Archive for March, 2025
Shii News – CFP: ‘The Quran and Shi’i Islam’ (Toronto, 25-26 August, 2025)
- March 12, 2025
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.7th Leiden Summer School “Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World”, Leiden University, 18-29 August 2025
This summer school is for graduate (MA and PhD) students and researchers who have an interest in handwritten materials, editing, and the tradition of editing in the Muslim world. It offers theoretical lectures as well as hands-on practice with samples from the world-famous collections of the Leiden University Library with thousands of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman manuscripts from the historic heartlands of Islam and from Asia, al-Andalus and Africa.
Deadline for applications: 5 May 2025. Information:
2. Early Scholars Publication Grants for Dissertations that Reconceptualize “Translating Cultures in the Digital Age”, UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies
We seek dissertations that explore the evolving relationship between humans and advanced AI systems, including the new interpretive strategies required to navigate AI’s fluid, data-driven formulations, and focus on themes such as agency, authorship, translation, and the human-machine interface. Qualification: PhD in a relevant field, such as Arabic language and culture, translation studies, comparative literature, Middle Eastern studies, cultural sociology, etc.
Deadline for applications: 26 May 2025. Information: https://www.kfcris.com/en/unesco/grant/2025
3. Hybrid: Thursday, March 13, 2025, at 18:00 (GMT) in Room B104 (Brunei Gallery Building, SOAS) for Professor Marcus Milwright’s talk titled “Messages from The Past: Temporal Relationships in the Study of Early Islamic Visual Culture”.
This talk explores how time affects the interpretation of early Islamic art, focusing on the phases of creation and the interplay between ancient themes and contemporary sources. Professor Milwright will delve into how emulation and adaptation of earlier artistic traditions shape our understanding of Islamic art and architecture. Professor Milwright is British Academy Global Professor in the Department of History of Art, University of York and Professor of Islamic Art and Archaeology at the University of Victoria, Canada.
To attend in person please make sure to register in advance: https://tinyurl.com/SOAS-ReSIA or write to Matty (mb@royalasiaticsociety.org) to ask for a Zoom link.
4. Pomona College, Art History
Pomona College VAP in Early Modern Art History (European, Islamic, South Asian)
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68623
Closing date: 31.3.25
5. VOL 7 Scenes From The 17th. Century Ottoman Empire
Manchester album and Scroll
MANCHESTER RYELAND MS. 2 AND 4.
(1660- later)
ISBN: 978-90-6921-053-7
17 . Yüzyıl Osmanlı İmparatorluğundan Manzaralar 3
Edited by / Yayına hazırlayan: Mehmet Tütüncü & Ömer Erdem
Graphic Designer: Omer Erdem: omerdem@me.com
CORPUS OF TURKISH ISLAMIC INSCRIPTIONS nr: 50
TÜRK İSLAM KİTABELERİ DİZİSİ no: 50
For ordering, sample pages and more info about published volumes please visit the download page:
https://www.academia.edu/128066168
6. Lecture – Material Transformation as a Catalyst for the Spiritual: The Art of Bianca Bondi
14 March 2025
AFSACK is thrilled to announce its upcoming Salon Conversation with guest moderator Alexandra Baudelot, the Director of the Musée d’Art et de Culture Soufis MTO™, and the visual artist Bianca Bondi, whose work is currently exhibited in Un Ciel intérieur . Exposition inaugurale du MACS MTO™.
Bianca Bondi’s work operates on the border of several worlds, revealing the intangible links that exist between the visible (nature, chemical phenomena, and the transformation of matter) and the invisible (the idea of ritual, which she draws through various forms of mysticism from non-Western sources of knowledge and the sensory experiences evoked through her installations). She creates dreamlike installations that echo the environments in which she exhibits her works. In the context of MACS MTO and its exhibition, the works exhibited resonate with the surrounding nature and river water facing the museum. They reveal the potential for metamorphosis at work in each manifestation of life.
This session will offer the opportunity to explore Bondi’s work and the processes that shape her sculptures and installations.
This event will take place on Zoom.
The Musée d’Art et de Culture Soufis MTO (MACS MTO™) is the first museum dedicated to exploring the principles and artistic expressions of Sufism. Built on a foundational platform of dialogue with the beliefs and questions of our time, MACS MTO engages Sufism as a framework for multidisciplinary exploration.
Contact Information
Parastou Youssefi
Contact Email
URL
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Z0F3snn9TPGIfDr7vhv1wQ#/registration
7. Workshop – Khamseen Pedagogy Workshop (Hybrid Event) – March 28
Khamseen’s pedagogy workshop on teaching Islamic art, architecture, and visual culture on Friday, March 28 at 3:00 pm EST. The event is hybrid, and registration for remote participation can be accessed at the following link: https://myumi.ch/ZD9MN.
Members of Team Khamseen will present flash talks on Khamseen’s free and open-access digital platform. For more information about the talks, see the pedagogy workshop program here.
8. Art Speaks (Back): Historians of Islamic Art Association 2025 Symposium, April 3-5 2025, Boston
Boston College and the MFA Boston.
Please register for the symposium by March 7. Registration for the special events (receptions, lunchtime discussions, art viewing sessions and the Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT viewing session) have now closed. All registrants for the sympsoium will receive a confirmation email after March 7, which they will need to present to enter the MFA on Friday April 4th. Those attending the special viewings and lunches will receive separate confirmation emails. While we are not able to host a fully hybrid symposium, Zoom links have been provided below for each session. Online participants will be able to listen to the talks, see the images shared, and ask questions via the Q&A window.
Program
Thursday, April 3 – MIT and Boston College
MIT:
- 10:30am – 1:00pm: Viewing of the collections and the exhibition “Refracted Histories through Stained Glass: 19th Century Islamic Windows as a Prism into MIT’s Past, Present, and Future,” followed by a light lunch. Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT. Capped at 30, please register.
Boston College, Yawkey Center, Murray Room (4th Floor), Boston College, Chestnut Hill, 02467.
- 3pm: Welcome Remarks, Emine Fetvacı and Laura Weinstein
- 3:15 – 4:45 pm: Roundtable: Provenance and Islamic Art: Current Discussions and Future Directions.Speakers: Elizabeth Dospel Williams, Gwendolyn Collaço, Inês Fialho Brandão, Margaret Graves, Amanda Phillips, Eiren Shea, Alyson Wharton(-Durgaryan), Franziska Kabelitz
Zoom Registration Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/Ixev72N1Ri6h7B3VP9lEoQ
- 5 – 6:30 pm: Keynote lecture: Writing (Art) History in the Time of War, Nasser Rabbat, Aga Khan Professor and Director of the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT.
Zoom Registration Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/8DcIe4ZNTV-dXDs7FBpRAA
- 7:00 – 9:00 pm: Opening reception and visit “Wonders of Creation: Art, Science and Innovation in the Islamic World.”
Location: McMullen Museum, Boston College, 2101 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA
Friday April 4 – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Alfond Auditorium, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, 465 Huntington Avenue,
Boston, Massachusetts, 02115-5523
- 9:00 – 11:00 am: Panel 1: Inscribed Meaning, Memory, and Identity: The Embodiment of Textiles, Dress and Jewels in the Islamic World
- ‘Reading’ Inscribed Textiles in Context: an Abbasid tiraz textile in a Fatimid Burial. Arielle Winnik, Postdoctoral Associate, Yale University Art Gallery
- Messages in Minerals: Decoding Inscribed Gemstones. Courtney Stewart, Research Associate, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Two Inscribed Ghurid Talismanic Jewels in the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait. Jochen Sokoly, Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University, Qatar
- Traceable Origins of Coins, Embroidery & Adornment in Palestinian Headdress, (Late 19th – Early 20th Centuries). Wafa Ghnaim, Founder, Tatreez Institute and Research Scholar, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Moderator: Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım, Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Islamic and Asian Art, Harvard Art Museums
Zoom Registration Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/1bqXlaOuQsqvBdd41naHag
- 11:00 – 11:30 am: Coffee break
- 11:30 – 1:00 pm: Panel 2: “Writing, Speaking”
- Flipping the Script of a Historical Whodunnit: An Epigraphical Forgery at the Abbasid Nilometer in Cairo. Heba Mostafa, Associate Professor, University of Toronto, St George
- Playing with Arabic Script: Visual Analogies and the Imagination in Medieval Islamic Aesthetics. Zahra Kazani, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Cambridge
- Cloths of Mourning: Late Safavid Epigraphic Textiles. Sarah Molina, PhD Candidate, Harvard University
Moderator: Matthew Saba, Program Head, Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT
Zoom Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/T9AnIcNhSR6qY91f-1weRQ
- 1:15 – 2:00 pm: lunch break
- Optional lunchtime discussion: AI and Islamic Art History. Led by Nancy Um, Associate Director for Research and Knowledge Creation, Getty Research Institute, and Hossein Nakhaei, PhD Candidate, University of Pittsburgh. Capped at 20.
Location: Riley Seminar Room (room 156); lunch discussion will be in the Druker Classroom (room 160) – discussion participants will pick up their food/drink in room 156.
- 2:00 – 3:30 pm: Collection viewings, limited capacity. Please register.
- “Inscribed Meaning, Memory, and Identity: Dress and Adornments in the MFA Collections”
- “Contemporary Calligraphy – New Acquisitions”
- 3:30 – 5:30 pm: Panel 3: “Architecture Speaks”
- Architecture as Archive: Re-framing Mughal Imperial Lineage. Srinanda Ganguly, PhD Candidate, University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
- A Seventeenth-Century T-Shaped Mosque in Anatolia? The Byzantinizing Mosque of Hüsrev Paşa near Eskişehir. Zeynep Oguz, University of Zagreb
- The “Defender of Islam” Defiant: The Mausoleum of Qus and the Virtual Hajj.” Mikael Muehlbauer, Interim Assistant Educator, Office of Academic and Professional Programs, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Forging locality in domes: Muslim architecture of Quanzhou, Chendai, and Baiqi in the 20th and 21st centuries. Sylvia Wu, Assistant Professor, the University of Texas at Austin
Moderator: Emine Fetvacı, Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art, Boston College
Zoom Registration Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/z1eNMm5HRUCzrGYGC_ZQ3w
Saturday, April 5, Boston College, Yawkey Center, Murray Room (4th Floor), Boston College, Chestnut Hill, 02467.
- 9:00 – 11:00 am: Panel 4: “The Architecture and Arts of Islamicate Central Asia during Dynastic Ruptures”
- Bihzad’s Ghost: The Timurid—Abu’l-Khayrid transition in Transoxiana, 1480–1510. Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, Leverhulme Early Career Fellow, University of Oxford
- Qarakhanid Architecture Re-examined: Portals, Patronage, and Consolidating Turko-Islamic Power in eleventh-century Transoxiana. Dilrabo Tosheva, AKPIA Fellow, Harvard University
- The pre-Mongol City of Balkh as Seen by its Residents: a Report from the Fadaʾil-i Balkh. Said Reza Husaini, Research Fellow, King’s College, Cambridge University
- Historical Madrasas as Spolia: Appropriating Timurid and Abu’l-Khayrid Monuments in Toqay-Timurid Urban Squares. Yue Xie, PhD Candidate, Harvard University
Moderator: Alexander Brey, Assistant Professor, Wellesley College
Zoom Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/CLoDMCiUSgKqRG3t-gmsKQ
11:00 – 11:30 am: coffee break
- 11:30 am – 1:30 pm: Panel 5: “Responding to a Changing World”
- Tool of Craft or Homage to Profession? A Study of a Qajar Architectural Tablet and a Futuwwatnama of Architects. Salimeh Hosseini, PhD Candidate, University of Chicago,
- The meaning of ‘photography’ (fotogerāfi) is light-drawing (nūr-negārī)”: Mystical Metaphors in Technical Manuals of Photography in Nineteenth-Century Iran. Chaeri Lee. PhD Candidate, Indiana University
- “The Gift of the Orient”: Ottoman Cultural Brokers in the US, ca. 1900. Roxanne Goldberg, PhD Candidate, MIT
- The Spatial Realms of Ottoman Imperial Portraiture: Sultan Selim III, Self-Representation, and Topkapı’s Renewal. Hilal Uǧurlu, Associate Professor, MEF University, Istanbul, and Deniz Türker, Assistant Professor, Rutgers University
Moderator: Huma Gupta, Assistant Professor, Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture, MIT
Zoom Registration Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/Px6Q8Q05SlmqbHW4QQgqUQ
- 1:30 – 2:45 pm: Lunch break
- Optional lunchtime discussion: Teaching Difficult Topics. Led by Zohreh Soltani, Assistant Professor, Ithaca College, and Emily Neumeier, Assistant Professor, Temple University. Capped at 20, please register.
- 2:45-3:00 pm In Remembrance, presented by Dr. Marianna Shreve Simpson, Research Associate, Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania
Zoom Registration Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/GfvbKRIiRHW__28pggWWQA
- 3:00 – 5:00pm: Panel 6: “Realms of Response: Javab and Cultural Production in Early Modern Iran and South Asia”
- The Poetics of Pottery and the Aesthetics of Absence: Isfahan’s Music Room. Michael Chagnon, Aga Khan Museum
- Speaking Cities: The City and the Self in Premodern Urban Descriptions. Farshid Emami, Assistant Professor, Rice University
- Mirroring the Cosmos: The Mi‘raj as an Inner Journey Towards God in Hindustani Painting. Murad Khan Mumtaz, Associate Professor, Williams College
- Self/Reflection: Ghiyas/Sherley, or how to talk back in Safavid art and history. Kishwar Rizvi, Professor, Yale University
- Discussant: Paul Losenky, Professor, Indiana University
Moderator: Laura Weinstein, Ananda Coomaraswamy Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Zoom Link: https://bccte.zoom.us/meeting/register/GfvbKRIiRHW__28pggWWQA
- 5:30 – 6:30pm: Wonders of Creation: Art Science and Innovation in the Islamic World, with Dr. Ladan Akbarnia, Curator of South Asian and Islamic Art, San Diego Museum of Art
Location: McMullen Museum, Boston College, 2101 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA
- 6:30 – 8:00pm: Closing reception at the McMullen Museum, Boston College, 2101 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA
Sunday, April 6
- 10am: Walking tour of Boston’s Little Syria with Dr. Lydia Harrington
- Tour meets at the Chinatown Gate (John F Fitzgerald Surface Rd & Beach St, Boston, MA 02111) and ends near Peter’s Park in the South End. The tour will take approximately 1 ½ to 1 ¾ hours. Optional post-tour lunch at Anoush’ella. To sign up, email lharrin@bu.edu. To contact Lydia on the day of the tour, call 857-488-2878.
Contact Information
Emine Fetvaci and Laura Weinstein
Contact Email
URL
https://www.historiansofislamicart.
9. In celebration of the launch of the UNESCO backed Khalili Foundation’s ‘Interfaith Explorers’ initiative, a platform that encourages children to explore cultural diversity and foster interfaith and intercultural understanding:
https://www.khalili.foundation/interfaith-explorers/
The Khalili Collection is pleased to introduce a new children’s card game. It comprises of 30 unique cards, each with a score and a fact-file. This fun game is designed for both children and adults and uncovers hidden stories behind each Islamic Art object:
Available to purchase here:
https://www.khalilicollections.org/news/top-trumps-islamic-art-explore-artworks-through-play/
URL
https://www.khalilicollections.org/news/top-trumps-islamic-art-explore-artworks…
10. IED talk 31/3 by Nasima Selim, “Breathing Hearts in Suffocating Times: Sufi healing practices and anti-Muslim racism in Germany”
We are pleased to invite you to IED‘s next lecture on Monday, March 31st, 3.00 – 4.30 CET, on Teams.
Nasima Selim (Bayreuth University) will deliver a talk to present her book “Breathing Hearts in Suffocating Times: Sufism, Healing, and Anti-Muslim Racism in Germany”, which will be followed by Q&A.
Sufism is known as the mystical dimension of Islam. ‘Breathing Hearts’ explores this definition to find out what it means to ‘breathe well’ along the Sufi path in the context of anti-Muslim racism. ‘Breathing Hearts in Suffocating Times’ is the first book-length ethnographic account of Sufi practices and politics in Berlin and describes how Sufi practices are mobilized in healing secular and religious suffering. The book tracks the Desire Lines of multi-ethnic immigrants of color, and white German interlocutors to show how Sufi practices complicate the post secular imagination of healing in Germany.
Nasima Selim is a Postdoctoral Research Associate of Anthropology at the University of Bayreuth. Nasima’s work intersects medical anthropology, global health, public anthropology, and anthropology of Islam across Western Europe and South Asia. She is a breathworker, educator, researcher, and writer.
11. SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Zoroastrianism Summer School 2025
Deadline for applications: 11.59 pm, Wednesday 12 March 2025
The Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies and UCI Jordan Center for Persian Studies & Culture are pleased to announce that applications for our Summer School are now open. The Institute is hosting the week-long course with the Jordan Center, part of the University of California, Irvine and we welcome Prof. Carlo Careti as he brings his expertise to the school. This year, students will not only learn about how the religion is practiced in Iran but India and the wider diaspora. In addition, students will interview members of the London Zoroastrian community and learn vital research skills.
- March 11, 2025
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Lundi 10 mars 2025, 10h-13h
Cultivate, celebrate, classify:
Humans and plants from the Bosphorus to Bengal
Interdisciplinary workshop
Iranian Studies and Environmental Approaches
Organizers: Camille Rhoné-Quer (IREMAM, BioArch & Université Aix-Marseille), Justine Landau (CeRMI & Université Sorbonne Nouvelle), Matteo de Chiara (CeRMI & INALCO)
Thanks to the revival carried out for several years by archaeobotany, numerous works shed light with increasing precision on the processes of domestication and circulation of plant species throughout the world, particularly in the Eurasian area. In this vast space structured by countless networks of exchanges, of which the Silk Roads are only one aspect, the dissemination of knowledge and techniques on plants and their uses echoes the multiple economic, social and cultural issues related to the plant world. Plants are omnipresent in the daily lives of the populations of the Turkish-Iranian worlds, which are largely focused on agricultural activities. The objective of this workshop is to propose, through an interdisciplinary approach, a better understanding of the knowledge and methods used during the Holocene (term designating the last 10,000 years) to produce, consume, care for and conserve plants in all their forms. The mobilization of specialists from various disciplines in the sciences of paleoenvironments, humanities and social sciences, languages and literatures will make it possible to reflect on the complementarity of sources, whether they come from scholarly or popular cultures, material or textual, oral or written, private or public.
- Camille Rhoné-Quer and Matteo De Chiara – Iranian Studies and Environmental Approaches: State of Play and Perspectives
- Margareta Tengberg – Contribution of paleo- and archaeobotanical disciplines to the knowledge of human-plant relations in the ancient Iranian world
- Parviz Mohebbi – The introduction of the potato in Iran
- Justine Landau – Is the cure in verse? Plant literature and knowledge transfer in pre-Mongol Iran
Room 4.05, INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII,4th floor).
To attend the workshop remotely, contact camille.rhone@univ-amu.fr
2. Zoom: Architectural Inscriptions from 10th- to 13th-Century Afghanistan as Recorded in Photographic Archives
The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies and Invisible East present a series of monthly online seminars about archives and documents.
Convened by Arezou Azad and Mohamad Tavakoli, the seminars are held monthly on Zoom.
Please join us this month to hear from Dr Viola Allegranzi on ‘Zooming In: Architectural Inscriptions from 10th- to 13th-Century Afghanistan as Recorded in Photographic Archives’. Thursday 13 March at 12PM EST / 4PM GMT. Pre-registration is essential.
3. The Pearls of Wisdom: An Arabic critical edition of Muḥyī al-Dīn Ibn al-ʿArabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam wa Naqsh al-Fuṣūṣ by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi.
https://www.shiahinstitute.org/publications/the-pearls-of-wisdom/
4. The Gibb Memorial trust scholarship for doctoral study at a British Univeristy. They are open to anyone registered for a doctorate at a British university. Two scholarship schemes are available:
The Gibb Centenary Scholarship (on any area of Middle eastern Studies from 7thcentury to 1918) – the scholarship is up to £2000.
The A H Morton Memorial Scholarship (in Classical Persian Studies) – up to £3000, two scholarships available in 2025.
Details can be found at: Scholarships | The E J W Gibb Memorial Trust
Closing date is 31st March 2025. Results are released by 30 June 2025.
If you have any queries please contact: r.gleave@exeter.ac.uk
5. Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien”, qui se tiendra jeudi prochain, 13 mars 2025, 17h-19h, en salle 4.15 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 4eétage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir M. Pavel Lurje (Musée de l’Ermitage; actuellement chercheur en résidence à l’Institut d’Études Avancées de Paris), pour une conférence intitulée: “Sogdian Documents from Mount Mugh: Historical, Archaeological, Administrative and Economic Geographies of Central Asia on the Eve of Islamization“.
Résumé:
In 1932-33, a set of 80 documents, mostly in Sogdian, but also in Chinese, Arabic and Old Turkic were discovered incidentally in the ruins of the castle on Mount Mugh, in the highlands of Tajikistan 150 km east of Samarkand. The documents, as it soon appeared, are dated to 722 CE (and few decades earlier), and were part of the archive of Dewashtich, the last ruler of Panjakent (the easternmost Sogdian city) and his retinue, who were defeated by Moslem forces and their allies in the mountains. Since the 1960s, the documents have all been made available in facsimile, photos and transliterations; and in the last decade, an updated English translation of the documents was published. Most of the placenames mentioned in the documents were ingeniously identified by the editors, and at a later stage, the tracks of the military expeditions mirrored in the texts could even be outlined. The bulk of the locations mentioned are situated to the east of Samarkand, especially around Panjakent and in the upper Zarafshan valley surrounding mount Mugh, but more distant places are also referred to.
At this time, we possess much better knowledge of the archaeological sites in the area (through survey and excavations), and of the linguistic features of Sogdian. Similar texts have been found elsewhere, and documents pertaining to another crucial moment in the history of Upper Zarafshan, the Russian conquest of 1860s and its aftermath, have been published. These new data have allowed scholars to reconsider the geography of the documents in a new light.
In this talk, the lecturer will present the preliminary results of his research project carried out as a Fellow at the Paris Institute of Advanced Studies. Several issues will be addressed: How was the power and administration in this area organized? What were the main products used, and how were they distributed? Which of the toponyms mentioned in the documents can be associated with known sites? And what was the oikumene known to the authors of these texts?
Orientations bibliographiques:
– Smirnova, O.I., 1963. La carte des régions du haut Zérafchân d’après les documents du Mt. Mugh, Труды двадцать пятого международного конгресса востоковедов. Москва, 9 – 16 августа 1960 г. II, 329–37.
– Ю. Якубов. Паргар в VII – VIII вв. н. э. Душанбе: Дониш, 1979.
– Frantz Grenet, Étienne de la Vaissière, 2002. “The last days of Panjikent”, Silk Road Art and Arcaheology 8, 155–96.
– Livshits, V.A., 2015. Sogdian epigraphy of Central Asia and Semirech’e. London: Corpus inscriptionum iranicarum.
– Begmatov, A., 2019. Sogdian Textual Materials from Central Asia: A Critical Re-Edition of the Documents from Mount Mugh, Unpublished PhD thesis, Kyoto.
– Исаков, А.И., Ю.Я. Якубов & Г.Р. Каримова, 2020. Верховья Долины Зарафшана (Археологическая карта Таджикистана). Душанбе: Дониш.
– Ҳоҷизодаи Мадрушкатӣ, А., 2021. Масчоҳ: Сад Санади Таърихӣ. Душанбе: Меҳроҷ-граф.
– Documentation on the inscription of monuments of Zarafshan-Karakum corridor of the Silk Road in the UNESCO World Heritage list, 2023. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1675/documents/
Pour rappel, vous retrouverez le programme 2024-2025 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien” sur le site du CeRMI :
https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-d
6. Hybrid: The Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World in partnership with the Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies is convening an international conference on The Bible in Its Ancient Iranian Context, held on March 13–14, 2025 at UCLA.
The Bible in Its Ancient Iranian Context
An International Conference Convened by Rahim ShayeganWilliam Schniedewind Catherine Bonesho
co-sponsored by the UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies
March 13–14, 2025 | 314 & 306 Royce Hall(with a live stream option for hybrid attendance)
Morning refreshments and check-in begin at 8:00 am
Zoom link:
https://ucla.zoom.us/j/91611647646#success
Inperson: https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/event/the-bible-in-its-ancient-iranian-context/
7. Exploring the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: The Laws and Teachings of the Bahá’í Faith
Omid Ghaemmaghami and Shahin Vafai
I B Tauris, 2025
35% discount code (GLR AT8)
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/exploring-the-kit%C3%A1biaqdas-9780755606269/
8. International Conference “Philosophy, the Political, and Politics of Translation in the Modern Islamic World”, Organized by the Scholarly Network for Philosophy in the Islamic World, Berlin, ZMO and Kath. Akad., 10-12 March 2025
At our conference, international scholars address questions such as: How have colonial and political forces shaped philosophical translations in the MENA region? How does translation drive philosophical thought in the modern Islamic world? What do case studies reveal about the political and cultural power of translation?
Information and programme: https://philosophy-in-the-modern-islamic-world.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Konf-Berlin-2025-Programm-final.pdf
9. HYBRID Workshop “People and Powers: Rome, Persia, and Armenia in the Fifth Century”, University of Lille, 31 March 2025
Information, programme and registration:
10. “XIII International Medieval Meeting Lleida”, Universitat de Lleida, Espanya, 3-6 June 2025
Main themes in Medieval Studies: Wars and Crusades – Institutions, Law and Government – Islam – Judaism – Political History – Social and Economic History – Woman and Gender Studies; Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 March 2025. Information: https://www.internationalmedievalmeetinglleida.udl.cat/en/
11. Graduate Conference “Cartographic Imaginaries: Spaces and Images of Central and Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, the Caucasus, and Central Asia”, EHESS, Campus Condorcet, Aubervilliers, 11 June 2025
This conference aims to foster critical reflection on spatial reconfigurations and their resonances in both historical and contemporary contexts. We invite interdisciplinary contributions that re-examine the past and present of this vast region through various disciplines and fields of study, including migration studies, urban and cultural studies, sociology, history, art history, visual anthropology, political science, and critical geography.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 March 2025.
Information: https://cetobac.ehess.fr/system/files/2025-02/appel_a_communications_jd_cetobac.pdf
12. “35th Exeter Gulf Conference: Temporality and Aesthetics in the Arabian Peninsula”, Center for Gulf Studies, University of Exeter, 7-8 July 2025
How does the domain of the aesthetic – in art, architecture, film and literature – allow us to better comprehend how values and ideals are cultivated, enforced, and contested in the region? We invite contributions from the following disciplines: Visual arts – Drama – Film studies – Anthropology and sociology – Human and cultural geography – Environmental and urban studies – Literary studies – Political economy – Gender studies – Political science – History – Migration and diaspora studies, etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 18 April 2025. Information: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/events/details/index.php?event=14823
13. Conference “Beyond Borders Colonial Encounters & Challenges of Religious Minorities between Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Iran (19th – Early 20th Centuries)”, Orient-Institut Istanbul, 16-17 October 2025
Topics: 1) Connections among non-Muslim communities within and beyond the borderlands of Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Iran. – 2) Interaction and Relations of non-Muslim communities with different Muslim groups and political authorities. – 3) Disruption of cross-border relations and forming of new ideas of community and belonging. – 4) Cross-border family histories
Deadline for abstracts: 14 March 2025. Information: https://www.hsozkult.de/event/id/event-152696
14. Doctoral Research Assistant (65 %, 4 Years) in Arabic/Islamic Studies, Max Weber Centre for Advanced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt
Research on “„(De)Colonizing Sharia?“ Tracing Transformation, Change and Continuity in Islamic Law in the MENA in the 19th and 20th Centuries”, chaired by Prof. Dr. Irene Schneider. Qualification: MA in Arabic/Islamic Studies. – Research specialization in modern Islamic law and/or in the fields of law/politics/(post)colonialism. – Knowledge of pre-modern law/colonial law. – Very good knowledge of Arabic, English, if possible, Persian/Turkish/Ottoman Turkish and, if possible, German.
Deadline for applications: 31 March 2025.
Information: https://jobs.uni-erfurt.de/jobposting/7448386011e6231c0ffcee042c7738c0b60bba3e0
15. Postdoc Research Assistant (75 %, 4 Years) in Arabic/Islamic Studies, Max Weber Centre for Advan-ced Cultural and Social Studies, University of Erfurt
Research on “„(De)Colonizing Sharia?“ Tracing Transformation, Change and Continuity in Islamic Law in the MENA in the 19th and 20th Centuries”, chaired by Prof. Dr. Irene Schneider. Qualification: PhD in Arabic/Islamic Studies. – Research focus in modern Islamic law or in the areas of law/politics/(post)colonialism. – Knowledge of pre-modern law/colonial law. – Very good knowledge of Arabic, English, if possible, Persian/Turkish/Ottoman Turkish and, if possible, German.
Deadline for applications: 31 March 2025.
Information: https://jobs.uni-erfurt.de/jobposting/aad3a8bd05b31fa09be0a109806abbb9ed7271a40
16. Doctoral Fellowships 2025-26 (7-11 Months) at the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB)
The OIB awards a number of fellowships-in-residence, beginning on 15 September 2025, designed for doctoral candidates engaged in outstanding research projects in the humanities and social sciences. We invite applications across disciplines, time periods, and geographic coverage. Proposals should articulate the contemporary stakes of the research project, encompassing historiographical, cultural, religious and/or political dimensions.
Deadline for applications: 20 March 2025.
Information: https://www.orient-institut.org/support/fellowships/doctoralfellowships.html
17. Intensive Summer School on “Comparative Habsburg-Ottoman Paleography”, Institute for Habsburg and Balkan Studies (IHB), Vienna, 7-18 July 2025
This program is dedicated to the comparative study of early modern (1500 – 1800) Habsburg and Ottoman primary sources. The school will be helpful especially for MA and PhD students, and early career researchers who want to improve their Kurrentschrift and/or Ottoman Turkish reading skills. We will accept applications from advanced scholars, but the priority will be given to younger candidates.
Deadline for applications: 16 March 2025. Information: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/ihb/forschungsbereiche/digitale-historiographie-und-editionen/forschung/habsburg-osmanische-diplomatie/summer-school
18. “Manuscripts for Research: An Advanced Course in Arabic Manuscript Studies”, Library of the Academy of Science of Lisbon, 22-25 July 2025
During this workshop, participants will delve into the vibrant manuscript collection at the Academy of Sciences of Lisbon. This remarkable collection encompasses a diverse array of subjects and regions. The course will include interactive lectures on philology, as well as hands-on sessions centred around a selection of manuscripts from this invaluable collection.
Information: https://www.aku.edu/events/pages/event-detail.aspx?EventID=2747
19. Participate: “Postmedieval Mentorship Programme for Scholars Who Have not yet Published in English”, Organised by “postmedieval – a journal of medieval cultural studies”
This programme is intended for scholars who have not yet published in English in peer-reviewed publications, including books and journals, and whose first language is not English. Preference may be given to early career academics and those from the Global South.
Deadline for applications: 31 March 2025.
Information: https://sites.google.com/view/postmedieval/Announcements/call-for-participants?authuser=0
20. Early Scholars Publication Grants for Dissertations that Reconceptualize “Translating Cultures in the Digital Age”, UNESCO Chair in Translating Cultures, King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies
We seek dissertations that explore the evolving relationship between humans and advanced AI systems, including the new interpretive strategies required to navigate AI’s fluid, data-driven formulations, and focus on themes such as agency, authorship, translation, and the human-machine interface. Qualification: PhD in a relevant field, such as Arabic language and culture, translation studies, comparative literature, Middle Eastern studies, cultural sociology, etc.
Deadline for applications: 26 May 2025. Information: https://www.kfcris.com/en/unesco/grant/2025
- March 08, 2025
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Hybrid: ‘Rethinking Ta‘ziyeh: Performance, Memory, and Space in a Shi‘a Devotional Tradition’ (10.3.25, San Diego, 9:00 am-6:15 pm, Pacific Time)
Rethinking Ta‘ziyeh:
Performance, Memory, and Space in a Shi‘a Devotional Tradition
Date: March 10, 2025, 9:00 am-6:15 pm
Location: de Certeau Room (Room 335) Arts and Humanities Building, third floor, UC San Diego
Symposium Schedule
(All times in PST)
Introduction
9:00 AM – 9:15 AM
Panel 1
9:15 AM – 10:45 AM
(9:15 AM PST | 6:15 PM Switzerland | 11:00 AM EST)
Chair: Staci Gem Scheiwiller (California State University, Stanislaus)
Keynote Speaker: Elisabeth Dutton (Freiburg University) (Zoom)
9:15 AM – 9:45 AM
“Playing Satan, playing Job: A medieval Christian example, and one from the Ta’ziyeh”
Sara Khalili (Fribourg University) (Zoom)
9:45 AM – 10:00 AM
“The Fall of Lucifer and Iblis on Stage”
Hawraa al-Hasan (Cambridge University) (Zoom)
10:00 AM – 10:15 AM
“Curiosity, Culture, and Colonial Intrigue in European Responses to the Ta’ziyeh”
Keynote Speaker: Kamran Scot Aghaie (University of Texas at Austin)
10:15 AM – 10:45 AM
“Qajar Elites and the Heavy Reliance on Ta’ziyeh Rituals”
Q&A Session
10:45 AM – 11:00 AM
Coffee Break | 11:00 AM – 11:15 AM
Book Launch
11:15 AM – 12:15 PM
Lucy Deacon (Freiburg University)
“Karbala in the Ta‘ziyeh Episode: Shi‘i Devotional Drama in Iran”
Discussant: Kamran Scot Aghaie (University of Texas at Austin)
Lunch Break | 12:15 PM – 1:30 PM
Memorial for Peter J. Chelkowski
1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Keynote Speakers:
William Beeman (University of Minnesota)
Ali Mirsepassi (New York University) (Zoom)
Coffee Break | 2:45 PM – 3:00 PM
Keynote Speech
3:00 PM – 4:15 PM
Chair: Muhammad Yousuf (UC San Diego)
Keynote Speaker:
Frank Korom (Boston University)
“Recent Developments in Trinidad’s Hosay: A South Asian Ritual Complex Transplanted in the Caribbean.”
Coffee Break | 4:15 PM – 4:30 PM
Roundtable: “Rethinking Takiyeh Dawlat”
4:30 PM – 6:15 PM
Screening: Documentary: “Takiyeh Dawlat” by Alireza Ghasemkhan
Panelists:
Milad Azram (Ohio University)
Babak Rahimi (UC San Diego)
Co-sponsors: The Middle East Studies Program, Program for the Study of Religion, Department of Literature, UC San Diego
To join us via Zoom, please contact brahimi@ucsd.edu for the link and password.
More info at: https://iah.ucsd.edu/_images/PSR-and-MES-Event.jpg
- March 06, 2025
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘Howzevi Women in Iran’ – A Tawasil
https://iupress.org/9780253070869/paths-made-by-walking/
ZOOM: March 7th, 2025, 3-5 pm CET, 9-11 am EST
A conversation with Dr. Amina Tawasil (Teachers College, Columbia University) who is the author of the book Paths Made by Walking: The Work of Howzevi Women in Iran (Indiana University Press, 2024) and our discussant, Prof. Yafa Shanneik (Lund University).
The conversation will be followed by a generous Q&A session.
To register, please email Dr. Minoo Mirshahvalad mmi@hum.ku.dk
- March 05, 2025
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. ONLINE Webinar ‘Book Launch: Karbala in the Ta’ziyeh Episode, Shi’i Devotional Drama in Iran’
With Lucy Deacon
In this webinar, Dr. Lucy Deacon presents on her new book ‘Karbala in the Ta’ziyeh Episode, Shi’i Devotional Drama in Iran’ (2024). Verisimilitude is not the endeavour of ta’ziyeh passion plays; this is a devotional offering that stirs lament for the the Shiʿi martyrs by representing events crucial to sacred history. But what does that retelling entail? Through study of four of its main episodes—from their long inter-female dialogues to the protagonists’ encounters with jinn, dervishes, and foreigners—this book explores the taʿziyeh repertoire’s compositional features. Combining a wide range of historical scripts, largely unpublished manuscripts, with witness accounts, it tracks the tradition’s development from Safavid to Qajar Iran asking, who were its contributors? And, how have they left their mark?
British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS),
26 March, 2025, 5:00 pm UK Time
Information and registration:
2. ISIC 2025
The Eighth International Conference on Islamic Civilisation
Call for Papers
Sects, Sectarianism, and Sectarian Identities in Islam
Dates: 1–2 November 2025
Venue: National Chengchi University (Taipei, Taiwan) and Online
Organized by
Department of Arabic Language and Culture, National Chengchi University (Republic of China)
Institut Islam Hadhari, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (Malaysia)
Sectarian divisions within the Islamic world have long been misunderstood by both the media and the general public. While communal violence and conflict in modern Muslim-majority countries are often framed in sectarian terms, attributing these conflicts solely to historical sectarian divides —such as the Sunni-Shiʿa split — is misleading and reductive. Medieval Muslim sources and heresiographical literature use terms like firaq, niḥal, ṭāʾifa, or madhhab to refer to religious communities, groups, or schools of thought. These are often translated as “sects,” a term that carries connotations of schism and heresy in the Christian tradition, implying a division from an established orthodoxy. However, applying this conceptualization of sects and sectarianism to the Islamic context can be problematic. Over the past fourteen centuries, medieval Islamic societies have largely been tolerant—and at times even appreciative—of diverse, sometimes contradictory, interpretations of revealed truth. The existence of multiple sects and schools of thought within Islam highlights the richness and diversity of Islamic expressions of faith.
While the formation of groups based on shared qualities is a universal human phenomenon, what distinguishes the Islamic world—both past and present—is the ubiquity of sectarian identities, symbols, and ideas, which permeate various genres of literature, daily rituals, and art forms. Beyond the major sectarian alignments of Sunnis and Shiʿas, Muslim sects or schools are often subject to further divisions and subdivisions throughout history. Sectarian identity is frequently entangled with other social, political, and cultural affiliations, making any attempt to define an Islamic sect or sectarian identity inherently complex and multi-faceted.
Due to the nature of available sources, the formation of Muslim sects and sectarian identities during the first three centuries of Islam remains an underexplored field that warrants systematic and rigorous study. Furthermore, the historical development of Islamic sects and schools in the post-formative period should be considered in order to reassess the validity and utility of classifications based on sectarianism.
ISIC 2025 invites paper submissions on a wide range of topics related to sects, sectarian identities, and sectarianism in both pre-modern and modern Islamic contexts. Topics include, but are not limited to:
- Islamic firaq or heresiographical literature
- The diachronic use and meaning of sectarian labels in various genres of literature and historical contexts
- Sectarian denominations in modern Muslim politics
- Reflections on the concept of sects and sectarianism
- Origins and formation of sectarian identities and communities
- The evolution of sects in different parts of the Islamic world in pre-modern and modern periods
Proposals for pre-arranged panels dedicated to the above themes are also welcome.
Submission Guidelines
Please submit anonymized abstracts (250-300 words) in English, along with a one-page CV, to isu@nccu.edu.tw by 15 May 2025. Both the abstract and CV should be submitted in Word docx format. The conference will take place in a hybrid format on 1-2 November 2025 at National Chengchi University in Taipei, Taiwan. The official language of the conference is English.
Panel Proposals
Panel proposals should include a 600-word abstract with the following details:
Introduction to the topic
The number of presenters
Short biographical information about the presenters and convenor (the person submitting the proposal)
Contact Email:
isu@nccu.edu.tw
Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 May 2025
Notification of acceptance will be sent by mid-June 2025.
3. Aga Khan Museum – Curator
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68607
4. Ghada Karmi’s Murjana: A Tale of Love and Passion in Medieval Baghdad
Book Launch | Online on Zoom | 18 March 2025
Dr Ghada Karmi is going to tell us more about her novel, Murjana, and discuss it with two prominent scholars of Arabic literature: Prof Caroline Rooney and Prof Wen-chin Ouyang. The discussion will be followed by a live Q&A from the audience. The event is chaired by BRISMES Trustee Dr Feras Alkabani.
More information
5. The Silk Road Talk & Exhibition
Talk & Exhibition | MENACS, Brighton | 21 March 2025
Sussex based artist Carole Bennett will discuss her work and Silk Road inspirations covering a range of related topics from ceramics and pottery to Medieval Arabic poetry and texts, which she uses to decorate her pots and artefacts. A small selection of her work will be on display.
More information
6. “After 100 Years: The Past, Present and Future of Persian Art”
Dr. Yuka Kadoi
University of Vienna
Friday, 14 March 2025, 1:00 p.m. EDT
Location for In-Person Attendance:
Rm 304, 4 Bancroft Ave
Toronto, ON, M5S 1C1
Zoom Registration Link for Virtual Attendance:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUuf-ytrD8iHNIbx2IQTFku6OO7gkHyjVSu
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
7. IQP Series of Meetings
“*جولة فی المتاحف القرآنیه العالمیة:* متحف صحف القرآني في لبنان انموذجا”
*فضیلة الشیخ علی خازم*
(مدير مركز صحف لحفظ التراث القرآني والكتابي فی لبنان)
Wednesday Mar. 5, 2025 | (٤ رمضان المبارك)*
🕞 15:30_16:30 (Tehran Time)
*عبر الرابط:*
http://vroom.ut.ac.ir/farabi1
*الالقاء سیتم باللغة العربية*
- March 04, 2025
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Shii News – Zoom: ‘An Olfactory Approach to Safavid Paintings’ – G M M Brigatti (London, 17.00, 4.3.25)
4 March, 2025 – Giorgia M. Maffioli Brigatti (Pembroke College, University of Cambridge) will present “Poetics and Politics of Fragrance: An Olfactory Approach to Safavid Paintings.”
12:00 NYC / 17:00 London / 20:00 Istanbul.
To attend, please make sure to register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/abodcKZJQee8IBn42E_vSA
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.
- March 03, 2025
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. On Tuesday, March 18, Atri Hatef Naiemi (University of British Columbia) will present “Ilkhanid Capital Cities: Transcultural Interactions.”
As always, you can find a full schedule of upcoming talks and register for our list-serv on our website at viahss.org. Although not every talk is recorded, we also have recordings of several recent talks available on the VIAHSS Vimeo page at vimeo.com/viahss . Lastly, you can follow us on X at @viahss and on Instagram at @theviahss to stay up to date on upcoming events!
We look forward to seeing you on March 4!
Contact Information
Drs. Alexander Brey, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Rachel Winter
Contact Email
URL
2. HYBRID History Seminar “Cinema alla franca in Ottoman Istanbul” by Özde Çeliktemel (Boğaziçi University), IFEA, Istanbul, 5 March 2025, 15:00 – 17:00 h CET
This presentation examines the emergence of cinematic culture in early 20th century Ottoman Istanbul, focusing on its interplay with the cultural, social, and political fabric of the imperial capital. The introduction of films as cultural exports and tradable commodities was driven by both foreign and local entrepreneurs eager to profit from exhibitions, rentals, and the sale of cinematic devices.
Deadline for registration: 3 March 2025. Information: https://www.ifea-istanbul.net/index.php/fr/evenements/eve-hist/history-seminar-cinema-alla-franca-in-ottoman-istanbul
3. HYBRID Roundtable “Making and Unmaking of Ottoman Borders”, Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative, New York University, 6 March 2025, 11:30 pm CET
This roundtable brings together scholars to discuss the making and unmaking of Ottoman borders in the last century of the empire. The participants will reflect on the definition of what constitutes borderlands in relation to their academic works, and what are the processes in which various experiences of territoriality can be conceptualized within the Ottoman context.
Information and registration: https://nyu.zoom.us/meeting/register/kAmiTPU7RM2VmnevvvljLA#/registration
4. HYBRID Book Talk „Occasions for Poetry: Politics, Literature, and Imagination Among the Early Modern Ottomans“ by Oscar Aguirre-Mandujano, Ottoman and Turkish Studies, New York Univer-sity, 20 March 2025, 10:30 pm CET
After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Ottoman elites turned to poetry to craft distinctive expressions of identity and authority within the sultanate. Aguirre-Mandujano places Ottoman court poetry in its historical and social context, revealing its role as a powerful political act. Through poetic imagery, scholars and bureaucrats not only engaged with one another but also influenced bureaucratic practices and advanced their careers.
Information and registration: https://nyu.zoom.us/meeting/register/dWWJ8jUCTVW8FepB4dH_Ow#/registration
5. Research Seminar “War and Armed Conflict Ethics in Islamic Scholarship: Historical Insights and Modern Challenges”, Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE), Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, 26-27 May 2025
This seminar seeks to critically engage with both modern ethical challenges and the long-standing tradition of Islamic scholarship on war ethics. The discussion will focus on two main themes: (A) modern ethical challenges as addressed by contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship, and (B) insights from historical Islamic scholarship that remain relevant to these discussions today. CILE will cover travel, accommodation, and open-access publication fees for selected participants.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 March 2025. Information:
https://www.cilecenter.org/public-outreach/announcements/call-research-papers?utmsource=chatgpt.com
6. Conference “Minority Law in Arab States: Governing Religious Diversity”, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, 14-15 July 2025
The conference foregrounds the complex interplay between legal autonomy and the governance of religious diversity with regard to family law in Arab states. We invite submissions that address legal pluralism; minority responses to the governance of religious diversity; gender and inter-religious relationships; the impact of conflict on family laws; international law, institutions, and advocacy; local, national, and regional policy and reform perspectives.
Deadline for abstracts: 24 March 2025. Information: https://www.mpipriv.de/minority-law
7. Workshop “Changing Conditions, Changing Discourse: Bektashis and Other Sufis in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic Turkey, 1826 to 1950”, University of Munich, 21-22 July 2025
Main topics: • How did Sufi orders, both as organizations or represented by individual disciples, experience and respond to the aforementioned events and to the concomitant change of discourses? • In what manner has the format of their communications evolved? How did Sufis share their individual experience within their communities? Which external actors were attracted, which cooperations were established?
Deadline for abstracts:9 March 2025.
Information: https://www.sfb1369.uni-muenchen.de/veranstaltungen/meldungen/cfp-b05/index.html
8. Annual Conference of the “Qurán Unit” of the “American Academy of Religion (AAR)”, Boston, 22-25 November 2025
We are especially interested in proposals highlighting new or developing areas of research in relation to the Qur’an, papers on understudied topics and themes, or that relate to the annual theme of “Freedom” (broadly defined – political, religious, economic, personal, positive, negative, etc.). Deadline for abstracts: 2025 [sic]
Information: https://papers.aarweb.org/sites/default/files/uploads/full_call.pdf (page 270)
9. Arcapita Visiting Professor of Modern Arab Studies (1 Semester), Middle East Institute, Columbia University
We are interested in candidates whose field of research and teaching is in history, culture, or social sciences of the modern Arab world. Qualifications: Ph.D., record of scholarly publications, and proven teaching experience in English are required by the beginning of the appointment. Experience teaching at a university in the Middle East highly preferred.
Deadline for applications: 30 April 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/162010
10. Faculty Fellow in Near Eastern Studies (1-3 Years), Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, New York University
The ideal candidate has an in-depth understanding of the modern Middle East, knowledge of at least one Middle Eastern language, a commitment to inclusive pedagogy, and has a Ph.D. in one of the following fields: Anthropology, History, Near Eastern Studies, Politics/Political Economy, Sociology, or related disciplines. Candidates should have completed their Ph.D. no earlier than 2020, and no later than August 1, 2025.
Deadline for applications: 24 March 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/163617
11. Call for Papers – Journal of Digital Islamicate Research (JDIR)
Issue: July 2025 | Submission Deadline: April 1, 2025
The Journal of Digital Islamicate Research (JDIR) invites scholars, researchers, and practitioners to submit original contributions for its upcoming issue, scheduled for publication in July 2025. As a peer-reviewed journal, JDIR is dedicated to advancing the intersection of Digital Humanities (DH) and Islamicate Studies, fostering innovative computational, analytical, and theoretical approaches to the study of Middle Eastern and Islamicate cultures—both past and present.
We particularly welcome interdisciplinary and methodologically diverse studies that integrate Cultural Analytics, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), visualization techniques, and other digital methodologies to examine the rich textual, visual, and material culture of the Islamicate world. We are especially interested in expanding our focus to include literary, artistic, and cultural production within the Islamicateworld, encouraging contributions that explore how digital tools transform the study of Islamicateliterature, aesthetic practices, media, and performance cultures across different historical periods and geographic regions.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Computational and Quantitative Analyses of Islamicate Texts
(Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Urdu, and other Middle Eastern languages) - Digital Methods in the Study of Islamicate Literature and Poetics
- Visualization and Big Data Approaches to Islamicate Cultural Heritage
- Applications of AI, NLP, and Machine Learning in Middle Eastern Digital Humanities
- Corpus Linguistics and Stylometric Studies of Islamicate Writing Traditions
- Islamicate Digital Archives, Repositories, and Text Encoding Initiatives
- Non-Muslim Literary and Cultural Traditions in Islamicate Contexts
(e.g., Geniza research, Judeo-Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Persianate Jewish texts) - Digital Approaches to Islamic Manuscripts, Calligraphy, and Epigraphy
- Mapping and GIS Analysis of Islamicate History and Cultural Networks
- Computational Studies of Islamic Art, Architecture, and Visual Culture
- Digital Media and Islamicate Popular Culture: Film, Music, and Performance in Digital Contexts
- Islamicate Digital-Born and Digitally-Reformatted Materials in the Contemporary World
- Ethical Considerations in Digital Humanities and Islamicate Knowledge Production
The Journal of Digital Islamicate Research accepts manuscripts in English and Arabic. Submissions should be made via the Editorial Manager on the Brill website: Submit Your Manuscript.
For inquiries or further information, please contact: jdir@brill.com
12. Circle for Late Antique and Medieval Studies (CLAMS) at The Ralph Bunche Institute of International Studies (RBIIS) The Graduate Center & College of Arts & Sciences at New York City College of Technology/CUNY
Presents
KHUSRO I ANUSHIRWAN (531-79)
The Life & Achievements of a Great Reforming Sasanian King
Friday, March 7th | 12:00 pm
James Howard-Johnston
Emeritus Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford University
https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/IjsPCkfuTKy26O7jfkG01w#/registration
13. Online conference on Script-switching in Literary Texts
Join us online for over thirty inspiring talks, interesting discussions and a visual poster session on literary script-switching!
The programme, abstracts and sign-up link for our Script-switching in Literary Texts conference on 12-14 March 2025 are now available on the LangueFlow website.
14. “An Examination of the Historical Evolution of Persian Lithographic Book Publishing during the First Pahlavi Era in the Cities of Tehran and Shiraz” (in Persian)
Dr. Torfeh Abtahi
Independent Scholar, Tehran
Thursday, 6 March 2025, 12:00 p.m. EST
Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUscumrrzosHNUsM7F1nqw4NvFz2Ia1ON9Q
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
15. M-Classi, tutorial for new users
A short demo of M-Classi device, to help users navigate the system and showing M-Classi’s main functionalities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggUuIL1Adpw&ab_channel=InstitutIncalUCLouvain
M-Classi is an open-source digital tool to store, catalogue, search, and visualize the classifications of the sciences in Islam as well as those of the regions that came into contact with Islamic cultures, from Antiquity to the Pre-Modern era. The device is thus focused by priority on Arabic, Persian, and Turkish classifications, but for comparative purposes it will also integrate taxonomies in languages such as Syriac, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and others.
M-Classi allows one to make various types of queries on the classifications integrated into its database. Through a cumulative graph and the use of filters (by language, by author, by period, etc.), it also allows one to visualize the results at a glance and in a dynamic manner.
M-Classi’s beta version (https://www.m-classi.eu/), created at UCLouvain in 2023, is available on simple request by contacting me at godefroid.decallatay@uclouvain.be.
- March 01, 2025
- 0 Comment