Archive for 2026
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Please join the 2026 International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) ‘Dialogues’ online roundtable on the theme “Healthcare Architecture in Islamic Traditions/Translations”, taking place on March 7, 2026.
This annual Dialogues session explores how Islamic societies have shaped health-conscious architecture, from traditional practices to responses to epidemics and pandemics. Cansu Değirmencioğlu, Sara Honarmand Ebrahimi, and Kamyar Salavati will join IJIA Assistant Editor Deniz Avci to discuss culturally responsive approaches to healthcare design across hospitals, domestic spaces, and urban environments.
Join us for an interdisciplinary conversation on designing for health, hygiene, and care in Islamic contexts.
March 7, 2026 | 15:00–16:30 GMT / 6:00–7:30 Pacific / 9:00–10:30 Eastern
Register via Zoom:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83691919135?pwd=nNd8AKf7uZvzV3MKBezfZrvzNvevXD.1
2. Logics of Localisation: Vernacular Islamic tombstone traditions of Sumatra
Jessica Rahardjo
Thursday, February 19, 2026 at 6:30 PM
In-Person and Virtual Lecture
The Institute of Fine Arts
1 East 78th Street, New York, 10075
Tombstones – among the most abundant, datable forms of material culture in maritime Southeast Asia – are widely considered to be synonymous with the adoption of Islam in the region. This paper presents two distinct vernacular traditions of Islamic tombstones: one from Aceh in northern Sumatra and another from the Minangkabau highlands in western Sumatra. It explores the factors driving the adoption of specific tombstone forms and their subsequent transformations, focusing on the interaction between the incoming monotheistic belief and local immanentist modes of religiosity, as well as the impact of successive waves of religious reformism from the 17th to the 19th centuries.
Jessica Rahardjo is Postdoctoral Researcher on the Leverhulme Trust project Mapping Sumatra’s Manuscript Cultures, SOAS University of London, and Research Associate at the Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the material and manuscript cultures of Islamic Southeast Asia. She recently completed her DPhil at Oxford with a dissertation on batu Aceh, a Southeast Asian Islamic tombstone tradition (15th–19th centuries). Jessica was a recipient of the Getty Foundation Indian Ocean Exchanges fellowship (2021–23). She is also a committee member of Teaching the Codex, an initiative dedicated to developing pedagogical approaches to palaeography and codicology.
Registration is essential. To register, please use the form available at:
https://ifa.nyu.edu/events/date/2-19-26.html
3. The Hajji Baba Club Research Fellowship was established in 2018 to promote original scholarship in the field of carpet studies. It provides financial support and visibility for emerging scholars and independent researchers. The maximum fellowship award for 2026-2027 is $8,000 USD.
The fellowship is competitive and applications are due by 5:00 PM EST May 1, 2026.
Please see our website for the application details https://www.hajjibaba.org/research-fellowship/ as well as some information on our current and past fellows: https://www.hajjibaba.org/current-fellow/
URL
https://www.hajjibaba.org/research-fellowship/
4. Position – Assistant, Associate, Full Adjunct Professor – Arts of Iran and Central Asia – History of Art and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures
Position overview
Position title: Assistant, Associate, or Full Adjunct Professor
Salary range: The UC academic salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and step at appointment. See the following table(s) for the current salary scale(s) for this position https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2025-26/policy-covered-october-2025-scales/t1.pdf. The current full-time base salary range for this position is $80,800 – $212,000 (9-month academic year salary). “Off-scale” salaries, which yield compensation that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions.
Percent time: 25% – 50%
Anticipated start: As soon as July 2026
Application Window
Open date: January 22, 2026
Most recent review date: Friday, Feb 6, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications received after this date will be reviewed by the search committee if the position has not yet been filled.
Final date: Friday, Feb 27, 2026 at 11:59pm (Pacific Time)
Applications will continue to be accepted until this date, but those received after the review date will only be considered if the position has not yet been filled.
Position description
The Departments of History of Art and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at the University of California, Berkeley seek to appoint an Assistant, Associate, or Full Adjunct Professor in the arts of Iran and Central Asia. Applicants should have an active research program, with expertise in relevant languages. The appointee will offer courses with a regional, thematic, or topical focus that contribute to department curricula at all levels. The expected load is two courses per academic year, shared between History of Art and Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures. In addition to teaching, the appointee is expected to pursue research or other creative work and contribute to the departments through service on relevant committees and/or by mentoring undergraduate and graduate students. We seek candidates who can support the success of all students through inclusive curriculum, classroom environment, and pedagogy. Funding for this adjunct position is available from campus for a period of time thanks to a philanthropic Azarpay endowment.
Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States at the time of hire. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.
Department: https://melc.berkeley.edu/
Qualifications
Basic qualifications (required at time of application)
A PhD (or equivalent international degree), or enrolled in PhD or equivalent international degree-granting program at the time of application.
Preferred qualifications
Demonstrated teaching experience at the college or university level.
Specialization in ancient and/or medieval worlds is preferred. In addition to courses in art history, the successful appointee should be able to teach courses of a regional, thematic, or topical focus that contribute to department curricula at all levels.
Application Requirements
Document requirements
- Curriculum Vitae – Your most recently updated C.V.
- Cover Letter – Please discuss research accomplishments and proposed plans (this can include, for example, your publication record, awards, presentations, inclusive research practices that promote the excellence of your research, and areas for future research), prior teaching experience, teaching approach, and future teaching interests (this can include, for example, specific efforts, accomplishments, and future plans to support the success of all students through inclusive curriculum, classroom environment, and pedagogy), and specific prior and proposed academic, professional and/or public service activities.
Reference requirements
- 3 required (contact information only)
References will only be contacted for those candidates selected for an interview. We will alert candidates and seek their permission before contacting references
Apply link: https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05238
Help contact: ealc_gbs_ap@berkeley.edu
URL
https://aprecruit.berkeley.edu/JPF05238
5. Two New Online Courses – Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
1.The Shahname: Introduction to the Iranian Epic (The Story of Alexander) March 6 – April 24, 2026
The readings are selected from the story of Pādešāhi-ye Eskandar in the Shahname, and content-wise continue the readings of the previous round, this time focusing on the adventures of Alexander in the mythical lands:
- The story of the travels of Alexander in the land of Darkness in search of the Spring of Life
- The story of the building of the wall against Yajuj and Majuj by Alexander
- The story of the reaching of Alexander to the speaking tree
- The story of the death of Alexander
2. Central Asia through Persian Historical Texts: An Introduction March 12 – May 14, 2026
This course is designed as an introduction to Classical Persian historical prose, during which several important text relevant for the history of Central Asia will be studied with a particular focus on the analysis of their language:
- Iṣṭakhrī, Mamālik wa Masālik (Cl. Persian translation, 13/14th c.);
- Tārīkh-i Bukhārā, by Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. Jaʻfar Naršakhī.
- Juwaynī, Tārīkh-i Jahāngušāy (13th c.);
- Šaraf-ud-dīn ‘Alī Yazdī, Zafar-nāma (15th c.);
- Mīrzā Muḥammad Haidar Dūghlāt, Tārīkh-ī Rašīdī (16th c.);
- Faẓlullāh b. Rōzbihān Khunji, Mihmān-nāma-yī Bukhārā.
Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
Yerevan, Armenia
Website: www.ferdowsi.org
6. Digging Wells While Houses Burn
Academic responsibility and the study of religion
23–24 April 2026, in Cambridge and online
In a provocative article titled Digging Wells While Houses Burn (2006), David Gordon White argues that certain studies of religion actively stoke supremacist ideologies and politics. The only way to avoid this unsavoury collaboration is to rethink the way we do our work — the stories we choose to tell, and the methods we use to tell them. According to White, academics of religion who fail to engage with this responsibility are “digging wells while houses burn”, ignoring devastating realities that urgently demand their attention.
In this context, we invite scholars of all religions, across all disciplines, to reflect on the relationship between their academic work, on the one hand, and violence and supremacy, on the other. Particular areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Studying religion in contexts of majoritarian violence, occupation, and genocide (e.g. Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Tibet).
- Systematic critiques (legal, historical, theological, and so on) of the mutually reinforcing relationship between religious discourses and supremacist ideology.
- How have scholarly agendas and university spaces contributed to the entrenchment of religion-infused supremacies?
- Engagements with “authorship”: what is the role of privilege and identity in crafting religion research?
- Intersectional analyses of religious supremacy: gender, sexuality, race, caste, and class.
- Thematic and methodological issues related to the scholarly analysis of “religious” violence.
- Ways forward: how must our concepts and conversations change?
Those interested in participating should complete this form (https://forms.gle/MygENBHjLUA5m3Xu8) by 1st March 2026. Successful applicants will be notified by 10th March 2026. Scholars residing outside the United Kingdom will have the option to present online. In case of any queries, please contact Namrata Narula (nn307@cam.ac.uk) or Dr Hina Khalid (hk410@cam.ac.uk).
_____________________________________________________________________________
Featured Article: White, D. G. (2006). Digging Wells While Houses Burn. History and Theory, 45. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2303.2006.00387.x.
7. Between Text and Image
Diagrams of the (Ventricles of the) Brain in the Medieval Islamicate Tradition
Shahrzad Irannejad
19 February 2026 – 5 PM (CET)
In this lecture, I will discuss the few yet thought-provoking visual representations of the brain and its ventricles in the medieval Islamicate tradition. While some illustrations of the brain appear in the Avicennan tradition, numerous mini diagrams of the brain’s ventricles show up in the Kitab al-Manṣuri fi al-Ṭibb (The Book of Medicine) by al-Razi (865–925 CE) — a concise yet comprehensive and influential encyclopaedia of medicine.
Several manuscript copies of this work contain numerous anatomical diagrams of the ventricles of the brain. The particularly intriguing aspect of these diagrams, which were not necessarily intended to depict reality or precise anatomy, is their variation. In other words, these diagrams, as ‘imagetexts’, were subject to movance — accidental or deliberate changes — just like the text copied by hand from one manuscript to another.
At the nexus of codicology and philology, I explore the utility of the family tree metaphor (stemma codicum) in establishing the relationship between various manuscripts based on the visual affinities of their respective diagrams. I investigate the extent to which establishing anatomical truth and reconstructing the archetype should be prioritised over exploring the dynamism of visual representation resulting from scribal practices across time and space.
To register for this event, please click here.
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
8. Arab World English Journal for Translation and Literary Studies welcomes the submission of papers for the May Issue 2026.The submission deadline is March 30, 2026. The issue publication date is May 2026. Please read the submission guidelines https: //www.awej-tls.org/paper-submission/ and submit your paper: https://www.awej-tls.org/submission-form/. If you have any questions, please contact TLS@awej.org
For more details, please read
Kind regards,
AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies
https://www.awej-tls.org/
9. UCLA: Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World
Biennial Ehsan Yarshater Lecture Series
Ancient Iran and Central Asia
Interactions and Shifting Identities
Professor Frantz Grenet (Collège de France)
A Series of Four Lectures in March 2026 at 4:00 pm Pacific Time
Royce Hall 314 and via Zoom
More info and registration at:
https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/events/frantz-grenet-2026-yarshater-lecture-series/
10. Tajikistan Learning Tour (May 2026)
Join Hikmat International Institutefor an unforgettable Tajikistan Learning Tour—a journey through breathtaking landscapes, rich Persian heritage, and a culture that few have truly explored.
🌄 Explore stunning mountains and natural beauty
🏛️ Visit historical and cultural landmarks
👥 Meet local academics, students, and cultural figures
📚 Attend special educational workshops on:
- Persian Identity in Central Asia
- Society & Transformation in Tajikistan
🍲 And of course… taste authentic Tajik cuisine and traditional sweets you’ve likely never tried before!
https://hikmat-ins.com/tajikistan-learning-tour/
11. CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: 2 post-doc positions at UCLouvain (as part of ERC Synergy MOSAIC project
12. SPRING 2026 AKPIA Lecture Series
A Forum for Islamic Art & Architecture at Harvard University
February 19, 2026
“Harvard’s Safavid Multi-Text Compendium: The Codex as a Communal Gathering of Riddles”
Christiane Gruber
Mehmet Ağa-Oğlu Collegiate Professor of Islamic Art History, University of Michigan
co-sponsored with Standing Committee on Medieval Studies at Harvard University
March 26, 2026
“Picturing the İskendername: Visual Interpretation in Fifteenth-Century Ottoman Manuscripts”
Serpil Bağcı
AKPIA Fellow; Professor, Department of History, Bilkent University
April 30, 2026
“Vaulting Techniques in Iranian Islamic Architecture: An Unpublished Study by Myron Bement Smith and Doǧan Kuban”
David Roxburgh
Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Professor of Islamic Art History, Harvard University
THE AGA KHAN PROGRAM FOR ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Lectures are open to the public and held Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm, at 485 Broadway, HAA Lower Lecture Hall, Cambridge, MA.
For further information, call 617-495-2355 or email agakhan@fas.harvard.edu
Visit the website https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events
13. 2e Atelier interdisciplinaire – Etudes iraniennes et approches environnementales, lundi 16 février 2026, 10h-13h à la Maison de la Recherche de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Salle Athéna
Nous avons le plaisir de vous convier au 2e atelier interdisciplinaire ” Etudes iraniennes et approches environnementales”, qui se tiendra lundi prochain, 16 février 2026, 10h-13h, à la Maison de la Recherche de la Sorbonne Nouvelle, Salle Athéna (4 rue des Irlandais, Paris Ve).
Cet atelier est organisé conjointement par l’Université Aix-Marseille, la Sorbonne Nouvelle et l’Inalco, avec le soutien du CeRMI (UMR 8264), de l’IREMAM (UMR 7310), et de BioArch (UMR 7209).
Vous trouverez le programme ci-dessous, et en pièce jointe.
En espérant vous y retrouver nombreux!
Bien cordialement,
Les organisateurs –
Camille Rhoné-Quer, Justine Landau, Matteo de Chiara
Contact: Camille Rhoné-Quer (camille.rhone@univ-amu.fr)
14. UCLA:
Averroes and Maimonides: Translating Religious Motives into Philosophy
Averroes Lecture Series
A lecture by Ali Benmakhlouf (Mohammed VI Polytechnique University, Morocco)
Moderator: Aomar Boum (UCLA)
Thursday, February 19, 2026
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM PST
Bunche Hall 10383
Organized by the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies. Co-sponsored by the UCLA Alan D. Leve Center for Jewish Studies.
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17477
15. Hybrid: COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEMINAR IN ARABIC STUDIES
Why wasn’t print adopted in the early modern Middle East?: A New Perspective
Arabic Studies Seminar w/ Nir Shafir Monday 2/23 4pm
Please find below information regarding our upcoming meeting with Professor Nir Shafir (UC San Diego) on Monday (2/23) at 4 pm EST in Faculty House. Please note that we are not holding the talk at our usual day or time this month due to scheduling conflicts. The talk is titled: “Why wasn’t print adopted in the early modern Middle East?: A new perspective”
Please note that due to new regulations, non CUID holders will not be allowed into Faculty House without prior notice. If you intend to be present in-person and do not have a Columbia ID, please RSVP ASAP. If we don’t receive your RSVP we will not be able to let you in. You should receive a QR code before Wednesday morning–if not, please reply to this message. The talk will be live streamed here on ZOOM for guests who can’t make it in person.
We will begin at 4:00 pm. If you would like to join the speaker for dinner immediately following the talk at Faculty House please RSVP to the seminar’s rapporteur (rma2152@columbia.edu). The cost of dinners is $30, payable via card or check.
Abstract:
Why was print not widely adopted in the Ottoman Empire until the late 1800s? It’s a question that has puzzled scholars for almost 400 years. Ottoman subjects had known about European printing for centuries and even had short-lived experiments with printing, but the vast majority of books continued to be copied by hand. Previous explanations have emphasized cultural roadblocks like religious opposition or scribal resistance, but there is little evidence for these theories. In this talk, I posit an economic explanation instead: Manuscript technology continued to flourish because it was more economically rational and printing was too burdensome. The project will analyze 1) the production costs of books, both printed and handwritten, 2) their prices on the secondary market, and 3) the commercialization of the book trades. This will be done across Arabic, Turkish, Armenian, Greek, and Hebrew books. The project promises a new approach to the history of books in the Islamic world and a clearer understanding of commercialization and capitalist development of the early modern Middle East.
Bio:
Nir Shafir is an associate professor of history at the University of California, San Diego. His research investigates the intertwined histories of communication, religion, and science in the Middle East between 1200-1800. His first monograph, The Order and Disorder of Communication: Pamphlets and Polemics in the Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Empire, was published by Stanford University Press in 2024 and was awarded the book prize of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association in 2025. He is an occasional contributor and editorial board member of the Ottoman History Podcast and served as its editor in 2018.
Join Zoom Meeting
https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/92597500745
16. ITS
RAMADAN DISCOUNT 2026
This Ramadan embrace the spirit of reflection and devotion. Enjoy 15% off all our titles, with free delivery on orders over £25.
Deepen Your Connection with the Qur’an this Ramadan
We invite you to explore the timeless wisdom of Al-Ghazali On Proper Conduct for Reciting the Qur’an, a guide to deepening your connection with the Qur’an during this blessed month.
In order to take advantage of this offer, please visit our website https://its.org.uk and enter the coupon code RAMADAN26. This offer is valid from 17 February to 22 March 2026.
17. HYBRID World Policy Forum: “Muslim-Christian-Jewish Coexistence in the Holy Land”, Center for the Study of Islam & Democracy (CSID), Washington, DC, 17 February 2026, 18:00 CET
This timely forum will bring together three distinguished voices from the Muslim, Christian, and Jew-ish traditions to reflect on the moral, historical, and political foundations of coexistence in the Holy Land, and to explore what a just and sustainable future might require.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/2rjb3tsj
18. HYBRID World Policy Forum: “Muslim-Christian-Jewish Tolerance and Peaceful Coexist-ence in the Holy Land”, Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), Washington, DC, 17 February 2026, 18:00 – 20:00 CET
This forum will examine the historical foundations, moral traditions, and contemporary challenges shaping relations among the three Abrahamic faith communities in Israel and Palestine. Bringing together leading Jewish, Christian, and Muslim thinkers, the discussion will explore what justice, dignity, and equal rights require today, and how religious and ethical traditions can contribute to a future grounded in coexistence rather than exclusion.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/2rjb3tsj
19. ONLINE Lecture “Literature’s Refuge: Rewriting the Mediterranean Borderscape” by William Stroebel (University of Michigan), University of Texas, Austin, 17 February 2026, 23:00 – 24:00 CET
The Greco-Turkish Population Exchange of 1923-1925 was the final nail in the Empire’s coffin, up-rooting and swapping nearly two million Christians and Muslims between Europe and West Asia. William Stroebel will recover something of the rich refugee literatures that fell through the cracks of the modern border regime, straddling Greek Orthodoxy and Sunni Islam, Greek-script, Arabic-script, and Latin-script literary traditions.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/4us88mmy
20. ONLINE Webinar „Excavating Hope in a Time of Cynicism: A New Reading of the Iranian New Wave” by Sara Saljoughi, Center for Middle East Studies, Brown University, Provicence, 4 March 2026, 18:00 – 19:00 CET
Sara Saljoughi (University of Toronto) offers a fresh interpretation of the Iranian New Wave of the 1960s and 1970s. She argues that New Wave cinema carries an anticipatory vision of a better future that ultimately never came to fruition. She suggests that this unrealized potential continues to resonate today, providing new insights into both the films themselves and the ongoing revolutionary strug-gles in Iran.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/557kzf26
21. American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATT) Graduate Student Conference, 8 May 2026
This conference aims to support and promote research that significantly utilizes sources in Turkish or other Turkic languages by graduate students from fields including but not limited to literature, history, linguistics, language education and related fields at North American academic institutions. It also offers a collaborative platform for the student presenters to share their work and exchange re-search ideas with their peers and the colleagues in attendance from the field.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mryevjyb
22. Interdisciplinary Symposium “Illuminating the Dark! Night Histories from Byzantion to Istanbul“, Pera Museum Auditorium, Istanbul, 4-5 June 2027
This interdisciplinary symposium will explore Istanbul’s night histories across three pivotal periods; Byzantine Constantinople, Ottoman Istanbul, and republican/contemporary Istanbul, examining con-tinuities, ruptures, and transformations in nocturnal urban life. We seek to foster cross-fertilization between history, urban studies, anthropology, geography, literature, art history, ecology, and the broader emerging field of night studies.
Deadline for abstracts: 13 July 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4rrue7sx
23. Journée d’étude « Construire la déviance religieuse en Islam et dans les Chrétientés mé-diévales. Histoire des représentations et approches sémantiques », Lyon, 12-13 novembre 2026
Cette journée d’étude propose d’analyse du vocabulaire et des représentations discursives et pic-turales de l’exclusion religieuse. La discrimination s’appuie en effet sur un lexique de la stigmatisation et de la différenciation qui prend racine dans le registre de la polémique, se diffuse dans différents domaines de la culture écrite et visuelle, mais peut aussi gagner le domaine du droit.
Propositions de communication avant le 30 avril 2026. Information : https://tinyurl.com/yvnd645h
24. Library Traineeship (Civil Service, “Bibliotheksreferendariat”), Profile “Arabic and Islamic Studies” at the Bavarian State Library, Bayreuth and Munich
The two-year preparatory service (A13h) is starting 1 October 2026 with a practical year in Bayreuth, followed by a theoretical year in Munich. Field profile C: Arabic and Islamic Studies; Master’s degree required, PhD desirable. Full-time, on-site; appointment as civil servant on probation.
Deadline for applications: 25 February 2026.
Information: https://interamt.de/koop/app/stelle?0&id=1393142
25. Visiting Assistant Professorship (2 Years) in International Studies (Focus Middle East), Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Qualifications: All applicants must have either received a bachelor’s degree or lived for a substantial period in Africa, Asia, or Latin America and the Caribbean. They must have earned a Ph.D. in the humanities and/or social sciences after 2021.
Review of applications will begin on 18 February 2026 until the position is filled.
Information: https://trincoll.peopleadmin.com/postings/3749
26. Appeal for the Reopening of the French “Institute for the Near East (Ifpo)” in Syria
Since 2011 two Syrian centers of Ifpo in Damascus and Aleppo have been closed. They brought an internationally recognized input to Near East archaeological research and to studies in humanities and social sciences on the Arab and Muslim world. We firmly call for the swift and full reopening of this historical and unique institution. The more people who sign, the more likely our message will be heard.
Please see the full appeal and sign at https://forms.gle/R68WRCD5W42VJhhy8
27. “DECRIPT Program”: Call for Applications for 20 International Research Residencies (1 Month, Focus Middle and Near East), INALCO, Paris
During their stay, researchers must propose to conduct or formalize high-level academic research related to the program’s core scientific question on civilizational narratives and/or civilizationism, in connection with the Middle and Near East or its methodological area. Compensation: €3,400 covering transportation and living expenses. Location: Paris, Bordeaux, Lille.
Deadline for applications: 28 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2nmn5nyk
28. ONLINE Seminars of the Historians Association (Tarihçiler Derneği) in Ottoman and Karamanli Turkish
Historians Association (TAD) is pleased to announce its 2026 Spring Semester online seminar pro-gram, designed to strengthen methodological, linguistic, and paleographic skills in historical and hu-manities research. Delivered by scholars with recognized expertise in their respective fields, the seminars address a diverse audience from students to professional researchers.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/4589s329
29. Summer School “Reading and Analysing Ottoman Manuscript Sources”, Ifpo and Seven 0ther Institutions, Amman, 13-17 September 2026
The five-day program will introduce young researchers (mostly MA and Ph.D. candidates, though postdocs may also apply) to reading, combining and analysing manuscript sources from various archives of the Ottoman era, produced at the local, provincial and imperial levels. Materials from the 16th through the 20th centuries will receive most of our attention, but explorations into earlier ar-chives are welcome. No tuition fees will be charged.
Deadline for applications: 15 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/432xt9rt
30. Sībawayh et les savoirs de son temps
Influences, dialogues, critiques & héritages
Figure fondatrice de la grammaire arabe, Sībawayh (m. vers 180/796) occupe une place singulière dans l’histoire intellectuelle de l’islam médiéval. Axes thématiques : – Les savoirs reçus par Sībawayh : traditions, maîtres et contexts. – Les éventuelles influences extra-arabes dans le Kitāb de Sībawayh. – Sībawayh comme fondateur : concepts, méthodes et innovations. – Critiques, con-troverses et savoirs concurrents. – Postérités et circulations interdisciplinaires.
Les articles sont à envoyer avant le 31 décembre 2026. Information : https://tinyurl.com/2e8676yk
31. Chapters for Edited Volume on “During the Ottomans, After the Outlaws: Histories of Banditry, Memory, and Heritage in Balkans and Turkey” in Routledgs`s Book Series “Outlaws in Literature, History and Culture”
We especially value contributions that follow the full circuit of representation – from administrative and judicial production (policing, court files, petitions, press) to oral tradition and performance, and onward into museums, monuments, politics, nationalism, curricula, festivals, tourism, and digital af-terlives – while developing concepts and methods that travel across post-Ottoman settings.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/459nanb6
32. New books:
New Book: “Satellite Ministries: The Rise of Christian Television in the Middle East,” by Febe Armanios, Oxford University Press, 2025, 368 Pages
The book draws on extensive oral history interviews and archival research conducted in the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. It examines the history of Arabic, Turkish, and Persian Christian channels in the Middle East for the first time, and it describes the historical links between evangelical media missions and the rise of indigenous Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant channels that launched across the Middle East over four decades.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/3y66fsz7
New Book: “Torn is the Curtain: Early Film Cultures in Istanbul” by Canan Balan, New York and Oxford, Berghan Books, Dec. 2025, 234 Pages
Offering a feminist history of cinema at the edges of empire and the nation-state, this book explores how gender, class, and ethno-religious divisions were projected, performed, and entangled. It fo-cuses on the former Ottoman capital from the late nineteenth century to the early 1930s and inves-tigates how cinema both reflected and shaped Istanbul’s complex social fabric. The analysis reveals how religious and cultural practices informed emerging notions of cinematic modernity and cross-cultural exchange in the region.
Information: https://www.berghahnbooks.com/title/BalanTorn
LATIN AND EASTERN CATHOLICISM IN OTTOMAN ANATOLIA: SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND RELIGIOUS INQUIRIES FROM 14th-20th CENTURIES
Edited by Vanessa R. de Obaldía, Radu Dipratu, Anaïs Massot, Padraic Rohan
This book brings together thirteen chapters that examine a variety of primary sources that shed new light on the often-ignored history of Catholicism in Anatolia, from the dawn of the Ottoman Empire to the early Republican era. We are grateful to all contributors whose scholarship and collaboration made this project possible.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/yhbtj3sm
- February 14, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – CfP: “Ritual in Shiʿi Islam” (Chicago, 15-16 May)
Shiʿi Studies Symposium 2026: “Ritual in Shiʿi Islam”, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 15-16 May 2026
The symposium explores the practices through which Shiʿi institutional, communal, and theological commitments are enacted and contested. We welcome papers with a variety of approaches, spanning the earliest periods of Shiʿism up through the contemporary moment.
Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/5y4nnjut
- February 12, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Zoom talk: In honour of Babur’s birthday on 14 February — a day celebrated in Uzbekistan as part of its cultural heritage — we warmly invite you to a special lecture:
Babur Day Special: Mirza Haydar Dughlat and East Turkestan in Literary Memory
The lecture will explore how writers have told and retold the history of East Turkestan, beginning with Mirza Haydar Dughlat’s Tārīkh-i Rashīdī and examining how later authors responded to and built upon this foundational work. It will engage with themes of historiography, literary memory, and the Chagatai literary tradition.
Guest Speaker:
Dr Eric Schluessel
Associate Professor in Modern Chinese & East Asian History
Tutor in History, Keble College, University of Oxford
Dr Schluessel’s research focuses on Central Asia and Xinjiang (Eastern Turkestan), with particular attention to literature, culture, and historical memory.
Please find the Zoom link below.
Time: Feb 13, 2026 06:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86861817875?pwd=5Fi8C7nwvdP9N9KtZPhzPJRti0G2X6.1
Meeting ID: 868 6181 7875
Passcode: 9mLteF
2. CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: MYSTICISM(S) BEYOND THE WEST
Conference venue: Campion Hall, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Conference dates: 9 am Monday 29 June 2026 – 1 pm Wednesday 1 July 2026
Abstract submission deadline: 1 March (end of day)
Notification of acceptance: 15 March
Keynote speakers
Dr. Marta Domínguez Díaz (Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, University of St Gallen)
Professor Gavin Flood (Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion; Senior Research Fellow, Campion Hall)
Description
This conference invites papers that explore mystical traditions beyond the Western canon, with a particular focus on traditions that have remained underrepresented in mainstream scholarship. The conference aims to foreground non-Western mystical traditions and to foster dialogue across religious, cultural, and disciplinary boundaries. Traditions of interest include, but are not limited to, Indian, Islamic, East Asian, Eastern Christian, and Indigenous contexts. Papers may be historical, philosophical, theological, anthropological, or interdisciplinary in approach.
We welcome contributions that address, among other topics:
- Theoretical and methodological challenges in applying the category of mysticism beyond Western contexts
- Comparative, cross-cultural, and decolonial approaches to mystical traditions
- Relationships between mysticism and rationality, philosophy, or theology in non-Western traditions
- Mysticism and ethics, practice, embodiment, or social life
- Marginalised, neglected, or emerging mystical voices and texts
The event is intended for established scholars, early-career researchers, and advanced postgraduate students working in comparative religion, theology, philosophy, and related fields. We will aim at a gender balance among speakers and we welcome contributions from members of underrepresented groups. Selected papers may be considered for publication in either an edited volume or a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal.
Submission guidelines
Submissions should take the form of an abstract of around 300 words, submitted by email in word or pdf format to mysticismsoxford@gmail.com by 1 March (end of day). Applicants will be notified of the outcome of the selection process by 15 March.
Conference fees
£60 for waged participants, £30 for unwaged / student participants. Please note that we are unable to cover accommodation or travel costs.
Organisers
Dr Szilvia Szanyi (Faculty of Theology and Religion & Campion Hall, University of Oxford)
Dr Brett Parris (Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford)
3. CfP: Edinburgh’s Seventh International Graduate Conference in Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies: ‘Institutional Identities in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages’ taking place on the 18th & 19th May 2026 at the University of Edinburgh.
The conference is held in a hybrid format, so we accept virtual papers as well. The deadline for submissions is the 20th of March, and applicants will be notified by the 31st of March. Please see the linked webpage for further details, and contact edibyzpg@ed.ac.uk for any questions.
4. Syracuse University Press: Upcoming Events of Interest:
https://press.syr.edu/home/news-and-events/
5. Empire and Nation in the City
Rusçuk from Ottoman Rule to Bulgarian Statehood
Mehmet Çelik
SUP, 2026
https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/9430/empire-and-nation-in-the-city/
6. A Study of ›Tawriya‹ in the Qur’an
Exegesis, Rhetoric and the Reader
Luca Rizzo,
Brill, 2026
7. The Concept of Emotions in Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Edited by: Catharina Rachik and Georges Tamer
Brill, 2026
8. University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point – Teaching Assistant Professor in History
https://networks.h-net.org/jobs/69760/university-wisconsin-stevens-point-teaching-assistant-professor-history
Closing date: 1 March, 2026
9. A History of Ottoman Poetry by E. J. W. Gibb
This six-volume set reissues E. J. W. Gibb’s classic study of Ottoman Poetry, spanning from 1450 to the late-19th century, with new forewords by Christine Woodhead, Honorary Fellow in Ottoman History, University of Durham
EUP,
10. The Mathnawí of Jaláluʾddín Rúmíby Reynold A. Nicholson
This eight-volume set of The Mathnawí of Jalálu’ddín Rúmí reissues Reynold A. Nicholson’s authoritative Persian edition, English translation and commentary with new forewords by Alan Williams, Professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Religion at the University of Manchester.
EUP,
- February 10, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
- February 09, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. CfP: “Muslims Between Fragility and Hope in an Age of Existential Crisis”
Online Conference (MS Teams), Tuesday 29th September 2026
Hosted by The MUSER Project, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University
of Glasgow
How do Muslims understand and make sense of the multiple existential crises that face
humanity in 2026? For the first time in human history, these crises present species-level
threats to the future of life on our planet. They include (but are not limited to): the climate
emergency, the rise of potentially malevolent Artificial Intelligence (AI), the prospect of
nuclear annihilation through escalating international warfare, and future pandemic diseases.
This one-day, online international conference will explore how Muslims experience,
understand, and respond to these threats as well as to existential crisis more broadly
conceived.
We invite abstract submissions from across the humanities and social sciences which explore
how both ‘fragility’ and ‘hope’ are visible in the ways Muslims and the Islamic tradition
engage with questions of existential risk. While studies that focus on the four ‘big risks’ listed
above are welcome, we also encourage submissions that consider alternative epistemic
perspectives on current existential crises, and which decolonise the literature on existential
risk by critiquing the secular paradigm at the heart of the ex-risk literature and/or
foregrounding Muslim perspectives on what constitutes ‘risk’. Such ‘alternative’ existential.
risks that Muslims experience within the spiritual and intellectual realms in addition to
physical risks could include: the widespread loss of imān and adab, the break-down of
families, the ubiquitous riba-based economic system, disconnection from ‘ulamā, amongst
others.
We therefore welcome papers which address one or more of the following questions:
- In Muslim contexts, how are existential risks defined and understood?
- What resources does the Islamic tradition offer on the question of humankind’s
relationship to risk?
- How do questions of existential risk feature in Muslim eschatological futures?
- How do Muslims across diverse cultural, political, and geographical contexts
experience and respond to risk differently?
- What conceptions of the human being’s relationship to the world and the cosmos
underlie Muslim engagements with existential risks?
Across all these areas, we encourage submissions which explore ways in which Muslims
perceive human fragility and vulnerability – as is emphasised by the Qur’an itself (Q 4.28, Q
35.15) – in connection to our current circumstances, and/or devise pathways to hopeful
futures in spite of these challenges. The analytical categories of ‘fragility’ and ‘hope’ are
themselves open to critical scrutiny and interrogation.
Papers may draw on empirical and/or textual methodologies and may engage historical as
well as contemporary case studies. The focus can be on any geographical, social or political
context around the world where Muslims live or have lived.
The language of the conference will be English. There are plans for conference proceedings
to be published, and authors should indicate on submission of the abstract whether they wish
their paper to be considered for inclusion.
Abstracts should be no longer than 250 words long, and should be submitted along with a
one-page CV to muser@glasgow.ac.uk . The deadline for submissions is Monday 25th May
2026 at midnight BST.
2. The British Library:
Iranian Womens’ Voices
Writers Mosaic presents an evening of conversation, poetry, film, music and protest.
Monday 16 March 19.00
3. Transform Ottoman Documents into Searchable Digital Archives with Osmanlica.com
4. WEBINAR | Archaeology as National Archive: Herzfeld’s History of Iran
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 11 February at 12PM EST / 5PM GMT to hear Jennifer Jenkins of the University of Toronto speaking on ‘Archaeology as National Archive: Herzfeld’s History of Iran’. Pre-registration is essential.
5. New from SUP | Muslims in Milwaukee
https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/9496/muslims-in-milwaukee/
6. Join Our Persian Language & Culture Residency Program
Hikmat International Institute – Qom
For registration and more details, please visit:
https://hikmat-ins.com/persian-language-culture-residency/
7. Indiana University’s Summer 2026 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Pashto program!
Online Courses
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
- Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
- Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Funding Opportunities
- Explore your funding options here: http://go.iu.edu/language-workshop-funding
Priority Application Deadline
- May 21, 2026
Learn more and apply here: go.iu.edu/pashto-workshop
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
Contact Information
Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop
Contact Email
URL
http://go.iu.edu/pashto-workshop
8. Indiana University’s Summer 2026 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Persian program!
Online Courses
- Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
- Multiple levels of instruction
- Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
- Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
- Accelerate your learning with daily 1-on-1 skills training
- Speed up your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Funding Opportunities
- Explore your funding options here: http://go.iu.edu/language-workshop-funding
Priority Application Deadline
- MaY 21, 2926
Learn more and apply here: go.iu.edu/persian-workshop
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
Contact Information
Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop
Contact Email
URL
http://go.iu.edu/persian-workshop
9. Indiana University’s Summer 2026 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive, accelerated Arabic programs!
Online Courses
- Learn 1 year of Arabic in 2 months
- 5 levels of study
- Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
- Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
- Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners
Funding Opportunities
- Explore your funding options here: http://go.iu.edu/language-workshop-funding
Priority Application Deadline
- May 21, 2026
Learn more and apply here: go.iu.edu/arabic-workshop
Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.
Contact Information
Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop
Contact Email
URL
http://go.iu.edu/arabic-workshop
10. CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
The Textile Museum Journal
Volume 54 2027
The Textile Museum Journal publishes high-quality academic research on the textile arts and serves as an interface between different branches of academia and textile scholars worldwide. International in scope, the journal is devoted to the presentation of scholarly articles concerning the cultural, technical, historical, and aesthetic significance of textiles.
This volume will be dedicated to the untold stories of how museum textile collections come to be and how museums develop identities around their textile collections. Studies centering on the history of individual textile collections, problems inherent in acquiring museum collections, the creation of textile collections, provenance research on collection materials, repatriation of textiles, and identification of forgeries will be considered. Research from all disciplinary perspectives is welcome. Manuscripts should be based on original documentary, analytical, or interpretive research.
Deadline for abstract submissions: April 30, 2026.
Deadline for full manuscript submissions: August 31, 2026.
Manuscripts should be submitted by email to the Editorial Assistant of The Textile Museum Journal at tmjournal@gwu.edu.
For Manuscript Submission and Author Style Guide documents, please visit https://museum.gwu.edu/submit-research
11. Christian Voices in Arabic: A Manuscript Heritage
About six weeks ago, I launched an online programme dedicated to reading Christian Arabic manuscripts for students and academics. Since then, I have shared eighteen excerpts from a wide range of manuscripts, each accompanied by a transcription, translation and explanatory notes. Here are some of my personal favourites from the series:
- A Syrian Orthodox Scribe on Cyprus (posts 12a and 12b, 17a and 17b)
Yūsuf b. Sabāṭ, the scribe in question, claims that the Torah was revealed to Moses in Syriac and the seventy sheikhs translated it into Hebrew. He refers to this original Syriac version of the Torah as the Targum.
- Islamic versus Christian Purification (posts 5a and 5b)
Attributed to a monk named Ibrāhīm b. ʿAmr, this short text argues that Christians are no less pure than Muslims despite not practicing ritual ablutions.
- The Youngest Copyist in History? (posts 4a and 4b)
This colophon comes from a horologion copied by a twelve-year-old boy, ʿAbd al-Masīḥ b. Ḥannā. His handwriting is remarkably clear—better than that of many experienced scribes. Throughout the manuscript, numerous pages are adorned with beautifully executed decorative borders.
You can find them all here: https://drkrisztina.substack.com/
These posts are a useful resource for anyone interested in Christian Arabic literature, manuscript studies and book history—as well as for those looking to sharpen their Arabic. If your Arabic is at an intermediate level or beyond, reading these manuscripts will not be an exercise in frustration and it becomes more rewarding with every text you tackle. After sharing a manuscript excerpt, I give readers a few days to try their hand at it before posting the full transcription and translation.
Free subscribers are very welcome!
Best wishes,
Krisztina Szilágyi
Contact Information
Dr Krisztina Szilágyi
Contact Email
URL
https://drkrisztina.substack.com/
12. ONLINE Seminar “Nile Floods and Delta Revolts in the Eighth and Ninth Centuries CE” by Prof. Andrew Marsham (University of Cambridge) and Prof. Philip Booth (St Peter’s Col-lege, Oxford), SSE1K Project, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia, 9 February 2026, 17:00 CET
Part of the series “People and their Environments in the First Millennium CE” (SSE1K), this sem-inar investigates the causal relationships between environmental change – specifically variations in Nile flooding – and fiscal revolts during the 8th and 9th centuries.
Registration: https://shorturl.at/FpIAR \
13. HYBRIDE Atelier-rencontre avec Chantal Verdeil : “Femmes missionnaires dans les mondes musulmans”, Institut d’études de l’Islam et des sociétés du monde musulman (IISMM), Paris, 11 février 2026, 12h00 – 13h30 CET
Ce livre s’attache à rendre compte du foisonnement de l’action des missions féminines dans les mondes musulmans du XIXe siècle à nos jours. Personnalités très fortes ou figures plus discrètes catholiques ou protestantes, religieuses ou laïques, seules ou membres d’une congrégation, ces femmes, plus nombreuses que les hommes, ont mené des actions très diverses, ouvert des clas-ses, dirigé des écoles, tenu des dispensaires, exercé comme médecin, mais aussi secouru des réfugiés ou créé une société de colporteurs.
Information et inscription:
https://iismm.ehess.fr/evenement/atelier-rencontre-avec-chantal-verdeil
14. HYBRID “Celebrating 20 Years of the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation”, SOAS, University of London, 13 February 2026, 19:00 CET
Join us for a keynote lecture by Boyd Tonkin, reflecting on the past quarter-century of literary translation in a talk titled “Republic of letters or global bazaar: literary translation in the new mil-lennium.” Following the lecture, the 20th year Saif Ghobash Banipal prize winner Marilyn Booth will discuss her acclaimed translation of “Honey Hunger”.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/48fsybdy
15. Conference “The Concept of Suffering and the Concept of Happiness in Judaism, Chris-tianity and Islam”, Bayerisches Forschungszentrum für Interreligiöse Dialoge (BaFID), Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen, 25-27 February 2026
Detailed program at https://tinyurl.com/2jazz8s4.
Deadline to register for participation: 18 February 2026
16. ONLINE Webinar “The Heirs of Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 1505 AD). Zoom Series on the Persistence of Islamic Scholarship in the Early Modern Period”, by OIB/University of Bam-berg/University of Göttingen, every Wednesday, 22 April – 15 July 2026, 18:00 pm CET
The Ottoman conquest of Egypt was long regarded as marking the decline of Islamic scholarship, with al-Suyūṭī as its last great figure. Despite all efforts, the “Middle Period” remains insufficiently explored. Thus, the series explores Suyūṭī’s legacy between the 16th and 19th centuries, from the Maghreb to Southeast Asia.
Information: hhttps://tinyurl.com/y3p7c2ch
17. Conference “Fairytales of the Other: The Orientalist Gaze, the Villain, and the Cultural Myths from Beyond”, School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture, University of Aberdeen, 23-24 April 2026
the conference brings together scholars, filmmakers, students, and wider audiences to examine how stories of difference are crafted and experienced across global film traditions. Drawing on postcolonial studies, psychology, and visual culture, we explore how moving images generate empathy or fear and how narratives from beyond the western canon challenge our most funda-mental cultural assumptions.
Deadline for abstracts: 2 March 2026. Information: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/llmvc/events/23383/
18. Workshop “Demarcating Literary Genres in Premodern Arabic Literature. Semantics, Pragmatics, and the Question of Fictionality”, Orient-Institut Beirut, 3-5 June 2026
Through presentations delivered in Arabic, the workshop will explore how we can demarcate and interrelate premodern Arabic literary genres and systems of generic classification, what specific functions genres serve in changing social and cultural contexts, and to what extent the use of genre terms and concepts can be indicative of fictionality. Full travel and accommodation ex-penses of the participants will be covered.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2mbj5yeb
19. Regional Conference of the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS): “(Re)thinking Central Eurasia: Spaces, Societies, and Power” (Focus Iran), Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan, 16-19 June 2026
We invite submissions relating to all aspects of humanities and social science scholarship that fall within the conference theme.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4uxvf4fu
20. Third Turkic World Summer Forum “The Future of the Turkic World”, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, 6-15 July 2026
We invite scholars, practitioners, and students to engage in an interdisciplinary dialogue on the evolving political, economic, cultural, and technological landscape of the Turkic region. Main themes: 1. Historical and Civilizational Perspectives. – 2. Politics, Governance, and Security. – 3. Economy, Energy, and Connectivity. – 4. Society, Culture, and Soft Power. – 5. Future Visions and Global Outlook
Deadline for abstracts: 20 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yavua94a
21. Second Khalaqat Conference: “Gender and Contemporary Arab Artistic Creation”, Sa-pienza University of Rome, 9-10 July 2026
The conference aims to place Arab artistic creation at the centre of contemporary debate, recog-nising its value within and beyond the region and contributing to the questioning of colonial and orientalist frameworks that have shaped its reception. We invite proposals addressing contempo-rary Arab artistic and literary production from a gender perspective. Interdisciplinary, practice-based, and artistic contributions are welcome. Languages: Arabic, English, Spanish
Extended deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yy27hppj
22. International Conference “God, Human, Machine: Images and Imaginations of Religion in the Age of AI” (Focus Islam), University of Erfurt, 28-30 September 2026
The conference draws attention to the hitherto largely neglected aesthetic, ethical, and intellectual implications of AI-generated imagery in religious contexts. We invite theoretical and empirical re-search papers that examine how AI-generated imagery offers new avenues to render the Unseen tangible and enact the expressive dimension of religious texts, as well the ways in which these technologies are employed by religious practitioners to inform their ideas about human relations to the world and the Sacred.
Deadline for abstracts: 22 February 2026.
Information: https://www.uni-erfurt.de/to/godhumanmachine
23. Colloque « De la poésie préislamique, 1926-2026 : Bilan et perspectives sur un siècle de débat », Inalco, 21-22 octobre 2026
Ce colloque international entend interroger son héritage à la lumière d’un siècle de recherches et de débats. Il se propose de revenir d’une part sur l’histoire du débat intellectuel ouvert par la parution de cet essai dans et hors des milieux académiques arabes, et d’autre part sur les diffé-rentes tentatives et propositions de chercheurs qui ont tâché de répondre à la question de l’au-thenticité dans sa dimension philologique, historique, linguistique ou esthétique. Les langues de travail du colloque seront le français, l’arabe et l’anglais.
Date limite : 23 février 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2b2wywnm
24. Seminar “Travellers in Ottoman Lands”, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece, 21-24 April 2027
The speakers will explore many fascinating subjects relevant to travel to and from Thessaloniki (previously Salonica) as well as other Ottoman Lands during the Ottoman period, including: • Artist-travellers and early photographers • Horticulturalists and botanists • Women travellers • Support networks: Consulates, dragomans and merchants • Travellers at classical and archaeo-logical sites • Architecture and landscapes • Ports, coasts and seascapes • Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 November 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3t64zfv7
25. Call for Hosting the “XII Islamic Legal Studies Conference” of the “International Society for Islamic Legal Studies (ISILS)”, 2028
ISILS, the leading international professional association for scholars of Islamic law, invites ex-pressions of interest from institutions wishing to host its next triennial conference in 2028. The conference combines an invited panel or roundtable, developed in collaboration with the host, with approximately twenty peer-reviewed papers spanning Islamic legal studies in its broadest sense.
Deadline for applications: 15 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/tntxhksr
26. Open Rank Professorship in Social Anthropology (Including Migration Studies on the Middle East), Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, University of Bern
The successful candidate will represent the discipline of social anthropology in its entirety with a special focus on the anthropology of migration. The position is advertised as open rank (tenure-track Assistant Professorship, Associate Professorship, or Full Professorship). Appointment level will be decided by the appointment committee on the basis of candidates’ prior experience and qualifications.
Deadline for applications: 15 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2et5h58e
27. Junior Fellowships (6 Months, 50 %) for Postdoctoral Researchers from the Humani-ties, Cultural and Social Sciences (Including Middle East Studies), University of Bern
Requirements: You hold an excellent PhD in a discipline within the humanities, cultural studies, or social sciences. – You are working on an interdisciplinary postdoc project. – You have knowledge of German (at least passive) and English (active and passive).
Deadline for applications: 1 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yj2trfav
28. Lecturer (50 %) in Qualitative Methods (Including Studies on Middle East Societies), Department of Social Anthropology and Cultural Studies, University of Bern
The successful candidate will teach and conduct research broadly with a focus on qualitative empirical (ethnographic and historical) methods. In addition to research-based teaching, the po-sition involves the supervision of students (BA, MA, and possibly PhD), as well as active collabo-ration within the Department and with related disciplines.
Deadline for applications: 8 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdddphsa
29. Visiting Fellowship (3 Months) for Palestinian Scholars or PhD Students, University of Bologna
This call is for scholars and PhD students from Palestinian Territories whose research has been compromised by the ongoing conflict in the region. Selected applicants will be invited to carry out activities related to the dissemination of their knowledge, research methodologies, and results.
Deadline for applications: 19 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mrysdtrw
30. Two Open Rank Faculty Positions in Islamic Ethics, Research Center for Islamic Leg-islation and Ethics, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar
We are seeking dynamic scholars whose work bridges the Islamic scholarly tradition with con-temporary moral challenges. We are particularly interested in candidates who can bring fresh perspectives to both theoretical and applied Islamic ethics across diverse disciplines.
Applications will be reviewed immediately. Closing date: 25 April 2026
Information: https://tinyurl.com/ycx3ktsp
31. 8th Leiden Summer School on “Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World”, Leiden University, 17-28 August 2026
Invitation to participate in two weeks of lectures, exchange and hands-on practice with examples (of the student’s choice) in Leiden University’s rich collection of Oriental manuscripts. The summer school is meant for graduate students (MA and PHD), post-doc’s and researchers.
Deadline for applications: 4 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yefzk2yj
32. New Book: “Before the Qur’an: Material Sources at the Advent of Muslim Scripture” by Suleyman Dost, Edinburgh University Press, 2026, 248 Pages
Information: https://tinyurl.com/b25cjbhx
33. New Book: “Colonial Legacies and Arab-Majority Regions: From Contemporary Condi-tions to Alternative Futures”, Edited by Ali Kassem, Bristol University Press, 2026, 300 Pages
Information: https://tinyurl.com/bd9p6h4k
- February 07, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – BBC: Islamabad Shii Mosque Bombed
On ISIL’s involvement, see
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/6/explosion-rocks-mosque-in-pakistans-islamabad
- February 06, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Upcoming Zoom Talk on Persian Language Study, 5.2.26, 2pm CST
“The History of Persian Language Studies in the US”
Dr. James D. Clark
History Department
The University of Nebraska at Omaha
Thursday, February 5, 2026, 2:00 p.m. CST
Zoom Registration Link: https://unomaha.zoom.us/meeting/register/Pi7CmYeaTTeLNa9DedzbkA
2. Prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien”, jeudi 19 février 2026, 17h, à l’INALCO
Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien”, qui se tiendra le jeudi 19 février 2026, 17h-19h, en salle 3.03 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 5eétage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir Mme. Salomé Michel, historienne, chercheuse associée à la Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, pour une conférence intitulée : Revisiter la période prérévolutionnaire : développement, ambitions idéologiques et déclin du parti unique Rastākhiz (1975-1978).
Orientations bibliographiques :
– Gholam Reza Afkhami. “The Rastākhiz Party.” in The Life and Times of the Shah. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2009, p. 423-440.
– Dāryush Homāyun. Hezb-e Farāgirandeh-ye Mellat. Téhéran: Enteshārāt-e Hezb Rastākhiz, 2536 [1977].
– Afshin Matin-Asgari. “Revolutionary Monarchy, Political Shi’ism and Islamic Marxism.” in Both Eastern and Western: An Intellectual History of Iranian Modernity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018, p. 190-222.
– Abbas Milani. “The Perfect Storm.” in The Shah. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011, p. 369-404.
– Mehdi Mozaffari. Nezām-hā-ye Tak-hezbi va Rastākhiz-e Mellat-e Irān. Téhéran: Enteshārāt-e Dāneshgāh-e Tehrān, 1354 [1976].
– Asghar Sāremi Shahāb (éd.). Hezb-e Rastākhiz-e Mellat-e Irān beh Revāyat-e Asnād. Téhéran: Enteshārāt-e Markaz-e Asnād-e Enqelāb-e Eslāmi, 1385 [2006].
– Mozaffar Shāhedi. Hezb-e Rastākhiz: Eshtebāh-e Bozorg. Téhéran: Mo’asseseh-ye Motāle’āt va Pazhuhesh-hā-ye Siyāsi, 1382 [2003].
– Zhand Shakibi. “The Rastākhiz Party and Pahlavism: The Beginnings of State Anti-Westernism in Iran.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 45, n° 2 (2018), p. 251-268.
– Zhand Shakibi. Pahlavi Iran and the Politics of Occidentalism: The Shah and the Rastākhiz Party. Londres: I.B. Tauris, 2021.
– Mohammad Sheikhān, Shahriār Morādi Dehqi (éds.). Asnādi az Hezb-e Rastākhiz-e Mellat-e Irān. Téhéran: Khāneh-ye ketāb, 1392 [2013].
Vous retrouverez l’intégralité du programme 2025-2026 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien” en ligne sur le site du CeRMI: https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-de-recherche/societes-politiques-et-cultures-du-monde-iranien-2025-2026/
3. Zahra Institute:
2026 Spring Speaker Series
February Events
Food Sovereignty and Local Farmers’ Oral Traditions and Heritage
Shenah Abdullah, Food Sovereignty Programme Manager and Researcher, Kurdistan Institute-Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung-Beirut
Wednesday, February 11: 12pm Central / 1pm Eastern
Register today: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/dFs47Yy5Sle3EJZtzwzdiQ#
Conversation on His Novels and the Kurdish Story from an American Perspective
Zaid Brifkani, Author and Transplant Nephrologist, Davita Dialysis Clinic/Cookeville
Wednesday, February 25: 12pm Central / 1pm Eastern
Register today: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/ex4HnO0aQZaarJwbiWDvWA#
4. Ferdowsi School of Persian Literatureis organising a summer school, called “Ferdowsi Summer School of Persianate Languages and Literatures“. It will be taking place in Yerevan from 6 to 31 July 2026. The programme offers an intensive yet relaxed environment for studying Classical Persian alongside Chaghatay and Urdu, with a strong focus on reading texts, linguistic continuity, and the broader Persianate literary world.
Alongside daily classes, the summer school includes workshops, lectures, shared meals, and cultural activities that create space for conversation and exchange beyond the classroom. It is designed for students and researchers who want to deepen their engagement with Persianate languages in a focused but collegial setting.
More details about the programme, structure, and application process can be found here:
https://ferdowsi.org/ferdowsi-summer-school-of-persianate-languages-and-literatures/
- February 03, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Zoom: ‘Is Shiʿite Law Special?’ (R Gleave, 2.3.26, 5pm London time)
- February 02, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.PhD studentship (Medieval Arabic and Islamic Studies) at the University of Exeter
(UK): ‘Pustules, Palaeogenetics and Pandemics from Galen to Rhazes: How to do the
Early History of Smallpox and Measles’
The Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies (IAIS) wishes to recruit a Graduate Research
Assistant to support the work of Professor Nahyan Fancy, Institute of Arabic and Islamic
Studies, within the interdisciplinary project: ‘Pustules, Palaeogenetics and Pandemics from
Galen to Rhazes: How to do the Early History of Smallpox and Measles’. This Wellcome
funded post is available from September 15 2026 to March 15 2030 (42 months). Funding
covers salary and UK home or international level PhD fees for that period.
The successful applicant will contribute to the work of the project through (1) supporting the
research and publication activities of the academic team as they focus around the works of
Rhazes; and (2) undertaking their own research project exploring pandemics, disease and
medicine in the early Medieval Islamicate world.
The kinds of research topics you might be interested in include, but are not limited to:
Religious responses to fatal diseases and/or epidemics in medieval Islam.
Animals and epidemics
Translation, Disease and Medical Writing
Theories of the spread of diseases
Depictions of diseases in medieval Arabic literature and/or poetry
You can find more details of the project, and the research team, through the webpages of
Exeter’s Centre for the study of Science, Technology, Ancient Mecdicine and Philosophy
(STAMP). (https://sites.exeter.ac.uk/stamp/2026/01/20/pustules/ )
Application: For more details of the position, the job requirements, and the application
process see the University of Exeter Job Board: ‘Graduate Research Assistant in IAIS with an
option to undertake a PhD’. You will need to provide: cv, cover letter, writing sample and
PhD project proposal with your application.
The closing date for completed applications is 26th March 2026. Interviews are expected to
take place in the week beginning April 20th 2026.
For further information please contact Professor Nahyan Fancy: N.Fancy2@exeter.ac.uk .
2. Séminaire “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges” – 5e séance mercredi 4 février 18h-19h30
nous avons le plaisir de vous convier à la troisième séance du séminaire “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges”, qui se tiendra mercredi 4 février 2026, 18h-19h30, en salle 3.01 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 3eétage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir M. Stefano Pellò, Université de Venise “Ca’ Foscari”, pour une conférence intitulée : Kafiristan in Persian Sources (ca.1500-1800): Ethnographical Imagination across the Hindukush.
Résumé:
The historical region formerly known as Kafiristan (whose heart, as it is well-known, was officially renamed as Nuristan after Abd al-Rahman Khan finally conquered it in 1896), has been the object of a considerable interpretative imagery in pre-colonial and early colonial writings. As a matter of fact, long time before Rudyard Kipling made the name Kafiristan familiar to (and misunderstood by) the British and European public with his famous short novel The Man Who Would Be King (1888), the still unconverted high-altitude region between present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan had been richly discussed by Persianate observers. Looking at some little-known Persian sources produced in and around this region, I will thus explore here the Persianate textual territories of Kafiristan, showing how much literary conventions have consistently overlapped with historical observations and “ethnographic” descriptions. More specifically, I discuss how the conventional poetic ethno-geographical tropes of kāfir and kāfiristān interact with “historical” Kafir peoples and cultures in the Hindukush: I’ll do this by focusing on a few cases from the Persian hypertext, including the lyrical and epic poetry of Chitral master poet Bābā Siyar (c.1770-c. 1840) and the first Persian ethnography on the Kafirs (ca. 1840), composed by a Pashtun secretary from Peshawar at the behest of French general Claude-Auguste Court.
Vous trouverez l’intégralité du programme 2025-2026 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges” en ligne sur le site du CeRMI: L’Afghanistan à travers les âges – Centre de recherche sur le monde iranien
Vous trouverez également ici le lien de connexion: https://zoom.us/j/96136711428?pwd=jqZ3lotYx6re8bpoU4uAYPl9GRM1CF.1
3. Kyushu University – Associate Professor in Inamori Frontier Program
https://networks.h-net.org/jobs/69704/kyushu-university-associate-professor-inamori-frontier-program
4. Call for Proposals for a Graduate Student Colloquium:
The Visual Culture of Algeria Through Exchange, Circulation, and Global Networks
Wednesday, April 29, 2026
UCLA & Online
Proposal submission deadline: February 27, 2026
UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies is inviting graduate students from UCLA and beyond to submit a paper proposal for a graduate student colloquium “The Visual Culture of Algeria through Exchange, Circulation, and Global Networks.” The Colloquium will take place on April 29, 2026, at UCLA and online, and is organized by UCLA graduate students Ava Hess (Art History), Yubai Shi (Art History) and Sarp Tanridag (Architecture and Urban Design).
A central aim of the colloquium is to rethink dominant narratives of Algerian (and broader Maghribi) modernism. The growing interest in Algerian modern art and architecture often remains limited by national or colonial temporal frameworks. While colonial histories remain central to understanding nineteenth- and twentieth-century Algeria, recent scholarship reminds us that colonialism alone cannot account for the complexity of North African cultural production. Here, we will investigate the circulations and exchanges that have shaped artistic practice and visual culture across beylical, colonial, post-independence, and contemporary periods, while also attending to practices and media that have been marginalized in standard accounts of modernism. We encourage papers that propose new ways of writing Algerian art history and visual culture—for example, moving beyond rupture-based temporal models, colonial or nationalist canons, and conventional medium-bound studies. We are especially interested in work that treats circulation (of objects, materials, techniques, or ideas) and networks (institutional or independent, regional or transnational) as methodological tools for rethinking periodization, media hierarchies, and artistic agency.
Please submit an abstract in English of no more than 300 words, a one-line biographical statement, and a CV via the submission link by February 27, 2026. Applicants will be notified within one week of the deadline.
5. Call for Applications: FLAS Summer 2026 Fellowship
Application deadline: February 20, 2026
UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies is currently accepting applications for its Summer 2026 Foreign Language and Area Studies Fellowship (FLAS).
Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowships are provided by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education Title VI program. The program is intended to broaden the nation’s pool of area and international specialists.
The FLAS program supports UCLA graduate and undergraduate training in Middle East and North African (MENA) studies and modern languages of the region including: Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish. Other less commonly taught languages of the region may be considered for funding as well. Graduate and undergraduate students who are studying the languages at intermediate level or higher are eligible. Beginning level of a language may be undertaken by graduate students only if the student already is at advanced level in a second MENA language. Past awardees may reapply.
FLAS Summer Award Amount:
Summer Program Tuition and Fees – up to $5,000
Student stipend – $3,500
New and continuing UCLA graduate and undergraduate students may apply. All FLAS application materials, including faculty recommendations, must be submitted online by February 20, 2026.
6. You are invited to celebrate the launch of new books in the Edinburgh University Press series The Islamicate East: New Approaches to Texts and History, with a welcome from Alison MacDonald, Interim Director of the Department for Continuing Education at the University of Oxford.
Join author Arezou Azad, Programme Director of Invisible East, for a discussion on new approaches and trends in Islamic history through Persian sources. An expert panel will include:
- Edmund Herzig, Masoumeh and Fereydoon Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies
- Yasmin Khan, Professor of Modern History
- Zuzanna Olszewska, Associate Professor in the Social Anthropology of the Middle East
The evening will begin at 5.30pm in the lecture theatre of Oxford Lifelong Learning, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square.
Registration is essential — free tickets are available here.
7. Call for Papers: Springer Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions
Updated Islam Section — Springer Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions
The editors of the Springer Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions invite proposals for updated and newly commissioned entries for the Islam section in an upcoming revised edition. Scholars working on Islam in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Latina/o/e/x communities in the United States are warmly encouraged to contribute.
We seek entries that reflect current scholarship, emerging research areas, and the expanding diversity of Muslim communities across the region. Contributions may be topical, geographical, or thematic, and may vary in length depending on the scope and importance of the subject.
Deadline for proposals: March 1, 2026
Final entries will be due later in 2026.
More info at:
https://www.lacisa.org/call-for-papers-springer-encyclopedia-of-latin-american-religions
8. The Book of a Thousand Judgements: A Sasanian Law-Book
Mazda, 2026
https://www.mazdapublishers.com/book/book-of-a-thousand-judgements
9. Research Associate in Refugee Studies
University of Leicester
Applications are invited for a Research Associates in Refugee Studies to join a multi-country research programme on LGBTIQ+ asylum and forced migration, based in the School of Criminology, Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leicester. Working closely with Dr Diego García Rodríguez and a network of international partners, the post-holders will design, co-design and conduct ethnographic fieldwork, support mixed-methods surveys, and work with civil society organisations and experts by experience.
Deadline | 1 February 2026
More information
10. Tenure-track Assistant Professor Position in Arabic Literature
American University of Beirut
The Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages at the American University of Beirut invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position in Arabic Literature, covering all periods of the Arabic literary tradition. The appointment is expected to begin on August 15, 2026. Applicants must hold a PhD in Arabic Literature or a closely related field at the time of appointment.
Deadline | 15 February 2026
More information
11. Call for Papers | Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (MEIS) Graduate Student Virtual Symposium
Workshop, University of Alberta, 15 May 2026
Submissions are welcomed from graduate students from whose research engages with any aspect of socio-cultural, historical, religious, artistic, or political issues in Muslim contexts. We particularly encourage proposals grounded in critical and decolonial approaches that center the voices, lived experiences, and struggles of Muslims and other marginalized communities resisting systemic and epistemic violence.
Deadline | 2 February 2026
12. Call for Applications | International Fellowships Programme 2026
Funding Call, The British Academy & The Royal Society
The International Fellowships programme provides support for outstanding early career researchers to make a first step towards developing an independent research career through gaining experience across international borders. Each award is expected to involve a specific and protected research focus with the award holder undertaking high quality, original research.
Deadline | 11 March 2026
13. Upcoming Conferences at LSE
Registration is open for three upcoming conferences hosted by the LSE Middle East Centre:
- Reframing Iraq: Power, Politics, and Paths to Inclusion, 14 February 2026
- Kurdish Studies Conference 2026, 29 April-1 May 2026
- Algeria: Historical Struggles and Imagined Utopias, 28-29 May 2026
14. Islamic Art & Architecture at Play
Lecture | AKU-ISMC | 18 February 2026
In this lecture, Glaire Anderson will be discussing her work, which bridges video games, GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums) and academic sectors. She will discuss how her recent experiences as a games industry consultant and collaborator, as a speaker at #GDC2024 and as an academic game developer and entrepreneur engages with ongoing debates about historical and cultural representations in games, and the positive social impact of games.
More information
15. UCLA lectures:
Brief Rise and Fall of Late Ottoman Islamists and Their Legacy
Historiography of the Middle East Lecture Series
A virtual lecture by Andrew Hammond (Australian National University)
Moderator: James Gelvin (UCLA)
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
3:00 PM – 4:30 PM PST
Online
Incoming: Words and Movement from the Periphery in Arabic Travel Writing
A lecture by Björn Bentlage (University of Bern/University of Munich)
Moderator: Nile Green (UCLA)
Thursday, February 5, 2026
3:30 PM – 5:30 PM PST
Bunche Hall 10383
Water Knows No Borders:
Transboundary Water Sources in the Middle East
A lecture by Eilon Adar (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev)
Moderator: Yoram Cohen (UCLA)
Tuesday, February 3, 2026
10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST
Online
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17448
16. HYBRID Book Talk “Borícua Muslims: Everyday Cosmopolitanism among Puerto Rican Converts to Islam” by Ken Chitwood (University of Bayreuth), Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, 2 February 2026, 16:15 – 17:45 CET
Drawing on years of ethnographic research and more than a hundred interviews, Ken Chitwood tells the story of Puerto Rican Muslims as they construct a shared sense of peoplehood through everyday practices. Borícua Muslims thus provides a study of cosmopolitanism as a reality that complicates scholarly and public conversations about race, ethnicity, and religion in the Americas. Expanding the geography of global Islam, Borícua Muslims is an insightful reckoning with the mani-fold entanglements of identity amid late-modern globalization.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/3pj8m8wy
17. International Conference “Maritime Connections: Jews Across the Indian Ocean”, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipol, India, 16-18 February 2026
The program contains many papers related to the Levante: https://mrtmsummit.com/program/
18. Early Modern Ottoman Studies (EMOS) Conference IV: “Entangled Histories in/of the Mediterranean: Ottoman and Wider Perspectives, 14th – 18th Centuries”, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece, 11-12 September 2026
The conference aims to examine the Empire’s integral position in this maritime world through politics, warfare, intermediaries, and networks of exchange. In this vein, the conference invites contributions grounded in Ottoman archives as well as those incorporating perspectives from non-Ottoman milieus (such as Venetian, Spanish, French, or North African), with the aim of facilitating a genuine dialogue between diverse historiographical traditions.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 February 2026.
Information: https://historiansnet.com/call-for-papers-2026/
19. Library Traineeship (Civil Service, “Bibliotheksreferendariat”), Profile “Arabic and Islamic Studies” at the Bavarian State Library, Bayreuth and Munich
The two-year preparatory service (A13h) is starting 1 October 2026 with a practical year in Bay-reuth, followed by a theoretical year in Munich. Field profile C: Arabic and Islamic Studies; Mas-ter’s degree required, PhD desirable. Full-time, on-site; appointment as civil servant on probation.
Deadline for applications: 25 February 2026.
Information: https://interamt.de/koop/app/stelle?0&id=1393142
20. 8 Fellowships for Studies on “Imagining Futures: Dealing with Disparity” at the “Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM)”, Tunis, September 2026 – April 2027
Applications are welcome from postdoc and advanced scholars in five interdisciplinary research fields: Aesthetics & Cultural Practice, Inequality & Mobility, Memory & Justice, Resources & Sustainability, and Identities & Beliefs.
Deadline for applications: 2 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/msk2vjwz
21. Spring School “Islamicate Concepts: Between Particularism and Universalism” of the “European Network for Islamic Studies (ENIS)”, Freie Universität Berlin, 14-17 April 2026
We welcome RMA-students and PhD-candidates who engage with questions in Islamicate con-texts. What is the relative weight of local actors and semantics on the one hand and of external influence on the other? How can local meanings be related to and made fruitful for broader theorizing? Contributors are invited to reflect on central concepts within their project from these angles.
Deadline for applications: 2 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/26hnzctavv
22. ONLINE Summer Skills Seminar “Reading Ottoman Turkish” with Oscar Aguirre Mandujano (University of Pennsylvania) The Mediterranean Seminar, 15-18 June 2026
The course will introduce participants to the Ottoman language, it’s alphabet, calligraphic styles, basic grammar and structure, as well as an overview of changes over time. The course will focus on primary sources often used by historians and the paleographic challenges they present. Par-ticipants should have at least one year of Modern Turkish and preferably some knowledge of either Arabic or Persian.
Deadline for applications: 26 April 2026. Information and program: https://tinyurl.com/3b9ewwpf
23. ONLINE Summer Skills Seminar “Medieval Mediterranean Coinage: An Introduction” with Alan Stahl (Princeton University), The Mediterranean Seminar, 22-25 June 2026
The seminar will introduce participants to the dynamic interactions of Roman and Sasanian coin-ages in the Late Antique period, which gave way to the tripartite division of Latin, Byzantine, and Islamic coinages of the succeeding centuries. We will examine how these three coinages devel-oped and interacted through the later medieval centuries, laying the groundwork for the modern monetary systems. No prior experience with numismatics is expected.
Deadline for applications: 26 April 2026. Information and program: https://tinyurl.com/2e6vwbmk
24. Academic Book Prize: “Riwaq Prize for Science and Culture” (Focus on Arab Cultures and Societies) by the “Orient Institute Beirut (OIB)” and “Der Divan – The Arab Cultural Centre”
Book publications by scholars at all career stages are eligible for nomination. Established scholars and publishers are eligible to nominate monographs. Self-nominations by authors are not ac-cepted. The prize is awarded in three language categories (Arabic, English, German); each of the three categories is endowed with €1,000. The winner in each category is selected by a jury con-sisting of three renowned scholars.
Deadline for nominations: 14 February 2026. Information: https://riwaqbookprize.com/en/
25. Articles on “The Socio-Political Role of Artists in Authoritarian Contexts in the Arab Region” for a Special Issue of the Journal “Rowaq Arabi”
This peer reviewed journal of human rights studies calls for submissions of abstracts of original research articles that explore topics related to the evolving dynamics of the socio-political role of art creators in the context of authoritarianism in the Arab Region. Relevant articles (English or Arabic) from all disciplines of social sciences, humanities and law are welcome and will be finan-cially compensated.
No deadline, submissions are processed until the issue is complete.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/tcbrepsa
26. Chapters on “Turkish and Ottoman Ecofeminists” for “The Handbook of Ecofeminism”
The volume will demonstrate that ecofeminism is not only a critical framework for exposing injus-tice but also a generative force for imagining and enacting emancipatory futures. Areas of eco-feminist studies: • Disability Studies • Materialism/New Materialism • Queer Studies • Postcolonial Studies • Posthumanism Studies • Criminal Rights • Spirituality/Enlightenment • Ecopoetry/Ecolit-erature.
Deadline for abstracts: 13 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yvxan2ta
27. New books:
New Book: “Women’s Empowerment through Public Space: Gendered Urban Experi-ences across the Middle East and Europe” by Hooshmand Alizadeh, Selda Tuncer, Josef Kohlbacher, and Sonya Karami, Springer, 2025, 240 pages
This book explores the transformative power of urban public space for women’s empowerment. Addressing a critical gap in the existing literature, the authors develop an empirically grounded methodology to measure women’s interactions and empowerment in contemporary public spaces across diverse urban settings. The book presents a fresh perspective on the intersection of gen-der, urbanism, and empowerment, and invites readers to engage in the ongoing dialogue shaping the future of urban public spaces.
Information: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-032-02009-3
New Book: “The Premodern Origins of Jihadi-Salafism” by Jaan Islam, Edinburgh Uni-versity Press, 2026, 368 pages
This is the first book to disaggregate linear histories of Jihadi-Salafism by shifting the focus from Wahhābism to Sunnism, including Māturīdite and Ashʿarite doctrinal schools and the ‘four schools’ of law. Based on archival research and interviews, it examines the thought of diverse Ulama. It highlights their profound commitment to the classical Islamic sciences, as well as their distinct interpretations of historical crises that befell the premodern Umma, ultimately articulating a vision for its future.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/axp4sucs
New Book: “Rethinking Islamic Modernism – Religious Identity and Community in Co-lonial North India” by Maria-Magdalena Pruss, McGill University Press, Montreal, 2026, 312 pages
Through an in-depth and multifaceted historical analysis of one of the foremost Muslim associations of colonial North India, the “Society for the Defense of Islam” (established 1884 in Lahore), Maria-Magdalena Pruss proposes a nuanced understanding of Islamic modernism as a mode of thought, highlighting its internal diversity and complex development over a period of more than sixty years.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/4wyxmftp
New Book “Sufism in Saudi Arabia Since 1979 – The Politics of Orthodoxy in Contem-porary Islam” by Besnik Sinani, Studies on Sufism, Vol. 11, Brill, 2026, 243 pages
This is the first full-length monograph to explore Sufism in Saudi Arabia since 1979 – a ground-breaking journey into a rarely seen side of the kingdom’s religious life. Drawing on rich fieldwork, in-depth interviews with Sufi practitioners, and archival research, the book brings readers deep into the spiritual networks that persist beneath the surface of state enforced Wahhabi orthodoxy. It traces a century of scholarly life in the Hejaz and examines the profound religious shifts unfold-ing under the rule of Mohammed bin Salman.
Information and full pdf: https://brill.com/display/title/70192
- January 31, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – CfP: “Alevism: History, Religion, and Transformation”
Articles on “Alevism: History, Religion, and Transformation” for a Special Issue of the Open Access Journal “Religions”
We welcome historical, ethnographic, comparative, and theoretical perspectives from religious studies, anthropology, history, sociology, ethnomusicology, and political science to situate Alevism within broader debates on religion and modernity.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 January 2027.
Information:
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/167FG68S4I
- January 28, 2026
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment