Archive for April, 2026
Shii News – ‘Shiʿism and Myth’ – G Warner (11.5.26, 17.00 UK time)
- April 15, 2026
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. HYBRID World Policy Forum: “What is Sharia Law, and is it a Threat to Our Democracy?”,
Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID), Washington DC, 22 April 2026, 16:00 – 17:30 CET
Bringing together leading scholars of Islamic law, theology, and constitutional law, the discussion will address widespread misconceptions about Sharia and provide a grounded understanding of its principles, sources, and diverse interpretations. Panelists will engage key questions related to free-dom of religion, freedom of expression, and the relationship between religious legal traditions and modern democratic systems.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/mvrwuayh
2. HYBRID Lecture “New Excavations at Nessana, Negev: Late Antique Pilgrimage Hub on the Desert Fringe” by Yana Tchekhanovets (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev), W. F. Al-bright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, 29 April 2026, 18:30 CET
The ancient settlement of Nessana, located in the southwestern Negev, on the modern Israeli-Egyp-tian border, is a key site for the study of early Christian pilgrimage. Serving as the main caravan hub on the Christian pilgrimage road from the Holy Land to Sinai, Nessana enjoys all the economic benefits of the sacred route and develops into a flourishing urbanized village with caravanserais and numerous churches.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/3z2ayuh2
3. Postdoctoral Research Fellow Position (12 Months) in Arabic and Islamic Studies / History of Islamic Law, Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes, Aubervilliers, France
Skills: PhD in Islamic Studies. – Ability to work with legal sources in Arabic. – Ability to read and interpret Arabic manuscript scripts. – Excellent command of historical and philological methodolo-gies. – Excellent knowledge of the intellectual history of the Muslim West, particularly the develop-ment of law and theology. – Excellent command of Classical Arabic and of the terminology of the Islamic religious sciences. – Strong command of English; knowledge of Spanish would be an asset.
Deadline for applications: 24 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/ydfy8hem
4. Post-Doc Position (30 Months) for the Critical Edition with Annotated English Translation of Musky Aromas, MOSAIC Project, UCLouvain, Belgium
Qualification: PhD in Islamic Studies, in Middle Eastern Studies, or related fields. – Excellent com-mand of Classical Arabic (the knowledge of additional languages such as Persian and Turkish is considered an advantage). – Academic writing and presentation skills in English (the working lan-guage of the project). – Ability to work both individually and as part of a team.
Deadline for applications: 10 June 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2axtd8ufv
5. Two Open Rank Faculty Positions in Islamic Ethics, Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
We are seeking dynamic scholars whose work bridges the Islamic scholarly tradition with contem-porary moral challenges. We are particularly interested in candidates who can bring fresh perspec-tives to both theoretical and applied Islamic ethics across diverse disciplines.
Deadline for applications: 25 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/ycx3ktsp
6. Scholarships for the “MA in Iranian Studies”, SOAS, University of London
A number of scholarships are available for UK/EU and Overseas fee-paying SOAS students, covering the cost of tuition fees for two years.
Deadline for applications: 24 April 2026. Information: “Kamran Djam Scholarships” (https://ti-nyurl.com/yjzb6wss) & “Shapoorji Pallonji Scholarships” (https://tinyurl.com/4zdtcxhe).
7. Interdisciplinary Webinar Series & Edited Volume on “American Islam at 250: Community, Authority, and Futurity in the American Muslim Experience”, Florida International University & East-West Foundation, July – December 2026
This series convenes historians, political scientists, religious studies scholars, sociologists, anthropologists, legal scholars, theologians, and public intellectuals for a rigorous, eight-episode examination of the American Muslim community as it is today and as it might become. The series is organized topically, with each episode addressing a defining dimension of contemporary American Muslim life.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4m54whdp
8. New Book: “Al-Bukhārī. The Life, Theology and Legal Thought of Islam’s Foremost Traditionist” by Belal Abu-Alabbas, Edinburgh University Press, April 2026, 328 Pages
The first comprehensive critical biography of Muhammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī (d. 256/870) stands as one of the most distinguished figures in Islamic intellectual history. His magnum opus, the Ṣaḥīḥ, is revered as the most authoritative collection of Prophetic traditions in Sunni Islam and is the most cited book in Islamic history.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdhzzpf4
9. New Book: “Le hobyot: Description grammaticale d’une langue sudarabique modern” by Ali Manoubi, Brill, Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics, Volume: 115, April 2026, 368 Pages
Hobyot, a Semitic language of the Modern South Arabian group, is spoken by a few thousand speak-ers in eastern Yemen and southern Oman. With no written tradition and facing imminent extinction, it remains one of the least documented languages in the region. This study offers the first compre-hensive linguistic description of Hobyot, based on dedicated field research.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/yyhywrje
10. New Book: “Religion and the Invisible World: Sanctity and Spiritual Transformation in Egypt from Pharaonic Times to the Present” by Fadwa El Guindi, American University in Cairo Press, 2026, 252 Pages
Drawing on historical and ethnographic material, this book shows how concepts of sacredness, sanctity and invisibility (Ghaib in Islam) have been core elements in the spiritual transformations in Egypt as embodied in the early pharaonic religion, Egyptian-Hellenistic religion, Christianity, and Islam, and how these practices of spirituality and cosmology cut across many divides of ethnicity, gender, region, religion, language, and social class.
Information: https://aucpress.com/9781649033710/
11. Zahedi Family Fellowship at Stanford Iranian Studies
Application deadline: May 1, 2026
Fellowship period: fall 2026
The Zahedi Family Fellowship is a twelve-week residential fellowship focusing on the Zahedi Archive (which includes both diplomatic correspondence and collected photos) at Stanford University’s Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies and the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
During the fellowship period, the Zahedi Fellow is expected to pursue their independent research in residency and to hold a lecture, seminar or workshop on their research, organized by the Iranian Studies Program. The Zahedi fellow will have access to Stanford University Libraries and the Hoover Institution Library and Archives as well as a community of scholars at Stanford.
The fellowship funds international travel, health insurance, visa support, and a $15,000 stipend for living expenses.
Fluency in Persian and a terminal degree, or equivalent experience, is required. “All but dissertation” status PhD students are eligible to apply. The fellowship is open to scholars and artists working on the modern history of Iran, particularly the period of 1941 to 1979. Preference will be given to scholars who have worked on aspects of modern Iranian foreign policy, history, and culture.
12. Zoom: The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies and Invisible East present ‘Rethinking History: Returning to Archives and Documents’, a series of monthly online seminars.
Convened by Arezou Azad and Mohamad Tavakoli, the seminars are held on Zoom.
Please join us on Wednesday 15 April at 12PM EDT / 5PM BST to hear Dr Márton Vér of
Universität Hamburgspeaking on ‘The Old Uyghur Documents and a Global Microhistory of the Silk Roads’. Pre-registration is essential.
13. Hybrid book talk, with Daniel Majchrowicz:
‘Travel Writing and the Global Imagination in Muslim South Asia’
Friday, April 17 2:30-4:00PM EST, Library of Congress
In this book talk, Daniel Majchrowicz, will discuss his recent study of the history of travel writing in South Asia, The World in Words Travel Writing and the Global Imagination in Muslim South Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Focusing particularly on writing in Urdu, this talk will show how the travelogue gave voice to a global imagination that reflected the ambition and aspiration of Indians and Pakistanis as they negotiated their place in the changing world of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Registration for the Zoom event is through the following link:
https://bit.ly/world-in-words-speaker.
14. Study Persian in Armenia
ASPIRANTUM’s 2026 Persian Language Summer School in Yerevan and would appreciate it if you could circulate this opportunity among your students and networks.
The program offers 6–10 weeks (120–200 hours) of intensive Modern Persian. Instruction is available at upper elementary and intermediate levels, focusing strongly on all core language skills in small groups.
The program also includes cultural excursions and activities across Armenia.
Full details and application:
https://aspirantum.com/courses/persian-language-summer-school
Application deadline: May 1, 2026
15. Brown University – Visiting Assistant Professor of Islam in South Asia
https://networks.h-net.org/jobs/69958/brown-university-visiting-assistant-professor-islam-south-asia
16. Hybrid: Annonce colloque (15-16 avril 2026) : “Pouvoir, cultures et sociétés des steppes en contexte ouest-eurasiatique (Afghanistan, Asie centrale, Iran)
Les mercredi 15 et jeudi 16 avril se tiendra le colloque « Pouvoir, cultures et sociétés des steppes en contexte ouest-eurasiatique (Afghanistan, Asie centrale, Iran) », à la Maison de la recherche de l’INaLCO, 2 rue de Lille, 75006 Paris, dans l’auditorium Georges Dumézil.
Ce colloque est organisé dans le cadre des activités de la Chaire Porfesseur Junior “Afghanistan” de l’INaLCO, avec le concours du CeRMI, du CRCAO, de la DAFA, du GIS Asie et de l’INaLCO.
Veuillez trouver le programme sur le site web du CeRMI.
L’entrée est libre dans la limite des places disponibles.
Zoom: https://zoom.us/j/97920962767
- April 14, 2026
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. The www.asmeascholars.orgAssociation for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA) is offering Research and Travel Grant opportunities in conjunction with its Nineteenth Annual Conferencetaking place in Washington, D.C. on November 7 – 9, 2026.
The ASMEA Research Grant Program seeks to support research on topics in Middle Eastern and African studies that deserve greater attention. Applicants may submit paper proposals on any topic as long as it constitutes new and original research. Grants of $2500 will be awarded. The deadline to apply is May 1, 2026.
ASMEA is offering Travel Grants of up to $750 which can be used towards the costs associated with attending the Annual ASMEA Conference. The deadline to apply is May 1, 2026.
Grant opportunities are open to members only. For information on how to become a member and full guidelines on each program as well as our general Call for Papers and Panels, visit our website at www.asmeascholars.org.
Contact Information
Emily Lucas
Membership and Operations Director
Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA)
Contact Email
URL
https://www.asmeascholars.org/upcoming-conference
2. Masnavi.net is upgraded
The masnavi.net website has been upgraded and re-launched, After running well for ten years, it became slow and gave frequent time-out messages. Now it runs quickly and smoothly.
The website consists of matching Persian, Turkish, and English texts (with Nicholson’s own lists of corrections incorporated), plus thousands of matching audio files in Persian. The site has an excellent search function.
On a related topic, an article of mine that has been making the rounds on academia.edu is largely based on research done by Frank Lewis: https://www.dar-al-masnavi.org/rumi.misconceptions.pdf
Best wishes,
Ibrahim Gamard
End of bips
3. Complete Tafsir Qur’an Commentary Series
https://fonsvitae.com/product-category/islam/quran/
4. 10th HIAA Biennial Symposium
Technologies of Making and Knowing
Hosted jointly at Getty, LACMA, and UCLA
Los Angeles, California, March 4 – 6, 2027
Beyond its modern conceptualization, technology has always informed artistic production in the Islamic world. To name but a few examples, paper production, reduction firing to produce lusterware, and sustainable architectural forms like windtowers were all rooted in technological innovation. Today’s digital tools and methods, such as imaging systems, 3D modeling, and computational analysis, extend this history rather than inaugurate it. They are also re-shaping the way that the field is studied and presented.
With this broad perspective, the Historians of Islamic Art Association (HIAA) calls for a field-wide reflection on the technologies, both longstanding and new, which have governed the production, circulation, reception, and study of Islamic art.
For the full call for papers, visit the HIAA website: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/events-and-symposia/symposia/Technologies-of-Making-and-Knowing-2027-03-04.html
Proposals for in-person and remote contributions are due by May 15, 2026 and should be submitted using this form: https://forms.gle/yM5R6ns9b1N6PPHv7
The conference will be held in-person at the three host venues in Los Angeles. Presentations delivered by Zoom will be considered. Certain parts of the symposium may be streamed online.
URL
https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/events-and-symposia/symposia/Technologie…
5. UCLA : Hybrid – Pourdavoud Lecture Series
‘Misunderstanding in Ancient Interstate Relations
The Arsacid Princes of the Roman Empire’
Jake Nabel (Pennsylvania State University)
Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 4:00 pm Pacific Time
Royce Hall 306 and Via Zoom
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSetRf7ShQwiIdoS0Ydjk068K5qUBm5AzD4binpchwJ5JkAYuA/viewform
6. Recording: Anti-Muslim Hate in the Wake of the US-Israel War on Iran, 31.3.26
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZE2b5NnO8U&t=1095s
7. Hybrid Lecture – Sacred Power: The Motif of the Seven Magical Signs – 16 April 2026 – SOAS, University of London
Farouk Yahya, Independent Scholar of Islamic Art and Magic and Divination
Sacred Power: The Motif of the Seven Magical Signs
The motif of the Seven Magical Signs is a set of seven symbols believed to represent the Most Exalted Name of God. They are discussed in texts on magic such as the Shams alma‘arif al-kubra and appear on amulets and various talismanic objects.
This seminar will examine the tradition of the Seven Magical Signs in Southeast Asia from the perspective of both texts and objects. In doing so it aims to investigate possible relationships between the textual tradition and material culture, which may help shed further light into the connections between theory and practice in the occult sciences within Muslim societies.
Dr Farouk Yahya’s research interests include the Southeast Asian arts of the book, as well as texts and images relating to magic and divination. He holds an MA in Islamic art and a PhD on Malay manuscripts from SOAS University of London. He is the author of Magic and Divination in Malay Illustrated Manuscripts (Brill, 2016), editor of The Arts of Southeast Asia from the SOAS Collections (Areca Books, 2017), and co-editor of Islamicate Occult Sciences in Theory and Practice (Brill, 2021).
More recent publications include: “The Maxwell Collection and Local Private Libraries in the Malay Peninsula during the Nineteenth Century”, in “Manuscript Libraries and Colonialism in Island Southeast Asia”, edited by Alan Darmawan and Mulaika Hijjas, special issue of Archipel, vol. 110 (2025): pp. 239-280; with Anna Contadini, “Planispheric astrolabe”, “Wing-handled vases”, “Honey jar”, “Glass pitcher and vase”, in Conoscenza e Libertà: Arte Islamica al Museo Civico Medievale di Bologna, edited by Anna Contadini, Genoa: Sagep, 2024, cats. 1, 20-21, 24, 26-27; and “Talismans with the Names of the Seven Sleepers of Ephesus/Aṣḥāb al-Kahf in Muslim Southeast Asia”, in Malay-Indonesian Islamic Studies: A Festschrift in Honor of Peter G. Riddell, edited by Majid Daneshgar and Ervan Nurtawab, Leiden: Brill, 2023, pp. 209–265.
8. Call for Contributions – The Middle East Cultural Heritage at Risk in Armed Conflict Project
The Middle East Cultural Heritage at Risk in Armed Conflict Project invites scholars, art historians, archaeologists, and other researchers to contribute short pieces on monuments and sites at risk in Iran.
This project, initiated by Dr. Mehrnoush Soroush and Dr. Kiersten Neumann at the University of Chicago’s Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures (ISAC), documents and monitors cultural heritage under threat through an interactive map, updates on damaged sites and monuments, and short written contributions that highlight their historical, artistic, and personal significance.
The project welcomes submissions of short stories that reflect on a particular monument or site, especially those that speak to its meaning, history, memory, and place within broader cultural and scholarly conversations. Contributions may be academic in tone, personal in reflection, or a combination of both.
By contributing, you can help preserve the memory of these places, draw attention to their significance, and participate in an urgent collective effort to document and preserve cultural heritage at risk.
To express interest or submit a contribution, please contact Camel@uchicago.edu .
Contact email: Camel@uchicago.edu
URL: https://heritagewatch.camelab.net/stories
Contact Email
URL
https://heritagewatch.camelab.net/stories
9. Open Acess – New Book – Letters in Silk Pouches: Diplomatic Correspondence from the Safavid Court in the Swedish National Archives
Letters in silk pouches were sent from Persia to Sweden in the 17th century as part of diplomatic and commercial contacts. In the book “Letters in Silk Pouches. Diplomatic Correspondence from the Safavid Court in the Swedish National Archives”, authors Stanisław Adam Jaśkowski and Anna Jolly analyse the letters and silk pouches in their historical context.
In the 17th century, the Swedish crown sent three embassies to the Safavid court in Isfahan to negotiate a trade agreement for the export of Iranian raw silk to Stockholm. The diplomat Ludvig Fabritius led the Swedish delegations on their journeys and extended sojourns at the Persian court. After each embassy, a letter from the Shah of Persia to the King of Sweden was brought back to Stockholm.
These documents are today kept in the Swedish National Archives. Their composition and content reflect the formalised writing style of the Safavid chancellery. For transport the royal letters were folded and slipped into precious textile pouches which have also been preserved and were first published by the Swedish scholars Agnes Geijer and Carl Johan Lamm in 1944. The fabrics from which the pouches were made count among the most luxurious silk textiles produced in Safavid Iran. This monograph offers a detailed study of these Persian letters and silk pouches in their historical context and presents them as tangible evidence of two highly developed arts practised at the Iranian court, both conveying the splendour of their sovereign: the art of writing and the art of silk weaving.
Authors
Stanisław Adam Jaśkowski is assistant professor at the Department of Iranian Studies, Faculty of Asian and African Cultures, University of Warsaw, Poland.
Anna Jolly is curator of textiles from 1500 to 1800 at the Abegg-Stiftung in Riggisberg, Switzerland.
Book info
ISBN: 978-91-88763-71-6
ISBN: (PDF) 978-91-88763-72-3
ISSN: 0083-6761
176 pages
Published: 2026
Dutch bind (flexibound)
Series: Antikvariska serien 61
Price: 380 SEK
The volume is also available open access.
Distribution via Stardist. Order or download here
10. Journal of Arabian Studies, Volume 15, Issue 2 (2025)
- April 11, 2026
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. The Department of Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Chicago is honored to have Dr. Arezou Azad as the speaker in the Heshmat Moayyad Lecture Series for the Spring 2026 session. The lecture will be in person and on zoom on Wednesday, April 8 at 5:30 PM US Central Time in The Tea Room in the Social Science Research Building Room 201.
Please use this link to access the zoom:
https://uchicago.zoom.us/j/96374020687?pwd=7M9uPEsmcrMrmrq7fiYhpBhAsgX9Hr.1
Title: “Restore Her Rights!” Sketches from Forgotten Persian Manuscripts
Abstract: From a medieval woman farmer taking a stand, to a shopkeeper navigating the familiar challenges of work–life balance, to one of the earliest surviving Persian narrative poems on the biblical Joseph…
In this lecture, Arezou Azad shares unexpected insights that emerge from under-explored Persian sources, studied through the Invisible East programme in Oxford. Drawing on three medieval corpora of documents from Afghanistan, alongside the Bodleian Libraries’ Akhbār-i Barmakīyān produced in the Delhi Sultanate, she will bring to life a series of overlooked stories.
These materials not only illuminate everyday life in a formative period of the region’s history but also speak to enduring human experiences—from negotiating authority and identity to pursuing economic wellbeing. The paper also acknowledges the challenges that researchers face when working with displaced heritage and in areas of conflict.
By engaging with these manuscripts, the lecture invites us to rethink familiar narratives and to explore how new sources can connect past and present in meaningful ways.
2. The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (Tobunken), is pleased to host a lecture in the Tobunken Seminar series by Professor Christian Lange (Utrecht University) entitled “Scouts of the Soul: Theories of the Senses in Arabic Literature.”
This hybrid event will be held both in person and online. Please note that advance registration is required for online participation.
Lecture Title:
Scouts of the Soul: Theories of the Senses in Arabic Literature.
Speaker:
Professor Christian Lange (Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies, Utrecht University).
Chair:
Professor Kazuo Morimoto (Professor in Islamic and Iranian History, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo).
Date and Time:
8 May (Fri) 2026, at 18:00-19:30 (JST).
Venue:
Room 304, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo (東京大学東洋文化研究所3階、第一会議室304), and online via Zoom.
Abstract:
Recent years have seen a proliferation of work on the senses in the Humanities disciplines. Historians, philosophers and anthropologists alike have come to devote increased attention to how cultural formations produce and control characteristic ways of seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, and touching. Also in Islamic studies, a ‘sensory turn’ is underway. Sensory questions intersect with key challenges that shape broader perceptions of Islam and of the Islamic world. For example, clashes over the presence of Islam in the public sphere often unfold along sensory lines, both real and imagined, as is demonstrated by contested phenomena such as touching in the form of handshaking, the call to prayer in modern urban soundscapes, or the rules and conventions regarding what may or may not be exposed to sight. This talk analyzes theories of the human sensorium in a number of encyclopedic works of Arabic literature, from Avicenna (11th c.) to Muḥammad Bāqir al-Majlisī (17th c.), with the aim of defining some basic modes of thinking about the senses in the cultural history of Islam.
Speaker’s Bio:
Christian Lange (PhD Harvard, 2006) is Professor of Islamic and Arabic Studies at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. His publications include Justice, Punishment and the Medieval Muslim Imagination (2008), Paradise and Hell in Islamic Traditions (2016), and most recently (as general editor), Islamic Sensory History, 3 vols. (2024–). Since 2017, he’s been the Principal Investigator of the Utrecht-based research group “SENSIS: The senses of Islam” (https://sensis.wp.hum.uu.nl/), funded by research grants of the European Research Council (ERC) and the Dutch Science Organisation (NWO). From 2024 to 2028, he is serving as President of the European Union of Arabists and Islamicists (UEAI).
How to Participate:
Pre-registration is required for online participation. Please fill in the format https://forms.gle/eh6UgzJJGs1bdcaY8 by 5 May, at 24:00 JST. You will receive the Zoom details before long.
In-person attendance does not require advance registration.
Contact Person: Kazuo Morimoto (morikazu@ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)
3. UCLA:
One Divan and Multiple Poets: The Strange Case of Makhfi
Sunil Sharma
Boston University
English Lecture
Monday, May 4, 2026 at 11:00 am Pacific Time
Online via Zoom
Registration Required:
https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6QTp311ZThKErILePfrBEQ
4. The Homeland’s Uprising Spirit
By
Mirza Fatolah Qudsi Kermani (Foad Kermani)
Critical edition and introduction by
Mahdi Ganjavi and Ali Mozafari Sirjani
With contributions by
Manochehr Bakhtiary and Ali Mozafari Sirjani
on the life and times of Foad Kermani and on the legacy of Azali discourse in the Constitutional Revolution,
and with a note by
Mehran Rad
ISBN: 9781997503309
To Purchase:
Learn More:
https://asemanabooks.ca/the-homelands-uprising-spirit/
- April 07, 2026
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.António de Gouvea, At the Court of the Shah, A Portuguese Account of Safavid Persia, 16O3–16O8
W Floor, transl. and annot.
Mage, 2026
2. The Pilgrim’s Companion: The Khalili Anis al-Hujjaj
A ground-breaking new translation and comprehensive analysis of the Anis al-Hujjaj (The Pilgrim’s Companion).
Written during the year-long pilgrimage undertaken by the author, Safi ibn Vali Qazwini in 1676–77, the Anis al-Hujjaj (‘Pilgrims’ Companion’) gives advice to prospective pilgrims on every aspect of the journey to Mecca via the Indian Ocean: which ships to choose, how to stay healthy, foods to consume, the places to visit, the rituals to be observed and the people one is likely to encounter. Dedicated to Zeb un-Nisa, the daughter of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, the author writes a wonderfully vivid and colourful account of the journey. This manuscript belongs to a long-established tradition of guides to the Holy Places and provides a fascinating picture of the Indian Ocean and pilgrimage in the 17th century.
https://kulturalis.com/books/the-pilgrims-companion-qaisra-m-khan-michael-burns/
3. The Islamic College
Monthly Talk: The History of Muslims
and Islam in Europe
Speaker: Professor Maurits Berger
Date: 17 April 2026
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm (London time)
Location: Online
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/registration/
4. UCLA: Pourdavoud Lecture Series
‘Next to Turquoise Domes
Excavating the City of Bukhara’
Sören Stark (New York University)
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 4:00 pm Pacific Time
Royce Hall 306 and Via Zoom
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeae-G4tZTbwP58Uoqkg0uMyf4O7j_k9CihsdQn4Wj5AnL86Q/viewform
5. HYBRID Lecture “Why Anatolian Antiquities were Less Abandoned than We Thought: Finding (Semi-) Nomads in Travelogues” by Sean Paxton Silvia (Princeton), British Institute at Ankara (BIAA), 8 April 2026, 16:30 CET
This presentation proposes methods to identify overlooked (semi-)nomadic inhabitations despite source limitations, and offers a phenomenological analysis of the experience of inhabiting antiquities as a (semi-)nomad. To recognise this vaster world of reuse is crucial for longue durée histories of Anatolian antiquities and their afterlives.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/3cvwnj73
6. Workshop “Geographical Societies, Exploration, and African Collections between Egypt, Italy, and the Horn of Africa”, Egyptian Geographical Society, Cairo, 23-25 June 2026
workshop explores the interconnected histories of geographical knowledge, exploration, and colo-nial expansion, as well as the production and afterlives of African collections, with a focus on Egypt, Italy, and the Horn of Africa.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3c89c9aj
7. Workshop: “Exemplary Lives in the Pre-Modern Islamic World: Biography and Hagiography in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish”, Co-organized by the Universities of Bonn and Münster, Bonn, 17-19 February 2027
The event will focus on texts often referred to as manāqib/menāḳıb, celebrating the merits and deeds of exemplary individuals or groups. Building on the case studies presented by the participants, the conference seeks to trace the evolution and significance of manāqib traditions across time, space, and languages, to identify communalities and differences, and ultimately to ask what constitutes an exemplary life in the Islamic tradition.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mw44wx8u
8. 2026 Jafar and Shokoh Farzaneh Prize for Best Article on Persian Literature, University of Oklahoma
Submissions must meet the following criteria: Articles or book chapters published in English. – Published in scholarly peer-reviewed journals or edited volumes. – Publication date between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. – The work must focus specifically on Persian literature.
Submission Deadline: 15 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4vzdnw37
9. Ottoman Studies Summer Program: “Methods in Reading and Editing Historical Texts” (Fully Funded), Termal, Yalova / Turkey, 27 June – 2 August 2026
The program offers advanced training in the critical reading, contextual interpretation, and scholarly editing of Ottoman Turkish texts. Moving beyond paleographic transcription, it situates texts within the social, institutional, and intellectual formations that produced them. Its methodological orienta-tion rests on the interplay between text, context, and interpretation, foregrounding source criticism and analytical precision.
Deadline for applications: 30 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bd8sfcyv
10. Summer Program for Graduate Students: “Islam in the Contemporary World”, Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW), Shenandoah University, Leesburg, VA, 29 June – 9 July 2026
Objectives are: (1) to provide graduate students with foundational instructions in Islamic studies with a focus on contemporary issues, (2) to have discussions about the lived experiences of Muslim graduate students, especially as they pertain to issues of wellness, equity, and belonging, and (3) to provide research mentorship.
Deadline for applications: 20 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/jbxtu6mm
11. Contribution to a “Sourcebook for the Cultural Heritage of the Ottoman Peoples”, Edited by Ceren Abi, Publisher:Gordium
The sourcebook will offer new materials and analytical frameworks for teaching and research, and contribute to the growing interest in cultural heritage as a field of historical inquiry. It will consist of unpublished primary sources (books, newspaper articles, journal articles, photographs, archival sources, diaries, museum guest books, and others), each paired with an accompanying commentary explaining the source and its meaning.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4x83acuz
- April 04, 2026
- 0 Comment
Shii News – CfP: Taʿzieh, Shared Passions Beyond “Religious Theatre” (Paris, 2-3 June, 2026)
Call for Proposals – Conference Taʿzieh, Shared Passions Beyond “Religious Theatre”, or Rethinking the Performative Ritual Event
International conference in INALCO, Paris France on June 2-3, 2026. Organized by Julie Duvigneau and Yassaman Khajehi (ANR THETA, Inalco, Université Clermont Auvergne, IUF)
This international conference with a starting point based on comparative study of ritual performative events, both historical and contemporary, will focus on taʿzieh while placing it in dialogue within European medieval mystery plays, Christian processions, and other forms of rituals arising from diverse cultural contexts. While grounded in a comparative historical perspective, the conference also welcomes multidisciplinary approaches: cultural studies, anthropology, literature, performance studies, religious studies, and digital humanities. The aim is to confront and enrich reflection on the nature, transmission, and reception of these performative events, as well as their capacity to articulate memory, corporeality, emotion, and communal participation.
The objective is not only to establish formal parallels, but also to question the very descriptive categories of these practices. Expressions such as “religious theatre” or “sacred drama” facilitate their inclusion within the history of the performing arts, yet they also tend to impose a theoretical framework centered on representation, fiction, and aesthetics. However, performance cannot only be reduced to a scenic dispositif in these contexts. Rather, it involves symbolic efficacy, an economy of affects, a territorial inscription, and a social function that exceed theatrical logic in the modern sense.
The conference therefore proposes to privilege the notion of the “performative ritual event” in order to conceive these forms as situated collective actions generating social bonds, memory, and identity through corporeality and participation.
Please submit proposals (in French or English), to yassaman.khajehi@uca.fr and julie.duvigneau@inalco.fr before 15 April 2026.
- April 01, 2026
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