Archive for 2024
Shii News – Academic Items
1.ONLINE Conference “Researching Muslim America: Intersecting Identities, Methodological Advances, and Lingering Challenges”, Muslim Studies Program, Michigan State University, 8-9 February 2024
Information, program and registration: https://events.islamicity.org/events/theme-researching-muslim-america-intersecting-identities-methodological-advances-and-lingering-challenges/
2. ONLINE Book Talk “The Kurdish Nobility in the Ottoman Empire: Loyalty, Autonomy, and Privilege” by Nilay Özok Gundogan (Florida State University), Center for Middle East Studies, Brown University, Providence, RI, 9 February 2024, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST
This book is a study of the rise and fall of Kurdish nobility in the Ottoman Empire from the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries. Focusing on one noble Kurdish family based in the emirate of Palu, a fortressed town in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire, the book provides the first systematic analysis of the hereditary nobility in Kurdistan between 1720 and 1895.
Information and registration: https://watson.brown.edu/cmes/events/2023/nilay-ozok-gundogan-kurdish-nobility
3. ONLINE Working Group Race & Gender in the Global Middle Ages: “The Racialized Scentscape of Fatimid Automata” by Dr. Holley Ledbetter (Oberlin College), Medieval Academy of America, 9 February 2024, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST
This paper explores the eight life-size mechanical sculptures stationed in the majlis of the early twelfth-century Fatimid vizier al-Afḍal Shāhanshāh (r. 1094-1121) as technological embodiments of enslavement. Performing for viewers, the jewel-bedecked female figurines purportedly bowed their heads when al-Afḍal entered the hall and returned to their upright position when he found his seat. Etc.
Information and registration: https://scholarblogs.emory.edu/raceandgenderglobalmiddleages/
4. ONLINE Webinar “The Muslim Difference: Defining the Line Between Believers and Unbelievers from Early Islam to Present” with Professor Youshaa Patel, Muslim Studies Program, Michigan State University, 21 February 2024, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm EST
Information and registration: https://muslimstudies.isp.msu.edu/about/reg-links/
5. HYBRIDE Seminaire “De poète de la tribu à poète de la rue – les transformations de statut et de conditions de vie des poètes arabophones à l’époque prémoderne” avec Hakan Özkan (IREMAM – Aix-Marseille Université), MMSH/IREMAM, Aix-en-Provence, 25 April 2024, 14h00 heure de Paris
Nous accorderons une attention particulière à la notion de mobilité sociale des poètes, c’est-à-dire à la capacité de ces auteurs à s’élever au-delà de leur statut socio-économique initial, à travers leurs carrières en tant que poètes mais également dans d’autres domaines professionnels. Nous explorerons en outre la thématique de la précarité, qu’elle soit d’ordre économique ou physique.
Information et inscription : https://www.iremam.cnrs.fr/en/node/101905
6. 17th Pan-European Conference on International Relations: RG Section 13 “Islam in Inter-national Affairs: Theories and Practices of Diplomacy”, 27-31 August 2024, Lille Catholic University, France
The section analyses both theoretical approaches of Islam in International Relations and concrete historical experience of diplomacy in Islam: – Theoretical Approaches of Diplomacy in Islam. – Worldviews of Muslim Thinkers and Practitioners vis-á-vis Diplomacy. – Diplomacy and Islamic Polity/Governance. – Diplomacy of Transnational and Political Islamist Movements. – The Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) Phenomenon and Diplomacy.
Deadline for abstracts: 13 March 2024. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20021931/cfp-panels-section-s13-islam-international-affairs-theories-and
7. Workshop “Aesthetics, Rituals, and Narratives in Islamic Mobilization”, University of Oxford, 24 October 2024
We will investigate how art, rituals, performances, music, and symbolic meanings contribute to creating a cohesive narrative that shapes various forms of Islamic mobilization across the Middle East. We invite abstracts that explore aesthetics, rituals, and narratives within the context of Islamic movements in the Middle East.
Deadline for abstracts: 22 March 2024. Information: https://www.cfplist.com/CFP/40739
8. International Conference on “Digital Archiving in the Arab World (DA|AW)”, Abu Dhabi, 29-31 October 2024
The conference will bring together scholars and practitioners for discussions about archiving challenges in the Arab world, hence no discipline or approach is proposed. The questions are broad, and all possible responses are appreciated.
Deadline for abstracts: 18 February 2024.
Information: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TwMxdXGdz5eumFI6yS-4KWyUI1EpJLY4/view
9. Fellowship of the American Center of Research in Amman in the Fields of Ancient History, Anthropology, Middle East History / Studies and Political Science (2024-2025)
Extended deadline for applications: 15 February 2024.
10. Articles on “Contemporary Issues of Capitalism in the Middle East”, for a Special Issue of “Middle East Critique” with Guest Editors Stella Morgana and Kayhan Valadbaygi
What does the term ‘capitalism’ imply when it is applied to the Middle East and North Africa? How do dy-namics of class, gender and ethnicity shape contemporary issues of capitalism? This special issue tackles these questions by exploring the gaps in current mainstream literature.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 February 2024. Information: http://tinyurl.com/MEC-CapitalisMENA
11. Gulf International Forum is pleased to invite nominations for our Gulf book award, a recognition celebrating exceptional scholarly works. Both authors and publishers are eligible to nominate, and while there is no restriction on the number of submissions per author, we encourage thoughtful and selective nomination.
Eligibility Criteria
* The book should be a scholarly monograph grounded in original research.
* Publications must be in English, released between January 2023 and December 2023.
* The content should be centered around one or more of the nine Gulf states: the six nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iraq, Iran, and Yemen. It should comprehensively delve into one or more pertinent themes, such as political, economic, social, security, or cultural aspects relevant to the Gulf region.
* This award accepts submissions of original works. Please note that this award does not consider edited volumes, new editions of previously published books, bibliographies, or textbooks.
Nomination Deadline and Application
Nominations must be submitted by February 14, 2024.
Please apply by completing the <https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ZUP1wkDuvmctLaWUVf7cvn18q8oPdgXFeW3iBWRu7OJC49qwSCX9h5Ny8JNUsTEWAF9MiViGmEXuYOBJPPgE5QBEhHmJ-yiJC8GzvexucmjU7nJ4sAhxEX8nj0PzIh2DD5-H2wImJxhnyELUGKPJ-wl4pYE1sv-NpBwdowCUvw5Ku1r_WDga6fQxhTEIPHGfmRYgsmDAN9lKNDXp5sHgdeLGZ2vm-ra6j06RHJDfR99R4orD_YiVjtKndWO7TxPedbtgrB99s7WTXPbww2HrdQ==&c=AcJmH9ndQj19Z02S_CSPEvre_B7JwE8OgFx6wxbaa6h5adHtBVQPRA==&ch=fQCp5qsBzFAzJfjS0brxnBkMU0A2DVsT1ULGCKw0AEBgkT5qdeex1w==>following form <https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ZUP1wkDuvmctLaWUVf7cvn18q8oPdgXFeW3iBWRu7OJC49qwSCX9h5Ny8JNUsTEWAF9MiViGmEXuYOBJPPgE5QBEhHmJ-yiJC8GzvexucmjU7nJ4sAhxEX8nj0PzIh2DD5-H2wImJxhnyELUGKPJ-wl4pYE1sv-NpBwdowCUvw5Ku1r_WDga6fQxhTEIPHGfmRYgsmDAN9lKNDXp5sHgdeLGZ2vm-ra6j06RHJDfR99R4orD_YiVjtKndWO7TxPedbtgrB99s7WTXPbww2HrdQ==&c=AcJmH9ndQj19Z02S_CSPEvre_B7JwE8OgFx6wxbaa6h5adHtBVQPRA==&ch=fQCp5qsBzFAzJfjS0brxnBkMU0A2DVsT1ULGCKw0AEBgkT5qdeex1w==>. APPLY NOW!
Prizes
* The author(s) of the winning book will receive a $1,000 award. In the case of multiple authors, the prize will be divided equally.
* Winner will be awarded a certificate of recognition, a trophy and announced on social media.
* Winner will be announced and awarded at the GSS Opening Ceremony on March 4, 2024, at Georgetown University Campus in Washington DC.
Selection Committee
Dr. Dania Thafer, Senior Fellow and Executive Director at Gulf International Forum
Dr. Yagoub Alkandari, Advisory Board Member at Gulf International Forum and Director of Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Center in Kuwait University
Dr. Courtney Freer, Senior Non-Resident Fellow at Gulf International Forum and Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at Emory University
Dr. Khalid Al-Jaber, Director of MENA Center
Dr. Gawdat Bahgat, Senior Non-Resident Fellow at Gulf International Forum and Professor at the Near East South Asia Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University
For additional information or any queries, please contact us at gss@gulfif.org.
12. Call for Submissions | 2024 BRISMES Early Career Development Scholarship
Submissions are now open for the 2024 BRISMES Early Career Development Scholarship. The aim of this award is to support activities geared towards strengthening the academic profile and CV of an early career scholar. This year, two awards of £3,000 each are available.
In order to be eligible for this award, applicants must be members of BRISMES, must have submitted a PhD dissertation in the last 2 years in any disciplinary field, on a topic related to the study of the Middle East and North Africa and must not have a permanent academic position when they receive the grant.Priority will be given to applicants with limited or no access to institutional support (whether time or funding) for research-focused activities.
Eligible activities include (but are not necessarily limited to):
- Developing an article for a peer-reviewed journal
- Developing a book chapter
- Transforming a PhD thesis into a book manuscript
- Developing pilot research for a new project
- Preparing a grant proposal for their own postdoctoral work
- Developing an exhibition, a film, multi-series podcast, a workshop or some other creative practice that helps share your research with academic and/or non-academic audiences
- But also, please feel free to be more creative than we are 🙂
The deadline for submissions is midnight (UK time) on 31 March 2024.
More information: https://www.brismes.ac.uk/awards/ecds
13. The next online Monday Majlis of the Centre for the Study of Islam, Exeter:
Monday, the 12th of February, 17:00-18:30 (UK time). Dalal S al-Baroud with Sayed Ismail A al-Behbehani, Rewilding Arabic Literature
Registration is required. Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwrc-6vrDIsH9F8tiIAVnpPomDPFr4f5ts8
14. The Gibb Memorial Trust
Scholarships
The Gibb Memorial Trust offers two annual scholarships to students undertaking doctoral research in the field of the Trust’s activities.
The Gibb Memorial Trust’s Centenary Scholarship of up to £2,000 is available to postgraduate students at an advanced stage of their doctoral research in any area of Middle Eastern Studies (7th century to 1918) at a British university.
Centenary Scholarship application form & past recipients
The A. H. Morton Memorial Scholarship for Doctoral Research in Classical Persian Studies is for a maximum of £3,000 and can be applied to any year of a course of doctoral study at a British university, including for an approved period of study abroad.
H. Morton Scholarship application form & past recipients
Applicants may apply for only one of the scholarships in any one year. Previous winners may not re-apply for the same scholarship.
The Gibb Centenary Scholarship
The Gibb Memorial Trust’s Centenary Scholarship of up to £2,000 is available to any doctoral research student in any area of Middle Eastern Studies (7th century to 1918) at a British university, with preference given to students at an advanced stage of their research, working with materials in Arabic, Persian or Turkish, and with an established financial need. Those unable to take up an award will need to reapply.
Applications must be submitted by 29 March 2024. The result will be announced by 30 June 2024.
For more information: https://www.gibbtrust.org/scholarships/
For any questions, please contact the Secretary, Zuher Hassan, at secretary@gibbtrust.org.
15. 2024: International Symposium, University of Arizona: Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Miracles and Wonders, Science and Faith in the Pre-Modern Age: The Experience of Transcendence – Reality or Imagination
22nd International Symposium on the Middle Ages and the early modern age, to be held at the University of Arizona, Tucson, May 3-4, 2024
For the first social get-together, please try to arrive already on May 2.
Ca. 24 papers can be included. We invite close readings of artworks, literary texts, legal documents, medical treatises, etc., all dealing with the broad complex of faith, miracles, science, and wonders in the pre-modern world. This symposium wants to challenge naive modern perspectives of the pre-modern world as having been determined by simple-mindedness, foolish belief in miracles and wonders, and hence ignorance. Science was a major factor already then, and belief in miracles is still with us today. Hence, the papers ought to address the two sides of the same coin and unearth the dialectics of the two dimensions, miracles and science.
Program (tba)
Contact: Prof. Albrecht Classen, aclassen@arizona.edu
Registration (which will cover all meals, refreshments, social gatherings, the meeting room, equipment, materials, and local transportation: $110.
Hotel accommodations:
Ramada by Wyndham TUCSON
777 West Cushing Street, Tucson, AZ 85745 520-239-2300 520-239-2329 FAX; or contact the sales manager, Wes Clark, dWes Clark wes@tucsonramada.comirectly with email: Wes Clark <wes@tucsonramada.com>
$99.00 + $11.93 Sales Tax + $4.00 Bed Tax = $114.93 (extremely competitive; please book early b/c there is a mariachi competition going on at the same time, with lots of people coming to Tucson at the same weekend).
This rate is for 1-2 occupancy and includes our complimentary American Breakfast Buffet, free WiFi and free parking. This rate is valid 3 days pre- and post-event. NOTE: Tax rate subject to change.
Guests will call to make their own reservations. Please call our reservation number (520-239-2300) and ask for the “Miracles and Wonders Conference” Rate. The group rate is not available online or thru travel agents – guests must call the hotel directly.
As per sales manager: “The cut-off date for the May 2-4, 2024 conference is April 15th. We will continue to honor the $99 rate after the cut-off on a space available basis. Please let your attendees know that the Tucson Mariachi Festival is that week at the TCC, so we may be sold out if they wait until the last minute.”
Payment: Guests will pay for their own rooms. The University of Arizona is not responsible for any charges.
Cancellations: Must be made at least 48 hours prior to avoid a penalty.
Cut-Off Date: May l1, 2024 – Rooms Subject to Availability After Cut-Off Date
Contact: Prof. Albrecht Classen, aclassen@email.arizona.edu
- February 06, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Webinar: ‘Persian Historiography across Empires’ – S Quinn (7.2.24, 5pm UK time)
This presentation will discuss some of the main features of Persian historiography under the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals. Early modern chroniclers engaged in a number of historiographical practices, including engaging with and modifying the earlier Timurid historiographical traditions, rewriting and repurposing their own narratives, blending genres, and continuing practices such as writing universal histories. By examining Persian chronicles across empires, it is possible to gain a better understanding of how these historiographical traditions crossed imperial boundaries and formed part of the Persianate world.
The talk will draw upon some of the main points in the author’s recent book, Persian Historiography across Empires: the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
Register at:
https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/persian-historiography-across-empires/
- February 05, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. In person event: INSTITUTE OF LANGUAGES, CULTURES AND SOCIETIES
School of Advanced Study • University of London
Julia Hartley’s Iran and French Orientalism: Panel Discussion and Book Launch
15 February 2024, 17:30-19:00 GMT
Woburn Suite, G22/26, University of London Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU
All are welcome to attend this event which is being held in person only. Please register in advance: https://ilcs.sas.ac.uk/events/iran-and-french-orientalism-panel-discussion-and-book-launch
2. Gender, Governance and Islam,
edited by Deniz Kandiyoti, Nadje Al-Ali & Kathryn Spellman Poots
Edinburgh, 2019
Open Access at:
3. Khorshid Khanom: A Study in the Origin and Development of the Shir-o Khorshid Motif
W Floor, F Sajadi,
Mage, 2024
4. Veil Obsessed: Representations in Literature, Art, and Media
Edited by Umme Al-wazedi and Afrin Zeenat
Paper $44.95s | 9780815638414
Ebook 9780815657118
To order: https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/6267/veil-obsessed/
5. NEAR EASTERN STUDIES PUBLIC EVENT
The astral sciences and early cultures: why do we study them, and how do we share our interest with the public?
Alexander Jones (ISAW, NYU) in conversation with Sonja Brentjes (IAS, MPIWG)
Sponsor: Sabine Schmidtke, IAS; Convenor: Sonja Brentjes, IAS and MPIWG
Hybrid Event: 14 February, 6:00-6:45 pm
White-Levy Room, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton
Registration is required for both in-person and online participation.
Register at: https://bit.ly/4b9DbTp
6. 2 PhD Scholarships – University of Edinburgh – Dept of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
Deadline: Monday 6 May 2024
Full information at:
7. The Fourth Biennial Arabic Language Teaching Conference at the University of Cambridge approaches.
Key Conference Details:
- Date:April 18, 2024
- Theme:Translanguaging and Linguistic Diversity in Arabic
- Subthemes:Perceptions of Translanguaging, The Varieties We Teach, Pedagogical Approaches, and Approaches to Assessment
- Registration Link: HERE
- Deadline:March 28, 2024.
For more information, visit the conference website: https://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/whats-on/fourth-biennial-arabic-language-teaching-and-learning-higher-education-conference
8. UCLA Iranian Studies Outreach
Bilingual Lecture Series
Reza Shah’s Exile in Mauritius
Houchang Chehabi
Sunday, February 25, 2024 at 4:00pm, Royce Hall 314
Alternate live stream on Zoom:
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/92711078735
(No need to register in advance, just click the link at 4:00pm on February 25 to join.)
9. Spring 2024 AKPIA Lecture Series: A Forum for Islamic Art & Architecture
February 8, 2024, 6:00pm
“To the Baroque and Back Again: Architectural Renovation in the Late Ottoman Empire and Modern Turkey”
Emily Neumeier
AKPIA Fellow; Assistant Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture, Temple University
February 29, 2024, 6:00pm (please watch the AKPIA website, this event may be rescheduled)
“The Sufi Shrines of Khuldabad”
Mohit Manohar
Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Art History, The University of Chicago
Presented with support from the Department of History of Art and Architecture and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund for Asian Studies
March 28, 2024, 6:00pm
“Textiles and the Temporary in Early Modern South Asia”
Sylvia Houghteling
Associate Professor of History of Art, Bryn Mawr College
Presented with support from the Department of History of Art and Architecture and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund for Asian Studies
April 4, 2024, 6:00pm
“At the City’s Edge: The Shrines of Mosul”
Ethel Sara Wolper
AKPIA Fellow; Associate Professor, Department of History, University of New Hampshire
The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University
Lectures are open to the public and held Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm,
at 485 Broadway, Lower Auditorium, Cambridge, MA
Please check the website for the latest information on these events: https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events
Contact Email
URL
https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events
10. Lecture – ‘Colonial Heritage in a Postcolonial World’, IJIA Dialogues, February 21
On behalf of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture, it’s my pleasure to invite you to our upcoming and fourth journal-sponsored Dialogues session. We have three guests joining us from North Africa for a conversation on colonial-era heritage in the contemporary Islamic world. We’ll do this event via Zoom on Feb. 21 at noon EST (GMT-5).
Below is more information on the session and the necessary registration link. We hope you’ll join us and share this invitation with anyone who you think may be interested.
IJIA Dialogues
21 February 2024 | 12:00–13:15 Eastern Time (US and Canada, GMT-5)
Colonial Heritage in a Postcolonial World
Remnants of nineteenth- and twentieth-century European colonialism dot the streetscapes of cities throughout the postcolonial world. Tangible links to the past, these historic built environments also play a vital role in the function and identity of the contemporary postcolony. Within the Islamic world, as globally, such buildings may include government offices, religious structures, schools, and other forms of infrastructure that often stand out amidst examples of recognized ‘traditional’ cultural heritage. What do these inherited colonial-era artifacts mean now, and how have they been contested, conserved, interpreted, and put to use since the advent of independence? What lessons can be learned from them, and what challenges come with preserving the products of such difficult histories in today’s globalizing context?
Join the International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) for its annual Dialogues session, a webinar that brings together scholars and practitioners from varied disciplines for a discussion of critical contemporary issues that interrogate the boundaries between architecture, art, anthropology, archaeology, and history. In this year’s session, “Colonial Heritage in a Postcolonial World,” IJIA Associate Editor Daniel E. Coslett will be joined by Leila Ben-Gacem, Alaa El-Habashi, and Lahbib El Moumni for a lively discussion on architectural history, heritage preservation, and postcolonial identity, across North Africa and beyond.
Zoom registration: https://drexel.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkf-isqDspEtIzBtAH0d1wokaU6YXtT8LZ
Leila Ben-Gacem is a social entrepreneur and Ashoka Fellow based in Tunis, Tunisia. She is the general manager of TUNISTORIC and has founded several cultural heritage organizations, including Dar el Harka, Dar Ben Gacem, and Blue Fish.
Alaa El-Habashi is a Cairo-based professor of architecture and heritage conservation at Menoufia University. His research and practices embrace the specificities of local identities and traditions in historic built environments.
Lahbib El Moumni is an architect based in Casablanca, Morocco. He is the co-founder of MAMMA, an association that aims to highlight and preserve Morocco’s modern architectural and urban heritage, and a doctoral candidate at ETH Zürich.
Additional information on IJIA can be found here: https://www.intellectbooks.com/international-journal-of-islamic-architecture
Contact Information
Daniel E. Coslett, Ph.D.
Drexel University
Contact Email
URL
https://drexel.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMkf-isqDspEtIzBtAH0d1wokaU6YXtT8LZ
11. The Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections is accepting applications for the summer 2024 field trip led by Dr. Glaire Anderson in collaboration with Dr. Rafael Blanco (Universidad de Córdoba). Córdoba In the Age of the Caliphs is a 5-day experience focused on the architecture, archaeology, and art of the Umayyad capital of al-Andalus for those interested in the Digital Lab’s work across video games, immersive technologies, GLAM, and education.
Based at the University of Edinburgh, the Digital Lab brings researchers and students together to work on creative, interdisciplinary projects in collaboration with partners in the games and GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) sectors.
Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until remaining places are filled, or until the final deadline of 31 March. Prospective applicants are encouraged to apply early.
For more info please contact: info@digitallabivcc.com
https://glairedandersonphd.ck.page/cordoba2024
Dr. Glaire Anderson,
Senior Lecturer in Islamic Art & Founding Director, Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections, University of Edinburgh
Contact Information
Dr. Glaire Anderson,
Senior Lecturer in Islamic Art & Founding Director, Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections, University of Edinburgh
Contact Email
URL
https://glairedandersonphd.ck.page/cordoba2024
12. CFP – HIAA Biennial Symposium, 2025, Boston College and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA, April 3-5, 2025
Call for Papers: HIAA Biennial Symposium, 2025
Art Speaks (Back)
Boston College and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Boston, MA
April 3-5, 2025
Today, as they have in the past, new technologies and new media are bringing about radical changes in art and society. Reflecting on both the current political moment and new technologies of knowledge and artistic production such as AI, we are calling for paper, panel, and round table discussion proposals with the theme “Art Speaks (Back).” Art has been used to represent and to misrepresent, to subvert or uphold power, to speak back to power, to technology, to Orientalism, to politics, etc. For example, the illustrations in medieval or early modern manuscripts sometimes subvert the messages of the text or go beyond it to include other interpretations; architecture at times embodies messages for the patron that speak back at a rival or enemy; artists and designers often speak back to holders of power whether in explicit or hidden ways. And sometimes, neither art, nor artists, nor historians, have the freedom to voice their opinions.
The capacity or incapacity of art (and artists) to “speak” may be a useful heuristic/analytical tool to examine both contemporary and historical artistic production. By examining the social and political roles art and artists have played in the past, we may be able to assay the dangers and opportunities presented by new media and technologies. We envision the theme “Art Speaks (Back)” to be explored through attention to technologies of production, to patronage and collecting, to the role of art and artists in society, to art created in times of crisis or change. These are only some examples of the way in which the rich and suggestive theme “Art Speaks (Back)” can be examined.
We invite individual papers, complete panels, or pre-organized round-table discussions that address any aspect of this theme. In this year’s symposium, we will have one session dedicated to 5-minute lightning talks. We also encourage individual applications to this session.
To submit individual papers and lightning papers, please submit a title, an abstract, and a 100-word bio, and indicate whether you are applying to present a 20-minute or a 5-minute paper. For complete panels with three or four 20-minute papers, please include a panel abstract and title as well as individual titles and abstracts for all the papers, and short (100 word) bios for all participants. For round table discussions, please submit an abstract and a title for the roundtable, and the names and 100-word bios of all participants.
Accommodations will be provided for all presenters and travel expenses of students and contingent scholars presenting at the symposium will be covered by HIAA and the Norma Jean Calderwood Professorship Funds at Boston College. Presenters must be HIAA members in good standing.
Please email all submissions to: HIAA.2025.Boston@gmail.com by April 15, 2024. The program committee plans to announce its selections by June 15th.
13. Call for Papers: Muslim Contributions to Civil Society and Philanthropy in the Caribbean
Due date: 15 March, 2024
More information:
14. The Middle East in Cambridge
Cambridge-Brown Persian Poetry Reading Group
Tue 6th February 2024 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM (Time zone: London)
Led by:
Dr. Annabel Keeler (Affiliated Researcher at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies)
Dr. Michelle Quay (Lecturer of Persian at Brown University, Center for Language Studies)
On Tuesday 6th February, please join us for this term’s first meeting of the reading group. We will meet on Zoom this term on alternate Tuesdays for three sessions of reading Persian poetry in the original.
New members, please register here to receive the Zoom invite.
If you have registered previously, no need to sign up again as you will remain on the mailing list.
Reading Group schedule:
Alternate Tuesdays 12 – 1:00pm EST / 5 – 6:00pm UK Time
Session 1: Tues Feb 6th
Session 2: Tues Feb 20th
Session 3: Tues March 5th
Texts for first session:
We will be reading the following story from Rumi’s Mathnavi:
https://ganjoor.net/moulavi/masnavi/daftar2/sh25
The translation is attached.
Group details:
The group is designed for students with some background in reading Persian. We will be reading, translating and discussing some fantastic specimens of Persian verse. Meetings are primarily intended for Brown and Cambridge affiliates. Interested students with an intermediate knowledge of Persian (i.e. those who have completed at least first-year Persian) are very welcome to join. Students below this level may join as auditors. Preparation of the texts before the sessions is ideal, but not obligatory.
This reading group is jointly convened by Dr. Annabel Keeler (Affiliated Researcher at the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies) and Dr. Michelle Quay (Lecturer of Persian at Brown University, Center for Language Studies). It has been coordinated by Dr. Keeler at Cambridge for many years, and it is Brown’s great pleasure to participate for a third year running.
15. Call for Papers: AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies (May Issue 2024)
Arab World English Journal for Translation and Literary Studies welcomes the submission of papers for the May Issue 2024. We are honored to announce that the guest editor for this issue is Assoc. ProfessorRania M Rafik Khalil, Acting Vice Dean for Research and Postgraduate Studies, Faculty of Arts and Humanities at The British University in Egypt.
The submission deadline is February, 29.2024. The issue publication date is May Issue 2024.
The papers can address but are not limited to, the following areas: click here.
Please send your submission to tls@awej.org
We have the pleasure of sending the full issues of AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies February, May, August, and October 2023
Regards,
Arab World English Journal for
Translation and Literary Studies
https://awej-tls.org/
16. Zahra Institute’s Kurdish Studies’ Lecture Series for the Spring semester is open to the public and will be given via Zoom.
You can access the Spring 2024 Kurdish Studies’ Lecture Series via our website: https://www.zahrainstitute.org/
17. Digital Scholarship Conversations@IAS: February 16, 12-1pm: DAMAST – an interactive research environment
DAMAST – an interactive research environment
Prof. Dr. Dorothea Weltecke and Dr. Florian Jäckel
Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Friday, February 16, 12:00-1:00 pm (EST)
Hosted by Sabine Schmidtke (School of Historical Studies, IAS)
and María Mercedes Tuya (Digital Scholarship, IAS).
Damast is an interactive research environment for visualizing the multi-religious situation in the Islamicate world from 600 to 1400 CE. For the first time, all the existing geographical and chronological data about communities of Dhimmis under Muslim rule have been gathered together into one Database. Over 8,300 pieces of evidence at more than 440 locations are part of the database. They are visualized on a map, a timeline and displayed in various tables. Various filters, such as time, location, religious community and source allow detailed inspection of the data. Results of the research remain accessible as a report and can be referenced. Our presentation will introduce the research environment and the underlying concepts, explains some of its features – and its shortcomings.
Register in advance for this virtual event at https://bit.ly/3SDY4ie. After registering, you will receive an email containing information about joining the event.
For additional information please email ds@ias.edu.
- February 03, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – AMI: ‘Compiling a Tradition: The History and Development of the Early Imāmī Hadith Corpora’ (Birmingham, 12-13 February)
Al-Mahdi Institute’s Department of Hadith and History is pleased to open registration for their upcoming two-day conference, running from Monday, 12th February until Tuesday, 13th February 2024, titled: ‘Compiling a Tradition: The History and Development of the Early Imāmī Hadith Corpora,‘ convened by Dr Haidar Hobbollah.
Link for More Information on the Conference: https://www.almahdi.edu/hadith-conference)
To register to attend:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/hadith-conference-the-history-development-of-early-imami-hadith-corpora-tickets-794405697827?aff=oddtdtcreator&utm-source=cp&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-medium=discovery&utm-term=listing
- February 02, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 01, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – AMI Doctoral Scholarships
Call for Applications
Al-Mahdi Institute (AMI), Birmingham, UK
Application Deadline: February 10, 2024
Al-Mahdi Institute (AMI) invites applications for the second round of the AMI Doctoral Scholarship award, aimed at supporting outstanding students engaged in the study of Imāmī (Twelver) Shīʿism. Recognizing the need to broaden the scope of this significant yet underrepresented area within Islamic studies, the scholarship aims to promote and encourage the study of Imāmī Shīʿism in academia.
The scholarship is open to international doctoral candidates, particularly those in the UK and North America, and offers a £3,000 grant to students writing their thesis in the English language.
For more information:
https://iric.org/events/ami-doctoral-scholarship-in-the-study-of-imami-twelver-shiism/
- January 31, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. History Graduate Conference 2024, Istanbul Bilgi University, 17-18 May 2024
The Conference is organized by graduate students from Istanbul Bilgi University’s History Department and the Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies and supported by Tarih Vakfı. The conference aims to provide an interdisciplinary platform for graduate students primarily studying History and academics from different disciplines to present their research.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 March 2024.
2. ONLINE Symposium: “Philosophy between the Islamicate and Latin American Traditions: Civilizational Perspectives on Alienation/Ghayriyya (Otherness) in the Knowing/Being”, 22-24 June 2024
The purpose of this symposium is to provide a framework of dialogue for scholars of philosophy in those two traditions, and includes some of the most distinguished academics. To register, write to Anthony F. Shaker at afshaker@aol.com . Please indicate your full name, occupation and country.
3. Doctoral Researcher (3 Years, 50 %, Focus Media Studies in Turkey/Middle East), Centre of Near and Middle East Studies (CNMS), University of Marburg
Profile: MA in Media Studies and/or Turkish Studies; excellent German and English language skills; knowledge of Turkish also preferred; interest in media in/from Turkey, preferably with research experience in this area; interest in some of the following: television studies, screen studies, cinema, censorship, visual culture, image studies, post-truth; ideal is experience with video editing software (DaVinci Resolve and/or
Adobe Premiere)
Deadline for applications: 4 February 2024. Information:
https://stellenangebote.uni-marburg.de/jobposting/08ecce6a9401002ee326b893148b1e5bfcca29170
4. WEBINAR | Bactrian documents and archives from Northern and Southern Afghanistan
with Nicholas Sims-Williams
Thursday, 08 February 2024, 5PM GMT/12PM Toronto time
On Zoom. Registration required.
5. Call for papers and panels for section S13 – Islam in International Affairs: Theories and Practices of Diplomacy (Regular Sections, the full list of sections is available here) at the forthcoming 17th Pan-European Conference on International Relations (#EISAPEC24) to be held on 27-31 August 2024 at the Lille Catholic University, France.
The section presents Islamic contributions to international affairs and the field of International Relations. It seeks to explore theoretical approaches and empirical experiences of the Islamic civilisation by referring to classical and modern sources, the worldview of prominent thinkers, statecraft experiences, current transnational movements, and case studies on the Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) phenomenon concerning Diplomacy.
The section analyses both theoretical approaches of Islam in International Relations and concrete historical experience of diplomacy in Islam: theories, empirical cases in different periods, and early Islam and the practice of diplomacy, among others. It considers a picture of current and historical Islamic contributions to IR fashioned under the themes highlighted below:
– Theoretical Approaches of Diplomacy in Islam
– Worldviews of Muslim Thinkers and Practitioners vis-á-vis Diplomacy
– Diplomacy and Islamic Polity/Governance
– Diplomacy of Transnational and Political Islamist Movements
– The Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) Phenomenon and Diplomacy
The objective is to develop and sustain a body of knowledge that addresses the theories and practices of the Islamic civilisation and Muslim societies concerning international affairs and the discipline of International Relations. This section aims to set a model for the inclusion of Muslim contributions to the field of IR to enrich, diversify, and strengthen it. To this end, the section aims to publish the papers in an edited volume with a major international publisher.
Abstracts must be submitted electronically via the online submission system. Please read the Submission Details and Guidelines before submitting your proposal, and visit the official EISA PEC 2024 website and the Co-IRIS Facebook page for further updates.
The deadline for abstract submissions is 13 March 2024.
Do not hesitate to contact the conference organisers or us with any questions.
We hope that you will join us in Lille!
All the best,
Raffaele Mauriello, Allameh Tabataba’i University
Deina Abdelkader, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Section Chairs
Contact Information
Raffaele Mauriello, Allameh Tabataba’i University
Deina Abdelkader, University of Massachusetts Lowell
Section Chairs
Contact Email
contactme@raffaelemauriello.info
URL
6. University of California, Santa Barbara – Middle East Studies Librarian and Area Studies Collection Strategist
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=66833
7. Adjunct position in Arabic Literature (2024-25)
The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Middle Eastern Studies seeks
an Arabic literature temporary Assistant Professor of Instruction (without
tenure) to teach full time during 2024-25. The salary is $51,000 and the
position is not renewable.
Applicants should hold a PhD in Arabic, Comparative Literature, or a related
discipline and be able to teach courses on topics such as Arabic literature
and film, modernity, and Islam in the Middle Eastern context. Successful
candidates will have a strong record of working with undergraduate students
from varying backgrounds and be willing to contribute to the intellectual
culture of the Department during their appointment.
Please submit a cover letter, CV, sample syllabi, and names of two referents
to Interfolio (apply.interfolio.com/134821). Review of applications will start
on February 15 2024 and continue until the position is filled.
For questions, please contact Dr. Levi Thompson
(levi.thompson@austin.utexas.edu ).
8. Muḥammad and His Followers in Context
The Religious Map of Late Antique Arabia
Ilkka Lindstedt
Brill, 2023
https://brill.com/display/title/69380?language=en
9. Brill: NEW Kurdish Studies Journal
Editor-in-Chief: Martin van Bruinessen
Managing Editor: Marlene Schäfers
Book Review Editor: Sacha Alsancakli
Kurdish Studies Journal is an interdisciplinary and peer-reviewed journal dedicated to publishing high-quality academic work. The journal publishes research, scholarship, and debates in the field of Kurdish studies in a multidisciplinary fashion, covering a wide range of topics including, but not limited to, economics, history, society, gender, minorities, politics, health, law, environment, language, media, culture, arts, and education.
Articles for publication can be submitted online through Editorial Manager. For more information, instructions for authors and support with Editorial Manager, visit: brill.com/ksj
We are happy to announce that Kurdish Studies Journal just launched with an extensive, special issue on Kurdish Queer Studies, edited by Hakan Sandal-Wilson.
- January 30, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- January 29, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Short Courses:
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations
The Aga Khan University (International) in the United Kingdom
The Challenges of Development in Muslim Societies
The Qur’an in Muslim Practices
Cities of the Muslim World(s)
2. Call for Papers: Islamic Archaeology Conference 202407-09. November 2024
Goethe-University Frankfurt (Germany)
Islamic Archaeology as a discipline has seen a spectacular growth in complexity and amount of themes in the last two decades. After a long period in which Islamic Archaeology was considered a field of Art History in the Middle Eastern and North African countries, the discipline has found a new life in the 21st century by adopting new perspectives and expanding to new research areas. The materials that constitute its subject of study and the groups of researchers that address it are spread worldwide, and therefore a range of points of view and expectations from different archaeological traditions have been developed. It is a good time now to address this variety in the discipline in search of common trends and interests.
Islamic Archaeology Conference 2024 invites scholars, researchers, and professionals worldwide to participate in a comprehensive exploration of the material culture of the Early and Middle Islamic periods (600-1500 AD) and in analyzing historical narratives and syntheses that the discipline contributes to. This conference aims to provide a platform for contributions from diverse groups of people and for exchanging ideas, methodologies, and discoveries in Islamic archaeology.
We invite submissions on a wide range of topics related to the archaeology of the Islamic world during the 7th to 15th centuries, including but not limited to:
- Archaeological Fieldwork: recent archaeological results.
- Urban and Rural Landscapes: the organization and development of cities and rural settlements.
- Built Environments: structures, water installations, and architectural elements.
- Burial and Off-Site Archaeology
- Mobile Artifacts: studies on ceramics, metalwork, glass, textiles, and other objects and raw materials.
- Trade, Exchange and Networks.
- Cultural Interactions.
- Methodological and Theoretical Advances: New approaches and technologies in Islamic archaeology.
Submission Guidelines
– Abstracts: Submissions should include a 300-word abstract outlining the research objectives, methodologies, and preliminary findings.
– Formatting: Abstracts should be submitted in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and include a title, author(s) name, affiliation, and contact details.
– Language: The submission language is English.
– Deadline: The deadline for abstract submission is 31. March 2024.
The conference fees for speakers are: 25€ for Professionals; Free for Students
Important Dates
– Abstract submission deadline: 31. March 2024
– Notification of acceptance: 15. May 2024
– Fee payment deadline: 1. July 2024
– Conference dates: 07-09. November 2024
Contact Information
For inquiries and abstract submissions, please contact Abed Taghavi at isac.arc2024@gmail.com and Hagit Nol at h.nol@em.uni-frankfurt.de.
We look forward to your participation in this exciting and intellectually stimulating event on Islamic Archaeology.
Contact Information
For inquiries and abstract submissions, please contact Abed Taghavi at isac.arc2024@gmail.com and Hagit Nol at h.nol@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Contact Email
URL
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/131497284/Islamische_Arch%C3%A4ologie_und_Kunstges…
3. The HIAA board is pleased to share the Winter 2024 HIAA Newsletter. Please access the latest newsletter through the HIAA website: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/
4. Middle East Centre Librarian
University of Oxford
St Antony’s College invites applications for the post of Middle East Centre Librarian. The MEC Librarian’s responsibilities are to provide the optimal library resources for students, Fellows and guests of the MEC, and to plan for the development of the library resources in the context of the Centre’s academic requirements as they evolve. Main duties will include collection development, reader services, and book acquisition budget management.
Deadline | 8 February 2024
More information
5. Postdoctoral Research Fellow for the Minerva Global Security Programme (Middle East)
University of Oxford
The Blavatnik School of Government is looking for a Postdoctoral Research Fellow for Minerva Global Security Programme. We work across different levels of analysis ranging from the local, and national, to the transnational and global level, with a particular focus on Ukraine/Russia, South Asia, the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, the Andean Region, and the Golden Triangle. The role would suit a researcher with regional expertise in the Middle East and an excellent grounding in security studies.
Deadline | 12 February 2024
More information
6. Al-Qasimi PhD Studentship in Arab and Islamic Studies, Middle East Politics, Ethno-Political Studies, Kurdish Studies or Palestine Studies
University of Exeter
The Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies is seeking applications for two PhD studentships for excellent doctoral students whose area of specialisation fits and complements the research interests of our academics. We are looking for PhD proposals in humanities and social sciences with reference to the Middle East and the Islamic world. This can cover Anthropology, Archaeology, Gender Studies, History, Islamic Studies, International Relations, Literature, Political Science and other relevant fields.
Deadline | 8 April 2024
More information
7. Call for Applications | Editor of Studies in the History and Culture of the Persianate World
The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) is looking for a scholar with an established reputation in the field of Iranian Studies and prior editorial experience as well as extensive knowledge of Persian and Iranian studies, broadly defined, to take responsibility for editing the Studies in the History and Culture of the Persianate World. The aim is to publish two volumes a year. The editor will receive an honorarium of £1,000 per annum subject to review by the Council.
Deadline | 31 January 2024
8. Call for Nominations | BISA Annual Prizes
The British International Studies Association welcomes nominations for its annual prizes. In addition to long-standing prizes, including the Susan Strange Best Book Prize, Distinguished Contribution, and teaching prizes for all career stages, there are three exciting new prizes for 2024 – a Master’s dissertation prize sponsored by both BISA and the British Council, a Working Group of the Year Prize, and an EDI prize.
Deadline | 12 February 2024
More information
9. Call for Applications | Malek Sghiri Scholarship for Arabic Studies
Applications are invited for the Malek Sghiri Scholarship for the summer of 2024 at the Taa Marbouta Language Centre in Tunis. This scholarship covers all tuition costs for summer-long Arabic language courses and for students at all levels. Open to all aged 18-35 from any country, with a demonstrable interest in human rights, anti-corruption & civil society.
Deadline | 31 March 2024
10. ARMACAD is pleased to announce scholarships for eligible students in Iranian Studies and associated disciplines to attend ASPIRANTUM’s 2024 summer school for the Persian language.
Deadline: February 1, 2024
For more details, please visit: https://aspirantum.com/scholarships/scholarships-for-persian-language-courses-from-armacad
Students pursuing Undergraduate (BA), graduate (MA), and postgraduate (Ph.D.) programs, as well as researchers in Iranian Studies and related fields who are enrolled in universities or academic institutions in the countries specified below, can apply for the ARMACAD scholarship. The ideal candidates will be 19 – 39 years old by the program’s start.
This scholarship is only available to citizens of the following countries.
Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America.
For more details, please visit: https://aspirantum.com/scholarships/scholarships-for-persian-language-courses-from-armacad
11. Call for Papers for MESA 2024: Panel Title:
Early Modern Persian Majmū‘a(s): Historical, Philological, and Art-Historical
Processes of Realisation
Convenors:
Mahroo Moosavi (Max-Planck-Institute, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz)
Denise-Marie Teece (New York University Abu Dhabi)
We invite paper proposals for the session “Early Modern Persian Majmū‘a(s):
Historical, Philological, and Art-Historical Processes of Realisation” at the
58th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), November 11
– 19, 2024, online.
Deadline: 6 February 2024.
The archives of Persian manuscripts held in libraries across the world include
an extensive number of late medieval/early modern book compilations, often
catalogued under the comprehensive, yet not exhaustive, title of majmū‘a.
These collections, mainly dating to the 13th to the 18th centuries, comprise a
wide range of genres and themes and materialise them in manners which have
rarely been studied. These themes and genres include chancellery inshā,
personal epistles, royal decrees, seals, contracts, occult texts, drawings,
paintings, diagrams, charts, poetry, non-chancellery prose, tales, riddles,
treatises on art, medical texts, cooking recipes, dream interpretations and
much more. This panel focuses on collections known by several taxonomic
terminologies, including jung, safīne, bayāż, kashkūl, zanbīl, chante, daftar,
dastak, jarīde, ṣaḥīfe, dastūr, hizārpīshe, ganjīne, gulchīn, khirqe, shahr-
āshūb, and muraqqa‘ and investigates these works in terms of their historical,
philological, and art-historical aspects in a cross-disciplinary and
interdisciplinary manner.
The panel is particularly concerned with identifying and discussing potential
methodologies through which this corpus may be approached, analysed, and
studied. How and why were these texts/images collected, curated, and assembled
in such compilations? Since many of these compilations were created through a
process of recycling and reuse of previous textual and visual material, under
what possible mechanisms and inner/outer logics did this de- and re-
materialisation of the source material function? What was the potential agency
and role of the compiler/editor [jāmi‘] in substantiating a majmū‘a? And, to
what extent did the virtual and actual properties of the compilations connote
a form or forms of intellectual-artistic subjectivity? In other words what do
these mechanisms of book assembly and production reveal about the psychology,
religio-polity, and culture within Iranian and broader Persianate societies?
Through what collective memory and creative networks do these diverse,
seemingly unrelated, and at times fragmentary book materials intersect? And,
finally, is it possible to use these earlier majmū‘a assemblies of textual and
visual materials as models for new methods, modes, and manners in the curation
of Perso-Islamic textual and material culture in contemporary museum
discourse?
Through focusing on such topics and elaborating on questions outlined above
and beyond, the panel aims to trigger further historical, philological, and
art-historical scholarly discussion concerning Persian book compilations and
to move such discourse beyond its normative frameworks.
We invite proposals for presentations of 20 minutes, followed by a rigorous
discussion. Proposal abstracts should be between 250 and 400 words and may
respond to the questions raised above, and/or propose new readings of these
materials.
Proposals (accompanied with a short CV including the title/status and current
institutional affiliation of the speaker) must be submitted by 6 February 2024
to the panel convenors at:
mahroo.moosavi@khi.fi.it
dmt230@nyu.edu
12. The Islamic College:
Monthly Talk: On Writing a Historical-Critical Tafsīr
A Talk by Professor Nicolai Sinai
Tuesday 13 February 2024
6.00 P.M. – 7.30 P.M. (LONDON TIME)
Zoom ID: 834 4933 6884 Passcode: 931992
HOSTED BY: The Islamic College, London, UK
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/monthly-seminar-writing-tafsir/
13. The Annemarie Schimmel Memorial Lecture—“I Saw My Lord in the Form of a Beardless Youth”: Images of Devotion in a Mughal Princely Album
Monday, January 29, 2024
6–7 pm
The Met Fifth Avenue
Bonnie J. Sacerdote Lecture Hall, Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education
Murad Khan Mumtaz, Assistant Professor, Williams College
As a young prince, Dara Shikoh (1615–1659), heir to the Mughal throne, compiled an album for his fiancée, Nadira Banu Begum. The album celebrates the theme of union through various visual and literary metaphors, including the conspicuous presence of dervishes shown viewing princes and princesses in idyllic garden settings. In this talk, join Murad Khan Mumtaz, Assistant Professor, Williams College, to explore how depictions of Muslim ascetics in this album aided in constructing the courtly persona of Dara Shikoh as a locus of godly manifestation within Indo-Muslim devotional culture.
The lecture series is made possible by The Norbert Schimmel Trust.
Free, though advance registration is required. Please note: Space is limited; first come, first served.
Use the street-level Ruth and Harold D. Uris Center for Education entrance at Fifth Avenue and 81st Street.
14. Invitation: Pourdavoud Lecture Series with Elspeth Dusinberre
The Collapse of Empire
Gordion’s Transition from the Achaemenid to the Hellenistic World
Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 4:00pm Pacific
Royce Hall 306
Hybrid Zoom Option Available
15. SOAS University of London is delighted to announce a brand new online short course: An Introduction to the arts of the Islamic World, which will run 23 February – 22 March 2024.
This course features five pre-recorded lectures and five interactive seminar sessions, delivered live via Zoom, and is available for just £135.
The course is convened by Ms Chiara De Nicolais (co-convenor of the Arts of the Islamic World module of the SOAS-Alphawood Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art, which runs 22nd April to the 10th July 2024).
The course begins with a guided tour of the new Albukhary Foundation Gallery of the Islamic world at the British Museum led by Dr Venetia Porter (Senior Curator for Islamic and Contemporary Middle East art at the British Museum (1989-2022), now Honorary Research Fellow) and is followed by four lectures dedicated to more in-depth topics, such as the history of blue and white ceramic production in the Near East and Central Asia and its links with China; the revolutionary developments of Qur’anic manuscripts between the 8th and 12th century, the history of museum display and how excavated textiles are been shown within a museum setting, and Qajar era masculinities in Iran in the 19th century.
Through these five pre-recorded lectures, you will be introduced to the wonders of “Islamic” art, and you will discover how the production of such works of art was deeply influenced by neighbouring countries in Asia. Each Friday of the course will then feature an hour-long seminar, convened by Ms Chiara De Nicolais, where each lecture topic will be discussed further in a lively, interactive setting.
The course is accessible from anywhere in the world and all sessions will be recorded and made available for you to view in your own time for a two-month period.
We very much hope you’ll join us for this immersive introduction to the arts of the Islamic World. For more details or to book your place, please click here.
If you have any further questions that we can assist with, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Patrick Monger
Programme Manager
SOAS-Alphawood Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art
SOAS University of London
Room 472
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
www.AsianArtDiploma.co.uk
+44 (0) 20 7898 4445
pm50@soas.ac.uk
- January 28, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. ONLINE Webinar “The Kurdish Nobility in the Ottoman Empire: Loyalty, Autonomy, and Privilege”, Center for Middle East Studies, Brown University, 9 February 2024, 12:00 am – 1:00 pm ET
In this webinar, Nilay Özok Gündogan will analyze the history of one noble Kurdish family based in the emirate of Palu, a fortressed town in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire, between 1720 and 1895.
Information and registration:
https://watson.brown.edu/cmes/events/2023/nilay-ozok-gundogan-kurdish-nobility
2. 18th Great Lakes Ottoman Workshop (GLOW), Binghamton University, SUNY, 3-4 May 2024
GLOW has three broad themes this year: “Translation in Ottoman Studies”, “Nature and Natural Histories of the Ottoman Empire”, and “Ottoman Migrations.” Each theme will have at least one panel associated with it. Abstracts and prearranged panels not related to these themes are gladly accepted on any topic related to Ottoman studies
Deadline for abstracts: 1 February 2024.
3. HYBRID 45th Conference of the Middle East Librarians (MELCom International), Aga Khan Library, London, 14-17 May 2024
Deadline for abstracts: 28 January 2024. Information: https://melcominternational.eu/index.php/forthcoming-conference/
4. Conference “Animals in Anatolian and Turkish History”, Research Center for Anatolian Civilizations, Koç University, Istanbul, 16-17 May 2024
The conference’s goal is to explore how animals shaped the human experience in Anatolia and Turkey over time, and how Anatolian and Turkish societies (in turn) have altered the past and present of different animal groups.
Deadline for abstracts: 6 February 2024.
5. Cercec / Cetobac International Graduate Conference in Area Studies “Modernities Debated. Crossed Perspectives from Russian, Soviet and Ottoman (Post-)Imperial Spaces: Central and Eastern Europe, Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean, Caucasus and Central Asia”, EHESS, Paris, 21-23 May 2024
The aim of this conference is to explore how the idea of modernity has been produced in situ by past and present actors in the areas under study. By focusing more closely on the way in which the internal dynamics of the geographical and social spaces of interest produce modernity, this conference aims to continue the work undertaken by areal studies on how modernity is conceptualised and actualised.
Deadline for abstracts: 23 February 2024. Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2024/01/AAC-Journees-doctorales-CETOBAC-CERCEC-Modernites-en-debat.pdf
6. ONLINE Workshop “Medieval Middle Eastern Diversity” Organized by Thomas A. Carlson (Oklahoma State University) and Reyhan Durmaz (University of Pennsylvania), 20 May 2024
This one-day workshop invites scholars to discuss diversity, with any thematic focus, within the temporal scope of the “medieval” period (roughly 600-1500) and the Middle Eastern region. Any scale of work, from broad theoretical inquiries to granular micro-historical analyses, is welcome.
Deadline for abstracts: 23 February 2024. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-medieval-middle-eastern-diversity-workshop-20-may-remote?e=82aeb6c61d
7. Pre-doc Scholarship (36 Months) for Dissertation Project in the Field of “History of Islam in the Eastern Mediterranean”, University of Mainz
Prerequisites: An outstanding Master degree obtained within the past 24 months in a relevant discipline; proficiency in English and German and/or willingness to acquirerelevant language skills as soon as possible after the start of the scholarship.
Deadline for applications: 29 February 2024. Information: Contact urban-difference@uni-mainz.de
8. 130 Fully-funded Scholarships (4 Years) for the Doctoral Programmes in Economics, History, Law, and Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute, San Domenico di Fiesole, Italy
Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2024. Information: https://www.eui.eu/en/services/academic-service/doctoral-programme#msdynttrid=1BEWQW9wyUn_v4KXPzeGI9LB7DgjSyosZqILpMnXTI0
9. Tenure-track Position in Medieval History (500-1500 CE), Tel Aviv University
The position is open to PhD holding candidates at all levels of their careers. We seek in particular researchers who focus on one of the following areas and/or on interactions between them: History of Western Christianity, History of Eastern Christianity, Mediterranean History, History of the Crusades and Crusader Kingdoms.
Deadline for applications: 17 March 2024. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/job-zvi-yavetz-school-of-historical-studies-tel-aviv-university?e=82aeb6c61d
10. Assistant, Associate or Full Professor in History of Islamic Art and Architecture (4 Years), American University in Cairo
The Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations invites applications from a historian of art and architecture with a primary focus on the study of the Islamic world before 1800 for an open-rank appointment that will begin in the fall of 2024.
Deadline for applications: 30 January 2024. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2024/01/16/assistant-associate-or-full-professor-in-history-of-islamic-art-and-architecture
11. Résidences islamologiques de l’Ifpo, Amman (mars – decembre 2024)
Il sera attendu des chercheures et chercheurs dont le projet aura été sélectionné de : donner au moins une conférence ouverte au public sur l’un de leurs sujets de recherche; – rencontrer des enseignantes-chercheures et des enseignants-chercheurs de Jordanie impliqués sur des thématiques communes de recherche; – rédiger et soumettre un article scientifique pour publication à un numéro du Bulletin des études orientales (BEO) dans un délai de 12 mois après la résidence; etc.
Le dossier de candidature est à envoyer avant le 31/01/2024.
Information : https://www.ifporient.org/residences-islamologiques-2024/
12. Articles on “AI in Muslim and Islamic Contexts” for a Special Issue of the “Journal of Islamic Studies” Edited by Dr Cherry Muslim
This special edition specifically aims to explore the evolving role of AI in various aspects of Islamic and Muslim life, from religious knowledge dissemination to educational settings, and from the issuance of fatwas to the enhancement of religious rituals. The adoption of AI in Islamic settings presents both challenges and oppor-tunities, raising questions about the ethical and theological dimensions of these advancements.
Deadline for submissions: 30 May 2024.
Information: https://unisapressjournals.co.za/index.php/JIS/announcement/view/142
13. University of Utah,
Post Doctoral Fellow in Arabic
Closing date: Feb 15, 2024
14. The Center for Arabic Study Abroad (CASA) – Fellowship Applications 2024-2025
Applications for CASA I, II, and III are due on Thursday, February 1st 2024.
For more information, please visit: https://arabicspecialprograms.arizona.edu/
CASA I offers a 9-month advanced level training in Arabic language and culture Fellowship program to qualified American undergrad and graduate level students at the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan or the Arab American Language Institute in Morocco (AALIM) in Meknes.
CASA II offers a 5-month (Spring 2025 semester) language and research support Fellowship program for graduate students (priority given to PhD students) in MENA Studies (any area of specialization pertaining to the MENA region) through the Qasid Arabic Institute in Amman, Jordan.
CASA III offers a 5-month (Spring 2025 semester) language and research support Fellowship program for faculty and postdoctoral fellows in all areas of specialization pertaining to the MENA region through AALIM (Arab American Language Institute in Morocco) in Meknes, Morocco. The application requires that all applicants take the ACTFL exam for Reading, Listening and Oral proficiency.
Deadlines / Exam Dates: Application deadline is February 1, 2024 Exam deadline (reading, listening, OPI) is February 15, 2024
15. CeRMI is pleased to invite youto thenext sessionof the seminar “Societies, Policies and Cultures of the Iranian World”, which will be held on Thursday, February 8 , 2024, 5-7 p.m., in room 3.15 at INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII,3rd floor).
We are pleased to welcome Ms. Arezou Azad, Director of the ERC project “Invisible East” and Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford, appointed to the Junior Professor Chair “Arts and Heritage of Afghanistan” at Inalco , for a lecture entitled: The Bamiyan Notebooks: Reading and Interpreting the Persian Documents of Medieval Afghanistan“.
Summary
This lecture examines Afghan documents written in thetwelfth andthirteenth centuries AD (“the Bamiyan Notebooks”), currently under study by the “Invisible East” program team. These are essentially administrative and legal documents from the archives of a state warehouse dealing with tax collection and tax management. An exceptional aspect of these documents is that they reflect the views of lower- and middle-level administrators, and sometimes even rural farming communities and peasants. This session will focus on the methods developed for deciphering and reading these documents, as well as their use as historical sources on rural administration. My talk will highlight the importance of these documents, which are still largely underused, although available in open access, for understanding the development of language and writing, documentary culture and history (social, economic and political).
Bibliographic References
- Azad, Arezou and Pejman Firoozbakhsh. ‘No One Can Give You Protection’ – The Reversal of Protection in a Persian Decree Dated 562/1167. In Acts of Protection in Early Islamicate Societies. Paris: Annales islamologiques, 2020: 125-38.
- Haim, Ofir. “‘What Is the “Afghan Geniza”? A Short Guide to the Collection of the Afghan Manuscripts in the National Library of Israel, with the Edition of Two Documents.’ Afghanistan 2, no. 1 (2019):70-90.
- Irani, Nafisa and Ali Saffari Aq-qal’a. Kuhantarīn farhangnāma-yi fārsī-yi dānish-i istīfāʾTehran: Mīrāth-i Maktūb, 1395/2016-17.
- Lambton, Ann K.S. Continuity and Change in medieval Persia: Aspects of Administrative, Economic and Social History, 11th-14th Century(London: I.B. Tauris, 1988).
- Rustow, Marina. The Lost Archive: Traces of a Caliphate in a Cairo Synagogue. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2020.
- Scott, James C. Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. Yale: Yale University Press, 1985.
- Shaked, Shaul. “Early Persian Documents from Khorasan,” Journal of Persianate Studies6 (2013): 153-62.
Online Resources
https://invisibleeast.web.ox.ac.uk
As a reminder, you will find the 2023-2024 programof the monthly research seminar “Societies, Policies and Cultures of the Iranian World” attached, and on the CeRMI website:
16. The next online Monday Majlis of the Centre for the Study of Islam, Exeter:
Monday, the 29th of January, 17: 00-18:30 (UK time). Stefan Karmola, All under the Heavens… and the Heavens, Too: Universal History and Astrology in Mongol Iran
Registration is required. Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJMkdOyorz4vGdOViDJWtUkyQdC1XwV_iAnl
- January 23, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
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