Shii News – Academic Items
1.CALL FOR PAPERS: Archaeology, Antiquity, and the Making of the Modern Middle East: Global Histories 1800–1939
25–26 May, 2023, University of Warwick, Global History and Culture Centre
This conference will explore the role played by discoveries and debates about the ancient past in the development of ideas about the Middle East in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. What competing imperial, national, and transnational narratives about the present and future of this geopolitically crucial region were fed by archaeology, philology, and history? How were these emergent disciplines themselves forged through Middle Eastern contexts they purported to study? How were temporalities of modernity and progress constructed in relation to the ruptures, continuities and heuristic challenges suggested by the excavation and exegesis of traces of ancient civilisations? Were there overlaps between how this region was simultaneously transformed by the construction of new transportation networks, the unearthing of oil in commercial qualities, transforming its present and future, and archaeological projects which dug up new dimensions to its past? How did the return of the remains of the past assist Western and Eastern empires, and new Middle Eastern countries in understanding their own national destinies?
Recent studies in intellectual history around imperial temporalities and teleologies provide a set of reference points informing this conference’s research aims. As Priya Satia has recently remarked in relation to the place in the British imperial imaginary of the Middle East in the decades around 1900, travel to the region ‘was conceived as a journey into a past that was not merely further back on the secular time scale of history but on a different scale altogether, outside secular time’. This was at once a ‘biblical region’ but also a ‘mythological landscape’, in some ways ‘outside the space of history’ and yet also one which would ‘matter deeply to the historical fulfilment of empire’, not least as a space offering ‘the chance to resurrect the cradle of civilization’ (Satia, Time’s Monster: History, Conscience and Britain’s Empire, 2020: 156–7, 174). Yet examination of the region’s ancient past could equally inspire a sense of the uncomfortable resemblances bridging empires ancient and ‘modern’, and attendant anxieties about the sustainability of contemporary empires.
If outsiders came to the Middle East to find their own origins (and perhaps their futures), various Middle Easterners themselves sought pasts that they could claim as their own: whether to consolidate new national identities, or to build over-arching and wide-ranging connections across the region. As Timothy Mitchell has written in regard to modern Egypt, a characteristic of the modern nation state was that ‘for a state to prove that it was modern, it helped if it could also prove that it was ancient’ (Mitchell, Rule of Experts: Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity, 2002: 179).
We are interested in the concept of the ancient past as a means of constructing modern identities: of ‘the Middle East’ as a region, of diverse new nations within it, and of Western nations whose colonial projects and political interests in the region became part of their own modern identities. While much valuable work has been done on archaeology, imperialism, and nation-building in the Middle East, it is rare for scholars to have a chance to consider different imperial, national, and regional contexts together, as part of a broader reshaping of historical consciousness about this region, one forged through competing visions and agendas. This conference will bring together scholars with a range of interests to examine this question at a variety of scales. We are interested in studies that examine uses of the past in specific national/imperial/regional contexts, and also in contributions that take a broad view of how the ‘Middle East’ became a region with a certain kind of past (original, imperial, monumental, liminal?). Bringing this range of papers together will allow us to discover habits of thought that were common across times and places, and those that were unique or unusual as empires, nations, and people within them sought to create their own distinctive identities through references to the past and its remains.
We invite contributions on how either/both ‘outsiders’ and ‘natives’ in the region came to identify themselves and their political projects with the pasts they discovered there. Relevant are ‘official’ projects of nation-building and imperial enterprise, and also projects by special interest groups, non-state actors, and individuals. Through taking this broad approach, we hope to find new connections and illuminate broader tendencies in the reception, interpretation, and reuse of ancient pasts in the making of the modern Middle East.
Papers might approach the conference’s themes might from a variety of different angles. Contributions might focus, for example, on one or more of the following:
- Specific objects, artefacts and sites, both ancient and modern: this might involve, for example retracing how ancient materials became valorised and commodified in the modern period by excavators, collectors and museums.
- Forms of institutional and official sponsorship (government or otherwise) for given scholarly ventures (re)collecting the ancient world, and for the fabrication of ancient histories.
- Appropriations and reinventions of ancient cultures, for example through speculative reconstructions, in textual, pictorial or architectural form, of ancient sites or styles.
- Imaginary geographies, environmental theories and political economies of nation and empire, around teleologies of translatio imperii and the modern state.
- The development of ‘the Middle East’ as a unique place of origin, and as a political, historical, or geographical region with a distinct identity.
- The ongoing legacy of archaeological, collecting, and display practices of 1800–1939 in the contemporary world.
CONFERENCE PARTICULARS
The two-day conference will be held at the University of Warwick 25–26 May 2023. Keynotes will be given by Professor Lynn Meskell (University of Pennsylvania) and Professor Zeynep Çelik (Columbia University, New Jersey Institute of Technology). Participants will submit papers of 6000-8000 words one month in advance of the meeting for pre-circulation, and will present a 15-minute condensed version of the paper at the workshop. This format will ensure productive discussions among participants and speed the process of publishing all papers from the conference in an edited volume, a process we will begin soon after the conference takes place.
Proposals for papers should include author name and affiliation, 300–400 word abstract, and a short CV. We invite proposals from scholars at all levels from early career onwards. Papers will be selected on the quality of the proposal and with the aim of ensuring a broad spread of topics for the conference. These should be sent to GHCCconference2023@gmail.com by the deadline of Monday, 20 June, 2022. Stipends for travel of up to £500 for scholars based in countries in the Middle East and North Africa will be available. To apply for these stipends, simply indicate in your email to the organisers that you wish to be considered and state the country you will be travelling from.
Looking forward to receiving your proposals,
Dr Guillemette Crouzet (Marie Curie Sklodowska Research Fellow, History, University of Warwick)
Dr Eva Miller (British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow, History, UCL)
2. Séminaire « Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien »
Séminaire mensuel du CeRMI
Séance du 12 mai 2022, 17h00-19h00
Exclusivement en visioconférence sur Zoom
Nous avons le plaisir de vous convier à la prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien” organisé par le CeRMI, qui aura lieu le jeudi 12 février 2022 de 17h à 19h. Nous serons heureux d’y accueillir Matteo De Chiara (maître de conférences HDR, INaLCO/CeRMI), pour une conférence intitulée :
La langue en évolution : la frontière verbale en pashto
Résumé
La langue pashto appartient à la famille des langues iraniennes. En dehors d’une large diaspora, elle est principalement parlée dans deux grands territoires : en Afghanistan oriental (de Kabul à Qandahar), où elle est depuis 1937 la langue officielle au même titre que le dari, et au Pakistan occidental (dans toute la zone qui s’étend entre Swat, Peshawar, Kalat et Quetta), où elle est l’une des langues régionales de la province de Khyber Pukhtunxwa (KPK) – l’ancienne North West Frontier Province (NWFP), incluant les FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) –, et du Baloutchistan.
Les deux publications récentes sur le verbe pashto par Daniel Septfonds et moi-même (Le verbe pashto : parcours d’un territoire du verbe simple à la locution verbale, 2019, et Le verbe simple en pashto. État des lieux, 2022, les deux publiées chez Reichert, Wiesbaden) analysent le système verbal du pashto en profondeur. La conjugaison du verbe pashto repose sur un schéma commun aux langues iraniennes – ou du moins largement partagé par elles –, qui distingue, aux formes finies du verbe, le radical de présent et le radical de passé.
Morphologiquement les verbes pashto se répartissent en trois groupes : les verbes simples, les verbes composés et les verbes mixtes. Cette intervention aura pour objet de mettre en lumière une catégorie spécifique de verbes, celle des « verbes simples nus » (« nus » signifiant ici « non-suffixés »), et les transformations en cours à l’intérieur de cette classe verbale fermée : un territoire à explorer en détail et avec systématicité pour pouvoir observer les changements et les mouvements des lignes de « frontière ». Une observation complète de la situation synchronique permettra de dégager les principales dynamiques diachroniques, au bénéfice des études pashto, mais aussi des autres langues iraniennes.
Indications bibliographiques
– Anne Boyle David, Descriptive Grammar of Pashto and Its Dialects, ed. Claudia M. Brugman, Göttingen, 2014.
– Matteo De Chiara & Daniel Septfonds, Le verbe pashto : parcours d’un territoire du verbe simple à la locution verbale, Wiesbaden, 2019.
– Matteo De Chiara & Daniel Septfonds, Le verbe simple en pashto. État des lieux, Wiesbaden, 2022.
– Gilbert Lazard, Grammaire du persan contemporain, Téhéran, 2006 [Paris 1957].
Pour suivre la séance :
– exclusivement en visioconférence sur Zoom :
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73327022868?pwd=t9PNPtQgvMl0fwE86yuS7hH2hXt_wQ.1
Centre de Recherche sur le Monde iranien (CeRMI), CNRS UMR 8041
27 rue Paul Bert – 94204 Ivry-sur-Seine
3. National Iranian American Council
The Cook You Want To Be: Virtual Book Talk with Andy Baraghani, hosted by NIAC New York
Join us for a special virtual book talk on Thursday, May 26 at 5pm PT/8pm ET with beloved Iranian-American chef, recipe developer, and food personality Andy Baraghani. He will be sharing with us his highly anticipated debut cookbook, The Cook You Want To Be: Everyday Recipes to Impress. In this book talk, Andy will share with us how he blends the home cooking of his Iranian upbringing, his professional training in restaurants such as Chez Panisse and Estela, editorial experience at Bon Appetit and Saveur, and his travels from around the globe, to produce an exquisite book that bring home cooks over 120 exquisite everyday recipes. This virtual book talk will be moderated by NIAC New York Leadership Council members.
A random selection of 25 attendees will receive a FREE COPY of Andy’s book. So RSVP for the Zoom link for a chance to receive your free copy!
4. Wael Hallaq Book Seminar at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, 21 May
Join us for an opportunity to discuss the central ideas of Professor Wael Hallaq’s most recent works, Restating Orientalism (2018) and Reforming Modernity (2019), with the author himself. The seminar will start with a short presentation by Professor Hallaq, analysing the subjective formation and psycho-epistemology that had enabled the pathologies of Orientalism, and proposing the formation of a new subjectivity and an ethicized philology as a solution. A series of open discussions will follow
The seminar will begin at 1pm and finish at 5pm.
Participants are strongly recommended to prepare by reading: Restating Orientalism (Columbia University Press, 2018), especially chapters 3–5; and Reforming Modernity (Columbia University Press, 2019), especially chapters 2, 6, and the Epilogue.
Due to limited capacity, please register for this seminar here.
5. Call for Papers SAH 2023 Montréal: “Reinventing Islamic Architecture in the 20thand 21stCenturies (Montréal)”
This panel investigates the phenomenon of 20th- and 21st-century architects and patrons who make references to premodern Islamic monuments and built environments. The modern and contemporary resurrection or reinvention of “classical” Islamic forms can serve diverse functions and contexts. It can proclaim connections to a glorious imperial past; craft new national identities through architectural revivals; recall a nostalgic homeland for diasporic communities; or incorporate Orientalist tropes to convey luxurious consumption or cosmopolitan sophistication. Within the discipline of Islamic art history, scholars have debated the logical terminus for the field’s timeline, with traditional narratives ending before the rise of European colonialism. Recent studies have expanded the consideration of art and architecture beyond this limited framework, but scholars are only beginning to question how pre-colonial Islamic art history informs post-colonial architectural practice. Papers for this panel will be drawn from transnational, cross-cultural contexts and can feature examples from a wide range of geographies. The panel is open to a variety of topics and themes, but we welcome papers that investigate, for example, the reimagining of imperial Ottoman forms in Erdoğan’s Turkey; anachronistic Orientalization in American Shriner architecture; the emergence of the neo-Mudéjar style in Latin America; representations of Islamic spaces in theme parks and video games; or the use of historical forms in restoration and cultural heritage projects in the Middle East. We are particularly interested in examining how scholarly narratives of pre-colonial Islamic art history have shaped these architectural projects and welcome papers that explore how the built form references visual representations of historic monuments that are reproduced in academic publications and mass media. In doing so, we seek to offer new insights into the connection between modern/contemporary architecture and the historiography of Islamic art.
Session Chairs: Jennifer Pruitt, University of Wisconsin – Madison, and Emily Neumeier, Temple University
For submission details, please visit https://www.sah.org/2023/call-for-papers?_zs=WJQLd&_zl=75O43#32
6. Workshop Reading Sources in Area Studies …: 17 May 2022, Maison de la Recherche Sorbonne nouvelle, 9h30-17h30
Discovering and collecting information on Turko-Iranian societies in travel context, 10th-19th centuries
Découverte et collecte d’informations sur les sociétés turco-iraniennes en contexte de voyage, Xe-XIXe siècles
Tuesday 17 May 2022 / Mardi 17 mai 2022
Maison de la Recherche de la Sorbonne nouvelle
4 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris
Salle Athéna, 9h30 – 17h30
PhD candidate students and advanced MA students are invited to participate
Doctorants et étudiants de master sont encouragés à participer
The 2022 edition of the workshop focuses on discussing historical source material from the relevant areas (texts, images, objects) in the medieval and modern periods. It also addresses the methodological and epistemological aspects related to the exploitation of these materials, with an interest in historical context of the sources analysed. The sessions are concerned with the diversity of source material pertaining to the Turko-Persianate world produced in the context of travel, regardeless of the origin of the traveller, their social or professional profile (merchant, pilgrim, scholar, spy…) or their motivations for travelling. The focal issue of the present workshop is the methods of acquisition of knowledge about “elsewhere”, the process of the construction and the practices of preserving and transmitting this knowledge.
Talks are given in English, while discussions also leave room for exchanges in French. Knowledge of Persian is an asset, but not a prerequisite.
Le workshop du 17 mai 2022 a pour objectif de présenter les matériaux de l’historien des mondes turco-iraniens (textes, images, objets) aux périodes médiévale et moderne. Il s’agira aussi d’aborder les aspects méthodologiques et épistémologiques liés à l’exploitation de ces matériaux. Les intervenants veilleront également à fournir une remise en contexte historique des sources présentées. Le workshop s’intéresse à l’acquisition des savoirs dans le cadre du voyage, quelles que soient les motivations de celui qui l’accomplit (marchand, pèlerin, espion, etc.). Ces acteurs sont des personnes originaires du monde turco-iranien ou extérieures à ce monde. Il s’agira de s’interroger sur les modalités d’acquisition et de construction des connaissances, ainsi que les supports utilisés pour les conserver et les transmettre.
Les communications sont en anglais. La discussion peut être menée en français ou en anglais. La connaissance du persan n’est pas obligatoire mais elle est un plus.
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Convenors/Responsables : Maria Szuppe (CNRS / CeRMI), Camille Rhoné-Quer (Université Aix-Marseille / IREMAM), Sacha Alsancakli (INALCO / CeRMI)
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Register to participate online: https://webquest.fr/?m=118608_reading-sources-in-area-studies-2-lire-les-sources-en-etudes-areales-2-17052022
Contacts: maria.szuppe@cnrs.fr / camille.rhone@univ-amu.fr / sacha.alsancakli@protonmail.com
CeRMI – CNRS UMR 8041
Centre de Recherche sur le Monde Iranien
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27 rue Paul Bert – 94204 Ivry-sur-Seine – France
cermi@cnrs.fr – https://www.cermi.cnrs.fr
7. Fully funded PhD on Domestic Slaves in Early Islamic Conceptions of the Past
DoSSE Project has created a fully funded, 3-year doctoral post on the subject of ‘Domestic Slaves in Early Islamic Conceptions of the Past’.
Application deadline: 17 June 2022
Interviews: 1 July 2022
Start date: 26 September 2022
DoSSE Project – Domestic Slavery and Sexual Exploitation in the Households of Europe, North Africa, and the Near East, from Constantine I to c. AD 900 / AH 287 – is a large-scale comparative research project that investigates a crucial aspect of how late Roman society transformed into its early medieval heirs. Those enslaved within the home, and their vulnerability to sexual exploitation, represent a subject that has only begun to receive due attention. DoSSE Project addresses this need by exploring how the societies of the greater Mediterranean world took their shape from the relationships established within the household – how social hierarchies and practices emerged from the dynamics of domestic space – with a view to offering a new model for interpreting the social transformations that ended the ancient world. For more information, please visit the project website.
This doctoral post will form an essential part of DoSSE Project and will be conducted at the project’s host institution, the University of Leicester, under the supervision of its Principal Investigator, Erin Thomas Dailey.
The funding will cover fees at the UK domestic rate and includes an additional annual stipend of £16,062.
The completion of the PhD and the career success of the doctoral candidate will be prioritised as part of the project’s outcomes.
To apply for this position, visit the University of Leicester’s application page.
For more information about DoSSE Project, please visit the project website.
8. TREASURES OF HERAT, Two Manuscripts of the Khamsah of Nizami in the British Library
by Barbara Brend
Edited by Melanie Gibson
Co-published with the British Library
GINGKO LIBRARY ART SERIES , 2022
https://www.gingko.org.uk/title/treasures-of-herat/
9. UCLA Bilingual Lecture Series – Nahid Pirnazar
‘The Intellectual Heritage of Iranian Jews in Judeo-Persian’
Sunday, June 5, 2022 at 11:30am Pacific Time via Zoom
Lecture in Persian
Posted in: Academic items
- May 07, 2022
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