Archive for 2025
Shii News – Academic Items
1.UCLA Screening of Sloan Winner – JIN – A Kurdish film with themes of Jin Jiyan Azadi and Intersectionality– June 26th, 7-10 PM.
https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/jin-short-film-screening-tickets-1371989149479?aff=erelexpmlt
2. JSAI Volume 55 – Studies in Honour of Albert Arazi
We are pleased to announce the publication of volume 55 of Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam(JSAI). This peer-reviewed academic journal covers a range of subjects related to classical Islam, Islamic religious thought, Arabic language and literature, and the interaction between Islam and other civilizations. This honorary volume is presented to Albert Arazi of the Hebrew University and includes papers that highlight his diverse fields of academic interests.
As the flagship project of the Institute of Asian and African Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation is dedicated to providing high-quality research and analysis on the subject of Islam and Arabic studies. We are proud to have published 55 volumes of JSAI to date and we are confident that the latest addition will be of great interest to academics and researchers worldwide.
We invite you to visit our website at https://jsai.huji.ac.il/publications to learn more about JSAI.
The Editors
Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation
Contact Email
URL
https://jsai.huji.ac.il/about-jsai-0
3. Columbia University – Lecturer/Visiting Professor in Armenian Studies
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68808
4. Join us for our first Digital Lab event in Scotland! The event takes place Wednesday 2-3 July 2025 in Edinburgh, Scotland, with an optional 4 July special excursion to Glasgow. Our focus is on the intersections of Islamic art, architecture, video games/XR, digital cultural heritage and museum collections. This event will bring together our local and international community members and anyone else who shares our interest in bridging academic, video games/entertainment/XR+, and cultural heritage sectors for positive social impact. We’ll combine brief talks with hands-on workshops, and plenty of time for meeting fellow members of the Digital Lab community, strengthening our international connections, and sharing exciting new projects.
2-3 July Digital Lab Days Edinburgh
Day 1 Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh
Bridging the academy and video games/entertainment/XR
Digital Technologies for Islamic Art History & Cultural Heritage
Hands-On Workshop for Digital Cultural Heritage
Day 2
AM: Spotlight on Islamic art, University of Edinburgh Heritage Collections
PM: Spotlight on Islamic art, National Museum Scotland with Friederike Voigt (Principal Curator, West, South & Southeast Asian collections, Head of Asia Section, Department of Global Arts, Cultures and Design)
Optional 4 July Digital Lab Days Glasgow Field Trip
Introduction to Museums in the Metaverse, ARC-XR Lab, University Glasgow
Islamic collections session, Glasgow Life Museums Resource Center with Aisha Asghar (Assistant Curator, World Cultures – Art)
Contact Information
Dr. Glaire Anderson
Founding Director, Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Cultures & Collections
Senior Lecturer in Islamic Art, School of History of Art/ECA
Affiliate, Edinburgh Futures Institute
University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact Email
URL
https://dlivcc.kit.com/profile/events
5. The Medieval Mediterranean between Islam and Christianity
Crosspollinations in Art, Architecture, and Material Culture
Edited by Sami Luigi De Giosa and Nikolaos Vryzidis
AUC Press, 2025
https://aucpress.com/9781649031877/
6. CFP: American Historical Review, Special Issue on Methods for Archival Silence in Early History, Sept. 16
The American Historical Review seeks proposals for a special issue illustrating a range of methodological approaches to archival silence developed by scholars of early history. Articles may be grounded in any part of the world and address any topic as long as they are method-driven, focused on archival silence, and situated early within the periodization of your field.
About the Issue
What should historians do when our sources do not tell us what we want to know? Although this may be a universal experience of historical research, the problem arises in various forms. Some silences are intentional, others unintentional. Some sources are minimal, others extensive but off-topic. Some sources are inaccessible, some have not been preserved, some were never created. Sometimes we do not or cannot know whether our desired sources ever existed, or, if they did, what happened to them. Silences cluster around certain topics, places, and periods more than others.
Historians have articulated this problem in a variety of ways. This call uses the language of archival silence and silencing developed by Michel-Rolph Trouillard and Marisa Fuentes. It could have drawn on the concept of the subaltern (Ranajit Guha, Gayatri Spivak), strategically produced silence and plausible stories (Natalie Zemon Davis), records designed for jettison (Marina Rustow), hidden transcripts (James Scott), living oral traditions (Bethwell A. Ogot), or writing off the radar (James Lockhart), to name only a few.
Faced with archival silence, historians have developed a range of methods for working in, through, and around it. Some techniques and approaches have become characteristic of expertise in early periods. Others are applied by historians across specializations. These include but are not limited to reading against the grain; creative combination of well-known sources; creative use of unusual or little-known sources; oral and other forms of non-written record; technical skills in the so-called ancillary disciplines (numismatics, paleography, codicology, epigraphy, and more); interdisciplinary approaches to method (anthropology, archaeology, literature, linguistics, and more) and to what constitutes a source (climate data, aDNA, physical objects, art, and more); critical fabulation or disciplined imagination; and reframing our questions to build on our sources’ strengths.
Submitting a Proposal
Proposals should be submitted via Google Form by September 16, 2025. Proposals should be no more than 800 words in length and should address the following questions:
- What is your field of historical research? In the context of your field, why is your project considered early?
- Briefly describe the archive(s) or bod(ies) of sources on which your project is based. In what sense are these sources silent?
- Briefly describe the method(s) that you use to work with these sources. What methodological intervention does your project make, and why is it significant?
- What form will your project take in the journal?
We invite projects in a wide variety of forms. They can include, but are not limited to:
- Traditional research articles (no more than 8,000 words, excluding footnotes)
- Image- or video-centered projects
- Digital history/humanities projects
- Public history projects or virtual exhibitions
- Pedagogical projects that examine approaches to methodology and archival silence in the classroom
Decisions on proposals will be announced in November 2025. A positive decision does not guarantee publication in the journal but is rather an invitation to submit a full and complete version of the proposed project for peer review. The submission deadline for complete projects for peer review is May 1, 2026. We anticipate publication of the special issue in 2027.
Please contact the special issue editor, Hannah Barker (hannah.barker.1@asu.edu), with questions.
Contact Information
Hannah Barker
Associate Professor, School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies, Arizona State University
Contact Email
URL
https://www.historians.org/news-publications/american-historical-review/how-to-…
7. Birmingham Research Institute for History and Cultures
The Vernacular Millennium: Literary Cultures in History: International Multidisciplinary Workshop
19–20 June, University of Birmingham
Venue: G05, Institute of Advanced Studies(IAS), University of Birmingham, 54 Pritchatts Rd, Birmingham B15 2SA, UK
This hybrid workshop will discuss Sheldon Pollock’s book titled The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture, and Power in Premodern India (University of California Press, 2009). Since its publication fifteen years ago, Pollock’s massive book has profoundly reshaped how cultural and literary historians, as well as philologists specialising in the broadest possible linguistic fields, think about the development of languages and the relationship between language and politics. Pollock focused on Sanskrit and its impact on vernacular literary languages in India, suggesting stages for how as a cosmopolitan literary idiom it gave way to local languages. He offered a framework that successfully moved historical models for the development of literary languages away from nationalist teleology, which sees the rise of ‘national languages’ as connected to ethnic identity and as an inevitable process. Since the appearance of the book, scholars have applied Pollock’s vision to their own field, creating new ways of thinking about literary history, philology, historical linguistics, etc., whether in the western hemisphere or the Global South. While some have agreed and others have disagreed with Pollock, problematising his model’s applicability in certain linguistic traditions, critical engagement with his model has proven remarkably fruitful, whether speaking about languages of the ancient Near East, Antiquity, Late Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Early Modernity. This has undoubtedly created new ways of talking about premodern global connectivities and the contingency of the linguistic – and by extension, also the cultural – makeup of the modern world. It is now time to take stock of this impact. The workshop will bring together specialists of diverse linguistic traditions – historians, philologists and linguists from the UK and international academia. The regional and linguistic specialisations of the invitees will include Indology, Iranian, Turkic, Arabic, English, Spanish and Latin Studies.
Those interested but unable to attend in person can participate via Zoom via the links included below.
Thursday, 19 June
https://bham-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/83998767478?pwd=4iGaxo9gRCq0PsT4hAVBaKgWTsY7iS.1
Meeting ID: 839 9876 7478, Passcode: 430140
Welcome: 13:30-14:00 Soft opening
14:00-15:00 The Politics of Language in the Nile-to-Oxus Region
Ludwig Paul (University of Hamburg), “The Early History of New Persian”
Ferenc Csirkés (University of Birmingham), “Language Ideologies of Turkic in Premodern Iran”
Discussant: Leire Olabarria
15:00-15:45 Latinitas and Translation in the Medieval Christian West
Elena Caetano Alvarez (University of Birmingham), “Por aver remembrança”: Translation, Adaptation, and the Language of Empire in Alfonso X’s Historiography”
Discussant: Aengus Ward (University of Birmingham, Department of Modern Languages)
[15:45-16:15 Tea/ Coffee]
16:15-17:15 Cosmopolitan Multilingualism in the Early Modern and Modern West
Kamran Khan (University of Birmingham), “Language Citizenship Testing as Border Control”
Warren Boutcher (Queen Mary, University of London), “Beyond vernacularisation: The TextDiveGlobal project and the literary history of early modern Europe in the world”
Discussant: Jing Huang (University of Birmingham)
[18:30- Dinner – Syriana, Edgbaston]
Friday, 20 June
https://bham-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/81404724181?pwd=XckGnlagv9spC5G1JvabwGeqAyPoDu.1
Meeting ID: 814 0472 4181
Passcode: 512641
09:15-10:15 Cosmopolitanism and Vernacular Traditions in India
Imre Bangha (University of Oxford), “Moving on from the Language of Gods: Revisiting the Emergence of Hindi”
Roy Fischel (SOAS, University of London), “Telling the Local to the World: Cosmopolitan and its Boundaries in the Persianate Deccan”
Discussant: Ferenc Csirkés
[10:15-10:30 Tea/Coffee]
10:30-11:30 Keynote
Nicholas Ostler (Foundation of Endangered Languages), “History of Language Succession”
11:30-13:00 [LUNCH, buffet brought in to accompany round table]
Roundtable, (and next steps?)
8. The Islamic College:
An Online Panel Discussion On: Religious Experience in Abrahamic Traditions
Date: Wednesday 25 June 2025
Time: 6.00 P.M. – 8.30 P.M. (LONDON TIME)
| A Short Account of the Talk:
Religious experience is described in some detail in the Hebrew Bible and yet is not emphasized on the whole in later forms of the religion. There are some Jewish traditions for which experience is significant, but for most Jews it is not so important, and is perhaps replaced by practices such as prayer and law, or a commitment to social justice. There will be a discussion of how and why this occurred, what are its implications and whether or not this presents the religion with a problem. Bio Oliver Leaman is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Kentucky and a member of the Accademica Ambrosiana, Milan . He is the author and editor of books and articles in Islamic, Jewish and Asian philosophy and culture, and his most recent book is the Routledge Handbook of Jewish Ritual and Practice, 2022, which he edited.. He remains the editor of the Routledge Jewish Book Series, one of the largest English language academic series of publications. A Short Account of the Talk: The Nature and Significance of Religious Experience: An Islamic Perspective Religious experience in Islamic thought is a profound encounter that fosters spiritual transformation, ethical refinement, and divine proximity. Rooted in the Qur’an and Hadith, it encompasses prayer (salat), supplication (du’a), contemplation (tafakkur), and mystical awareness (ma‘rifah), each serving as a pathway to deeper connection with God (Allah). Bio Hujjat al-Islam Dr. Mohammad Ali Shomali is a distinguished Islamic scholar and philosopher. He studied at the Islamic Seminaries of Qum and also earned his BA and MA in Western philosophy from the University of Tehran and his doctorate in moral philosophy from the University of Manchester. He is the founding director of the Risalat International Institute, which focuses on Islamic curriculum development and educational training. Over the past 28 years, he has led seminars and courses in over 60 cities across four continents, contributing to Islamic education and interfaith dialogue. Dr. Shomali’s work in interfaith engagement has connected him with scholars and religious leaders in Europe, North America, Africa, and Asia. His publications include works on Islamic philosophy, ethics, and spirituality, such as Ethical Relativism, Self-Knowledge, Shi‘a Islam: Origins, Faith & Practices, and Lessons on Islamic Beliefs. Dr Shomali is co-editor of Catholics-Shi’a Dialogue volumes: A Short Account of the Talk: The Christian faith is born in religious experience: the miraculous birth of the Christ child, the many miracles of Jesus, his martyr death, his resurrection and ascension. Today the Christian life is often seen as beginning with the personal reception of a divine encounter with Jesus, called “conversion.” The topic of religious experience within Christianity takes many turns and the literature is rich with philosophers, psychologist, and theologians analyzing the authenticity, especially of the extraordinary accounts of such experiences. In his presentation, Professor Huebner will consider both the exceptional accounts of religious experiences as well as the “ordinary” ones. His main argument is “We could say that it is a religious experience whenever there is a “meeting” of the divine and the human. Or, whenever we receive an act in this world as divine.” Bio Harry Huebner is Professor Emeritus of philosophy and theology at Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg, Canada. In the past few decades, he has been active in interfaith dialogue and teaching. He is the author of several books, his latest being An Introduction to Christian Ethics: History, Movements, People. |
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/event-register/
9. Dust That Never Settles: Literary Afterlives of the Iran-Iraq War is now available through Stanford University Press.
Ami Mousavi deals with the ways in which Iranian and Iraqi writers have dealt with the legacy of the war between their two countries in contemporary Persian and Arabic fiction.
https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/dust-never-settles
If you’re inclined to purchase one, you can get a 20% discount from SUP by using the code MOOSAVI20.
https://www.sup.org/books/middle-east-studies/dust-never-settles
10. Digital Methodologies for the Study of Religion Symposium
Wednesday 25th June
Coventry University
9.30am-4.15pm
This knowledge exchange symposium is part of the ESRC-funded Digital British Islam research project. Hosted by Coventry University, it will bring together scholars to critically engage with the uses, challenges, and future directions of digital methodologies for the study of religion. The draft programme for the symposium is available on here: https://digitalbritishislam.com/draft-symposium-programme/
Registration is free and includes access to all conference sessions, lunch, refreshments, and networking opportunities. Please note, we are not able to cover travel expenses on this occasion.
Please register on this link as soon as possible: https://digitalbritishislam.com/symposium-registration/
Places are very limited and registration will closed once full or on Wednesday 18th June.
11. IED lecture – 23/6 – Thijl Sunier ‘Making Islam work: Islamic Authority among Muslims in Western Europe’
Thijl Sunnier (VU Amsterdam) will close this first online lecture series with a talk on his latest book ‘‘Making Islam Work: Islamic Authority Among Muslims in Western Europe”.
Date: Monday, June 23rd, 3.00-4.30 pm CET
Registration link: click here to register and save your Teams access link
After his presentation, discussant Dominik Müller (Zürich University) will offer a response, followed by a Q&A
Abstract
Thijl Sunier: ‘‘Making Islam Work: Islamic Authority Among Muslims in Western Europe”.
Who speaks for Islam? Religious authority hinges on persuasiveness and addresses issues of truthfulness, authenticity, legitimacy, trust, and ethics within the realm of religious matters.
While Islamic authority may seem like an inherent status for Muslim scholars, tied to their knowledge of religious sources, Sunier argues that the process of establishing Islamic authority is a continuous dynamic.
His book Making Islam Work: Islamic Authority Among Muslims in Western Europe (Brill) analyses authority as a social and relational practice that extends beyond theological proficiency and personal status, even encompassing objects, activities, and events. Moreover, he contends that the development of Islamic landscapes in Europe is intricately linked to the evolution of Islamic authority.
In this talk, he will explore the diverse ways in which Islamic authority is constituted, with a specific emphasis on the role of ‘ordinary’ Muslims. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted among Muslims in Western Europe from the mid-1980s to 2020, he aims to shed light on the multifaceted dynamics of Islamic authority in this context.
Thijl Sunier is professor emeritus (VU University Amsterdam) and president of the Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS). His work focuses on the study of migrants in Europe, Turkey and the study of Islamic religious authority
Looking forward to seeing you there!
IED team (An Van Raemdonck, Iman Lechkar, Dominik Müller, Nadia Fadil, Aymon Kreil).
12. Nemati Book Award For Studies on Iran’s Minoritized Ethnic and Religious Communities
The Nemati Book Award honors exceptional monographs on Iran’s minoritized ethnic and religious groups. Established in memory of Mrs. Nemati [from Kermanshah in Iran], the award supports inclusive, interdisciplinary scholarship. The UNC-Chapel Hill Persian Studies Program administers this award in collaboration with the Association for Iranian Studies (AIS).
Prize: $1,000 (awarded biennially)
Eligibility: Books published in the past two years (January 1, 2024- December 31, 2025)
Focus: Communities such as Armenian, Assyrian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Bahá’í, Kurdish, Baluch, Yarsan, and others
Submission: Authors or publishers may submit a digital copy of the book, a nomination letter by authors/publishers, and a CV by January 31, 2026, to yaghoobi@email.unc.edu
13. Hedayat on Religion
Edited by M.R. Ghanoonparvar and Paul Sprachman
Contributors: Iraj Bashiri, Michael Beard, M. Mehdi Khorrami, Nasrin Rahimieh
Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers, 2024.
https://www.mazdapublishers.com/book/hedayat-on-religion
14. The team of the UKRI-funded project Musical Lives: Towards an Historical Anthropology of French Song, 1100-1300 (MUSLIVE) invites expressions of interest from researchers at an early career stage (broadly conceived and inclusive of current PhD students) to participate in a workshop on 17th-18thSeptember at King’s College London.
Our intention is to bring together researchers whose work intersects with the project’s interests in the lives of poets or songmakers who lived in or travelled the Mediterranean, or whose work can be positioned within trans-Mediterranean cultural networks, in the period 1100 to 1300. We take a capacious view of “musical lives” to include all forms of performed speech, with or without melody. We welcome contributions which focus on Arabic, Hebrew, Latin or European vernacular poetic traditions (particularly medieval French and Occitan).
In lieu of a traditional conference paper, we will ask participants to present a primary source, be that an object, text (or extract of a longer text), or document, linked to the project’s core themes and timeframe. Prior to the workshop, participants will submit their object/source for distribution in advance (with English translation provided), along with a short contextual statement about it, some research questions you are working on, and how it might relate to MUSLIVE’s core themes (for example, how it contributes to building a musical life and/or network.) In the workshop, each participant will offer an informal introduction to their item for a maximum of 5 minutes, with ample room afterwards for generative and open-ended conversation in a convivial and supportive atmosphere.
We conceive of the workshop as the first step in an ongoing collaboration through which participants will have the opportunity to develop a chapter for submission to one of the project’s edited volumes. The workshop will be an in-person event, though we anticipate further workshops will be online and/or hybrid.
We ask potential participants to submit an abstract of no more than 250 words outlining their chosen source and their approach to it, along with a short CV. Please submit your materials by June 30th to muslive@kcl.ac.uk and feel free to contact us on that address with any questions.
The project is able to offer a number of bursaries to support travel and accommodation costs, with priority given to those who do not have access to institutional or other funding. Please indicate if you would like to be considered for a bursary when submitting your abstract.
MUSLIVE is a UKRI Frontier Research Grant, running 2023-2028. It was successfully evaluated by the ERC and funded by the UKRI Horizon Europe guarantee (EP/X022501/1). For more information about the project themes, see: https://muslive.kcl.ac.uk
Best wishes,
The MUSLIVE team
15. New Online Course: The Shahname: Introduction to the Iranian Epic
July 11 – August 29, 2025
Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
https://ferdowsi.org/the-shahname-introduction-2/
16. HYBRID Lecture Reconstructing the Higher Thought of Muhammad b. ‘Abd al-Karīm al-Shahrastānī (d.548/1153): Eclecticism or Intellectual Synthesis ?
by Dr. Toby Mayer (Institute of Ismaili Studies, London), INALCO, Paris, 16 June 2025, 18:15 – _20:00 CET
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/2nu8pphy
17. “7th International Conference of the Mediterranean Maritime History Network”, University of Zadar, Croatia, 25-26 May 2026
Main themes: – _On the sea (seamen, ships, navigation, sea trade, war, piracy). – _Around the sea (maritime communities, islands, port cities, shipping, shipping-related, fishing and touristic businesses). In the sea (fishing, maritime resources, environment). – _Because of the sea (maritime transport systems and entrepreneurial networks, maritime empires, international and national maritime institutions and policy). – _About the sea (the maritime culture and heritage).
Deadline for abstracts: 30 September 2025. Information: https://conference.unizd.hr/mmhn2026/
18. Postdoctoral University Assistant (up to 6 Years) in Ottoman/Turkish Studies, University of Vienna
Qualification: Ph.D in Ottoman/Turkish Studies. – _Habilitation project in historical migration research focusing on Turkey. – _Research interests: migration history, minorities, spatial studies. – _Professional and methodological expertise in Ottoman/Turkish and European history, cultural theory, and digital humanities (DH). – _Excellent command of English, Turkish and Ottoman Turkish. – _Very good knowledge of Greek, Hebrew or Ladino.
Deadline for applications: 15 July 2025.
Information: https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job/University-Assistant-postdoctoral/1212816901/
19. Chapters on “The Aesthetics of Monotheism: Islam & the Hermeneutics of Art and Architecture” for Edited Volume of the Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
The book explores theoretical and practical methods in historiography to examine the aesthetic foundations of Islamic art and architecture. It aims to build a framework grounded in Islamic aesthetics, critique orientalist perspectives, and expand understanding beyond architecture to include poetry, ornament, and music.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 July 2025. Information: Contact Ms. Rayan Khalil (rkhalil@hbku.edu.qa )
- June 14, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.HYBRIDE Journée d’étude „Étudier les polices au Moyen-Orient : penser les formes d’États du VIIIe siècle à nos jours“, CAREP Paris, 23 juin 2025, 09h30 – 17h30 CET
Information, programme, et inscription: https://tinyurl.com/3vnhd4dt
2. Symposium “Islamic Law in Comparative Perspectives: Milestones, Methods, and Epistemologies” in Honour of Professor Nadjma Yassari, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, Hamburg, 3-4 July 2025
This event will celebrate the extensive and influential research of Professor Nadjma Yassari (Director of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law) on Islamic law, as well as her outstanding contributions to the field of comparative law. The symposium will feature several panels that explore the past, present, and future of these disciplines together with former members of the research group, colleagues, and long-standing collaborators.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/ne9vbuay
3. ONLINE 10th Conference of the American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATT): “Bridging Tradition & Technology in Teaching Turkic Languages: Strategies for the Future”, 17 October 2025
Deadline for abstracts: 15 July 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/e2s9k8mz
4. Research Conference on “AI Methodologies and Applications in Middle Eastern/Islamic World Studies”, Global Studies Centre, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait, 4-5 February 2026
Themes: 1. Opportunities/Challenges/Ethics in incorporating AI in the methodology of the Social Sciences and Humanities disciplines. – 2. Specific Social Sciences or Humanities research projects or applications with significant use of AI or other digital technologies in Middle Eastern and Islamic World Studies. – 3. AI applications in religious law, textual commentary and prophetic traditions. – 4. AI applications in the cultural heritage of the Middle East and Islamic World.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2025. Information: https://www.gust.edu.kw/gsc
5. Assistant Professor (2 Years) in Political Science with Emphasis on the Middle East, The 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
6. Articles for the “Turkish Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (TJMES)”, Issue December 2025, Middle East Institute of Sakarya University
TJMES welcomes academic contributions to all aspects of the Middle East. TJMES prefers research written from multi-disciplinary perspectives and from a number of fields, including but not limited to international relations, politics, sociology, history, geopolitics, philosophy, war and peace studies, security, and economics. Particularly, the journal welcomes contemporary issues regarding the Middle Eastern countries.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/ycxyt3am
7. Intellect is pleased to present Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research 18.1.
For more information about the journal and issue click here:
https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-arab-muslim-media-research
and
https://intellectdiscover.com/content/journals/jammr/browse
- June 10, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.ONLINE Webinar The amazing technicolor Yusuf u Zulaykha manuscript from Bukhara in the Sissinghurst collection
with Jamie Comstock-Skipp
British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 18 June 2025, 5:00 pm UK Time
Jaimee Comstock-Skipp will give a lecture on a recently conserved illustrated Persian manuscript belonging to Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson located in Sissinghurst Castle. It is a copy of Yusuf and Zulaykha, a mystical love story composed by the poet Jami, made in Bukhara (present-day Uzbekistan) in the early 1570s. The manuscript is connected to an extraordinary period of commercial productivity in the absence of royal patronage, and is connected to spiritual and economic networks spanning Central and South Asia. The manuscript may have journeyed from its original creation site in Central Asia; was dispatched to India for sale in the country ca. late 16th century or early in the 17th; then perhaps it had a stint in Istanbul or Iran in the late 19th or early 20th centuries, before being carried off to British soil by Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson. Or, Harold’s father, Arthur Nicolson—Lord Carnock—was part of the British Legation in Tehran and may have acquired it there earlier. The Bukharan manuscript testifies to thriving trade crossing continents in the early-modern period, as in our present age
Information and registration:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_8_NWTitGS_uBEC98UpACIQ#/registration
2. ‘What the Qur’an really says about Jews, Judaism, and the Bible’
The event is generously hosted at the Aga Khan Centre and is sponsored by the Institute of Ismaili Studies and the Woolf Institute.
Date: 2 July 2025
Time: 13:00 – 14:30 (light lunch will be available from 12:15)
Location: Aga Khan Centre, 10 Handyside Street, London.
The event is free, but registration is required.
To register, please click here.
For more information about the event, please visit the event’s site here.
3. “Words Left Unsaid: A Tribute to Professor Franklin Lewis” a special issue of Middle Eastern Literatures edited by Sunil Sharma.
https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/came20/27/1
4. Call for Submissions to an Edited Volume: Deadline July 1, 2025
“My Blood is Cheaper than Oil”: Arabic Literature and the Encounter with Petropolitics
How have 20th-century oil discoveries in the MENA region shaped the emergence of what came to be known as ‘Arab modernity’? How has modern Arabic literature reimagined domestic and social relationships with and through oil? And how have the increasingly precarious conditions of oil production, consumption, and theft over the course of a century transformed the Arabic literary imagination?
More than a material resource, oil is deeply entangled with the cultural production of home, nation, identity, race, religion, family, and legal status. Its presence permeates allegories, metaphors, literary genres, and framing practices. The violent traces of war and the haunting fumes of traumatic memory linger in the words and lacunae of Arabic literature. In Arabic discourse, oil has been both an evocative and lucrative symbol (of prosperity, modernity, war, and hegemony) and a material force shaping everyday life—driving urban development, education, the rise of civil society, the formation of a modern intellectual class, and traumatic phenomena such as epidemics, bodily deformities, forced migration, dispossession, and mass murder. Oil has also seeped into the domestic domain of literature, such as familial gestures, relations, affects, languages, and silences.
This edited volume seeks to center the narratives, affects, temporalities, and life worlds of oil in Arabic literature. From early encounters with oil discoveries and the rise of multinational petroleum industries to contemporary engagements with the aftermaths of petropolitics, the collection brings together diverse literary perspectives on oil’s profound impact on Arab cultures.
We invite chapter submissions for a peer-edited anthology on Arabic literature’s encounter with oil. Contributions may engage with Arabic poetry, short stories, or novels that explore the poetics and practices of oil culture in Arab spaces and their transnational ramifications. This call is open to a broad range of thematic and theoretical approaches. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- Oil and migration, land dispossession, and diaspora
- Oil and archaeology, indigeneity, and monumental history
- Oil and war, coloniality, and environmental devastation
- Oil and transnationalism, globalization, and neoliberalism
- Oil and urban utopias/dystopias
- Oil as an archive and index of identity, race, and place
- Multisensory experiences of oil
- Memoirs of oil and empire
- Genealogies of oil
- Oil and the ecological nomad
- Storytelling through oil
Submission Guidelines:
Please send 250-word abstracts and a short bio to yhanoosh@gmail.com and yasminekhayyat@gmail.com by July 1, 2025. Notifications of acceptance will be sent within two weeks after the deadline. Full manuscripts (6000-10,000 words) will be requested by February 20, 2026.
For any inquiries, feel free to contact the editors at the email addresses above.
5. SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
10 – 11 June 2025
This workshop, which takes place on two half-days and is taught in person and online, introduces researchers and wider audiences to strategies for preserving research investment using digital methods for the long term through data standards designed for sustainability. Using the collection of Zoroastrian manuscripts at the M.F. Cama Athornan Institute in Mumbai as a case study, the workshop sets out policies for creating digital heritage imagery for long-term preservation.
Workshop participants will be introduced to the creation of a research data repository and to technologies for subsequently annotating imagery and geo-locations. They will also learn how to preserve both images and annotations effectively for the long-term.
On the second half-day, students will get hands-on experience in creating repository accounts of their own. The state-of-the-art annotation techniques presented on day 1 will also be demonstrated in practice.
- Tuesday, 10 June 2025, 2pm – 5.30pm
- Wednesday, 11 June 2025, 9:30am – 12.30pm
For further issues or questions, please email sspizs@soas.ac.uk
6. Translating poetry from other languages into Persian: For whom, why, and how? (With special focus on Brecht.)
A Talk in Persian on Zoom followed by Q&A.
June 9, 2025, 17:30 ET
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7032021982?pwd=R1QzdnFBQzdvdzJjY1YvQXFJcXdpUT09
Meeting ID: 703 202 1982
At the invitation of the Association of Friends of Iranian Culture (Washington), Saeed Yousef will give a speech entitled “Translating Poetry from Other Languages into Persian: For Whom? For what? How to? ” (with special emphasis on Brecht) with questions and answers
The link to attend the program is mentioned above and more information can be obtained through the link below.
7. Séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien”: annulation de la séance prévue ce jour, jeudi 5 juin 2025, et mise en ligne Canal-U
Nous sommes au regret de vous informer que la séance de clôture de notre séminaire prévue ce jour, jeudi 5 juin 2025, est annulée. L’intervention de Mme Alessandra Fiorentini sera reprogrammée dans l’édition 2025-2026 du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien” à partir de la rentrée prochaine.
Nous reprendrons nos activités en octobre, avec un nouveau binôme d’organisateurs, puisqu’après avoir contribué, sept années durant, à l’encadrement du séminaire, Samra Azarnouche passe la main à Simon Berger, qui rejoint Justine Landau dans ces fonctions. En notre nom à toutes et à tous, nous adressons nos très chaleureux remerciements à Samra pour sa contribution au succès du séminaire sur le long cours – et à Simon pour avoir accepté de reprendre le flambeau.
Nos remerciements les plus vifs vont également à celles et ceux qui ont œuvré pour la diffusion et la pérennisation de nos activités de recherche grâce à la création de la chaîne Canal-U du CeRMI – et avant tout à Poupak Rafii Nejad pour avoir conduit ce projet à bon port, accompagnée de Céline Ferlita (ARDIS) dans le traitement des enregistrements et les formations dispensées auprès des membres et doctorant.e.s de l’équipe. Un grand merci également à Maryam Momtahen et à Davide Scarfagna qui se sont donné la peine d’acquérir la formation technique nécessaire pour assurer la captation des séances cette année. Vous retrouverez d’ores et déjà nombre d’interventions, ainsi que l’ensemble des cinq Conférences Yarshater 2024 prononcées par David Durand-Guédy, sous ce lien : https://www.canal-u.tv/chaines/cermi
Enfin, merci à l’ensemble de l’équipe pour son soutien sans faille et son assiduité à ce séminaire, et à vous toutes et tous qui contribuez si activement à l’enrichissement de nos échanges et de nos discussions.
Dans l’attente du plaisir de vous retrouver à la rentrée prochaine, nous vous souhaitons un très agréable été.
Bien cordialement,
Les organisatrices –
Samra Azarnouche et Justine Landau
Contact: justine.landau@sorbonne-nouvelle.fr
8. Fons Vitae: Sufi masters conversation w/ Peter Sanders, Mostafa al-Badawi & Michael Sugich
A unique conversation recorded in Cairo in December 2022 between three men who have kept company with some of the great living sages of Islam.
Michael Sugich is the author of Signs on the Horizons: Meetings with Men of Knowledge and Illumination and Hearts Turn: Sinners, Seekers, Saints. Peter Sanders is the world’s pre-eminent photographer of the culture and spirituality of Islam. Dr. Mostafa al-Badawi was a student and disciple of Habib Ahmad Mashhur al-Haddad from 1979 until his master’s death in 1995. He has devoted the last thirty-five years to the translation into English and interpretation of the knowledge and wisdom of the Ba ‘Alawi Way.
https://fonsvitae.com/about-us/
9. BBC World Service: ‘The riddle of Iranian cinema’
10. We are delighted to announce the launch of the official MELA Notes YouTube channel!
Our new channel will serve as a digital platform to share recorded events, book talks, author interviews, and other content related to Middle Eastern librarianship, scholarship, archives, and publishing. Whether you are a librarian, scholar, student, or simply interested in the intersections of the Middle East and library science, we invite you to explore and engage with our growing archive.
We encourage you to subscribe, like, and share the videos to help us amplify the voices and research featured in MELA Notes.
Warm regards,
The MELA Notes Editorial Board
11. MELA NOTES Book Talks series: ‘The Wonder of the World: Travel Journals of Hajj Sayyah in the U.S. (1874–1875)’ by Ali Ferdowsi
Date: Thursday, July 3, 2025
Time: 3:00 PM Eastern | 2:00 PM Central | 12:00 PM Pacific
Online via Zoom: https://ucsd.zoom.us/j/97244878701
12. Conference of the IUAES Commission on Anthropology of the Middle East: “Anthropology Trans-forming, Middle East in Tension”, Institut Franꞔais des Études Anatoliennes (IFEA), Istanbul, 10-12 September 2025
Panels: 1. Medicalisation. – 2. Games and Sports. – 3. Human-Animal Relations. – 4. Gender and Sexuality in Iran and the South Caucasus at the Turn of the 20th Century. – 5. Memoirs, Life Histories, Stories, Narratives, Oral History and Memory: Individuals of Middle Eastern Societies. – 6. New Realities: The Role of Technology in Shaping Everyday Life in the Middle East. – 7. Rituals in Movement: Pilgrimage, Globalization, and Diaspora. – Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 June 2025. Information: https://iuaes.ir
13. Gulf Studies Tenth Annual Conference of Gulf Studies: “Bridging Tradition and Progress: Social Transformation Trends in the GCC States”, Qatar University, 16-17 November 2025
As GCC states pursue ambitious national transformation agendas, this conference will explore how these states ba-lance modernization with the preservation of identity, heritage, and social cohesion. Themes include identity, education, family, migration, soft power, and more – framed by the region’s National Visions.
Deadline for abstracts: 20 June 2025.
Information: https://www.qu.edu.qa/en-us/research/gulfstudies-center/events/call-for-papers
14. PhD Candidate (100 %) in the History of Medieval or Early Modern Palestine, Institute for the History and Anthropology of Religions, University of Lausanne
Qualifications: M.A. in History or an equivalent qualification, with a specialization in Islamic history or the history of the Middle East. – Excellent command of Classical Arabic. Proficiency in another source language relevant to the PhD project. – Strong proficiency in the Palestinian dialect. – In-depth knowledge of Palestinian territory and its institutions. – Excellent academic proficiency in French and/or English. – Competence in the use of modern digital research tools.
Deadline for applications: 15 June 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3kb5n2yt
15. Three Doctoral Fellowships (1 Year) and one Postdoctoral Fellowship (6 Months) at the Center for Economic, Legal, and Social Studies (CEDEJ), Cairo
Fellows should be conducting research on modern and contemporary Egypt from humanities or social science perspectives. The fellows will reside in Egypt and participate in the academic life of the Center. They will receive office space, full access to the library, and a monthly stipend.
Deadline for applications: 15 June 2025. Information: communication@cedej-eg.org
16. Post-Doctoral Position (1 Year +) in the Project “Americas and the MENA Region” (American Studies/History), American University of Beirut
Requirements: Ph.D. in a relevant field, such as International Relations, Middle Eastern Studies, Latin American Studies, History, Sociology, or a related discipline. – A demonstrated research interest in the Americas and the MENA region. – Proven ability to work independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary environment. – Knowledge of Arabic and/or Spanish is an asset.
Deadline for applications: 15 June 2025. Information: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68767
- June 07, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- June 06, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- June 05, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – AMI: ‘Postgraduate Diploma in Islamic Studies (PGDip.) – 7-month online course’
Al-Mahdi Institute is proud to announce the launch of the Postgraduate Diploma in Islamic Studies (PGDip.) – a 7-month online course that bridges the depth of seminary (ḥawza) learning with the critical rigour of academic scholarship. Designed for students and researchers with a background in Islamic Studies, Social Sciences, or the Humanities, the PGDip. is entirely in English, without the requirement for Arabic language proficiency.
This PGDip. is ideal for those seeking a critical and analytical approach to Islamic thought while balancing professional or academic commitments, with just 3 hours of teaching per week. Graduates will also have the opportunity to progress to a fully funded MA in Islamic Studies, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham.
Applications for the PGDip. starting on 1st October 2025, are now open! Limited funding is available, and we encourage early applications to be considered for funding.
📄 Read the prospectus: ami.is/pdis-pdf
🔗 Learn more and apply now: ami.is/pdis
- June 04, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Persianate Prose and the Making of Malay Muslim Literature
M Daneshgar
Edinburgh U Press, 2025
2. Graduate Student Paper Award of the “Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies (AMECYS)”
The AMECYS Graduate Student Paper Prize was established in 2018 to recognize an outstanding graduate contribution to the study of children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa and their diasporic communities. Papers must not have yet been published or submitted for publication. Papers may constitute stand-alone articles or book chapters, and may be at a stage of being readied for journal, monograph, or edited book publication.
Deadline for contributions: 1 August 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/rbhf2vtm
3. Introduction to Pahlavi: Online Summer School of Zoroastrian Middle Persian
July 21 – August 7
The course is designed as an intensive introduction to Zoroastrian Middle Persian, and the literature written in that language, with discussions of broader linguistic, historical and cultural contexts.
https://ferdowsi.org/introduction-to-pahlavi-online-4/
After completing this course, with a total duration of 36 hours, you will be able to easily read Pahlavi texts, such as Kārnāmag ī Ardaxšēr ī Pābagān, Ardā-Wīrāz-Nāmag, Ayādgār ī Zarērān, Bundahišn, etc. on your own. Apart from learning to read in Inscriptional Pahlavi script, a broad overview of the principles of Book Pahlavi script will also be given, which will help you to continue studying the latter later on your own.
Information on the Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature is here.
About the experiences of previous students see here: Testimonials.
Ruben S. Nikoghosyan
Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
Yerevan, Armenia
Website: www.ferdowsi.org
4. The Great Lakes Adiban Society (GLAS) Ninth Annual Workshop will be held Friday–Sunday, October 10–12, 2025, at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.
GLAS provides a regional forum for scholars of Islamicate adab to meet and share their work. We leave our parameters of language and genre intentionally open to invite as wide a collaboration as can be useful. As a group we are generally interested in the literary production of the broad complex of premodern Islamicate societies across the Eastern Hemisphere grounded in similar literary conventions. Thus, our scope focuses on past texts and traditions from the languages of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, as well as many others including Armenian, Dravidian languages, Kurdish, Georgian, Hebrew and Jewish languages, as well as Slavic languages.
This year, GLAS and the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program will host a special guest. On Friday, October 10, 2025, at 16:00 , Professor Jamal Elias will kick off our workshop by discussing his forthcoming book, After Rumi: The Mevlevis and Their World (Harvard Univ. Press, 2025). This talk will be open to the public and will be followed by a reception.
For the workshop on Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, 2025, GLAS welcomes works in progress that would benefit from extensive discussion and feedback, especially for graduate students and early career scholars. Please submit a proposal by filling out this google form by August 1, 2025. We expect to notify presenters by August 15.
For graduate students: we have a limited amount of funding for travel and lodging (to request funding, see the google form).
For questions and inquiries, please write Jonathan.Brack@northwestern.edu.
5. Festival of Arts, Shiraz-Persepolis 1967-1977 جشن هنر شیراز
M Afshar
Mage, 2025
For an interview with the author, produced by Pejman Akbarzadeh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etoaEjSR7WM
6. The Society for the History of Discoveries announces its 2025 Student Prizes for best graduate and undergraduate student research papers in the history of geographic discoveries.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Monday, June 16th, 2025.
Areas of eligible research include: voyages of exploration, travel narratives, biography relevant to the history of discoveries and exploration, history, cartography, the technologies of travel, impact of travel and cultural exchange, and other aspects of geographic discovery and exploration.
Who is Eligible: Students from any part of the globe currently enrolled in a college or university degree program and who will not have received a doctoral degree prior to 1 June of the submission year. Note: Graduating high school or college students accepted into a program but who do not begin classes until fall of the submission year are NOT eligible. The Research Paper: An eligible research paper shall be original and unpublished, written in English, between 3,000 and 8,000 words, plus footnotes or endnotes. Papers written for college or university class assignments are encouraged, but students may write specifically for this prize. A reasonable amount of illustrative and tabular material will be welcome, but is not required.
The awardee in the graduate student category will receive a prize of $500.00 (US) and the awardee in the undergraduate category will receive a prize of $250 (US). Both winners will be invited to present a version of the paper at the annual meeting of the Society for the History of Discoveries. Information about participation in the conference will be provided to the awardee upon notification of the award, including details concerning costs and travel funding. Acceptance of the prize is not contingent upon your ability to attend the conference. Additionally, the awardee will be invited to submit the winning paper to the society’s peer reviewed journal, Terrae Incognitae, for which it will undergo the usual review process prior to formal acceptance for publication, of which there is no guarantee.
For more information on submission format and eligibility see https://discoveryhistory.org/student-prize
Questions? Contact Dr. Cardona, committee chair Mylynka.Cardona@tamuc.edu
Contact Information
Dr. Mylynka Cardona
Contact Email
URL
https://discoveryhistory.org/student-prize
7. North Carolina State University – Assistant Professor in the history of Arab Migration, Mobility and Diaspora
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68790
Closing date: Open until filled
- June 03, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Postdoctoral Position in Shia Studies (Hartford International University for Religion and Peace)
Application Deadline: 14th June 2025
- June 02, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Hybrid: The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (IASA), is pleased to announce a lecture by Mr. Jason Browning (Indiana University-Bloomington / IASA).
The talk will argue that Ibn ʿArabī was familiar with substance-less, accidents-only atomic theories promoted by such earlier scholars as Ḍirār ibn ‘Amr (ca. 728-815 CE) and chose to fashion them into his own innovative, esoteric atomic theory. The event will be held in a hybrid format, with online participation available via Zoom.
Lecture Title:
Ibn ‘Arabī’s Endorsement of Accidents-Only Atomism and His Esoteric Addendum
Speaker:
Mr. Jason Browning (Indiana University-Bloomington / IASA)
Profile: https://ceus.indiana.edu/people/graduate/doctoral/browning-jason.html
Date:
Thursday, 26 June 2025, 18:00–19:30 (JST)
Venue:
Room 304, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (Tōyō Bunka Kenkyūjo), University of Tokyo and online via Zoom
Abstract:
Ibn ‘Arabī is often referred to as a “mystic-philosopher,” but such attributions typically overlook the fact that he was quite rigorous and astute in his critiques of Islamic philosophical and theological traditions. In this talk I will demonstrate that Ibn ‘Arabī’s criticism of Ash‘arī atomism amounts to an endorsement of the competing atomism of Ḍirār ibn ‘Amr (ca. 728-815 CE) and those influenced by him. After drawing out the idiosyncracies of Ibn ‘Arabī’s scholarly methods and writing style, it will become evident that he undoubtably knew of substance-less, accidents-only atomic theories and chose to fashion them into his own innovative, esoteric atomic theory.
How to Participate:
(1) In-person attendance: No prior registration is required. Please note: The institute’s entrance doors will no longer be accessible from outside after 18:00. We recommend arriving before that time. A contact telephone number for those arriving late will be posted at the entrance.
(2) Online attendance: Please register at https://forms.gle/ETF5cb6oog3r1vt39. A Zoom link will be sent by noon (JST) on the day of the event.
This lecture is organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo.
Note:
Mr. Browning’s lecture will be preceded by a lecture by Professor Fuat Dündar, entitled “Re-Examining Ottoman Migrations in Light of Hikiagesha Researches.” For more information, please visit the IASA website.
Contact Info:
Kazuo Morimoto
Email: morikazu[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp
2. A full scholarly translation of Abu Mansur al-Maturidi’s Kitab al-tawhid, translated as The Book of Monotheism by Prof. Tahir Uluç has been published by Ibn Haldun University Press.
The book can currently be purchased online from Turkey at this link: https://www.kitapyurdu.com/kitap/kitb-altawd-the-book-of-monotheism-2-cilt/721004.html.
3. The Latin America and Caribbean Islamic Studies Newsletter
Vol. 5, no. 2 | Spring 2025
https://mailchi.mp/b1e2aa2b8d58/latin-america-caribbean-islamic-studies-newsletter-vol5-no2
4. Renaissance Society of America – Islamic World discipline representative would like to invite paper proposals for the following three sponsored panels:
* Histories, Materials, Myths: Perceptions and Depictions of the Distant Past:
https://www.rsa.org/forms/FormResponseView.asp?id=1347254A-6557-43ED-B606-CC2BE85EFAB5
* Presence in Absence, Absence in Presence: Excavating Labour in the Early Modern World:
https://www.rsa.org/forms/FormResponseView.asp?id=182E297E-4701-4F50-9C36-6CF0A8AC29D3
* Out of Sight: Early Modern Depictions and Narratives of the Unseen:
https://www.rsa.org/forms/FormResponseView.asp?id=F66DED93-4700-4AF2-B308-076238A8AE8E
Contact Email
5. The Fons Vitae Tafsir – Quran Commentary Series
NOW ALSO AVAILABLE in PDF & eBOOK formats: Up until now, these fundamental tafasir have remained out of reach for many English speaking Muslims (and non-Muslims). Among the most important sources for understanding the Qur’an are the tafsir works, commentaries on the Qur’an, which help to properly explain and contextualise the Revelation. VIEW ALL COMMENTARIES…
The series aims to make widely available the leading exegetical works in translation for study and research in unabridged form, which are faithful to the letter and meaning of the Arabic.
6. Postdoctoral Research Associate (Arabic and Hebrew Sources)
King’s College London
The Department of History at King’s College London invites applications for one 2-year (24 month) Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) to work on the project ‘ECOMEDS: Economic and cultural connections within Mediterranean ecosystems, c.1250-c.1550’ (a UKRI Frontier Research Grant, previously ERC). The primary objective of PDRA (Arabic and Hebrew Sources) is to collect information regarding the production, consumption and trade of four target commodities (coral, honey, citrus and cheese), especially with regard to Muslim and Jewish communities.
Deadline | 1 June 2025
More information
7. Research Associate
Newcastle University
The post holder will produce trilingual digital resources for parents and Early Years practitioners on supporting early oral language development in young Arabic-speaking children. These include training materials on the importance of early oral language development, guides for using language assessments in Arabic, French and English, and guides for professionals on interpreting language outcomes and advising families on the next steps.
Deadline | 4 June 2025
More information
8. 2025 Mohamed Ali Foundation Fellowship Lectures
Lecture | Durham University & Online | 11 June 2025
The Mohamed Ali Foundation and Durham University’s Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies present two free public lectures that place Abbas Hilmi II and the archive of this last khedive of Egypt in context. This year’s two visiting fellows are Dr Will Hanley and Dr Mohamed Abdou.
9. Kurdish Studies Conference
Conference | London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) | 11-13 June 2025
Organised by the LSE Middle East Centre and the University of Sheffield, this conference will disseminate and discuss the latest research on Kurdish politics and society. Alongside panel discussions, the conference will feature a keynote lecture by Professor Hamit Bozarslan and a film screening of All The Mountains Giveby Arash Rakhsha.
More information
10. Rise, Habibi
Exhibition | The Crypt Gallery, London | 28 May-15 June 2025
In partnership with Saqi Books & Shubbak 2025, Radical Love’s ‘Rise, Habibi’ showcases the groundbreaking poems of 30 Arab & Muslim women writing over 1,000 years ago, taken from Saqi’s cult collection ‘Classical Poems by Arab Women’ translated by Abdullah al-Udhari.
More information
11. Al Jaliah | Magazine for Arab and Arab-Diasporic Affairs
An initiative coming from the Arab-Brazilian diaspora has recently been launched in March, 2025. Al Jaliah – Magazine for Arab and Arab-Diasporic Affairs is directed by Gustavo Racy and Yara Osman and is devoted to the discussion of topics related to the Arab-World and its diasporas. Reviving the original journal published in São Paulo by Sami and Beny Racy (Gustavo Racy’s great-grandfather and great uncle), the initiative aims at bridging the gap between MENA and its diasporas. The magazine is published in Portuguese, Arabic, and English and is completely independent. While building its first steps, and working towards its monetization, the organizers launched its experimental number 0, with content produced by professors, scholar and artists from Brazil, Lebanon, Syria, and Bahrain. The magazine also publishes extra content on its blog and has a continuous open call for those interested in collaborating.
The content, including the first issue of the journal, the blog, and collaboration form, may be checked on www.aljaliahbr.com.
12. BRAIS 2025 at the University of Cambridge (Monday 30 June – Tuesday 1 July): Places still available
With just over a month to go before our Tenth Anniversary Conference at the University of Cambridge, we wanted to encourage any members who are planning to attend to register as soon as possible in order to avoid disappointment.
We have a truly rich and diverse two-day programme in store this year, celebrating the depth and breadth of Islamic Studies. The full programme can be viewed here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/conferences/brais-2025
We are honored to be welcoming Professor Sayed Farid Alatas (National University of Singapore), Professor Recep Şentürk (Hamad Bin Khalifa University) and Professor Amira Bennison (University of Cambridge) for our opening keynote panel, generously sponsored by Islamic Courses and the Centre for Islamic Knowledge.
Our closing keynote welcomes the research team from the ESRC-funded project ‘Digital British Islam‘ to share their fascinating research findings with us.
To register online for BRAIS 2025 click here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/conferences/brais-2025/brais-2025-delegate-registration
13. A Persian-English Translation Workshop: Hafez’s Ghazal 103
Workshop with Philip Grant (University of La Verne)
Friday, June 06, 2025
02:30 PM – 04:30 PM PST
Bunche 10383 & Online
Organized by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies, co-sponsored by UCLA Iranian Studies
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17247
14. Max Planck Research Group Leader (W2) to Head the “Centre of Expertise for the Law of Arab and Islamic Countries”, Hamburg
Your profile: You have an outstanding legal education and have earned a doctoral degree with distinction.
You are an expert on law of Arab and Islamic countries, and you have a strong academic interest in private international law and comparative law. Arabic should be a working language for you; proficiency in Persian is an asset. You are fluent in English and are willing to learn German.
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2025. Information: https://mpi-privatrecht-hh.softgarden.io/job/56325252?l=de
15. Articles on “Spirituality in the History of Iran and Islam” for a Special Issue of the Journal “Spektrum Iran”
This journal is published by the Cultural Consultation of Iran in Germany in collaboration with the UNESCO Chair in Social Health and Development (Tehran, Iran): Themes: Historical and Theological Foundations. – Philosophical and Ethical Perspectives. – Practical Models of Spiritual Care. – Cultural and Social Dimensions. – Artistic and Literary Expressions. – Contemporary Issues and Future Directions.
Deadline for manuscripts: 30 June 2025. Information: https://www.spektrumiran.com/
- May 31, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- May 29, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment