Shii News – Academic Items
1.CALL FOR PAPERS: Arab Media and Society
Issues 42 & 43, Summer/Fall 2026 on “Media Transformation and the Public Sphere”
Arab media have long played a central role in shaping public life, political debate, cultural identity, and social imagination across the region. From the rise of the pan-Arab press and transnational broadcasting to satellite television, social media, streaming platforms, podcasts, messaging applications, and AI-assisted communication, Arab publics have continually been formed and re-formed through changing media technologies, institutions, and practices. Today, however, the relationship between media transformation and the public sphere is entering a new stage.
Public discussion in the Arab world is no longer anchored primarily in newspapers, television news, official statements, or elite political commentary. It increasingly unfolds across a networked public sphere: a dense and shifting ecology of platforms, creators, influencers, fan communities, sports commentators, entertainment formats, podcasts, livestreams, short videos, memes, private messaging groups, and algorithmically organized feeds. In this environment, public life is not only produced through journalism or formal political debate, but also through entertainment, sports, celebrity culture, satire, gaming, religious discourse, lifestyle content, branded communication, and everyday audience participation.
This special issue of Arab Media & Society invites submissions that examine how media transformation is reshaping the Arab public sphere. We are particularly interested in the changing forms, formats, and delivery systems through which communication now reaches Arab audiences. These include short-form video, streaming drama, sports broadcasting, fan media, podcasts, social media commentary, influencer-led discussion, private messaging platforms, AI-generated content, and platform-native political debate.
The issue starts from the premise that the Arab public sphere should not be understood only through formal politics or traditional journalism. Entertainment, sports, and popular culture have become major arenas of public communication. Television dramas, streaming series, comedy clips, football debates, sports mega-events, celebrity controversies, influencer campaigns, fan communities, and online talk shows now shape how publics discuss identity, morality, class, gender, nation, religion, conflict, and belonging. Political discussion itself has also changed form: it increasingly circulates through fragments, clips, hashtags, memes, reaction videos, anonymous accounts, livestreams, podcasts, and semi-private messaging networks.
These transformations raise important questions. Who speaks in the Arab public sphere today? What kinds of media formats now carry public debate? How do entertainment and sports become political without always being formally “political”? How do platforms, algorithms, AI tools, and audience metrics shape what becomes visible, credible, popular, controversial, or silenced? How are Arab publics formed across national, regional, diasporic, and transnational media spaces? And how do war, geopolitical instability, economic uncertainty, censorship, platform governance, and strategic communication reshape public communication? While earlier scholarship on Arab media systems remains important, this issue places the main emphasis on changing communication forms and the reconfiguration of public life. Questions about media systems, state power, ownership, authoritarianism, developmental media, and comparative classification are welcome, but primarily as subthemes that help explain broader changes in communication, delivery, participation, and public sphere formation.
This special issue seeks theoretically informed and empirically grounded contributions that examine the transformation of Arab media and its implications for the public sphere in a rapidly changing communicative environment.
Suggested topics
Submissions may address, but are not limited to:
1) Arab media and the networked public sphere
- The transformation of the Arab public sphere through digital, mobile, and platform-based communication
- Networked publics, connective action, and new forms of visibility, legitimacy, and authority
- The relationship between legacy media, social media, streaming platforms, and private messaging applications
- Public debate across open platforms and semi-private spaces such as WhatsApp, Telegram, and closed groups
- The changing boundaries between public, private, intimate, commercial, and political communication
- Fragmented, affective, polarized, humorous, and entertainment-driven forms of public discussion
2) Changing forms of communication and delivery
- Short-form video, livestreaming, podcasts, reels, stories, newsletters, explainers, and mobile-first formats
- The transformation of television, radio, and print in relation to platform-native media
- Streaming, on-demand viewing, and the changing meaning of broadcasting
- Hybrid formats that combine journalism, entertainment, commentary, advertising, activism, and personal storytelling
- Algorithmic recommendation, platform design, and the politics of reach and circulation
- New production cultures among creators, influencers, streamers, podcasters, and independent media producers
3) Entertainment as public sphere
- Entertainment as a space for public debate, social commentary, and cultural negotiation
- Streaming drama, television series, reality shows, comedy, satire, music, celebrity culture, and popular storytelling
- The role of entertainment in shaping debates about class, gender, youth, religion, migration, morality, and national identity
- Celebrity controversies, influencer cultures, and the politics of visibility
- Memes, fan edits, reaction videos, parody, humor, and participatory entertainment cultures
- Entertainment industries, platform economies, and the production of Arab cultural publics
4) Sports, publics, and political communication
- Sports media as a major arena of Arab public life
- Football talk, fan cultures, online sports publics, and affective forms of belonging
- Sports broadcasting, streaming, club media, athlete branding, and fan-generated content
- Sports podcasts, YouTube channels, livestreams, social media commentary, and platform-native sports journalism
- Sports diplomacy, mega-events, national image, soft power, and regional competition
- Gender, class, nationalism, masculinity, identity, and political expression in sports communication
- The commercialization of sports publics through sponsorship, advertising, influencers, and platform metrics
5) Political discussion in new media formats
- Political debate through clips, memes, podcasts, livestreams, reels, online talk shows, and influencer commentary
- The movement of political discussion from formal programming to fragmented and platform-native formats
- Humor, satire, parody, outrage, emotion, and affective publics in Arab political communication
- Hashtags, trending topics, anonymous accounts, digital campaigns, and coordinated political messaging
- Political discussion in private and semi-private communication spaces
- Online polarization, rumor, harassment, disinformation, and credibility contests
- Political speech under surveillance, censorship, content moderation, and legal risk
6) Creators, influencers, and new communicative authority
- The rise of creators, influencers, streamers, podcasters, fan commentators, and platform-native personalities
- The blurring of boundaries between journalist, entertainer, activist, marketer, political commentator, and public intellectual
- Creator economies, monetization, sponsorship, subscriptions, advertising, and platform revenue models
- Authenticity, intimacy, credibility, and trust in influencer-led communication
- Micro-celebrities, niche publics, and new forms of cultural and political authority
- The professionalization of creator work in Arab entertainment, sports, lifestyle, and political commentary
7) Audiences, fans, users, and participatory publics
- The transformation of audiences from readers and viewers into users, followers, fans, commenters, creators, and data subjects
- Youth publics, diasporic audiences, women’s digital communities, migrant communities, linguistic minorities, and marginalized publics
- Fan cultures around entertainment, sports, celebrities, political personalities, and online communities
- Audience participation through comments, sharing, remixing, reaction formats, live chats, and fan production
- Trust, authenticity, credibility, news avoidance, selective exposure, and emotional attachment
- Audience analytics, personalization, microtargeting, and the commercialization of attention
8) AI, automation, and synthetic public communication
- Generative AI in entertainment, sports media, journalism, political commentary, public relations, and content production
- AI-assisted editing, translation, dubbing, subtitling, voice generation, and Arabic-language localization
- Synthetic presenters, virtual influencers, deepfakes, AI-generated personalities, and credibility contests
- AI tools in recommendation, sports analytics, entertainment distribution, and audience targeting
- Automated moderation, Arabic dialects, linguistic inequality, and algorithmic visibility
- AI-assisted misinformation, manipulation, propaganda, verification, and fact-checking
9) Strategic communication, branding, and public visibility
- Public relations, public diplomacy, reputation management, and nation branding in the Arab public sphere
- Strategic communication through entertainment, sports, tourism, cultural festivals, and mega-events
- Branded content, influencer campaigns, sponsored media, native advertising, and promotional cultures
- Communication strategies by states, corporations, sports clubs, cultural institutions, NGOs, and political movements
- Soft power, cultural diplomacy, sports diplomacy, and regional image-making
- Crisis communication during war, disaster, economic instability, public health crises, diplomatic conflict, and reputational controversy
10) Geopolitical instability, crisis, and public communication
- How war, occupation, displacement, sanctions, regional rivalry, and humanitarian crisis reshape Arab public communication
- Entertainment, sports, and political discussion during moments of crisis
- Digital witnessing, visual evidence, verification, documentation, and the circulation of conflict-related content
- Platform governance, takedowns, moderation, demonetization, and visibility during regional conflicts
- Diasporic communication, transnational solidarity, and cross-border publics
- The ethical challenges of communicating crisis through fast-moving, visual, affective, and platform-native formats
11) Revisiting Arab media systems as a subtheme
- How changing forms of communication complicate older classifications of Arab media systems
- Revisiting Hallin and Mancini, William Rugh, and other comparative media-system frameworks in relation to new public sphere dynamics
- The limits of classifying Arab media primarily as authoritarian, developmental, loyalist, diverse, or transitional
- The role of ownership, state power, private capital, platform companies, creator economies, and transnational media flows in reshaping communication
- The relationship between national media systems and transnational entertainment, sports, and political discussion
- How legacy media institutions adapt to platform-native publics and new delivery infrastructures
12) Language, dialect, humor, and cultural form
- Arabic dialects, multilingual communication, translation, subtitling, dubbing, and localization
- Humor, irony, parody, slang, memes, and vernacular expression in entertainment, sports, and political debate
- Dialect, intimacy, authenticity, and audience belonging
- Language politics in pan-Arab, national, local, diasporic, and minority media spaces
- Cultural specificity in algorithmic recommendation, search, moderation, and platform circulation
13) Methods and research designs
- Digital ethnography, audience research, creator diaries, interviews, production studies, and newsroom research
- Platform/interface analysis, discourse analysis, visual analysis, multimodal analysis, and political economy approaches
- Comparative studies of entertainment, sports, and political discussion across platforms and countries
- Computational approaches to networks, engagement, visibility, recommendation, and circulation, with attention to their limitations
- Research ethics in studying closed groups, fan communities, minors, influencers, conflict content, and AI-generated media
- Methodological challenges in studying ephemeral, deleted, personalized, encrypted, or algorithmically ranked communication
The above list is a non-exhaustive set of suggested areas of research. We welcome contributions that explore other dimensions related to media transformation and the public sphere in the Arab world, especially work that examines new forms of delivery, entertainment, sports communication, political discussion, audience participation, platform cultures, AI, strategic communication, and the changing relationship between media and public life.
Submission guidelines
All submissions must be in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx), adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition (author-date system), and have a maximum length of 10,000 words, including footnotes and references.
Please include the author’s name as it should be published, their position and affiliation, ORCID ID, and a brief abstract of no more than 150 words.
Deadline for full papers: October 5, 2026 for all submissions.
Please email all submissions to: ams.editor@aucegypt.edu. For further information regarding publishing policies, kindly visit: www.arabmediasociety.com/publishing-policies/
For any inquiries regarding the call for papers, please contact: ams.editor@aucegypt.edu.
Thank you for your interest and support of Arab Media & Society. We look forward to your contributions to this timely and important issue.
2. 28 July 6pm at SOAS: talk on Jaleh Esfahani
You are warmly invited to a talk by Dr Sam Hodgkin, followed by an informal reception and an opportunity to meet and speak with the speaker.
The event will take place on 28 July 2026 at 6:00 pm in Room 103, Brunei Gallery Building, SOAS University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG.
Dr Sam Hodgkin is Associate Professor at Yale University, where he directs the Yale Central Asia Initiative. He is the author of Persianate Verse and the Poetics of Eastern Internationalism (Cambridge University Press, 2023), winner of the USC Book Prize in Literary and Cultural Studies. His current book project explores how Iranian, Turkish, and Eastern Bloc Orientalists theorised classical Persian poetics over the course of the twentieth century.
In this talk, Dr Hodgkin will consider the place of Persian poetry within mid-twentieth-century literary internationalism, drawing on the remarkable materials held in the Jaleh Esfahani Cultural Foundation archive.
The major Persian modernist poet and literary critic Jaleh Esfahani, who was forced to leave Iran for the Soviet Union in the aftermath of the Second World War, spent her years in the USSR fostering literary exchanges across Persian, Russian, and Azeri Turkish, as well as among Iranian, Tajik, and Afghan Persian literary communities.
Drawing on archival material, the talk will examine highlights from Esfahani’s work as a translator of poetry and the reception of her own poetry in translation. It will also explore her contributions to literary diplomacy between the Second and Third Worlds and her important role in introducing Iranian literary modernism to writers and intellectuals in Central Asia.
We very much hope that you will be able to join us.
Please RSVP to Bonyad@jalehesfahani.com by 25 July 2026.
3. Genres Without Borders: The Circulation of Iranian Literary Forms
M Ostby
Syracuse, 2026
https://press.syr.edu/supressbooks/10060/genres-without-borders/
4. Zahra Institute
Fall Programme
Fall 2026 Mini Courses – Registration Open
Zahra Institute is expanding its academic programming with a new slate of month‑long mini courses. Each course includes four synchronous online sessions (2.5 hours each), minimal homework, and curated supplemental readings. Please see the attached mini‑course flyer.
Fall 2026 offerings:
- Multimedia for Online Language Teaching
- Kurdish Cinema
- Contemporary Kurdish Literature
- Qur’an in Historical Context
- Islamic Constitutionalism and Said Nursi’s Munazarat
Learn more and register: https://www.zahrainstitute.org/Mini_Courses.html
Kurdish Language Courses – Registration Open
We also offer semester‑long synchronous online Kurdish language courses from Beginner to Advanced levels in both Kurmanji and Sorani. Please see the attached Kurdish course flyer.
Learn more and register: https://www.zahrainstitute.org/KLIOverview.html
Registration Deadline: August 15
Questions: admissions@zahrainstitute.org
2026 Fall Speaker Series Begins September 23
Our Fall Speaker Series launches September 23, featuring leading scholars discussing:
- Kurds and Kurdistan in English Writing
- Statehood Without Recognition
- Kurdish Madrasa and Intellectual Tradition
- Iran’s Security State
- Cegerxwîn and Modern Kurdish Poetry
- ‘Honour’ and Human Rights
Event details: see the attached Fall 2026 Speaker Series flyer.
Register: https://www.zahrainstitute.org/news_and_events.html
5. Apply for a Full Scholarship – Prophet Muhammad Summer School
Hikmat International Institute
Course Dates: 5-27 August, 2026
We are delighted to announce that a limited number of full scholarships are now available for our upcoming online international summer school:
In the Light of the Prophetic Radiance: A Historical Journey through the Life of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
This unique program brings together a distinguished international faculty to explore the life of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through historical sources, scholarly methodologies, and engaging academic discussions.
To make this opportunity accessible to a wider audience, Hikmat International Institute is pleased to offer a number of full scholarships for eligible participants.
No payment is required to apply. Simply complete the free registration form, and our team will review your application. If selected, you will be awarded a full scholarship and will be able to participate in the course free of charge.
🔗 Register here:
https://hikmat-ins.com/the-prophet-muhammad-course/
As the number of scholarships is limited, we encourage you to register as soon as possible.
Deadline: 31 July, 2026
6. The Great Commentaries on the Holy Qur’an Project by Fons Vitae & Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought. NOW AVAILABLE in PDF & eBook formats: Up until now, these fundamental tafasir texts have remained out of reach for many English speaking Muslims (and non-Muslims). Among the most important sources for understanding the Qur’an are the tafsir works, commentaries on the Qur’an, which help to properly explain and contextualise the Revelation.
https://fonsvitae.com/product-category/islam/quran/
7. Iran in Context Podcast Series: First Two Episodes Now Available
The first two episodes of the Iran in Context podcast series are now available to listen to.
8. Needs that Bind: Materializing Nationality in Post-Ottoman Regimes
Orçun Can Okan
Needs That Bind reconsiders the dismantling of the Ottoman Empire and the construction of new regimes in the decade after World War I, to understand the consequential connections that remained among the new republican regime in Turkey and neighbouring French and British Mandates in Syria-Lebanon and Iraq.
9. Visiting Professorship in the Political Economy of the Middle East
American University of Beirut (AUB)
The position is open rank, and candidates at the Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor level are welcome to apply. We encourage applications from scholars trained in political science, economics or international affairs, with a specialization in Political Economy, Peace Studies, State-Building, and Post-Conflict Reconstruction with demonstrated policy professional experience in the Middle East with and particularly the Levant/Mashriq.
Deadline | Review of applications to continue until position is filled
More information
10. PhD in Social Anthropology with a Focus on Yemen
Austria Academy of Science (OeAW)
This is a part-time position, 30 hours per week, for a duration of 48 months (4 years), starting 1 December 2026. This position is part of the ERC Advanced Grant Project “Ideology in Context: An Agential Approach to the Study of Houthism (IDEO-YEMEN)” led by Dr. Marieke Brandt. Further information on the project is available here. We invite applications for a doctoral position focusing on the theme “Media Expressions and Rituals of Ideology”.
Deadline | 31 July 2026
More information
11. Lecturer in Politics and International Relations
University of Winchester
The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is seeking to appoint a Lecturer to contribute to our teaching and research in Politics and International Relations. You will have specialist knowledge and expertise in Middle East and North African Politics, and/or in Global Political Economy. Candidates who can contribute to teaching across undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum in the faculty’s social sciences programmes are encouraged to apply.
Deadline | 4 August 2026
More information
12. Call for Papers | Special Issue on the Kurdish Diaspora
This special issue aims to explore the diaspora’s multifaceted role in contemporary conflict transformation, peacebuilding, and dialogue. We are specifically seeking to examine how these transnational communities navigate the tension between their roles as advocates for peace and their involvement in the polarizing dynamics of homeland politics.
Deadline | 15 August 2026
More information
13. Call for Papers | Cooperation and Conflict Special Issue Proposal (2028)
The proposed issue, “Cartographies of Dispossession: War, Statecraft, and Internal Displacement in the Middle East,” seeks to shift the International Relations (IR) discourse away from viewing internal displacement merely as a humanitarian tragedy. Instead, the issue aims to rigorously theorize displacement as a deliberate instrument of statecraft and a foundational component of modern Middle Eastern security and military architecture.
Deadline | 15 August 2026
More information
14. Fellowships (4-10 Months) for Early Career Researchers at the “Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS)”, University of Freiburg, Germany
Qualification: PhD plus a maximum of eight years of post-doctoral experience. – 4 peer-reviewed pub-lications since 1 January 2022. – At least six months’ research or study experience at academic insti-tution(s) in a country different from the country of their first academic degree. – Fellowships will be awarded to individuals with challenging and innovative research projects of top academic quality through a highly competitive, strictly merit-based selection process.
Deadline for applications: 18 September 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3hk6ysy9
15. Fellowships (3-8 Months) for Senior Researchers at the “Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies (FRIAS)”, University of Freiburg, Germany
Qualification: PhD plus a maximum of eight years of post-doctoral experience. – 10 peer-reviewed publications since 1 January 2020. – At least six months’ research or study experience at academic institution(s) in a country different from the country of their first academic degree. – Fellowships will be awarded to individuals with challenging and innovative research projects of top academic quality through a highly competitive, strictly merit-based selection process.
Deadline for applications: 18 September 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/msr679s3
16. Chargé de mission (directeur scientifique), Institut français du Proche-Orient, Antenne de Beyrouth, Liban
Qualification : Titulaire d’un doctorat d’un établissement d’enseignement supérieur français ou d’un autre pays de l’Union européenne à la date de la candidature. – Expérience de recherche dans le monde arabe. – Expérience de pilotage de la recherche. – Maîtrise de l’anglais, de la langue arabe littérale et d’un dialecte du Proche-Orient (équivalent C2).
Date limite de candidature : 20 aout 2026. Information : https://tinyurl.com/yk4wx6p4
17. Chargé de mission (chercheur), Institut Français du Proche-Orient, Antenne de Jerusalem
Qualification : Titulaire d’un doctorat d’un établissement d’enseignement supérieur français ou d’un autre pays de l’Union européenne à la date de la candidature. – Maîtrise de l’anglais, de la langue arabe littérale et d’un dialecte du Proche-Orient. – Lorsque le français n’est pas la langue maternelle du candidat, une certification C2 du cadre européen commun de référence pour les langues (CECRL) est requise. – La connaissance de la région constituerait un atout.
Date limite de candidature : 20 aout 2026. Information : https://tinyurl.com/9edcpwds
18. Assistant Professor for Law, Politics, and Public Discourse (Focus MENA), Department of Rhetoric, University of California Berkeley
The position is open to applicants whose research and teaching critically engage with the rhetoric and traditions of politics and political thought, legal thought, legal history, law & humanities, and/or sociole-gal studies. The position is open in terms of specialization, historical period, and geographical area. We especially welcome candidates whose research in law and/or politics contributes to the Department’s historical and existing strengths in aesthetics, gender and sexuality, religion, science and technology, and the environment.
Deadline for applications: 28 September 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/6y8s7cm3
19. Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies, Department of Religious Studies, Stanford University
We seek candidates specializing in pre-modern Islam; regional focus and disciplinary approach are open. A PhD is required at the time of appointment. They must demonstrate substantial evidence of creativity and excellence in research and scholarship, engagement with the broader concerns, theories, and methodologies of Religious Studies, and dedication to teaching and advising students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
Deadline for applications: 26 September 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mrm2etm6
20. Appel à projets 2026 « Islam et société » (Bureau central des cultes du ministère de l’Intéri-eur)
L’appel à projets 2026 ouvre les candidatures à trois types de financement : les projets postdoctoraux, les bourses de fin de thèse et l’appui à manifestations scientifiques et projets de recherche collectifs, pouvant notamment prendre la forme d’une enquête de terrain, d’un colloque, d’un séminaire fermé ou encore d’une traduction d’ouvrage.
Date limite de candidature : 7 septembre 2026. Information : https://tinyurl.com/kk57yb9sl
21. Oman Research Grant (3 Months) for Visiting Research Fellowships at the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), Berlin, in Fields Related to Omani Studies
We are seeking to attract outstanding postdoctoral scholars at junior or senior levels of their career who are engaged in projects in research fields related to Omani Studies.
Deadline for applications: 10 September 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3zh4hc36
22. “3rd Wadjih F. al-Hamwi Prize for the Best First Book in Mediterranean Studies” Announced by the Mediterranean Seminar/CU Mediterranean Studies Group
The Prize covers scholarly and trade publications published from 2024 to 2026 inclusive. The commit-tee is most interested in books that break new ground conceptually or methodologically, are compara-tive and/or interdisciplinary, that emphasize intercultural/interregional/inter-religious contact. Books treating any period will be considered, and entries from any of the relevant Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines are welcome.
Deadline for applications: 31 December 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3cvdjnm8
23. ONLINE New Article: “Free Will in the Eyes of Muslims and Christians” by Ameni Mehrez and Edouard Machery, PNAS Nexus, Vol. 5, Issue 6, 11 June 2026, 13 Pages
We find that despite theological differences among Christian denominations, Christians have similar attitudes in both abstract and concrete contexts, suggesting that lay religious experience is not fully penetrated by theological differences. Muslims differ from Christians: In agreement with the “Qur’an,” they embrace both free will and divine sovereignty when answering abstract questions, but they deem-phasize free will when making concrete judgments.
View: https://tinyurl.com/4ztws4b7
24. New Book: “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, 8 June 2026, 574 Pages
Information: https://tinyurl.com/2s9b68fe
25. The Black Sea and British Foreign Policy; Sir Sidney Smith and George Monro Missions and Reports
“The Seven Years’ War created a new balance of power in European and global politics. As a result of these developments, England paid greater attention to Eastern Europe, particularly the Black Sea region. Consequently, London sought to strengthen the Ottoman Empire both politically and militarily in response to Russian expansion. In addition, the British Foreign Office dispatched military experts and agents such as George Frederick Koehler, Sir Sidney Smith, and George Monro to the region.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/2xrtjkap
Posted in: Academic items
- July 25, 2026
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