Archive for August 23rd, 2025

1. The 2025 Imam Abdallah Ibn-Alawi Al-Haddad – 7 Book Collection

https://fonsvitae.com/product/fons-vitae-al-haddad-collectors-book-set/

2. Twelfth Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies Conference

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

USA

July 23-25, 2026

Call for Papers

We are pleased to announce that the Twelfth Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies will be held at the University of Pennsylvania (aka “Penn”) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, July 23-25, 2026.

The conference will be conducted in two parts: a themed day on “The Mamluks and the Crusades” (July 23) and two days of panels with open themes (July 24-25). The conference will be preceded by a three-day intensive course on “The Crusades and Islamic History” (July 20-22). See below for more information about this course.

The first day, July 23, will be themed and dedicated to the history of experiences of the crusading movement within the Mamluk sultanate (1250-1517), before and after the fall of Acre in 1291. The rise of the Mamluk sultanate brought with it a palpable shift in the dynamic between the remaining Crusader states and the Muslim polities of the Middle East and north Africa that has yet to be fully explored. We welcome studies of Mamluk-Frankish conflict and cooperation, whether in the realms of military history, diplomacy, commerce, social history, or cultural exchange. The themed day is also open to relevant studies of literature, material culture, non-Muslim communities, historiography, and philological or codicological concerns. A maximum of 12 paper proposals will be selected for this themed day. Should a greater number of proposals be received, the authors of those that are not selected for the conference may be offered the possibility to publish their contribution in the proceedings. The time allotted to each paper will be twenty minutes, plus ten minutes for discussion.

The following two days of the conference (July 24 and 25) will be structured in panels, which may focus on any aspect of the social, economic, intellectual, political, and artistic life of the Mamluk period. The panels will be organized into presentations of three to four papers of twenty minutes each. Panel proposals must be made by a representative, who will be responsible for its organization. Please note that in case of cancellation of two papers out of the three (or three out of the four) composing the panel, the panel will have to be withdrawn from the program. The time allotted to each paper will be twenty minutes. Discussion will take place at the end of each panel.

Language: The official language of the conference will be English.

Location: The conference will take place in the Orrery Pavilion in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books, and Manuscripts, Van Pelt Library 6^th Floor, University of Pennsylvania.

Fees: The conference registration fee will be $60 for participants and attendees. Graduate students will be offered a discounted fee of $45, subject to availability. An optional farewell dinner will take place on the last day (Saturday, July 25) at a cost to be determined. Payment of the fees (registration and farewell dinner) must be received by April 15, 2026. Any enquiries should be sent to sms2026philadelphia@gmail.com

To register for the conference and pay the $60 registration fee, either as a participant or non-participant attendee, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/school-of-mamluk-studies-2026-conference-philadelphia-tickets-1567051907439?aff=oddtdtcreator

Proposals: Paper proposals for the themed day must be submitted electronically through the School of Mamluk Studies webpage (http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/school-of-mamluk-studies.html) by October 31, 2025. Panel proposals must be submitted in the same manner by November 30, 2025. The paper proposals should provide the name and a one-page CV of the speaker, a provisional title, and an abstract of a maximum of 1,500 characters (about 300 words) per paper. Panel proposals must be submitted as such, including the relevant information for each component paper as well as the name of the panel’s chair (the chair can be one of the panelists).

Acceptance: Paper and panel proposals will be peer-reviewed. A first circular will be sent by February 2026 to those whose proposals have been accepted, and to those who have expressed interest in attending the conference as non-presenters.

Publication: selected papers from the themed day will be published in a special issue of Mamlūk Studies Review.

Accommodations: Participants must make their own travel arrangements and secure their own accommodations. The intensive course and the conference will be held in Van Pelt Library in the center of Penn’s campus.

A list of nearby hotels will be provided shortly, and, if possible, blocks of rooms will be reserved at a special rate in some cases.

INTENSIVE COURSE: The Crusades and Islamic History (July 20-22, 2026)

This three-day intensive course will focus on reading medieval primary sources for the social, economic and religious history of Egypt and Greater Syria, including Palestine during the period of the Crusades, roughly 1050-1500. It is intended for advanced graduate students and other qualified participants and will be offered by Prof. Paul M. Cobb (University of Pennsylvania) in collaboration with Prof. Ann Zimo (University of New Hampshire) and Prof. Reuven Amitai (Hebrew University of Jerusalem). The course will include close reading and historical analysis of published Arabic literary sources (chronicles and the like), Frankish sources in translation, and modern secondary literature. The overall goal is to provide students with in-depth understanding of the conventions and genres of historical writing on the Crusades and what we gain (and lose) by understanding the Crusades in their Middle Eastern context.

The number of participants will be limited to a maximum of 12.

Applications for the intensive course should include a CV, a statement of purpose (up to 750 words), and a letter of recommendation by someone familiar with your work. These should be sent to sms2026philadelphia@gmail.com by the end of January 2026. Those who are selected for the course will be notified by the end of February 2026, at which time information about the method of payment for the course fees and a syllabus will be provided.

The course fee is $250, which also includes the registration fee for the subsequent conference (July 23-25). The fees must be paid by April 15, 2026. Registration and participation will not be confirmed until payment is received. Participants must make their own travel arrangements; the local organizer will provide suggestions for accommodation.

To pay the course fee, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/school-of-mamluk-studies-2026-conference-philadelphia-tickets-1567051907439?aff=oddtdtcreator

We look forward to meeting you in Philadelphia.

Paul M. Cobb, University of Pennsylvania (local organizer)

sms2026philadelphia@gmail.com

Frédéric Bauden, Université de Liège

Antonella Ghersetti, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice

Marlis Saleh, University of Chicago

3. James Lyman Merrick: The Life and Times of an American Missionary Maverick Recalled from Persia

Hooman Estelami

Mazda, 2025

https://www.mazdapublishers.com/book/james-lyman-merrick

4. Stories from Tehran
Fereshteh Molavi
Expanded Edition
Afterword by Mahdi Ganjavi
ISBN: 978-1-997503-08-8

https://asemanabooks.ca/stories-from-tehran/

5. Conference “Exploring the Sacred: People, Place and Power in the Islamic Indian Ocean”, National University of Singapore, 4-5 December 2025

We invite historical and contemporary papers that explore the sacred by grounding it in the archives, texts, material culture, and ethnographies of the Islamic Indian Ocean. Papers may focus on local or transregional processes and themes but should attempt to relate one scale to the other.

Deadline for abstracts: 12 September 2025. Information: https://ari.nus.edu.sg/events/exploring-the-sacred/

6. Research Conference on “AI Methodologies and Applications in Middle Eastern/Islamic World Studies”, Global Studies Centre, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait, 4-5 February 2026

Themes: 1. Opportunities/Challenges/Ethics in incorporating AI in the methodology of the Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines. – _2. Specific Social Sciences or Humanities research projects or applications with significant use of AI or other digital technologies in Middle Eastern and Islamic World Studies. – _3. AI applications in religious law, textual commentary and prophetic traditions. – _4. AI applications in the cultural heritage of the Middle East and Islamic World.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2025. Information: https://www.gust.edu.kw/gsc

7. Visiting Fellowships (8 Months) in the History of Islam in South Asia (13th – _18th Century), Oxford Center for Islam Studies

Applications are invited for up to two Visiting Fellowships associated with the Centre’s Atlas project on Muslim social and intellectual history of South Asia. The successful candidates will normally be at a post-doctoral level. Each Visi-ting Fellowship is tenable for eight months from January 2026. It carries a stipend of £8,000 and single residential accommodation.

Deadline for applications: 1 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/ms583uae

8. PhD Scholarships in Global Digital Humanities (Focus Arabic, Persian Language Areas), School of Modern Languages, University of St Andrews

This award supports innovative doctoral research that either employs or critically examines digital methodologies within the context of Modern Languages. This is your opportunity to gain advanced technical and analytical skills while contributing original research to the evolving landscape of digital scholarship in the humanities.

Deadline for applications: 1 September 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdhcedm4