Shii News – Academic Items
1. ONLINE “EHESS Spring Talks”: International Scholars and Students will Engage Directly with 30 EHESS Professors, Paris, 27 March – 21 April 2023, 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm, Paris Time
The 15 talks will offer space for EHESS researchers to engage in one-hour live discussions with a moderator on the topic of their research seminar, in English or in French. The speakers will also be able to present their books or the scientific journals they supervise. The format of the talks envisages some discussion time to which the audience online will be warmly invited to participate.
Information, program, and registration: https://www.ehess.fr/fr/ehess-spring-talks#eng
2. HYBRID Roundtable “Intimate and Family Histories”, Ottoman and Turkish Studies Initiative, New York University, 31 March 2023, 12:30 pm EST
Historians working on family/intimate histories in the Balkans, West Africa, and the Middle East, will discuss their methodology and goals in adopting this approach to research and writing, and how it can help bright to light histories that have, so far, been written out of conventional historical narratives.
Information and registration: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/12526483/roundtable-intimate-family-histories-march-31-1230-est-person
3. ONLINE Seminar “Exportability and Context: Reading Arabic Literature in the West” by Hosam Aboul-Ela (University of Houston) in Conversation with Mona Kareem, Crown Center for International Studies, Brandeis University, 19 April 2023, 11:00 am – 12:15 pm EDT
The “exportability” of Arabic literature will be discussed by looking at the work of Egyptian novelist Sonallah Ibrahim in its Arabic, French, and English versions. Aboul-Ela argues the term “exportability” speaks to the challenges of understanding the novels of Ibrahim in their original context and reimagining them in the different contexts into which they are translated.
Information and registration: https://www.brandeis.edu/crown/events/2023/apr-19.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Exportability%20and%20Context%3A%20Reading%20Arabic%20Literature%20in%20the%20West&utm_campaign=test%20new%20template
4. Mediterranean Seminar Spring 2023 Workshop: “Diasporic Legacies of the Mediterranean”, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, 27-28 April 2023
This seminar aims to bring together scholars interested in diasporas in the Mediterranean context and their impact on and representation in history, historiography, political writing, literature, and the arts. We will ex-plore how diaspora and diasporic communities and their cultural production can be read from the perspective of Mediterranean Studies.
Information, program, and registration: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/diasporic-legacies-mediterranean-seminar-2023-spring-workshop-27-28-april-minnesota?e=82aeb6c61d
5. Conference: “Collaborations and Contestations: Interfaith Architectural Encounters in Egyptian Society”, American University in Cairo (AUC), 25 July 2023
We seek papers particularly with regard to architecture from all periods (up to the present) regarding Christian, Jewish and Muslim (including Sunni and Shi’a) interactions. Topics might include: mutual influence of Coptic and Islamic architecture; heritage preservation (especially perceived biases); shared sacred spaces; shared practices of worship; contestation of sites; use of spolia, architectural rivalry of churches and mos-ques.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2023.
Information: https://muslimstudies.isp.msu.edu/about/trt-conference-auc/
6. Symposium “Toward a Social History of Ottoman Languages”, University of Chicago, 10-11 May 2024
Papers are invited which demonstrate socio-linguistic realities and transformations between the 15th century and the beginning of the 19th century. We seek contributions that explore the languages spoken in and around the Ottoman domains, exploring the relationship of Ottoman languages with their particular social and cultural environment and the social connections or tensions between spoken languages, jargons, and accents.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2023. Information:
7. Assistant/Associated Professor in Islamic History or Islamic Studies, Al Akhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco
The successful candidates will be able to teach a broad range of undergraduate and graduate-level courses covering Islamic histories, cultures, societies and Islamic humanism. A Ph.D. in History, Islamic Studies or a closely related field is required.
Review of applications started on 25 March 2023. Information: https://www.higheredjobs.com/details.cfm?JobCode=178325485&utm_source=03_20_23&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=JobAgentEmail
8. Visiting Assistant Professor in the Arabic Language (1 Year), Middle East and South Asia Studies (MESAS) Program, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC
We seek a candidate with native or near-native fluency in Arabic and English, and experience in teaching Arabic language courses of all levels as well as for specific purposes at the university level. The candidate will be expected to teach six courses per year or the equivalent.
Deadline for applications: 20 April 2023. Information:
9. Articles on “Sufism in the Modern World” for a Special Issue of the Journal “Religions” (Editor: Saeed Zarrabi-Zadeh)
This issue analyzes various aspects of the presence of Sufism in the modern world. Scholars from different fields are invited to approach the topic from their own specialism or from an interdisciplinary perspective. The journal is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database and Web of Science. All articles are published online soon after their acceptance.
Deadline for manuscript: 30 June 2023. Information: www.mdpi.com/si/97594
10. New Book Series on “Political Communication and Media Practices in the Middle East and North Africa”, Edited by Dina Matar and Zahera Harb (Bloomsbury Academic)
This is the first scholarly series that engages with a de-colonial, non-Euro centric approach to addressing the relationship between politics, communication and culture in the Middle East and North Africa from the per-spective of key actors and states in the region, and its peoples.
11. CfP: “Law and Society in Saudi Arabia”, Berlin, June 19-21, 2024, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient
Legislation, jurisprudence, and legal mobilization have undergone epochal alterations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Historically, Saudi law has been identified predominantly with uncodified Islamic law, although legal realities on the ground have been much more complex but often little understood. With the publication of court judgments and the introduction of specialized courts, King ‘Abdallah initiated a process of legal transformation which has gained momentum since King Salman ascended the throne in 2015. One of the most recent developments is the codification of Islamic law, which many regard as a pivotal moment in the evolution of law in Saudi Arabia. How does this intersect with, impact on, and influence earlier understandings of law and legality? In this conference, we would like to take stock and reflect on the radical changes that law and society have undergone in recent years and in historic perspective.
The two-day conference addresses the role of the law in Saudi society both in the past and the present. We adopt a broad understanding of law, one encompassing both Islamic normativity as well as state-issued codes. This includes the law as it is conceptualized and applied by state institutions and legal professionals (religious scholars, lawyers, judges). It also encompasses the various ways in which people interact with the law and legal institutions in their everyday lives and how they express themselves through legal language. We believe that a better understanding of these practices can provide us with important insights into past and ongoing processes of social and political transformation in the kingdom.
With this “law and society” approach, we seek to bridge the gap between the study of social, political, and historical phenomena on the one hand, and research on the Saudi legal system on the other hand. In other words, we seek to discuss law in its social context from various perspectives: How is law socially and historically constructed in Saudi Arabia? How does law impact Saudi culture and politics? How are inequalities reinforced through differential access to and familiarity with legal procedures and institutions?
The conference aims to bring together different disciplinary perspectives. We especially welcome contributions from the fields of law, sociology/anthropology, political science, history, Islamic/Middle Eastern studies, and gender studies.
We are particularly, but not exclusively, interested in the following topics:
- Law in history: law and state-building; constitutional movement; historical case studies,
- Law and equality: courts, litigation, and access to justice; legal mobilization; human rights,
- Law and Islam: morality, public decency, and Islamic law; waqf; finance and banking; fatwas and legal language,
- Law and gender: divorce and custody; women’s rights and mobilization; domestic violence, sexual harassment,
- Law and governance: constitution/the Basic Law of Governance; citizenship/nationality; laws affecting associations and civil society; law-making and state institutions,
- Law in action: legal language and its use in society; navigating the law: lawyers and legal procedures, digital technology and the law; the experience of courts; the effects of globalization on the law.
Paper Submission: Please send the title and an abstract of your proposed paper (up to 300 words) as well as a short CV as a PDF document by 15 May 2023 to Conference.Law.Society.KSA@gmail.com. For questions and queries, please contact nora.derbal@mail.huji.ac.il. Authors of selected abstracts will be notified by 15 June 2023.
Organization: The conference Law and Society in Saudi Arabia is being organized by Nora Derbal (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Ulrike Freitag (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient Berlin), and Dominik Krell (Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law/University of Oxford). The conference will take place in Berlin at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient on 19-21 June 2024. The conference language is English.
Publication Plans: The conference papers will be published as an edited volume. We expect participants to submit a 7,500-word contribution in advance of the conference (preliminary deadline: 1 May 2024). The contributions should be based on original research and must be unpublished work.
Funding: We are seeking funding to cover some of the costs of the conference. Participants are, however, invited to use their own travel funds wherever possible.
12. Posts:
Saint Olaf College – Visiting Assistant Professor
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=65246
University of Virginia – Howell Postdoctoral Research Associate in Arabian Peninsula and Gulf Studies
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=65257
13. Hybrid Lecture – “MARHABA TO THE FUTURE,” Mounir Ayache (NYU, Silsila) – March 29
“MARHABA TO THE FUTURE”
Mounir Ayache, Independent Artist
Wednesday, March 29th, 6:30pm EDT
Silsila Spring 2023 Program
Online and in person at New York University, Room 222, 20 Cooper Square, New York, 10003
By envisioning alternate futures, Ayache proposes an image of the Arab world radically different from those circulated in the West. His sci-fi approach weaves together family histories, fictionalised re-appropriations of experiences and Arab identities. These traits situate Ayache within the unofficial movement of Arabfuturism, which derives its name from the Afrofuturism movement in the 90s. Both Afro and Arabfuturism are characterised by a turn to fiction that allows us to imagine vastly different realities.
Ayache will discuss the progress of his research at the Villa Medici in Rome where he is currently in residence: he is developing a fictional project in which Hassan al Wazzan (known as Leo the African) travels into the future in 2500.
This event will take place as a live webinar at 6:30pm EDT (New York time). To register as an online attendee, please use the following link:
https://nyu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6-XRukm9QW6MbtdII4qYlQ
This event will also be held in person at NYU in room 222, 20 Cooper Square, NY 10003. In accordance with university regulations, visitors must show a valid government-issued photo ID (children under 18 can provide non-government identification).
Please use the following link to rsvp as an in-person attendee:
https://forms.gle/9iEUgoNqY66Ht7VJ8
Only registered attendees will be able to access this event online or attend in person.
14. University of Cambridge, p/t post.
A new part-time job opportunity has arisen for a Research Assistant to work with our Research Associate, Dr Vivek Gupta. The post (based in the Fitzwilliam Museum) is to prepare full catalogue descriptions of one of the most significant manuscripts in the Fitzwilliam Museum collection, the Plowden album.
Made in Lucknow in 1787-88 for an Englishwoman, Sophia Elizabeth Plowden, the album contains 77 songs in Persian, Urdu and Classical Hindi, and high quality illustrations of performers, dancers, singers, courtesans, and other entertainers within the courtly or nawabi society of late eighteenth-century Lucknow. The assignment holder will describe its contents, assemble bibliographies, research objects, and liaise with external scholars.
For more details and to apply click here. Note that the closing date is 2nd April.
Regards
Neil Cunningham
Programmes Manager
Centre of Islamic Studies
University of Cambridge
Posted in: Academic items- March 28, 2023
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