Archive for September 30th, 2025
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Call for Papers – English Issue of the Biannual Journal of Metaphysical Investigations
We are pleased to announce that the Biannual Journal of Metaphysical Investigations, a peer-reviewed scientific journal (Grade B, Philosophy Department, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran and indexed in some databases including google scholar, Academia, ISC (Islamic Science Citation), Noormags, Sid, Philosophers’ Index, etc.), after publishing eleven issues in Persian, has now received authorization from Iran’s ministry of Science, Research and Technology to publish one issue per year in English. Accordingly, we cordially invite esteemed scholars to submit their valuable, scholarly articles in all areas of philosophy in English for consideration in this special English-language issue. For further information and submission guidelines, please contact the Editor-in-Chief via email at qorbani48@gmail.com.
The website of the journal is:
https://mi.khu.ac.ir/index.php?slc_lang=en&sid=1
Qodratollah Qorbani
Editor-in-Chief
2. Call for Papers – “Figures of Authority. Argumentative Strategies, Exemplary Motifs, and Narrative Patterns in the Political Advice Literature of the Premodern Islamic World”, University of Tübingen, 15–16 June 2026
The workshop will investigate the rhetorical, narrative, and exemplary
devices through which political advice literature in Arabic, Persian,
and Turkish articulated authority across the premodern Islamic world.
From the circle of justice to the metaphor of the lion-king, from
Aristotle’s words of advice to Alexander to the anecdotes on
Anūshirwān’s court, from the motif of light to signify the ruler’s
authority as guarantor of rights and duties by dispelling obscurity to
the Qurʾānic notion of God as mālik al-mulk (Q. 3:26), from the
sisterhood of religion and kingship to the body-and-organs metaphor
that explains the hierarchical structure of the polity—the repertoire
of political advice literature abounds with recurring allegories,
exemplary figures and narratives that both reflect and shape political
discourse across centuries. Rather than treating these elements as
accessory or stereotypical devices, the aim is to examine how they
operate as integral parts of political reasoning and as powerful
vehicles for specific messages, adapted to different contexts and
audiences.
We welcome proposals from scholars at all career stages.
We invite proposals for papers that address, among others, the following themes:
- The use of literary tropes, historical reports, and popular wisdom as argumentative
tools within individual works or in a comparative approach
- The integration of narrative patterns into broader theoretical or normative frameworks
- The transformation of the political meaning of a metaphor across time and contexts
- The existence and function of alternative versions of the same narrative
- The reuse of the exemplary motifs in different works and the shifts in meaning they
undergo
- The variety of narrative strategies employed to advance similar arguments in different
sources
- The argumentative techniques employed by a specific author
- The interplay between historical anecdote and literary construction in legitimising
political authority
- The role of religious tradition in grounding and reinforcing political legitimacy
Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, including a select bibliography
and a short CV, by 15 December 2025 to marianna.zarantonello@unituebingen .
de.
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 15 January 2026.
Travel and accommodation expenses will be covered according to budget availability; further details will be provided upon acceptance.
3. International Conference on: Arabic Literature and World: Towards a Universal Dialogue between Self and Other
| The Moroccan Comparative Literature Association (MCLA)
Organizes, in collaboration with The Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, Ibn-Zohr University, An International Conference On Arabic Literature and World: Towards a Universal Dialogue between Self and Other In Partnership with ICLA Research Committee on Arabic Comparative Literature; AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies (AWEJTLS); And The Comparative Literature & Society Research Group (CL@S) of the Comparative Humanities and Applied Language Studies Lab (CHALS) Space of Humanities, Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, Ibn-Zohr University – Agadir, Morocco 16–18 April, 2026 Selected papers of the conference will be published in AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies (https://www.awej-tls.org/ ). The paper should be in the English language. We kindly ask the authors to register and submit their paper according to the submission guidelines https://www.awej-tls.org/paper-submission/. Please send the final paper in a Word file as an attachment to tls@awej.org by January 30, 2026. Each paper should include: full name, full affiliation, Email address, ORCID ID, and an abstract (150-250 words). For the full call for papers, please click here Download the full call for papers Kind regards, |
4. The Department of History at Georgetown University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the history of the Persianate World from the Muslim conquest to the present, to begin in August 2026.
https://apply.interfolio.com/174364
Deadline: 30 October, 2025
5. January 6 – 15, 2026 | Cambridge, UK
Learn to Read and Analyse Early Christian Arabic Texts
From the early Middle Ages, Christian Arabs have made profound contributions to biblical scholarship, theology, poetry, and history. This winter school invites you to begin reading these remarkable texts for yourself — many of which remain unpublished and underexplored.
Designed for those with at least one year of Arabic study (Classical or Modern Standard), this course offers a gateway into a world of forgotten manuscripts and fresh scholarly discovery.
https://www.westminster.cam.ac.uk/biblical-languages/christian-arabic-2026
6. The International Journal of Islamic Architectureis pleased to announce the call for submissions for the 2026 Professor Hasan-Uddin Khan Article Award.
In honour of Professor Hasan-Uddin Khan’s contributions to the field of Islamic architecture, the International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) offers this award in recognition of ground-breaking scholarship on the subject published in peer-reviewed journals. The criteria on which papers will be judged are: innovation in approach(es) to posed research question(s), originality, written clarity and style, and the overall impact on research in the field. Articles should provide new insights into the field, making a distinct or significant scholarly contribution to the understanding of architecture, architectural heritage, and the built environment in the Islamic world (both historic and contemporary), especially in marginalized geographies. This award, offered every two years, is judged by a jury that includes three members of the academic community. The third award will be given in 2026 and we are delighted that Professors Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Finbarr Barry Flood, and Attilio Petruccioli will serve on the jury. Papers published in English in a peer reviewed journal in 2024 or 2025 will be eligible for this round of the award.
Nominations should be submitted by scholars or journal editors to the chair of the award, IJIA Associate Editor Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi, at HUKaward@gmail.com by 16 November 2025. Self-nominations are permitted, of a single article. The nominations should include a PDF of the published paper, full details of publication, and the author’s affiliation and contact information. The winner and runner-up will be announced in March 2026 on the IJIA website, social media platforms, and in the journal’s July issue. The winner will receive a cash prize of $1000 and a two-year subscription to IJIA; the runner-up will receive a two-year subscription to IJIA.
7. 2026 BRISMES Conference
The 2026 BRISMES Annual Conference will be hosted by the Middle East Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, between 23-25 June 2026. The conference theme and call for papers will be announced soon. Please stay tuned!
8. From Subordination to Revolution: A Gramscian Theory of Popular Mobilization
John Chalcraft
At a time of mass discontent, revolutionary weakness, and right-wing ascendancy, John Chalcraft presents a new theory of popular mobilization. From Subordination to Revolution is based on an innovative reading of the living Gramscian tradition, and it offers an alternative to conservative, liberal, Marxist, and poststructuralist theory. Drawing on examples from across the globe, Chalcraft defines popular mobilization as the many ways in which subordinated groups rearrange their relationships to challenge and overcome domination.
Book Launch: LSE, 15.10.25, 5.30 UK time
https://www.lse.ac.uk/government/events/2025/Thinking-Popular-Mobilization-with-Gramsci
9. Fellowship in the History of Visual Culture in the Ottoman Empire
University of Oxford
The Khalili Research Centre for the History of the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East and Wolfson College, University of Oxford, invite applications for a Fellowship in the History of Visual Culture in the Ottoman Empire. This will offer a scholar an exceptional opportunity to carry out research on a major, largely unpublished assemblage of artworks: the Celsing Collection. Both early career and senior researchers are invited to apply.
Deadline | 3 October 2025
10. Lecturer (Teaching) in Middle East Politics
School of Oriental and African Studies
The role holder will be expected to contribute to the Department’s undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. They will convene and teach both general and specialist in-person modules, convene online and distance learning modules, advise both undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, provide pastoral care for students, and contribute to administrative roles as needed.
Deadline | 12 October 2025
11. 5 Positions as Research Associate and Visiting Faculty in the “Women’s Studies in the Religion Program”
Harvard Divinity School
Proposals for book-length research projects using both religion and gender as central categories of analysis are welcomed. They may address women and religion in any time, place, or religious tradition, and may utilize disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches from across the fields of theology, the humanities, and the social sciences. Positions are open to candidates with doctorates in the fields of religion and to those with primary competence in other humanities, social science, and public policy fields.
Deadline | 15 October 2025
12. New Graduate Programme in Middle East Public History
North Carolina State University is proud to announce the launch of a new Graduate program (MA & PhD) in Middle East Public History, beginning in Fall 2026. This innovative program is the first of this kind in the world, designed to prepare scholars who combine rigorous historical research with public engagement and digital humanities practices. The program brings together outstanding Middle East history scholars, whose expertise spans the late Ottoman Empire, colonial and post-colonial transformations, migration and diaspora, gender and labor, and the modern Middle East. Faculty are committed to mentoring students in both traditional scholarship and new approaches to public history. Anchoring the program is the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, the world’s leading institute dedicated to the study of Middle East diasporas. Students will have unique opportunities to work with one of the largest digital archives of Arab migration and heritage, gaining hands-on experience in archive, digital humanities, oral history, public exhibits, and collaborative research.
Deadline | 31 January 2026
13. Two Islamic medicine talks coming up:
In Ibn Al-Nafis’ Shadow
Transformations in Medical Theory in Islamic Societies (1200-1520)
Nahyan Fancy
Webinar: 7 October 2025 – 5 pm (CEST)
Nahyan Fancy shows how Ibn al-Nafīs advanced medical theory beyond the works of Galen, Aristotle and even earlier Islamic physicians through his commentaries on Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine and its abridgements. Examining four commentaries on the Canon plus four on its Epitome, this lecture argues that post-classical practices of taḥqīq (verification) – lexical, philosophical, empirical – played a key role in assessing, revising or rejecting inherited theoretical frameworks.
The Arabic and Latin Science of Compound Medicaments
A New Reading of Book Ten of the «Practica Pantegni»
Anna Gili
Webinar: 11 November 2025 – 5 pm (CEST)
This lecture explores the Arabic and Latin traditions of compound medicaments through al-Maǧūsī’s Kitāb al-Malakī and its Latin translation in Constantine the African’s Practica Pantegni. It highlights how al-Maǧūsī framed antidotes as essential tools in the contest between disease and nature, and how Constantine reshaped this material into a more philosophically charged discussion enriched with earlier Latin learning. At its centre lies Book X of the Practica Pantegni, read as a distinctive synthesis at the crossroads of Arabic and Latin medicine.
- September 30, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
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