Archive for 2024
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Transforming Empire: The Ottomans from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean
Essays in Honor of Linda Darling
Edited by Serpil Atamaz, Onur İnal and Alexander Schweig
Brill, 2024
2. Exhibition – “The Art of Dining: Food Culture in the Islamic World”, Detroit Institute of Arts
I am delighted to share with you the Detroit Institute of Arts’ Fall exhibition, The Art of Dining: Food Culture in the Islamic World, running Sept. 22, 2024 through Jan. 5, 2025. Bringing together 230 works from a broad geographical expanse, the exhibition explores connections between art and cuisine from antiquity to the present, and invites visitors to consider the personal and cultural connections we make through the preparation, sharing, and enjoyment of food.
You can find more information on the exhibition website:
https://dia.org/events/exhibitions/art-dining
The exhibition was originally organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and curated by Linda Komaroff as Dining with the Sultan: The Fine Art of Feasting. To find the beautiful exhibition catalogue, look for this title!
All my best,
Katherine Kasdorf
Associate Curator, Arts of Asia and the Islamic World, Detroit Institute of Arts
Contact Information
Katherine Kasdorf
Contact Email
URL
https://dia.org/events/exhibitions/art-dining
3. Mehrdad Alipour, author of Negotiating Homosexuality in Islamwillbe giving two lectures to discuss his new book.
First lecture: October 25th at the College of Liberal Arts at University of Texas Austin.
Second lecture: November 6th at Princeton University.
More information can be found on the event page of UT at Austin and the event page at Princeton.
4. Call for Papers: Annual Conference of the British Association for Islamic Studies
Monday 30 June – Tuesday 1 July 2025
Old Divinity School, St John’s College, University of Cambridge
https://www.brais.ac.uk/conferences/brais-2025-call-for-papers
4. ANNA CHRYSOSTOMIDES
WOMEN FIGHTING THE ENEMIES OF MUḤAMMAD AND CONVERTING TO ISLAM BEFORE THEIR HUSBANDS: THE ABBASID-ERA STORIES OF UMM FAḌL AND UMM HAKĪM
Monday Majlis Online on the 14th of October, 17:00-18:30 (UK time)
Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUodOGorzssGtzlnl8LB3SiJKWmPZtUecfD
6. Call for applications – Bahari Visiting Fellowship in the Persian Arts of the Book at the Bodleian Library
The Bodleian Libraries are now accepting applications for Visiting Fellowships to be taken up during academic year 2025/26. Fellowships support periods of research in the Special Collections of the Bodleian Libraries, across a range of different subjects. Of particular interest might be the Bahari Visiting Fellowship in the Persian Arts of the Book
Details of the Fellowship terms and application process can be found on our Fellowships webpage: Bodleian Visiting Fellowships | Bodleian Libraries (ox.ac.uk).
Applications for these Fellowships should be made by the deadline of Friday 29 November 2024, 5pm GMT.
For further information, please email: fellowships@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
7. ONLINE MAJLISES of the Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, 2024 autumn term
6thof November (Wednesday) CIS Majlis/Visiting Speaker. 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Tahera Qutbuddin
Is Oration Literature? Establishing the Khutbah of the Pre- and Early Islamic Oral Period as the Foundational Genre of Classical Arabic Prose
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEvduqppz8iEt1ZdHVYHRhR4iC3UBgEvsB3
11th of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Kevin Blankinship,
Debating Veganism in the Medieval Islamic World: A Debate between al-Maʿarrī and the Shiite missionary al-Muʾayyad fī l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIlcu2oqj8sHtyy9qRR8dUpt2cjNRP95_kk
18th of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time). Robert Hoyland
Robert G. Hoyland
Christian and Muslim Papyri from Khirbet Mird, Palestine: An Archive from the 7th and 8th Centuries
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwsdu6prT8qEtcuNk-156YHonlo8qYCMRlB
25th of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Fozia Bora
A Somali Village in Colonial Bradford (1904) – A (Counter) Archival Study
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcsdO2grDwvG9zhY8VHexgzl7azheKxyx_V
2nd of December (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Jonathan AC Brown
What Happens When God’s Law Gives You Unjust Results?
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJcrdOuvpjouG9XCAE3_xuDKhxrJYlBaZyzO
9th of December (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Jan-Peter Hartung
Approaching Taliban Ideology through Layers of Time
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0rdu2srjgrGNVDIoeptFzTR__cmUbdwYS2
11th of December (Wednesday) CIS Majlis/Visiting Speaker. 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Amira K. Bennison
Power and the City: Marrakesh under the Almoravids and Almohads (1070-1269)
Register please on this link:
https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEpfuqorDgsG9WLRGacBbRXWZGow3cAEYIR
In the spirit of the label ‘Majlis’ and also to make the talks even more interesting, our speakers present the topic discussed as embedded in their own journey. You can watch the previous Majlises here, but we don’t record the Q&A in order to keep the discussion free. Please come and enjoy the talks and the discussions : )
If you’d like to be included in the CSI (Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter) mailing list, please write to I.T.Kristo-Nagy@ex.ac.uk.
8. CFP: The Roshangar Undergraduate Persian Studies Journal
The Roshangar Undergraduate Persian Studies Journal invites submissions for its Fall 2024 edition! We are seeking written or visual works relevant to Persian studies, such as essays on
Iranian society and culture, reviews of Persian literature, films, and theatre, creative works inspired by coursework in Persian studies, and more. Written submissions in English (1500-2000 words) should be in docx format, double-spaced, and adhere to MLA format citations. The word count for written submission in Persian is 500-800 words. Poetry submissions should be between 1-3 pages in length.
The students don’t have to be a Persian studies major or minor, or a UMD student to submit their work! Submissions are open to all undergraduate students. Submissions from UMD students will be considered for the Amouzegar Undergraduate Scholarship as well as Roshangar.
We will accept submissions for our Fall 2024 issue from Tuesday, October 1 – Tuesday, October 22th. The final revision of accepted submissions will be due Monday, November 25. Please submit your work by email to our director & editor-in-chief, Marjan Moosavi, at moosavi@umd.edu, and our assistant editors at roshan@umd.edu by that date. For inquiries, contact our assistant editor at the same email address.
9. Call For Applications – Two Ahmanson-Getty Postdoc Fellowships at UCLA (AY2025-26)
[DEADLINE February 1 2025]
UCLA Center for 17th-&18th-Century Studies and William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles
We invite applications for two postdoc fellowship positions: one focusing on early modern China (with a preference for the Qing period) and the other focusing on the early modern Islamicate world (with a preference for the Ottoman lands). The Islamicate world fellow is invited to make use of UCLA Islamic Collections in Ottoman Turkish, Persian, or Arabic language(s) and incorporate them in their research.
The theme-based resident fellowship program, established with the support of the Ahmanson Foundation and the J. Paul Getty Trust, is designed to promote the participation of junior scholars in the Center’s yearlong core program. Awards are for three consecutive quarters in residence at the Clark Library. Scholars must have received their doctorates in the last six years (2019–2025), and their research should pertain to the announced theme. Fellows are expected to make a substantive contribution to the Center’s workshops and seminars.
Application Requirements: Applications should include a research proposal (less than 1000 words), a writing sample (less than 10,000 words), and a CV. Applicants should identify relevant resources from the Clark Library at the end of their research proposal.
Award Amount: $69, 073 fellowship for three consecutive quarters in residence at the Clark Library.
Eligibility: Open to U.S. applicants, as well as international applicants who are eligible for a visa. Applicants must have formal documentation of Ph.D. being awarded by August 1. Fellows are expected to have full-time involvement in scholarly pursuits during the period of the fellowship.
Academic Level Requirements: Ph.D. awarded in the last six years.
This fellowship is required to be taken onsite.
Further details and a link to our online application can be found on our website: https://www.1718.ucla.edu/research/fellowships/
The deadline for fellowship applications for the 2025–2026 year is February 1, 2025.
An extended description of the program is available here: http://www.1718.ucla.edu/core/
10. The CeRMI is pleased to invite you to the first session of the seminar “Societies, Politics and Cultures of the Iranian World”, which will be held on Thursday, October 24, 2024, 5pm-7pm, in room 4.15 at the INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII,3rdfloor).
We are pleased to welcome Mr. Marc Toutant, Research Fellow at the CNRS (CETOBaC), for a conference entitled: The Tuḥfat al-ṭālibīn, a Mughal grammar of Eastern Turkish. Philological, cultural and political teaching.
Summary:
The Tuḥfat al-ṭālibīn is a grammar of Eastern Turkish (or “chaghatay”) written in Persian at the end of theeighteenth century by a certain Ḥayāt ‘Alī Dihlawī for a Mughal dignitary. Preserved only in manuscript form in several libraries on the subcontinent, the work has not yet been the subject of any study. Sometimes mentioned briefly in manuscript catalogues, this grammar is nevertheless one of the few direct testimonies that can tell us about the relationship that the descendants of Babur (1483-1530), the founder of the Great Mughals, had with their mother tongue. Although Persian had definitively established itself since the reign of Akbar (1556-1605), there is a whole set of grammatical and lexical treatises that show that Turkish retained a certain importance for these Indian Timurids (Babur was descended from the lineage of Tamerlane), which it is now necessary to specify. The other interest of the Tuḥfat al-ṭālibīn is that it includes many quotations from Central Asian poets and as such is considered a cultural repertoire.
Based on the examination of three papers from Hyderabad, Rampur and Islamabad, this presentation will aim to answer the following questions : how do we write a grammae of Turkish in Persian during the Mongol period ?What do the many poetic illustrations of the Tuḥfat al-ṭālibīn tell us about the reception of Central Asian culture in India at the end of the eighteenth century? In what way does the treatise of Ḥayāt ‘Alī Dihlawī recall the link of the Mughals with the dynasty of Tamerlane?
Bibliographical orientations:
-Alam (M.). 2015. “Mughal Philology and Rūmī’s Mathnavī”. World Philology, dir. par S. Pollock, B. A. Elman, K. Chang. Cambridge : Harvard University Press. 178-200.
-Guizzo (D.) 2002. The three classics of Persian lexicography of the Mughal era: Farhang-i Ğahāngīrī, Burhān-i Qāṭiʿ and Farhang-i Rašīdī. Venise : Ca’ Foscarine.
-Péri (B.) 2020. “Turki Language and Literature in Late Mughal India as Reflected in a Unique Collection of Texts”. Turkish History and Culture in India. Identity, Art and Transregional Connections, dir. par A. C.S. Peacock & R. P. McClary. Leyde : Brill. 367-387.
-Siddiqi (W.H). 1997.Fihrist Nuskhahā-yi khaṭṭī fārsī,Kitābkhāna-yi rażā – rāmpūr, delhi: diamond printers.
-Turan (F.). 2009. “Turkic grammar books written in Mughal India during the 18th and 19th centuries”. Turkic Languages 13. 163-171.
You will find the 2024-2025 program of the monthly research seminar “Societies, Politics and Cultures of the Iranian World” attached, and on the CeRMI website:
11. Cardiff University Jameel Scholarship/ Ysgoloriaeth Jameel Prifysgol Caerdydd
Founded in 2005, the Islam-UK Centre works towards the promotion of better understanding of Islam and the life of Muslims in Britain, through high quality teaching and research. Its activities address issues which are central to the situation of Muslims in contemporary Britain. / Oed Canolfan Islam y DU a sefydlwyd yn 2005 yw gweithio tuag at hyrwyddo gwell deallttwriaeth o Islam a bywyd Mwslimiaid ym Mhrydain drwy gynnig addysgu ac ymchwil o’r radd flaenaf. Mae ei gweithgareddau’n mynd i’r afael a materion sy’n ganolog i sefyllfa Mwslimiaid ym Mhrydain ar hyn o bryd.
The Centre provides unique training and research opportunities. / Mae’r Ganolfan yn cynnig cyfleoedd hyfforddi ac ymchwil unigryw.
One Fully Funded PhD Scholarship for a UK student. Scholarship includes a stipend (circa £19,237 per year for three years) plus £2,500 annually towards research costs. / Un Ysgoloriaeth PhD wedi’i hariannu’n llawn ar gyfer myfyriwr o’r DU. Ar gael ar gyfer dechrau ym mis Ionawr 2025. Mae’r ysgloriaeth yn cynnwys cyflog (tua £19,237 y flwyddyn am dair blynedd) ynghyd a £2,500 bob blwyddyn tuag at gostau ymchwil.
Apply Today!
Closing date for Jameel Scholarship applications 23:59 on 2nd December 2024.
#Cflywynch gais heddiw!
Y dyddiad cau ar gyfer cyflwyno cais ar gyfer Ysgloriaeth Jameel yw 23:59 ar 2 Rhagfyr 2024.
Link to Apply / Ffurflen Gais
https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/cardiff/jameel-scholarship-application-form-phd-uk
12. Workshop “Aesthetic, Rituals, and Narratives in Islamic Mobilisation
St Antony’s College, Oxford, Thursday 24 October, 9am-7pm
Booking required by Tuesday 15 October.
Please email mec@sant.ox.ac.uk to register.
The finalized programme will be shared with all registered participants.
13. Indiana University’s Summer 2025 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Pashto program!
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
- Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
- Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Funding Opportunities
- Explore available funding options here: https://languageworkshop.iu.edu/funding
Priority Application Deadline
- December 6, 2024
Learn more and apply here: https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/pashto
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
Contact Information
Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop
Contact Email
URL
https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/summer-language-workshop/overview/online/p…
14. Lecture – “Can Pre-Islamic Architecture be Islamic Architecture? The Rock-Cut Tombs at Hegra”, Martin J. Devecka, Columbia University – November 19
Date: November 19th, 6:10 pm to 8:00 pm
Place: Columbia University, 612 Schermerhorn
Can Pre-Islamic Architecture be Islamic Architecture? The Rock-Cut Tombs at Hegra
From an early date, Islamic writers connected the Qur’anic Thamud with Hegra, an abandoned Nabatean-Roman site in the Northern Hijaz now known, by reason of that association, as Mada’in Salih. The site itself thus forms a kind of bridge across the historical rupture separating Islam from Jahiliyya. What exactly happens to such a site when it becomes “Islamic?” This talk explores how the idea of constructing Islam works as a monumentalizing lens that changes the way we look at pre-Islamic architecture by blurring some features even as it makes others stand out in sharp relief. At Hegra, it will be argued, the effect of this reinterpretation produces rupture where it might have been possible to see continuity in a way that turns Nabatean ruins into an infrastructure for producing Islam.
To be able to access the Columbia campus, we kindly ask you to register at this Google form by November 15th if you plan on attending: https://forms.gle/VrnvtubqgZCAaLxKA
15. Workshop – Summer 2025 Arabic Language Study, Indiana University
Indiana University’s Summer 2025 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive immersion programs in Arabic, Chinese, and Russian!
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months and earn college credit
- Accelerate your learning with daily 1-on-1 skills training
- Live the language in immersion housing and classes
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Funding Opportunities
- Explore available funding options here: https://languageworkshop.iu.edu/funding
Priority Application Deadline
- December 6, 2024
Learn more and apply here: https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/overview
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
Contact Information
Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop
Contact Email
URL
https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/summer-language-workshop/overview/immersio…
16. Extended Deadline for IDHN Conference Submission
We are extending the deadline for abstract submission for the upcoming IDHN conference to October 27, 2024. To submit, please send an email to team@idhn.org with a preliminary title, abstract (150-300 words), and your academic affiliation.
Please note that the conference date has not changed; it will continue to be on Thursday, November 21, 2024.
We look forward to receiving your submissions!
17. ONLINE Webinar “Global Islamophobia and the Rise of Populism” by Ivan Kalmar & Audrey Truschke, „Democracy and Ethnonationalism Lecture Series”, Rutgers Law School, 15 October 2024, 12:00 pm EDT
Information and registration:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ThhPNVrQSO2SPM9NIcXkUA#/registration
- October 12, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- October 11, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Online: ‘What is Shi’ism? Factionalism and Universalism in Islamic Studies’ – O Mir-Kasimov (28.10.24, 5pm UK time)
Register here:
- October 10, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – CfP: Global Shi’ism: Migrations, Diasporas and the Islamic Revival in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries’ (Oxford, 3-4 April, 2025)
CfP deadline: 31 October, 2024
- October 09, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Conference and Public Talks: “Law and Society in Saudi Arabia”, Leibniz Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 8-10 October 2024
The conference, organised by Ulrike Freitag, Nora Derbal, and Dominik Krell, addresses the role of the law in Saudi society both in the past and the present. With this “law and society” approach, the conference seeks to bridge the gap between the study of social, political, and historical phenomena on the one hand, and research on the Saudi legal system on the other hand.
Information and programme: https://www.saudi-law-society.net/
2. HYBRIDE Présentation-débat autour de l’ouvrage “Islam, autoritarisme et sous développe-ment” d’Ahmet T. Kuru, IISMM/IREL/GSRL, Paris, 9 octobre 2024, 18h00 CET
Pourquoi les pays à majorité musulmane affichent-ils des niveaux élevés d’autoritarisme et de faibles niveaux de développement socio-économique par rapport aux moyennes mondiales ? Ahmet T. Kuru critique les explications qui pointent du doigt l’islam comme la cause de cette disparité, puisque les pays à majorité musulmane ont affiché des niveaux de développement philosophique et socio-économique plus élevés que les pays occidentaux entre le 9e et le 12e siècle.
Information : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_nD1tDF3w8&list=PLtoVEQO2iwNtOymVhfS9pMeP5z7 WrYTFz&index=2;
Inscription : https://framaforms.org/presentation-debat-autour-de-louvrage-islam-autoritarisme-et-sous-de-veloppement-dahmet-t-kuru
3. Conference “Historicizing the Muslim Sensorium: Toward a Sensory History of Islam in the Early Modern World”, Utrecht University, 17-18 October 2024
This conference brings together a multi-disciplinary group of scholars to advance the history of the senses in the early modern Islamic world (c. 1500-1900). We will explore how Muslims across different historical, geo-graphical, social, and intellectual contexts experienced sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. What does Islamic sensory history teach us about the “gunpowder empires” of the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals that conventional history does not?
Information and programme:
https://sensis.wp.hum.uu.nl/wp-content/uploads/sites/456/2024/09/Conference_Program_2024.pdf
4. ONLINE Workshop “Critical Conversations on Islam and Asia”, Washington University, 18 October 2024, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm ET
Although Islam originated and remains vibrant in the Middle East, the three largest national populations of Muslims are in Asia, with Indonesia being the largest in the world. This online workshop will explore the contemporary dynamics of Islam in Asia, focusing on Southeast Asia, and its relation to global Islam.
Information, abstracts, and registration:
https://www.eastwestcenter.org/events/critical-conversations-islam-and-asia
5. Colloque international « Définition de l’humain en islam : approches plurielles », Sorbonne, Paris, 24-25 octobre 2024
Ce colloque réunira pendant deux jours douze spécialistes des quatre grandes disciplines rationnelles de l’époque classique : la philosophie péripatéticienne, la théologie du kalām, la mystique et le droit, avec comme objectif de croiser, dans une approche transdisciplinaire, différentes perspectives sur ce sujet.
Information et programme :
https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2024/10/colloque_definition_de_l_humain_programme.pdf
6. “Travellers in Ottoman Lands Seminar Three (TIOL3): Places Forgotten, Places Remembered”, Istanbul, 9-12 April 2025
Topics: Horticulture and botany •Memorials, cemeteries, places of worship of various faiths • Women travellers • Cuisine • Art and Culture • Travel and exile • Archaeology • Explorers and photographers • Modes of travel • Famous travellers • Architecture; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 November 2024.
Information: https://www.travellersinottomanlands.com/call-for-papers
7. Conference “The Ottomans and Diplomacy”, Skilliter Centre for Ottomans Studies, University of Cambridge, 10-12 July 2025
Taking diplomacy in its widest sense including public, cultural, personal, military and economic diplomacy, the conference will explore the Ottoman empire’s relations with the outside world. Topics to be covered will in include, for example, material culture, the construction of diplomatic texts including diplomatic ego documents and diplomatic social interactions.
Deadline for abstracts: 9 December 2024.
Information: https://newn.cam.ac.uk/research/skilliter-centre-ottoman-studies/conferences-and-workshops
8. Two Stipends for Doctoral Students (4 Years) at the “Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies”
We are interested in attracting outstanding doctoral students who will contribute to and write their PhD theses in the framework of our project “The socio-cultural life of sociological concepts: Arab contributions to global theory”, funded by the Einstein Foundation Berlin.
Deadline for applications: 15 October 2024.
Information: https://www.bgsmcs.fu-berlin.de/announcements/2024_cfa_Einstein_stipends_2024.html
9. Professorship in the Study of Religion, Focus on Contemporary Religious Developments, Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies (SACS), University of Bern
The successful candidate will have an internationally recognized record in research and teaching. They should have experience in securing external funding, particularly if appointed as an associate or full professor.
For the hiring of an assistant professor an outstanding dissertation and an advanced new research project preparing the habilitation is expected (at least four peer-reviewed journal articles independent of the dissertation). The teaching languages are German and English.
Deadline for applications: 14 October 2024.
Information: https://ohws.prospective.ch/public/v1/jobs/eae237d9-106a-47a1-8ddf-ca66becc3cd9
10. Digital Humanities Research Associate (65-70 %) to Join the Unit “Middle East and Muslim Societies”, Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies (SACS), University of Bern
Candidates must have at least an MA or a comparable track record in Digital Humanities or Data Science (with proven ability to work with historical Arabic sources), or in Islamic, Arab, and/or Mediterranean Studies (with demonstrated expertise in Digital Humanities).
Deadline for applications: 15 October 2024. Information: https://shorturl.at/CI6Gp
11. Post-doctoral Fellowship (4 Years) for the Project “Global Capitalism and Rurality: Agency, Commodification and Socio-Ecological Transformation of the Middle Eastern Countryside, 1870-1945”, University College Dublin
The Project compares the Middle Eastern tribes of diverse origins (Syria, Iraq, Southern Turkey and Northern Arabia) examining the ‘capitalization’ of their agriculture and the commercialization of their livestock. It examines intertwined processes such as commodification, the scientification of cultivation etc. among the tribal communities of the Middle East.
Deadline for applications: 29 October 2024.
Information: https://my.corehr.com/pls/coreportal_ucdp/apply?id=017715
12. Humanities Research Fellowship for the Study of the Arab World (Postdoctoral Fellowship), NYU Abu Dhabi
We welcome applications from recent PhD graduates (PhD in hand between September 2020 and September 2025) working in all areas of the Humanities related to the study of the Arab world, its rich literature and history, its cultural and artistic heritage, and its manifold connections with other cultures. This includes, among others, Islamic Intellectual History and Culture.
Deadline for applications: 1 November 2024. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/126632
13. Assistant Professor (Tenure-track) in the Field of Postcolonial Literature, University of California
We are especially interested in applicants with expertise in literature from Africa, South Asia, and the Arab world. We seek outstanding candidates with the potential for exceptional research, excellence in teaching, and a clear commitment to enhancing the diversity of the faculty, and majors and minors in English.We wel-come applicants who pursue postcolonial studies via a broad range of methodological frameworks.
Deadline for applications: 1 November 2024. Information: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF09851
14. Fellowships for Historical Research on the Islamic World, School for Historical Studies, Princeton University, NJ
The School embraces a historical approach to research throughout the humanistic disciplines, from socioec-onomic developments, political theory, and modern international relations, to the history of art, science, phi-losophy, music, and literature. Accepted Members receive access to the extensive resources of the Institute. The only obligation is to pursue one’s research.
Deadline for applications: 15 October 2024. Information:
15. Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies, University of Richmond
We seek a teacher-scholar with research and teaching interests in modern Arabic literatures and Arab world cultures. We welcome expertise in at least two of the following areas: Arabic Literature, Cinema, and Culture; Mediterranean and Transcultural Studies; Ethnic and/or Minority studies; Colonialism and Post-Colonialism; Environmental Humanities and Ecocriticism; Arabic Language and Translation Studies; Gender and Sexuality Studies. Native or near-native fluency in Arabic and English is required.
Review of applications will commence on 1 October 2024 until position is filled.
Information: https://richmond.csod.com/ux/ats/careersite/1/home/requisition/3326?c=richmond
16. Assistant Professor of Arabic, University of Utah
Candidates must have a Ph.D. in hand by the start date in Arabic Cultural Studies, Comparative Literature, Middle/Near Eastern Studies, Second Language Acquisition, Linguistics, or a related field. Demonstrated experience in teaching Arabic as a foreign language at the college level in North America and native or near-native fluency in Arabic and English are required.
Deadline for applications: 1 November 2024.
Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2024/10/01/assistant-professor-of-arabic24
17. Research Associate, Global Kurdish Initiative for Peace, American University, Washington, DC
Qualification: M.A. in the political sciences or a liberal arts discipline such as Middle Eastern Studies. – Experience in a higher educational setting. – 3-5 years of relevant experience. – Knowledge of Kurds and the Middle East, Kurdish and Arabic language.
Deadline: Until position is filled. Information: https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/research-associate-global-kurdish-initiative-for-peace-at-american-university-4036486693/
18. Mediterranean Seminar Prize for the Best Source Edition, Book Translation, or Essay Collection, 2025
The Prize is open to books published from 2022 to 2024 inclusive. The committee is most interested in collections of essay that break new ground conceptually or methodologically, are comparative and/or interdisci-plinary, that emphasize the intercultural/interregional/inter-religious contact, that are “of” rather than merely “in” the Mediterranean, and that are both internally coherent and comprehensive.
Deadline for applications: 31 December 2024.
Information: https://mediterraneanseminar.squarespace.com/book-prize-2025
19. Invitation to Join the “Global Turkology Academic Network” Hosted by Virginia Tech University
This network facilitates academic interaction, exchange, and cooperation among students and scholars working on any aspect of global Turkic communities. It provides an interdisciplinary academic venue for a non-Orientalist, critical, and nuanced understanding of the Turkic world’s histories, cultures, politics, languages, and societies.
If you would like to share your new book or article, conference or panel information, or other academic activities, contact Tugrul Keskin: global-turkology-g@vt.edu
20. Articles sur « Aspects pluriels de l’écriture de soi dans l’adab prémoderne (IIIe/IXe-XIIe/XVIIIe siècles) » pour Revue Annales Islamologiques 61, 2027
Les articles concerneront des textes d’adab au sens large de ce terme (incluant aussi bien les textes histori-ographiques que littéraires), qui comportent une composante autobiographique et/ou qui relèvent de l’ego-document et qui ont été produits en langue arabe dans l’aire culturelle arabo-musulmane, quelle que soit leur nature générique (chroniques historiques, textes religieux et spirituels, récits de voyage, mémoires, journaux intimes, etc.).
Les propositions doivent être envoyées avant le 31 octobre 2024.
Information : https://iismm.hypotheses.org/104325
21. Articles for the Journal “Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft (ZDMG)”
The ideal article has a historical orientation and is written on a strong philological basis. It deals with pre-modern Muslim societies (up to ca. 1800) and tackles one of the following broader themes: history, religion, culture, law, literature, societal issues. The ZDMG publishes articles in English, German or French.
Deadline for submissions: 15 October 2024. Information: https://www.dmg-web.de/page/zdmg_en
22. 4th North American Conference on Iranian Linguistics
(NACIL 4)
University of Toronto Mississauga
May 23–25, 2025
Call for Papers
Conference Description
Abstracts are invited for 30-minute talks (20 minutes + 10 minutes Q&A) and/or poster presentations on any aspect of Iranian linguistics. We welcome abstracts from all areas of linguistics, including but not limited to morphology, syntax, semantics and their interfaces, phonetics, phonology, language pedagogy, psycholinguistics, sociolinguistics, computational linguistics, historical linguistics and language documentation.
NACIL 4 is honoured to host a special session to celebrate Professor Simin Karimi’s career on the occasion of her recent retirement.
Keynote Speakers
Professor Faruk Akkuş (University of Massachusetts, Amherst)
Professor Simin Karimi (University of Arizona)
Professor Naomi Nagy (University of Toronto)
Abstract Guidelines
Abstracts should meet the following requirements:
Abstracts, including references and data, must not exceed two A4 pages in length, with 2.5 cm (1 inch) margins on all sides. The font size should not be smaller than 11pt.
- Examples, tables, graphs, etc. must be included into the text of the abstract, and not at the end.
- Abstracts should be anonymized: please do not include your name or affiliation in the abstract.
- Submissions are limited to two per author, with at most one single-authored paper.
- Abstracts must be submitted in PDF format through Oxford Abstracts.
Submission link: https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/76660/submitter
Abstract submission deadline: 06-Dec-2024, 11:59pm Eastern Time
Notification of Acceptance: Late January 2025
Questions can be directed to: nacil4conference@gmail.com
23. Conference – Reinterpreting History and Memory: Contemporary Art of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
12-13 October, 2025
SOAS, The University of London
This British Academy international conference will explore how history and memory is reflected through contemporary art in the MENA region, and art’s association with broader social and intellectual practices.
It will examine the possibility of challenging the present through the reinterpretation of history, exploring the enduring and collective impact of recent traumatic memories. The focus will be on art closely linked with activism, both within the region and among the global diaspora, examining the strategies used by artists to critically reimagine both the distant and recent past; a past that no longer exists but continues to haunt the present.
The conference also explores how these artworks challenge and address current affairs in the context of historical narratives. By bringing together academics and professionals from diverse disciplines, the conference will provide an interdisciplinary framework for studying contemporary art, shedding light on the connection between art discourse, politics, and culture in the MENA region today.
Contact Information
conferences@thebritishacademy.ac.uk
Contact Email
URL
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/british-academy-conferences/reinterp…
24. University of Edinburgh lecture
Milk and Honey: Technologies of Plenty in the Making of a Holy Land,
by Dr Tamar Novick from Humboldt University, Berlin
Date, time and location: Monday 14 October, 17:15,
in 1.06 — Project Room in 50 George Square.
For zoom access please email Ines.Asceric-Todd@ed.ac.uk.
The talk is followed by a reception.
- October 08, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- October 07, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
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
- a co-taught global antiquity seminar to be offered as an Archaia core course;
- a graduate seminar related to your own research specialization, and with some concern for global antiquity;
- 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
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
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.
- October 05, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- October 04, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- October 03, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – CfP: ‘Devotion to the Prophet’s Family in Islamic Thought and Practice’ (London, 2025)
- October 02, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment