Archive for May 23rd, 2026
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Launching the Journal of Mughal Studies
For more information about the aims and scope, editorial board, policies, and ethics of the journal, please see: <https://escholarship.org/uc/journalofmughalstudies/about>.
We are hoping to launch the first issue of the journal at the end of 2026. If you or someone you know would like to be considered for publication in the first issue, the submission deadline is July 15. For information about the submission guidelines: https://journalpub.escholarship.org/journalofmughalstudies/submissions/
By way of background, the journal has been accepted by eScholarship Publishing, an open access publishing platform subsidized by the University of California, managed by the California Digital Library, and home to around 90 journals. The Journal of Mughal Studies is a double-blind peer-reviewed journal. It is also completely open access.
With best wishes,
Ali Anooshahr and Munis Faruqui with the editorial board
2. ‘Mehmandari: Hosting and Minding Foreign
Visitors in Safavid and Qajar Iran’,
R Matthee
IRAN, 2026
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/05786967.2026.2644770
3. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore – Tenure-track Assistant/Associate Professor in South and/or Southeast Asian Political Thought
4. AMECYS 2026 Dissertation Award
The Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies invites nominations for the 2026 AMECYS Dissertation Award
The AMECYS is a 501 (c) (3) private, non-profit, international membership-based association for scholars with an interest in the study of children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa, Gulf and their diasporic communities. Through interdisciplinary programs, publications, and services, AMECYS promotes innovative scholarship, facilitates global academic exchange, and enhances public understanding about and by Middle Eastern, North African and Gulf children and youth in diverse times and places from any disciplinary and methodological approach.
The AMECYS Dissertation Award is a new award to recognize an outstanding dissertation and its contributions to the study of children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa, Gulf and their diasporic communities. Dissertations defended in 2025 or 2026 will be reviewed. INominations/nominees must include the following materials all collated into a single pdf file:
- A digital copy of the successfully defended doctoral (PhD) dissertation;
- Proof that the doctoral dissertation has been successfully passed or deposited (please include author, title of dissertation, unit and university), where the dissertation was successfully defended/deposited, defense date, names of dissertation evaluation committee members).
- A brief letter of support sent directly to the chair of the Awards committee from the dissertation advisor (or one of the evaluators) attesting to the dissertation’s significance and contribution to the field of children and youth studies.
- Nominees must be AMECYS members in good standing, and may be students anywhere around the world. Only self-nominations will be considered.
- Discipline and methods are open, but the subject matter must deal with the study of children and youth – broadly defined – in the Middle East, North Africa, Gulf and their diasporic communities. Works will be evaluated both for their contribution to the study of children and youth and to the applicant’s field/s.
- Nominations must be received by August 1, 2026 12:00 PM EST for dissertations to be eligible for the competition and must consist of a digital copy of the dissertation, the author’s name, address, phone number and email, and be sent to the chair of the Awards Committee, Baun@uah.edu
Acknowledgment of receipt will be made via e-mail.
The author of the AMECYS Award will receive $200 and a certificate of award. In the event of co-winners, prize money will be divided evenly among the winners. Honorable mentions also receive a certificate of award. Winners will be announced during the 60th MESA Annual Meeting in Boston, MA and we strongly encourage winners to attend to receive their award in person. The results will also be posted on the AMECYS website and in other publications as deemed appropriate by AMECYS.
In the event of no worthy submissions, AMECYS reserves the right to not hand out any prize.
While we support dissertations written in languages other than English, at this time, we can only review dissertations in English
*** No additional materials are necessary as part of the submission.
Reviewers
- Dylan Baun, Department of History, University of Alabama in Huntsville
- Rustem Ertug Altinay, Department of Cultural and Environmental Heritage, University of Milan
- Reda Rafei, Department of History, Texas Tech University
For any questions, can email Dylan.Baun@uah.edu
To learn more about AMECYS, visit www.amecys.org
To become an AMECYS member, visit https://www.amecys.org/membership
5. Colloque international : Turco-Persianate Popular Romances from Southeast Asia to the Balkans (1-2 juin 2026, Paris)
Centre de Recherche sur le Monde Iranien (CeRMI) du CNRS-Sorbonne Nouvelle-INaLCO-EPHE & Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA), Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
Colloque international
Turco-Persianate Popular Romances from Southeast Asia to the Balkans:
Composition, Transmission, and Reception of Historical-Legendary Epics over the Longue Durée in a Multilingual Space
les 1-2 juin 2026, Paris
- Lundi/Monday, 01/06/2026, 9:00–17:45
Auditorium Georges Dumézil, Maison de la Recherche de l’INaLCO (2 rue de Lille, 75007 Paris) - Mardi/Tuesday, 02/06/2026, 9:30–12:00
Maison de la Recherche de la Sorbonne Nouvelle(4 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris)
Le colloque explore les modes d’expression des communautés du monde musulman oriental à travers la composition, la transmission et la réception de récits populaires centrés autour de protagonistes héroïques, notamment les figures des débuts de l’Islam, ainsi que la culture matérielle associée à leur vénération. Il fait suite au colloque Amir Hamza and Beyond: Historical Narratives and Romances across the Muslim World qui s’est tenu en septembre 2023 à l’Institut de recherche sur les langues et cultures d’Asie et d’Afrique (ILCAA) de la Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.
- Entrée libre dans la limite des places disponibles.
- Information, programme détaillé et abstracts : https://cermi.cnrs.fr/turco-persianate-popular-romances-from-southeast-asia-to-the-balkans/
Ce colloque a été organisé avec le soutien de:
-NIHU Global Mediterranean at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA)
-Kyoto University
-Centre de recherche sur le monde iranien (CeRMI, UMR8041 du CNRS)
-Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (INaLCO)
-Université Sorbonne Nouvelle
-Délégation archéologique française en Afghanistan (DAFA)
-Fondation Max van Berchem
-Institut d’études de l’islam et des sociétés musulmanes (IISMM)
-Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
- Organisation scientifique:
- Sacha Alsancakli, The Hakubi Center for Advanced Research and Graduate School of Letters, Kyoto University
- Yui Kanda, ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
- Maria Szuppe, CNRS, CeRMI UMR8041
Contact:
alsancakli.sacha.6s@kyoto-u.ac.jp
6. Workshop “Comparative Strategies in Empires of Salvation Religions” (Focus Middle Eastern Salvation Religions), Center for Comparative Empire and Transcultural Studies (RomanIslam), University of Hamburg, 11-14 November 2026
The Roman, Islamic, and Spanish empires all seem paradigmatic for our understanding of a transform-ative imperialism. Their imperial missions were driven by Middle Eastern salvation religions. Subse-quent empires and political regimes until today have all drawn, in one way or another, on the common heritage of Roman, Islamic, and Hispanic imperial legacies.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 June 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/43tms8mk
7. HYBRID Annual Meeting of the Middle East Librarians Association (MELA): “Redefining and Restating Middle East Librarianship in our Current Moment”, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 19-21 November 2026
Proposed themes: • The place of the “human” in the wake of emerging technologies • Advancements in cataloging and resource description for Middle East & North African resources • Austerity and the Mid-dle East librarianship profession in crisis • Collecting diaspora or minority language materials • Ephem-era and “born-digital” collecting • Critical pedagogy in area studies librarianship • Cultural heritage under threat • Digital preservation of at-risk archives.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 July 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/58ne8b4p
8. Workshop “Layers of Interpretation: The Islamic Commentary Tradition and the Making of Scholarly Authority”, Institute of Islamic Studies, Freie Universität Berlin, 11-12 December 2026
This workshop foregrounds the relationship between commentaries and scholarly authority in the Is-lamic world and seeks to discuss the following main question: Which roles did commentaries play in processes of negotiation, exercise, and challenge of scholarly authority in the Islamic world?
Deadline for abstracts: 5 June 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4w5m7uf9
9. International Conference “Refutations, Rivalries and Revenge. Polemics in the Premodern Islamic World (ca. 800-1500)”, Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology, Humboldt-University Berlin, 28-30 January 2027
The interdisciplinary conference is organized by Nadine El-Hussein and Mohammad Gharaibeh. It aims at an in-depth understanding of polemics in their specific premodern configurations, along with the forms, functions, reasons and developments of polemics in the premodern Islamic World.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2026. Information: https://hu.berlin/26412
10. Full-Time Arabic Lecturer (1-3 Years), Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures, University of Pennsylvania
Applicants should demonstrate a primary focus on language education, and should have received at least a Master’s degree, and preferably a PhD, in Arabic Language, Literature, Linguistics or TAFL. Native or near-native competency in Arabic language, and fluency in English, are required. Preference will be given to applicants who have significant teaching experience at all levels of Arabic language at post-secondary North American institutions.
Deadline for applications until the position is filled. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/186109
11. AMEWS 2026 Book Award
The Book Award recognizes and promotes excellence in the field of Middle East gender, women’s and sexuality studies. Books published (copyrighted) in 2025 will be considered for the 2026 award. They have to be non-fiction, scholarly monographs based on original research. The competition is open only to books published in English.
Deadline for applications: 1 June 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/y8t6dpx3
12. International Summer School on Gulf Studies: “Understanding the Gulf – Politics, Economy, and Society”, Center for Gulf Studies and Global Policy (GSGP), Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, 21-25 July 2026
Organized in collaboration with the Sharjah International Foundation for the History of Muslim and Arab Sciences and University of Sharjah, this intensive summer school offers participants a unique oppor-tunity to engage critically with the Gulf region through an interdisciplinary and globally informed aca-demic framework.
Deadline for applications: 7 June 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/5e492cnb
13. Summer School “Terms and Turns of Empire. Interconnecting Concepts and Methods (Focus Ottoman Empire)”, University of Freiburg, 7-12 September 2026
Organized by the research Graduate School “Empires. Dynamic Change, Temporality and Post-Impe-rial Orders”, this summer school offers an intensive interdisciplinary methodological forum for critical engagement with the relationship between methods and concepts of ‘empire’ across academic fields and historical periods.
Deadline for applications: 31 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2zn54a6z
14. Inscription à la liste Réseau des chercheur.ses turcophones (RCT)
Ce groupe rassemble des chercheur·ses turcophones en SHS travaillant sur la Turquie et les terrains ex-ottomans, à tous les stades de leur parcours (masterant·es, doctorant·es, postdoctorant·es, cher-cheur·ses titulaires ou indépendant·es). L’objectif est de créer un espace de circulation d’informations et de solidarité académique. La liste sert à partager : appels à communication, offres de postes/finance-ments, publications, événements, ainsi que des conseils méthodologiques et ressources utiles.
Information et inscription : https://tinyurl.com/4vcfass7
15. Chapters on “Hybrid Ways of Knowing in Iran” for Volume Edited by Mahjoob Zweiri, Palgrave Macmillan
The volume asks how new hybrid ways of knowing are taking shape in Iran. It examines how Islamic and decolonial ideas are combined, negotiated, or resisted across academia and intellectual spaces, and how schools of thought, ideologies, and geopolitical contexts shape the knowledge that results. It also considers how AI, digitalisation, migration, and climate change are reshaping knowledge produc-tion, and what all of this means for academic freedom and intellectual autonomy.
Deadline for abstracts: 7 June 2026. Information: https://www.ciwas.net/blog
16. New Volume “A Region in Transition: Survey of Socio-Economic, Cultural and International Relations Trends in the Gulf Region” Edited by Saban Kardas, Ethics Press, 4 April 2026, 214 Pages
The contributors provide concise interdisciplinary analyses on the transformations reshaping the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states in recent years. Considering the unprecedented socioeconomic and cultural changes, energy transitions, and geopolitical realignments, the book promises to capture major aspects of the domestic and international realities of these nations.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/35954xte
- May 23, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment