lent in Arabic or a related field (Ph.D. preferred) by the appointment date, and relevant teaching experience. Candidates who have experience with communicative and standards-based methodologies, program-building experience such as supervision or curriculum development, etc.
Deadline for applications: 18 November 2024. Information: https://apptrkr.com/5740511
- November 09, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment