Archive for November, 2025
- November 10, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Acdemic Items
1.Hybrid Lecture – Navina Najat Haidar, “Ornament and Light in Mughal Architecture” – 13 November
In person, or if you are not in London join us on Zoom (for a link, please contact Matty: mb@royalasiaticsociety.org)
Follow us on YouTube: SOAS ReSIA playlist
Navina Najat Haidar
Nasser Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah Curator in Charge of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Ornament and Light in Mughal Architecture
Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/resia-presents-dr-navina-haidar-tickets-1828852309489?aff=oddtdtcreator
2. CFP – Arts and Crafts in the Late Ottoman Empire: Rethinking Practices and Concepts of Material Culture in Syria and Beyond (18th – early 20th c.) – May 22-23, 2026
Date: May 22-23, 2026
Venue: Lebanese American University (Beirut, Lebanon)
Convenors: May Farhat and Sarah Sabban
The conference Arts and Crafts in the Late Ottoman Empire aims to advance art historical and interdisciplinary research on practices and concepts of material culture in Ottoman lands between the 18th and the early 20th centuries. While inviting contributions on all geographies of the Empire, our call for papers foregrounds late Ottoman Syria as a case through which to expand the analytical and historical horizons of Islamic art and architecture studies and to contribute to broader debates in Ottoman and Arab historiographies of modernity. We encourage authors to consider the analytical frameworks—temporalities, epistemes, and materialities—that underpin the conference’s critical inquiry into the entangled modernities of Ottoman arts and crafts.
For the full call for papers, please visit this link.
We invite abstracts of up to 300 words, along with a short biography (max. 100 words), to be sent to MAIA.events@lau.edu.lb by January 15, 2026. Papers may be delivered in English or Arabic.
3. Nov 12 Talk on Classical Madrasa as a Liberal Arts Tradition
The next event in Zahra Institute’s online Fall Speaker Series, Wednesday, November 12.
“Forming the Mind: The Classical Madrasa as a Liberal Arts Tradition”
Date: Wednesday, November 12
Time: 12 PM Central / 1 PM Eastern
Speaker: Mahsuk Yamac, Dean of Graduate Studies, Zaytuna College
Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/jTAYbk7KRH-QPsIPDq_5aQ#
For details on this and other upcoming events, visit our website: www.zahrainstitute.org.
4. Open Access: Article on Mamluk Maqamas on Black Death
Muhammed Omar, Nahyan Fancy
Special issue of the Journal of Arab and Islamic Studies on Environmental Challenges in Premodern Eurasian and Mediterranean Narratives.
The article can be accessed here: https://journals.uio.no/JAIS/article/view/12790
5. Call for Applications – “The Futures of Islamic Art: Remapping the Field” – Traveling seminar organized by Khamseen
Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online is pleased to announce its new project “The Futures of Islamic Art: Remapping the Field,” supported by a Connecting Art Histories grant by the Getty Foundation. Co-directed by Dr. Christiane Gruber and Dr. Mira Xenia Schwerda, the project will include three traveling seminars to Istanbul (2027), Kuwait (2028), and Kuala Lumpur (2029).
The project is situated within the context of growing and democratizing the field of Islamic art history, which includes an expansion of geographies, a stretching of chronological brackets, a diversification of artistic and creative expression, and an unrestricted experimentation with various theoretical approaches, intellectual models, and technological tools to disseminate knowledge in a free and open manner. It places the engagement with previously overlooked materials–such as women’s embroideries, amulets and gems of various tribes and nomadic groups, photographs, posters, and prints, and diminutive coins and other ephemera–at its center.
We invite applications from graduate students and early- to mid-career scholars of Islamic art—including curators, conservators, and practicing artists—to participate in all three seminars in Istanbul, Kuwait City, and Kuala Lumpur. We especially welcome applications from students and scholars based in the region. The project will cover travel costs, including airfare, ground transportation, and accommodation.
Interested candidates should send a letter of interest explaining why these traveling seminars are important for their intellectual development and how their own areas of expertise will contribute to the group effort as well as a CV and a writing sample (of up to 25 pages) to FuturesofIslamicArt@umich.edu no later than February 1, 2026. Applicants will be contacted by March 15, 2026.
Contact Email
6. CfS: 2026 British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS) Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World
In the 2026 British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS) Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is now open for submissions. The submission deadline is 5pm GMT on Friday 30 January 2026. Full details about the submission process, including all rules and regulations, can be found here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize
This international prize is awarded annually to an outstanding doctoral thesis. English-language submissions on any aspect of the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world, past and present, including Muslim-minority societies are accepted.
The award includes a cash prize of £1000 which will be officially presented at the Annual Conference of BRAIS.
Should you have any queries, please email brais.prize@ed.ac.uk .
7. Book Talk: ‘Building Local Support: Architectural Patronage for Multiconfessional Communities in Ottoman Greece and Albania’
Emily Neumeier (Temple University)
Thursday, November 13, 2025
10:00–11:20 AM
110 Warren, Room 312, Rutgers University–Newark
In the early nineteenth century, some of the most consequential developments in Ottoman architecture unfolded not in Istanbul but on the empire’s frontier. This talk explores the ambitious building program of Ali Pasha of Ioannina (r. 1788–1822), the renegade governor of Greece and Albania whose architectural patronage ranged from mosques to dervish lodges and even Orthodox Christian monasteries. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and archival sources, we will explore how Ali Pasha’s constructions redefined the sociopolitical order by challenging imperial norms of patronage and consolidating regional authority. His unprecedented support for multiple faith traditions reveals how architecture became a powerful tool of negotiation in a diverse, contested landscape.
Contact Information
Alex Dika Seggerman
Contact Email
URL
https://sites.rutgers.edu/islam-humanities/event/book-talk-building-local-suppo…
8. CFP: International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) Special Issue–“Reimagining Islamic Architecture in the 20th and 21st Centuries”
Thematic volume planned for July 2028)
Guest Editors: Emily Neumeier & Jennifer Pruitt
Proposal submission deadline: 15 December 2025
We invite submissions for this special issue of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture that investigates the modern reimagining of historical architecture from the Islamic world. Specifically, we are interested in the phenomenon of architects working in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries who refer to premodern Islamic monuments in their own practice. These ‘sites of citation’ can be understood to serve diverse functions and contexts, ranging from proclaiming connections to a perceived glorious imperial past, crafting new national identities through architectural revivals, recollecting a nostalgic homeland for diasporic communities, or even incorporating orientalist tropes to convey luxurious consumption or cosmopolitan sophistication.
Within the disciplines of Islamic art and architectural history, scholars have debated the logical terminus for the field’s timeline. Most of the major survey texts intended for undergraduate courses have ended around 1800, prior to the rise of European colonialism in the nineteenth century. This creates the distinct impression that the diverse regions of the Islamic world took up modernization efforts that were, at best, mimetic of western Europe, and therefore not worthy of investigation. As a corrective to these temporal restrictions and the resulting lacunae in the scholarship, a resounding call to extend the chronological framework of the field into the modern period has emerged in the past two decades (Flood 2007; Flood & Necipoğlu 2017). Yet scholars are only beginning to investigate how the forms and narratives of precolonial Islamic art history inform postcolonial architectural practice. In this special issue, we seek to build on the work of historians such as Nasser Rabbat and Mercedes Volait, who have demonstrated the importance of investigating revival architecture beyond a western European context to the Islamic world. We also take as a point of inspiration the scholarship of Kishwar Rizvi, whose examination of the transnational mosque open up discussion on a variety of state-sponsored religious constructions built in the postmodern and present neoliberal eras, all of which consciously adopt historicizing elements in their design.
We invite papers that will expand the investigation of Islamic architectures to include a diversity of architectural typologies. This special issue seeks case studies ranging from the late nineteenth century until the present, drawn from a wide geographical range inclusive of the Middle East, North and West Africa, the Americas, Europe, and South and Southeast Asia. We particularly welcome papers that address cross-cultural exchange and the transnational networks of architects, designers, and patrons. Case studies might address extant sites as well as ephemeral examples, like the pavilions from international expositions and theatre scenery. We envisage submissions that will investigate the reimagining of imperial Ottoman forms in twenty-first-century Turkey; the orientalizing anachronism of Shriner architecture in the United States; representations of Islamic spaces in theme parks and video games; or the adaptation of historical forms for restoration and cultural heritage projects in the Middle East. We are especially interested in examining how scholarly narratives of precolonial Islamic art history have shaped architectural projects, and thus also invite abstracts that explore how the built form references or translates the visual representations of historic monuments (i.e., etchings, photographs, ground plans, satellite views, 3D mapping) found in academic publications and mass media. In so doing, we seek to offer new insights that emerge specifically from the connection between modern and contemporary architecture and the historiography of Islamic art.
Additional questions may be addressed by contributors to this special issue:
- To what extent has the reinvention of historical Islamic architecture prompted a revival, reactivation, or appropriation of traditional craft practices and building technologies? Who are the agents, institutions, and sources key to this transmission of knowledge?
- Do modern and contemporary case studies reflect present-day conceptions about the ‘quintessential’ elements or forms of Islamic architecture? Is it possible to identify a canon of historical monuments?
- How might our understanding of a single site shift when taking into account both top-down perspectives (i.e., architects, designers, patrons and donors, cultural organizations, and government institutions) and the everyday experiences of users and visitors? How can these meanings persist or change over a long period of time, in the course of subsequent mediations or renovations during the life of a particular monument or site?
- Are specific practices of citation in architecture embedded within historical legacies, or an opportunity to think beyond colonialism, orientalism, and modernism? To what extent does architectural revival create a sense of anachronism, authenticity, and/or nostalgia for the past?
- What negotiations or translations can take place when forms that were originally developed for Islamic sacred spaces are reinterpreted for non-religious purposes? Can such reimagining of Islamic architecture open up possibilities to revisit deep-seated assumptions about the separation of the sacred and secular?
- In an age of consumption and neoliberalism, how do the demands for tourism, entertainment, and spectacle impact the designs of built environments that are marketed as looking to the historical architecture of the Islamic world?
Articles offering historical and theoretical analysis (DiT papers) should be between 6000 and 8000 words, and those on design and practice (DiP papers) between 3000 and 4000 words (notes are included in the word count). Practitioners are welcome to contribute insofar as they address the critical framework of the journal. Urbanists, art historians, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists, sociologists, and historians are also welcome. Please send a title and a 400-word abstract to the guest editors, Emily Neumeier (neumeier@temple.edu) and Jennifer Pruitt (jpruitt@wisc.edu), by 15 December 2025. Authors of accepted proposals will be contacted soon thereafter and will be requested to submit full papers by 1 July 2026. All papers will be subject to blind peer review and a rigorous editing process. For author instructions, please consult: www.intellectbooks.com/ijia
Contact Email
URL
https://www.intellectbooks.com/international-journal-of-islamic-architecture
9. New Program: Master of Professional Studies in Persian at UMD
Starting Fall 2026, the Capstone Year of the Persian Flagship Program will become the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Persian. University of Maryland Persian Flagship Students complete this program toward their Flagship Certification. The Language Flagship Program is an initiative of the Defense Language and National Security Education Office, within the U.S. Department of Defense.
For more information:
https://sllc.umd.edu/special-programs/arabic-persian/persian-flagship/capstone
10. Modernists and Muslims: E. J. Pace and His Islam-Inspired Cartoons
STEVEN BEMBRIDGE
Journal of American Studies, Volume 58 / Issue 5, December 2024, pp 661 – 688
doi: 10.1017/S0021875824000641
11. South Asia, the British Empire, and the Rise of Classical Legal Thought: Toward a Historical Ontology of the Law
Faisal Chaudhry. 529 pp.
Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2024.
https://academic.oup.com/book/57374?login=true
12. Genealogical History in the Persianate World
Jo-Ann Gross (Anthology Editor) , Daniel Beben (Anthology Editor)
Bloomsbury, 2025
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/genealogical-history-in-the-persianate-world-9780755649808/
13. HYBRID Lecture “Digital Citizen Science and the Co-construction of Omani National and Cultural Identity: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis” by Dr. Najma Al Zidjaly (Sultan Qaboos University), Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 11 Novembre 2025, 17:00 – 19:00 CET
This presentation forms part of a larger longitudinal, ethnographic project spanning over two decades that examines the evolving relationship between human agency and emerging forms of creative media in the Arab world, with a particular focus on Oman. The study conceptualizes Omani social media users as active contributors to collective knowledge production and cultural meaning-making.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/cemweem9
14. Conference “Forms of (Un)Freedom: Emancipation and Post-Slavery in the Red Sea Region”, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 13-14 November 2025
This conference aims to further consolidate the subfield of Red Sea slavery studies by expanding the scope of inquiry beyond the processes that enslaved people and held them in bondage. The conference will focus on what happens “afterwards” – i.e. when human bondage ends. In the Red Sea Region, abolition and emancipation have been incompletely implemented. This has had complex ramifications that continue to reverberate at the individual, communal, and societal level.
Information and programme: https://tinyurl.com/484zmjhd
15. Symposium “The Translation Movement Between East and West, with a Special Focus on the Late Translation Movement”, Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, London, 19-20 November 2024
During the medieval period, as a result of the famous Graeco-Arabic translation movement, Arabic emerged as a ‘lingua franca’ of scientific exchange. For most of the medieval and early modern periods, Latin was the ‘lingua franca’ of scientific exchange. Then, we started to see the reverse translation movement from different European languages into Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman.
Information and detailed programme: https://tinyurl.com/2m9kfmch
16. Five Residential Fellowships (12 Months) in Germany for Scholars at Risk at Universities in Dortmund and Essen, Academy in Exile
Eligible are scholars from any country who have a PhD in the humanities, social sciences, or law, and who are at risk because of their academic work and/or civic engagement in human rights, democracy, and the pursuit of academic freedom. “Academy in Exile” fellowships give scholars the opportunity to continue their careers in Germany and to work on a research project of their own choosing in a multidisciplinary environment.
Deadline for applications: 15 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/y6anapuj
17. Assistant or Associate or Full Professor in Comparative Literature (Focus Arabic Literature), Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI), Qatar
Preference will be given to candidates with specializations in literary theory, approaches to World Literature and the new comparative literature, and with demonstrable expertise in Arabic literature and an Asian, African or Latin Ameri-can literature. The candidate must be able to teach in Arabic. High proficiency in English is required.
Deadline for applications: 15 January 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yc4udv3f
18. Omar Khayyam Postdoctoral Research Associate (1 Year) in Iranian Studies, Brown University
The position is open to candidates whose work explores topics related to modern or contemporary Iran, with a preference for work in the humanities or the humanistic social sciences (e.g., anthropology, sociology, history). We especially welcome candidates who thrive in an interdisciplinary environment and whose work is informed by comparative and global perspectives.
Deadline for applications: 6 December 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/175851
19. University of Notre Dame Postdoctoral Fellowship (9 Months) in Byzantine Studies, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
This Fellowship is open to qualified applicants in all fields and sub-disciplines of Byzantine Studies, such as history (including its auxiliary disciplines), archaeology, art history, literature, theology, and liturgical studies, as well as the study of Byzantium’s interactions with neighboring cultures. The fellowship holder will pursue research in residence at the University of Notre Dame’s famed Medieval Institute during the academic year.
Deadline for applications: 1 February 2026. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/176059
20. Research Fellowships in Islamic Law and Civilization (2026-2027), Yale Law School
The fellowships are meant to a promising scholars time to make significant progress on their writing and research agenda in subjects related, however loosely, to Islamic law and civilization while contributing to the intellectual life of the Law School and Yale University more broadly.
Deadline for applications: 30 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4yzzh97y
- November 08, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- November 06, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘Studies in Honour of Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi’ – Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, Mathieu Terrier (eds)
- November 05, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. In person: Durham University/ British Institute of Persian Studies Event:
2025 Ann Lambton Memorial Lecture
12 November 2024, 15.30 UK time
with Mr. Nicholas Hopton
“A British Diplomatic Perspective on Iran’s Position & Policies in the Middle East Since 7 October 2023”
Wed, 12 Nov 2025 15:30 – 18:00 GMT
MHL452, Mill Hill Lane, Durham University
Durham DH1
Use this link for free registration:
2. Assistant Professor or Higher (Tenure-track) in Ottoman History, American University in Bulgaria, Sofia
Candidates should be specializing in Southeast Europe, the Middle East, or the Eastern Mediterranean, with a preference for Ottoman studies or Ottoman history, religious studies, environmental history, institutional history, transnational history, or the history of science, broadly defined.
Deadline for applications: 21 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yc2z4ss2c
3. Research Fellowship of the Emirates Leadership Initiative 2026-2027, Havard Kennedy School
Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/56km857n
4. Columbia University’s Sakıp Sabancı Center for Turkish Studies invites applications for a postdoctoral fellowshipfor a one-year appointment running from September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027.
The fellowship is open to scholars in the humanities and social sciences, focusing on any period within the field of Turkish Studies.The fellowship competition is open to candidates who have received their Ph.D. degree in the humanities or social sciences after May 2023 and have written a dissertation on a topic related to Turkish Studies. Fellows cannot hold another scholarship, visiting position, or employment during the term of the fellowship.
Deadline for applications: 15 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4z636mcf
5. Toronto Persian Book Fair 2025
1001 Books Fair and Cyrus Film Festival in collaboration with Global Link present:
The Toronto Persian Book Fair: The Toronto Persian Book Fair is a major cultural event celebrating Persian-language and diaspora publishing, with participation from several Canada- and Europe-based publishers. Alongside book exhibits, the fair offers a vibrant schedule of readings, workshops, and film-related sessions, making it a gathering place for writers, readers, cinema enthusiasts and creatives across generations. The diasporic and Persian publishers participating in the book fair include Asemana Books, Azadegan, Baran, Forough, Gardoon, Iran Namag, Kabul Books, Noghteh, Noogam, Saray-i Bamdad, Zagros, and others.
For the full schedule, please follow the fair’s official channels, including the 1001 Books Fair Instagram page and the participating publishers.
📍Venue: Global Link, Toronto
📅Dates: November 14–15, 2025
Program Highlights
Friday, November 14
6:00–7:00 PM — 🎭 Workshop: Commedia dell’Arte
Presenter: Dr. Duman Riyazi (دکتر دومان ریاضی)
A dynamic, hands-on introduction to the Italian theatrical tradition that influenced modern acting and improvisation.
7:00–8:00 PM — 📖 Book Launch: من و هشتاد سالگی (Me and My Eighties)
Author: Dr. Ezzat Mossallenezad (دکتر عزت مصلینژاد) — Published by Zagros Press
Join us for an intimate discussion and book signing with the author, reflecting on life, memory, and resilience.
Saturday, November 15
10:30–11:30 AM — 🎥 Workshop: Frame and Frame
Presenter: SADAF
A visual storytelling session exploring rhythm, perspective, and narrative framing in film and photography.
12:00–1:15 PM — 📚 Book Launch: Colour and Mystery (رنگ و راز)
Author: Irene Monique Salehi (ایرن مونیک صالحی) — Published by Asemana Books
Launch of Colour and Mystery: A Life in Seven Panels — a biographical and artistic journey through colour and imagination.
1:30–2:30 PM — ✍️ Workshop: From Story to Screenplay (تبدیل داستان به فیلمنامه)
Presenter: Bita Malakouti (بیتا ملکوتی)
Learn how to translate fiction into cinematic language through structure, character, and visual storytelling.
3:00–4:15 PM — 📘 Book Launch: From Northwest (از شمال غرب)
Author: Amir Hossein Bakhtiari (امیر حسین بختیاری) — Published by Asemana Books
A presentation and discussion of short stories exploring identity, migration, and belonging.
4:30–5:30 PM — 💼 Workshop: Film Production and Financing
Presenter: Asa Kazerani
6. UCLA: Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World
The Bible in Its Ancient Iranian Context Conference Videos Available
https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/events/the-bible-in-its-ancient-iranian-context/
7. The members of ISHMap Prize Committee 2025 and Trustees for the International Society for the History of the Map (ISHMap) are pleased to announce the recipients of the Best Paper Awards for presentations delivered at the Society’s biennial Symposium, held in Paris, France, 9–11 July 2025.
The Best Paper Award for a participant with a terminal degree:
Zeinab Azarbadegan, “The Domain of Two Sovereigns: Ottoman Mapping of Iraq”
The Best Paper Award for a participant without a terminal degree:
Dominic Keyßner, “Cartographies of Anti-Imperialism? Mapping a (Post-)Colonial World in the Socialist East (1960s–1970s)”
An Honorable Mention for a poster delivered by a participant without a terminal degree:
Milena Natividade da Cruz, “Historical Cartography and Processes of Racialization: The Case of the Mural Maps by Longchamps and Janvier (1754)”
Congratulations to all award winners! The Committee thanks all participants for their great contributions and looks forward to hearing more from the awardees in upcoming ISHMap events.
Contact Information
Anne-Rieke van Schaik,
Chair of Awards Committee 2025
Trustee of ISHMap
Contact Email
- November 04, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ONLINE Lecture ‘The Non-Execution of Divinely Ordained Penalties’ – B Khodadadi, 13.11.25, 16:00 – 17:20 CET)
Capacity is limited to 100 participants. Please register at your earliest convenience.
- November 03, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Warburg Institute Short Courses – Autumn 2025
THE WARBURG INSTITUTE
School of Advanced Study | University of London
The Warburg Institute is one of the world’s leading centres for studying the interaction of ideas, images and society. It is dedicated to the survival and transmission of culture across time and space, with special emphasis on the afterlife of antiquity. Throughout the year we offer a wide range of Short Courses and Research Training in key areas of knowledge and skills. Courses are generally open to students at all levels, researchers, and the public. NB: some pre-requisites may apply.
Our short courses for the Autumn Term 2025 are currently open for booking:
Crossing the world without an interpreter: Arabic studies in England 1550-1640
3 – 7 November 2025, 11.00am – 1.00pm GMT | Warburg Institute
Examining the origins and manifestations of the great flourishing of interest in England in the study of Arabic from the mid-16th to mid-17th centuries.
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/arabic-studies-england-in-1550-1640-2025
The Representation of African People in Early Modern European Art & Culture
13 November – 11 December 2025, 2.00pm – 3.30pm GMT | Online via Zoom
An introduction to the representation of African people in the art and culture of early modern Europe. Drawing on the resources of the Image of the Black archive.
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/representation-of-african-people-2025
Black Atlas in the Warburg Archives
25 – 27 November 2025, 5.00pm – 7.00pm GMT | Warburg Institute
Examining resources for studying Africa and the Americas and their diasporas at the Warburg Institute, with focus on the Image of the Black archive and creative responses to controversial collections material and marginalised histories by artists associated with the Warburg.
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/black-atlas-warburg-archives
Visual History of European Alchemy
15 – 19 December 2025, 2.00pm – 4.00pm GMT | Online via Zoom
This course opens a window onto the development of European visual culture and the history of science by tracing the evolution of alchemy and its artefacts. Alongside historical developments, we will examine how alchemy shaped art, intellectual traditions, and symbolic thinking.
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/visual-history-of-european-alchemy-2025
2. Textile History Symposium at CUNY Graduate Center, NYC (9 am-5 pm, Nov. 13, 2025)
Textile as Object: Centering Cloth in Interdisciplinary Approaches to Textile History
This full day symposium showcases research that takes materially focused methodologies to textile history, investigating new approaches to explore what engagement with the material enables, and to demonstrate what the close looking of the textile historian can reveal. Studies include Byzantium, Asia and the Islamic World, and Spain; as well as the role of textiles in museums today. Livestreamed and in-person at CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. Registration and Event page: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/textile-object-centering-cloth-interdisciplinary-approaches-textile-history
Symposium co-organizers: Nazanin Hedayat Munroe, Amanda Phillips, Eiren Shea, Rachel Silberstein, and Elizabeth Dospěl Williams
Hosted by the CUNY Academy for Humanities and Sciences
Contact Email
URL
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/textile-object-centering-cloth-interdisciplinary…
3. Hybrid Seminar:
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh,
Our next (IMES) Research Seminar will be held on Monday, 3 November at 5:15 in room LG.08, 40 George Square Lower.
Our speaker will be Prof Nacim Pak-Shiraz (IMES), University of Edinburgh, who will speak on
Staging Masculinity: Hegemony, and Patriarchy in 1990s Iranian Popular Cinema
This talk examines the varied constructions of masculinity through the lens of popular commercial cinema in the 1990s Iran. It focuses on two of the decade’s highest-grossing films, released in 1991 and 1999, respectively. By analyzing them, this study examines how dominant and contested models of masculinity were constructed and circulated through mainstream cinema during a decade marked by cultural and political transformation.
The sessions will be hybrid. For those who wish to join us online, please email Anthony.Gorman@ed.ac.uk, who will send you a link on the day of the seminar.For further details see https://llc.ed.ac.uk/islamic-and-middle-eastern-studies/imes-seminar-series-251103
4. Séminaire “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges” – 2e séance mercredi 5 novembre 18h-19h30
Chères et chers collègues,
Chères étudiantes, chers étudiants,
Nous avons le plaisir de vous convier à la deuxième séance du séminaire “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges”, qui se tiendra mercredi 5 novembre 2025, 18h-19h30, en salle 4.21 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 4e étage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir Mme. Alya Karame, Orient-Institut Beirut, pour une conférence intitulée : The Qur’ans of the Ghaznavids and Ghurids: New Genres (en anglais).
Résumé:
The understudied corpus of the Ghaznavid and Ghurid Qur’ans (c. eleventh–twelfth centuries CE) illustrates the shaping of regional visual trends in medieval eastern Iran (at the centre of which is present-day Afghanistan) out of diachronic and synchronic multidirectional movement within a medieval landscape that was continuously in flux. These manuscripts were innovatively designed presenting us with new genres of Qur’ans, employing new scripts on the newly adopted material, paper. Many elements in them tell us stories about the people who commissioned them, made them, and used them. They also inform of the ways in which they were used and their roles, up until our day. Deemed “peripheral” (the lands of provincial rule), they were, in fact, models that challenged the artistic agency of t raditional political capitals (the lands of dominant dynastic rule) from which artistic excellency and a pure visual language is said to have spread.
Orientations bibliographiques:
- Flood, Finbarr Barry. ‘Islamic Identities and Islamic Art: Inscribing the Qur’an in Twelfth-century Afghanistan’ in Elizabeth Cropper (ed.). Dialogues in Art History, from Mesopotamian to Modern: Readings for a New Century. Washington DC: National Gallery of Art, 2009, p. 91–118.
- Karame, Alya. ‘Ghaznavid Imperial Qur’an Manuscripts: The Shaping of a Local Style’ in Simon Rettig, Sana Mirza (eds.). The Word Illuminated: Form and Function of Qur’anic Manuscripts from the Seventh to Seventeenth Centuries. Washington DC: Smithsonian Scholarly Press, 2023, p. 27–53.
Vous trouverez l’intégralité du programme 2025-2026 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges” en ligne sur le site du CeRMI: L’Afghanistan à travers les âges – Centre de recherche sur le monde iranien
5. Grabar Travel Grant – Deadline: December 15, 2025
This competition is open to graduate students (doctoral candidates) who have been invited or accepted as participants in a scholarly conference or other professional meeting for the purpose of presenting papers, chairing sessions, or moderating discussions.
The maximum amount of the award is $1,000 USD.
Applicants must be HIAA members in good standing at the time of application. Grabar Travel Grants must be used within 12 months of the award date.
Applications must include the following five components and be submitted in a single PDF to the Grabar Travel Committee Chair (grabar.hiaa@gmail.com) by December 15:
- Application cover sheet, available here
- A cover letter explaining the applicant’s purpose in participating in the conference, the expected benefits of participation, and an itemized travel budget
- Curriculum vitae
- Letter of acceptance from the conference/session organizer(s)
- Abstract of the paper to be presented
In addition, a letter of recommendation from the applicant’s primary supervisor should be sent directly to the Grabar Travel Committee Chair (grabar.hiaa@gmail.com) by the deadline.
Applicants from outside the United States are responsible for meeting the requirements for and obtaining any visas necessary for visits to or residence and research in the United States. Upon request, HIAA will supply documentation of the grant and/or fellowship award, the dates of the award, and financial support.
For further details and to apply, please visit: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/grabar-grants-and-fellowships
6. Grabar Post-doctoral Fellowship – Deadline: December 15, 202
The Grabar Post-doctoral Fellowship is intended to support post-doctoral scholars at an early stage of their careers in advancing their research. Fellowship funds may be used in one of two ways:
- To spend up to two months in residence as a visiting professor or fellow/research scholar at a university, museum, research institute, or similar institution outside their usual country of residence or employment.
- To support additional research to aid in preparing the dissertation for publication.
Applicants should have completed their Ph.D. within the last five years or have submitted their dissertations by the start of the fellowship.
The Grabar Post-doctoral Fellowship will provide up to $2000 US per month, for a maximum of two months. An additional $1000 may be requested for travel or supplies.
All materials should be submitted by email to the chair of the Grabar post-doctoral fellowship committee chair (grabar.hiaa@gmail.com) by December 15, 2025. Files exceeding 25 Mb should be sent via WeTransfer.
For further details and to apply, please visit: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/grabar-grants-and-fellowships
7. The Margaret B. Ševčenko Prize in Islamic Art and Culture – Deadline: December 15, 2025
Every year, the Historians of Islamic Art Association (HIAA) sponsors a competition and awards the Margaret B. Ševčenko Prize for the best unpublished essay written by a junior scholar (pre-dissertation graduate student to three years after the Ph.D. degree) on any aspect of Islamic visual culture. This competition is open to HIAA members only. The Ševčenko Prize recipient receives an award of $500 and a citation, generally presented at HIAA’s annual business meeting. The Prize is named in memory of Margaret Bentley Ševčenko, the first and long-serving Managing Editor of Muqarnas, a journal devoted to the visual culture of the Islamic world sponsored by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT. The winning essay will be considered for publication by the Muqarnas Editorial Board.
Submissions must include the paper in both Word and PDF format, and a separate sheet with the author’s contact information (address, telephone number, and email address). Papers should not exceed 10,000 words in length (including footnotes) and can be accompanied by up to 15 low-res illustrations.
Please note that submissions cannot be in press or under review with any publisher.
A letter of recommendation for the paper should be sent separately by the author’s adviser or referee.
All materials should be submitted by email to the Ševčenko committee chair (sevcenko.hiaa@gmail.com) by December 15, 2025. Files exceeding 25 Mb should be sent via WeTransfer.
For further details, please visit: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/the-margaret-evenko-prize-in-islamic-art-and-culture/
8. Fellowships – National Museum of Asian Art, Ebrahimi Fellowship for Persian Art, Apply by February 2, 2026
The Ebrahimi Fellowship for Persian Art promotes excellence in research and publication on Persian art from the ancient to the contemporary period. Fellowships support research at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC. Research proposals are evaluated in terms of merit, originality, methodology, and potential for significant publication that will advance scholarly and public understanding of Persian visual arts. Interdisciplinary proposals with a primary focus on Iranian visual arts will be considered.
The Ebrahimi Fellowship is intended to provide an environment conducive to research, writing, and collegial discourse. Fellows are expected to devote themselves full-time to the proposed project and to participate in the museum’s scholarly community and programs.
Scholars of all nationalities are welcome to apply. Meeting the requirements and obtaining the required visas for residence and research in the United States are the responsibilities of the applicant. If necessary, the Smithsonian will review the individual for participation in an Exchange Visitor Program and will support the individual, if eligible, in their application for a J-1 visa.
Doctoral candidates, early career scholars, and senior scholars are all encouraged to apply.
For more information, visit https://asia.si.edu/about/jobs-opportunities/ebrahimi-fellowship-for-persian-art/.
URL
https://asia.si.edu/about/jobs-opportunities/ebrahimi-fellowship-for-persian-ar…
9. The UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize
The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions of doctoral dissertations for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize. The prize will be awarded to an outstanding doctoral dissertation on the art, architecture, or visual cultures of South Asia and its diasporas from any discipline in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. The dissertation may focus on any time period from the prehistoric to the contemporary. The prize comes with a $1,500 award. Ph.D. dissertations submitted for consideration must have been filed between September 2, 2024 and September 1, 2025 at an accredited university in North America or Europe. The submission package must include the following:
- A pdf abstract (< 1000 words)
- A pdf curriculum vitae (please include your contact information)
- A pdf copy of the dissertation
- A nomination letter from the chair of the department or the chair of the dissertation committee must accompany the application package. This letter should confirm that the application fulfills all eligibility requirements, and include the official dissertation submission date.
The 2025 Prize Committee: Sugata Ray (Chair, University of California, Berkeley), Rebecca M. Brown (Johns Hopkins University), Yuthika Sharma (Northwestern University), and Nachiket Chanchani (University of Michigan).
The UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize
The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions from Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize. The prize will be awarded for an outstanding body of work by an artist of the South Asian diaspora or by those whose work addresses the politics and cultures of South Asia. Applicants must have filed their Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree between September 2, 2023 and September 1, 2024 at an accredited school in North America or Europe. The submission package must include the following, and with each file size a maximum of 15MB:
- A pdf Artist Statement (< 1000 words)
- A pdf curriculum vitae (please include your contact information)
- 20 images in a single pdf file and/or
- Links (and password) to Vimeo for up to 15 minutes of time-based work
- A confidential letter of support from a faculty member
The 2025 Prize Committee: Asma Kazmi (Chair, University of California, Berkeley), Shiben Banerji (University of California, Berkeley), Al-An deSouza (University of California, Berkeley), Nidhi Gandhi (San José Museum of Art), and Padma Maitland (Asian Art Museum).
DEADLINE: The submission package must be in English and submitted via email to Puneeta Kala <pkala@berkeley.edu> by January 10, 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted. The result for the 2025 prize recipient will be announced on the South Asia Art Initiative website on March 14, 2026. The winner will give a talk via Zoom on Wed, April 16, 2026 at 9 am PST.
All inquiries regarding the prizes should be directed to Puneeta Kala <pkala@berkeley.edu> at the Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Contact Information
Puneeta Kala, Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Contact Email
URL
https://southasia.berkeley.edu/art-awards
10. Call for Contributions – Digital Humanities in Middle East Studies for RoMES Special Issue
TheReview of Middle East Studies(RoMES) invites contributions to an upcoming special issue on Digital Humanities in Middle East Studies. In light of the growing impact of technology on the study of language, history, and culture, this special issue aims to chart the current and emerging contours of digital humanities in Middle East Studies. We are delighted to have Laila Shereen Sakr (University of California, Santa Barbara) as guest editor for this issue.
We welcome submissions from across the diverse landscape of digital humanities work in Middle East studies, including but not limited to: computational and AI methods (such as text mining, data visualization, natural language processing (NLP), LLMs and generative models applied to regional sources); algorithmic empire and digital colonialism, militarized AI and the political economy of tech, Middle Eastern futures and futurity, social media and digital public spheres; critical approaches to data ethics, privacy, and algorithmic accountability; feminist and decolonial perspectives; digital archives and libraries; mapping and spatial humanities; as well as media, arts, and cultural digital humanities.
This issue will focus on contributions demonstrating the unique opportunities and distinct challenges that emerge when the linguistic, cultural, and archival work of Middle East Studies meets digital technology. This issue aims to provide theoretical grounding and guidance for scholars interested in developing digital humanities projects for their research or teaching while fostering broader conversations about the future of Middle Eastern studies in the digital age.
Contributions may take several forms:
- DH Interventions- Explorations of how digital humanities reshapes our understanding of key questions in Middle East Studies – what new intellectual terrain does DH open up, and what are the stakes of these shifts for the field?
- State of the Field Reflections- Analytical pieces that survey current trends, assess methodological approaches, or provide frameworks for understanding digital humanities within Middle East studies. These pieces may trace key conversations, collaborations, and areas of innovation across languages, regions, or disciplines.
- Pedagogical Applications- Articles focusing on the use of digital humanities projects in Middle East studies classrooms and/or course design, and getting started guides.
- Project Showcases- Examinations of how digital humanities projects generate new historical, cultural, or linguistic insights, emphasizing their broader implications for the field.
We recognize digital humanities work’s innovative and collaborative nature and welcome co-authored submissions and interdisciplinary approaches.
Timeline
- Abstract Deadline: Jan 12, 2026
- Full Manuscript Submission for Invited Contributions: May 15, 2026
- Peer-Review Process: Summer through early fall of 2026
- Final Revised Manuscripts Due: November 2026
- Target Publication Date: Spring 2027
Submission Guidelines
Please email abstracts to romes@mesana.org by January 12, 2026. Abstracts should be 350-500 words and include:
- Proposed title
- Author name(s) and affiliation(s)
- Brief description of the proposed contribution
- How it fits within the special issue themes
If you have questions about the scope of the issue, potential contributions, or the submission process, please contact: Review of Middle East Studies Editorial Team romes@mesana.org.
Hoda Yousef, Editor of Review of Middle East Studies
Laila Shereen Sakr, Guest Editor of Review of Middle East Studies
Laila Hussein Moustafa, Associate Editor of Review of Middle East Studies
11. Events at SOAS:
SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Oral Literature, Adaptation, and Resistance in the Zoroastrian Community
6.00pm, Monday 10 November 2025
Research Seminar in Islamic Art (ReSIA)
The Subversive Feminine: Contemporary Iranian Women Artists Challenging Gender Paradigms
6.00pm, Thursday 04 December 2025
Sadler’s Well
14 – 15 November 2025
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in association with the National Film and Television School
6.30pm, Sunday 16 November 2015
12. Persia Educational Foundation
Abdolreza Ansari Scholarship Fund
The scholarship is designed to support the education of students of Iranian descent, of any age or citizenship, enrolled in a Master or Doctorate programme in human rights or public service at an internationally accredited university in the UK or beyond.
Deadline: Friday 21 November 2025
13. Lecturer in the Study of Islam (fixed term, 0.5FTE), University of Glasgow
Fixed term until May 2027:
https://www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer-in-the-study-of-islam-lts
The closing date is Thursday, 13 November.
14. Oxford: Call for Applications for Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections
Full details of opportunities, and instructions on how to apply, at:
Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections | Bodleian Libraries
The call closes on 28 November 2025.
15. University of Toronto: Persian Lithographic Printing Seminar:
“Attitudes towards Lithography in 19th-Century India: The East India Company and Christian Missionaries”
Graham Shaw
University of London
Thursday, November 6, 2025, 12:00 p.m. EST
Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/LzX8QvxMR6y0yTkB7ESWqA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
16. Of Piety and Heresy: Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ghazzālī’s Persian Treatises on Antinomians
A Seyed-Gohrab,
De Gruyter, 2024
17. IQP20th meeting: European Qur’an ERC Project
By: Prof. Dr. Roberto Tottoli , The president of the University of Naples, L’Orientale
Wednesday Nov.5 2025, 15:00-16:30 (Mecca Zone)
For participation: send email to: info@zabanshenasitarikhi.ir
http://zabanshenasitarikhi.ir/p/73/IQP20th-meeting:-European-Quran/
18. Lecture – “Carpeting Safavid Shrines,” Sarah Molina, Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, November 4
The next lecture in the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series will take place on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at 12:00 Boston and New York / 17:00 London / 20:00 Istanbul.
Sarah Molina (Harvard University) will present “Carpeting Safavid Shrines.”
To attend, please register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/Zz_b0jGdRuK8EPDTIxgy4Q
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.
As always, you can find a full schedule of upcoming talks and register for our list-serv on our website at viahss.org. Although not every talk is recorded, we also have recordings of several recent talks available on the VIAHSS Vimeo page at vimeo.com/viahss. Lastly, you can follow us on Instagram at @theviahss to stay up to date on upcoming events!
A reminder that our 2026 CFP is open until November 14. To learn more and submit a proposal, please visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSft18j9ZomsQ58XNp7QU4z-6aGDrkMFyKmmqaXzt7bVBm9wyQ/viewform__;!!HXCxUKc!yI1L9AAKLn5JlU1wX1Sya3GKLWLHC5GTMw0WFLMqg-bjHMW9ce0fJvcfNdtbclLQbm9uN0-U9Es_o8D-$.
Contact Information
Drs. Alexander Brey, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Rachel Winter
Contact Email
URL
19. The Islamic College
The Story of Leili o Majnun
As an Allegory of the Sufi Path of Love in Persian Poetry
Dr Leili Anvar
Friday, 28 November 2025
6:00-7:30 pm (London time)
Online (register for link)
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/monthly-talk-the-story-of-leyli-o-majnun/
20. Call for Papers | 2026 BRISMES Annual Conference: War, Empire and Sabotage in an Age of Genocide
In these profoundly challenging times, our commitment to fostering knowledge exchange and building a vibrant scholarly community remains at the heart of the BRISMES Annual Conference. With this in mind, we are pleased to announce that submissions for the 2026 BRISMES Conference, co-hosted by the SOAS Middle East Institute on 23-25 June 2026, are now open. We warmly invite you to review the call for papers and submit your abstracts for individual presentations, panels, roundtables or creative interventions.
As always, we encourage submissions that sit outside the conference theme and are more broadly related to Middle East Studies. Relevant disciplines include – but are not limited to – politics, culture and society, language, literature, anthropology, economics, history, linguistics and translation studies, in or related to the MENA region.
Deadline: 14 December 2025
https://www.brismes.ac.uk/news/call-for-papers-2026-brismes-annual-conference
21. Early Career Research Fellowship – Arts
University of Cambridge
Applications are invited for a Research Fellowship in the following Arts subjects – Archaeology, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Geography (Social Science), History, History and Philosophy of Science, History of Art, Social Anthropology – which will normally be tenable for three years from 1 October 2026.
Deadline | 10 November 2025
22. Call for Papers | Kurdish Studies Conference
Conference | LSE | 29 April – 1 May 2026
The conference organisers warmly invite the submission of papers for the fourth Kurdish Studies Conference organised by the Kurdish Studies Series at the LSE Middle East Centre and the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield. The organisers welcome paper submissions with social sciences and humanities disciplinary approaches to any aspect of Kurdish studies.
Deadline | 28 November 2025
23. Traversing Spaces of Exception: Exploring New Methodologies in Research Practice and Publication
Seminar | AKU-ISMC | 4 November 2025
This seminar addresses the explosion of interest within Academia in alternative methods for both doing and publishing research. Using his own research project ‘The Native and Refugee’ as a case study, Malek Rasamny will explore a whole host of non-paper associated media from blogs to websites to documentary film.
More information
24. 4 novembre 2025 : 1ère séance du séminaire de l’IISMM : Autorité et culture politique en Iran qajar et dans l’Empire ottoman (ca. 1780-1920)
La première séance (2025-2026) du séminaire Autorité et culture politique en Iran qajar et dans l’Empire ottoman (ca. 1780-1920) aura lieu le mardi 4 novembre de 10h à 12h, à l’IISMM (EHESS, 54 bd Raspail 75006 Paris), Salle B3-18.
Il est également possible d’y assister à distance par le lien zoom suivant :
https://ehess-fr.zoom.us/j/98558979025?pwd=1EOFoBWcE9No6JJTZb9fixfu9VamZe.1
Intervenante : Sara Zanotta (Università di Torino)
Titre de l’intervention : Entre constitutionnalisme et anti-impérialisme : l’activisme international des Iraniens à l’étranger pendant la révolution constitutionnelle iranienne (1906-1911)
Résumé de l’intervention
Cette séance traitera de la façon dont les Iraniens à l’étranger ont interprété et participé à la révolution constitutionnelle iranienne, en mettant l’accent sur leurs efforts pour obtenir un soutien international. Après le bombardement de l’Assemblée Nationale en juin 1908, d’éminents députés et constitutionnalistes ont fui vers le Caucase du Sud, l’Empire ottoman et l’Europe pour échapper à l’arrestation ou à la mort et ils ont alors rejoint les communautés iraniennes déjà établies à l’étranger. Cet exil a renforcé l’activisme politique des communautés iraniennes en dehors de l’Iran qajar, tandis que la résistance à l’autocratie et à l’impérialisme s’intensifiait dans l’empire. Leur action ne se limitait pas à un soutien direct aux révolutionnaires en Iran à travers des financements, mais prenait également la forme d’un « activisme international » visant à rallier le soutien d’activistes et de gouvernements étrangers. Ce séminaire discutera les pratiques et les stratégies discursives grâce auxquelles ils ont recueilli du soutien en Asie, en Europe et en Afrique, depuis des dizaines de pétitions envoyées des pays aussi lointains que la Grande-Bretagne, l’Égypte et l’Inde jusqu’aux réunions publiques et aux manifestations en France et dans l’Empire ottoman, et montrera comment, de cette manière, les débats issus de l’Iran qajar ont trouvé un écho international.
Contacts
Denis Hermann : dnshermann@gmail.com
25. 11th International Conference of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East (SSCLE) “Crossing Seas – Crossing Cultures”, University of Porto, 29 June – 3 July 2026
Themes: Politics, Religion and Culture. – Women and Gender. – The Muslim World and the Crusades. – New Sources, New Interpretations. – Art, Archaeology and Material Culture. – Military History.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mrxwu7wm
- November 01, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment