Shii News – Academic Items

1. IHF Modern Iran Book Series 2026

We are pleased to announce the third round of our call for book proposals under the IHF Modern Iran Series, a new Open Access, peer-reviewed academic book series published by Bloomsbury Academic. The Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF) is supporting successful applicants with Open Access publication costs.

Please submit your proposal to Hassan Hakimian, Series Editor, and Rory Gormley, Senior Commissioning Editor at Bloomsbury Academic.

The deadline for submission for this round is 31 August 2026.

The IHF Modern Iran Series publishes innovative Open Access books with a broad thematic focus on modern and contemporary Iran. The chronological scope of the series covers the late nineteenth century to the present day with thematic areas ranging from cultural and social to political and economic issues.

The full announcement can be read here.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Registration Now Open: A Historical Journey through the Life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH

🌟 In the Light of the Prophetic Radiance
A Historical Journey through the Life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Join us for a truly unique and comprehensive exploration of the life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This summer, we will journey through the sands and stories of Arabia, uncovering the historical, social, and spiritual landscape that gave rise to one of the most transformative figures in human history.

This intensive 15-session program offers a rigorous exploration of the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), examining the historical context of 7th-century Arabia, the Meccan and Medinan periods, and the lasting impact of the Prophetic mission.

📅 August 5–27, 2026
🖥 Live on Zoom (recordings available)
🎓 Certificate provided (upon request)
🌍 Open worldwide
🎓 Partial scholarships available

🔗 Learn more and apply:
[Course Website Link]

We hope you will join us for this unique journey through the life and legacy of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

With warm regards,

Hikmat International Institute
📧 info@hikmat-ins.com
🌐 www.hikmat-ins.com

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Islamic College

Monthly Talk: Reading the Qur’an as a “Discourse of Signs”

Reading the Qur’an as a “Discourse of Signs”

Speaker: Professor William A. Graham

Date: 19 June 2026
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm (London time)

Location: Online

This talk will argue that the Qur’an taken as a whole is best understood as a text offering first and foremost a rehearsal of God’s many signs given freely for the purpose of instruction and guidance of human beings in their behavior in this world.  In other words, the qur’anic notion of ‘ibrah (instructive example or lesson), âyah (sign), and other concepts such as bayyinah, mathal, or burhân, when considered together form a web of didactic and paranetic material that dominates the qur’anic text.  In considering the prominence of these categories, God’s message clearly emerges as a call above all to note and consider His signs in nature, in human history, and in His Word itself and then to live and order one’s life accordingly.

William A. Graham is the Murray A. Albertson Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, Emeritus, and University Distinguished Service Professor, Emeritus, at Harvard University. He taught in Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences from 1973 to 2018, serving also as Dean of Harvard Divinity School from 2002-12. His scholarly work has focused on early Islamic religious history and textual traditions and problems in the history of world religion.

https://islamic-college.ac.uk/registration-for-reading-the-quran-as-a-discourse-of-signs/

 

 

 

 

 

4. CSMBR Upcoming Lecture:

The Colour of Dreams

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

Marco Signori

23 June 2026 – 5 PM (CET)

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

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

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

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

To register for this event, please click here.

 

 

 

 

 

5. ONLINE International Symposium “The Cultural Impact of Janissaries in the Ottoman Periphery”, Forum Tauri, Istanbul, 14 June 2026, 12:00 – 18:00 CET

Focusing on the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Egypt, and North Africa, the symposium invites reflection on how Janissary communities operated within provincial societies. In these regions, Janissaries were not only soldiers; they were urban actors, participants in local economies, members of devotional networks, and agents of institutional transmission. Through ritual practices, brotherhood structures, musical and ceremonial traditions, and social integration, they contributed to the shaping of local cultural land-scapes.

Information, program and registration: https://tinyurl.com/54pkua37

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. HYBRID International Conference “Lost in a Forest of Signs: Describing and Understanding Graphic Variation in Ancient Writing Systems” (Including Middle East), Liège University, Belgium, 15-17 June 2026

One of the main aims of this meeting is to bring together scholars working on undeciphered writing systems with those studying deciphered ones, fostering dialogue and shared insights – particularly through a more precise and nuanced description of the diverse phenomena encompassed by what we term graphic variation.

Information, program and registration: https://tinyurl.com/45zyhrj9

 

 

 

 

 

7. Articles on “Gender, Sexualities, and Middle Eastern Matricultures” for a Special Issue of ” Matrix: A Journal for Matricultural Studies”

Authors are encouraged to explore the symbols and meaning relating to women, mothers, and the feminine in a Middle Eastern society and how these symbols and meanings shape sexual behaviours and gender identities – or vice versa.

Deadline for abstracts: 29 June 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/ynyvz6k7

 

 

 

 

 

8. ONLINE New Article “The World Cup and the Politics of Football in the MENA Region” by André Bank, Idriss Jebari, Hamid Talebian, Eckart Woert, GIGA Focus Middle East, No. 3, 9 June 2026, 10 Pages

A record-high nine men’s national teams from the MENA will take part, testifying to the region’s in-creased role in global football. In this region, the World Cup is stirring up debates over nationalism, sportswashing, and social protests.

Link: https://tinyurl.com/frt8rkaz

 

 

 

 

 

9. ONLINE New Issue on “Female Health Professionals and Colonial and Imperial Medicine in the Middle East and the Ottoman Empire” of the “Journal of Women`s History”, Vol. 38, No. 2, June 2026, 112 Pages

Themes: Representing (Some) Jewish Midwives in the Re-formation of the Ottoman State. – Charity and Social Networks: The Haifa Infant Welfare Association During the British Mandate in Palestine. – From Mobility Restrictions to a Modern Health Center in Baqa Al-Gharbiyyeh: Arab Women Under the Military Government in Israel, 1949-1966. – Doctoring Empire: American Women Physicians and the Politics of Professional Identity in Iran, 1888-1971. – Reproductive Justice: From the Local to the Global.

Link: https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/56910

 

 

 

 

 

10. ONLINE Annales islamologiques 60, Dossier « Symbolismes et représentations de la Kaʿba », IFAO, “Annales islamologiques 60”, juin 2026, 367 Pages

The collected contributions analyse both processes of historiographical sacralisation and the symbolic, visual, and speculative elaborations associated with the sanctuary, from the early period of Islam to Sufi and Shiʿi traditions. By bringing together historical, iconographic, and hermeneutical perspectives, the dossier situates the Kaʿba at the centre of a nexus of practices, narratives, and symbolic construc-tions constitutive of classical Islam.

Information and links to articles : https://tinyurl.com/3bdw5wuv

 

 

 

 

 

11. New Book: “The Yezidis in Kurdish Nationalist and Islamic Discourses after the 2014 Geno-cide” by Qader Saleem Shammo, Yezidi Studies, vol. 4, Berlin: Frank and Timme, 2026, 282 Pages

In the aftermath of the 2014 genocide perpetrated by ISIS against the Yezidis, one critical issue has been largely overlooked: How are the Yezidis represented in Kurdish nationalist discourse within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq? And how are they portrayed in Kurdish Islamic religious discourse beyond Iraq’s borders? This book examines how the Yezidi genocide has been appropriated for political, symbolic, and strategic purposes.

Information: https://tinyurl.com/3yc9685k

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. New Book: “From Fatwa to Genocide: Historic and Contemporary Manifestations of the Islamic Genocide against the Yezidis” by Qader Saleem Shammo, Yezidi Studies, vol. 5., Berlin: Frank and Timme, 2026, 348 Pages

What is the history and the present-day reality of the Yezidis? Are there enduring patterns of discrimi-nation and persecution by Islamic communities and political authorities? And how did and do they affect women and children? This research pays particular attention to the enslavement of Yezidi women and children and to the sûq al-sabâyâ, the slave markets established for their sale.

Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdfv9szc

 

 

 

 

 

13. New Volume “From Cairo to Jerusalem and Beyond: Studies of the Later Islamic Middle Period in Honor of Linda Stevens Northrup” Edited by Mustafa Banister and Fadi Ragheb, Brill, Islamic History and Civilization Series, 8 June 2026, 573 Pages

This volume is a collection of essays dedicated to the esteemed Middle East historian Linda S. Northrup. It presents thirteen original contributions authored by international scholars from diverse fields such as pre-modern history, architecture, and Middle Eastern studies. The first section examines Crusader-era historiography, the second focuses on the “Mamlūk” period, the third explores late medieval medical science, and the fourth investigates urban history and material culture.

Information: https://tinyurl.com/39bhkvvw

Posted in: Academic items