Shii News – Academic Items

1.Researching the Asian and African Collections at the British Library

The Asian and African department at the British Library began 2019 with one of the most important annual events in our calendar: a training day for students beginning their doctoral dissertations. Approximately fifty students from across the UK were introduced to the collections and the best ways to research them.

Read more here.

 

 

2. We are seeking papers on the theme of ‘Islam and the category of “religion”‘ for the Summer 2019 issue of the semi-annual scholarly journal, Pakistan Journal of Historical Studies (PJHS), published by the Indiana University Press (Bloomington, USA).

Recent scholarship has historicised the concept of “religion” as it is used in contemporary popular, academic, and political discourse. Critics have called into question the usefulness and validity of a term developed in the context of post-Reformation Christianity and deeply entangled with the history of European colonialism, especially for the study of non-Western cultures. We seek papers that examine this question from the perspective of the study of Islam.

Potential topics:

• Is Islam a “religion”, now or in the past?
• Does the conception of Islam as a “religion” help or hinder our understanding of “Islamic art,” “Islamic science,” and “Islamic politics”?
• How has Islam been constructed or governed as a “religion” in contemporary contexts?
• How do indigenous concepts, such as dīnand īmān, compare to “religion”?
• Did the diversity of peoples and communities within Islamic empires, or studied by Islamic scholars, require the development of concepts similar to “world religions”?

Amina Steinfels, Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts, USA, will guest edit this issue.

Deadline for submitting articles is 15^th April 2019. Manuscripts should be submitted through the Indiana University Press website, via the following link:

https://scholarworks.iu.edu/iupjournals/index.php/pjhs/login

Length of an article should be between 8,000 and 12,000 words. For style-sheet, visit the following link:http://hak3408.wixsite.com/khaldunia/guidelines-for-contributors

For more information or to propose an idea, please email to pjhs@khaldunia.org (cc to asteinfe@mtholyoke.edu; hak@khaldunia.org)

For previous issues of the journal, please visit the following link:

https://www.jstor.org/journal/pakijhiststud

Journal’s website: http://www.iupress.indiana.edu/pages.php?cPath=4&pID=97

 

 

 

3. Colloque International : « Terrains difficiles, sujets sensibles. Faire du terrain au Maghreb et au Moyen-Orient » (“Difficult Fieldwork, Sensitive Topics: Doing Research in the Maghreb and the Middle East”), Institut universitaire de la recherche scientifique, Rabat, 14-15 February 2019

See program at https://terrainsdifficilessujetssensibles.home.blog

 

 

 

4. Conference: “Geography and Religious Knowledge in the Medieval World (1150–1550) – including Arab-Islamic Geography”, University of Tübingen, 11-12 April 2019

The comparative perspective is intended to capture traditional peculiarities as well as transcultural exchange processes between the Arab-Muslim and the Latin-Christian world.

See program at https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/3543039/geography-and-religious-knowledge-medieval-world-1150%E2%80%931550

 

 

 

5. Sixth Conference on Translating the Meanings of the Holy Qur`an on “Translation Studies and the Translation of the Holy Qur`an”, Al Kindi Center for Translation and Training, University of Marrakech, 20-21 November 2019

The aim of the conference is to re-raise the problem of translating the meanings of the Holy Qur’an in the light of modern theories and techniques.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 March 2019. Information: http://en.takc.org/2018/11/11/the-sixth-conference-on-translating-the-meanings-of-the-holy-quran-under-the-theme-translation-studies-and-the-translation-of-the-holy-quran-in-honour-of-professor-mohammed-didaoui/

 

 

 

6. Two Faculty Positions on Classical Ottoman (1300-1700) and Late Ottoman (1700-1922) History, Bilkent University

Positions will be open until they are filled. Information: https://stars.bilkent.edu.tr/staffapp/HIST2019Classic and https://stars.bilkent.edu.tr/staffapp/HIST2019Otto

 

 

 

7. Articles on “Critical Reflections on Contemporary Muslim Thought and Human Rights” for “Journal of Contemporary Poetics”

The Journal invites scholars working in the fields of history, cultural studies, political science, psychology, religious studies, critical theory, film and media studies, literature and languages, postcolonial studies, and law to present fresh insights into the debate.

Deadline for full papers: 7 April 2019. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/3526613/call-papers-critical-reflections-contemporary-muslim-thought

 

 

 

8. AUC Summer School

A one-month intensive program bringing international scholars of Qur’an, Hadith, Law, and Sufism and combining group lectures with Arabic language, primary source textual readings, and engagement with scholars in Cairo.

Open to students of all backgrounds and religious affiliations and backed by the American University in Cairo.

Application Deadline: April 1, 2019

For more information, see the school website:

http://schools.aucegypt.edu/sce/Programs/Pages/New%20Initiatives/Islamic-Studies.aspx

In addition, there is also a facebook page::

https://www.facebook.com/cairosummerinstitute/

 

 

 

9. Call for Papers: The Future of British Muslim Studies

A one-day Muslims in Britain Research Network conference organised in partnership with the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK, Cardiff University

Date: 24 April 2019

Since the Muslims in Britain Research Network was established over 25 years ago, British Muslim studies has grown exponentially. Yet despite this, the field faces significant challenges and uncertainty about its future direction. With so much of the focus on British Muslims being driven – both in academia and in wider society – by instrumental concerns about security and terrorism, much needed debates about the field’s core goals and purpose have often been obscured. The near constant use of research reports and polls on British Muslims in service of political agendas has meant that not only do those researching British Muslims often struggle to get their voices heard, but they are also forced to face difficult questions about their positioning and politics.

This one day event will bring together those from within and outside of academia who have an interest in shaping the study of Muslim Britain in order to discuss and debate the challenges facing the field and where it should go from here. What should British Muslim studies do, and who should it be for? Should it be seen as part of a project of improving Muslims’ rights and representation, as with the case of comparable fields like Black studies, or remain at a critical distance from Muslim politics? Is the field itself sufficiently inclusive of the diversity of Muslim and non-Muslim voices, and is sufficient recognition given to those outside the academy producing research into Muslims? When, and how, should academics partner with Muslim and community and activist groups? With researchers in the field scattered across disciplines, and with religion increasingly marginalised in the academy, how can the field cohere and have a positive impact?

Abstracts are invited for papers that address any of the conference themes:

• Emerging research agendas in, and challenges for, the field of British Muslim studies
• The politics of producing knowledge about Muslims in the West
• The relationship between academic scholarship and Muslims’ presence, voice and activism
• Partnerships between academic and Muslim community groups in the UK
• ‘Insider’ and ‘outsider’ dynamics in the study of British Muslims
• Complementarities and tensions between disciplinary approaches to the study of Muslims and Islam
• Securing the study of Muslims and Islam within and beyond UK higher education

Participants will be asked to present their research in a short format as part of a panel. To participate please send a 250 word abstract to the email address below by 1^st March along with a biographical note of no more than 50 words.

Abstract submissions and any general questions should be sent to the conference organisers at MuslimsinBritainRN@gmail.com.

 

 

 

10. Séminaire « Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien »

Séance du 7 février 2019, 17h-19h

Florian SCHWARZ, directeur de l’Institut d’études iraniennes, Académie autrichienne des Sciences, Vienne

« The Sufi, the village and the city. Hagiography and social history
in 17^th-century Bukhara »

The critical use of Sufi hagiographies for writing social history (in the broadest sense) of many regions and periods of Islamic history is well established. Central Asia has produced its fair share of hagiographic texts, which have been widely exploited in modern scholarship, while a large number of texts remain virtually unstudied. What sets the study of Central Asian hagiographical texts apart from many other areas is the necessity to engage with a strong Soviet tradition of research. This presentation will assess various research paradigms and explore new perspectives for a meaningful social history of Central Asia. As a case study, one particularly rich Persian hagiographical text from late 17^th-century Bukhara, Zinda Ali’s Thamarat al-mashayikh, will be presented and discussed.

Florian Schwarz est le directeur de l’Institut d’études iraniennes (Institut für Iranistik) de l’Académie autrichienne des Sciences (Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften) à Vienne. Ses travaux de recherche portent sur l’histoire de l’Iran et de l’Asie centrale en s’intéressant particulièrement aux cultures de tradition manuscrite, aux réseaux intellectuels et communautés savantes, à la numismatique et l’histoire monétaire, à l’épigraphie islamique ainsi qu’à la géographie historique. Il est l’auteur et l’éditeur scientifique de nombreux livres, notamment de Persische Poesie alla Turca: Sprache, Exil und die Grenzen der kulturwissenchaftlichen Iranistik (Wien : Vienna University Press, 2011), de Sylloge Numorum Arabicorum Tübingen. XIVc Hurasan III: Balh und die Landschaften am oberen Oxus (Tübingen, Berlin : Wasmuth, 2002) et de Unser Weg schließt tausend Wege ein: Derwische und Gesellschaft im islamischen Mittelasien im 16. Jahrhundert (Berlin : Klaus Schwarz, 2000).

Lieu : INaLCO, salle 5.01, 65 rue des Grands Moulins, 75013 Paris

Organisateurs : Amr Ahmed (INaLCO), Samra Azarnouche (EPHE), Oliver Bast (Sorbonne nouvelle – Paris 3), Agnès Devictor (Université Paris 1 – Panthéon-Sorbonne), Julien Thorez (CNRS)

 

 

 

11. Call for papers: Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements: Critical and Interdisciplinary Approaches

Call for papers for a conference on ‘The
Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements: Critical and
Interdisciplinary Approaches’ organized by the Centre for the Critical
Study of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements (CenSAMM), taking
place at the University of Bedfordshire (Bedford Campus) on 27-28 June
2019.

The aim of the conference is to facilitate critical and
interdisciplinary discussion of apocalypticism, millenarianism and
associated movements across time, place, and culture, and will cover
academic fields such as anthropology, archaeology, biblical studies,
critical theory, cultural studies, history, literary studies, political
studies, psychology, religious studies, sociology, etc. The
interdisciplinary scope is broadly understood to include methodologies,
comparative approaches, and showcasing of research more specific to
individual fields of expertise.

Speakers include:
John J. Collins (Yale Divinity School)
Vanessa Harding (Birkbeck College, University of London)
Bill McGuire (University College London)
Sarah Rollens (Rhodes College)
Beth Singler (University of Cambridge)
Fatima Tofighi (EUME, Berlin/University of Religions, Qom)
Paul-Francois Tremlett (Open University)

We invite individual paper proposals from scholars at all stages of
their career, including postgraduates, and we welcome suggestions for
group panels. Please submit proposals to conference@censamm.org .
Submissions for papers should include a 300-word abstract and short CV.

Deadline for proposals: 31 March 2019.

Conference Registration is now open: www.ticketsource.co.uk/censamm

The full CfP is available on the CenSAMM website: censamm.org

Posted in: Academic items