Archive for 2025

This book launch will also be streamed on Ismaili TV. Tune in at 20.15 GMT.

Notions of ‘ethicization’ of Islam in Europe Reconsidered

Based on ethnographic research, the lecturer offers some perspectives on the position and formation of virtue ethics, adab, among young Twelver Shia Muslims in Norway. She discusses how the youths’ critical conceptualizations of their faith take place within the structural frameworks of customary rituals and established theological positions while being shaped in response to current public debates on Islam and face-to-face encounters with Muslims and non-Muslims.

1.”11th Islamic Legal Studies Conference” of the International Society for Islamic Legal Studies (ISILS), Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies & Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”, University of Münster, 22-24 May 2025

Deadline for registration: 7 May 2025.

Information: https://isils.net/isils/conferences/the-xi-islamic-legal-studies-conference/

 

 

 

 

 

2. 2nd International Conference of the Persian Manuscript Association: “Listen to the Flute: Timurid Music and Its Transmissions Across the Persianate World”, SOAS, University of London, 20-21 September 2025

The aim of this conference is to cultivate a broader multidisciplinary discourse among musicologists, historians, philosophers, literary scholars, theologians, and art historians, with the goal of facilitating a comprehensive exploration of musical traditions, practices, and institutions in the Persianate world.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2025. Information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/news/

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. We invite paper proposals for a panel on Symmetrical Structures and Patterns in Islamic Architecture, Poetry, and Imagination,for the 13th Congress of the Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry. The congress is scheduled to take place August 22-29, 2025,  at the Orthodox Academy of Crete.

ABSTRACTS DUE MAY 1 to bier.carol@gmail.com and charleshowley1@g.ucla.edu.

Papers in the panel will be allotted 20 minutes, plus discussion. See below for a description of the panel and further details, including preparation of the abstract.

PANEL PROPOSAL: Symmetrical Structures and Patterns in Islamic Architecture, Poetry, and Imagination

Persian and Islamic lands witnessed an intense flourishing of art, architecture, mathematics, science and poetry beginning in the 9th century. From the poetry of Ferdowsi, Farrokhi Sistani, and Gorgani to the monuments of Bukhara, Isfahan, and Maragha, poetic, artistic, and architectural forms emerged that would become predominant throughout the Islamic world. At the same time, the translation and advancement of scientific, philosophical, and mathematical thought shaped an ‘Islamic Golden Age.’ Ghaznavid palaces were filled with poets and inscribed with poetry. Likewise, the Seljuk courts attracted literati and learned men of diverse backgrounds contributing to a vibrant intellectual environment.

In response to this rich cultural flourishing from the 9th-12th centuries, we envision an experimental gathering of scholars trained in different disciplines to provide interpretive insights and diverse perspectives on the use and significance of imagination in the arts and discourses of the pre-Mongol Islamic world. Papers will explore lines of thought that are literal, mathematical, and metaphorical with a view towards understanding how imagination figures in the articulation of worlds beyond that of the tangible.

This panel focuses on the symmetries of intricate geometric patterns executed in cut and glazed bricks on monuments in Iran and neighboring regions, considered in relation to Qur’anic passages and contemporary poetry. In particular, study of Nezami’s Haft Paykar, a literary masterpiece of enormous complexity and imagination, explores its architectural references and geometric structures. Together we raise questions for the interpretation of patterns in spatial and imaginative realms.

CONFERENCE DATES AND VENUE

August 22-29, 2025, Kolymbari, Crete, Greece

Orthodox Academy of Crete

CONFERENCE COSTS (for your calculation and planning)

Airfare to/from Chania, Crete, Greece

Visa, if needed

Registration fee (before June 30) 350€, accompanying persons@ 100€

Conference fee (includes accommodation at the Orthodox Academy of Crete [room and full board], 8/22-29/2025)

double room 1170€ per person; single room 1480€ per person

For more detailed information, see https://sites.google.com/view/the-13th-sis-congress/booking

ABSTRACTS

There is a specific format required for submitted abstracts. A template is provided here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IkbZ1xHcsWBwtihXe49RkKvBwN9o0nqm

TIMELINE

May 1, 2025 – abstracts to bier.carol@gmail.com and charleshowley1@g.ucla.edu

May 4, 2025 – panel proposal with approved abstracts to conference organizers

June 1, 2025 – notification of acceptance of panel/abstracts

Jun 30, 2025 – payments due (by wire transfer) for conference registration and booking

Please note that conference registration and booking fees are non-refundable.

Carol Bier, Research Scholar, Center for Islamic Studies, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA

Charlotte Howley, PhD Student, Iranian Studies, University of California – Los Angeles CA

 

 

 

 

4. Boutheina Khaldi 4/17 Signs & Traces in al-Iṣfahānī’s Adab al-ghurabāʾ

Dear Members of the Arabic Studies Seminar and Friends,

Please find below the information regarding our upcoming meeting with Professor Boutheina Khaldi THIS Thursday (4/17) at 7pm EST in Faculty House. The talk is titled Signs and Traces in The Book of Strangers (Kitāb adab al- ghurabāʾ). Please note that due to new regulations, non CUID holders will not be allowed into Faculty House without prior notice. If you intend to be present in-person and do not have a Columbia ID, please RSVP ASAP. If we don’t receive your RSVP we will not be able to let you in. You should receive a QR code before Wednesday morning–if not, please reply to this message.  The talk will be live streamed here on ZOOM for guests who can’t make it in person.

We will begin at 7:00 pm. If you would like to join the speaker for dinner at 6:00 pm at Faculty House please RSVP to the seminar’s rapporteur (rma2152@columbia.edu). The cost of dinners is $30, payable via card or check. Attendees who are fasting may take their dinner into the seminar room.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEMINAR IN ARABIC STUDIES

Signs and Traces in The Book of Strangers (Kitāb adab al- ghurabāʾ)

Thursday, April 17, 2025

7 pm EST at Faculty House

Boutheina Khaldi

Abstract:

In Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī’s (d. 356/967) Adab al-ghurabāʾ, the concept of exile emerges as a human phenomenon portrayed in different colors and shapes, shown in writing as a means of declaring absence and documenting presence. This book includes anecdotes, stories, and short poems that had been engraved on walls and doors, leaving behind a mark for travelers and a trail for wanderers. Several reasons prompted the nomads to write down on the walls since there was no other way to escape their alienation, anguish and complaints except through writing. The talk primarily focuses on the writing on walls (graffiti) in Adab al-ghurabāʾ. This topic was based not only on its novelty and humor, but also on the paucity of prior studies that have been conducted on the subject. The studies and research which focus on the writings and graffiti inscribed on walls in general, and the ones which focus on the writing on walls in Arab culture in particular, were relatively scarce compared to the modern era wherein scholars and researchers have displayed an increased interest in this topic. The talk deals with the different manifestations of the concept of exile in outer space, and searches through traces/graffiti as they reveal a polyphonic, polysemic and multilayered text giving way for marginalized and alienated people to communicate, find their voices and make their presence heard.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/92597500745

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Call for Abstracts

Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies

May 29-30, 2026

University of Toronto, Canada

The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University in collaboration with The Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University and the Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies program at Oklahoma State University jointly present the inaugural Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies.

The Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies will assemble scholars from various disciplines contributing to transnational and multidisciplinary Iranian Diaspora Studies, with a particular interest in South-South relations across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. Panels and speakers are invited to present original research on topics related to the Iranian diaspora, including (but not limited to):

• Exploring diverse historical, artistic, literary, and cultural expressions of the global Iranian diaspora, including gender, class, ethnicity, generation, and overlapping identities (e.g., LGBTQ+, religious minorities, persons with disabilities)
• Comparative studies across Iranian diaspora communities, including between Iranian and other migrant groups
• Activism and social movements within the Iranian diaspora, including engagement with homeland politics
• The role of language and media in shaping Iranian diasporic identities

The conference organizers invite individual papers, pre-organized panels, and creative submissions that engage with the conference topics. To maximize the value of in-person exchanges, the conference will be held exclusively in-person. Presentations will be conducted in English. A limited number of travel grants may be available to graduate students on a competitive basis.

Abstracts are due May 30, 2025. Please send your title along with a 250-300 word abstract, a 100-word bio, and your contact information to: gidc.eomi@utoronto.ca. Be sure to include “Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies 2026” in the subject line of the email. Notification of acceptance will be sent by September 30, 2025.

Conference Committee:

Mohamad Tavakoli, University of Toronto

Persis Karim, San Francisco State University

Amy Malek, Oklahoma State University

Nima Naghibi, Toronto Metropolitan University

Amin Moghadam, Toronto Metropolitan University

Farzaneh Hemmasi, University of Toronto

 

 

 

 

6. Conference – ARABIC CODICOLOGY WEEK – PARIS, MAY 13-16, 2025

We are delighted to announce an exceptional week dedicated to the study of manuscripts and book culture in Arabic script in Paris. Two conferences will be held by the EPHE and the Collège de France.

Tuesday, May 13 & Wednesday, May 14
From Letters to Digits: The Legacy of Arabic Manuscripts in Contemporary Studies – 2nd Escorial Arabic Codicology Alumni Meeting
Organized by Nuria de Castilla (EPHE-PSL)

• May 13: Collège de France, Room D2
  11, place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris
• May 14: Bibliothèque nationale de France Richelieu, Salle des Conférences
  2, rue de Vivienne, 75002 Paris

Programme

Registration: mss.arabicscript@gmail.com

Thursday, May 15 & Friday, May 16
The Book in the Islamicate World: History and Techniques
Organized by François Déroche (Collège de France)

• May 15: Salle Halbwachs, Collège de France
  11, place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris
• May 16: Amphithéâtre Delmas-Marty, Collège de France
  11, place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris

Programme

Free admission, subject to seating availability

An opportunity to engage with Arabic-script manuscripts through multidisciplinary lens, bringing together codicology, history, philology, and digital approaches and to foster intergenerational and cross-disciplinary exchange on the history of the Arabic manuscript book.

Contact Email

mss.arabicscript@gmail.com

URL

https://www.academia.edu/128064279/From_Letters_to_Digits_The_Legacy_of_Arabic_…

including:
24. April 2025
Dr. Azadeh Zamirirad, Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Berlin:
Theokratie im Umbruch: Diskursive Normverschiebungen in der Islamischen Republik Iran

12. Juni 2025
Dr. Jan-Peter Hartung, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg:
Überwachen und Strafen: Zur Praxis der Kontrolle öffentlicher Moral im Islamischen Emirat Afghanistan

1.Eleventh Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies, London, May 8-10, 2025

David Sizer Lecture Theatre, Mile End Campus, Queen Mary University London

REGISTRATION IS AVAILABLE UNTIL APRIL 25, 2025

If you want to attend, please first register here: https://mamluk.uchicago.edu/sms2025attend.html

Then follow this link to proceed to payment: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/school-of-mamluk-studies-conference-2025-tickets-1206799593069

For more info: https://mamluk.uchicago.edu/sms-conference.html

 

 

 

 

2. Online Lecture – “Geometry in Islamic Art: Number, Shape, and the Nature of Space,” Carol Bier, Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, April 15

The final talk of the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series for the spring 2025 semester, will take place on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 9:00 Berkeley / 12:00 New York / 17:00 London / 19:00 Istanbul.

Carol Bier (Center for Islamic Studies, Graduate Theological Union) will present “Geometry in Islamic Art: Number, Shape, and the Nature of Space.”

To attend, please make sure to register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/pQCnTcDFQnOlMVLtV402mA
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Zahra Institute – Zoom: “Imaginaries of Shingal as a Landscape of Resistance-Narratives around Yezidi Shrines Since the ISIS Genocide”

Wednesday, 30 April: 12pm Central / 1pm Eastern

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/93743788619?pwd=L9YZaH1Bbdcd5Kyud91OuaayMxAZOa.1

Benjamin Raßbach (Ph.D., Leipzig University) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Orient-Institute Beirut. His research focuses on politics of autonomy, material cultures and knowledge production among various Middle Eastern minority groups and political organizations.

https://www.zahrainstitute.org/

 

 

 

 

4. Kamran Djam Lectures 2025

The Wisdom of Iran: From the Gāthās of Zarathushtra to the Masnavī of Rūmī

Two Lectures by Professor Alan Williams, The University of Manchester

7–8 May 2025

Lecture 1: 6.30pm, Wednesday 7 May. Followed by a reception.

The Wisdom of the Gāthic tradition in Pahlavi literature: Dēnkard VI (9th Century A.C.)

In 1979 Shaul Shaked published his Wisdom of the Sasanian Sages (Dēnkard VI), which was a revised version of his own doctoral thesis on Pahlavi andarz (gnomic) literature (1964). Shaked had foreshadowed the bold ideas of his thesis about the gnomic aphorisms of Dēnkard VI in an article with the controversial title ‘Esoteric trends in Zoroastrianism’ (Jerusalem, 1969).
This latter article did not meet with much favour among Western scholars at the time. In this lecture, 56 years after its first publication, there will be a further consideration of Shaked’s ideas about ‘esoteric trends’ in Zoroastrianism and andarz literature in general.
Lecture 2: 6.30pm, Thursday 8 May

Wisdom in the Masnavī of Mowlānā Jalāloddīn Rūmī Balkhī (1207-1273)
Rūmī is a Persian ‘Sūfī’ poet who has been afforded ‘saintly’ status in the Muslim world, and is nowadays fêted globally as the epitome of mystical knowledge and love. Yet, in the Masnavi, Rūmī appears as a Ḥanafī Muslim who cites from the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth countless times. The question whether Rūmī himself was ‘orthodox’, on the one hand,  or ‘antinomian’ and unorthodox, remains a live issue for Muslims.
Also, it is possibly of concern to many influenced by the ‘versions’ of those who edit out Rūmī’s Muslim background and depict him as a ‘universalist’ thinker whose poetry transcends religious boundaries and categories.

Registration

Downloadable Programme (PDF)

 

 

 

 

 

5. University of Maryland 2025 Summer Language Institute in Arabic and Persian

https://sllc.umd.edu/special-programs/arabic-persian/summer-langage-institutes

 

 

 

 

6. Study Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish at MEDLI this summer (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

The Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Language Institute (MEDLI), formerly known as the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Language Institute (APTLI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, offers high-quality, proficiency-based courses in 4 languages for undergraduates, graduate students, and adult learners. Our 8-week programs are the equivalent of one year of study. Students learn speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills though classroom instruction and a full range of co-curricular activities.  Students will receive 8 credits and a letter grade (A-F) after completing the program. MEDLI participants must complete both 4-week sessions for a total of 8 weeks. Courses meet Monday-Friday, 9-11am and 12-2pm (CST), from June 16 – August 8, 2025.

Funding is available to cover ½ of tuition for all applicants.

About MEDLI: https://medli.wisc.edu/

Application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf99qeeSMJea24N4Ws_JHY1KXL99pTzQsE0zH3fWm6PI2HxiA/viewform

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. The full programme, abstracts and free registration for our 2-day global online conference Proofs for God’s Existence in Islamic Thought, hosted by Cambridge Muslim College on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th April, is available through the following link: https://www.cambridgemuslimcollege.ac.uk/research/existence/

 

 

 

 

 

8. AMEWS Book Award

The Association for Middle East Women’s Studies (AMEWS) Book Award recognizes and promotes excellence in the field of Middle East gender, women’s and sexuality studies. Books published (copyrighted) in 2024 will be considered for the 2025 award. The competition is open only to books published in English. The winner is recognized at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association and receives a monetary prize. Other books deemed exceptional may receive an honorable mention.

Copies of the nominated book must also be sent to the individual Award Committee members (3 in total) listed below under “Instructions.” Works submitted without an accompanying nomination form and book copies will not be considered–both are required.

The deadline to submit the nomination form and the three copies of each nominated book is June 17, 2024. If you have any questions about the book award process, please contact Ellen McLarney at ellenmc@duke.edu with any questions.

Requirements:

• Books published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 are eligible for this year’s award.
• Books must be non-fiction scholarly monographs based on original research. Works that are not eligible include edited collections and compilations, proceedings of symposia, new editions of previously published books, bibliographies, dictionaries, textbooks, and surveys.
• Books that have already been nominated for this book award cannot be renominated.

To Nominate a Book:

• The deadline is June 15, 2025
• Send copies of the book to each of the three members of the committee (information below).
• The books should be postmarked by June 1, 2025.

Instructions:

Mail one copy of the nominated book to the members of the Book Award Committee:

Ellen McLarney

3901 Darby Road

Durham, NC 27707

ellenmc@duke.edu

Amy Kallander

145 Eggers Hall

Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13244

akalland@syr.edu

Hatoon Alfassi

7252 al-Hamawi Street

AlNafel, Riyadh 13312, Saudi Arabia

hatoon.alfassi@manchester.ac.uk

The nomination is not complete until each member of the committee receives a copy of the nominated book, which should be postmarked by June 1, 2025 to ensure delivery by June 15, 2025. Books cannot be returned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Moroccan Book-making and Manuscript Production: Approaches to Materials, Traditions and Functions (Inperson/online)

14 – 15 April – Qatar National Library is organizing this academic symposium that will bring together a distinguished group of experts and scholars. The symposium will explore the history of book-making (wiraqah) in Morocco and the Maghreb, delving into traditions of authorship and copying, the evolution of materials used in writing, and their impact on the circulation of knowledge.

Key topics of the symposium 

• Authorship, copying, editing and textual verification traditions in Morocco, and the role of scribes and bookmakers (warraqon) in the transmission of learning
• The history of libraries and their role in manuscript preservation
• Materials used in writing: parchment, paper and inks
• Maghrebi and Andalusian scripts: their varieties and historical development
• The aesthetics of Moroccan manuscripts: illumination, decoration and binding
• Paratexts: marginalia, ownership and documentation notes

Event page details and registration: https://events.qnl.qa/event/gowvd/EN

Contact Email

mgomaa@qnl.qa

URL

https://events.qnl.qa/event/gowvd/EN

 

 

 

 

 

10. ONLINE Panel Discussion: “Freedom of Speech, Trump and Campus Repression: The Case of Badar Khan Suri”, Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), Georgetown University, 14 April 2025, 22:00 h CET

Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown, was seized by federal agents outside of his apartment. Nearly a dozen known students and faculty members have been detained by the Trump Administration in recent weeks. More than 300 visas and green cards have been revoked. How can we best understand this assault on freedom of speech in the United States? What political and constitutional principles are at stake in this crisis?

Information and registration: https://georgetown.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DiwuSWE5T6yc_cUpNqTfqQ?#/registration

 

 

 

 

11. The Persian Manuscripts Association offers a £1000 research grant to support innovative scholarly projects focused on any aspect of Persian studies. This grant aims to foster research that explores the rich cultural, artistic, linguistic, and historical aspects of Persian studies. 

The grant is open to postgraduate and independent researchers working on wide-ranging topics related to any discipline as applied to Persian studies. The funds may be used to support research activities such as archival visits, publication costs, or for the organisation of scholarly workshops. Projects concentrated on Persian manuscripts are prioritised, but everyone is welcome to apply.

Deadline for abstracts: 16 May 2025. Information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/grants/

 

 

 

 

 

12. Ferdowsi PhD Dissertation Award

The Persian Manuscripts Association awards an annual Dissertation Award to recognize outstanding doctorate research in Persian studies. This award is part of the PMA’s broader commitment to fostering scholarship of the Persianate world across wide-ranging fields of study, and celebrating the intellectual traditions of the Persian-speaking world. The prize aims to support early-career scholars and promote high-quality research on regions ranging from Iran to Central Asia and beyond.

Eligible dissertations must be written in English or Persian and submitted between January 2023 and December 2024. In addition to the cash prize, winners have the opportunity to publish in the PMA’s academic journal, Shamsa.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2025. Information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/grants/

 

‘Music in the Lives of Alevi Kurds’

Wednesday, 16 April: 12pm Central / 1pm Eastern

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/95772733390?pwd=5HFnVJEvKXCaOGjc11rles8GC4Q5Iy.1

Ozan Aksoy (Ph.D., CUNY Graduate Center) is an Assistant Professor in Liberal Arts and Sciences at Berklee College of Music. He is an avid vocalist and a multi-instrumentalist who has founded and led several Middle Eastern and Mediterranean music ensembles in New York City. With the critically acclaimed ensemble Kardeş Türküler (Ballads of Solidarity), Aksoy performed the songs of ethnic and religious minorities, including the Kurds, Armenians, Laz, and Alevi.

https://www.zahrainstitute.org/

1.HYBRID Roundtable “Sufism from Medieval to Early Modern Era: Recent Studies and Emerging Perspectives” by Professor Ilyass Bouzghaia (Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University), Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative, New York University, 17 April 2025, 23:30 h CET

This roundtable brings together scholars specializing in Sufism from the medieval to early modern periods. Its primary aim is to foster a collaborative and productive environment where researchers working on related themes can exchange ideas and engage in in-depth discussions on recent developments and challenges in the field of Sufi studies.

Information and registration:

https://as.nyu.edu/research-centers/neareaststudies/events/spring-2025/ots-template.html

 

 

 

 

 

2. International Conference: “Exploring the Meanings of the Holy Quran through Translation and the Role of Emerging Technologies”, Al-Zahra College for Women, Muscat, 3-5 November 2025

The conference will explore innovative solutions and technological tools that can help produce translations that resonate with contemporary audiences while preserving the noble message of the Quran. Themes: Historical perspectives in the translation of the Holy Quran. – Methods and approaches in the translation of the Holy Quran. – Culture in/of the translation of the Holy Quran. – Innovations and emerging technologies in the translation of the Holy Quran

Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2025. Information: https://www.zcw.edu.om/Research/First-International-Conference-On-QuranTranslation/Scientific-Research-Council.aspx

 

 

 

 

 

3. International conference “Forms of (Un)Freedom: Emancipation and Post-slavery in the Red Sea Region”, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 13-14 November 2025

Deadline for abstracts: 1 May 2025.

Information: https://networks.h-net.org/system/files/attachments/call-papersred-sea-workshopnovember-2025.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

4. Associate Senior Lecturer in History with Specialisation in Middle Eastern History, Lund University

Qualifications: You hold a doctoral degree or have corresponding research expertise in history that is of value in view of the subject matter of the position and the duties that it will involve. We will primarily prioritise those applicants who have been awarded a doctoral degree after 18 May 2018.

Deadline for applications: 19 May 2025. Information: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:798426/

 

 

 

 

 

5. ONLINE Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar: “Reading Ottoman Turkish”, 9-12 June 2025

This course will introduce participants to the Ottoman language, it’s alphabet, calligraphic styles, basic grammar and structure, as well as an overview of changes over time. The course will focus on primary sources often used by historians and the paleographic challenges they present.

Deadline for applications: 28 April 2025.

Information: https://www.mediterraneanseminar.org/overview-islamic-legal-texts-2025

 

 

 

 

 

6. ONLINE Mediterranean Studies Summer Skills Seminar: “Islamic Legal Texts: In Depth”, 11-14 August 2025

The seminar is focused on developing the skill of reading Islamic legal texts as opposed to surveying Islamic legal doctrines. It is designed for beginners seeking to build their capacity to investigate Islamic law. Professor Ali will lead participants in a methodical reading of an introduction to Islamic law. Participants will read the chapters on legal obligation (taklīf) and ritual purity (ṭahāra) in Durūs tamhīdiyya fī l-fiqh al-istidlālī by Muḥammad Bāqir al-Īrawānī (b. 1949).

Deadline for applications: 28 April 2025.

Information: https://us9.campaign-archive.com/?e=82aeb6c61d&u=e1ae5bef9757e58afec01a89a&id=62e3b6f14f

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Job advertisement: Lecturer in Islamic Studies

Theology and Religious Studies

School of Critical Studies

University of Glasgow

Grade 7/8, R&T

For more details, visit: https://www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer-in-islamic-studies-r-and-t

For informal inquiries, please contact Head of Theology and Religious Studies, Dr Mia Spiro, mia.spiro@glasgow.ac.uk .

Closing date: 27 April 2025.

 

 

 

 

8. CfP: South Asia and the Neighboring World in the Mughal Period:

Intellectual and Material Exchanges

École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Marseille

December 10th-11th 2025

The conference examines the intellectual networks, material exchanges, and scholarly interactions between the Mughal Empire (1526-1857) in South Asia and its neighboring regions of the Middle East, Iran, Central and Southeast Asia. This conference takes a transregional perspective to the recent debates surrounding the cosmopolitan nature of early modern intellectual activities and networks. The scholarship in the last decade has heavily focused on the place of Persian—the high literary and administrative language of the Mughal elites as well as its influences on producing a distinct Indo-Persian culture in South Asia. While Indian Ocean studies had privileged the study of peninsular India, recent works have focused on Iran’s cultural and political influence in the creation of a distinct Persianate world. The expanded definition of the “Persianate” has generated insights on literary and cultural practices, elite self-fashioning, religious pluralism, and artistic production. Others have urged to recognize its limits, boundaries, and the severe constraints of relying on Persian literary narratives for writing about pre-modern South Asia. For instance, the vibrant literary practices in Sanskrit and the vernaculars have been increasingly present in examining the region’s multilingualism. Yet, current approaches, as this project argues, do not take into account the inter-regional dynamics specific to Islamic intellectual networks.

The conference invites scholars to take a transregional perspective to Islamicate culture through the influences and trends in legal, religious, and scientific practices from both the perspective of intellectual and material histories. Rather than artificially decouple the Persianate from the Islamicate, a tendency prevalent in most scholarship on South Asia, our aim is to bring together scholars working in diverse genres of textual practices to examine forms of transmission and acculturation in Arabic, Persian, and other languages as mutually coexisting spheres of Islamic knowledge production.

The conference addresses the need to bring into dialogue scholastic debates, norms, and practices with their transmission in writing practices of the period. Early modern relations between these regions were circumscribed by larger intellectual networks that were trans-imperial in nature while also constrained by specific socio-political contexts. In other words, although the Ottomans, Mughals, and Safavids had extensive internal diversity in literate communities, we argue that their connections going beyond the imperial frontiers have to be examined to revise historiographical views that tend to be concentrated on national or regional zones.

We welcome submissions on themes outlined above taking into account wide-ranging discussions in literature, poetry, philosophy, logic, law, medicine and other fields without ignoring the material transmission through the circulation of works across long distances.

Please send an abstract of 300 words and a short bio of 200 words to the following email address by June 10th 2025: fabrizio.speziale@ehess.fr

Organizers: Asad Q. Ahmed (University of California, Berkeley), Naveen Kanalu (EHESS-CRH, Paris), Fabrizio Speziale (EHESS-CESAH, Marseille-Paris).

Venue: École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales/School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Centre de la Vieille Charité, 2 rue de la Charité, Marseille.

 

 

 

 

 

9. Shape of Extinction
Poems by Bijan Jalali
Translated from the Persian by Adeeba Shahid Talukder and Aria Fani
Preface by Domenico Ingenito
Critical Introduction by Aria Fani
Publication date: May 9, 2025

https://asemanabooks.ca/shape-of-extinction/

 

 

 

 

 

10. In-Person Workshop in June- Manchester, England -Decolonial Methods

Workshop Title: Collectively Situated Knowledge: A decolonial research method for constructing collective auto-narratives and positionalities

To Apply: Please fill out the form here- https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/forms/s/dqtPkM7GWQntCCJ8m2mEDQEp
Application Deadline: Until all spaces are filled.
Payment Deadline: June 2nd, 2025
Dates: June 4th-5th, 2025
Time: 10am to 6pm
Location: Manchester, England (Specific details will be provided upon acceptance)

 

‘The Professional’ screening and discussion