Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Quest for Modern Language
Between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea
April 13–14, 2023
Neubauer Collegium
5701 S. Woodlawn Ave.
Chicago, Ill.
About the Research Project
The Quest for Modern Language Between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, 1820–1948 is a collaborative, multidisciplinary initiative to examine the role of language ideologies in cultural and political discourses of modernity and modernization in and around the Middle East in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The project brings together historians, literary scholars, linguists, anthropologists, and sociologists to study the articulation, circulation, and mobilization of ideas about language death and revival, language reform, and language modernization in the contexts of empire, emerging nationalisms, and a modernized or quickly modernizing world. The research team is also exploring the role of developments in linguistics, philology, and adjacent disciplines in informing and shaping such ideas. Some of the questions that animate the project are: What does it mean for a language to be or become a modern language? Can, and should, a dead language be revived? How do notions of native tongue, language family, vernacular dialect, or register interact with concepts such as empire, nation, and motherland? How does the relation between language and the body figure in projects of (re)generation of modern polities and individuals? By studying authors who spoke and wrote in a variety of languages of the Eastern Mediterranean, and their interaction with the political and cultural bodies and movements that played important roles in shaping the modern Middle East, this project aims to reconstruct, and draw new insights about, the rich nexus of language, identity, and modernity.
Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society
5701 S. Woodlawn Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637
773-795-2329
neubauercollegium.uchicago.edu
2. La 7ème séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien” aura lieu le jeudi 13 avril 2023
17h à 19h, salle 3.15 à l’ INALCO 65, rue des Grands-Moulins 75013 Paris
Pour cette séance, nous recevons Jaroslava Obrtelovà (Uppsala University) pour une conférence intitulée :
« Linguistic means for expressing epistemological stance and perspective shifts in the Wakhi language »
Résumé :
Wakhi is one of the minority East-Iranian languages spoken in the remote areas of the high Pamir mountains. Analysis of the narrations collected among the Wakhi speakers in their natural environment revealed that expressing the speakers’ attitude towards knowledge and their stance in relation to what they tell is, if not more important, at least as important as expressing the temporal and aspectual properties of the narrated events.
For example, when telling a story, Wakhi narrators always choose between telling it either from the perspective of an eye-witness or from a non-witnessed perspective. The witnessed narrations are told exclusively in the past tense, while the non-witnessed narrations, be it a re-telling of past real events, fictional stories or even future events, are told in the non-tense/non-past. Thus, the choice of the verb form informs the listener/reader of the individual (subjective) speaker’s epistemological stance rather than the (objective) situation of the event on the time-line.
In addition to this ‘witnessed versus non-witnessed’ distinction, Wakhi speakers can further nuance their stance by either reinforcing or distancing themselves from the credibility claim. Different Wakhi speakers can narrate the same event or parts of it differently, depending on the speaker’s stance, which is reflected in the use of different linguistic means.
Orientation bibliographique
Mock, John Howard. 1998. The Discursive Construction of Reality in the Wakhi Community of Northern Pakistan . Berkeley: University of California PhD Thesis.
Obrtelová, Jaroslava. 2017. Narrative Structure of Wakhi Oral Stories (Studia Iranica Upsaliensia 32). Uppsala: Uppsala University, Department of Linguistics and Philology.
Obrtelová, Jaroslava. 2019. From Oral to Written: A Text-linguistic Study of Wakhi Narratives . Uppsala University, Department of Linguistics and Philology PhD Thesis.
Retrouvez les détails de cette séance et le programme complet du séminaire sur le site web du CeRMI : https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-de-recherche/societes-politiques-et-cultures-du-monde-iranien-2022-2023/
3. Online Lecture – “Impermanent Monuments, Lasting Legacies: The Dar al-Khilafa of Samarra and Palace Building in Early Abbasid Iraq”, Dr. Matt Saba – April 4
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro presents:
Tues., April 4, 5:30-6:30 Zoom,
A lecture by Dr. Matt Saba, MIT.
Register here: https://go.uncg.edu/mattsaba
In this talk, Dr. Saba offers a new interpretation of early Abbasid palaces as “impermanent monuments.” Synthesizing an array of sources, ranging from archaeological finds and classical Arabic literature to modern studies on the social and intellectual history of Islamic civilization, this talk reveals ways in which the Abbasid court designed, decorated, presented, and documented its palaces to leave lasting legacies of imperial power with what were considered at the time to be impermanent structures. In doing so, it sheds light on an architectural concept endemic to early Islamic Iraq that challenges popular notions of the monument as permanent and unchanging. The main palace of Samarra, known as the Dār al-Khilāfa, serves as the primary case study for this phenomenon.
Dr. Saba is Visual Resources Librarian for Islamic Architecture at the Aga Khan Documentation Center, MIT Libraries.
Co-sponsored by HNAC, Lloyd International Honors College, and Religious Studies.
4. Call for Papers – Postgraduate Symposium – Muslims in the Uk & Europe 2023
CfP for the postgraduate symposium, taking place on Thursday 22nd to Friday 23rd June 2023 at the Moller Centre in Cambridge. This will be a platform for current Masters and PhD candidates to present and exchange current research on any topic pertaining to Muslims in the UK and Europe (from any discipline) in a dynamic forum. While historical or theoretical context is valuable, we invite papers also to present, analyse or interpret research findings, data or material. Participants are expected to attend the keynote speech and all sessions.
To apply please submit a 500-word abstract, with curriculum vitae outlining current research interests, to cis@cis.cam.ac.uk by 31 March 2023.
Successful candidates will be notified by 7 April 2023 and invited to submit draft papers of no more than 3000 words by 11 June 2023.
5. Book launch – Silent Teachers: Turkish Books and Oriental Learning in Early Modern Europe – 26 April 2023 – Warburg Institute
THE WARBURG INSTITUTE
School of Advanced Study | University of London
Book launch and roundtable: Silent Teachers: Turkish Books and Oriental Learning in Early Modern Europe, 1544–1669
With Nil Ö. Palabıyık (Queen Mary University of London), Philip Alexander (University of Manchester), Simon Mills (Newcastle University), Warren Boutcher (Queen Mary University of London)
Wednesday 26 April 2023, 5.00-7.00pm
Warburg Lecture Room, Woburn Square, London WC1H 0AB
Followed by a drinks reception.
Attendance free in person or online via Zoom with advance booking here: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/events/turkish-books-and-oriental-learning
6. “Counter Narratives”: A Podcast About Multicultural Heritage Collections
The Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion, and Cultural Heritage at the Rare Book School is launching “Counter Narratives in Practice,” a podcast series about multicultural heritage collections, storytelling, and representation in Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums, and beyond. This podcast is part of a larger project to highlight the work of the Andrew W. Mellon Fellows.
Fellows, led by Allie Alvis, worked together from across the U.S. to tell stories about the archival materials in their collections and how they prompt thinking about counter narratives in their professional practice. Here are brief summaries of these episodes.
The Pacific Time Zone Group produced the podcast episodes “Archiving Political Histories that Shape Education” and “Disconnection and Accessibility in the Archive.” Guests highlight the roles of Indigenous advocacy, settler colonialism, disability, and accessibility in archival collections.
The Central Time Zone Group produced the podcast episodes “We Were Never Silent: Immigrant Narratives & Caribbean Print Culture as Counter Narrative” and “We Were Never Silent: Bilingual Text in the Ottoman Empire & Pidgin English in Chinese Text as Counter Narratives.” Discussants explore immigration, oral history, and music as they relate to formal and informal institutions of memory.
The Eastern Time Zone Group produced the podcast episodes “Hidden Histories: African American, Asian American, and Afro-Asian Relationality” and “Hidden Histories: Immigrant Farm Workers and Black Intellectual Histories.” Guests discuss Florida Farmworkers, Covid-19, and the importance of documenting marginalized stories.
7. Leiden Summer school on Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World 2023
The al-Babtain Leiden University Centre for Arabic Studies is organising the fifth Summerschool on Manuscripts from the Muslim World, to be held 21 August- 1 September 2023. The course can host 12 to 14 graduate (MA and PhD) students. It consists of lectures by experts on a range of topics related to codicology and much hands-on experience with manuscripts from Leidens famous collection. See the preliminary programme and information about application and scholarships here or send an e-mail to Fons Hooft, a.p.c.hooft@hum.leidenuniv.nl. The deadline for application is June 16, 2023.
8. Fellowship – MESA Global Academy – Deadline: May 1
The Global Academy Call for Applications for the 2023-2024 academic year
is now open!
The MESA Global Academy offers competitive fellowships to Middle East Studies scholars from the MENA region who are currently displaced in North America.
The Global Academy awards $5,000 scholarships and facilitates programming for its fellows, including speaking engagements at partner universities across the United States, publication opportunities, mentoring, and professional development workshops.
Eligibility criteria for the fellowships include: 1) holding a PhD or equivalent in a field in the social sciences or humanities (graduate students will not be considered); 2) the primary institutional affiliation was in the MENA region prior to displacement; and 3) a publication record indicating scholarly productivity (in English, French, a native MENA language, or principal research language of the field).
The deadline for applications is May 1, 2023.
For more information and to apply, click here.
The Global Academy now has its own Twitter feed and Facebook page. Follow us here and here.
9. Hybrid Lecture – “KHATAI PAPER IN IRAN,” Yusen Yu (NYU, Silsila) – April 5
Yusen Yu, University of St. Andrews
Wednesday, April 5th, 6:30pm EDT
Silsila Spring 2023 Program
Online and in person at New York University, Room 222, 20 Cooper Square, New York, 10003
In the study of Persian art, the meaning of “Khatai (Chinese) paper” remains elusive. This talk draws on a wide array of source materials and explores the following aspects: the circulation of the paper in medieval networks of exchange, its materiality in the aesthetic experience of books, and its historiography in modern Iranian codicological scholarship.
This event will 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/6GTiXk4fSmxqwTNTA
This event will also take place as a live Webinar at 6:30pm EDT (New York time). To register as a remote attendee, please use the following link:
https://nyu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_AXz5yIEgSCWYR3tEDz1qfg
Only registered attendees will be able to join this event.
10. Webinar – British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS)
‘The Hunt as Erotic and Military Training in Early New Persian Poetry’
with Domenico Ingenito
19 April, 2023, 5pm UK time
For full information and to register:https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/1516801688417/WN_V51jqckFT3iRSEwJyq0p9Q#/registration
Posted in: Academic items- April 01, 2023
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