Archive for November, 2026
Shii News – Academic Items
1.IHTLS Lecture God, the Universe, and Us: On Classical Islamic Theology in the Modern Day
Monday, 9th of November at 5 pm (London, UK time), for the next session of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series organised by the Institute of Ismaili Studies.
Dr Rumee Ahmad’s talk is titled “God, the Universe, and Us: On Classical Islamic Theology in the Modern Day”, with Dr Wafi Momin as discussant.
To join, please register at https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/god-universe-and-us/
2. Monday Majlis Series
Online on Mondays, 2026-2027, Autumn Term
Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies
University of Exeter
4th of November (Wednesday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Betty Rosen, Listening to Thirteenth-Century Cairo and Damascus: What’s New in Late Ayyubid Poetry?
Register please at: https://tr.ee/Nysc9JcOER
9th of November (Monday) / or 11th of November (Wednesday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Sergio Basso, Buddha’s life as a Byzantine best-seller – with a little help from Arab mediation
Register please at: https://tr.ee/pU8VHfex-x
16th of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Amila Buturović, Magic in Interaction: Occult Practices in Ottoman Bosnia
Register please at: https://tr.ee/kJLv6qQqcU
23rd of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Louise Marlow, Translation between Arabic and Persian under Mongol Rule
Register please at: https://tr.ee/8DUAh_SNII
30th of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Habib Saçmalı, The Sunni Caliph Defends the Shiʿi Shah: The Ottomans and the Afghan Challenge in 1720s Iran
Register please at: https://tr.ee/dTjtozrFtv
7th of December (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).
Sebastian Günther, What Is Education For? Knowledge and Character Formation in the Abbasid Age
Register please at: https://tr.ee/lXTQMVvhZO
In the spirit of the label ‘Majlis’ and also to make the talks even more interesting, our speakers present the topic discussed as embedded in their own journey. You can watch the previous Majlises here. However, we don’t record the Q&A in order to keep the discussion free.
Please come and enjoy the talks and the discussions : ) If you’d like to be included in the CSI (Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter) mailing list, please write to me (I.T.Kristo-Nagy@ex.ac.uk).
3. Fellowship Opportunity – Library of Congress – African and Middle Eastern Division
The African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) of the Library of Congress invites applications for short-term fellowships on the theme of ritual, mysticism, and faith, defined in their broadest sense. There is no limitation regarding the time period covered but projects must relate primarily to the Library’s African, Middle Eastern, Hebraic and Central Asian collections.
Applicants are encouraged to propose projects that utilize new methodologies, interdisciplinary approaches, or comparative perspectives. Topics may include but are not limited to:
- The performance of rituals (e.g. ceremonies, symbolism, codification, or documentation)
- Transcendence, transformation, transmutation, divination, and the miraculous
- Apotropaic, protective, intercessory and shamanistic traditions
Fellowships will be offered to individuals with doctoral degrees in the humanities or social sciences. All appointments must start between June and November 2027, with a preference for summer 2027. Research is expected to be conducted primarily on-site at the Library of Congress and the stipend amount is all-inclusive.
These fellowships are part of the Division’s on-going program on African and Middle Eastern religious cultures, which aims in part to support innovative scholarship through the collections of the Library of Congress. This program is made possible through the generous support of the Lilly Endowment, Inc.
The deadline is December 10, 2026.
More information and the application materials can be found here: https://www.loc.gov/research-centers/african-and-middle-eastern/fellowship-information/
Contact Information
For more information, please contact AMED@loc.gov
Contact Email
URL
https://www.loc.gov/research-centers/african-and-middle-eastern/fellowship-info…
4. JTS is excited to announce a 10-week online Introduction to Judeo-Arabiccourse, from February 4 to April 8 2027. Designed for students with prior knowledge of Arabic, the course introduces the conventions of Judeo-Arabic texts, including Hebrew-script orthography, while developing the skills needed to read historical sources from the rich Judeo-Arabic literary and documentary tradition. Taught by Dr. Yaara Perlman, the course will primarily focus on the close reading of texts including excerpts from Saadia Gaon’s translation of the Torah and from the Responsa of Maimonides, as well as documentary materials such as private letters and legal documents. Graduate students welcome!
Learn more and sign up here.
5. The American University in Cairo – Assistant, Associate or Full Professor in Islamic Art and Architecture
Closing Date
January 26, 2027
6. Call for Papers – Special Issue TICA / International Journal of Cartography : What is a map
What is a map?
Epistemological perspectives on cartography
Over the past six decades or so, the study of the history of cartography has grown considerably in significance. While early works oscillated between the history of diplomacy, historical geography, travel history and administrative history, or the history of institutionalised cartographic bodies, the focus has shifted towards a study of cartography that has moved away from the traditional questions of accuracy, exactness and precision. This new approach examines the question of representation (Bertin and Robinson) and the processes of construction and deconstruction. Added to this are readings, authorship, performative aspects and the historicity of these various processes. The very nature of maps and their purpose is now being questioned. Alongside this, a history of images and visual cultures has emerged (Alpers 1990), as well as critical approaches that treat maps as devices grappling with postcolonialism (Said 1978) and a new history of science and technology (Daston and Gallison 2010). This places the history of cartography and its epistemology at the heart of cultural history, which was once struggling with the Spatial Turn (Soja 1989).
In a sense, the map is no longer—and in fact is no longer merely (depending on the authors and audiences)—a representation of the world through geometric methods. It no longer presents us with reality (Monmonier, 1996). Instead, it has become a social construction (Harley and Woodward, as well as Jacob). In other words, it is an object of power (Wood), but not only that. It is a polysemic object about which it is right to raise questions of performativity. Moreover, maps have become embedded in society, being produced, brandished and perceived by an increasing number of individuals. These action verbs place practices (De Certeau) at the heart of the discussion. (Kitchin and Dodge, 2007).
This also implies that the history and epistemology of cartography have been intertwined with the changes undergone by the social sciences and humanities at the same time, or with time lags. The history and epistemology of cartography indeed rely on small communities. In some countries, research may be limited to a few individuals who, depending on their age and stage in their careers, may be more or less open to innovation. This is why international conferences organised by the two major societies (ISHmap and the ICA Commission on the History of Cartography), as well as stand-alone events, are important. So too are journals such as Imago Mundi and Cartographica, and the major publication History of Cartography from Chicago. The latest volume is due to appear shortly. These help to ensure a degree of standardisation within the field, though they do not achieve it entirely.
Today, a variety of trends coexist, linking scholarly cartographic history with a renewed focus on the history of archives and libraries, authors and methods, workshops for producing and accumulating data, images, materiality, the passage of time, relationships with landscapes and bodies, the role of art, materiality, dimensions, media, pigments and engraving, as well as colonial, postcolonial and decolonial history. The domains of epistemologists and map historians have expanded remarkably.
This epistemological evolution has been accompanied by an expansion of the field of cartography. Traditional maps have been joined by new forms of cartography, ranging from emotional cartography to digital cartography, sometimes referred to as ‘2.0’. This expanded field multiplies differences arising from actors with diverse statuses and motivations and from variable sources, formats, and materialities. Added to this are the practices of digitising old maps, which create rather than merely replace their sources — all innovations that extend the map far beyond its former self. One might also consider the almost infinite extension of the cartographic metaphor, ranging from mental maps to maps as inventories. The word itself has become ambiguous; its uses and appropriations have expanded the scope of the map so much that it has become difficult to define.
This broad outline, which not everyone would agree with, leads us to today’s situation, where the definitions of the map have become less obvious. As early as 1992, Christian Jacob identified this as one of his creative paradoxes. In essence, his thesis was that the effectiveness of a means of communication, such as a map, lies in the absence of questioning its very nature. A bit like Aristotle, who knew what time was, used it, but could not define it.
While the effectiveness of the map does not require a precise definition, there are times when understanding the path taken is necessary in order to build something new, as well as to reflect on the past. This necessity is heightened at a time when a major work such as Chicago’s History of Cartography — the product of reflections from the 1970s and subsequent developments which have united the community of cartographic historians for a considerable period — is drawing to a close.
Alpers, S., 1990, The Art of Describing: Dutch Art in the Seventeenth Century, 1983), Paris, Gallimard, 1990
de Certeau, M. 1984: The practice of everyday life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Edney, M.H. 1993: Cartography without `progress’: reinterpreting the nature and historical development ofmapmaking. Cartographica 30(2/3), 54—68.
Foucault Michel, L’ordre du discours, 1970
Harley, J.B. 1989: Deconstructing the map. Cartographica 26, 1—20.
Jacob C. L’empire des cartes. Approche théorique de la cartographie à travers l’histoire, Paris, Albin Michel, 1992.
Kitchin R. et Dodge M., « Rethinking maps », Progress in human geography, 2007, vol. 31, n°3, pp.
Monmonier, M. 1996: How to lie with maps (second edition). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Soja, E. 1989, Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Social Theory, Londres, Verso.
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Submissions should not exceed 15,000 words. Authors may include color images.
Instructions for authors and Submission : http://www.tandfonline.com/tica Submission (International Journal of Cartography / Taylor & Francis)
Deadline: February 28, 2027
During the submission on TICA platform, it is essential to mention on the top of the manuscript and in the cover letter that this article is submitted for this Special Issue: ‘Epistemological perspectives on cartography’ and to chose the ‘research article‘ (and not the ‘invited paper’ or ‘position paper’)
Authors should send an expression of interest to the guest editor Nicolas Verdier (nv@parisgeo.cnrs.fr) ,
Once the guest editor has received expressions of interest from authors, authors will be provided with detailed information about submission, review and publishing.
Contact Information
Nicolas Verdier
Directeur de l’UMR 8504 Géographie-cités.
Batiment de recherche sud, Bureau 1167
Campus Condorcet, 5, cours des Humanités
93322 Aubervilliers cedex
Contact Email
7. The Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences (Prague, Czechia) and the University of Erfurt, Centre for Transcultural Studies / Perthes Collection (Gotha, Germany), are pleased to present the programme of a two-day international workshop dedicated to the history and theory of crisis mapping from the 19th to the 21st century. It will take place from November 26 to 27, 2026, at the Centre for Transcultural Studies and the Perthes Collection in Gotha, Germany
The workshop will explore how crises, conflicts, disasters, and moments of uncertainty have been mapped, narrated, contested, and remembered through cartography. Across five panels, contributions range from theoretical approaches and the mapping of atrocities and trauma to urban crises, wartime cartography, and global perspectives on disasters and disease. The workshop will be complemented by a hands-on session at the Perthes Collection.
The full programme is available in the attached PDF. Please note that the workshop will be held in person only; there will be no hybrid or online participation.
The workshop is organised with the support of the Strategy AV21 research programme Identities in the World of Wars and Crises(Czech Academy of Sciences, 2026) and the University of Erfurt.
Contact Information
Jitka Močičková, Institute of History of the Czech Academy of Sciences: mocickova@hiu.cas.cz
Dominic Keyssner, Centre for Transcultural Studies, University of Erfurt: dominic.keyssner@uni-erfurt.de
Contact Email
dominic.keyssner@uni-erfurt.de
- November 03, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment