Shii News – Academic Items
1.António de Gouvea, At the Court of the Shah, A Portuguese Account of Safavid Persia, 16O3–16O8
W Floor, transl. and annot.
Mage, 2026
2. The Pilgrim’s Companion: The Khalili Anis al-Hujjaj
A ground-breaking new translation and comprehensive analysis of the Anis al-Hujjaj (The Pilgrim’s Companion).
Written during the year-long pilgrimage undertaken by the author, Safi ibn Vali Qazwini in 1676–77, the Anis al-Hujjaj (‘Pilgrims’ Companion’) gives advice to prospective pilgrims on every aspect of the journey to Mecca via the Indian Ocean: which ships to choose, how to stay healthy, foods to consume, the places to visit, the rituals to be observed and the people one is likely to encounter. Dedicated to Zeb un-Nisa, the daughter of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, the author writes a wonderfully vivid and colourful account of the journey. This manuscript belongs to a long-established tradition of guides to the Holy Places and provides a fascinating picture of the Indian Ocean and pilgrimage in the 17th century.
https://kulturalis.com/books/the-pilgrims-companion-qaisra-m-khan-michael-burns/
3. The Islamic College
Monthly Talk: The History of Muslims
and Islam in Europe
Speaker: Professor Maurits Berger
Date: 17 April 2026
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm (London time)
Location: Online
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/registration/
4. UCLA: Pourdavoud Lecture Series
‘Next to Turquoise Domes
Excavating the City of Bukhara’
Sören Stark (New York University)
Friday, May 8, 2026 at 4:00 pm Pacific Time
Royce Hall 306 and Via Zoom
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeae-G4tZTbwP58Uoqkg0uMyf4O7j_k9CihsdQn4Wj5AnL86Q/viewform
5. HYBRID Lecture “Why Anatolian Antiquities were Less Abandoned than We Thought: Finding (Semi-) Nomads in Travelogues” by Sean Paxton Silvia (Princeton), British Institute at Ankara (BIAA), 8 April 2026, 16:30 CET
This presentation proposes methods to identify overlooked (semi-)nomadic inhabitations despite source limitations, and offers a phenomenological analysis of the experience of inhabiting antiquities as a (semi-)nomad. To recognise this vaster world of reuse is crucial for longue durée histories of Anatolian antiquities and their afterlives.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/3cvwnj73
6. Workshop “Geographical Societies, Exploration, and African Collections between Egypt, Italy, and the Horn of Africa”, Egyptian Geographical Society, Cairo, 23-25 June 2026
workshop explores the interconnected histories of geographical knowledge, exploration, and colo-nial expansion, as well as the production and afterlives of African collections, with a focus on Egypt, Italy, and the Horn of Africa.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3c89c9aj
7. Workshop: “Exemplary Lives in the Pre-Modern Islamic World: Biography and Hagiography in Arabic, Persian, and Turkish”, Co-organized by the Universities of Bonn and Münster, Bonn, 17-19 February 2027
The event will focus on texts often referred to as manāqib/menāḳıb, celebrating the merits and deeds of exemplary individuals or groups. Building on the case studies presented by the participants, the conference seeks to trace the evolution and significance of manāqib traditions across time, space, and languages, to identify communalities and differences, and ultimately to ask what constitutes an exemplary life in the Islamic tradition.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mw44wx8u
8. 2026 Jafar and Shokoh Farzaneh Prize for Best Article on Persian Literature, University of Oklahoma
Submissions must meet the following criteria: Articles or book chapters published in English. – Published in scholarly peer-reviewed journals or edited volumes. – Publication date between 1 January 2024 and 31 December 2025. – The work must focus specifically on Persian literature.
Submission Deadline: 15 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4vzdnw37
9. Ottoman Studies Summer Program: “Methods in Reading and Editing Historical Texts” (Fully Funded), Termal, Yalova / Turkey, 27 June – 2 August 2026
The program offers advanced training in the critical reading, contextual interpretation, and scholarly editing of Ottoman Turkish texts. Moving beyond paleographic transcription, it situates texts within the social, institutional, and intellectual formations that produced them. Its methodological orienta-tion rests on the interplay between text, context, and interpretation, foregrounding source criticism and analytical precision.
Deadline for applications: 30 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bd8sfcyv
10. Summer Program for Graduate Students: “Islam in the Contemporary World”, Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW), Shenandoah University, Leesburg, VA, 29 June – 9 July 2026
Objectives are: (1) to provide graduate students with foundational instructions in Islamic studies with a focus on contemporary issues, (2) to have discussions about the lived experiences of Muslim graduate students, especially as they pertain to issues of wellness, equity, and belonging, and (3) to provide research mentorship.
Deadline for applications: 20 April 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/jbxtu6mm
11. Contribution to a “Sourcebook for the Cultural Heritage of the Ottoman Peoples”, Edited by Ceren Abi, Publisher:Gordium
The sourcebook will offer new materials and analytical frameworks for teaching and research, and contribute to the growing interest in cultural heritage as a field of historical inquiry. It will consist of unpublished primary sources (books, newspaper articles, journal articles, photographs, archival sources, diaries, museum guest books, and others), each paired with an accompanying commentary explaining the source and its meaning.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4x83acuz
Posted in: Academic items
- April 04, 2026
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