Archive for October, 2025

1.‘A “Social Constructionist” Approach to “Muslim Biomedical Ethics: Examining “Muslim” Opposition to Physical-Assisted Suicide‘

H Godazgar,

Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory

2025

https://www.jcrt.org/archives/24.1/

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The last two Ferdowsi Online Classes of this year. 

The first is the “Introduction to Pahlavi: Online Autumn School of Zoroastrian Middle Persian” (November 3 – November 20), generally open to everyone who is interested in getting a solid introduction to this language, with an overview of the academic literature, and an historical-linguistic contextualization.

The second course is the weekly “The Shahname: Introduction to the Iranian Epic” (November 7 – December 22), during which we will be reading the story of Rostam and Esfandyar. The main stress during this course falls on the understanding of the grammar of the Shahname (which means analyzing the morphology and syntax of Early Classical Persian), viewing the text from the historical and philological perspective.

If you share this with your students, that will always be appreciated!

In addition, in case you haven’t seen this before, on the website of Ferdowsi School there is a small section called Ferdowsi Blog, where I compile lists that might be of use to both students and researchers in the field. I wanted to share with you the list of the posts from there which you might find interesting (I am aiming at expanding the list in the future):

• Iranian & Silk Road Studies Book Series
• New Journals on Iranian Studies
• Journals on Silk Road and Central Asian Studies
• Festschrifts & Memorial Volumes on Iranian Studies
• 35 Persian Journals for Iranian Studies
• 15 Websites for Reading Persian Manuscripts Online

Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature

Yerevan, Armenia

Website: www.ferdowsi.org

 

 

 

 

 

3. Zoom: Gennadeion Seminar: A Material History of an Athonite Monastery’s Ottoman Archive, Oct. 15

• 10/15/2025
• 4.00pm – 5.30pm (EEST)

Presented by

The Gennadius Library, American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Speakers (in order of presentation at seminar):

Vanessa R. de Obaldía, University of Cambridge (alumna)

Georgios Boudalis, Senior Book and Paper Conservator, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki

Nikolaos Vryzidis, Adjunct Instructor, University of West Attica

Maciej Pawlikowski, Head of Cambridge Heritage Imagining Laboratory (CHIL)

Location

Pia Zombanakis Seminar Room, Gennadius Library/Zoom

Register on Zoom

Webinar Registration – Zoom

Description
This seminar presents the preliminary findings of an interdisciplinary project investigating a previously undocumented practice discovered at the Ottoman archive of the 13th-century Athonite monastery of Simonopetra: pasting of high-quality textile or paper linings onto the back of documents which are primarily of legal importance to the monastery. In line with contemporary trends in interdisciplinarity, the team comprises an Ottoman historian, a historian of material culture, a paper conservator, and an expert in advanced scientific imaging. While rooted in a microhistorical case study, this inquiry opens broader avenues for exploring the archive as both a physical entity and a medium of materiality. Additionally, it interrogates the significance of this practice – extending beyond its role in document preservation – within the broader context of the Ottoman Empire, with a particular focus on the experiences of Ottoman Christians. Essentially, this study introduces the concept of “material history” as a theoretical framework for examining two interconnected dynamics: first, the materiality of the linings highlights the perceived importance of specific documents; and second, the research uncovers materials that were not intended for widespread visibility, thus offering a new lens on the period’s material culture. As a pilot project with potential for broader expansion, Material History also addresses the inherent inaccessibility of these documents, given their continued significance to the monastery today. Specifically, it explores how this challenge can be partially solved through digitization, with the monastery providing digital copies of materials that are ordinarily not meant to be handled in-situ. Ultimately, this project engages with the interplay between materiality and intangibility, both rooted in a specific historical context, and explores novel, interdisciplinary avenues of research that could add value to the monastic archive itself.

Contact Email

Msmali.Genn@ascsa.edu.gr

URL

https://www.ascsa.edu.

 

 

 

 

4. Call for Papers

Pre-arranged Panel at the 15th Biennial Conference of the Association for Iranian Studies

Utrecht University, the Netherlands | 5–8 August 2026

Panel Title: The Legacy of Dr. Hans Eberhard Wulff: Pioneer of Research on Traditional Crafts, Technology, Science, Material Culture, and Art of Persia

Convenor: Professor Pedram Khosronejad (Western Sydney University, Australia)

Background

Johannes Eberhard Wulff (1907–1967) was a German engineer and scholar whose groundbreaking work documented the traditional crafts, technology, science, material culture, and art of Iran. In 1936, at the request of Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925–1941), Wulff was appointed to establish Iran’s first technical engineering schools as part of a German-Iranian educational cooperation initiative. He founded the first technical college in Shiraz in 1937, and at its opening ceremony, received a royal commission to compile a comprehensive encyclopedia of Persian traditional crafts and technology.

Between 1937 and 1941, while directing technical colleges in Shiraz, Isfahan, and Tabriz, Wulff conducted extensive fieldwork throughout Iran. He observed, interviewed, and photographed master craftsmen across numerous guilds, meticulously documenting their production techniques and tool-making practices. This research served both pedagogical purposes for his technical schools and as primary material for his royal commission.

The outbreak of World War II disrupted Wulff’s work. Following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, he and other German nationals were interned in Australian camps. Released in 1947, Wulff joined the University of New South Wales in 1950 as a lecturer. In 1953, he retrieved his research materials from Iran, including extensive notes, diaries, and photographs. In 1963, he enrolled as a doctoral candidate in the Department of Industrial Arts at UNSW, basing his thesis on his Iranian research. Wulff returned to Iran in 1964 and 1965 to complete his fieldwork and published The Traditional Crafts of Persia (MIT Press, 1966), presenting only a portion of his extensive documentation. Wulff passed away in 1967, leaving the bulk of his archive unpublished. This archive was retrieved from his family in Australia in 2019 and is currently held by Professor Pedram Khosronejad.

Panel Objectives

This panel seeks to illuminate the significance of Wulff’s scholarship from multiple disciplinary perspectives. We invite papers that examine:

This panel is part of a broader collaborative project to identify, digitize, and make Wulff’s archive accessible to scholars and the public, to publish his encyclopedia of Persian traditional arts and technology, and to produce a new edition of his 1966 monograph.

Submission Guidelines

We invite proposals from scholars working in:

Early career scholars and PhD candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

Please submit:

Deadline: 15 October 2025

Submit materials to: pedram.khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au

Important Information

Accepted speakers are responsible for all costs, including conference registration, travel, and accommodation.

For conference details, visit: https://associationforiranianstudies.org/…/information

Contact Information

Pedram Khosronejad, Western Sydney University, Australia

Contact Email

pedram.khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Research Awards – 2025 CFSACK – Deadline Extended until Oct. 20

Application Deadline Extended – 2025 CFSACK Research Awards
We are pleased to announce that, due to high interest, the application deadline for the 2025 CFSACK Research Awards has been extended. Applications will now be accepted until October 20, 2025 at 23:59 PST.Applicants who have already submitted may revise their materials by logging into the application portal until the new deadline. Please ensure your application is submitted before the deadline, as no late submissions will be accepted.

The Canadian Friends of Sufi Arts, Culture, and Knowledge (CFSACK) Research Awards support original research related to Sufi arts, culture, and knowledge across a wide range of disciplines. Eligibility has been expanded this year to include applicants affiliated with higher education or cultural institutions in both Canada and the United States, with support from the American Friends of Sufi Arts, Culture, and Knowledge (AFSACK).

Award Amounts

• Undergraduate & Master’s Students: up to $2,000 CAD
• PhD Candidates & Postdoctoral Fellows: up to $5,000 CAD

Supported Research Activities
Funding may support archival and manuscript research, fieldwork, conference participation, acquisition of specialized research materials, or scholarly programming. A complete list of eligible and ineligible expenses is available on the program website.

Eligibility
Applicants must be affiliated with a Canadian or U.S. higher educational or cultural institution for the duration of the award. Eligible applicants include:

• Undergraduate students
• Master’s students
• Doctoral students/candidates
• Postdoctoral fellows

Note: Eligibility for the CFSACK Research Awards spans a wide range of disciplines. Any research project related to Sufi art, culture, or knowledge is welcome, including but not limited to: art history, fine arts, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, classics, cultural studies, ethnomusicology, history, literature, musicology, philosophy, psychology, religious studies, sociology, and other related fields. This interdisciplinary scope reflects the program’s commitment to advancing a holistic and nuanced understanding of Sufi traditions across academic and creative domains.

Special Opportunity
Recipients may request exclusive scholarly access to the Musée d’Art et de Culture Soufis MTO™ (MACS MTO) in Chatou, France, including:

• Privileged access to collections
• Consultations with curators/research staff
• On-site research support

Important Dates

• Applications Opened: August 4, 2025
• New Deadline: October 20, 2025, 23:59 PST
• Awards Commence: January 2026

Full details and application portal: https://www.cfsack.org/research-awards
Inquiries: research.awards@cfsack.org

Contact Information

Nooshin Esmaeili, Chair, CFSACK Research Awards Committee

Shahed Ejadi, CFSACK Board of Directors

Contact Email

research.awards@cfsack.org

URL

https://www.cfsack.org/research-awards

 

 

 

 

 

6. International Conference: The Empire that Made India: 500 Years of the Mughals

3–4 June 2026

École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 54 Boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris

Organiser: Naveen Kanalu (EHESS-CRH)

The year 2026 marks half a millennium since the foundation of the Mughal Empire (1526-1857), the last precolonial imperial power that governed most parts of the Indian sub-continent. Though earnest in its beginnings following the Central Asian chieftain, Babur’s victory at the First Battle of Panipat on 22 April 1526, in its heyday, the Mughal dynasty ruled over a population of more than 100 million subjects. The Mughal Empire has remained at the centre of major debates in Indian historiography on issues as diverse as the nature of political and administrative institutions, fiscal and economic systems, literary and artistic cultures as well as inter-religious cohabitation prior to colonial rule. The international conference organised to mark the 500-year anniversary of the empire’s foundation provides an opportunity to critically engage with various historiographical approaches that have been proposed thus far, as well as explore potential avenues for future research.

Since its inception in nineteenth-century British colonial debates, Mughal historiography has undergone several mutations in the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries, including nationalist, Marxist and cultural interpretations among others, demonstrating the continued vitality of the field. Yet the vast archival and manuscript sources, available in Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and regional languages, dispersed across repositories in South Asia and beyond, still await scholarly studies. Even a cursory glance at catalogues reveals that such a rich, unexplored corpus could infuse the field with new empirical and analytical approaches.

In recent decades, historians have rejected framing the construction of the Mughal Empire within the narrow scope of “methodological nationalism” and increasingly approached it through transregional connections and interactions. At the same time, professional history-writing can also find itself in a tense relation with trends in the public sphere. This is particularly acute today, given that the legacy, symbols and contribution of the Mughals are increasingly contested in India. In the current climate of political crisis, how can historians challenge popular stereotypes that depict the Mughal rulers as either paragons of harmonious syncretism or perpetrators of religious bigotry? How can we move beyond the study of representations, self-fashioning of the elites and courtly cultures that have dominated the field in the last few decades and explore other areas of research such as social, legal, economic and intellectual history? Are there other types of archival sources that would allow us to chart new directions in understanding how the Mughal Empire worked?

Themes

We welcome papers on the following topics and related themes:

Institutional, legal, military and political frameworks of governance

Administrative logistics, information circulation and forms of exercising authority

Documentary practices and archival cultures

Economic, financial and fiscal patterns

Social histories of religious communities, ethnic, clan and caste configurations

Borderlands, regions and frontiers in the construction of imperial space

Longue durée connections and interactions with the Islamic world

Keynote

Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Distinguished Professor of History and Irving & Jean Stone Chair in Social Sciences, UCLA, will deliver the keynote address.

Practical information

The organisers will cover economy class air/train tickets and hotel accommodation for 3 nights.

Please send an abstract of 300 words and a short biography of 200 words by 25 November 2025 to the following email address: mugurba@ehess.fr

Selected participants will be notified by mid-December.

The proceedings will be published as a special issue of a journal or an edited volume.

The conference is funded by the Agence national de la recherche (ANR) project, MugUrba: “The Bureaucratic Rhythms of Imperial Urbanity: Law, Property, and Public Life in Mughal South Asia, c. 1650–1750”.

Contact Information

Naveen Kanalu

EHESS – École des hautes études en sciences sociales

Centre de recherches historiques

Bureau B4-16, 54 Boulevard Raspail – 75006 PARIS

Contact Email

mugurba@ehess.fr

URL

https://mugurba.hypotheses.org/

 

 

1.Nemati Book Award For Studies on Iran’s Minoritized Ethnic and Religious Communities

The Nemati Book Award honors exceptional monographs on Iran’s minoritized ethnic and religious groups. Established in memory of Mrs. Nemati [from Kermanshah in Iran], the award supports inclusive, interdisciplinary scholarship. The UNC-Chapel Hill Persian Studies Program administers this award in collaboration with the Association for Iranian Studies (AIS).

Prize: $1,000 (awarded biennially)
Eligibility: Books published in the past two years (January 1, 2024- December 31, 2025)
Focus: Communities such as Armenian, Assyrian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Bahá’í, Kurdish, Baluch, Yarsan, and others
Submission: Authors or publishers may submit a digital copy of the book, a nomination letter by authors/publishers, and a CV by January 31, 2026, to yaghoobi@email.unc.edu

 

 

 

 

 

2. Special Panel: ALMOST FREE: A Conversation on Kurdish Contemporary Art

Wednesday, October 15, at 12 PM CST / 1 PM EST, for a special online panel, “ALMOST FREE: A Conversation on Kurdish Contemporary Art.” Moderated by Şener Özmen, the panel will feature leading Kurdish artists, curators, and scholars in a discussion on Kurdish contemporary art, the diaspora, and curatorial practices.

Register now via Zoom to be part of this important conversation.

🗓️  Wednesday, Oct 15  | ⏰ 12 PM CST / 1 PM EST

🔗 Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/DtAf2kRwTI6Li7whnixJvA

Hosted by Zahra Institute

🌐 www.zahrainstitute.org  (https://www.zahrainstitute.org/)

 

 

 

 

 

3. 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

 

 

 

4. Open Access – ‘Exploring ‘diversity’ and ‘pluralism’: a sociological analysis of religious education textbooks in the ‘Islamic Republic’ of Iran’

H Godazgar,

BJRE, 2025

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2025.2451031#abstract

 

 

 

 

 

5. 2026 BRISMES Annual Conference

SOAS University of London 

23-25 June 2026 

Submissions are now open for the 2026 BRISMES Conference

https://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference

To submit:

https://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference/about-the-conference/instructions-for-submission

 

 

 

 

6. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese, in collaboration with the Middle East and North African Studies (MENA) Program at Tulane University, invites applications for a tenure-line position at the rank of Assistant Professor:https://apply.interfolio.com/174060

Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2025, and continue until the position is filled.

 

 

 

 

7. The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, jointly presents the inaugural webinar on Assessment in Persian Language Pedagogy. This event is a result of our collective effort and commitment to the advancement of Persian language pedagogy.

The webinar on Assessment in Persian Language Pedagogy, a crucial and often understudied topic, will be held beginning in January 2027. It will bring together scholars of Persian language teaching and assessment, aiming to explore the most efficient formative and summative methods of assessment used in Persian language programs across the world. This is a significant step in our field, as different universities have developed their own non-standard tests and exams, which do not necessarily follow the accepted criteria for assessing students’ knowledge and proficiency levels. We aim to bridge this gap by aligning the various methods of assessment used by Persian language educators with the testing standards used in more commonly taught languages to achieve standardization of assessment in Persian.

Panels and speakers are invited to present original research on topics related to Assessment in Persian Language Pedagogy, including (but not limited to):

• Language assessment in multilingual contexts
• Adaptive language assessment
• Assessment and Academic Integrity in the digital and AI era
• Automated scoring and feedback
• Equity and cultural relevance
• Learning-oriented assessment
• Dynamic assessment
• Competency assessment
• Proficiency assessment
• Authentic Assessment
• Assessing Intercultural Competence
• Aligning Assessment with Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes
• Technology in Assessment
• Validity, Reliability, and Unbiasedness in Assessment

The conference organizers will invite a select number of proposals to present their papers in a monthly webinar co-hosted by the University of Toronto and the University of Chicago. After the webinars, the papers presented will be published in an edited volume by the organizers, Azita H. Taleghani and Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi.

Abstracts are due January 1, 2026. Please send your paper title along with a 250-300-word abstract, a 100-word bio, and your contact information to us at: azita.taleghani@utoronto.ca and pshabanijadidi@uchicago.edu. Be sure to include “Webinar on Assessment in Persian Language Pedagogy” in the subject line of the email. Notification of acceptance will be sent by February 1, 2026.

 

 

 

 

 

8. Yale Central Asia Workshop 2026 in Almaty – May 25-26, 2026
The Yale Central Asia Initiative is organizing a workshop next spring for advanced graduate students and early-stage postgraduate scholars to share and develop their work on topics in the study of Central Asia, within any discipline and from any period. The workshop, on May 25-26 2026, will be hosted by KIMEP University in Astana, Kazakhstan. We particularly encourage applications from scholars in or from Central Asia and neighboring countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, and the Caucasus.

Full details and the application portal are here

 

 

 

 

 

9. Arabic Studies at AUC: an Online Information Session about our MA Degree

29 October 2025, 7–8pm Cairo time

(9am Los Angeles, 12pm New York, 5pm London, Midnight Beijing) over Zoom.

Join here! (ID: 931 7316 8355 Passcode: 017862)

AUC offers students the unparalleled experience of living in Cairo, excellent opportunities to develop Arabic language skills, and explore local archives and sites. The faculty is world-class. Recent alumni have gone on to doctoral programs at the University of Chicago, McGill University, Harvard University, Oxford, and Cambridge, while others are pursuing careers in heritage management, education, journalism, and a wide range of related fields.
AUC offers fellowships and scholarships for graduate students and most of our graduates receive at least partial support during their years of study.

The Arabic Studies MA degree offers concentrations in:

• Arabic Language and Literature
• Islamic Art and Architecture
• Middle Eastern History
• Islamic Studies

Apply by December 15, 2025 for Fall 2026 Admission!

During the information session, faculty in Arabic Studies will discuss the department’s diverse course offerings, doing research with Arabic primary sources, and opportunities for professional development.

We look forward to answering any questions you or your students may have during the Online Information Session. You’re also very welcome to direct questions to us by email: aric@aucegypt.edu

 

 

 

 

 

10. “Modern Short Stories and Poems: Authentic Texts as a Tool for Teaching Persian as a Foreign Language”
Dr. Nima Mina
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Saturday, October 18, 2025, 1:00 p.m. EDT  

Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/rJS6O8qgTkqDnOa-scg49A

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

11. Seminar (In-Person and Online) – Visualizing Music: from Iconography to Notation – Owen Wright

ReSIA (Research Seminar in Islamic Art)

Thursday 23 October 2025, 6PM

Room RG01, SOAS, University of London

Convenor: Professor Anna Contadini

Presents

Prof. Owen Wright, Emeritus Professor of Musicology of the Near and Middle East, SOAS, University of London

Visualizing Music: from Iconography to Notation

Click here to register on Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/resia-presents-prof-owen-wright-tickets-1757924612839

Past and future ReSIA talks can be found on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1z_PGhPjwcqXOrrMPQeQS_OJ0Bd4OHEN

We may be tempted to think of music as an exclusively aural phenomenon, one that cannot be smelt, felt, or seen. But it is socially grounded, and its participants, listeners, singers, instrumentalists, and dancers can be observed and represented. It is also an object of thought, so that various aspects of it can be shown schematically, for example in the form of diagrams, or expressed through metaphors; and for performers it can be represented symbolically, translated into visual code to provide an aide-mémoire. Some of these various approaches and techniques will be explored, drawing especially upon representations in paintings and in theoretical texts.

Owen Wright took his first degree in French (at Leicester University) and a second BA in Arabic at SOAS University of London, where he also completed his PhD in musicology and pursued his academic career. He was appointed Lecturer in Arabic, then Reader in Arabic and finally Professor of Musicology of the Near and Middle East and was at various times Head of the Department of the Near and Middle East and Chair of the Centre of Music Studies. His research concentrates on the historical development of the art-music traditions of the Islamic world, with at its core an engagement with both the theoretical literature, initially in Arabic and subsequently also in Persian and Turkish, and the extant documentation of practice as recorded in notations and song-text collections.

A publication in his honour appeared in 2018: Theory and Practice in the Music of the Islamic World. Essays in Honour of Owen Wright, edited by Rachel Harris and Martin Stokes, Routledge. Prof. Wright is the recipient of the 2025 British Academy Derek Allen Prize for Musicology.

His latest publications include: The Ottoman classical repertoire in historical perspective. Abingdon and New York: Routledge (in press); ‘The modal road: Bokhara – Baghdad – Cairo’, Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften 2024; ‘Persian perspectives: Chardin, Kaempfer and De la Borde,’ Rast Musicology Journal, Special Issue 2019/7(2): 2050-83; Music theory in the Safavid age. The taqsīm al-naġamāt wa-bayān al-daraj wa-’l-šu‘ab wa-’l-maqāmāt. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2019; ‘The peregrinations of panjgāh’, Annali di Ca’ Foscari 55, 2019: 73-119; ‘Bridging the Safavid-Ottoman divide’, in Reinhard Strohm (ed.), The music road. Coherence and diversity in music from the Mediterranean to India (Proceedings of the British Academy 233), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 168-93.

URL

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/resia-presents-prof-owen-wright-tickets-17579246…

 

 

 

 

12. UCLA – Hybrid

Pourdavoud Lecture Series

‘Zoroastrianism in the Religious Context of the Arsacid Empire’

Lucinda Dirven

Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 4:00 pm Pacific Time

Royce Hall 306 and Via Zoom

To register for inperson or zoom:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2x1NaeS5tntf4y3KwewyAVQaLY1TBINdl2TjFmhthndNktw/viewform

 

 

 

 

 

13. Hybrid AGM Lecture Webinar: ‘The Idea of Persia’

With Ramin Jahanbegloo

British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 20 November, 2025, 6.45 pm UK Time

Location:

The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH & Online on Zoom

The event will take place in person at the British Academy, London, and online on Zoom. The event is free to attend, but booking is necessary. In person bookings are currently closed and members will be notified once they have opened. 

The lecture will take place between 6:45-8PM and it will be followed by a light reception.

In 1721, the French philosopher Montesquieu posed the question, “Comment peut-on être persan?” in the title to his famous Persian Letters (Lettres persanes). After centuries of invasion, murder, destruction, authoritarian rule, decay of political theory, and increasing dissolution in Iran’s politics, this volume is an investigation into what the answer to that question might be today. The Idea of Persia explores the notion of what it is to be Persian, but not as it has been constituted in the past, with reference to the political experience of antiquity, nor as an affirmation of the secular-rational project of modernity. Rather, the book examines the question of what it is to be Persian against the backdrop of centuries in which a common, plural subjectivity of Persian-ness has been continually delayed by those who, with or without ideologies, believed in politics only as a means of ruling or of being ruled. The historical battle for social and political freedoms is still underway in Iran, and as the nation wrestles with the possibility of an extended period of political, social, and cultural decline, it is a timely moment to return to the perspective embodied in the enlightened thinking of figures such as the writer and three times prime minister of Iran Mohammed Ali Foroughi (1877–1942) and his vision of a country possessing rational and moral capabilities, and to a possible renaissance of social and political institutions. The idea of Persia as it is presented here sees hope in the future as the means by which Iranians may liberate themselves from the duality of heroes and saints and remake their political mentality while staying true to an age-old idea of Persia.

Zooms registration: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uZwNV4eqQMunbH59czMcpQ?ampDeviceId=61e43afd-fcbc-4450-83e5-e413786ccde4&ampSessionId=1760104937077&_gl=1*a8n35n*_gcl_au*ODY2ODQyMzM0LjE3NTQ5OTk3NTE.*_ga*MTc5ODIxNTgxNi4xNzM4NzQ3MzU0*_ga_L8TBF28DDX*czE3NjAxMDQ5MzYkbzUzJGcxJHQxNzYwMTA1MDA4JGo1OCRsMCRoMA..#/registration

 

 

 

 

14. Position in Arabic Studies: The Department of Arabic and Translation Studies at American University of Sharjah invites applications for a faculty positionat the rank of Assistant Professor to begin in Fall 2026, subject to budgetary approval. A PhD in Arabic Studies, Arabic Literature or allied areas is required. The willingness and ability to teach entry-level Arabic heritage classes is essential. The ability to offer courses on the history, culture and society of the United Arab Emirates will be a distinct advantage as is the integration of new technologies in teaching and research. Candidates should also indicate any interests, qualifications or experiences related to course and program design/development. We seek candidates with a passion for both teaching and research in any relevant area of specialization to join our faculty. UAE nationals are encouraged to apply.

Successful applicants will have native or near-native proficiency in Arabic and English. The language of instruction at AUS is English, however, candidates able to teach courses in both Arabic and English are preferred. Strong scholarly record/potential and relevant teaching experience are expected. Familiarity with western models of higher education is preferred.

Applicants are requested to submit their CV including a list of three referees, a cover letter outlining their areas of expertise, teaching philosophy, research interests and how they fit with the position. Salary and benefits are highly competitive.

Please submit the required documents in PDF format through https://acg-apps1.aus.edu/cas/empapp/apply.php?p=ATS-26-01 by November 30, 2025. We may request additional information from candidates who make it to the next stage of evaluation.

Online interviews with shortlisted candidates will take place on a rolling basis.

Candidates are welcome to contact the department at <ATS@aus.edu> with any questions about the position, American University of Sharjah or expatriate life in the UAE.

 

 

 

 

 

15. ONLINE Seminar “Local Expertise? A Postcolonial History of Heritage and Preservation in Qatar” by Trinidad Rico (Rutgers University), Centre for Gulf Studies, Exeter, 14 October 2025, 18:00 – 19:30 CET

What does it mean to study ‘locally-grown’ heritage traditions Responding to postcolonial calls in the field of heritage studies for more diverse, inclusive, and situated or localized approaches to heritage and preservation, the speaker addresses the rise of a heritage preservation tradition in Qatar as an example of resistance to a monolithic universal heritage ethos by what was once a ‘marginal’ player.

Information and registration: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/events/details/index.php?event=15107

 

 

 

 

 

16. ONLINE Seminar “Local Expertise? A Postcolonial History of Heritage and Preservation in Qatar” by Trinidad Rico (Rutgers University), Centre for Gulf Studies, Exeter, 14 October 2025, 18:00 – 19:30 CET

What does it mean to study ‘locally-grown’ heritage traditions Responding to postcolonial calls in the field of heritage studies for more diverse, inclusive, and situated or localized approaches to heritage and preservation, the speaker addresses the rise of a heritage preservation tradition in Qatar as an example of resistance to a monolithic universal heritage ethos by what was once a ‘marginal’ player.

Information and registration: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/events/details/index.php?event=15107

 

 

 

 

 

17. Annual History Seminar “Trading Patterns in Middle East History, 700-1900. Impacts, Ruptures and Continuities”, American University in Cairo, 27-28 March 2026

The Seminar invites papers that study and explore ruptures and continuities in trade and its patterns at important juncture and the role that trade played in its economies and how this interacted and intersected with different institutions in state and society at various historical periods.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/swxnm9m6

 

 

 

 

 

18. “19th Annual International Conference on Mediterranean Studies”, Athens, Greece, 30 March – 2 April 2026

The aim of the Conference is to bring together scholars from various areas of Mediterranean Studies, such as history, arts, archaeology, philosophy, culture, sociology, politics, international relations, economics, business, sports, environment, ecology, and other related disciplines. The conference is designed to facilitate discussions among academics from Mediterranean countries and those conducting research on Mediterranean-related issues.

Deadline for abstracts: 2 December 2025. Information: https://www.atiner.gr/mediterranean

 

 

 

 

 

19. HYBRID Panels on “History & Theory” during the “Istanbul Heritage(s) Conference: Cultural Pasts – Urban Futures”, Istanbul, 6-9 July 2026

Deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2025. Information: https://amps-research.com/heritages-history-theory/

 

 

 

 

 

20. Assistant Director for Research, Middle East Initiative (MEI), Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Qualifications: PhD in political science, economics, or sociology. – Minimum seven years professional work experience in conducting original research. – Experience leading research projects in the Middle East and North Africa. – Ability to manage large research teams. – Experience with statistical programming in either R or Stata. – Fluency in a regional language (Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or Hebrew).

Information: https://tinyurl.com/36d2v46x

 

 

 

 

 

21. Kuwait Program Research Fellowship for 2026-2027, Middle East Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3yc42w64

 

 

 

 

 

22. Assistant Professor (Tenure-track) with Expertise in Jews of the Islamic World, Smith College, Northampton, MA

We seek an innovative scholar-teacher with a passion for undergraduate teaching and an active research agenda who will bring new energy and ideas to our Jewish Studies program.

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/174654

 

 

 

 

 

23. Fellow (up to 3 Years) Raoul Wallenberg Institute, University of Michigan

This open-rank fellowship is intended for scholars and practitioners from any relevant discipline working on topics related to ethnic and religious hatred or tolerance. Applications are open to scholars regardless of citizenship or permanent residency status.

Deadline for applications: 8 December 2025. Information: https://lsa.umich.edu/wallenberg/fellowship-program.html

 

 

 

 

 

24. Andreas Tietze Memorial Fellowship in Turkish Studies (1-3 Months), Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Vienna

The Fellowship 2026 is open to advanced doctoral candidates and postdoctoral/early-stage researchers working on a specific topic in Turkish Studies, especially in environmental history, history of technology, digital humanities, consumption history, history of tourism, and cultural heritage. The Fellow will receive a monthly scholarship of €1500.

Deadline for applications: 15 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/59sxjxnm

 

 

 

 

 

25. Grants of the Iran Heritage Foundation UK

Preference will be given to applications on archaeology, architecture, art, history, linguistics and literature, as well as subjects of contemporary interest, such as cinema, music, sociology and so on; applications from other disciplines will also be considered. Projects to be supported may include the most varied academic initiatives, from fieldwork to workshops, conferences, building databases and digitising images.

Deadline for applications: 22 October 2025. Information: https://ihf.org.uk/grants-tsandcs2025/

 

 

 

 

 

26. Call for Articles on ” On both sides of the border: Muslims in Garb al-Andalus and Portugal during the Middle Ages” for the Journal “Hamsa: Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies”

The aim of this monographic issue is to serve as a compilation and new impetus for this research into the Muslim presence in Portuguese lands, both under the sphere of Andalusian influence (Garb al-Andalus) and under Christian rule (Portugal).

Deadline for articles: 28 February 2026. Information: https://journals.openedition.org/hamsa/5249

The Eighth International Hybrid Conference on Islamic Civilisation
Sects, Sectarianism, and Sectarian Identities in Islam

Date: November 1–2, 2025
Place: National Chengchi University, Taipei, Republic of China (Hybrid: Onsite & Online)

Organizers:
Department of Arabic Language and Culture, National Chengchi University (NCCU)
Institut Islam Hadhari, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)

Description:
This two-day program brings together leading scholars from Asia, Europe, and beyond to examine the intellectual, historical, and socio-political dimensions of sectarian formation across time and place.

Program & Keynotes: The handbook and agenda are available via the link below.

Registration:
Deadline: October 21, 2025
Registration is required
For more information and to register, click here.
For inquiries: isu@nccu.edu.tw

1. CFP ACLA Seminar: “World Literature Through the Spectrum of Digital Humanities; Textual Geographies and Technologies of Decentralization.”

This seminar explores how digital humanities reshape the study of world literature by highlighting circulation, adaptation, and resistance across diverse cultural contexts. We welcome papers that engage with:

• Digitization and the geographies of texts, authors, and readers
• Challenges of applying DH to non-Anglophone and non-Latin corpora
• Worlding, minor literatures, and digital infrastructures
• Critical reflections on DH and world literature

For details and submission, please visit this Link: https://www.acla.org/seminar/65659de7-cc35-4a64-98c6-f33019e7b1de

 

 

 

2. Quran Commentary Tafsir Series from Fons Vitae

NOW ALSO AVAILABLE in PDF & eBOOK formats: Up until now, these fundamental tafasir have remained out of reach for many English speaking Muslims (and non-Muslims). Among the most important sources for understanding the Qur’an are the tafsir works, commentaries on the Qur’an, which help to properly explain and contextualise the Revelation. VIEW ALL COMMENTARIES…

The series aims to make widely available the leading exegetical works in translation for study and research in unabridged form, which are faithful to the letter and meaning of the Arabic

 

 

 

 

3. CFP – Eco-art-histories: Plants and Paintings in the Arts of Asia

Call for PAPERS

ASSOCIATION FOR ART HISTORY 2026 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

8-10 April 2026, University of Cambridge

Eco-art-histories: Plants and Paintings in the Arts of Asia

This panel explores eco-art-historical analysis to re-evaluate received knowledge about the place of plant lives in painting in Asia. Moving away from the art historical tradition of reading ‘iconographically’ into plants in paintings, we turn attention to the acknowledgment that art and ecological phenomenon have always been inescapably entangled and sharpen the focus here on the question of the artist’s place in negotiating their plant worlds—trees, bushes, flowers, weeds.

How did plant ecologies inspire artists of Chinese, Indian, or Persian painting? Is it viable as a critical approach to assume that the European herbals were enough for Mughal painters to learn and include species of flowers in their album paintings? Is Chinese landscape painting in dialogue with the ecologies the artists encountered or simply presents formulaic iconographies? Are plants in Persian paintings of 14th century mindless, isolated, and merely mechanical imitations of specimens seen in fragments of Song textiles or Yuan scroll paintings? How did painted plants represent the less explored forms of multiplex culturation and different manners of perceiving and receiving the nature and environment?

We invite innovative and interdisciplinary approaches, retooling the analytical approach for the study of painting in Asia through the lens of eco-art-history. Such retooling may happen through revisiting the relationship between the medieval/early modern Asian artist and their immediate – or mediated – environment and questioning what constitutes and entails the agency of the artist and their subjective experience of or encounter with nature and its consequential translation into art.

Please email your abstract for a short presentation of about 10-15 minutes to be followed by discussions by November 2, 2025 to:

Sussan Babaie, The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, Sussan.babaie@courtauld.ac.uk

AND

Mahroo Moosavi, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck Institute, Mahroo.moosavi@khi.fi.it

Please keep your abstract to a maximum of 250 words and include a short CV!

Please note that you will need to be an AAH member and register for the conference to take part and present your paper.

For further information, see:

https://forarthistory.org.uk/events/cfp-association-for-art-history-2026-annual-conference/

Contact Email

Sussan.babaie@courtauld.ac.uk

URL

https://forarthistory.org.uk/events/cfp-association-for-art-history-2026-annual…

 

 

 

 

4. CfP – Facing the Mongol Empire: The Role of Art History (AAH Conference Session)

• AAH Conference: 8-10 April, 2026, University of Cambridge (UK)
• Call for Papers deadline: Sunday 2 November 2025

In the vibrant field of Middle Period art history, the study of cultures across Northeast Asia, the region from the Korean peninsula to the edges of the Taklamakan desert, is beginning to stand out. In this area Kitan/Liao, Tangut/Xia, Jurchen/Jin, Uighur, Chinese/Song, Korean/Goryeo and latterly Mongol/Yuan cultures, among others, co-existed and/or succeeded one another over the Middle Period (10th-14th centuries). This session seeks to centre and correlate the role (or roles) of art historical practices in approaches to this age in two parts, the first ranging from the Kitan period through to the unification of the Mongols by Chinggis Khaan (r. 1206-27) under the Great Mongol State and the second on the varied state and cultural manifestations under the successors of Chinggis. Proposals that bridge the two halves are also welcome.

Suggested areas of enquiry include: 1) Regional and transcultural/transhistorical character — how did the diverse ecologies of NE Asia shape the arts and patterns of artistic production across dynastic and political boundaries? 2) The priority of sources —scholarship on the groups that inhabited this region have historically relied on texts for information: how are these contradicted, or complicated, by objects and visual histories? 3) Buddhism, especially Himalayan and other esoteric strands of doctrine, and its relation to other religions. 4) Hierarchy of media within art history. 5) How nomad polities shaped the roles of women, and women as role models in cultural production and the generation of value systems. 6) The problematic notion of universal culture under a world empire.

This session will be in two parts. In the first, we consider the arts and the role(s) of art history in the context of nomad-sedentary relations from the arrival of the Kitans in around 908 to the unifying reign of Chinggis Khaan, which marked the launch of the Mongols’ quest to dominate the world. In the second, we shift attention to the ensuing rapid and vast expansion of the Mongol empire under Chinggis’ heirs and successors, whereby many regions of Eurasia far distant from the Mongol homeland in Northeast Asia were now incorporated or else entered into various new diplomatic, confessional, tributary and other relations with the Mongols. Proposals that bridge the two halves are also welcome. We anticipate 3-5 papers per half of the session, followed by a discussion and Q&A.

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Eiren Shea, Grinnell College, sheaeire@grinnell.edu

Shane McCausland, SOAS University of London, sm80@soas.ac.uk

Contact Email

sheaeire@grinnell.edu

URL

https://forarthistory.org.uk/facing-the-mongol-empire-the-role-of-art-history/

 

 

 

 

 

5. CFP – Animal Representation in the Global Middle Ages – Bridging the Natural and Social Worlds (AAH Conference Panel)

Animals occupied a multivalent space in the medieval world. As part of nature, they were embedded in ecological systems, yet they were also abstracted into symbols of power, religious allegory, and medicinal knowledge—ultimately serving as a nexus between human societies and the natural environment. This panel explores the representation of animals across the global Middle Ages (c. 500–1500 CE), examining how diverse cultures imbued fauna with meaning through their representation. Moving beyond Eurocentric frameworks, we investigate how animal representations functioned as dynamic sites of meaning-making, from the meticulously rendered beasts in Islamic manuscripts, the symbolic menageries of Chinese paintings and prints, to the creatures that materialized along the Afro-Eurasian trade routes.

How did artists and patrons deploy animal iconography to articulate political authority, spiritual ideologies, or ecological knowledge? In what ways did the circulation of creatures, whether real or imagined, confer social prestige or negotiate cultural encounters? How did depictions of animals reflect or shape premodern environmental consciousness? Adopting a global perspective, we seek to illuminate the interconnectedness of medieval visual cultures while challenging anthropocentric narratives in art history. Of particular interest are studies that demonstrate how animals, as living beings and symbolic constructs, actively participated in shaping artistic traditions across regions. We welcome submissions focusing on understudied geographies and encourage interdisciplinary approaches bridging art history and environmental humanities. Ultimately, this panel aims to reconsider the global Middle Ages through its creaturely representations, revealing how such species—real, mythical, and metamorphic—fundamentally shaped medieval visual knowledge.

Session format

The session will include between three and eight 20-minute research papers, each followed by 5 minutes for questions.

This panel is part of the Association for Art History 2026 Annual Conference, which will be held from 8–10 April 2026 at the University of Cambridge.

https://forarthistory.org.uk/events/cfp-association-for-art-history-2026-annual-conference/

Paper Proposals

The 2026 Annual Conference is open to all, members and non-members of the Association for Art History. Anyone can submit a paper. Speakers, delegates and conveners pay to attend.

Please include in your paper proposal:

• Title of your paper (please make sure the title is concise and reflects the contents of the paper because the title is what appears online, in social media and in the digital programme).
• Brief abstract (max 250 words)
• Your name
• Affiliations (or if independent/freelance)
• Email address for your convenor to contact you
• Social media handles

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Yuxi Pan, SOAS University of London, 714232@soas.ac.uk

URL

https://forarthistory.org.uk/animal-representation-in-the-global-middle-ages-br…

 

 

6. Al-Mahdi Institute invites paper submissions for its upcoming international conference, “Who Cares? Care and Support Practitioners in Muslim Contexts” (27–28th April 2026).

This interdisciplinary event explores the question of who provides care within Muslim communities, how such work is sustained, and under what ethical, social, and theological frameworks. Scholars and practitioners are invited to examine issues such as mental health, domestic abuse, family breakdown, migration, and the professional–religious dynamics that shape care provision in Muslim contexts.

Selected papers will be featured in an edited volume with Brill.

Abstracts (max. 400 words) are due by 12 January 2026.

Full details: www.almahdi.edu/msc-cfp

 

 

 

 

 

7. Journée d’étude – Sociétés et environnement dans le monde islamique médiéval (16/10/2025)

Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to send you, below, the programme for a workshop that my colleague Mathieu Eychenne and I are organising at Paris Cité University on the 16th of October. This workshop, entitled Societies and the Environment in the Medieval Islamic World (7th-16th centuries): Current State of Research and Future Prospects, is open to anyone interested.
Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues and students.
Kind regards,
Camille Rhoné-Quer and Mathieu Eychenne

Chers collègues,

Nous avons le plaisir de vous envoyer, ci-dessous, le programme d’une journée d’étude que mon collègue Mathieu Eychenne et moi-même organisons à l’Université Paris Cité le 16 octobre. Cette journée, intitulée Sociétés et environnement dans le monde islamique médiéval (VIIe-XVIe s.). État des lieux et perspectives de recherche, est ouverte à toute personne intéressée.

N’hésitez pas à relayer cette information auprès de vos collègues et étudiants.

Bien cordialement,

Camille Rhoné-Quer et Mathieu Eychenne

Programme

9h — Accueil des participants

9h10 — Introduction

Camille Rhoné-Quer et Mathieu Eychenne

9h20 — Éléments pour une histoire environnementale de Damas au Moyen Âge. Sources et perspectives

Mathieu Eychenne (Université Paris Cité, ECHELLES – UMR 8264)

9h45 — L’économie circulaire au Maghreb et en al-Andalus : quelques remarques préliminaires

Yassir Benhima (Université Lyon 2, CIHAM – UMR 5648)

10h10 — Discussion

10h30 — Pause café

10h45 — Des mangroves aux montagnes, des wadis aux oasis. Relations sociétés-environnements en Arabie orientale durant la période médiévale islamique par l’archéobotanique

Vladimir Dabrowski (CNRS, Orient & Méditerranée – UMR 8167)

 11h10 — Les hommes et leur environnement dans l’Égypte médiévale (VII^e-XVI^e s.)

 Nicolas Michel (Aix-Marseille Université, IREMAM – UMR 7310)

11h35 — Environnement et sociétés dans la Syrie du Nord médiévale : l’apport des données archéologiques et géographiques

Marie-Odile Rousset (CNRS, Archéorient – UMR 5133)

12h00 — Discussion

12h30 — Déjeuner

 14h — La vallée de la basse Moulouya au Moyen Âge : dynamiques de peuplement et transformations socio-environnementales

Jennifer Vanz (Université Paris-Est Créteil, CRHEC – EA 4392)

14h25 —  Mandu, cité de l’eau : paysages et environnements au croisement des disciplines (Inde centrale, XIV^e-XV^e s.)

Anne Casile (IRD, PALOC – UMR 208)

 14h50 — Discussion

15h10 — Pause café

 15h25 — Quid de l’environnement aux marges d’al-Andalus ? Approche interdisciplinaire des systèmes agrosylvopastoraux d’Albalat (X^e-XII^e s., Estrémadure, Espagne)

Jérôme Ros (CNRS, ISEM – UMR 5554)

 15h50 — Archives archéozoologiques du Plateau iranien entre l’Antiquité et le Moyen Âge et indices de changements environnementaux

Marjan Mashkour (Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, BioArch – UMR 7209)

 16h15 — (Re)penser la place des moutons dans la vallée de l’Amou Darya à l’époque islamique médiévale : un exemple d’approche interdisciplinaire

Camille Rhoné-Quer (Aix-Marseille Université, IREMAM – UMR 7310)

 16h40 — Discussion

 17h10 — Conclusion

Contact : mathieu.eychenne@u-paris.fr ou camille.rhone@univ-amu.fr

 

 

 

 

8. The Institute of Ismaili Studies:

Sculpting the Self: Islam, Selfhood, and Human Flourishing IHTLS lecture invitation 8 October 2025

Please join us at 5 pm (London, UK time) on Wednesday, 8^th of October, for the next session of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series organised by the Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Professor Muhammad U. Faruque’s talk is titled  “Sculpting the Self: Islam, Selfhood, and Human Flourishing”, with Dr Daryoush Mohammad Pour as discussant.

To join, please register for online only attendance at  https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/sculpting-the-self/

 

 

 

 

 

9. The Sharmin & Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies Postdoctoral Research Associate(s) Application Details

The Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at Princeton University invites applications for the position(s) of postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) or associate research scholar (ARS) in the relevant fields of Iran and the Persian Gulf in the 19th – 21st century.

Anticipated to start in September 2026, the position is open to scholars of all academic disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. The Term of Appointment is based on rank: the PDRA position is for one year with the possibility of renewal pending satisfactory performance and continued funding; those hired as an ARS have a three-year appointment. The center promotes interdisciplinary approaches to advancing the study of Iran and the Persian Gulf, with special attention to the region’s role and significance in the contemporary world. The goal of the program is to support outstanding scholars of Iran and the wider Persianate world at an early stage of their careers and thus to strengthen the field of Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies in the United States and abroad.

In addition to their salary, researchers receive funding (up to $4,000 per academic year) for research related expenses (books, conferences, travel expenses, etc.). The center provides office space and staff support as well as a taxable moving allowance to help defray domestic or international moving expenses. The work location for this position is in-person on campus at Princeton University.

This offer is contingent upon completion of all requirements for the Ph.D., received between 2023 and the start date. If you do not have proof of Ph.D. before your start date, however, you may be temporarily appointed (for at most one year) as a Senior Research Assistant with a 10% reduction in salary. Upon providing verification that you have completed all requirements for the Ph.D., you would then be promoted in rank and salary. Researchers may not pursue another degree while in this appointment, nor may they hold any other fellowships or visiting positions concurrently. Appointment(s) cannot be deferred to a later term.

Candidates are required to apply online and submit the following documents: (1) cover letter with title and summary of proposed research project (200 words); (2) research proposal (max. 1500 words, exclusive of bibliography), including description of project, bibliography, timetable, explicit goals, and the reason for pursuing at Princeton; (3) curriculum vitae and list of publications; (4) sample chapter (in English) of dissertation or other recent work; (5) contact information for three references.

DEADLINE: All materials must be received by November 3, 2025, 11:59 p.m. EST. Preferred start date is September 1, 2026.

Please visit iran.princeton.edu for further information about the Mossavar-Rahmani Center. View the post on AHIRE to apply.

This position is subject to the University’s background check policy.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

 

 

 

 

 

10. University of Maryland’s Roshan Institute for Persian Studies Announces the Establishment of Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Persian Digital Library

The University of Maryland’s Roshan Institute for Persian Studies has received a major new gift to establish the Dr. Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Persian Digital Library (EOMPDL) to preserve, study and share Persian literary heritage.  The gift comes from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, a private foundation created by Mir-Djalali, a distinguished linguist, educator and philanthropist dedicated to the preservation and global celebration of Persian language, literature and heritage.

Funded by a $1.5 million endowment and $310,000 in startup funds, the EOMPDL will be the first open-access Persian digital library to feature texts that have been professionally edited and vetted by scholars. Building on UMD’s internationally recognized leadership in Persian digital humanities, the initiative will provide free, global access to a constantly expanding body of classical and modern Persian texts. The project will also partner with institutions to help safeguard thousands of at-risk manuscripts and rare books from collections in India, Pakistan and beyond.

As such, the initiative will serve as a hub for training a new generation of digitally fluent Persian scholars, with access to previously inaccessible Persian manuscripts and printed books. “Thanks to this generous support, we are poised to dramatically expand access to Persian literature and create a sustainable future for Persian digital humanities,” saidStephanie Shonekan, dean of UMD’s College of Arts and Humanities. “This investment will inspire the next generation of scholars and attract the brightest minds to contribute to this important work, ensuring that this rich cultural legacy remains accessible for generations to come.”

A 2007 gift from Mir-Djalali enabled the establishment of the university’s Roshan Institute, which has emerged as a global leader in the field of Persian digital humanities. It developed the first major corpus of Persian texts prepared using internationally recognized standards for digital editing and markup. It also created critical digital tools for researchers, including open-source software and digitized collections.

Supported by nearly $3.25 million in grants from the Mellon Foundation, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, UMD researchers have revolutionized the use of open-source optical character recognition and handwritten text recognition technologies for Persian texts, which allow users to automatically extract digital texts from scanned images of books or manuscripts. UMD scholars have also spearheaded collaborative projects with universities, libraries and cultural institutions around the world to digitize endangered Persian manuscript collections. “We are delighted with this additional field-building gift in recognition of the institute’s achievements in Persian digital humanities and other academic domains,” said Fatemeh Keshavarz, the Roshan Institute’s chair and director.  Matthew Thomas Miller, assistant professor of Persian literature and digital humanities, will lead the creation of the EOMPDL and serve as the Library’s director. He has spearheaded Persian digital humanities work at the Roshan Institute since 2015. “We are opening a new chapter in the preservation and study of Persian literature,” Miller said. “Ultimately we aim to foster deeper appreciation and understanding of Persian culture and ensure its treasures are preserved for future generations.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. ONLINE Webinar: ‘Iran and Afghanistan: Toward a Connected (Literary) History’

with Aria Fani

British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 15 October 2025,  5:00 pm UK Time
Contrary to the presumption that literary nationalism in the Global South emerged solely through contact with Europe, Reading across Borders shows how the cultural forms of Iran and Afghanistan as nation-states arose from a shared Persian heritage and sustained cross-cultural exchange. In this talk, Aria Fani charts the individuals, institutions, and conversations that made this exchange possible, exploring how Afghans and Iranians invented modern selves through new ideas about literature. Fani illustrates how voluntary and state-funded associations of readers helped formulate and spread “literature” as a recognizable concept, adapting older Persian ideas to fit new national imaginaries. Focusing on early twentieth-century periodicals circulated in Afghan and Iranian cities and their diasporas, the book reveals how nationalism intensified—rather than severed—literary contact between the two societies. This once-vibrant history of exchange was ultimately forgotten, shaping many of the cultural and political tensions between Iran and Afghanistan today.

Information and registration:  https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ssVlfjs5Q9mTwWxv6kJyQw#/registration

 

 

 

 

 

12. CFP: Roshangar- The Undergraduate Persian Studies Journal

We’re thrilled to share the Call for Papers for the Fall 2025 issue of Roshangar: The Undergraduate Persian Studies Journal (digital, peer-reviewed). This issue focuses on architecture and urbanity in Iran and the Persian-speaking world. We warmly welcome submissions from undergraduates anywhere in the world. The contributors do not need to be a Persian Studies major/minor or a UMD student.

What we’re looking for

• Research essays (English): 1,500–2,000 words, double-spaced, .doc/.docx, MLA citations
• Research essays (Persian): 500–800 words
• Poetry: 1–3 pages
• Creative work (e.g., translations, photo essays, creative nonfiction, etc.) is encouraged if it meaningfully engages the theme
• Abstract: up to 200 words for all submissions
• Bio: 150 words

Deadline: Monday, November 10, 2025

How to submit
Please email your submission, abstract, and brief bio to roshangar@gmail.com. Before sending, kindly review our style guide on the Roshangar website.

 

 

 

 

 

13. New Release: Theatre in Travel: Collected Articles
By Duman Riyazi

Asemana, 2025
ISBN: 9781997503125

To read more:

Click here.

To order your Copy

Click here.

 

 

 

 

 

14. CFP – RECLAIMING CRAFT: DECOLONIAL PERSPECTIVES ON HERITAGE AND INNOVATION IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Craft traditions from the Muslim world have often been framed through colonial and Eurocentric lenses, reducing them to exotic artifacts or static relics of a bygone era. This session seeks to disrupt these narratives by exploring and reimagining traditional crafts in present and future contexts while maintaining their profound historical and cultural significance. Can crafts be represented in contemporary art and museums without erasing their original meaning or commodifying their heritage? Can current theoretical and/or methodological frameworks dismantle colonial legacies and promote equitable engagement with these traditions?

We invite submissions of papers presenting a critical examination of the decolonizing process of craft histories within the Islamic world and their evolving paths. Case studies exploring different artistic traditions are welcome, as well as ones focusing on specific media (including ceramics, textiles, metalwork, woodwork, calligraphy). Panel contributors could address topics such as intersections between craft and contemporary art expressions, technological adaptations of crafts, the role of Islamic aesthetics, and resistance to cultural appropriation. We also encourage different methodological approaches to examine the various facets of craft preservation and innovation, such as postcolonial theory, material culture studies, Islamic art historiography and Islamic epistemologies. Submissions may be in the form of traditional research papers or more informal practice-based presentations. We would also consider combining some presentations into a roundtable discussion, allowing for a more collaborative dialogue.

Ultimately, the session seeks to reframe traditional crafts as dynamic, living practices that contribute to the formation of cultural and spiritual identities, an exploration of the ways in which decolonial perspectives can encourage sustainable and innovative approaches to craft representation and evolution in a global context.

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Sami L. De Giosa, University of Sharjah, lgiosa@sharjah.ac.ae

Mariam Rosser-Owen, V&A Museum, m.rosserowen@vam.ac.uk

For further information, see:

https://forarthistory.org.uk/reclaiming-craft-decolonial-perspectives-on-heritage-and-innovation-in-the-islamic-world/

 

 

 

 

15. CFP – Sohbat: Third Biennial Graduate Student Symposium on Islamic Art and Architecture

Sohbat: Third Biennial Graduate Student Symposium on Islamic Art and Architecture

Department of the History of Art | Yale School of Architecture

March 26-27, 2026.

Yale University

CALL FOR PAPERS

Theme

The ever-wider scale of destruction in our present moment has engendered a sense of urgency not only about the preservation and reconstitution of memories but also our roles in this world, stretched across multiple personal and professional identities. We invite papers from a range of historical, geographical, and methodological positions, to respond to this urgency by asking, how can art and architectural histories recuperate the material past, as well as sensory and cognitive experiences that register in the memory and mentalities of a community? To what extent do events of destruction and reconstruction catalyze and heighten sensibilities of the ephemeral?

Taking the imagery of the canopy, which can simultaneously symbolize the sky and suggest a roof or a dome, as a starting point, we ask how the histories of Islamic art and architecture help us recover or reimagine rituals and practices of belief, care, and creativity? How can we see beyond buildings and surfaces to consider and care for embedded systems (craft, ecology, land, etc.) while paying attention to shifts in political, environmental, and global movements?

Logistics

• The symposium will provide meals and two nights of accommodation; travel subsidies are possible depending on funding availability. We encourage students to apply for additional

funding from their institutions for expenses related to travel.

• Each student speaker will present their paper for 15 minutes. There will be time for Q&A in each panel.

Submission Guidelines

Please send your abstract (250 words), a working title, CV, and the images of two artworks related to your proposed paper to singleslidesohbat@gmail.com by 11:59 PM on October 31, 2025.

Please title your email “Submission.” Please send inquiries and submissions to

singleslidesohbat@gmail.com

Notifications will be sent by November 24, 2025.

Symposium Organizers

Graduate Student Organizers: Anas Alkhatib, Hasan Nisar, Julia Qingye Wang, and Yupeng Wu.

 

 

 

 

 

16. Lecture – “The Metaverse and its Premoderns: Islam in an Expanding Reality”

Christiane Gruber, Professor of Islamic Art, University of Michigan

📅 Thursday, October 16, 2025
🕙 10:00–11:20 AM
📍 110 Warren, Room 312, Rutgers University–Newark

In this talk, Christiane Gruber explores how today’s Muslim imaginary worlds in the Metaverse draw on pre modern Islamic artworks, objects, and creative expression. She examines the “realm of similitudes” (‘alam al-mithal) from historical Islamic dream thought and considers how technology shapes immersive virtual spaces that connect the past, present, and future. Attendees will gain a fresh perspective on the intersections of faith, art, and digital innovation.
Can’t make it in person? Register for our webinar here

Contact Information

Alex Dika Seggerman, Associate Professor, Rutgers University-Newark

Contact Email

alex.seggerman@rutgers.edu

URL

https://sites.rutgers.edu/islam-humanities/event/the-metaverse-and-its-premoder…

 

 

 

 

 

17. 2025 Hybrid Bilingual Interdisciplinary Conference: “Druze in the Levant and the Diaspora – Discourses of Tradition and Modernity”, The University of Kansas, 16-17 October 2025. 

Information and registration: https://druze.ku.edu/2025druzeconference

 

 

 

 

 

18. International Conference On Arabic Language And Linguistics (ICALL), 21.11.25

welcome researchers, students, scholars, and professionals from around the globe. You can meet exceptional personalities, build connections and create remarkable participation.

Information, program, and registration: https://internationalconferencealerts.com/eventdetails.php?id=3257723

 

 

 

 

 

19. International Conference “Water Management and Environmental Change in Central Asia and the MENA Region: Politics, Society, and Transnational Connections Since 1945”, University of Padua, Italy, 5-6 February 2026

The conference seeks to bring together scholars from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to examine the history, legacies, and current challenges of water management and land use. A particular focus will be given to the multifaceted relationships between the socialist bloc and the Middle East.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3ka6fmww

 

 

 

 

 

20. The Sewanee Medieval Colloquium: “Resistance and Refuge in the Medieval Mediterranean”, Sewa-nee, 10-11 April 2026

This sub-theme calls for papers that consider the various forms of resistance and refuge evident across the medieval Middle Sea, broadly-construed. Topics could touch upon a wide assortment of questions across an extensive timeframe across the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500).

Deadline for abstracts: 1 November 2025.

Information: https://www.sewaneemedievalcolloquium.com/refuge-in-the-medieval-mediterranean

 

 

 

 

 

 

21. Call for Papers

Conference on Manumission in the Islamicate World

University of Leicester, UK

_22 April 2026

The study of slavery, manumission and abolition has generally focused on the Western world and the trans-Atlantic slave-trade. The conference seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of slavery and manumission practices within the Islamicate world, and develop conversations and conceptual connections amongst scholars working across different epochs, dynasties, and geographies.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 October 2025. Information: https://www.dosseproject.com/outputs/

 

 

22. Tenure Track Professor in Contemporary Middle East Studies, East Asian and Arabic Research Unit, KU Leuven

Profile: PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies or Middle East/North Africa Studies. – _Demonstrated expertise in the study of the politics, society, culture or media of the contemporary Middle East and/or North Africa. – _Proficiency in Arabic at native or near native level is required. – _Strong and validated, international academic portfolio with highly regarded publications.

Deadline for applications: 26 November 2025.

Information: https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60559597?lang=en

 

 

 

23. Two Postdoctoral Fellowships Focused on the Histories, Cultures, Societies, and Media of the Global South (Especially Arab World), Northwestern University in Qatar

We are currently accepting applications related to any of our current research themes (Genealogies and Epistemologies of the Global South; Arab Media, Culture, and Politics; Southern Digitalities; Critical Security Studies) and are particularly interested in scholars conducting comparative or transnational research on media, culture, and/or politics in or between the Arab world, Latin America, and Africa.

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025.

Information: https://www.qatar.northwestern.edu/research/ias_nuq/cfa-pd-2026.html

 

 

 

24. Visiting Assistant Professor in Middle East/Islamic History (3 Years), Colby College

Although the position is for a scholar of medieval Islam, or of the medieval or early modern Middle East or Ottoman Empire, an interest in offering courses which speak to the present would be welcomed. We are particularly interested in candidates who bring to the classroom experiences, identities, ideas, and ways of engaging that resonate with the increasingly diverse student body at Colby.

Deadline for applications: 17 October 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/173987

 

 

 

 

 

25. Position in Modern Iranian History (1700 CE to the Present), Princeton University

We seek a dynamic and innovative scholar whose research engages critically with the historical development of Iran and the Persianate World in this timeframe. While the core of the position is historical in nature, we welcome applications from candidates whose work is grounded in History or other related humanities or social science disciplines, and whose scholarship brings fresh perspectives to the study of Iranian history and culture.

Deadline for applications: 15 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mnmh762

 

 

 

 

26. Membership for Historical Research on the Islamic World, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton University

Accepted Members receive access to the extensive resources of the Institute, including offices, access to libraries, subsidized restaurant and housing facilities, and some administrative services. A number of memberships are provided by funds dedicated to supporting scholars who meet specific criteria.

Information: https://www.ias.edu/hs/membership

 

 

 

 

 

27. Mediterranean Seminar Prize for the Best Authored Monograph in Mediterranean Studies, 2026

Eligible publications are dated 2023 – _2025. Although we focus on the pre- and Early Modern, books ranging from any period will be considered. Books from any of the relevant Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines are welcome, including but not limited to all fields of history, art and material culture, literary and cultural studies, anthropology, and sociology.

The submission deadline is 31 December 2025.

Information: https://mediterraneanseminar.squarespace.com/book-prize-2026-call

 

 

 

 

28. Call for Papers – ZDMG (Section: Islamic Studies) – 2025

The ZDMG calls for the submission of new and innovative articles in Islamic Studies of various thematic foci to be published in the issues 176.2 (2026) und 177.1 (2027). We particularly welcome articles with a historical orientation grounded in philological analysis. Contributions should focus on pre-modern Muslim societies (up to approximately 1800 CE) and address topics such as history, religion, culture, law, literature, or social structures.

Deadline for submission: 15 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdhmd2td