Publication details:
Title: 波斯中国风: 13世纪蒙古帝国治下的伊朗艺术 (Islamic Chinoiserie: The Art of Mongol
Iran)
Author / Translator: Yuka Kadoi (transl. Fan Wu)
Publisher: Shanghai: Zhongxi Book Company, 2025
ISBN: 9787547521755
Pages: 407 pp.

3. CFP (ONLINE SEMINAR / PUBLICATION OPPORTUNITY): Borders and Sustainability: Mapping Landscapes, Resources, and Spatial Traditions from Antiquity to the Contemporary Era — Entangled Histories Seminar Series 2026–2027

Call for Papers Entangled Histories Seminar Series 2026–2027 Theme: Borders and Sustainability: Human and Natural Resources across Time and Space

Following the success of the previous edition, the Entangled Histories Seminar Series invites abstracts for its 2026–2027 cycle.

This entire seminar series will be held fully online and will offer a publication opportunity with a leading global academic publisher for a selection of the most significant contributions.

We warmly welcome contributions centred on the History of Cartography, Historical Geography, Spatial Humanities, Philology, Material Culture, and Environmental History, adopting an interdisciplinary, diachronic perspective that spans a wide chronological trajectory from antiquity and the medieval world, through the early modern era and the milestone cartographic shifts of the 18th century, up to colonial mapping, national state-building, and contemporary digital geographies. In alignment with H-Maps’ mission, this series encourages proposals that investigate how the making, circulation, use, and preservation of maps negotiated, represented, and shaped ecological limits, resource management, and the fluid dynamics of territorial, political, and conceptual boundaries (borders).

Mapping the Limits: Cartography, Resource Management, and the Visualisation of Borders

This edition explores sustainability and borders not merely as modern environmental or political frameworks, but as historical concepts deeply intertwined with the development of cartographic literacy, imperial expansions, and indigenous spatial resistance. The series investigates these dynamics across several interconnected dimensions:

The Cartography of Frontiers, Boundaries, and Environmental Limits: The graphic and mathematical drawing of imperial, national, and internal boundaries on maps (with a strong interest in cartographic transitions and reforms before and after 1725); how the lines traced by cartographers conditioned resource exploitation, access to water basins, pastoral mobility, and the enclosure of common lands from the Mediterranean to the Americas.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Indigenous Spatialities in Visual Archives: The historical study of how indigenous, vernacular, and non-Western spatial traditions—such as Mesoamerican codices, Andean khipus, or local North African oasis charts—visualised ecological micro-climates, communal resource management, and agricultural topographies; how these alternative modes of mapping survived, resisted, or were absorbed by Western geometric cartography.
Global Elemental Theory, Cosmological Mapping, and Humoral Geographies: Intellectual and visual approaches to how environmental elements (earth, water, air, fire), climate zones, and bodily humours were mapped in ancient, medieval, and early modern cartography. We welcome proposals addressing the representation of the elements in medieval mappae mundi, early modern portolan charts, and geographical treatises where the physical environment and human health were bound together through spatial icons.
Textual and Material Reuse, Palimpsests, and the Overwriting of Maps: The material and philological history of cartographic recycling, alteration, and reuse. We invite studies on the physical modification of copper printing plates, the erasure and overwriting of toponomastic layers, the translation and adaptation of ancient geographical texts (such as Ptolemaic models or Islamic maritime manuals) across linguistic frontiers, and the cartographic erasure of sacred indigenous landscapes through the systematic overwriting of colonial administrative grids.
Material Cartography, Exploitation, and the Extraction Landscape: How maps served as primary instruments for resource extraction, tracking the material history of mining (e.g., Andean silver, European coal), timber management for naval fleets, and the layout of plantation complexes; the use of cadastral mapping to enforce taxation and evaluate the carrying capacity and ecological sustainability of subjected lands.
The Epistemological Status of Marginal Cartographies and Vernacular Lore: Methodological reflections on how oral traditions, local navigational folklore, and vernacular climate knowledge left traces on formal map margins, travelogues, and geographical glossaries, serving as alternative archives of environmental shifts and community resilience against state-imposed spatial boundaries.
Socio-Environmental Shocks, Crises, and Cartographic Evidence: The role of cartography in documenting, predicting, or reacting to ecological crises, such as major desertifications, coastal erosions, river diversions, locust plagues, and famines; how shifting borders in times of resource stress were recorded by military and civil engineers.
Symbolic, Visual, and Cinematic Receptions of the Mapped Landscape: Representations of the grid, the compass rose, and the frontier in literature, iconography, and historical drama; the theatrical staging of territorial disputes; and the modern cinematic, media, or digital artistic engagement with historical maps, counter-mapping, and the visualisation of historical eco-trauma.

At the heart of the series lies the concept of borders, understood as dynamic, conflictual thresholds—whether geographic barriers, political dividers, imperial lines, or the lines drawn on parchment and paper separating the wild from the cultivated—that have historically mediated access to resources, triggered negotiation, and shaped the shared, entangled histories of global societies.

Topics of Interest

We welcome contributions from a wide range of academic disciplines, including:

History of Cartography: The making, circulation, use, and preservation of maps, globes, and charts from antiquity to the 21st century.
Philology, Textual Studies, and Toponymy: Philological analysis of maps, the translation of geographical texts, manuscript studies, and the rewriting of space through place-names.
Environmental History and Historical Geography: Spatial history of landscape transformation, water management, climate impacts, and deforestation as evidenced through cartographic sources.
Archaeology and Material Culture: Cartographic archaeology, the study of architectural reuse (spolia) as documented in early town plans, and the material culture of map-making instruments.
Folklore, Anthropology, and Indigenous Studies: Counter-mapping, vernacular geographies, oral spatial traditions, and the anthropological analysis of community-based territory demarcation.
Ancient and Medieval Spatial Studies: Classical geography, Roman land surveying (agrimensura), medieval world maps, Islamic cartography, and the visual reuse of ancient geographical paradigms.
Colonial and Imperial Studies: Vice-royalties, maritime trade networks, boundary commissions, global extraction mapping, and the cartographic rewriting of indigenous spaces.
Art History, Architecture, and Visual Culture: Map aesthetics, landscape iconography, architectural drawings, and the intersection between fine art and technical mapping.
Media Studies, Cinema, and Digital Humanities: The representation of maps and frontiers in cinema and theatre, critical GIS, digital preservation of cartographic heritage, and the media history of spatial surveillance.

Seminar Format & Schedule

Format: Online seminar via Zoom (Approx. 30-minute presentation followed by discussion). Scheduling will take international time zones into account as much as possible.
Schedule: October 2026 – Summer 2027.

Submission Guidelines & Selection Rules Proposals must be submitted in English and include the following details:

Title of the proposed paper.
Abstract (250–300 words).
Short biographical note (100–150 words).
Institutional affiliation (if any) or independent scholar status.
Contact email.
Preferred months of availability (between October 2026 and Summer 2027).

⚠️ MANDATORY ABSTRACT CRITERIA: The abstract submitted MUST clearly explain how the proposed paper intends to address and integrate the central core topics of the series: Borders (confini) and Sustainability(sostenibilità) through the lens of cartographic history, map production, circulation, or spatial analysis. Proposals that fail to explicitly address this conceptual intersection will not be considered.

⚠️ CRITICAL SUBMISSION REQUIREMENT: All submission materials (title, abstract explaining the approach to borders and sustainability, bio, affiliation, and availability) MUST be compiled and submitted into a SINGLE file(either .doc, .docx, or .pdf). Multiple attachments will not be considered.

Please submit your single-file proposal to: entangledhistories.seminars [@] outlook.com

Important Dates

Deadline for abstracts: 31 August 2026
Notification of acceptance: By 30 September 2026

Publication Opportunity A selection of the most significant contributions will be published in a special issue or in a dedicated edited volume with a major, world-leading academic publisher.

Contact Information

Organised by:

Dr Maria Pia Ester Cristaldi (Üsküdar University)
Dr Elisa Ramazzina (University of Insubria)

Under the patronage of:

The Faculty of Communication and the Master’s Programme in Media and Cultural Studies at Üsküdar University.

Contact Email

entangledhistories.seminars@outlook.com

URL

https://sites.google.com/view/entangledhistories/home

4. Cartorient,published by the Research Center on the Iranian World (CeRMI, CNRS, Paris), is pleased to share with you theAtlas of Iran in the Mid-Twentieth Century, which has recently been published online at CARTORIENT.

This cartographic study is the result of a collaboration between the Faculty of Geography of the University of Tehran and CeRMI, conducted by Bernard Hourcade, Abbas Rajaei, and Hossein Mansourian.

It constitutes the first comprehensive cartographic analysis of Iran based on data from the First national population census of Iran, conducted in 1956, at the detailed administrative scale of the 119 shahrestan(districts). The Atlas comprises 34 maps, accompanied by analytical commentaries in both French and English, depicting the social and economic characteristics of Iran during the 1930s–1950s. By providing a detailed picture of the country’s past, it offers valuable insights for a better understanding of contemporary Iran.

5. Reuters: How 5 weeks of war shattered some of Iran’s cherished monuments

6. Muslim Writing, Writing Muslimness in Europe: Transcultural Perspectives, edited by Carmen Zamorano Llena, Billy Gray, Carolina León Vegas, and Carles Magrinyà Badiella (Routledge, 2026)

https://www.routledge.com/Muslim-Writing-Writing-Muslimness-in-Europe-Transcultural-Perspectives/ZamoranoLlena-Gray-LeonVegas-MagrinyaBadiella/p/book/9781032733449

Posted in: Academic items

June 30, 2026
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment

Shii News – Academic Items

1. Lecture – “The Lives of Mughal Artists” by Yael Rice – July 23

Thursday July 23, at 6:30—7:30 pm (EST), Cheek Theater, VMFA:

“The Lives of Mughal Artists” by Yael Rice

The lives of the Mughal emperors often overshadow those of the many painters they employed. And yet it was precisely these individuals who helped to amplify and sustain Mughal dominance over the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries. In this richly illustrated talk, Dr. Yael Rice addresses the roles that Mughal manuscript paintings, murals, and designs for translation into other media played in broadcasting the imperial court’s and the artists’ own aspirations. Focusing on a number of the objects displayed in the VMFA exhibition India’s Great Mughals: Art, Power, and Opulence, Rice’s lecture considers the construction of Mughal sovereignty from an artist-centered lens.
To watch from the comfort of home, visit our livestream page.
URL

https://www.vmfa.museum/events/talk-the-lives-of-mughal-painters-8077

2. CSMBR Upcoming Lecture:

Staying Fresh in Early Byzantium

Scented Care Products in Aetius of Amida’s «Libri Medicinales»

Maciej Kokoszko
Zofia Rzeźnicka

07 July 2026 – 5 PM (CET)

The lecture will focus on a selection of recipes for body cleansers and powdered deodorants taken from Book VIII of Aetius of Amida’s medical encyclopaedia, Libri medicinales, which was written in the 6th century. As many of the formulas for these care products were borrowed by Aetius from earlier authors, primarily Titus Statilius Crito (active in the 2nd century AD), exploration of the transmission and adaptation of ancient medical knowledge during the early Byzantine period is also included.

This analysis aims to contextualise the topic by demonstrating the value of medical texts in social and economic historical research. Consequently, the speakers will discuss the gendered nature of Byzantine cosmetology.

Furthermore, the presentation will attempt to specify the social groups for whom these care products were intended. To this end, myrrh will serve as an indicator of social status, and the speakers will analyse factors such as its place of origin, varieties, supply routes, trade routes, and the types of preparations to which it was added in order to sketch a picture of the intended users of both myrrh-based and myrrh-free recipes. The issue of aromatic substance adulteration and substitution in the Byzantine Empire will also be discussed along the way.

Thus, the lecture will demonstrate how cosmetic recipes preserved in medical compilations can provide valuable evidence for reconstructing everyday life in the Byzantine world.

To register for this event, please click here.

Kindest regards,

Andreas Hylla

Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR) – Assistant Coordinator

Domus Comeliana, Via Cardinale Maffi 48, 56126 Pisa, Italy

Tel.: +39.02.006.20.51 – Mobile: +39.333.13.12.203

Email: ah@csmbr.fondazionecomel.org

3. MARGARET S. GRAVES: Invisible Hands: Fabrication, Forgery, and the Art of Islamic Ceramics. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2026. 344 pp. ISBN 978 0 69127974 9

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691279749/invisible-hands?srsltid=AfmBOoqa5edCxi-VN8G72o8peV1b5xBZLM_x9fstsgWKAZHNS5kj5GZy

4. ‘Comparative Shari‘a: measuring support for Islamism cross-nationally’

Politics and Religion, June 2026

Sam Dunham, et al.

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-religion/article/comparative-sharia-measuring-support-for-islamism-crossnationally/BD789B986D5BFD8FDCAC89999EFA3AB8?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Article&utm_campaign=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles&WT.mc_id=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles

5. ‘Portuguese handheld firearms in Asia in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries’

Asian Studies, June 2026

Roger Le de Jesus, et al

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-journal-of-asian-studies/article/portuguese-handheld-firearms-in-asia-in-the-sixteenth-and-seventeenth-centuries/E01EB6ADDE3162E2B6B9580E03FAFAE6?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Article&utm_campaign=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles&WT.mc_id=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles

6. ‘The waqf al-dashīshah of Mamluk sultan Qāʾitbāy’

T Ito

JRAS, 2026,

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-royal-asiatic-society/article/waqf-aldashishah-of-mamluk-sultan-qaitbay/29352EA10B658E5C75AE2684FFBA2A6B?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Article&utm_campaign=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles&WT.mc_id=New%20Cambridge%20Alert%20-%20Articles

7. Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio

The Iran Heritage Foundation is delighted to announce the forthcoming release of Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio, a landmark box set showcasing the pioneering work of filmmaker, writer and cultural figure Ebrahim Golestan.

At its heart is Secrets of the Jinn Valley Treasure (1974), Golestan’s brilliantly inventive and sharply satirical masterpiece, newly restored in 4K through a collaboration between the IHF and the Cineteca di Bologna. Following its international premiere at the prestigious Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in June, the film will receive its first-ever home-video release this September as part of a major collection from Radiance Films.

The beautifully curated box set brings together some of the most important productions of Golestan Film Studio, including The House Is Black, the celebrated documentary directed by Forough Farrokhzad, alongside a wealth of newly commissioned supplementary material. Exclusive video introductions and visual essays provide fresh insight into the films and their enduring significance within Iranian and world cinema.

This release offers a rare opportunity to rediscover the artistic vision of Ebrahim Golestan and the extraordinary legacy of one of the most influential creative institutions in modern Iranian cultural history.

The box set is available to purchase here.

8. Beyond Rumi: Sufi Art and Practice – New Smithsonian Online Initiative

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art is proud to announce the launch of an exciting new online initiative, Beyond Rumi: Sufi Art and Practice.

Beyond Rumi introduces the complexity of Sufi Islam through a unique and accessible multimedia experience. Sufism, generally defined as Islamic mysticism, is a rich religious tradition that is remarkably diverse, dynamic, and complex but also amorphous. Its multisensory rituals have also continuously changed and evolved as traditions flourished—and sometimes vanished—across the Islamic world and beyond.

Use an interactive map to explore eight sites associated with Sufism from Morocco to Indonesia. Watch performances and presentations by scholars, listen to music, and delve into Sufism’s wide-ranging forms of artistic expression, from poetry to the visual arts and architecture.

Beyond Rumi is part of The Arts of Devotion, a six-year initiative at the National Museum of Asian Art dedicated to furthering civic discourse and understanding of religion. This initiative is made possible by Lilly Endowment Inc.

Citation:

Rettig, Simon, Massumeh Farhad, and Sana Mirza, Beyond Rumi: Sufi Art and Practice. Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Asian Art, 2026.
10.5479/si/NMAA/2026.0004

Contact Information

Freer Research Center

Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art

Contact Email

FreerResearchCenter@si.edu

URL

https://beyondrumi.asia.si.edu/

9. HYBRID Seminar “Making Ancients Modern: Coptic Experts, Pharaonism, and the Search for Egyptian Origins” by Amy Fallas, CEDEJ, Cairo, 30 June 2026, 16:00 CET

In the journal for the Association of Coptic Art in 1935, Coptic doctor Georgy Sobhy endeavored to answer a burning question: did Muslims and Christians in Egypt share physiological characteristics with ancient Egyptians? This talk considers the work of Sobhy and other early 20th century Coptic profes-sionals and explores how their scholarly contributions informed sectarian notions of pharaonism and shaped circuits of knowledge production on Egyptian origins.

Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/3swknkdd

10. Conference “On the Orientalists’ Divan: Questions of Reflexivity from the 18th to the 21st Centuries”, Inalco, Paris,15-16 March 2027

The academic aim of this conference is to highlight the explicit and conscious relationship between the scholar and their subject of study, and to capture the reflexivity of Orientalists – that ‘close, intimate and entirely personal bond they maintain with their work’. Researchers are invited to catch Orientalists in the act of explaining, as historians, the link between the history we have made and the history that has made us.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 September 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3u2jeyd5

11. Postdoctoral Researcher (3 Years), Focus on Muslim Feminities in the UAE, HAIR Project, Ghent University

Qualification: Doctorate a relevant field (e.g. Arabic Studies, Islamic Studies, Anthropology, Middle Eastern Studies, Gender Studies, Religious Studies, Cultural Studies or related disciplines) obtained max. 6 years ago. – Strong research including publications and/or a developing book project.

Expertise related to the Gulf region and/or the UAE. – Experience with ethnographic and/or qualitative research methods. – Excellent academic writing and communication skills in English. –Etc.

Deadline for applications: 31 July 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3rws92jk

12. Doctoral Fellow (4 Years), Focus on Muslim Feminities in Egypt, HAIR Project, Ghent University

Qualification: Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g. Arabic Studies, Islamic Studies, Anthropology, Middle Eastern Studies, Gender Studies, Religious Studies, Cultural Studies or related disciplines). – Exceptional MA dissertation on an aspect of the contemporary Middle East. – Strong interest in gender, embodiment, literature and Muslim societies. – Excellent research and writing skills. – Excellent com-munication skills in Arabic (spoken and reading). – Excellent academic writing and communication skills in English. – Etc.

Deadline for applications: 31 July 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4uazmywz

13. Doctoral Fellow (4 Years), Focus on Muslim Feminities in Lebanon, HAIR Project, Ghent University

Deadline for applications: 2026. [ed. – sic] Information: https://tinyurl.com/yuuxbnm7

14. Research Associate (1 Year +) in Cairo, Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB)

Only Egyptian nationals or other nationalities with a work permit for Egypt may be employed. Require-ments: MA in a subject relevant to the work of the OIB. – Research in the OIB’s academic areas. – Knowledge of the Egyptian academic and higher-education landscape. – Experience in academic or cultural management in Egypt. – Excellent written and spoken Arabic and English.

Deadline for applications: 31 August 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdxsf5a9

15. Visiting Professorship (1Year) in the Political Economy of the Middle East (Open Rank), American University of Beirut

We encourage applications from scholars trained in political science, economics or international affairs, with a specialization in Political Economy, Peace Studies, State-Building, and Post-Conflict Reconstruc-tion with demonstrated policy professional experience in the Middle East with and particularly the Le-vant/Mashriq.

Deadline for applications: 30 June 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdh3t3ch

16. Postdoctoral Scholar/Lecturer (2 Years), Bita Daryabari Fellow in Persian Language and Literature, University California Davis

Qualification: PhD within the humanities or humanistic social sciences field. – Persian serving as a primary research language and the applicant’s scholarship focusing on the Persianate world. – Strong and well-developed research program. – Ability to teach an undergraduate seminar in Persian language and literature.

Deadline for applications: 31 August 2026. Information: https://recruit.ucdavis.edu/JPF07717

17. New Volume: “Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi: A Mujaddid and Pioneer of Islamic Economics and Finance”, Edited by Mohammad Ahmadullah Siddiqi & Imtiyaz Yusuf, Center for Islam in the Contemporary World, 18 June 2026, 448 Pages

Professor Mohammad Nejatullah Siddiqi (1931 – November 2022) was a pioneering thinker and devel-oper of the concept of Islamic Economics, Banking, and Finance in the modern age. The memorials and articles in the book highlight the lasting impact of Dr. Nejatullah Siddiqi’s pioneering works on the operations, development, and global growth of Islamic economics, banking, and finance, both in aca-demia and in the practical world of finance and commerce.

Information: https://tinyurl.com/mtafj3z5

18. New Book: “Religion and the Invisible World – Sanctity and Spiritual Transformation in Egypt from Pharaonic Times to the Present” by El-Sayed El-Aswad, American University in Cairo Press, 2 June 2026, 252 Pages

Drawing on forty years of research as an anthropologist, historian, and Egyptologist, the author shows how concepts of sacredness and invisibility 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 and reading sample: https://aucpress.com/9781649033710/

Posted in: Academic items

June 27, 2026
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment

Shii News – ‘Mir Anees: Voices from Karbala: Poetry of Karbala for Reflection, Remembrance, and Recitation’ – N Haider, A Rashid

Posted in: Field-specific (academic), Iraq, Pakistan

June 26, 2026
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment

Shii News – Passing of Charles-Henri de Fouchécour

C’est avec une profonde tristesse que nous avons appris la disparition de Charles-Henri de Fouchécour, survenue vendredi dernier, 19 juin 2026, à l’âge de 100 ans.

Éminent spécialiste de la langue et de la littérature persane classiques, dont il a éclairé l’étude de contributions fondatrices (dont le célèbre Moralia: les notions morales dans la littérature persane du 3e-9e au 7e-13e siècle, Éditions Recherche sur les civilisations,1986), Charles-Henri de Fouchécour a enseigné à l’Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco) ainsi qu’à la Sorbonne nouvelle, succédant à Gilbert Lazard comme Professeur et directeur de l’Institut d’études iraniennes. Il a également dirigé l’Institut français de recherche en Iran (IFRI) et fondé, en 1978, la revue de bibliographie critique en études iraniennes Abstracta Iranica. Dans le riche héritage que constituent ses nombreux travaux et publications, sa traduction intégrale commentée du Divân de Hâfez (Verdier, 2006), la première en français, comme celle des Maqâlât de Shams de Tabriz (La quête du joyau, les Éditions du Cerf, 2017) comptent au nombre des trésors les plus précieux qu’il lègue, par-delà la communauté scientifique, à des générations de lecteurs, étudiants, et amoureux de la littérature et de la pensée.

Certain.e.s d’entre vous s’en souviennent: Charles-Henri nous avait encore honorés de sa bienveillance en nous rejoignant en visioconférence, grâce aux bons soins de ses proches, à l’occasion de l’hommage qui lui était rendu lors de la XVIe Journée Monde Iranien organisée par notre collègue Wouter Henkelman au Pôle des Langues et Civilisations au printemps 2025. Une exposition, coordonnée par notre collègue Farzaneh Zareie, avait alors été organisée à la BULAC, qui salue aujourd’hui sa mémoire sur cette page.

C’est un savant passionné, un maître généreux et pour nombre d’entre nous, un ami qui nous quitte.

Un hommage lui sera rendu le samedi 27 juin, à 11 heures, au crématorium de Beaumont-lès-Valence.
Ses cendres reposeront au cimetière du Montparnasse, à Paris 14e, dans le caveau familial. Une cérémonie sera organisée en son honneur en septembre, dont nous vous ferons partager les détails lorsqu’ils seront connus.

Au nom du CeRMI, nous adressons à sa famille et à ses proches nos plus sincères condoléances,

Pour la direction,
Justine Landau, avec Denis Hermann et Matteo de Chiara

Posted in: News

June 25, 2026
by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – Academic Items

1. The Colour of Dreams

The Physiology of Oneiric Experience in Greek, Arabic, and Latin Traditions

Marco Signori

25 June 2026 – 5 PM (CET)

This talk explores the concept of dream colour as it appears in a selection of medieval Arabic and Latin philosophical and medical texts. Lying at the intersection of psychophysiology, medicine and the doctrine of the rational soul, this subject draws on ancient humoral theory to explain an intriguing aspect of the dream experience.

The idea of a correlation between the colour of oneiric images and the predominance of one of the four humours originates from a concise yet highly significant doxographic passage attributed to Galen, as recorded in the only surviving manuscript, Arabic MS Baġdād (Awqāf 9763), and is referenced in notable resources such as Avicenna’s (Ibn Sīnā, d. 1037) writings and the Persian Book of Science for ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla.

Curiously, however, while other Arabic students of this Galenic excerpt on humoral oneirology, such as Abū l-Faraǧ ibn al-Ṭayyib (d. 1043), omitted references to colour when addressing related topics, this connection reemerges in the Latin tradition, as demonstrated by Albert the Great and, most notably, Boethius of Dacia.

Building on previous scholarship and analysing various intermediary channels, the contribution will discuss the possible historical and doctrinal links between these authors, tracing hypothetical lines of transmission from Greek-Arabic medicine to 13th-century Latin philosophy.

To register for this event, please click here.

Please note the change of date from 23 June to 25 June.

Kindest regards,

Andreas Hylla

Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR) – Assistant Coordinator

Domus Comeliana, Via Cardinale Maffi 48, 56126 Pisa, Italy

Tel.: +39.02.006.20.51 – Mobile: +39.333.13.12.203

Email: ah@csmbr.fondazionecomel.org

2. Conference in London: Before “The Pursuit of Happiness”
https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/british-academy-conferences/before-pursuit-happiness-emotional-flourishing-early-judaism-christianity-islam/
Before “The Pursuit of Happiness”: emotional flourishing in early Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Tue 7 – Wed 8 Jul 2026 , 09:00 – 17:00
The Aga Khan Centre, 10 Handyside Street, N1C 4DN
What emotions have been understood to shape human wellbeing?
Today, many in the English-speaking world would readily point to happiness, a concept now both positively felt and positively valued. Yet this association is historically contingent. The meaning and moral status of happiness have long been subjects of debate, especially in early religious discussions of the relationship between virtue, the state of being good, and pleasure, the feeling of goodness. Surprisingly, there have been few comparative investigations of emotional flourishing before the ideal of pursuing happiness became dominant, and none that examine this theme across the major religious traditions of the western world.
This conference brings together leading international scholars of early Judaism, Christianity, and Islam to explore the ideals that shaped emotional and moral life in these traditions. Participants will consider how these ideals developed over time, how they intersected across communities, and what social functions they served. In doing so, the conference offers a significant contribution to the study of human happiness, flourishing, and wellbeing, illuminating a rich and understudied intellectual history.

Please register to attend

Posted in: Academic items

June 23, 2026
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment

Shii News – ‘The Discourse of Islamic Civilization During the Pahlavi Period’ – R Jafarian

Posted in: Field-specific (academic), Iran

June 22, 2026
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment

Shii News – Academic Items

1. Fons Vitae has just published: KANZ AL-ASRAR: A TREASURE OF MYSTERIES – ‘Mulay al-‘Arabi al-Darqawi and some of his goodly companions as seen through the eyes of a loving disciple’ by Muhammad Buziyan al-Gharisi al-Ma’askari (d. 1271/1854). Translated by Mohamed Fouad Aresmouk & Michael Abdurrahman Fitzgerald. Pages: 266

MULAY AL-ARABI al-Darqawi (ca. 1743 to 1823) was the gifted spiritual master whose teachings inspired a Sufi order and movement that attracted tens of thousands of followers in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and beyond. Among those who were able to visit the Shaykh in his remote zawiya in the mountains of northeast Morocco was a young man named Muhammad Buziyan al-Gharisi, who arrived with a caravan in 1803 from his native Algerian town of Maʻaskar.

The resulting work, which he entitled Kanz al-asrar fi munaqib Mawlana al-Arabi al-Darqawi wa ba‘di as·habihi ’l-akhyar (“A Treasure of secrets concerning the lives of Mulay al-Arabi al-Darqawi and some of his goodly disciples”) became a much-quoted reference for many later writings about the order. Purchasing details- Now Available…

2. The Fons Vitae Quranic Commentaries Series

NOW AVAILABLE in PDF & eBook formats: Up until now, these fundamental tafasir texts 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…

3. AMECYS 2026 Senior Scholar Award

The Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies invites nominations for the inaugural AMECYS Senior Scholar Award

The Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies (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 Senior Scholar Award recognizes an outstanding scholar whose career has advanced the study of children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa, the Gulf, and their diasporic communities. In keeping with AMECYS’s mission, the award honors sustained contributions that strengthen the field through innovative scholarship, interdisciplinary exchange, and the expansion of public understanding about and by children and youth in these regions.

Nominations for the award can be self-made or made by anyone who can speak to the credentials of the senior scholar, given they meet the following criteria:

Open to senior scholars (e.g., associate/full professor or equivalent, including independent scholars).
Nominees may come from any disciplinary or methodological approach.
The nominee’s record must demonstrate sustained engagement with children and youth studies in MENA/Gulf and/or diasporic contexts.
Nominee must be an AMECYS member at the time the nomination is made.

Selection Criteria

Nominees will be evaluated on the following:

Substantial Scholarly Contribution–A significant body of work that has shaped knowledge and debate on children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa, the Gulf, and/or diasporic communities; evidence of impact (e.g., influence on the scholarship, teaching, methods, or research agendas of others).
Innovation and Interdisciplinarity–Scholarship that is conceptually, methodologically, ethnographically or archivally innovative; work that advances interdisciplinary dialogue and helps build children and youth studies as a shared scholarly space across fields.
Global Academic Exchange and Field-Building–Contributions that facilitate scholarly exchange across regions, institutions, and disciplines such as conference programming, collaborative network development, center/institute leadership, editorial leadership, academic association and other organizational leadership, or other forms of infrastructure-building.
Mentorship and Support for Emerging Scholars–Demonstrated commitment to mentorship, especially toward graduate students and early-career scholars; concrete evidence may include teaching, advising, mentoring collaborative projects, co-publication, sponsorship, and community-building that expands participation in the field.
Public Understanding and Engagement–Work that enhances public understanding about and by Middle Eastern, North African, and Gulf children and youth, whether through public scholarship, community partnerships, policy work, educational programming, and/or media engagement.

What nominators should send appended as one pdf:

1 Nomination letter– mapping the nominee’s contributions based on the criteria
1 Supporting recommendation – mapping the nominee’s contributions based on criteria
A comprehensive CV
Optional: up to 2 representative items (e.g., article, chapter, public essay, project link) that demonstrate contributions.

The winner of the AMECYS Award will receive $300 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 59th MESA Annual Meeting in Boston. The results will also be posted on the AMECYS website and in other publications as deemed appropriate by AMECYS.

Nominations must be received by September 1, 2026 and be sent to the chair of the Awards Committee, Dylan.Baun@uah.edu

Reviewers

Dylan Baun, Department of History, University of Alabama in Huntsville
Heidi Morrison, Department of History, University of Wisconsin, La Crosse

3.Hilary Falb Kalisman, Endowed Professor of Israel/Palestine Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder

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

URL

https://www.amecys.org/

4. Celebrating 1,000 Years of Avicenna’s al-Shifaʾ
The year 2027 marks 1,000 years since Avicenna completed al‑Shifāʾ(The Cure), his encyclopedic summa of philosophy and the sciences. The Avicenna Study Group (ASG, https://avicenna-study-group.org/) sees this milestone as reason for celebration and a timely opportunity to highlight the The Cure’scontinuing relevance, engage wider audiences, and stimulate new research.

We would be delighted if you and your institution would consider hosting an event in 2027. This could take the form of a multi‑day conference or symposium, a one‑day workshop or roundtable, a lecture series or reading group, an exhibition or manuscript showcase, a public talk, an online or hybrid event, or even a small, focused meeting with, for example, three speakers.

The ASG will support organizers with promotion and listing on a global calendar, coordination with other hosts and potential partners, shared visual assets and suggested messaging, and an option to publish outcomes in our peer‑reviewed series Avicenniana: Publications of the Avicenna Study Group (https://www.degruyterbrill.com/serial/pasg-b/html).

If you are interested, please send a brief expression of interest by 01 August 2026 – a short note outlining your initial idea for the event (format, prospective date(s) and location, and intended audience). We will then follow up with an organizer pack, clarify details with you, and add your event to the global calendar. If you would like more information about the 2027 commemoration activities or encounter any issues in planning your own, please do not hesitate to contact the ASG (https://avicenna-study-group.org/contact).

Contact Information

Shahrzad Irannejad

Avicenna Study Group Communications Officer

Contact Email

contact@avicenna-study-group.org

URL

https://avicenna-study-group.org/

5. CfP: 10th meeting of the International Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP) in Leiden, 22–25 March 2027

The International Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP) invites submissions for its tenth congress, to be held in Leiden from 22 to 25 March 2027.

The congress aims to bring together scholars wording on (Arabic, Coptic, Greek, Pahlavi, …) papyri and related documentary sources from the Islamic period (6th-16th centuries CE) to foster dialogue between philology, papyrology, and historical research. The tenth ISAP congress will be dedicated to showing how papyrological materials can be used to illuminate broader historical questions and debates in Islamicate history.

For updated information on the congress, see the congress website.

Paper Proposals (20 minutes)

We invite proposals for 20-minute papers that engage directly with papyrological (and related documentary) sources for historial inquiry in Islamicate history. Contributions should clearly demonstrate how such sources illuminate our understanding of historical processes, structures, or experiences across the Islamicate world from the sixth to sixteenth centuries CE.

We welcome papers addressing themes such as, but not limited to, administration, economy, law, religion, social history, and material culture.

It will also be possible to present collaborative (co-presented) papers, in which one presenter focuses on the edition and philological aspects of a text, and the other discusses its historical and historiographical significance.

Short Presentations: Editions In Progress (10 minutes)

The programme will also include a dedicated session for the presentation of text editions or parts of editions. These 10-minute presentations are designed as a forum for discussion and feedback on ongoing work, including new texts, re-editions, or methological issues.

Submissions Guidelines

Proposals should be approximately 300 words (for both full papers and short presentations).
Please include your name, affiliation, and contact details.
Fo co-presented papers, please indicate clearly the roles of each contributor.
Please send your proposal by the deadline to: p.m.sijpesteijn@hum.leidenuniv.nl.

Deadline And Notification

Submission deadline: 1 September 2026
Notification of acceptance: 15 September 2026

Please note that there will be limited number of grants available to support the participation of scholars whose institutions provide no or insufficiant financial support. Information on how to apply for a grant will be provided after a paper has been accepted.

Jelle Bruning and Petra Sijpesteijn

Contact Information

Dr Jelle Bruning

Contact Email

j.bruning@hum.leidenuniv.nl

URL

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/humanities/institute-for-area-studies/arab…

6. Islamic Art, Games/XR & GLAM – Digital Lab Days Edinburgh, 2-3 July 2026

The Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections annual Digital Lab Days event will take place in Edinburgh on 2–3 July 2026. The event brings together scholars, curators, developers, educators, and heritage professionals working across Islamic art & architecture, history, video games/immersive media, and GLAM. The programme is designed to foster conversation across Islamic art, games/entertainment/XR, and GLAM sectors and to share new approaches to research, representation, and public engagement.

Speakers and workshops will engage with topics including:

Digital tools for Islamic architectural heritage
Al-Andalus in Arabic television
Game design as art historical methodology
Self-Orientalism in games and popular media
Art and MENA representation in contemporary digital media

This event is particularly relevant to scholars and practitioners in:

Islamic history and art history
Medieval and Middle East studies
Digital Humanities
Museum/Heritage studies
Games, Entertainment, & Creative Industries
Game Studies

Contact Email

info@digitallabivcc.com

URL

https://www.digitallabivcc.com/digital-days-islamic-art-games-xr-glam-edinburgh…

7. New book in open access: Philip Bockholt, Türkische Übersetzungen aus dem Arabischen und Persischen. Akteure, Adaption und Rezeption in der Frühen Neuzeit[Empires in Translation, vol. 1], Berlin/Boston: De Gruyter, 2026

In the monograph “Türkische Übersetzungen aus dem Arabischen und Persischen”—the first volume of the series “Empires in Translation: Intersections of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish in the Eastern Mediterranean”—Philip Bockholt demonstrates that early‑modern Ottoman elites deliberately commissioned Turkish renderings of Arabic and Persian historiographical and advisory texts in order to appropriate the established Islamic scholarly tradition and thereby embed themselves within it. Treating translation as a cultural practice rather than a purely linguistic operation, the study maps the network of translators, patrons, and readers; it documents multiple recensions of the same work and analyses marginalia, colophons, and decorative elements that reveal the production and circulation contexts. By foregrounding the trilingual Ottoman scholarly world (elsine‑i s̱elās̱e—Arabic, Persian, Turkish), the research shows how translation functioned as an instrument of patronage, self‑positioning and imperial consolidation. Consequently, the monograph fills a significant lacuna in Ottoman intellectual history and underscores translation’s central role in early‑modern empire formation.

Contact Information

Prof. Dr. Philip Bockholt

Juniorprofessor für Geschichte des turko-persischen Raumes

Institut für Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft

Schlaunstr. 2

Raum 359

48143 Münster

Germany

Contact Email

philip.bockholt@uni-muenster.de

URL

https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/9783112219751/html?fbclid=I…

8. Racializing the Ummah

Muslim Humanitarians beyond Black, Brown, and White

Rhea Rahman

https://mngbookshop.co.uk/9781517920272/racializing-the-ummah/

20% Discount code*: LSMNGUPS26

*Valid until 11:59 BST, 30st December 2026. Discount only applies to the MNG website

9. The Islamic College

Qur’anic Arabic Certificate-Starting in June

Designed as a foundation for students wishing to pursue further studies in Islamic disciplines — or simply to gain proficiency in classical Arabic — this programme focuses on the language of the Qur’an and the classical scholarly tradition, rather than the Modern Standard Arabic used in contemporary contexts. No prior knowledge of Arabic is required..

The complete course is divided into three parts, each comprising 12 sessions held twice per week.

Modules offered: Part 1 – Reading, Writing & Morphology

Entry requirement: No prior knowledge of Arabic required

Duration: 12 weeks per part (36 weeks for all three parts)

Fees: £ 125 for Reading & Writing, £125 for Morphology, or £200 for both modules

Location: In-person and online

Part 1 start date: 30th June 2026
Part 1 — Reading and Writing & Morphology. An introduction to Arabic script and word patterns, exploring how Arabic words are formed and change.
Part 2 — Listening and Speaking and Syntax. A focus on correct sentence construction alongside the development of listening and reading skills.
Part 3 — Qur’anic Recitation & Analytical Grammar. Applied reading of Qur’anic texts with deeper engagement in grammatical analysis.

The instalment plan for the full fee is also available.

Questions? Contact The Islamic College at admissions@islamic-college.ac.uk

Posted in: Academic items

June 20, 2026
by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – NYT: ‘Their Country [Bahrain] Revoked Their Citizenship, Then Tried to Expel Them to Iran’

This story will be behind a paywall, but the headline tells the story.

Posted in: News, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Turkey

June 19, 2026
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment

Shii News – Online: ‘The Lost Ziyāra Route of al-Ṣāliḥ Ṭalāʾiʿ and Twelver Shīʿi Material Culture in Cairo’ – Y Moussa, 1.7.26, 15.30 CEST

Posted in: Field-specific (academic), Egypt

June 17, 2026
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment

Shii News – Academic Items

1. International Journal of Islamic Architecture 15.2

Special Issue: ‘Gender in Islamic Architecture’

Real and imagined spaces are inherently gendered. This relates to widely accepted heteronormative and patriarchal ways of living, and affects how buildings and cities are accessed, used, and experienced. Yet, women and marginalized peoples have found innovative ways to claim their right to experience and shape cities. Against these complex yet urgent ongoing questions, the contributors to this special issue of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture interrogate the past and present relationship between gender and architecture through an interdisciplinary approach.

Including ‘Tactics of Resistance: Palestinian Women and the Reclamation of Space in the Old City of Hebron, Palestine’ by Rana Abughannam and Nuha Dandis and ‘Chlorine, Concrete, and Coquette: Women at the Pool in Egypt, 1930–69’ by Alexandra Camille Schultz.

For more information about the journal and issue click here:

https://www.intellectbooks.com/international-journal-of-islamic-architecture

Issue 15.2

Table of Contents

Editorial

Women as Agents of Social Change and Disruptors of Normative Structures

GÜL KALE

Design in Theory Articles

Mother of Abundance, Queen of the Ill: Bezmiâlem Sultan and the Architectures of Tahaffuz

SHARON MIZBANI

Tactics of Resistance: Palestinian Women and the Reclamation of Space in the Old City of Hebron, Palestine

RANA ABUGHANNAM AND NUHA DANDIS

In a Double Bind Between the Harem and the Museum: Institutionalizing a Book Collection in the Court of Nasir al-Din Shah

SELİN ÜNLÜÖNEN

Chlorine, Concrete, and Coquette: Women at the Pool in Egypt, 1930–69

ALEXANDRA CAMILLE SCHULTZ

Fluid Boundaries, Liminal Identities: The Chhatri Tomb of Mughal Princess Shah Begum

SRINANDA GANGULY

Design in Practice Articles

Unveiling Sacred Boundaries in Qatar: Al-Mujadilah Center and Women’s Spatial Experience
FATEMA SHUBBAR, AMINA AL- KANDARI AND GÖZE BAYRAM

Book Reviews

Riyadh: Transforming a Desert City, Yasser Elsheshtawy (2022) and Making Space for the Gulf: Histories of Regionalism and the Middle East, Arang Keshavarzian (2024)

HARVEY MOLOTCH

Architecture of Migration: The Dadaab Refugee Camps and Humanitarian Settlement, Anooradha Iyer Siddiqi (2024)

ASLIHAN GÜNHAN

The Struggle for Development in Iran: The Evolution of Governance, Economy, and Society, Pooya Azadi, Mohsen B. Mesgaran, and Matin Mirramezani (2022)

ASMA MEHAN

The Palimpsest of the House: Re-Assessing Roman, Late Antique, Byzantine, and Islamic Living Patterns, Ed. Inge Uytterhoeven and Alessandra Ricci (2022)

SUNA GÜVEN

Islamic Architecture through Western Eyes, Volume 1: Spain, Turkey, India and Persia, Michael Greenhalgh (2023)

NADER SAYADI

Exhibition Review

23.5 Hrant Dink Site of Memory, Hrant Dink Foundation, Istanbul, Permanent Exhibition, Opened April 23, 2019

SIBEL ZANDI-SAYEK

Contact Information

Alex Dika Seggerman

Contact Email

alex.seggerman@rutgers.edu

URL

https://www.intellectbooks.com/international-journal-of-islamic-architecture

2. The production of material culture in the Islamic world (EHG 21st Colloquium)

The 21st colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society for Islamic art and archaeology at the Goethe-University Frankfurt discusses the Islamic world from a materiality perspective. The colloquium focuses on craftsmen, production techniques or ‘know how’, production centers and workshops and the transfer of knowledge and highlights social and economic dynamics that often go unnoticed. It hosts Islamic art historians and Islamic archaeologists in addition to scholars from the fields of manuscript studies, museology, archaeometry, and anthropology. Through this interdisciplinary discussion we hope to better understand social dynamics in the Islamic world during different eras.

All lectures takes place in Frankfurt. They are not livestreamed and not recorded.

Contact Information

Registration to the colloquium until 25.6.26 by Mustafa Ahmad

Contact Email

m.ahmad@em.uni-frankfurt.de

URL

https://www.fb09.uni-frankfurt.de/186610338/EHG_Program_Poster_Draft_01.pdf

3. ARS APODEMICA

From the Sadberk Hanım Museum and Ömer Koç Collections

Curator: Makbule Merve Uca

8 May 2026-23 May 2027

Ars Apodemica constructs its narrative around journeys to Ottoman territories across a broad time span, from the late fifteenth century to the first quarter of the twentieth century, approaching these travels through the motivations behind them. On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Koç Group, the exhibition, composed of a selection of works from the Sadberk Hanım Museum and the Ömer Koç Collections, centers on travelogues that consider travel not merely as a change of place, but as a deliberate practice of selection and recording. Beyond these travelogues, paintings reflecting the world of the period and objects related to the Ottoman geography also appear in the exhibition as integral parts of this visual and intellectual process of production.

Contact Email

info@mesher.org

URL

https://mesher.org/en

Posted in: Academic items

June 16, 2026
by Andrew Newman
0 Comment