Archive for 2025
- September 19, 2025
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Shii News – CfP: ‘The Social Dynamics of Communal Affiliation in Early Islam’ (Leiden , 11-12.6.26)
WORKSHOP — CALL FOR PAPERS
The Social Dynamics of Communal Affiliation in Early Islam
Universiteit Leiden, Netherlands
11–12 June 2026
RATIONALE
In much existing scholarship, our understanding of Muslim groups in early Islam has been gauged through a reliance on later works of heresiography and doxography. These fourth/tenth century works portray a diverse range of groups (including the Imami, Zaydi, and Ismaili Shiʿa, Kharijis, Muʿtazilis, Murjiʾis, and various others who eventually came under the banner of ‘Sunnism’) emerging in the first three centuries of Islam, often over issues surrounding the rightful political leadership of the Muslim community and later coalescing around other theological beliefs which facilitated more coherent, structured systems for members of these groups to adhere to. Studies engaging with such works have greatly enriched our understanding of the doctrines and beliefs ascribed to these groups, their evolution over time, and what images the sources construct of them.
In studies on the social dynamics of this period, however, more attention has been paid to relations between Muslim and non-Muslim groups through processes such as conversion and cross-communal engagement with alternative legal systems than has been between the various Muslim groups. There is arguably a lacuna in thinking about how individuals belonging to divergent Muslim groups interacted, and how the interactions between them were practically structured. Research on interactions between Muslims belonging to divergent groups has tended to focus on theological polemics or political violence, rather than day-to-day interactions. We therefore lack a deeper understanding of what it meant to belong to a Muslim group during this early period of the first/seventh to third/ninth centuries on a more practical level. With the aim of addressing this, in this workshop, organised under the auspices of the ERC Horizon Starting Grant project ‘Embodied Imamate: Mapping the Development of the Early Shiʿi Community 700-900 CE’, we encourage participants to think about interactions between Muslim groups, and the institutions and mechanisms which facilitated these interactions during the first three centuries of Islam. To this end, three key concerns are identified as central to this workshop:
The Fluidity/Ambiguity of Communal Affiliation
The question of how fixed the boundaries between the various groups were during this period should not necessarily be taken for granted. This is not to say that such boundaries did not exist, but rather that they may not accurately reflect the historical realities of what these boundaries implied as a result of the tendency to back-project later heresiographical categories onto these groups. We are interested in exploring new ways of thinking about these groups beyond the constraints of heresiographical categories. The use of categories such as ‘Khariji’ or ‘ahl al-sunna wa-l-jamāʿa’, for example, have been problematised in recent scholarship and should act as an impetus for reconsidering our terminology and the categories we apply to figures of this period. Some potential themes for participants to consider include:
- Critical reflections on the terms and categories used in the study of Muslim groups
- Ritual actions as shared/exclusive identity markers
- Cases of multiple communal affiliations
- Conversion between Muslim groups
Means of Demarcating and Enforcing Communal Boundaries
What mechanisms were utilised to demarcate and enforce communal boundaries? Building upon recent important work on ritual actions such as prayer, for example, as a means of communal boundary-making, we encourage participants to think about other cases — legal and otherwise — which demonstrate the ways in which Muslim groups established themselves apart from each other. Some potential themes for participants to consider include:
- Legal mechanisms of social exclusion
- Restricting relations to certain groups (e.g. marriage, patronate relationships)
- Restricting and withholding of capital
- Cases of disassociation and excommunication
- The use of space in enforcing physical boundaries
- Codewords of exclusion
- Initiatory practices (e.g. oaths of allegiance)
Cases of Interactions across Communal Boundaries
What the adherents of such groups believed aside, how did one’s communal affiliation impact relations with those of other persuasions and what implications did adherence to one of these groups have on how one negotiated daily life in a communally diverse society? Most cases we have access to in this regard are inevitably centred around elite individuals, research on which nevertheless still requires further attention; for example, scholarly debate and exchange, court politics, attempts at state control of religious authorities etc. Innovative readings of the sources with this concern in mind can also, however, provide us with some insight into the lived experiences of non-elite individuals with regards to interactions across communal boundaries. Some potential themes for participants to consider include:
- Legal questions posed to authorities on inter-communal interactions
- Literary accounts of inter-communal interactions as a reflection of historical realities
- Cases of interactions across social hierarchies, including with and between non-elites
- Prosopographical insights into the formation of inter-communal relations and bonds
- Documentary and material evidence for thinking about inter-communal interactions (e.g. papyri, inscriptions, archaeology and architecture)
- Organisational structures for facilitating interactions (e.g. agents, courtiers, government officials)
ABSTRACT SUBMISSION
Please submit an abstract of no more than 400 words along with a brief biography of no more than 100 words as a single PDF document to Adam Ramadhan (contact details below). Submissions from established as well as junior scholars, including PhD students and independent researchers, are welcomed. The deadline for abstract submission is 14 November 2025. You are encouraged to outline in your abstract the sources you will use in your paper and the scholarly interventions you intend to make. Accepted participants will be notified by 5 December 2025.
WORKSHOP FORMAT
The workshop will be held in-person at Universiteit Leiden between 11–12 June 2026; there will be no scope for online participation. Participants will have 20 minutes to present their paper followed by 30 minutes of discussion for each paper. The language of the workshop is English.
PUBLICATION OF WORKSHOP PROCEEDINGS
The aim of this workshop is to produce a special issue in a peer reviewed journal, and participants’ contributions will therefore be considered for publication. Participants are asked to indicate their interest in contributing to this publication when submitting their abstract.
LOGISTICS
Reasonable travel and accommodation costs will be covered for participants. Those with access to institutional support to cover these costs are asked to inform the organisers when submitting their abstract so as to be able to direct more support towards junior scholars.
CONTACT DETAILS
The main point of contact for this workshop is Adam Ramadhan who can be reached at a.a.a.h.ramadhan@hum.leidenuniv.nl.
ORGANISATION
This workshop is organised by Adam Ramadhan and Edmund Hayes under the auspices of the ERC Horizon Starting Grant project ‘Embodied Imamate: Mapping the Development of the Early Shiʿi Community 700-900 CE’ (grant no. 101077946) based at Universiteit Leiden.
- September 18, 2025
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Shii News – Academic Items
1.Online Resource – Explore the Collection of the Museum for Islamic Art – Pergamon Museum, Berlin
The Museum for Islamic Art is pleased to announce that the online database of the State Museums of Berlin, with the option to filter and explore objects specifically from our collection, is directly accessible through the Online Portal Islamic·Art.
Here you can explore detailed information on more than 12,500 objects from the collection – a resource that is continuously expanded and updated by our team.
In addition, the Online Portal Islamic·Art offers numerous stories, insights, and background information about the museum’s objects.
Start exploring here: https://islamic-art.smb.museum/?lang=en [Tip: scroll to the end of the website to find the Research module]
Please Note: Access to the online database through Sammlungen Online website is no longer possible.
Contact Information
Museum für Islamische Kunst (im Pergamonmuseum)
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 6
D-10117 Berlin
Contact Email
URL
https://islamic-art.smb.museum/?lang=en
2. Avicenna Study Group: Fifth Meeting 2025 (Bochum)
Fifth International Meeting of the Avicenna Study Group (ASG V), to be held 2–4 December 2025 at the new Avicenna Study Center (ASC), hosted by the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB:AI) in Germany. This event is organised within the framework of the ERC project “Avicenna Live: The Immediate Context of Avicenna’s Intellectual Formation” (ALIVE).
The central theme of ASG V will be Avicenna’s al-Mubāḥaṯāt, a text whose significance for understanding Avicenna’s intellectual development and his interactions with his own disciples cannot be overstated. Through fifteen presentations, leading scholars will explore the critical value of al-Mubāḥaṯāt for our knowledge of Avicenna’s philosophy, aiming to illuminate new perspectives on the evolution of his thought and the dynamics of his scholarly exchanges.
The necessity of this endeavour is underscored by the diversity of scholarly opinion: while some colleagues regard al-Mubāḥaṯāt as merely reiterative of Avicenna’s main works, others consider its discussions a unique and indispensable source. This striking divergence highlights the urgent need for a comprehensive and nuanced examination of the text.
We are delighted to announce that the following distinguished scholars will present their latest research at our conference: Asad Q. Ahmed, Amilcar Aldama, Hamed Arezaei, M. Fariduddin Attar, Kübra Bahçi, Catarina Belo, Zhenyu Cai, Zachary Candy, Osama Eshera, Jari Kaukua, Haruo Kobayashi, István Lánczky, Ruizhi Ma, Stephen Ogden, and Meryem Sebti.
A special highlight of ASG V will be the launch of a new website dedicated to facilitating the study and collaborative translation of al-Mubāḥaṯāt. This platform will enable the global community of Avicenna scholars to engage with the text and contribute to its translation into English.
Contact: Kübra Bahçi, Andreas Lammer
(kuebra.bahci@rub.de , andreas.lammer@rub.de )
3. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore – Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor in Art History
- September 17, 2025
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Shii News – Academic Items
1. Job Announcement: Lecturer in Arabic, Oberlin College
Oberlin College – an endowed lectureship in Arabic. This is a full-time position beginning in the fall semester of 2026, and carries the title of the Dorothy Koster Washburn ’67 Endowed Lectureship. It includes continuous renewals (upon review) and a path to promotion to Senior Lecturer.
Full job description, including required materials and application link, here: https://jobs.oberlin.edu/postings/16841.
The deadline is October 31st. Questions may be directed to Prof. Zeinab Abul-Magd (zabulmag@oberlin.edu).
2. Urumia 1915:
An American Mission in War-Torn Persia
By: William Ambrose Shedd
Mazda, 2025
https://www.mazdapublishers.com/book/urumia-1915
3. Published by Asemana Books
Takwīn wa Tashrīʿ (Creation and Legislation)
By Mirza Agha Khan-e Kermani
Edited by M. Rezaei Tazik
ISBN: 9781997503149
Numerous books and articles have examined the life, works, and ideas of Mirza Agha Khan Kermani (1853/54–1896)—one of the most capable Iran-centered intellectuals, a founding figure in the discourse of the Constitutional Revolution, and among the most influential critics of religion and government in nineteenth-century Iran.
His book Takwīn wa Tashrīʿ (Creation and Legislation) is now being published for the first time as part of the Critical Edition of the Works of Mirza Agha Khan Kermani (Volume IV).
Written during a period when Kermani was closely associated with the Bābī-Azalī community, the book makes reference to Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsāʾī, the Shaykhī school, as well as to the “People of the Bayān” (ahl-i bayān). Since Kermani, in his Hašt Behešt (“Eight Paradises”), refers to Takwīn wa Tashrīʿ, and an incomplete copy of Hašt Behešt was sent to Professor Browne in 1891, it can be inferred that Takwīn wa Tashrīʿ was written in or before that year.
In this work, Kermani employs the concept of takwīn both in the sense of creation—the origination of existence—and in the sense of Darwinian evolution.
🔗 Read more here
📖 Order your copy here
Part of an Ongoing Critical Series
This volume is the Fourth installment in Asemana Books’ series of critical editions of Mirza Agha Khan’s works. Previous volumes include:
4. Submissions Open for 2026 Leigh Douglas Memorial Prize
About the Prize
The prize was established jointly by the Leigh Douglas Memorial Fund and BRISMES in memory of Dr Leigh Douglas who was killed in Beirut in 1986. It is awarded annually to the writer of the best PhD dissertation on a Middle Eastern topic in the Social Sciences or Humanities awarded by a British University in the previous year. The current value of the prize is £600 for the winner and £250 for the runner up.
Eligibility
Any student who has submitted their PhD dissertation on a Middle Eastern topic in the Social Sciences or Humanities to a British University between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025 is eligible to apply. If you are submitting your thesis after the deadline in 2025, you will be eligible for the following year’s prize.
We recommend that submissions for this prize are made after completion of your viva in order to benefit from feedback from the viva panel, but applicants can make a submission before the viva if they wish. Please note that you can only submit your PhD dissertation once for this prize.
How to Apply
Please send an electronic copy of your thesis and a letter of nomination from your supervisor to office@brismes.org.
Deadline for submissions: Midnight on 15 November 2025
More information: www.brismes.ac.uk/awards/ldmp
BRISMES Manager
Email: office@brismes.org
Website: www.brismes.ac.uk
5. Two Fresh Courses for this Fall – From Classical Prose to Modern Poetry
1. From Nima to Forough to Sohrab: How to Read a Modern Iranian Poet
The first course is an introduction to Modern Persian poetry, taught by Maryam Torabi, who is a highly experienced, and more importantly a great Persian teacher. The course will cover five main 20th century Iranian poets: Nima Yushij, Ahmad Shamlou, Fereydoun Moshiri, Sohrab Sepehri, Forough Farrokhzad, and is a perfect way for the students both to get a solid introduction to modern Persian poetry, and improve their Persian skills.
Link: https://ferdowsi.org/from-nima-to-forough-to-sohrab/
Dates: October 6 – October 17
The second course is an introduction to Early Classical Persian prose, taught by me, providing a comprehensive introduction to Classical Persian grammar, fundamental lexicon, phraseology, stylistics, phonology, paleography, as well as the main texts, covering a period from 10th to 12th centuries, and the relevant academic literature. The classes will be coupled with discussions of broader topics, such as the beginnings of New Persian literature, non-Arabic script Persian texts, historical orthography and earliest manuscripts:
Link: https://ferdowsi.org/an-introduction-to-classical-persian-prose/
Dates: October 6 – October 23
If you are interested or have questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly or apply through the website. I will be more than happy to answer any questions you have!
Best wishes,
Ruben S. Nikoghosyan
Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
Yerevan, Armenia
Website: www.ferdowsi.org
6. Persian Manuscripts Association
Second International Conference (Saturday 20 September 2025 – 9am to 5pm UK time)
In-person (London): If you’re in London or nearby, we warmly welcome you to register for free and join us on-site for what promises to be an inspiring day of discussion and connection. Complimentary refreshments and lunch will be provided.
Register on Eventbrite.
Online Attendance: Can’t make it to London? No problem! Join us virtually and be part of the conversation from anywhere in the world.
Join via Zoom.
Listen to the Flute: Timurid Music and Its Transmissions Across the Persianate World
20 Sep 2025
Queen Mary Hall
(16-22 Great Russell Street, WC1B 3NN)
8:30-9:00
Registration
9:00-9:15
Welcome Remarks
9:15-10:00
Owen Wright – SOAS University of London
Timurid Music: An Introduction
10:00-10:45
Amir Hosein Pourjavady – UCI
The Music in the Gardens of Samarqand and Herat and the Dispersal of Their Legacy
10:45-11:00
Q&A
11:00-11:30
Coffee break
11:30-12:00
Marie Huber – Stanford University
Echoes of Herat: The Legacy of Timurid Musical Practice in Khorasan
12:00-12:30
Shiva Mihan – The British Museum
Imaging Sound: The Representation of Music in Timurid Manuscripts
12:30-1:00
Giovanni De Zorzi – University of Venice
Musicians at the Timurid Court
1:00-1:45
Lunch
1:45-2:15
William Hofmann – The Institute of Ismaili Studies
Only The Mystics of Unity Truly Understand: Translation and Equivalence in Persian Texts on Music from South Asia c. 1400–1660
2:15-2:45
Richard Williams – SOAS University of London
Mughals Between Maqam and Raga: Paida Beg’s Hindi Scholarship Under Shah Jahan
2:45-3:15
Coffee break
3:15-3:35
Behrouz Amini – Malek National Library and Museum
From Herat to Istanbul: Tracing Timurid Musical Heritage in the Manuscript Nuzhat al-Arwah
3:35-4:00
Arastoo Mihandoost – University of Tehran
Introducing a newly found Safavid Treatise on the Eight Dastgahs
4:00-4:30
Walter Feldman – NYC
Mevlevi and Iranian Musicians and “The Science of Music” in Ibrahim Cevri’s “Description of the Singers at the Court of the Sultan”
4:30-5:00
“Listen to the Flute” and Closing Remarks
7. Open-Access Teaching Module on the Black Death Now Available
The History for the 21st Century Project (H21, https://www.history21.com/) has just launched a new, open-access teaching module on the late medieval plague pandemic, commonly known as the Black Death. Authored by historian of medicine, Monica H. Green, an elected Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, the module presents the first global narrative of the pandemic, from its origins in Central Asia up through its fullest impact in the mid-14th century.
The four-part module–entitled The Black Death: The Medieval Plague Pandemic through the Eyes of Ibn Battuta–uses the mid-14th-century Moroccan world traveler as the “guide” for a tour of the Mongol Empire and the pan-Mediterranean worlds that saw new outbreaks of plague in this period. Drawing on the latest work in the paleosciences (genetics and bioarchaeology, in this case), the module presents a new approach to infectious disease history: using documentary sources to tell what humans saw, and using scientific findings to show what people couldn’t see of the movements of the microscopic pathogen that causes plague, the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
The result is a wider geography and a longer chronology of the pandemic. Materials provided (all for free) include readings for the students that use excerpts from primary sources to create a new narrative of the pandemic; in-class exercises to engage the students in creating their own interpretations of events; instructional materials (including teaching guides and PowerPoint slides); and suggestions for assessment exercises.
The student reading materials can be accessed and downloaded here: https://www.history21.com/owit-module/the-black-death-the-medieval-plague-pandemic/. Registration (again, free) is required to access the instructional materials for this and all the other modules available in the H21 platform: https://www.history21.com/wp-login.php?action=register.
Contact Information
Monica H. Green, PhD
Independent Scholar
Contact Email
URL
https://www.history21.com/owit-module/the-black-death-the-medieval-plague-pande…
8. Job Posting in Arabic Linguistics – Assistant or Associate Professor, UT Austin
Arabic Linguistics – Assistant or Associate Professor
https://apply.interfolio.com/173668
Review of applications will begin October 29, 2025 and continue until the position is filled.
9. Research Assistant (3.5 Months) to Support the Coordination of a Publication on the Cultural Heritage of Religious, Ethnic and Linguistic Minorities in Syria, Iraq and Egypt, University of Sussex, Brighton
Requirements: Knowledge of Coptic community in Egypt. – _High proficiency in both English and Arabic languages. Undergraduate degree in social sciences or humanities. – _Academic writing experience.
Deadline for applications: 17 September 2025.
Information: https://www.cognitoforms.com/MEPCCC/ResearchAssistant
10. Assistant Professor (2 Years) in Political Science with Emphasis on the Middle East, American University in Cairo
Requirements: A PhD is required at the time of appointment. Candidates should demonstrate excellence in teaching and have an active research agenda. Candidates with experience in and familiarity with the North American higher educational system are preferred.
Deadline for applications: 1 January 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yeyjpf4a
11. Junior Research Fellowship (2 Years), Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University
The Crown Center for Middle East Studies is seeking outstanding scholars of the contemporary Middle East and North Africa for a residential fellowship to begin September 1, 2026. The fellowship is for two years contingent upon the successful completion of fellowship requirements in the first year. The fellowship is open to all disciplines in the Humanities and Social Sciences—particularly politics, economics, history, religion, sociology and anthropology. The fellowship’s goal is to allow untenured early career scholars the flexibility and means to advance a specific research project related to the contemporary Middle East and North Africa.
Deadline for applications: 31 October 2025. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30422
12. Assistant Professor of International Studies, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH
We seek a social scientist with a degree in either sociology, political science, or anthropology, whose regional focus is on Sub-Saharan Africa or the Middle East and Northern Africa, with a demonstrated commitment to interdis-ciplinary research and teaching.
Deadline for applications: 15 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yfhzepws
13. 5 Positions as Research Associate and Visiting Faculty in the “Women`s Studies in the Religion Program”, Harvard Divinity School
Proposals for book-length research projects utilizing both religion and gender as central categories of analysis and focusing on any religion are welcomed. Applicants must have received their PhD (or equivalent terminal degree) by 1 October 2025.
Deadline for applications: 15 October 2025. Information: https://wsrp.hds.harvard.edu/apply
14. Assistant Professor of World Literatures (Focus Comparative Literatures of the Middle East in Arabic, Persian, Turkish), Smith College, Northampton, MA
We seek a specialist in critical theory, with competency in translation studies and broad theoretical expertise in comparative world literatures as a field. In addition to being conversant in the most recent developments in both the field of comparative world literatures and translation studies, a successful candidate would specialize in a literature that expands the global reach of our program.
Deadline for applications: 1 October 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/173414
15. “Alixa Naff Migration Studies Prize” for Studies from Any Discipline on Studies on the Middle East and North African Migrations and Diasporas, Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies
Award of $ 1,000 for: 1. Established Scholars: Articles or books published between 1 June 2024 and 30 May 2025. – _2. Graduate Students: Papers authored between 1 June 2024 and 30 May 2025.
Deadline for applications: 26 September 2025.
Information: https://lebanesestudies.ncsu.edu/explore/awards/alixa-naff-prize/
16. Call for papers : ‘The pilgrimage to Mecca as a social experience’
Deadline for abstracts: 31 October 2025.
Information: https://journals.openedition.org/arabianhumanities/15236
- September 13, 2025
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- September 10, 2025
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Shii News – Academic Items
1.Hybrid Event
The University of Edinburgh
The Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) Research Seminar resumes on Monday, 15 September at 5:15 (UK time) in 40 George Square Lower, LG.11.
The sessions will be hybrid. For those who wish to join us online, please email Anthony.Gorman@ed.ac.uk, who will send you a link on the day of the seminar.
Our first speaker will be Prof Yasir Suleiman-Malley, CBE, University of Cambridge, who will speak on Arabic Literary Prizes and the Sociology of Literature.
Professor Yasir Suleiman-Malley is Emeritus Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at the University of Cambridge, formerly His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Professor of Contemporary Arabic Studies at the University of Cambridge and the Iraq Professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
His research covers the cultural politics of the Middle East with special focus on identity, conflict, diaspora studies and modernisation in so far as these issues relate to language, modern Arabic literature, translation and memory. He also conducts research in Arabic grammatical theory and the Arabic intellectual tradition in the pre-modern period.
The presentation will be followed by a reception.
2. Ghand-e Parsi: Academy of Persian Language and Persianate Culture holds:
2025 Persian Autumn School
Dates: 20 September – 12 December 2025
Program Highlights: 14 Topics; 100% Online; Payment in 2 Installments
The courses :
- Advanced Persian through Persian Texts
- Advanced Persian through Mystical and Sufi Texts
- Advanced Persian through Sa’di’s Golestan
- Advanced Persian through Persian Novels
- Advanced Persian through Persian Films
- Advanced Persian through Persian Codicology Texts
- Digital Humanities and Persianate Studies Bootcamp
- Persian for Heritage Speakers
- Persian for Everyday Conversation
- Elementary Persian
- Intermediate Persian
- Intermediate Persian through Persian Short Stories
- Intermediate Persian through Persian Proverbs
- Intermediate Persian through News Websites in Simple Persian
More details about the courses available here: https://www.ghandeparsi.com/autumnschool
3. Arab World English Journal for Translation and Literary Studies welcomes submissions of papers for the October 2025 issue. The submission deadline is September 20, 2025. The issue publication date is October 2025. Please send your paper as an attachment to TLS@awej.org
- For more details, please click here
Here is the AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 9. Number 3. August 2025
4. CFP Seminar at ACLA (Montreal, 2026): Shared Imaginaries and Intellectual Entanglements Across Latin America/the Caribbean and the Middle East/North Africa
This seminar invites proposals that explore the cultural, literary, and intellectual entanglements between Latin America/the Caribbean and the Middle East/North Africa from a comparative perspective. Our aim is to foster dialogue between scholars working across geographies, languages, periods, and disciplines, and to highlight emerging intersections in Latin America/Caribbean–Middle East/North African studies. We seek to center transregional flows—of people, texts, ideas, aesthetics, and political imaginaries—that link these two complex, heterogeneous regions.
We welcome papers that engage with a wide range of themes, including but not limited to:
- Early Modern connections between the regions
- Migration, exile, and diaspora (e.g., Arab migration to Latin America and vice versa)
- Comparative literatures, poetics, and translation across Caribbean languages, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Turkish, and Indigenous languages
- Anti-colonial thought and revolutionary imaginaries
- Postcolonial and decolonial approaches to comparative literature
- Orientalism, Occidentalism, and their critiques
- Religion, secularism, and cultural politics across regions
- The politics and aesthetics of memory, trauma, and representation
By inviting contributions from across periods and disciplines, we hope to foster conversation among the selected panelists, with the goal of shaping an intellectual community that looks beyond national and regional silos. We aim to reserve ample time for discussion between panelists.
To view the seminar and propose a paper, go to: https://www.acla.org/seminar/9e4475e8-26ea-4b9a-ab74-2edeca90c736
Ali Noori PhD
Faculty in History | Bard Early College Brooklyn
Adjunct Assistant Professor | Brooklyn College (CUNY)
Visiting Fellow | Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies, University of Pennsylvania
5. Call for Papers: International Symposium – ‘Islamic Studies Across Divides in an Era of Crisis and Global Injustice’ – Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, 24-25 January 2026
The British Association for Islamic Studies is proud to announce that it will be co-hosting a landmark international symposium at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 January 2026.
As part of BRAIS’s commitment to fostering global knowledge exchange and diversifying the academic landscape, we are pleased to offer this unique opportunity to engage in scholarly discourse amidst the backdrop of legalised genocide in Gaza, increasing inequality, and the structural silencing of academic research.
We invite scholars from around the world, and from all disciplines related to Islamic Studies, to join us in Istanbul to present their research. We invite proposals for individual papers, as well as whole panels, from senior and early-career scholars, as well as colleagues from beyond the academic world who have specialist expertise or unique insights to share.
The Symposium’s theme is “Islamic Studies Across Divides in an Era in Times of Crisis and Global Injustice”, offering a space for scholars to reflect on the role of Islamic Studies in these extraordinary times. As usual, our broad definition of Islamic Studies encompasses all topics and disciplinary approaches related to the study of Islam and Muslim societies.
For view the full Call for Papers, to submit a paper, and for information about delegate fees and bursaries, please visit the BRAIS website: www.brais.ac.uk/symposium/symposium-call-for-papers
If you have any questions about the International Symposium, they might be answered on our FAQ page here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/symposium/symposium-faqs
The Call for Papers deadline is 5pm GMT on Friday, 17 October 2025.
Finally, please note that in the spirit of inclusivity and transcending barriers to knowledge exchange, BRAIS will provide Fee Waivers to a number of scholars whose papers are accepted, based on structural financial disadvantage.
Please do share this CfP through your networks and do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions: brais@ed.ac.uk
6. The Journal of Literary Multilingualism will publish a special issue on Multilingual Literature in Conflict Zones, co-edited by Adrian Wanner and Marianna Deganutti. You can find the full call for papers here: https://brill.com/view/journals/jlm/jlm-overview.xml?language=en&srsltid=AfmBOorZS2HJypLrljogaBuZWRrdqn42uMP0V-On7E-fkPNUwDLawj7d&contents=editorialContent-133826
Scholars of literary responses to conflicts are particularly well-suited to contribute. For example, how do authors’ attitudes toward their languages shift in the face of conflict? Other topics of interest include the literary consequences of political fragmentation or the linguistic choices made by authors who are directly involved in, or deeply affected by, war.
Submissions for book reviews, interviews, and creative writing are also encouraged. The deadline for abstracts is April 1, 2026, with full articles due on October 15, 2026.
- September 09, 2025
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- September 08, 2025
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Shii News – Acdemic Items
1. The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies and Invisible East present a series of monthly online seminars about archives and documents.
Convened by Arezou Azad and Mohamad Tavakoli, the seminars are held monthly on Zoom.
Please join us next month to hear from Dilnoza Duturaeva on ‘Chinese Documents on the Qarakhanids’ Wednesday 17 September at 12PM EST / 5PM GMT. Pre-registration is essential.
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/azuvuYKIRh-yNsSYNoA_5A#/registration
2. August 26 was the first anniversary of the death of Reza Ghotbi, the director of National Iranian Radio and Television in the years before the Islamic Revolution. Mr. Ghotbi’s performance has always been a subject of discussion, especially during the Revolution, and his silence in the following years further fueled this. On the first anniversary of Reza Ghotbi’s death in exile, I have reviewed his achievements through the words of his close colleagues at National Television:
https://youtu.be/79VtLuzzAqA
Regards,
Pejman Akbarzadeh
3. The upcoming course titled “Classical Persian through Historical Texts: Reading Juwaynī’s Tārīx-i Jahāngušāy is set to start on September 24.
The course, meeting on a weekly basis, for 2 hours, will be a comprehensive introduction to this extremely important Classical Persian text, as well as the grammar, lexicon, and stylistics of its language. The course is designed for Masters and PhD students with a focus on history or Classical Persian literature, and is open to everyone interested.
You are welcome to follow the link to learn more about the course and apply:
Classical Persian through Historical Texts: Reading Juwaynī’s Tārīx-i Jahāngušāy
Ruben Nikoghosyan
Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
Yerevan, Armenia
Website: www.ferdowsi.org
4. ‘Lithographic Printing in Afghanistan’, Khalilullah Afzali – September 4, 2025, 12:00 PM EDT
Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/FuAhytO2Ty26MGeZcoq_RA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting
5. Studies in Iranian History and Culture
In Honor of Elton L. Daniel
M Ashtiany, et al., eds.,
Brill, 2025
https://brill.com/display/title/72704
6. The Islamic College: MA-Equivalent Exegesis & Quranic Sciences (Online)
Deadline for Registration: 30th September 2025
Starting date: 3rd November 2025
7. The first lecture in the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series for Fall 2025 will take place on Tuesday, September 9, 2025 at 11:00 Detroit/New York · 16:00 London · 18:00 Istanbul.
Samira Fathi (Michigan State University) will present “Literary Culture and Urban Revival in Early Qajar Isfahan.”
To attend, please register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/8rdxc9xjSqigsRyZZEly9g
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.
Although not every talk is recorded, we have recordings of several recent talks on the VIAHSS Vimeo page.
Our full Fall 2025 Schedule is available below and on our website. With the exception of our first talk, most of our talks this semester will take place on Tuesdays at 12:00 Eastern Standard/Daylight Time.
8. The Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA)is pleased to invite undergraduate and graduate students to participate in its Poster Competitionat the Eighteenth Annual Conference being held November 1 – 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
Presenting a poster is an excellent opportunity for young scholars to showcase their work in a visual format that promotes discussion, enables interaction with seasoned academics, and receive feedback about their projects.
Information for applicants:
- Undergraduate applicants must be juniors or seniors in the 2025-26 academic year.
- Graduate applicants must be enrolled at a higher education institution for the 2025-26 academic year.
- Interested students must submit an application via the online submission portal and include a 300-word abstract of original unpublished data.
- Topics must be related to the Middle East and/or Africa.
- Successful applicants will be required to register for the Conference.
- Scoring is based on how well the presenter demonstrates understanding of their subject matter as well as by the clarity of their presentation.
- More submission details and guidelines for final poster projects will be made available to confirmed participants.
- Applications are evaluated and accepted on a rolling basis until October 1, 2025.
For further information, please visit our Call for Posters page or contact info@asmeascholars.org.
Contact Information
Emily Lucas
Membership and Operations Director
Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA)
ph: 202.429.8860
Contact Email
URL
https://www.asmeascholars.org/call-for-posters-2024
9. Conference Announcement
Title: Sea-border and Airspace Formation in the Middle East and North Africa, 1880s-1950s
Dates: 16-17 October 2025
Location: Room RS. 38, University of Neuchâtel, Espace Tilo-Frey 1, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland
The University of Neuchâtel is pleased to announce the international conference, “Sea-border and Airspace Formation in the Middle East and North Africa, 1880s-1950s”, to be held this autumn.
The conference critically examines the complex interplay of state- and empire-making, technological advancements, and shifting mobilities in delineating sea-borders and airspaces across the Middle East and North Africa. It probes the historical processes that reshaped regional sovereignty and imperial control during the late Ottoman and European mandatory periods, offering new perspectives on the formation of aerial and maritime territoriality.
See Full Conference Program Attached.
Attendance is free and open to the public. No registration is required.
Keynote Address
Title: “Reforming the British Empire: Space, Place and Mobilties of People, Capital and Ideas in the Global Restructuring of the British Empire”
Speaker: Alan Lester (University of Sussex)
Moderator: Sara de Athouguia Filipe (University of Neuchâtel and nccr – on the move)
The keynote address will take place on Thursday, 16 October, at 4:15 p.m. in Room R.O.12, Espace Tilo-Frey 1. For those unable to attend in person, the keynote will be livestreamed on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/live/KxpSEhtQuOc.
Contact Information
For more information, please contact:
- Jordi Tejel: jordi.tejel@unine.ch
- David Motzafi-Haller: david.motzafi@unine.ch
10. ONLINE Webinar: ‘Fulayj: A Sasanian Persian Fort on the Batinah in Oman’
with Eve MacDonald
British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 24 September, 2025, 5:00 pm UK Time
Fulayj fort was discovered in an area of exceptional landscape preservation on the mid-Batinah Plain of Oman 12km inland from the Indian Ocean coast and 30km south of the major early Islamic port and regional capital of Sohar. A preliminary investigation carried out in 2015 and 2016 during the Persian and its Neighbours Project demonstrated that fort was built by a well-organised external military force in the 5th century CE and that it shares an identical ceramic assemblage to Jazirat al-Ghanam, a Sasanian period military watch station overlooking the Straits of Hormuz discovered in 1971. This paper will discuss the results of the final (2023) season at Fulayj, partially funded by a BIPS research grant, and will discuss the fort in its broader context and connection to a larger Sasanian defensive system on the Batinah in Oman
Information and registration:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_x2uw_EuzTeKzHHIYMe9TyA#/registration
11. The British Academy In-person event: Assyria in the 7th century BC
| 4-6 November 2025; 6PM |
Delivered by the most outstanding academics in the UK and beyond, the British Academy’s flagship Lecture programme showcases the very best scholarship in the humanities and social sciences. This event is part of the Schweich Lectures on Biblical Archaeology series.
About the speaker:
Professor Karen Radner holds the Alexander von Humboldt Chair of the Ancient History of the Near and Middle East at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU Munich). A member of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and of the German Archaeological Institute, she was awarded the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize in 2022. Her research focuses on the Assyrian Empire.
Chairs: Professor Mark Weeden (UCL), Professor Mark Altaweel (UCL), Professor Andrew George FBA (SOAS)
Exploring Assyria’s fortunes in the 7th century BC will take us on a white-knuckle ride. Only six decades separate the heady days of unprecedented power after the conquest of Egypt in 673 BC from the total loss of religious and political control caused by the destruction of the Ashur temple in 614 BC and the fall of Nineveh in 612 BC. In three lectures focusing on the history, archaeology and texts of the period, we will put ourselves in the place of an inhabitant of the city of Assur who lived through these eventful years.
Free, booking required, tickets to be released prior to the event
This lecture series will take place over the course of three evenings from 4-6 November 2025. The series will include a reception for attendees, details to follow.
If you have any questions about this event, please email events@thebritishacademy.ac.uk.
12. The Department of Middle East Studies at the University of Michigan invites applications for the James A. Bellamy Professorship, with an anticipated start date of August 25, 2026. We seek a tenure-track professor or associate professor with a substantial publication record in the fields of early Arabic language or literature, textual traditions and Islamic culture. The successful candidate will hold a Ph.D. and is expected to teach a range of courses in Arabic and Islamic studies, from introductory undergraduate lecture courses through graduate seminars; to supervise doctoral dissertations; and to participate actively in the programs of the department as well as in area studies initiatives within a larger university community that encourages interdisciplinary efforts.
All application materials should be submitted online through Interfolio. Materials should include a cover letter, current curriculum vitae, statement of teaching philosophy and experience, statement of current and future research plans, teaching evaluations and other evidence of teaching excellence. Additionally, you may provide the names of up to three references.
For any questions, please contact the executive assistant, Department of Middle East Studies, at mes-admin@umich.edu. The deadline for submission is October 31, 2025.
13. Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh
Research Seminars, 1st semester (2025/26) (HYBRID)
All talks begin at 5:15 (UK time) and will be held at 40 George Square Lower, LG.11 (unless otherwise noted), and followed by a reception.
The sessions will be hybrid. For those that wish to join us online, please email Anthony.Gorman@ed.ac.uk, who will send you out a link on the day of the seminar.
Mon 15 Sept (Week 1) [40GS, LG.11]
Prof Yasir Suleiman-Malley, University of Cambridge
Arabic Literary Prizes and the Sociology of Literature
Mon 29 Sept (Week 3) [40GS, LG.11]
Dr Andreas Görke (IMES) University of Edinburgh
The beginnings of Qur’anic exegesis or, Can we know how the companions of the Prophet understood the Qur’an?
Mon 13 Oct (Week 5) [40GS, LG.11]
Dr Anthony Gorman (IMES) University of Edinburgh
Teaching the Middle East at Edinburgh before IMES
Mon 27 Oct (Week 7) [40GS, LG.11]
Profs Houri Berberian (UC Irvine) and Talinn Grigor (UC Davis)
The Armenian Woman, Minoritarian Agency, and the Making of Iranian Modernity 1860-1979.
Mon 3 Nov (Week 8) [40 GS, LG.08]
Prof Nacim Pak-Shiraz (IMES)
Staging Masculinity: Hegemony, and Patriarchy in 1990s Iranian Popular Cinema
Mon 10 Nov (Week 9) [40GS, LG.11]
Prof. Mohd Radhi Ibrahim, Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia (USIM) (Visiting Scholar)
The Integration of Knowledge: An Islamic Worldview
14. Colloque “Diversité(s) en islam. Fondements et implications d’une pluralité complexe”, Institut Français d’Islamologie & Université de Strasbourg, 8-9 septembre 2025
Information et programme : https://tinyurl.com/5cyz6uw7
15. Partha Mitter: The Virtual Cosmopolitan in the Global Colonial Order @ Calouste Gulbenkian Museum (11 September 2025, 15:00 GMT, Lisbon, Portugal)
Thursday 11 September, starting at 15:00 (Lisbon Time / GMT) at the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum
in conjunction with the 4th EAAA Conference.
This event will showcase
the Museum’s exquisite Asian art collection, followed by a lecture by
Partha Mitter. It will be livestreamed on the following site, so make
sure not to miss this opportunity:
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgulbenkian.pt%2Fmuseu%2Fen%2Fagenda%2Fpartha-mitter%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7C757df6f584154e024d2108dded20eb1f%7C2e9f06b016694589878910a06934dc61%7C0%7C0%7C638927447853597277%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ljE9HeTJCBMW7G5RQeTHIQYd25YHda1FJcnq2shjb8Y%3D&reserved=0
16. ONLINE Lecture “Queering Islamic Art: Expressions of Gender Diversity and Critique of Sexual Normativity in Contemporary Art of the Middle East” by Charlotte Bank (Institut für Kunstgeschichte, LMU München), Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, 21 October 2025, 18:00 CET
Information and registration: https://viahss.org/upcoming-talks/
17. POSTS:
Two Teaching Faculty Positions in Instructional Arabic (Open Rank), Georgetown University in Qatar
The successful candidates will hold an M.A. or Ph.D. in language instruction, linguistics, or applied linguistics. Suc-cessful candidates will demonstrate excellence in teaching Arabic at all levels, including experience working with heritage language learners. They will also have a record of effective instruction in skill-based courses (e.g., Business Arabic, Academic Writing) and in leading co-curricular and experiential learning activities that support Arabic lan-guage development.
Deadline for applications: 1 October 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/172435
Associate Professor or Professor for Palestinian Literature and Culture, University of Toronto
The Department is seeking a scholar of modern and contemporary Palestinian cultural production with a specia-lization in one or more of the following fields: literature, media and visual studies, cinema studies, theatre and perfor-mance studies, and/or the fine arts. We welcome applications from interdisciplinary scholars who will integrate Palestinian studies within the fields of Arabic Studies and the Modern Middle East.
Deadline for applications: 6 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdhtphds
Assistant Professor of Modern & Contemporary Art History (Focus on Middle Eastern Studies), Rhodes College, Memphis, TN
The successful candidate’s research must carry significance within the field of Art History while resonating across other disciplines. Applications are especially welcome from individuals able to contribute to at least one of the College’s many interdisciplinary programs, including Jewish, Islamic, and Middle Eastern Studies.
Deadline for applications: 7 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4j723ujt
18. Call for Articles on “A Sea of Mixedness: Mobility and Mixing Shaping Red Sea Cities and Urban Life (1800s-2000s)” for a Special Issue of “Northeast African Studies”
The editors are especially interested in historically or anthropologically grounded case studies on understudied cities, groups and individuals, including but not limited to Armenians, Greeks and South Asians and their mixed descen-dants in North-East Africa, Egypt’s Afro-Arabs, the Port-Tawfiq Anglo-Maltese officers, the Muwalladeen in Yemen and formerly enslaved people who stayed in the Red Sea region.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 October 2025. Information: https://zenodo.org/records/16992319
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Shii News – The Fatimids – D Cortese
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