Archive for 2025
Shii News – Zoom: ‘An Olfactory Approach to Safavid Paintings’ – G M M Brigatti (London, 17.00, 4.3.25)
4 March, 2025 – Giorgia M. Maffioli Brigatti (Pembroke College, University of Cambridge) will present “Poetics and Politics of Fragrance: An Olfactory Approach to Safavid Paintings.”
12:00 NYC / 17:00 London / 20:00 Istanbul.
To attend, please make sure to register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/abodcKZJQee8IBn42E_vSA
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.
- March 03, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. On Tuesday, March 18, Atri Hatef Naiemi (University of British Columbia) will present “Ilkhanid Capital Cities: Transcultural Interactions.”
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 X at @viahss and on Instagram at @theviahss to stay up to date on upcoming events!
We look forward to seeing you on March 4!
Contact Information
Drs. Alexander Brey, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Rachel Winter
Contact Email
URL
2. HYBRID History Seminar “Cinema alla franca in Ottoman Istanbul” by Özde Çeliktemel (Boğaziçi University), IFEA, Istanbul, 5 March 2025, 15:00 – 17:00 h CET
This presentation examines the emergence of cinematic culture in early 20th century Ottoman Istanbul, focusing on its interplay with the cultural, social, and political fabric of the imperial capital. The introduction of films as cultural exports and tradable commodities was driven by both foreign and local entrepreneurs eager to profit from exhibitions, rentals, and the sale of cinematic devices.
Deadline for registration: 3 March 2025. Information: https://www.ifea-istanbul.net/index.php/fr/evenements/eve-hist/history-seminar-cinema-alla-franca-in-ottoman-istanbul
3. HYBRID Roundtable “Making and Unmaking of Ottoman Borders”, Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative, New York University, 6 March 2025, 11:30 pm CET
This roundtable brings together scholars to discuss the making and unmaking of Ottoman borders in the last century of the empire. The participants will reflect on the definition of what constitutes borderlands in relation to their academic works, and what are the processes in which various experiences of territoriality can be conceptualized within the Ottoman context.
Information and registration: https://nyu.zoom.us/meeting/register/kAmiTPU7RM2VmnevvvljLA#/registration
4. HYBRID Book Talk „Occasions for Poetry: Politics, Literature, and Imagination Among the Early Modern Ottomans“ by Oscar Aguirre-Mandujano, Ottoman and Turkish Studies, New York Univer-sity, 20 March 2025, 10:30 pm CET
After the conquest of Constantinople in 1453, Ottoman elites turned to poetry to craft distinctive expressions of identity and authority within the sultanate. Aguirre-Mandujano places Ottoman court poetry in its historical and social context, revealing its role as a powerful political act. Through poetic imagery, scholars and bureaucrats not only engaged with one another but also influenced bureaucratic practices and advanced their careers.
Information and registration: https://nyu.zoom.us/meeting/register/dWWJ8jUCTVW8FepB4dH_Ow#/registration
5. Research Seminar “War and Armed Conflict Ethics in Islamic Scholarship: Historical Insights and Modern Challenges”, Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics (CILE), Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, 26-27 May 2025
This seminar seeks to critically engage with both modern ethical challenges and the long-standing tradition of Islamic scholarship on war ethics. The discussion will focus on two main themes: (A) modern ethical challenges as addressed by contemporary interdisciplinary scholarship, and (B) insights from historical Islamic scholarship that remain relevant to these discussions today. CILE will cover travel, accommodation, and open-access publication fees for selected participants.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 March 2025. Information:
https://www.cilecenter.org/public-outreach/announcements/call-research-papers?utmsource=chatgpt.com
6. Conference “Minority Law in Arab States: Governing Religious Diversity”, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, 14-15 July 2025
The conference foregrounds the complex interplay between legal autonomy and the governance of religious diversity with regard to family law in Arab states. We invite submissions that address legal pluralism; minority responses to the governance of religious diversity; gender and inter-religious relationships; the impact of conflict on family laws; international law, institutions, and advocacy; local, national, and regional policy and reform perspectives.
Deadline for abstracts: 24 March 2025. Information: https://www.mpipriv.de/minority-law
7. Workshop “Changing Conditions, Changing Discourse: Bektashis and Other Sufis in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic Turkey, 1826 to 1950”, University of Munich, 21-22 July 2025
Main topics: • How did Sufi orders, both as organizations or represented by individual disciples, experience and respond to the aforementioned events and to the concomitant change of discourses? • In what manner has the format of their communications evolved? How did Sufis share their individual experience within their communities? Which external actors were attracted, which cooperations were established?
Deadline for abstracts:9 March 2025.
Information: https://www.sfb1369.uni-muenchen.de/veranstaltungen/meldungen/cfp-b05/index.html
8. Annual Conference of the “Qurán Unit” of the “American Academy of Religion (AAR)”, Boston, 22-25 November 2025
We are especially interested in proposals highlighting new or developing areas of research in relation to the Qur’an, papers on understudied topics and themes, or that relate to the annual theme of “Freedom” (broadly defined – political, religious, economic, personal, positive, negative, etc.). Deadline for abstracts: 2025 [sic]
Information: https://papers.aarweb.org/sites/default/files/uploads/full_call.pdf (page 270)
9. Arcapita Visiting Professor of Modern Arab Studies (1 Semester), Middle East Institute, Columbia University
We are interested in candidates whose field of research and teaching is in history, culture, or social sciences of the modern Arab world. Qualifications: Ph.D., record of scholarly publications, and proven teaching experience in English are required by the beginning of the appointment. Experience teaching at a university in the Middle East highly preferred.
Deadline for applications: 30 April 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/162010
10. Faculty Fellow in Near Eastern Studies (1-3 Years), Hagop Kevorkian Center for Near Eastern Studies, New York University
The ideal candidate has an in-depth understanding of the modern Middle East, knowledge of at least one Middle Eastern language, a commitment to inclusive pedagogy, and has a Ph.D. in one of the following fields: Anthropology, History, Near Eastern Studies, Politics/Political Economy, Sociology, or related disciplines. Candidates should have completed their Ph.D. no earlier than 2020, and no later than August 1, 2025.
Deadline for applications: 24 March 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/163617
11. Call for Papers – Journal of Digital Islamicate Research (JDIR)
Issue: July 2025 | Submission Deadline: April 1, 2025
The Journal of Digital Islamicate Research (JDIR) invites scholars, researchers, and practitioners to submit original contributions for its upcoming issue, scheduled for publication in July 2025. As a peer-reviewed journal, JDIR is dedicated to advancing the intersection of Digital Humanities (DH) and Islamicate Studies, fostering innovative computational, analytical, and theoretical approaches to the study of Middle Eastern and Islamicate cultures—both past and present.
We particularly welcome interdisciplinary and methodologically diverse studies that integrate Cultural Analytics, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Geographic Information Systems (GIS), visualization techniques, and other digital methodologies to examine the rich textual, visual, and material culture of the Islamicate world. We are especially interested in expanding our focus to include literary, artistic, and cultural production within the Islamicateworld, encouraging contributions that explore how digital tools transform the study of Islamicateliterature, aesthetic practices, media, and performance cultures across different historical periods and geographic regions.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Computational and Quantitative Analyses of Islamicate Texts
(Arabic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish, Urdu, and other Middle Eastern languages) - Digital Methods in the Study of Islamicate Literature and Poetics
- Visualization and Big Data Approaches to Islamicate Cultural Heritage
- Applications of AI, NLP, and Machine Learning in Middle Eastern Digital Humanities
- Corpus Linguistics and Stylometric Studies of Islamicate Writing Traditions
- Islamicate Digital Archives, Repositories, and Text Encoding Initiatives
- Non-Muslim Literary and Cultural Traditions in Islamicate Contexts
(e.g., Geniza research, Judeo-Arabic, Syriac, Armenian, Persianate Jewish texts) - Digital Approaches to Islamic Manuscripts, Calligraphy, and Epigraphy
- Mapping and GIS Analysis of Islamicate History and Cultural Networks
- Computational Studies of Islamic Art, Architecture, and Visual Culture
- Digital Media and Islamicate Popular Culture: Film, Music, and Performance in Digital Contexts
- Islamicate Digital-Born and Digitally-Reformatted Materials in the Contemporary World
- Ethical Considerations in Digital Humanities and Islamicate Knowledge Production
The Journal of Digital Islamicate Research accepts manuscripts in English and Arabic. Submissions should be made via the Editorial Manager on the Brill website: Submit Your Manuscript.
For inquiries or further information, please contact: jdir@brill.com
12. Circle for Late Antique and Medieval Studies (CLAMS) at The Ralph Bunche Institute of International Studies (RBIIS) The Graduate Center & College of Arts & Sciences at New York City College of Technology/CUNY
Presents
KHUSRO I ANUSHIRWAN (531-79)
The Life & Achievements of a Great Reforming Sasanian King
Friday, March 7th | 12:00 pm
James Howard-Johnston
Emeritus Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford University
https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/IjsPCkfuTKy26O7jfkG01w#/registration
13. Online conference on Script-switching in Literary Texts
Join us online for over thirty inspiring talks, interesting discussions and a visual poster session on literary script-switching!
The programme, abstracts and sign-up link for our Script-switching in Literary Texts conference on 12-14 March 2025 are now available on the LangueFlow website.
14. “An Examination of the Historical Evolution of Persian Lithographic Book Publishing during the First Pahlavi Era in the Cities of Tehran and Shiraz” (in Persian)
Dr. Torfeh Abtahi
Independent Scholar, Tehran
Thursday, 6 March 2025, 12:00 p.m. EST
Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUscumrrzosHNUsM7F1nqw4NvFz2Ia1ON9Q
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
15. M-Classi, tutorial for new users
A short demo of M-Classi device, to help users navigate the system and showing M-Classi’s main functionalities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggUuIL1Adpw&ab_channel=InstitutIncalUCLouvain
M-Classi is an open-source digital tool to store, catalogue, search, and visualize the classifications of the sciences in Islam as well as those of the regions that came into contact with Islamic cultures, from Antiquity to the Pre-Modern era. The device is thus focused by priority on Arabic, Persian, and Turkish classifications, but for comparative purposes it will also integrate taxonomies in languages such as Syriac, Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and others.
M-Classi allows one to make various types of queries on the classifications integrated into its database. Through a cumulative graph and the use of filters (by language, by author, by period, etc.), it also allows one to visualize the results at a glance and in a dynamic manner.
M-Classi’s beta version (https://www.m-classi.eu/), created at UCLouvain in 2023, is available on simple request by contacting me at godefroid.decallatay@uclouvain.be.
- March 01, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Venue Change: Imam Ali Seminar, Sunday 9th March 2025, Regent’s University London, NW1 4NS
SEMINAR
TO COMMEMORATE THE MARTYRDOM OF
IMAM ALI (a.s.)
SUNDAY 9th MARCH 2025 – 2:00 PM
NEW VENUE – REGENT’S UNIVERSITY LONDON
TUKE HALL
INNER CIRCLE, REGENT’S PARK, LONDON NW1 4NS
Tube station: Baker Street
Chair: Professor Justin Jones
Justin Jones is Associate Professor in the Study of Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, and specialises in South Asian Islam. His previous published research has focused upon Shi’i Islam in South Asia, including themes such as Shi’i clerical revivalism, religious writing and practice, martyrology, and Shi’i politics. He is the author of Shi’a Islam in Colonial India: Religion, Community and Sectarianism (Cambridge University Press, 2012), the editor of The Shi’a of South Asia: Religion, History and Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2014), as well as having written various articles and other publications in this field.
Gulamabbas Lakha
Developing Islamic AI: Balancing Mental Health Benefits and Theological Risks
Gulamabbas Lakha takes a multi-disciplinary approach to research and teaching at Oxford. His doctorate in Psychiatry investigates mental health applications of Islamic concepts and practices, including empirical work on depression in the UK Muslim population. He serves as a tutor in Psychology of Religion and leads seminars on Neuroscience of Religious Experience, including supervising medical students and postgraduates. In addition, he also teaches Christian-Muslim relations and psychotherapy from Old Testament and Islamic psalms, having previously undertaken research on comparative neuroimaging of dhikr and secular mindfulness practices. His first degree in Economics & Econometrics was followed by the Chartered Financial Analyst programme and subsequently founded an investment firm at which he serves as CEO. He later completed four master’s degrees, spanning Psychology and Neuroscience, Theology, Islamic Studies, History and Arabic. Following religious training over two decades, he was accredited as a Shaykh and has lectured on contemporary Islam for fifteen years.
Dr George Warner
The Blunt Arrow and the Two-Pointed Sword: Encountering Imam Ali in Early Islamic Epic
Dr George Warner is a scholar of Islamic studies specialising in Sunni-Shi’a relations, hadith, ritual, and devotional literature in Arabic and Persian. Having completed his BA and MPhil at the University of Cambridge, he received his PhD from SOAS University of London in 2017. He has previously held academic positions at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, SOAS and the University of Exeter, and is currently a research fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. He has published widely on diverse aspects of Shi’i Islam and its history, including his first book, The Words of the Imams: al-Shaykh al-Saduq and the Development of Twelver Shi’i Hadith Literature, which was published by I. B. Tauris in 2021.
AN OPEN INVITATION
PLEASE BE SEATED BY 2:00 PM
ORGANISER & SPONSOR: THE AHMED FAMILY – C/O MUHAMMADI TRUST (020 8452 1739)
- February 26, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Introduction to Early Classical Persian Prose: From Abu Mansūr’s Shahname to Kalīla wa Dimna
This course will explore Early Classical Persian literary, geographical, and historical texts, engage in discussions on key topics in Persian philology, and examine manuscript sources of selected works.
Application deadline: March 14th
Early application discount available!
Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
Yerevan, Armenia
Website: www.ferdowsi.org
2. Mystical Landscapes in Medieval Persian Literature
Edited by Fatemeh Keshavarz, Ahmet T. Karamustafa
EUP, 2025
3. February 26, 12:00-1:00 pm
Near Eastern Studies and Digital Scholarship @IAS virtual event:
Opportunities and Challenges for Indexing a Polyglot Society: The Development of HIMME
Thomas A. Carlson (School of Historical Studies, IAS and Oklahoma State University).
More languages and literary traditions existed simultaneously in the medieval Middle East than any individual scholar can hope to master. Disciplinary norms have mandated that scholars focus on one or perhaps two languages, but the actual historical society was bewilderingly polyglot. Can digital methods provide an opportunity for overcoming our individual scholarly limitations? On the other hand, what dynamics of multilingual cultures challenge modern digital approaches themselves? This talk will open a conversation centered around the development of the Historical Index of the Medieval Middle East (HIMME: https://medievalmideast.org/)
Registration is required: https://bit.ly/HIMME
https://www.ias.edu/hs/islamic-world/events
https://www.ias.edu/digital-scholarship/events_ias
4. The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) is offering multiple grant opportunities in conjunction with its Eighteenth Annual Conference taking place in Washington, D.C. on November 1 – 3, 2025.
The ASMEA Research Grant Program seeks to support research on topics in Middle Eastern and African studies that deserve greater attention. Applicants may submit paper proposals on any topic as long as it constitutes new and original research and is relevant to the five qualifying topic areas:
- Minorities and Women
- Military History
- Governance and Economy
- Faith
- Iran
Grants of $2500 will be awarded. Successful research grant applicants are required to present their research at the Eighteenth Annual ASMEA Conference. The deadline to apply is April 30, 2025.
ASMEA is also offering Travel Grants of up to $750 which can be used towards the costs associated with attending the Annual ASMEA Conference in Washington, D.C. The deadline to apply is April 30, 2025.
In addition, we have issued our general Call for Papers and Panels.
Grant opportunities are open to members only. For information on how to become a member and full guidelines on each program, visit our website at www.asmeascholars.org.
Contact Information
Emily Lucas
Membership and Operations Director
Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA)
Contact Email
URL
https://www.asmeascholars.org/upcoming-conference
5. Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien”, qui se tiendra le jeudi 13 mars 2025, 17h-19h, en salle 4.15 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 4eétage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir M. Pavel Lurje (Musée de l’Ermitage; actuellement chercheur en résidence à l’Institut d’Études Avancées de Paris), pour une conférence intitulée: “Sogdian Documents from Mount Mugh: Historical, Archaeological, Administrative and Economic Geographies of Central Asia on the Eve of Islamization“.
Résumé:
In 1932-33, a set of 80 documents, mostly in Sogdian, but also in Chinese, Arabic and Old Turkic were discovered incidentally in the ruins of the castle on Mount Mugh, in the highlands of Tajikistan 150 km east of Samarkand. The documents, as it soon appeared, are dated to 722 CE (and few decades earlier), and were part of the archive of Dewashtich, the last ruler of Panjakent (the easternmost Sogdian city) and his retinue, who were defeated by Moslem forces and their allies in the mountains. Since the 1960s, the documents have all been made available in facsimile, photos and transliterations; and in the last decade, an updated English translation of the documents was published. Most of the placenames mentioned in the documents were ingeniously identified by the editors, and at a later stage, the tracks of the military expeditions mirrored in the texts could even be outlined. The bulk of the locations mentioned are situated to the east of Samarkand, especially around Panjakent and in the upper Zarafshan valley surrounding mount Mugh, but more distant places are also referred to.
At this time, we possess much better knowledge of the archaeological sites in the area (through survey and excavations), and of the linguistic features of Sogdian. Similar texts have been found elsewhere, and documents pertaining to another crucial moment in the history of Upper Zarafshan, the Russian conquest of 1860s and its aftermath, have been published. These new data have allowed scholars to reconsider the geography of the documents in a new light.
In this talk, the lecturer will present the preliminary results of his research project carried out as a Fellow at the Paris Institute of Advanced Studies. Several issues will be addressed: How was the power and administration in this area organized? What were the main products used, and how were they distributed? Which of the toponyms mentioned in the documents can be associated with known sites? And what was the oikumene known to the authors of these texts?
Orientations bibliographiques:
– Smirnova, O.I., 1963. La carte des régions du haut Zérafchân d’après les documents du Mt. Mugh, Труды двадцать пятого международного конгресса востоковедов. Москва, 9 – 16 августа 1960 г. II, 329–37.
– Ю. Якубов. Паргар в VII – VIII вв. н. э. Душанбе: Дониш, 1979.
– Frantz Grenet, Étienne de la Vaissière, 2002. “The last days of Panjikent”, Silk Road Art and Arcaheology 8, 155–96.
– Livshits, V.A., 2015. Sogdian epigraphy of Central Asia and Semirech’e. London: Corpus inscriptionum iranicarum.
– Begmatov, A., 2019. Sogdian Textual Materials from Central Asia: A Critical Re-Edition of the Documents from Mount Mugh, Unpublished PhD thesis, Kyoto.
– Исаков, А.И., Ю.Я. Якубов & Г.Р. Каримова, 2020. Верховья Долины Зарафшана (Археологическая карта Таджикистана). Душанбе: Дониш.
– Ҳоҷизодаи Мадрушкатӣ, А., 2021. Масчоҳ: Сад Санади Таърихӣ. Душанбе: Меҳроҷ-граф.
– Documentation on the inscription of monuments of Zarafshan-Karakum corridor of the Silk Road in the UNESCO World Heritage list, 2023. Available at: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1675/documents/
Pour rappel, vous retrouverez le programme 2024-2025 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien” sur le site du CeRMI :
Contact: justine.landau@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr
- February 25, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Pourdavoud Lecture Series Video Available: Carlo G. Cereti
The Rise of Persian: Understanding the Evolution of Writing in the Sasanian and Early Islamic Periods
This talk explores the evolution of writing during the Sasanian and early Islamic periods, shedding light on the long-term process that led to Persian becoming the lingua franca in Western and Central Asia from Iran to the borders of China. With the groundwork laid by pioneering scholars, we now have a stronger foundation for reading and understanding Middle Persian documents in their many forms. As Bernhard of Chartres observed, “we are but dwarves on the shoulders of giants,” benefiting from the invaluable contributions of previous generations.
Our understanding of Middle Persian script has progressed in many key areas ranging from 3rd century royal inscriptions to the legends found on coins and gems, and the wider array of secular texts written in ink on various materials. These include legal and commercial texts, letters, ostraca, and dipinti found on walls and stuccos. Notable examples include the dipinti from Dura Europos (3rd century CE), Pahlavi papyri from the Sasanian occupation of Egypt (7th century), and parchments from the Iranian highlands (7th century). Additional comparable texts were found in the Indian subcontintent and range from the Quilon Copper Plates (9th century), to Parsi inscriptions in the Kanheri caves close to Mumbai (11th century) and to Nestorian crosses in Chennai and Kerala.
While substantial evidence exists from the early and late Sasanian periods, a gap persists in our record from the central Sasanian centuries. This may be due to limited archaeological investigation in major Sasanian cities, though sociolinguistic shifts—perhaps after the Mazdakite movement disrupted the social order—may also have influenced the spread of writing. This analysis aligns with the scholarly interests of Ehsan Yarshater, who offered profound insights into Iranian National History, and invites further interdisciplinary inquiry to fully understand Persia’s enduring impact on the Islamic world.
Recorded: January 29, 2025
Event: Pourdavoud Lecture Series
Citation: Cereti, Carlo. “The Rise of Persian: Understanding the Evolution of Writing in the Sasanian and Early Islamic Periods” Pourdavoud Lecture Series. January 29, 2025.
by Carlo G. Cereti (University of California, Irvine)
2. IQP 2025 Nowruz Festival (2025 March 30 – April 9)
Presidential Address: Qom, Tehran old road, After Bus Terminal, Farabi Campus, University of Tehran,
Tour Costs: US$3500
The IQP 2025 Nowruz Festival in Qom, Tehran, etc. is just a few weeks away! As you plan your trip, please note the following special events on the program, which starts on Saturday 30 March:
Qom: Qom Seminary and traditional Islamic education system
Qom: Ayatollah Marashi Najafi Int. Library
Qom: Ayatollah Sistani Int. Library
Qom: Museum of Religion and Life
Qom: Meeting with scientific-Qur’anic figures
Qom: Islamic Sciences Computer Center for the Production of Islamic Sciences Softwares.
Tehran: Tehran Big Bazar
Tehran: National Museum of the Holy Quran
Tehran: University of Tehran
Isfahan: Historical Monuments
Shiraz: Persepolis Monuments
Shiraz: Tombs of Hafez and Saadi Shirazi
Mashhad: Razavi Shrine and Museums of Astan Quds Razavi
Yazd: Historical Monuments
Conference: Fifth International Conference on the Holy Quran and the Holy Bible
All volunteers in Qur’anic and Islamic Studies attending the IQP IQP 2025 Nowruz Festival are welcome to join. All needed (Food/travel/Hotel, …) except your visa and traveling to Int. Imam Khomeini Airport will be scheduled in advance. For Registration you can correspond via info@zabanshenasitarikhi.ir
3. The Latin America and Caribbean Islamic Studies Newsletter
Vol. 5, no. 1 | Winter 2025
https://mailchi.mp/12de60ff1efb/latin-america-caribbean-islamic-studies-newsletter-vol5-no1
4. The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies
in collaboration with the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago jointly present:
Lessons from the Age of ‘Ajam: Teaching Persian with the Seventeenth-century Archive
Shaahin Pishbin, University of Oxford, Queen’s College
Saturday, 1 March 2025, 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Canada and US)
Zoom Meeting Registration:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/2ZqVLChRSUSCWCmdpjVsgg
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Abstract:
Coinciding with the turn of the Islamic millennium, the late sixteenth and seventeenth centuries arguably represent the high watermark of Persian’s history as a transregional, cosmopolitan lingua franca. What can this rich period of the language’s history teach students today about Persian and the stories Persian speakers tell themselves (and others) about their language?
In this talk, I will draw attention to insights and ideas about the Persian language circulating in the seventeenth century, hoping to create some critical distance between modern students and certain long-standing totems of Persian’s linguistic ideology. Drawing on a variety of sources that discuss the grammar, geography, aesthetics, origins, and cosmic destiny of the Persian language itself, such as dictionaries, literary treatises, and occult literature, I will historicize and contextualize some of the stereotypical claims and attitudes students might encounter when learning the language today. For example, the sources under consideration will help answer some of the following questions: what do Persian speakers mean when they claim Persian to be an exceptionally poetic and idiomatic language? What explains Persian speakers’ sometimes fraught relationship with Arabic? How did notions of Persian’s primordial connection to a place called “Iran” become established? Why are some Persian speakers considered more “authoritative” than others? In partially answering such questions, I will discuss the pedagogical advantages of sensitizing students of Persian to the political, social, and cultural contexts of the seventeenth century out of which much of the languag
5. ONLINE Lecture “Between Byzantium and Modernity: Portraits of Civic Virtue in Late Ottoman Les-vos” by Dimitris Krallis (Simon Fraser University), Harvard University, 28 February 2025, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST
In a rich family archive from the Island of Lesvos that dates to the 19th and early 20th centuries, various documents outline fascinating ways in which members of the family in question negotiated modernity and the transition from Ottoman rule to Greek nationhood. This talk will introduce the archive and consider the ways in which Byzantine notions of domestic virtue competed with new ideas in the North Aegean.
Information and registration: https://maryjahariscenter.org/events/between-byzantium-and-modernity
6. HYBRID Roundtable “Making and Unmaking of Ottoman Borders”, Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative, New York University, 6 March 2025, 11:30 pm CET
This roundtable brings together scholars to discuss the making and unmaking of Ottoman borders in the last century of the empire. The participants will reflect on the definition of what constitutes borderlands in relation to their academic works, and what are the processes in which various experiences of territoriality can be conceptualized within the Ottoman context.
Information and registration: https://nyu.zoom.us/meeting/register/kAmiTPU7RM2VmnevvvljLA#/registration
7. ONLINE Book Launch “Murjana – A Tale of Love and Passion in Medieval Baghdad” by Dr. Ghada Karmi, Middle East and North Africa Centre at Sussex (MENACS), 18 March 2025, 18:00–19:30 CET
It is spring of the year 830. Baghdad, the capital of a vast Islamic empire, is one of the world’s most glorious cities. The Caliph’s court has become a dazzling academy of poets, musicians, philosophers, and theologians – a picture of a vibrant, self confident, pleasure-loving society. The Sunni-Shia divide, religious fanaticism, and the stirrings of Islamist extremism all started then. These themes emerge as the story of a passionate love that ends in murder unfolds.
Registration: https://universityofsussex.zoom.us/j/92804789851
8. Workshop “Connecting Constantinople: Objects, Empire, and Inter-Civic Relationality”, Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul & Netherlands Institute in Turkey, Istanbul, 13 June 2025
From Constantine’s transfer of the Palladium from Rome to Constantinople, to Sultan Selim I’s symbolic acquisition of the keys to the Ka’aba, objects, both tangible and symbolic, have played a pivotal role in shaping and symbolizing the connectivity between Constantinople and its urban counterparts. This workshop offers new insights into the intricate dynamics of urban connectivity from antiquity to the present day.
Deadline for abstracts: 16 March 2025. Information: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/onderzoekschool-medievistiek/nieuws/2025/februari/call-for-papers-connecting-constantinople
9. Extended deadline: “35th Deutscher Orientalistentag (DOT)” and “31st Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO)”, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, 8-12 September 2025 The DOT has been regularly convened by the “Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft (DMG)” since 1921. It is the biggest conference of Oriental Studies in the German speaking area and an internationally important conference for the research of languages, cultures and societies of the Near East, Asia and Africa. Contributions of the DAVO-Congress will be presented within the 21 sections and panels of the DOT, which are thematically and organisationally connected to the sections.
Extended Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2025.
Information: https://www.dot2025.fau.eu/files/2024/08/Call-for-Papers-DOT-2025_ENGLISH.pdf
10. 7th Conference of the European Network for Teaching Arabic (ENTA-7): “Literature and Culture in a Changing Arabic Language Classroom”, SOAS, University of London, 12 September 2025
Papers are invited on research that has implications on teaching and learning Arabic as a foreign language. Themes: – Classical literature and heritage texts: their incorporation into modern curricula. – Modern literary and cultural products: their incorporation into modern curricula. – Cinema and the Visual Arts: Arabic and optic regimes. – History, Religion and Society: inclusion and impact. – Content-Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and the Arabic classroom. Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2025. Information: https://enta.network/enta-7-call/
11. Articles for Journal “Turkish German Studies (TSG)”, Istanbul University Press
TGS is a platform for the exchange of academic research on all aspects of Turkish German Studies, including literary and cultural studies, linguistics, media and communication studies, sociology, political science, history, and edu-cation. In addition to contemporary topics, such as analyses of cultures of immigration, we seek to publish scholar-ship on Turkish German cultural contact, in the broadest sense, throughout history.
Deadline for articles: 30 April 2025. Information: https://iupress.istanbul.edu.tr/en/journal/tgs/announcements/call-for-papers-turkish-german-studies-tgs-2025-issues
- February 22, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 20, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 19, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Workshop “Diasporas, Exiles, Migrants, and Refugees from Europe in the Middle East and North Africa in the 19th and 20th Centuries”, Forum Transregionale Studien, Berlin, 8-10 July 2025
This workshop will think about how historical, spatial, cultural or conceptual imaginations of the nations, regions and their boundaries, have been transformed by the movements of people from Europe who went to MENA. What potential might a decolonial approach to the questions of diaspora, exile, migration and refuge offer, and how does it challenge our understanding of areas or regions in Europeand MENA.
Deadline for abstracts: 12 March 2025. Information: https://www.eume-berlin.de/fileadmin/eume/Bilder/Veranstaltungen/Workshops/CfP-WS_European_Migration_to_MENA.pdf
2. Assistant or Associate Professor in Sociocultural Anthropology of Palestine, University of California, Davis
We seek a scholar with a cutting-edge, ethnographically grounded research agenda whose work addresses key topics in Palestine Studies.
Deadline for applications: 5 March 2025. Information: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF06996
3. Visiting Assistant Professor (1 Year +) of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies (Focus Middle East/North Africa, and their American Diasporas), Colgate University, New York
The candidate’s areas of research and teaching should be Arab, Arab American feminisms. The candidate should be able to teach broadly materials pertaining to the region. Completion of Ph.D. or appropriate terminal degree is required prior to or shortly after the date of hire.
Deadline for applications: 8 March 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/162764
4. “RIMO Thesis Award 2024-2025” for Research of Students in Islamic and Middle Eastern Law Related to The Netherlands or Belgium
Eligibility requirements: Students who write about topics related to the Netherlands or Belgium, are eligible to apply. Submissions can include theses, journal articles, or other academic works. Participants must not have been older than 35 years at the time of writing their submission.
Deadline for submissions: 1 March 2025. Information: https://www.verenigingrimo.nl/english#thesisprize
5. HYBRID Summer School: “Critical Muslim Studies: Decolonial Struggles and Liberation Theologies”, Granada, Spain, 13-28 June 2025
Critical Muslim Studies is inspired by a need for opening up a space for intellectually rigorous and socially committed explorations between decolonial thinking and studies of Muslims, Islam and the Islamicate. Critical Muslim Studies does not take Islam as only a spiritual tradition, or a civilization, but also as a possibility of a decolonial epistemic perspective that suggests contributions and responses to the problems facing humankind today.
Deadline for application: 30 March 2025. Information and registration: https://www.dialogoglobal.com/granada/
6. Call for Papers:
Motherhood and Unfreedom in the Islamicate World (700-1000)
June 4, 2025
Workshop
This workshop aims to bring together scholars working on women, unfreedom, gender, and households in the Islamicate world (and beyond) to explore how these factors intersected and shaped women’s lives. Through an interdisciplinary lens, the workshop will interrogate the roles that enslaved and free women played in shaping power dynamics, kinship structures, and societal norms. By focusing on both the visible and invisible contributions of women, the workshop seeks to reevaluate the historical record and push the boundaries of current scholarship. Given the collaboration of the Allard Pierson (Amsterdam) we strongly encourage the participation of researchers who engage with material culture in order to shed light on the dynamics of unfreedom.
We invite applications from scholars working inside and outside the field of Islamic studies and welcome contributions investigating unfreedom and motherhood from comparative perspectives (Byzantine, Latin Christendom, Indian Ocean, Central Asia etc.)
Some guiding questions include: How did enslaved women influence family structures, societal views on marriage and sexuality, and ideologies of rulership? How did genealogical shifts challenge notions of Arab nobility?
What role did the maternal family play, and is there evidence for matrilineal influence in early Islamic society? What was the experience of unfree mothers? What legal avenues existed for enslaved women to assert agency, and how do male-written sources depict or omit their presence? How did enslavement and multi-lingualism interact?
Ultimately, this workshop hopes to open new pathways for understanding gender, slavery, and the household, contributing to a more nuanced history of early Islam.
This workshop is organized by Dr. Zahra Azhar and Dr. Leone Pecorini-Goodall, and supported by ERC Horizon Starting Grant Project, “Embodied Imamate: Mapping the Development of the Early Shil Community 700-900 CE (ImBod),” grant number 101077946, led by Dr. Edmund Hayes with the generous support of the Allard Pierson and their collaborative partner, the National Slavery Museum.
Please submit abstracts of up to 500 words to this email address no later than
March 15th:
7. Zoom Panel: Christian, Jewish, Islamic & Secular Law in American & International History (Thurs, Feb 27, 3:30 Eastern US)
Panelists include: Deina Abdelkader (University of Massachusetts), David Novak (University of Toronto), Peter N. Stearns (George Mason University), R. Charles Weller (Al-Farabi Kazakh National University and Washington State University). MC’d by Dr. Heather Salter & Dr. David Kalivas. Sponsored by: The World History Association (WHA) & the New England World History Workshop (NEWHW)
The registration link is https://wsu.zoom.us/meeting/register/NL4vJeFORAOjAhl3A050fg
8. Indiana University’s Summer 2025 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Kurdish program!
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
- Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
- Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Rolling Application Deadline
- May 16, 2025
Learn more and apply here: https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/kurdish
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
9. Indiana University’s Summer 2025 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Turkish program!
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
- Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
- Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
- Accelerate your learning with daily 1-on-1 skills training
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Rolling Application Deadline
- May 16, 2025
Learn more and apply here: https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/turkish
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
10. Indiana University’s Summer 2025 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Persian program!
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
- Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
- Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
- Accelerate your learning with daily 1-on-1 skills training
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Rolling Application Deadline
- May 16, 2025
Learn more and apply here: https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/persian
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
11. Call for Papers: AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies (May Issue 2025)
Arab World English Journal for Translation and Literary Studies welcomes the submission of papers for the May Issue 2025.Due to requests from many colleagues, the submission deadline is March 15, 2025. The issue publication date is May Issue 2025. Please read the submission.
- February 18, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – ‘The Imam Ali Seminar’ (London, 9.3.25)
SEMINAR
TO COMMEMORATE THE MARTYRDOM OF
IMAM ALI (a.s.)
SUNDAY 9th MARCH 2025 – 2:00 PM
VENUE – ROYAL ACAEMY OF MUSIC
DAVID JOSEFOWITZ RECITAL HALL
MARYLEBONE ROAD, LONDON NW1 5HT
PLEASE NOTE CHANGE IN VENUE THIS YEAR
Tube stations: Regent’s Park, Baker Street
Chair: Professor Justin Jones
Justin Jones is Associate Professor in the Study of Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, and specialises in South Asian Islam. His previous published research has focused upon Shi’i Islam in South Asia, including themes such as Shi’i clerical revivalism, religious writing and practice, martyrology, and Shi’i politics. He is the author of Shi’a Islam in Colonial India: Religion, Community and Sectarianism (Cambridge University Press, 2012), the editor of The Shi’a of South Asia: Religion, History and Politics (Cambridge University Press, 2014), as well as having written various articles and other publications in this field.
Gulamabbas Lakha
Developing Islamic AI: Balancing Mental Health Benefits and Theological Risks
Gulamabbas Lakha takes a multi-disciplinary approach to research and teaching at Oxford. His doctorate in Psychiatry investigates mental health applications of Islamic concepts and practices, including empirical work on depression in the UK Muslim population. He serves as a tutor in Psychology of Religion and leads seminars on Neuroscience of Religious Experience, including supervising medical students and postgraduates. In addition, he also teaches Christian-Muslim relations and psychotherapy from Old Testament and Islamic psalms, having previously undertaken research on comparative neuroimaging of dhikr and secular mindfulness practices. His first degree in Economics & Econometrics was followed by the Chartered Financial Analyst programme and subsequently founded an investment firm at which he serves as CEO. He later completed four master’s degrees, spanning Psychology and Neuroscience, Theology, Islamic Studies, History and Arabic. Following religious training over two decades, he was accredited as a Shaykh and has lectured on contemporary Islam for fifteen years.
Dr George Warner
The Blunt Arrow and the Two-Pointed Sword: Encountering Imam Ali in Early Islamic Epic
Dr George Warner is a scholar of Islamic studies specialising in Sunni-Shi’a relations, hadith, ritual, and devotional literature in Arabic and Persian. Having completed his BA and MPhil at the University of Cambridge, he received his PhD from SOAS University of London in 2017. He has previously held academic positions at Ruhr-Universität Bochum, SOAS and the University of Exeter, and is currently a research fellow at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London. He has published widely on diverse aspects of Shi’i Islam and its history, including his first book, The Words of the Imams: al-Shaykh al-Saduq and the Development of Twelver Shi’i Hadith Literature, which was published by I. B. Tauris in 2021.
AN OPEN INVITATION
PLEASE BE SEATED BY 2:00 PM
ORGANISER & SPONSOR: THE AHMED FAMILY – C/O MUHAMMADI TRUST (020 8452 1739)
- February 17, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Department of Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Chicago is honored to have Prof. Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi as speaker in the Heshmat Moayyad Lecture Series 2025. The lecture will be in person and on zoom on Wednesday, Feb 19 at 5:00 PM US Central Time at The Tea Room, The Social Science Research Building.
Title
Rights Civilization and Governmentality: The Cyrus Cylinder and ‘Equality Rights’ in Cold War Iran
Abstract
“Rights Civilization and Governmentality: The Cyrus Cylinder and ‘Equality Rights’ in Cold War Iran” explores the interplay between historical memory, social rights, and the contested conceptions of governmentality and constitutionality in the four decades prior to the 1979 Revolution. Offering a corrective to the ideological and linear revolutionary narratives of Pahlavi Iran, this historical inquiry elucidates how a multi-confessional conception of Iran and its constitutionally sanctioned “equality rights” of citizens was reconceived at “a moment of danger” during WWII when Iran was invaded by the Allied forces and Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925-1941) was forced to abdicate. It explores how the endeavor for the promotion of legal equality of women and non-Muslims was opposed on religious and constitutional grounds by those who conceived of Iran as a “Shi‘i nation” (millat-i Shi‘ah). Exploring the concurrent and protracted efforts of lawyers and jurists (fuqaha) to promote two divergent modes of governing the everyday conduct of citizens—one based on “equality rights” and the other on Islamic jurisprudence––this lecture offers a historically situated account of the rights question in Iran in the decades before the 1979 Revolution.
Full information at:
2. Indiana University’s Summer 2025 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive immersion programs in Arabic, Chinese, and Russian!
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months and earn college credit
- Accelerate your learning with daily 1-on-1 skills training
- Live the language in immersion housing and classes
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Rolling Application Deadline
- May 16, 2025
Learn more and apply here: https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/overview
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
Contact Information
Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop
Contact Email
URL
https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/index.html
3. The Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien invites researchers to apply for up to 3 postdoctoral fellowships forthe academic year 2025/2026 for the research program EUROPE IN THE MIDDLE EAST—THE MIDDLE EAST IN EUROPE (EUME).
Location: Berlin / Closing Date: 26 March 2025, 12.00h (noon) CET
FAQ (PDF): https://www.eume-berlin.de/fileadmin/bilder/Forum/Ausschreibungen/CfA-2025-26-FAQ.pdf
EUME seeks to rethink key concepts and premises that link and divide Europe and the Middle East. The program draws on the international expertise of a growing network of scholars in and outside of Germany and is embedded in university and extra-university research institutions in and outside of Berlin. EUME supports historical-critical philology, rigorous engagement with the literatures of the Middle East and their histories, the social history and life of cities and the study of Middle Eastern political and philosophical thought as central fields of research not only for area or cultural studies, but also for European intellectual history and other academic disciplines. The program explores modernity as a historical space and conceptual frame. EUME is interested in questions relating to ongoing transformation processes in and between Europe and the Middle East, in re-imaginations of the past and present that contribute to free, pluralistic and just societies.
The program puts forward three programmatic ideas:
1) supporting research that demonstrates the rich and complex historical legacies and entanglements between Europe and the Middle East; 2) re-examining genealogical notions of mythical ‘origins’, and ‘purity’ in relation to culture and society; and 3) rethinking key concepts of a shared modernity and future in light of contemporary cultural, social, and political divisions and entanglements that supersede identity discourses as well as national, cultural or regional canons and epistemologies that were established in the nineteenth century.
EUME supports and rests upon interconnected research fields and themes that mark the open framework for the fellowship program that constitutes EUME:
Travelling Traditions: Comparative Perspectives on Near Eastern Literatures
represented by Friederike Pannewick (Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies/Department for Arabic Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg) and Samah Selim (Rutgers University – New Brunswick) reassesses literary entanglements and processes of translation and canonization between Europe and the Middle East.
Cities Compared: Governance, Participatory Mechanisms and Plurality
represented by Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi (both Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin) contributes to the debates on civil society, participation, deliberation, opinion formation, citizenship, migration and mobilization from the experience of cultural and religious differences in cities around the Mediterranean and beyond.
Tradition and the Critique of Modernity: Secularism, Fundamentalism and Religion from Middle Eastern Perspectives
represented by Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva) tries to rethink key concepts of modernity like secularity, tradition, and religion in the context of experiences, interpretations, and critiques from the Middle East in order to contribute to a more inclusive language of culture, politics and community.
Politics and Processes of Change, Archaeologies of the Present, and Imaginations of the Future
are research themes that emerged during the last years and are represented by the work of several EUME Fellows and members of the Collegium (e.g. Cilja Harders, Friederike Pannewick, Rachid Ouaissa, Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin).
The Prison Narratives of Assad’s Syria: Voices, Texts, Publics (SYRASP), directed by Anne-Marie McManus, and Beyond Restitution: Heritage, (Dis)Possession and the Politics of Knowledge (BEYONDREST), directed by Banu Karaca, are two ERC funded projects related to EUME, hosted at the Forum.
Since 1997, more than 400 scholars from and of the Middle East have been EUME Fellows, who, by their scholarly projects, engagement, and their inquiries into the order of knowledge, society and politics, shape the academic program of EUME that is coordinated by Georges Khalil, Jessica Metz, Claudia Pfitzner and Rashof Salih at the Forum Transregionale Studien.
Fellowships
We invite scholars in the humanities and social sciences who want to carry out their research projects in connection with the Berlin-based program. The up to three fellowships announced here are intended to contribute to the mobility of researchers, and are primarily addressed to scholars from outside Germany. This year we especially encourage scholars from Palestine and its diaspora to apply.
As the number of fellowships we are able to offer is limited, we invite interested scholars also to apply with their own funding or contact us with the inquiry for support in finding third party funding. If this may be an option, please contact us via eume(at)trafo-berlin.de anytime.
Applicants should be at the postdoctoral level and should have obtained their doctorate within the last seven years. Fellows gain the opportunity to pursue research projects of their own choice within the framework of Europe in the Middle East—The Middle East in Europe. Successful applicants will be fellows of EUME at the Forum Transregionale Studien, and associate members of one of the university or non-university research institutes listed below or connected to the Forum Transregionale Studien.
The fellowships start on 1 October 2025 and will end on 31 July 2026. Postdoctoral fellows will receive a monthly stipend of 2,500 € plus supplements depending on their personal situation. Organisational support regarding visa, insurance, housing, etc. will be provided. Fellows are obliged to work in Berlin and to help shape the seminars and working discussions related to their research field. The working language of EUME is English.
Application Procedure
We kindly ask you to submit your application via the secure online application platform of the Forum Transregionale Studien by 26 March 2025, 12.00h (noon) CET:
https://application.trafo-berlin.de/
Please note that applications by email will not be considered.
As part of your application, you will be asked to prepare and upload the following:
— a curriculum vitae (including a list of publications);
— a project description (no longer than 5 pages), stating what the scholar will work on in Berlin if granted a fellowship, and
— the names of two university faculty members who can serve as referees (no letters of recommendation required).
In case of questions, please consult the FAQ or send an email to eume(at)trafo-berlin.de
Institutional Framework
Europe in the Middle East—The Middle East in Europe (EUME) has been initiated in 2006 as a joint research program of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. It builds upon the previous work of the Working Group Modernity and Islam (1996-2006). Since 2011 EUME is continued at the Forum Transregionale Studien.
In scholarly terms EUME is steered by a Collegium that currently consists of Ulrike Freitag (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin), Cilja Harders (Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin), Nora Lafi (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin), Rachid Ouaissa (Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg / MECAM – Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb), Friederike Pannewick (Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg), Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva), Samah Selim (Rutgers University), and Stefan Weber (Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin).
The Forum Transregionale Studien (Forum) is a research organization for the promotion of cross-border cooperation between scholars of different expertise and perspectives on global issues. Transregional approaches connect and confront diverse disciplines, regional, national and local positions and insights on global issues. The Forum provides scope for exchange on questions of science policy, epistemology and ethics, and develops infrastructures and formats that allow transregional research ideas and projects to be tested, implemented and communicated. The Forum is constituted by its members and the diversity of their research expertise and networks. It is committed to strengthening regional studies and to the principle of non-hierarchical research. It appoints scholars from around the world as fellows and engages in joint research programs and initiatives with partners from universities and research institutions in and outside Berlin. The Forum is funded by the Berlin Senate Department for Higher Education and Research, Health and Long-Term Care.
The Forum currently supports the following research programs and initiatives: Europe in the Middle East—The Middle East in Europe (EUME), Prisma Ukraïna – Research Network Eastern Europe, and re:constitution – Exchange and Analysis on Democracy and the Rule of Law in Europe. The Forum is a member of the consortium of MECAM: Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb, and of the research college EUTIM: Europäische Zeiten/European Times – A Transregional Approach to the Societies of Central and Eastern Europe. Zukunftsphilologie: Revisiting the Canons of Textual Scholarship and 4A_Lab: Art Histories, Archaeologies, Anthropologies, Aesthetics are connected programs developed at the Forum that are continued at other institutions.
For more information on the Forum, its programs, initiatives and communication, please visit
www.forum-transregionale-studien.de
TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research
https://trafo.hypotheses.org/
For further information on EUME and for detailed information on the research fields and themes, please visit
www.eume-berlin.de
For information on the research institutions in Berlin participating in EUME, please visit
— Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, Freie Universität Berlin
https://www.bgsmcs.fu-berlin.de/
— Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics, Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science,
Freie Universität Berlin
https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/en
— Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient
https://www.zmo.de
— Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
https://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/en/friedrichschlegel
— Institute of Islamic Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/islamwiss
— Museum for Islamic Art
https://www.smb.museum/en/museums-institutions/museum-fuer-islamische-kunst/
— Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
https://www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/semiarab
— Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg
https://www.uni-marburg.de/de/cnms
— MECAM – Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb
https://mecam.tn/?lang=en
Contact Email
URL
https://www.eume-berlin.de/en/homepage
4. Indiana University’s Summer 2025 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Pashto program!
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
- Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
- Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Rolling Application Deadline
- May 16, 2025
Learn more and apply here: https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/pashto
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
Contact Information
Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop
Contact Email
URL
https://languageworkshop.indiana.edu/index.html
5. Book Conversation by Dr. Marilyn Jenkins-Madina
Date: March 4th, 6:00 pm
Place: Columbia University, 825 Schermerhorn Hall
Dr. Marilyn Jenkins-Madina is Curator Emerita of the Department of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. During the forty years she served as a curator in that department, she played a key role in helping to create the museum’s first major (ten-gallery) installation of Islamic art as well as adding to the collection and organizing special exhibitions. With an MA in Art History from Columbia University and a PhD from NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, she has lectured widely, published over 30 articles, and written or co-authored seven books, including the classic Islamic Art and Architecture 650-1250 with Richard Ettinghausen and Oleg Grabar. Her memoir, The Lure of the East: A Curator’s Fascinating Journey, was published by Rodin Books in 2024. Please join Dr. Jenkins-Madina in her discussion of her book in conversation with Dr. Lila Abu-Lughod at Columbia University, on March 4th at 6:00 pm.
If you plan on attending, we kindly ask you to register at this Google form no later than February 28th at 3:00 pm to be able to access the Columbia campus: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeru2mAJDzowUFoLW1GaquMSu0LEzifmUNI8D2KVs2i9n5rNQ/viewform
6. The CeRMI is pleased to invite you to the next session of the seminar “Societies, Politics and Cultures of the Iranian World”, which will be held next Thursday, February 20, 2025, 5pm-7pm, in room 4.15 at the INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII,4th floor).
We are pleased to welcome Ms. Eva Zahiri (CeRMI, IFI, Sciences-Po), for a lecture entitled: “For an Islamic Law of Our Time: The Renewal of Legal Thought in Iran“.
Summary:
The purpose of this presentation is to examine the transformation of Islamic law in Iran since the 1990s and 2000s. Contrary to the traditional interpretation of foqahā, which is rooted in objective natural law and an apologetic perspective, some contemporary Iranian jurists favor the method of historicity and the critical approach, with a view to enshrine legal subjectivity and equality. Although they do not belong to an established movement, they embody anembryonic but lasting historical process of ongoing restructuring.
Their doctrinal innovations were part of the rationalist usūlī tradition while renewing it in the light of the needs of Iranian society, which was recomposing itself. Despite the diversity of trends and nuances, all stress the need to think of the social contract on the basis of a renewed theory of law and a system of law guaranteeing legal certainty in national legislation. Their goal is to update and perpetuate the cardinal principle of justice to reflect the current Iranian way of life and maintain the universality of Islam.
Bibliographical orientations:
D āwood pherahi, fikh wa siyāsat rate irān-a mo’āser, vol. 1. ET 2 Tehran, Nasr-e, 1392/2013.
– Mohsen KADIVAR, Haqq al-nās. Eslām va hoquq-e bashar, Téhéran, Kavir, 1387/2008.
– Mohammad RĀSEKH, “Sharia and Law in the Age of Constitutionalism,” Journal of Global Justice and Public Policy, vol. 2, n° 2, 2016.
Sedigheh Wasmaghi, Zan, Fikh, ESL ām, Tehran, Samadiyeh, 1386/2007.
As a reminder, you will find the 2024-2025 program of the monthly research seminar “Societies, Politics and Cultures of the Iranian World” on the CeRMI website:
Contact: justine.landau@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr
7. The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Texas at Austin is hosting a conference showcasing new academic books on the study of Middle Eastern Literature in its ongoing “New Perspectives on Middle Eastern Literatures and Cultures” series.
The conference will start on Thursday, February 27th at 3:30pm with a keynote speech by Nergis Ertürk. The rest of the talks will take place on Friday, February 28th. See this page for the full Friday schedule.
Register for the conference here: https://new-books-on-ME-lit.eventbrite.com.
The event will also be streamed live on Zoom. Register on the Eventbrite page for a virtual attendance ticket, and you will be sent the Zoom link.
8. ONLINE Lecture: „Tents and Fortresses, Palaces and Caves: Literary Architectures in Nezāmi’s Book of Alexander“ by Prof. Paul Losensky (Indiana University), Brown University, Providence, RI, 20 February 2025, 18:00 – 19:15 h CET
Building projects frame the career of Alexander the Great as told by the Persian poet Nezāmi Ganjavi (d. 1209) in his „Eskandarnāmeh“. Although Alexander`s encounters with palaces, religious sites, and domestic dwellings, shape his character significantly, leading to an ascetic critique of architecture as a whole, a critique symbolized by the natural shelter of the cave.
Information and registration: https://events.brown.edu/event/tents-and-fortresses-palaces
9. HYBRID Book Talk “The Political Ecology of Violence: Peasants and Pastoralists in the Last Ottoman Century” by Zozan Pehlivan, Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative, New York University, 20 February 2025, 23:30 h CET
The lecture will illuminate the environmental roots of intercommunal conflict in Ottoman Kurdistan during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Drawing on insights from climate science, agronomy, and zoology, Pehli-van offers a groundbreaking perspective on how extreme climate disruptions fueled tensions between Christian Armenian peasants and Muslim Kurdish pastoralists.
Information and registration: https://nyu.zoom.us/meeting/register/uOiEHhBMSHWh1_m4P5otOA#/registration
10. Workshop “Inheriting Empire? Transformations and Contestations of “Ottoman” Heritage”, Berlin, 13-14 March 2025
Through a focus on (post)-Ottoman lands and imaginaries, this workshop aims to engage with civilization, empire, nation, and heritage as constructs in flux, forever dependent on individuals, objects, ideas, and places that carry inherited meanings and become catalysts for new kinds of meaning making, as well. We will examine how multiple political projects have engaged in memory-making and heritage-making practices.
Deadline for registration: 7 March 2025. Information and program:
11. Extended deadline:
Workshop “Faking It – Forgery, Fraud, Deception and Dissimulation in the Pre-Modern Mediterra-nean (Including Near East and North Africa)”, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, 10-11 April 2025
Proposals are welcome from scholars of all ranks from across all disciplines of the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, as are papers from the Sciences, that engage in the broadest sense with social, historical and cultural aspects of the Mediterranean language, linguistics, literature, culture, society, art, and social, economic and political history, as well as anthropology, sociology, and other related humanities and social science disciplines.
Extended deadline for abstracts: 29 February 2025. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-faking-it-forgery-fraud-deception-and-dissimulation-mediterranean-seminar-spring-2025-workshop-10-11-april-cleveland-2535779?e=82aeb6c61d
12. [KAIS] 2025 Korean Association of Islamic Studies (KAIS) International Conference Call for Papers
The Korean Association for Islamic Studies (KAIS) is pleased to announce that the upcoming joint international conference on “Religious Harmony and Tolerance in a Globalized, Multicultural Society-Religious Diversity and Social Solidarity: Beyond Conflict to Harmony-” will be held at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on May 30th, 2025.
Founded in 1989, KAIS is the only academic association in Korea dedicated to Islamic Studies, with over 200 members from domestic and international universities and research institutions. The association has played a pivotal role in establishing and promoting Islamic Studies in Korea, which was once considered an academic void in the field.
In 2025, KAIS aims to expand its reach beyond Korea by fostering cooperation with universities, research institutions, and public organizations in key Islamic countries. In this regard, we kindly request the cooperation of your esteemed institution for this international conference and encourage the active participation of interested scholars.
This international conference, jointly organized by KAIS, the Korean Association for Buddhist Studies (KABS), and Christianity academic associations in Korea, will feature in-depth discussions on religious diversity, conflict, coexistence, and harmony.
《Session Details》
Session 1 will address “Islamophobia and Migration“. This session will examine the experiences of Muslims who have settled in Korea and the challenges they face. Through insightful presentations and in-depth discussions, we will explore the lives of Muslims living in different cultures and consider how we can move toward greater coexistence and harmony.
If you (or members of the association) are interested in participating, please respond to this email (Islamhakhoe@hanmail.net ) by February 28th, 2025 with a 250-300 abstract, including the title of the paper in English, along with a CV. The CV should include personal information (name, nationality and email address), affiliation & position, research interests, and research activities.
Papers should be presented in English, and participants wishing to present in Arabic should provide the title in English. For the publication of the conference proceedings, we recommend that manuscripts should be 5 to 10 pages on A4 paper or a PPT presentation with no more than 20 slides. The deadline for paper submission is April 30, 2025.
For inquiries or further information, please contact KAIS via our official email: islamhakhoe@hanmail.net
- February 15, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment