Categories : Academic items
Shii News – Academic Items
1. The Institute of Ismaili Studies is looking to appoint a Research Associate in South Asian Studies with an interest in a variety of historic, contemporary and emerging subjects, as they relate to Islam and Muslims of South Asia. The successful applicant will engage in high-quality research and publications, joining a dynamic team of scholars in its Department of Academic Research and Publications (DARP).
You will be an outstanding scholar with a doctorate in a field of Islam and a proven track record of publications and teaching. A thorough knowledge of the current state of the field of Ismaili studies and related aspects of Shi’i and Ismaili history and thought as well as ability to read Khojki will be an added advantage. You will be a competent user of one of the following languages: Gujarati, Sindhi or Urdu.
You will deliver interdisciplinary and impactful research that advances Ismaili studies nationally and internationally, contributing to the Institute’s mission of remaining a leading institution of academic excellence in the field. (for more information and to apply, please vsiit: https://www.iis.ac.uk/careers)
Within the vibrant regenerated Knowledge Quarter of King’s Cross, the IIS is located in new purpose-built premises which also house the world-class Aga Khan Library. Potential applicants can find out about the Aga Khan Centre here: https://www.agakhancentre.org.uk
Please apply online with a CV and covering letter providing details of how you meet the criteria for the post at www.iis.ac.uk (Job Vacancies link), where you can also download the job description and person specification. If you have any queries, please email Caroline Gomez in Human Resources: cgomez@iis.ac.uk
The closing date is Monday 15 March 2021.
2. ONLINE Colloquium: “Say What Your Longing Heart Desires: Women, Prayer, and Poetry in Iran”, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Arizona, 5 March 2021, 3:00 pm MST
The Center for Middle Eastern Studies invites participants to attend virtual event on the usage of classical poetry, spirituality of namaz, the temporality of performing a ritual, and the role of language in constructing a relationship with God.
Information: https://cmes.arizona.edu/events/haeri
3. 27th International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), Institute for Islamic Theology, University of Osnabrück, 16-18 September 2021
Papers are invited from scholars of all relevant disciplines in social sciences and humanities who are engaged in research on the contemporary Middle East, North Africa, and the entire Islamic World and its relations to other regions.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 June 2021.
Information: https://www.irp-cms.uni-osnabrueck.de/en/events/27th_international_davo_congress.html
4. Visiting Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern North African History, Loyola University Maryland
The History Department at Loyola University Maryland invites applications for a one-year Visiting Assistant Professor in Middle Eastern and North African history, with the possibility of a renewal. Ph.D. in hand and teaching experience preferred.
Deadline for applications: 15 March 2021. Information: https://careers.loyola.edu/postings/5271?source=JobTarget%20via%20Humanities%20and%20Social%20Sciences%20Online%20-%20H-Net&utm_source=JobTarget&utm_medium=Humanities%20and%20Social%20Sciences%20Online%20-%20H-Net&utm_campaign=Visiting%20Assistant%20Professor%20of%20Middle%20Eastern%20and%20North%20African%20History%20(1213-5271)&_jtochash=wykmJAHEEadmsmxOHgJpV&_jtocprof=sC_3bWvTFN0Mvo9NZ6KwfAKecfhsQnBf
5. Short-Term Fellowships for Young Researchers Native from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Syria, Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme (FMSH) and the Mediterranean Universities Union (UNIMED)
FMSH and UNIMED offer short-term fellowships of 2 or 3 months in France for young researchers native from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Syria and affiliated to one of the 133 Universities with membership in UNIMED. This research stay is designed to enable researchers to conduct research studies in France: field enquiries, library and archives work.
Deadline for applications: 15 March 2021. Information: https://www.fmsh.fr/en/international/30667
6. Chapters for Edited volume on “Social Histories of Disease, Medicine, and Healing in the Modern Middle East & North Africa”
This volume will illustrate how the study of medicine, disease, and healing reveal new aspects of the region’s history during the era prior to and during European imperialism, and during the era of 20th century state-building and decolonization.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2021. Information: https://histmedmena.hcommons.org/2021/02/25/cfp-social-histories-of-disease-medicine-and-healing-in-the-modern-me-na/
7. Muteferriqa: Full-text Search in Ottoman Turkish Periodicals
Muteferriqa, by Miletos, is a search engine for Ottoman Turkish printed documents. It provides a full-text search for all printed documents (newspapers, journals, books). It features all the bells and whistles of a modern search engine. When complete, Servet-i Fünûn Collection will include over 1100 issues of the periodical, spanning the years 1891-1926 covering TUFS Hakkı Tarık Us Digital Collection’s said title.
Information: http://muteferriqa.com/en/
8. MEI’s Oman Library
In October 2014, the Oman Library at the Middle East Institute (MEI) received a grant from Saudi Aramco designated to initiate a digitization of the library’s rare collection. This is the first project of its kind for MEI and the Oman Library. The digitization project utilizes a high quality resolution scanner and aims to digitize and make hundreds of materials available for online use by scholars and researchers from around the globe.
The Oman Library’s online collection is a web-based digital collection of the library’s rare books and manuscripts, consisting entirely of subjects related to Middle Eastern Studies. The topics of the rare collection range from history and culture to works of fiction from the early twentieth century. The collection includes materials in seven different languages — English, Arabic, French, Farsi, Urdu, Ottoman Turkish, and Turkish — and publications spanning the period from 1700 to 1921. In addition to the rare collection, MEI has included in the digitalization process all of its own Middle East Institute published works that span from the 1960s to 2004, including its 1947 meeting memos.
https://www.mei.edu/library/digital
9. On March 9, join The Antiquities Coalition, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of State, the Ministry of Culture of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, and the Metropolitan New York Library Council, for a live panel discussion on “Digitization of Privately Held Materials.” We will look at challenges and solutions, both for policy and for the practicalities of digitization and cultural heritage preservation.
This event will feature a Keynote address from Father Columba Stewart, the Executive Director of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library (HMML). In his role as HMML Executive Director, Fr. Columba travels extensively throughout the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, and South Asia cultivating relationships with communities possessing manuscript collections from the early medieval to early modern periods. Under his leadership, HMML’s manuscript preservation projects have increased from one project in Lebanon to projects located in more than a dozen countries. During this time, HMML has photographed tens of thousands of manuscripts in many of the world’s most dangerous and difficult-to-reach places and given priority to preserving the manuscript collections of persecuted or endangered minorities. Under his leadership, HMML was awarded the 2011 National Medal of Honor from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the highest award a library can receive in the United States. And, he was named by the NEH as the 2019 Jefferson Lecturer in the Humanities, the highest honor the federal government confers for distinguished intellectual achievement in the humanities.
________________________________
Speakers Include:
Chairman and Founder, Antiquities Coalition
Executive Director, Hill Museum and Manuscript Library
Director, Egyptian Heritage Rescue Foundation
President, Council of Library and Information Resources
Discussion Panel featuring experts from Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia
________________________________
To RSVP and register for March 9, Digitization of Privately Held Materials:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_OQpVR9FCThSiwFTXLPOCEg
Should you have any questions, please contact Helena Arose at harose@theantiquitiescoalition.org.
10. The Courtesan and the Preacher: The Romance of Mahsati, an Early Female Persian Poet
The British Library
The opening of the anonymous romance of the female poet and musician Mahsati and Amir Ahmad the preacher’s son. Copy dated Rabiʻ I 867/1462 (British Library Or.8755, f. 22v) Mahsati was one of the earliest female poets of classical Persian but the biographical details about her are rather meagre.
11. Encyclopaedia Iranica: a Dossier
https://en.radiozamaneh.com/31400/
12. The 5th IDHN Conferencewill take place on Thursday, May 6, 2021.
We are now calling for contributions from both members and guests, who are developing or deploying digital methods and tools in the study of Islam and Muslim communities. Our conference is open to participants from both humanistic and scientific disciplines. We would also like to encourage Master’s and PhD students to share their Digital Humanities research with us.
If you wish to participate in the conference, please send an email to info@idhn.org with a preliminary title, abstract (150-300 words), and your academic affiliation by Friday, April 2, 2021.
We will select four to six presentations for our conference. Each presentation will be 20 minutes long, followed by Q&A for 10 minutes.
We will hold the meeting online on ZOOM; the access code and link will be sent to you in the network’s newsletter. We will schedule our conference to accommodate presenters from all time zones. This schedule will correspond with the morning hours in the Americas and evening hours in Europe and the Middle East.
13. Le Centre de Recherche sur le Monde Iranien (CeRMI) a le plaisir de vous annoncer la tenue de la XXIIe Journée Monde Iranien, le vendredi 12 mars 2021de 9h30 à 18h.Nous avons le plaisir de vous adresser le programme complet de cette journée, en pièce-jointe. Vous pouvez également retrouver les détails de cette Journée sur le site du CeRMI : http://cermi.cnrs.fr/xxiie-journee-monde-iranien/
En raison de la situation sanitaire, cette Journée Monde Iranien se déroulera intégralement en distanciel (via Zoom). Pour vous inscrire, merci de bien vouloir remplir le formulaire en ligne : http://www.inalco.fr/webform/xxiie-journee-monde-iranien
Cette XXIIe Journée Monde Iranien est organisée par Sandra Aube Lorain, chargée de recherche au CNRS, UMR CeRMI qui est également la responsable scientifique de l’événement.
14. Workshop, CAS LMU Munich, 22 and 23 October 2021 (online)
Colour in Islam: Understanding Textual and Visual Historiographies of Colour in Inter-Disciplinary Perspective
Organized by Dr Teresa Bernheimer (Gerda-Henkel-Fellow, Institute of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, LMU, Munich) and Prof Eva-Maria Troelenberg (Chair for Modern and Contemporary Art History, Utrecht University)
How we understand and use colour says a great deal about our view and experience of the world. What is the colour of the sky? Do certain colours connote abundance? Can the description of colour be objective? How do language and vision relate in this process? Colours can be a feature of an object, an abstract idea, expression of an emotion, political symbol, practical signal, or indeed a material, a product or even a status symbol: In the study of Islam, there have been few explorations of this hugely fascinating subject. Even the rapidly growing and specializing field of Islamic art history has only recently started to look systematically into the issue of colour.
Bringing together textual and visual approaches from Islamic Studies, Art History and neighboring disciplines, this workshop aims to explore colour as a ‘blindspot’ in the modern academic historiography of Islamic arts and cultures: How have text-based Islamic studies on the one hand and object-based Islamic art history on the other hand framed the subject of colour, from the rise of these disciplines up to present? Our aim is to re-visit the historiographies of these two closely intertwined, yet often conflicting disciplines through the lense of colour. How does scholarly attention to colour (or the lack thereof) relate to the placement of Islamicate cultures within larger historical or geographical classifications such as the ‘Late Antique’, the “Modern”, the ‘Mediterranean’ or the ‘Middle East’? What are the practical and epistemic implications of conveying colour? How have the colours of Islam
been represented through the visual practices of art history? How have they been translated into the languages of modern scholarship? What is the place of colour in scholarly narratives about the arts and cultures of Islam? Are there particular culturalist tropes related to particular colours or colouristic principles, and where do they stem from? These and other related questions will enhance our understanding of the historical role of colour in Islam.
We invite applications from junior and senior scholars from across the disciplines, to contribute to the critical debate on the merits, challenges and blindspots of modern historiographies on colour at the intersection of Islamic studies, history, art history, and related disciplines.
The workshop “Colour in Islam: Understanding Textual and Visual Historiographies of Colour in Inter-Disciplinary Perspective” is part of a larger inter-disciplinary project on Colour in Islam envisaged by Dr Teresa Bernheimer (Gerda-Henkel-Fellow, Institute of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, LMU) and Prof Eva-Maria Troelenberg (Chair for Modern and Contemporary Art History, Utrecht University). The workshop will take place under the aegis of CAS Munich on October 22 and 23, 2021.
Please send a short abstract to julia.schreiner@cas.lmu.de by April 16, 2021
15. Associate Professor, Pre-Islamic Religions of the Mediterranean region / Middle East (University of Bergen)
Associate professor
The Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion invites applications for a permanent position as associate professor in the Study of Religions.
The Study of Religions represents the historical and systematic study of religions as cultural phenomena. The perspective is cross-cultural and comparative. The department offers teaching and research on a wide range of religions, with teaching and supervision offered at bachelor, master and doctoral level. There are currently ten permanent academic positions in the Study of Religions at the department.
Qualification requirements and work tasks:
The successful applicant must have research competence on the level of a Norwegian PhD within the Study of Religions. In the evaluation, publications from the latest five years will be emphasized.
The position has teaching, research, dissemination and administrative components. The applicants must have solid and broad qualifications in the Study of Religions. In the evaluation of the candidates, research competence and teaching experience in the pre-Islamic history of religions of the Mediterranean region and/or the Middle East will be emphasized.
Personal aptitude will be of great importance. Emphasis will be put on the ability to work collaboratively, and on the applicant’s research in progress and potential to strengthen the department’s academic profile over the coming years. Experience in attracting external funding will also be given emphasis.
Basic teaching training and experience in the supervision of students at university level is a requirement for the position as associate professor. This implies completed formal pedagogical training, as well as basic skills in planning, implementation, evaluation and development of teaching and supervision. Relevant courses in combination with actual teaching experience could replace a university pedagogy program. Should the successful applicant not have such competence at the time of appointment, they will be required to document such training within two years of the date of appointment.
Pedagogical training must be documented in a pedagogical portfolio which should include a documented overview of practical experience and competence as well as a brief reflection statement. The statement should primarily describe the applicant’s own teaching philosophy and an evaluation of their own teaching in relation to their knowledge of students’ learning at a higher education level. For further information on how to document pedagogical training, please click here.
Norwegian will normally be the language of administration and teaching. The successful applicant will be required to teach in Norwegian or another Scandinavian language within three years of being appointed. The university provides suitable courses for learning Norwegian.
The successful applicant will be expected to relocate to Bergen, to work and participate in the running of the department on a daily basis and to conform to the regulations that apply to the position.
We can offer:
- Salary in accordance with pay grade 64 (code 1011/frame 24) on the State Salary Scale (currently NOK 575.200 gross p.a.). From the gross wage a 2 % law-enforced membership in the State Pension Fund (Statens Pensjonskasse) is deducted. Further increase in salary will depend on seniority. Higher initial placement may be considered for a particularly well-qualified applicant.
- A good and professionally challenging working environment
- Enrolment in the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund
- A position in an inclusive workplace (IA enterprise)
- Good welfare benefits
For further details see
https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/200558/associate-professor-in-the-study-of-religions
Application deadline: 14 March 2021
- March 02, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Digital Islamicate Paleography and Codicology Summer School
June 1-August 20, 2021
The Roshan Institute for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland (Roshan Institute-UMD) is offering a free, stipend-supported twelve-week online summer course on digital Islamicate paleography and codicology. We are seeking graduate students interested in the intersection of Arabic-script paleography and codicology with digital humanities methods and technologies. The course will run from June 1st to August 20th, and will be capped at five graduate students. The course will be free of charge, and students selected for participation will be given a $5,000 stipend in return for their participation and completion of the course requirements.
Please see the course website for more details: http://islamicate-dh.github.io/AboutDPC.
Inquiries and applications (an up-to-date CV and a cover letter explaining interest and applicability) can be directed to the course instructor, Dr. Jonathan Parkes Allen: jallen22@umd.edu, or to the director of the ACDC project, Dr. Matthew Thomas Miller: mtmiller@umd.edu. Applications will be accepted up until March 15th; we will notify students selected for participation by March 20th.
2. UCLA Iranian Studies
Book Talk – Women in Place: The Politics of Gender Segregation in Iran (University of California Press, 2020)
by Nazanin Shahrokni
Sunday, March 7 at 11:30am Pacific via Zoom
To register and receive the Zoom webinar information, please click here.
This lecture will be in Persian.
https://nelc.ucla.edu/event/bilingual-lecture-series-nazanin-shahrokni/
3. The Umayyads from West to East: New Perspectives
International Online Workshop
22-23 March 2021
RomanIslam Center. Universität Hamburg.
The conference will be transmitted online via ZOOM and external
participants are welcome. Please contact Laura Donath
(laura.donath@studium.uni-hamburg.de) by March 18/2021 to gain access to the
link.
Please find the program in the following link:
https://www.romanislam.uni-hamburg.de/events-news/news/workshop-umayyads.html
4. IMEST Lecture Series
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies in Taiwan is a listserver aiming to promote Islamic and Middle Eastern studies in Taiwan and connect Taiwanese scholarship with academics in the field based in different parts of the world. Taking the advantage of the lockdown and the consequent webinarisation of the intellectual activities, IMEST will start out by holding a series of lectures on different topics on monthly or bimonthly basis.
If you would like to invite your colleague(s) to this email-list or circulate information about relevant events of interest, useful websites and news of publications and other academic activities, please send to isu@nccu.edu.tw .
Our first speaker, Yasmin Amin, phD candidate and soon phD, will talk about her new book: Islamic Interpretive Tradition and Gender Justice (https://www.mqup.ca/islamic-interpretive-tradition-and-gender-justice-products-9780228001638.php )
The talk will be held on March 8, 2021, 17.30 (GMT +8).
For registration, please sign before March 5, 17.00 (GMT+8): https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfYXJb3Ze-cb8tRikkYyhS8totzb08IjnbcwjqwlxFJpS1xWA/viewform?usp=sf_link
Further information about the talk and the speaker will be circulated.
all the best,
Dr. I-Wen Su, Associate Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Culture, National Chengchi University
Author of The Shīʿī Past in the Great Book of the Songs (New Jersey: Gorgias Press, 2021)
Director of Center for the Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies
5. The Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) is pleased to announce that our intensive summer Arabic programs will be offered online between June 14 and July 30, 2021.
CAMES offers two separate seven-week programs that provide intensive online instruction in Arabic through a rigorous academic curriculum, complemented by an integrated series of films, guest lectures, and other online activities:
- Arabic Language and Culture Program: this program is designed for learners who want to develop their overall proficiency in Arabic in both its Standard and Lebanese varieties. The program emphasizes the development of various skills within a communicative, proficiency-based framework that considers Arabic in all its varieties as “one language”. To this end, it integrates Standard Arabic and Lebanese Arabic within the same course, and gives special attention to the development of intercultural competence in Arabic.
- Lebanese Arabic Program: this program is designed for learners who want to develop their proficiency in Lebanese Arabic. The program focuses on speaking and listening skills, as well as building/enhancing intercultural competence in Lebanese Arabic.
Each program provides nine credit hours of instruction at various levels of proficiency. Students may transfer the credits earned to their home institutions.
The application deadline is April 14, 2021. For detailed information about the academic content of our programs, application forms, costs, and financial support, please visit our website.
Contact us on cames@aub.edu.lb if you have any questions.
6. Qur’an manuscripts from Southeast Asia digitised by the Endangered Archives Programme
From the British Library
7. British Society for Middle Eastern Studies
BRISMES Early Career Development (ECR) Prize (2 prizes of £2000 each)
The aim of the BRISMES Early Career Development Prize is to support activities geared toward strengthening the academic profile and CV of an early career scholar. More information
BRISMES Conference Student Paper Prize (£300)
The aim of the BRISMES Conference Student Paper Prize is to support BRISMES student members in the development of peer-reviewed work. The prize winner will be mentored through a review process at BJMES, by a senior member of the BRISMES academic community. More information
Upcoming Event: Publishing in Leading MENA-Focused Journals in the UK and the USA
Join us on Wednesday 17 March at 5:00 PM (GMT) for this event hosted by the Middle East and North Africa Centre at Sussex (MENACS). BJMES editor Dr Lloyd Ridgeon will join Dr Andrew Arsan, editor of Mashriq & Mahjar, in a Zoom webinar for an insightful conversation on academic publishing in the UK and USA. The editors will share the history, aims and scopes of their journals, compare peer-reviewed publishing in the USA and the UK, provide tips on submitting manuscripts, and take questions from the audience. Find out more about the event and how to attend on the BRISMES website.
8. The Arab Winter: Democratic Consolidation, Civil War, and Radical Islamists
SOAS University of London | 2 March 2021, 5:30 PM
This is the next event in the SOAS Lecture Programme on the Contemporary Middle East. This unique comparative analysis of countries before, during and after the Arab Spring seeks to explain the divergent outcomes, disappointing and even harrowing results of efforts to overcome democratic consolidation challenges, from the tentative democracy in Tunisia to the emergence of the Islamic State, and civil war and authoritarian retrenchment everywhere else.
9. H.M. King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan Fellowship for the Study of Love in Religion
Regent’s Park College | University of Oxford
Regent’s Park College, a Permanent Private Hall within the University of Oxford, welcomes applications for the H.M. King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein of Jordan Fellowship for the Study of Love in Religion which will run for a term of five and one-half years from 1 September 2021. The post is situated at present within a wider project for the Study of Love in Religion at Regent’s Park College, a research programme of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture.
Closing date for applications | 9 April 2021
Further information
10. Revelation in the Qur’an: A Semantic Study of the Roots n-z-l and w-ḥ-y (Brill, Texts and Studies on the Qurʾān, Volume 18, 2021)
Simon P. Loynes.
https://brill.com/view/title/59761
11. Arabic Language at Duke University (Instructor or Visiting Lecturer / Prof. of the Practice)
for details see: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/18209
Instructor, Visiting Lecturer or Visiting Assistant Professor of the Practice of Arabic
The Department of Asian & Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina invites applicants for one full-time Instructor or Visiting Lecturer / Professor of the Practice in Arabic language beginning August 1, 2021. The contract for the position is for a one academic year (2021-2022). Applicants should be prepared to teach Arabic at all levels. The teaching load is five courses (3/2), and active participation in Arabic language curricular and co-curricular activities is required. Applicants should hold an MA or a higher degree in Second Language Pedagogy, Applied Linguistics, Arabic Literature, or a related field with native or near-native proficiency in Arabic and English. Experience in teaching undergraduates in North America is required. Adaptability with instructional technologies, experience with team-teaching, and demonstration of active participation in the professional field are highly desirable.
To be assured of consideration, submit an application by April 1, 2021, consisting of: 1) a current CV; 2) a letter of application detailing professional activities, scholarly interests, and teaching experience; 3) a portfolio including, but not limited to, the following: sample syllabi for core courses taught in Arabic sequence; a 15-30 minute video of teaching demonstration; official teaching evaluations for the past year; 4) the names of two referees (the search committee will request these letters at a later stage of the search). Application materials should be uploaded to this Academic Jobs Online Portal at https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/18209. Additional information may be obtained at amesdept@duke.edu.
12. Reprint of the Persian Mahabharata from Shirazeh Publishing
The Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS) is pleased to announce the reprint edition of the monumental 4-volume Persian translation of the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata that was completed under the Mughal Emperor Akbar in the sixteenth century. The text was edited by the late distinguished Professors Jalali Naini and N.S. Shukla, and published in 1979-81 by Kitabkhaneh-ye Tahuri. Records in Worldcat indicate that very few libraries own a copy. The reprint will not be available in bookstores or through booksellers but must be ordered from ASPS and will be sent directly from the publisher in Shiraz.
The cost of the 4-volume set inclusive of postage is: US $125 or €100.
To order please send an email to Professor Alyssa Gabbay (Alyssa Gabbay <abgabbay@uncg.edu>).
13. OIMP 40. Antoin Sevruguin: Past and Present
Tasha Vorderstrasse, ed. Chicago, 2020
Explore the changing world of late nineteenth-century Iran through the gaze of one of its most renowned photographers, Antoin Sevruguin. This volume, which will be accompanied by a forthcoming exhibition, publishes for the first time the Oriental Institute Museum’s complete collection of nineteenth-century Iranian photographs, most of which were created by Sevruguin. Sevruguin’s artfully staged photographs still resonate with us today. Accompanying the print catalog is a series of essays that investigate Sevruguin’s life and photographic career, including the lasting impact of his unique vision, as demonstrated by the work of contemporary artist Yassaman Ameri.
https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oimp/oimp-40-antoin-sevruguin
14. Afghan Newspaper Now Available Online Open Access
Over 1,200 issues of the Afghan newspaper Kārawān are now available.
published: 2020/09/04
contact: Amy Schindler – Archives and Special Collections
phone: 402.554.6046
email: acschindler@unomaha.edu
https://www.unomaha.edu/criss-library/news/2020/09/afghan-newspaper-open-access.php
15. CONF: The Other Asia: Central Asia and Library Collections (online, 18 March 2021
Opening Remarks: Professor David W. Roland-Holst, Agricultural and Resource Economics, UC Berkeley
Speakers:
Mr. Andy Spencer, Librarian, Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies Librarian, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dr. Akram Habibulla, Librarian for Middle Eastern, Islamic, and Central Eurasian Studies, Indiana University
Dr. Shah Mahmoud Hanifi, Professor of History and the founding coordinator of the Middle Eastern Communities and Migrations minor, James Madison University
Emily Laskin, Ph.D. Candidate Slavic Languages and LiteraturesUC Berkeley
Organizer: Dr. Liladhar R. Pendse, UC Berkeley
Event Registration: http://ucblib.link/3c7
March 18, 202111 am-12:30 PST/ 1 pm-2:30 EST
16. Urdu Summer Language Program (Lahore University of Management Sciences)
The LUMS Urdu Language Program, is a brand-new opportunity for students from around the world to study Urdu language and literature and learn about Pakistani society and culture firsthand at LUMS, the leading university in Pakistan’s cultural capital, Lahore.
Urdu is a key research language for students of South Asian history, geography, politics, art history, literature, cinema, religion, and other fields; we aim to provide an immersive program in Pakistan for students of Urdu as a second language that also will facilitate their other scholarly work in the region. The LUMS Urdu Language Program is housed on our secure campus where students will have access to our world-class library, gym, dining facilities, medical center, and other university amenities and student services.
In Pakistan and at LUMS we will provide students with a truly immersive Urdu experience. In Lahore, students will have the opportunity to be immersed in a world of Urdu both inside and outside of the classroom. Not only they will be able to explore the city of Urdu literary giants such as Iqbal, Faiz, and Manto, but also have the chance to be surrounded by Urdu in public spaces and most importantly to experience daily interactions in the language.Our cutting-edge, student-centered curriculum has been developed by a team of specialized instructors with extensive pedagogical training and experience in the United States. Our teachers have taught at leading universities including the University of Virginia, Indiana University Bloomington, Michigan State University, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and have been trained in Urdu language pedagogy at the University of Texas at Austin and at UC Berkeley.
Any further inquiries can be directed to: urdu@lums.edu.pk or by replying to this email. Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions regarding the program!
Best wishes,
LUMS Urdu Language Program Team
https://www.facebook.com/LUMS-Urdu-Language-Program-173837317500630
- February 27, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Online Webinar – What can Islamic Law teach us about Islamic Art and Architecture, Ruba Kana’an – February 25
The Department of Art History and Visual Studies, University of Victoria is delighted to be hosting a webinar discussion featuring Dr. Ruba Kana’an, entitled “What can Islamic Law teach us about Islamic art and architecture?” Dr. Kana’an will be in discussion with Dr. Marcus Milwright with the Q&A session facilitated by Zahra Kazani.
The webinar is scheduled for Thursday, February 25, 2021 at 4:00 – 5:30 pm (PST).
Dr. Ruba Kana’an is an assistant professor of Islamic art and architecture at the Department of Visual Studies, University of Toronto Mississauga and was the 2018-2019 Barakat Senior Fellow in Islamic Art, University of Oxford. Dr. Kana’an’s primary research focuses on the Intersections between art, artists, art production and law in historical and contemporary contexts. She is author of the forthcoming book The Friday Mosque: Law, Architecture, and Authority in Pre-Modern Muslim Societies.
For registration to the webinar, see:
https://uvic.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Sln8sUXHQrmnjBmYNadfNw
This event is part of the Orion Series in Fine Arts, and is co-sponsored by the Faculty of Law at the University of Victoria and the Middle East and Islamic Studies Consortium of British Columbia.
2. ASPIRANTUM language school has announced 2 new online courses:
Middle Persian Course: https://aspirantum.com/courses/middle-persian-pahlavi-school
Old Persian Course: https://aspirantum.com/courses/old-persian-school
Our other Persian language courses:
Persian through the Shahname: https://aspirantum.com/courses/learn-persian-through-shahname
Persian Summer School in Yerevan: https://aspirantum.com/courses/persian-language-summer-school-04-july-28-august-2021-yerevan-armenia
Persian Semester in Yerevan: https://aspirantum.com/courses/study-persian-language-semester-abroad
3. ONLINE Colloquium: “Qur’ān Translations and Interpretations by European Muslims”, ERC Project “The European Qur’ān, 1150-1850” (EuQu), University of Amsterdam, 5 March 2021
This one-day colloquium aims to foster existing collaborations of the team at the University of Amsterdam (UvA) with the project members, as well as to facilitate knowledge exchange with other scholars working on similar topics outside the EuQu. The discussion will focus on Qur’ān translation and interpretation practices adopted by Muslims in different regions of wider Europe, as well as on Muslim-Christian interactions brought about by those translation activities.
4. ONLINE Conference: “Qur’an and Bible”, ERC Project “The European Qur’an”, University of Notre Dame, 22-26 March 2021, 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm CET
This workshop will explore the changing ways in which Medieval and Early Modern Jewish, Christian and Muslim readers relate Biblical literature and Qur’an. How did medieval and early modern readers assess the relationship between the two scriptures? How did they account for narrative parallels as well as the differences they found in them?
Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/attend-quran-and-bible-22-26-march-remote?e=82aeb6c61d
5. International Conference: “Arabic Historiography, Narratives of Order, and Discourses of Sovereignty in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria” (ERC Project, Gent University, 2017-21), Cairo, 28-30 November 2021
Papers are invited on the Arabic historiographical traditions of the ‘Mamluk’ Sultanate of Cairo (7th – 13th centuries) that question the complex contextual, textual or semiotic layers which connect texts of history in diverse ways to the social, cultural and above all political environments of their production, reception and circulation.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 April 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/8330/discussions/6971193/call-papers
6. Research Associate for the Project “Romanization and Islamication in Late Antiquity – Transcultural Processes on the Iberian Peninsula and in North Africa”, DFG Kolleg-Forschungsgruppe “RomanIslam”, Universität Hamburg
Requirements: an excellent university degree (MA) in a relevant field of Middle Eastern history and culture; excellent Arabic skills; experience with Arabic historical primary sources; excellent knowledge of English, and French. The knowledge of further relevant languages, such as Latin, and Spanish, etc. is advantageous. Experience in working with additional sources, such as archaeological, numismatic, and geographical material is welcome but not a requirement.
Deadline for applications: 15 March 2021. Information: https://www.romanislam.uni-hamburg.de/documents/66-gw-28-3-research-associate-phd.pdf
7. Appel à projets 2021 « Islam, religion et société (en France) » du ministère de l’intérieur, Paris
Le ministère soutient la recherche et notamment les jeunes chercheurs et post-doctorants dans les champs disciplinaires de l’islamologie et des sciences humaines sur l’islam en France.
La date limite de candidature est fixée au 29 mars 2021 par : bureau-central-cultes@interieur.gouv.fr. Information : https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Publications/Cultes-et-laicite/Appels-a-projets-AAP-Islam-religion-et-societe.
8. Appel à contribution pour la nouvelle revue « Bidaya – Revue étudiante francophone en sciences humaines et sociales sur le monde arabe»
Cette revue vise à soutenir l’entrée des étudiants dans le monde de la recherche, en leur fournissant des conseils sur les techniques de rédaction d’articles et un espace de publication inédit. La revue sera composé du dossier principal et d’un dossier thématique, qui, dans cette édition, traitera le sujet « femmes et révolutions arabes ». Au-delà, la revue accueillera des articles variés portant sur le monde arabe et contient une rubrique pour des recensions et critiques.
Date limite d’envoi des propositions : 28 mars 2021. Information : https://www.carep-paris.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Appel-a-contribution_revue_revue_Bidaya_N%C2%B01.pdf
9. Articles on “The Politics of Syria” for Special Issue of Journal “Siasat-al-Insaf”
In this edition, we seek scholarly and opinionated papers that explore topics, discourses, motifs, interests, or perspectives that go beyond the image of Syria as a conflict zone, or the country which is the product of a conflict zone. The issue aims to incentivize Syria in a positive light, focussing on the contributions of Syria (politically, economically, literarily, historically, and socially) in the world order.
Deadline for articles: 20 April 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/7277183/politics-syria
10. Paid Research Articles on “What has Changed in the Decade since the Outbreak of the Arab Uprisings?” for a Special Issue of the Journal “Rowaq Arabi”
This issue aims at providing original research in English or Arabic on the changes that occurred during the past decade following the Arab Uprisings. Evidently, protesters across the region have learnt lessons from their failures, while the existing authoritarian elites have as well learnt their own in repressing and circumventing any potential political mobilisation.
Deadline for manuscripts: 15 March 2021. Information: https://rowaq.cihrs.org/call-for-papers-what-has-changed-in-the-decade-since-the-outbreak-of-the-arab-uprisings/?lang=en
11. Patchwork for a Prince: Exploring Persian Anthology British Library Or.13193
Aq Qoyunlu prince ‘Abu’l-‘Izz [Yamin al-Din] Yusuf Bahadur Khan. Yusuf was one of the sons of Sultan Uzun Hasan Aq Qoyunlu, and brother to Sultan Ya’qub Aq Qoyunlu.
12. Call for papers: Archaeology of Islamic Society at ASOR 2021
We invite you to submit a paper abstract for the Archaeology of Islamic Society session for ASOR 2021. We would welcome papers on any period or region involving Islamic archaeology.
The deadline to submit abstracts is March 15.
This year, ASOR will consist of an in-person component in Chicago from November 17–20 and a virtual component on December 9–12. Please see here for more information on how to submit a paper: https://www.asor.org/am/2021/call-for-papers-2021. You can submit an abstract to either session or you can submit the same abstract to both sessions and it will count as a single paper presentation.
We look forward to seeing you in Chicago or online! Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Ian Jones, University of California, San Diego (ijones@ucsd.edu)
Tasha Vorderstrasse, University of Chicago (tkvorder@uchicago.edu)
13. I have the great pleasure in announcing the publication of our new Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World and our inaugural double issue 2020.
https://brill.com/view/journals/mcmw/1/1-2/mcmw.1.issue-1-2.xml
The Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW) is published by BRILL with the support of the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.
MCMW aims to be a new reference for field archaeologists, (art) historians, anthropologists, curators, and scholars and students of the (art) history, archaeology, architecture, anthropology and ethnography of the Muslim world. This readership represents a new broader definition of material culture that includes not only artefacts, architectural structures and monuments, but also crafts. The journal also aims to inform (other) disciplines and historiographies, by including (unreviewed) archaeological field surveys for example.
The journal focuses on un(der)explored Muslim regions outside of the Middle East and North Africa: Sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Ocean, Central Asia, India, South-East Asia and Europe.
The journal accepts submissions in English, French, German and Spanish and short reports in Arabic, Persian and Turkish with an English abstract. Submissions should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief at: Stephane.Pradines@aku.edu.
- February 23, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Indo-Persian Confluence
Symposium Four
“Indo-Persian Musical Confluences: From Tajikistan to Gujarat”
Sunday, February 21, 2021
10am PST, Zoom
RSVP: https://ucla.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJckfuusrzMiH9dqVhzZB1cH-1QsCJWc-U77
This event brings together international scholars discussing Indo-Persian musical hybrids in four different musical traditions within current geographical borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan/Iran.
Panelists
Mejgan Masoumi (Stanford University)
Ariane Zevaco (CNRS, France)
Jean During (CNRS, France)
Brian Bond (CUNY)
Chair and Moderator
George Murer (CUNY)
Link to the Calendar Event Page: https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/event/indo-persian-mus…istan-to-gujarat/
For more information on The Indo-Persian Music Confluence project: https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/indo-persian-musical-confluence/
2. A tongue-in-cheek guide for wannabe Iran experts by Ladane Nasseri
3. Encyclopædia Iranica Online Now Freely Accessible at Brill
The Ehsan Yarshater Center for Iranian Studies at Columbia University is pleased to announce that the Encylopaedia Iranica Online is now freely accessible at https://brill.com/eiro <https://brill.com/eiro> or through https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-iranica-online <https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/encyclopaedia-iranica-online>. This new website, hosted by Brill, a leading academic publisher, is the only digital platform authorized by Columbia University for the ‘Encyclopaedia Iranica’ content produced and curated by the Yarshater Center.
Encyclopaedia Iranica Online provides corrected and updated articles from older print and online content, and it includes articles from fascicles published by Brill up to the recent XVI/6 (Khomeini – Khorasan XIV). Entirely new online articles will be published as expeditiously as possible. The new Encyclopaedia Iranica Online website brings many improvements and conveniences for users, including better integrated graphics and tables and a print-on-demand feature. It offers a more powerful search engine offering researchers the capability to search not only Encyclopaedia Iranica content but an array of other Brill online reference works. Professional researchers will also find the ability to cite Encyclopaedia Iranica articles enhanced both by their presence on the website of a respected academic publisher and the provision of details such as digital object identifier (DOI) numbers. In order to view images, login with:
Username: oa
Password: oa
For more details, see:
https://cfis.columbia.edu/news/encyclopaedia-iranica-partners-brill-academic-publishers
Note therein: ‘Without the subsidies the Encyclopaedia Iranica has received in the past, costs for accessing the work will necessarily increase, but Brill has generously agreed that those parts of the Encyclopaedia Iranica currently in open-access will remain available online without charge for a period of up to two years.’
4. Connecting Distant Worlds: The International Society for Arabic Papyrology (ISAP) Online Conference (Online, 15-18 March, 2021)
Further info and programme at:
https://www.naher-osten.uni-muenchen.de/isap/isap_conference_2021/index.html
5. Persian Language Rare Materials | Digital Collections | Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/collections/persian-language-rare-materials/about-this-collection/
6. Pahlavi State and Society
Thursday March 4, 2021 at 10:00am Pacific via Zoom
https://nelc.ucla.edu/event/pahlavi-workshop-panel-2/
This second panel of the Iranian Studies workshop, “History and Historiography of Pahlavi Iran, 1921-1979.
7. ‘Zoroastrian law and the spread of Islam in Iranian society (ninth–tenth century)’,
BSOAS, C Sahner.
- February 20, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Departmental Lecturer of Indian History and Culture, Oxford
Faculty of Oriental Studies, Pusey Lane, Oxford
Grade 7: £32,817 – £40,322 per annum
The University is seeking to appoint a Departmental Lecturer of Indian History and Culture. The University interprets History and Culture widely, to include any historical period ancient, medieval, or modern, and any cultural field. Applications are invited from scholars of Indian history and culture regardless of disciplinary specialisation. On this occasion, however, we would particularly welcome applications from scholars in the field of sixteenth to twentieth century Indian history and culture. The Faculty of Oriental Studies is committed to the view that all disciplines must be studied on the basis of mastery of original languages.
The Departmental Lecturer will engage in advanced study and, primarily, lecture and teach undergraduate and graduate students, and conduct independent research.
You will have a doctorate or equivalent in a relevant subject by the time of appointment, a proven ability to give lectures and classes, and a solid linguistic knowledge of at least one Indian language apart from English required for the study of Indian history. The successful candidate will have a broad vision of the scope of Indian history, a current and projected research and publications record in one or more aspect(s) of Indian history and culture, an ability to initiate the organization of, and to participate in, conferences, seminars and other research meetings, and an ability to contribute to Faculty administration.
This position is based in central Oxford. This is a full-time, fixed-term position between 1 October 2021 and 30 September 2024, to cover the teaching and other duties of the vacant Professor of Indian History and Culture post.
The closing date for applications is 12 noon on 26 March 2021.
| Contact Person : | Recruitment Administrator | Vacancy ID : | 149478 |
| Contact Phone : | 01865 278201 | Closing Date & Time : | 26-Mar-2021 12:00 |
| Contact Email : | recruitment@orinst.ox.ac.uk |
2. PERSIA: An Area Study, 1633
By Joannes de Laet, Translated from the latin by Willem Floor & Colette Ouahes
Mage, 2021
https://magepublishers.com/persia-an-area-study-1633/
3. ONLINE Panel on “Higher Education and Academic Freedom in Turkey: Boğaziçi Yesterday and Today”, Sponsored by OTSA and MESA, Istanbul, 15 February 2021, 12:00 pm EST
Former and current Boğaziçi professors will discuss the state of higher education in Turkey by reflecting on the past of Boğaziçi University and analyzing the recent events that have been unfolding since the appointment of a new university president.
Information and registration: https://ucdavis.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJwvcumorTktHN0ZxQRihHj0uqq1LZ-7Uy6s
4. ONLINE Workshop: “Realising Understanding: Language in Cross-cultural Migration/Integration and Secular-Religious Contexts (Focus: Interaction between European and Islamicate Cultures) ”, Freie Universität Berlin, 18 February 2021, 10:00 am – 4:30 pm CET
The workshop will discuss the use of language in multi- and cross-cultural contexts shaped by different linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the communicating parties and analyze (mis-) understandings in the context of migration and integration with the intention to identify factors that can support genuine understanding.
Registration: housamedden.darwish@uni-leipzig.de; Information and program: https://www.fu-berlin.de/en/sites/academicsinsolidarity/news/Realising-Workshop.html?fbclid=IwAR3uMlwcAk0frV4qP0VhOFOjtgnthcWbSvMj637X3Nou0n-gYOzHgO4N524
5. ONLINE Seminar on “Cultural Brokerage in Pre-modern Islam: Magic and Divination in the Cairo Genizah: Jewish, Muslim and Other Texts” by Prof. Gideon Bohak (Tel Aviv University), 22 February 2021, 17:30-19:00 IST
Information and registration: https://iias.huji.ac.il/event/magic-and-divination-cairo-genizah-jewish-muslim-and-other-texts-seminar
6. ONLINE Seminar: “Bernard Lewis, Fouad Ajami, and the ‘Clash of Civilizations’”, Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa (ASMEA), 23 February 2021, 12:00 pm EST
Prof. Martin Kramer will examine how the founders of the ASMEA related to the influential concept popularized by Samuel Huntington. Both Lewis and Ajami demonstrated an initial ambivalence, and a later acceptance. Kramer will pose the question of which of their rationales speak to us most clearly today.
Information: https://www.asmeascholars.org/webinar
7. ONLINE Discussion by Alexandre Caeiro and Nathan Brown on “The Government of Pearling: A Social History of Law in the Arabian Gulf (1860-1950)”, 4 March 2021, 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm EST
The scholars will discuss the legal regulation of the pearl trade; the effects of British attempts to re-organize the pearling industry and reshape the legal systems of the Gulf sheikhdoms; and the relationship between “ruler’s courts”, “merchants’ courts,” and “Islamic courts.”
Information and registration: https://imes.elliott.gwu.edu/calendar_event/the-government-of-pearling/
8. ONLINE Panel: “Pan-Asian Modernity Beyond the Colonial Gaze: Education, Social Ethics, and Universal Religion”, Virtual Annual Conference of the Association for Asian Studies (AAS), 25 March 2021, 8:30 am – 10:00 am ET
Panel organizer and speaker: Maria-Magdalena Pruss (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient Berlin). This panel focuses on translocal intellectual and social networks between the Middle East and other parts of Asia from the 17th to the 20th centuries which were created by Muslims and non-Muslims alike. It investigates how knowledge about Islam and the Muslim world was produced, translated, disseminated and adapted through these networks.
Registration deadline at reduced-rate: 1 March 2021 at https://www.asianstudies.org/conference. Information: https://www.eventscribe.net/2021/AASVirtual/agenda.asp?startdate=3/25/2021&enddate=3/25/2021&BCFO=M|OD&pfp=FullSchedule&tn=&cpf2=&cus2=&pta
9. Two-year Post-doctoral Fellowship, Haifa Center for Mediterranean History (2021-2023)
We are looking for candidates able to demonstrate proven academic excellence in their respective fields of expertise, together with an extensive background in Mediterranean studies. We encourage applications from candidates working in all related fields. Applicants must hold a Ph.D. by the beginning of the fellowship tenure period, and no longer than five years.
Deadline for applications: 1 March 2021. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/apply-two-year-post-doctoral-fellowship-at-the-haifa-center-for-mediterranean-history-2021-23?e=82aeb6c61d
10. One-Year Visiting Assistant Professorship in Arabic Studies, Arabic Studies Department at Williams College, Williamstown (MA)
Candidates should have native or near-native fluency in Arabic; provide evidence of demonstrated excellence in undergraduate teaching of the Arabic language; and hold a Ph.D. in a relevant field by the beginning of their appointment on 1 July 2021.
Applications should be submitted by 1 March 2021. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/83612
11. Postdoctoral Fellowship for Modern Arabic Literature, Tulane University, New Orleans
Requirements: Candidates must have received their PhD after 1 September 2018 and no later than 30 June 2021. They are expected to design and teach courses on literature and cultural production from the MENA region, time period open.
Deadline for applications: 30 March 2021. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2021/02/12/mellon-postdoctoral-fellowship-in-the-humanities-modern-arabic-literature
12. Call for Submissions
The Board of Directors of Middle East Medievalists (MEM) is pleased to request submissions for its biennial prize for best book on the medieval Middle East (ca. 500-1500 CE). The prize will be awarded at the 2021 annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association.
Below is a list of criteria for the upcoming competition:
- Books published between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2021 are eligible for this year’s prize.
- Books must be non-fiction scholarly monographs based on original research. Works not eligible include edited collections and compilations, proceedings of symposia, new editions of previously published books, bibliographies, dictionaries, textbooks, and surveys.
- Authors must be current members in good standing of Middle East Medievalists to be considered. To join MEM or renew your membership, please visit our MEMbership page.
TO NOMINATE A BOOK
Deadline: April 1, 2021
- Authors or publishers should submit a short letter of nomination (preferably in an e-mail) noting the title, publisher, date of publication, and series (if appropriate) to the Chair of the Selection Committee, Najam Haider nhaider@barnard.edu , by April 1 2021.
- Send hard copies of the book to each of the *four* members of the Selection committee (addresses listed below) postmarked by April 15 2021.
If you have questions about the prize, please contact Najam Haider ( nhaider@barnard.edu )
13. Re-launched Journal: Middle Eastern Literatures
I’m writing to announce that after 10 years as editor of the journal Middle Eastern Literatures, Prof. Wen-Chin Ouyang has handed the journal off to a new group of co-editors (Huda Fakhreddine, Charis Olszok, Nora Parr, and me!). We’re very excited for the new era of this important journal and have recruited an excellent editorial board to support and guide us.
We are especially excited to help the journal become a leading platform for a comparative literature that is not centered on Euro-American history and “research that identifies literature and culture of the Middle East not just as subjects of study, but as locations of knowledge with relevance beyond any one academic discipline or field of thought.”
The co-editors and the members of the editorial board are committed to nurturing ambitious scholarship, to providing constructive, challenging, and supportive feedback, and to so in a timely fashion. We are committed to completing peer review of submissions within 3 months.
It is time for the historical, contemporary, and potential cultures, which we love and serve through our scholarship, to occupy the center of a broad and dynamic scholarly conversation and not simply to be reduced to a footnote in the World Literature juggernaut.
You can reach us at MELiteratures@gmail.com
We look forward to working with you over the decade to come!
Yours,
Huda Fakhreddine
Charis Olszok
Nora Parr
Adam Talib
- February 16, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. History of Hospitals in Iran, 550–1950
W Floor
Mage, 2020
https://magepublishers.com/history-of-hospitals-in-iran-550-1950/
2. Online lecture – Anna Contadini, “Book culture in the Arab world: An illustrated herbal of the 13th century” – 23 February 2021
Professor Anna Contadini (SOAS, University of London) will deliver a lecture on recent research on the illustrated Arabic Dioscorides in the University Library of Bologna. Entitled “Book culture in the Arab world: An illustrated herbal of the 13th century”, the lecture is organized by the Oxford Bibliographical Society and the Centre for Islamic Studies.
Tuesday 23 February 2021 at 17:00 GMT. https://www.oxbibsoc.org.uk/lectures/book-culture-in-the-arab-world
The lecture will be held virtually, by ZOOM. Open to all, to attend please contact sarah.cusk@lincoln.ox.ac.uk
3. Iranzamin is the first survey exhibition of Persian arts and crafts acquired by the Powerhouse Museum (Sydney) since its founding in 1880. It explores the stories behind rarely seen artefacts from the middle of the 19th century to now, shedding light on the diverse social and cultural history of Persia – today’s Iran – and its people.
The exhibition examines how objects inspired by traditional arts and crafts were used in Persian society, focusing on seven themes: Joy and Happiness; Purification and Cleansing; Spirituality and Devotion; Poetry and Calligraphy; Rituals and Performance; Patronage and Craftsmanship; Nature and Design. Iranzamin encompasses a diversity of materials and techniques, including hand-woven crafts, carpets and rugs; arms and armour; glass, ceramics and tiles; textiles, embroidery and foundry.
Iranzamin examines how the influence of Persia, situated between two major trade routes – the Silk Road and the Indian Ocean – spread out into the world. Special attention is paid to the influence of Persian culture on non-Iranian craftsmen and artists such as Australian painter and textile designer Florence Broadhurst. This includes original Broadhurst wallpaper prints titled Persian Phoenix (Simorgh), Persian Birds, and Persian Pomegranates and Flowers.
The opening of Iranzamin coincides with the Persian new year Nowrouz. Programs will include the celebrations of Nowrouz, Haftsin, a table traditionally set for the Persian new year on 20 March, and Sizdehbehdar, the Persian national day for the celebration and admiration of Mother Nature, which will be held in the Powerhouse Museum on 3 April 2021.
https://maas.museum/event/iranzamin/?fbclid=IwAR0-Uw4Jzd55sx-TDJcKMqvJlo8N_PrnpxQo8tChIWXO…
4. I B Tauris:
Armenians in the Modern and Early Modern World series
Recent decades have seen the expansion of Armenian Studies from insular history to a broader, more interactive field within an inter-regional and global context. This series responds to this growth by promoting innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to Armenian history, politics, and culture in the period between 1500-2000. Focusing on the geographies of the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Contemporary Russia, it directs specific attention to imperial and post-imperial frameworks.
If you have a book project or idea that you’d like us to consider for the series, please contact the series editor Dr Bedross Der Matossian or Rory Gormley, Commissioning Editor at I.B.Tauris, both of whom will be pleased to give you feedback on your idea.
5. The IISS at the University of Michigan is pleased to announce our next event with Ertuğrul Ökten (Assistant Professor of History, Istanbul 29 Mayıs University), entitled Re-Engaging with Abd al-Rahman Jami: An Intellectual History Project on FEB 16, 1:00 PM.
Please register here: https://myumi.ch/qg71e
For more information: https://ii.umich.edu/islamicstudies/news-events/events.detail.html/80968-20824899.html
6. MOSF Journal of Science Fiction has published the latest issue online, with a particular focus on Middle Eastern Science fiction.
This is available Open Access.
7. Afghan Village Voices, Stories from a Tribal Community
Richard Tapper, Nancy Lindisfarne-Tapper
Bloomsbury, 2020
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/afghan-village-voices-9780755600878/
8. An Earl, a collection, and a shopping list: Mail-order military manuscripts
The British Library: A lithographed wish-list of titles on Arabic military science testifies to the frustrated literary ambitions of a king’s son.
9. Call for papers: Special Issue of the journal Religions “Are Muslim-Jewish Relations Improving in the 21st Century?
We invite scholars to reflect on today’s relations and trends of Muslim-Jewish relations. This issue will be focused on areas where Muslim-Jewish relations seem to be improving but we also welcome submissions that are more skeptical in their outlook. However, we hope to receive well-argued pieces (5,000 to 10,000 words) that help us to identify trends and factors that determine Muslim-Jewish relations today. We especially welcome case studies that look at projects that rediscover the local or regional Jewish or Muslim heritage and case studies of interfaith projects.
Please send an abstract to us by March 15, 2021.
Deadline for papers: April 30, 2021.
For more information, please go to https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Muslims-Jewish
10. IAS Medieval Studies and NES Lecture: The Turn to the Medieval in Ethiopian Studies – The Turn to Ethiopia in Medieval Studies I, February 19, 2021, 12:00-1:30 pm EST
Panelists:
Andrea Achi (Department of Medieval Art and The Cloisters at the Metropolitan Museum) ♦ Marie-Laure Derat (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) ♦ Kristen Windmuller-Luna (Cleveland Museum of Art) ♦ Felege-Selam Yirga (The University of Tennessee Knoxville)
We are eager to think together about the rich and often challenging complexities that have arisen as a result of the intersection of Medieval Studies and Ethiopian Studies over the past several years. These fields developed along very different lines, but have begun to mutually enrich – and interrogate – one another. In terms of regional networks, the two fields overlap in their concern with political, commercial, and cultural connections in the eastern Mediterranean: while Ethiopia represents for Medieval Studies an outgrowth of Mediterranean Studies, extending investigation for such exchanges down the Red Sea, Europe similarly represents for Ethiopian Studies a secondary ring of this zone of contact. Each offers the other a rich comparative (and sometimes connected) context for the study of Christian culture, including monasticism, hagiography, manuscript studies, and art and architecture, and both have investigated interconfessional relations in ways that might be mutually illuminating. Finally, together they contribute to an exploration of what ‘medieval Africa’ might entail, and allow us to explore the potentialities of more integrated, even global approaches to the premodern world. Yet the enrichment that this intersection of fields provides may also be problematic, as the distinctive chronologies, nomenclatures, and scholarly traditions of Medieval Studies and Ethiopian Studies meet. As research on premodern Ethiopia has greatly expanded in recent decades, and as Medieval Studies manifests increasing interest in Ethiopia, these paired webinars seek to explore what is gained and what is lost by more intensive conversation between them.
Register in advance for this meeting here.
The IAS Ethiopian Studies Series is convened by Suzanne Akbari (IAS), Aaron Butts (CUA/IAS), Samantha L. Kelly (Rutgers U/IAS), Sabine Schmidtke (IAS).
11. New Open Access Journal: Tarihçi = Historian
Tarihçi / Historian is an international peer-reviewed journal issued three times per year, in January, May and September.
The languages of the journal are Turkish and English.
Editor: Taha Niyazi KARACA
12. Webinar – Islam and the Devotional Object: A Discussion – NYU, Silsila: Center for Material Histories – February 19, 2021
New York University, Silsila: Center for Material Histories
ISLAM AND THE DEVOTIONAL OBJECT: A DISCUSSION
Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University
Azfar Moin, UT Austin
Wendy Shaw, Freie Universität, Berlin
Adam Bursi, Utrecht University
Finbarr Barry Flood, Silsila/NYU
Friday, February 19th, 1:00-3.30 pm ET
[Webinar] Silsila Spring 2021 Series, TranslationsFull details of the event and a link to register as an attendee can be found at:
13. Comparative Literature and Culture (CLCWeb) is calling for papers for a special issue titled “Humor, the Absurd, and the Abject in Middle Eastern and North African Cultural Production”.
From the films of Elia Suleiman to the cartoons of Ali Ferzat, humor and the absurd have long permeated the landscape of literary and cultural production across the Middle East and North Africa. Writers, artists, and intellectuals have employed an aesthetics of humor in a myriad of forms- from lampooning caricatures and songs, to a cinema of the absurd and satirical theater. While some of the recent scholarship in Middle East humor studies has focused on the role of humor and satire in the Arab uprisings and other mass protest movements as well as the lampooning of contemporary Islamist extremists as forms of resistance, this special issue will focus on new scholarship on the relationships between humor, the absurd, and the abject in works of literature, music, and visual culture.
We invite original contributions that explore these and related questions for a special edition on humor, the absurd, and the abject in all forms of modern and contemporary Middle Eastern cultural production. Please send abstracts of no longer than 250 words, a 100 word biography, and 5 keywords by April 30th, 2021. Full articles of 5,000-8,000 words or critical reviews of 3,000 words will be due by October 1, 2021.
This issue will be edited by Dr. R. Shareah Taleghani and Dr. Yasmine Ramadan.
For those interested, more information is available here: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/clcweb/callsforpapers.html
- February 13, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. The Role of Islamic Coins in Reading the History of a Site: Baalbak and Beirut as example, by Dr. Hassan Akra (Lebanese University)
February, 11th (3h-4h PM CET, 4h-5h PM in Amman & Beirut)
https://www.ifporient.org/archaeology-mena/
Join next conference of Ifpo’s webinar “ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA FROM LATE ANTIQUITY TO THE OTTOMAN PERIOD. FIRST SERIES: LEBANON AND JORDAN”
Abstract
Coins have not only an economic function, as a medium of exchange, but also other relevant functions: for instance, they can be a propaganda instrument intended to propagate the ideology of a political or/and religious power in place. The economic aspect revealed through the material aspect of coins, namely their intrinsic value (weight and alloy), makes it possible to perceive the financial and monetary policy of a State at a specific moment in its history and reflects as well the vicissitudes and vagaries of the political or economic situation as it may appear at the time of the strike. However, the coins legend – « any inscription appearing on the obverse and/or reverse of a coin: a name, a title, an indication of the mint, value, a date, a religious motto or not …” (Dictionnaire de Numismatique 2001) – is also rich in information. Here we will focus mainly on these data and their evolution throughout the medieval period.
By crossing these data both with written sources (especially chronicles of historians of the time) and archaeological documentation, coins become a tool of great importance. On the one hand, they enable us to read the history of a site or a city: in this context, we will present here the history of Baalbek in medieval times through coins (636-1516). On the other hand, coin hoards will help to fill monetary and/or historical gaps on a very precise period: in this context, we will present the Abbasid hoard discovered in Beirut and the Crusaders hoard discovered in Sarepta/Sarfand.
Dr. Hassan Al-Akra holds a PhD in “Archeology, History and Documents” from Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE) in Paris. He is specialized in numismatic studies of the medieval period.
He is currently Assistant Professor at the Lebanese University, at the Department of Arts and Archeology, Faculty of Human Sciences, Section 3 – Tripoli. He is researcher at the National Museum of Beirut, where he is studying medieval coins (from Islamic and Crusaders periods) and co-director of the archaeological project at Abu-l-Hasan Fort, a fort of the Medieval period, in Sfaray/Jezzine. He is instructor at the Ministry of Tourism, where he teaches the course “Archeological sites” for the diploma in Tourist Guidance.
He published several articles about the political and religious change in the Middle East through the study of coins, and he has given many seminaries on cultural, historical and contemporary heritage of religious and historical sites and museums.
His books “L’Histoire de Baalbek à l’époque médiévale d’après les monnaies” (Presses de l’Ifpo) won the prize of “Medaille Drouin” from the French Academy and the Samir Shamma Prize from the British Museum in 2018.
Since 2018, he is the General Director of the Lebanese National Library.
2. ONLINE: 18th Annual Islamicate Graduate Students Association Conference on “What Does Race Have to Do with Religion? Racialization and Worldwide Islam”, UNC-Duke, 20-21 February 2020
Fields inclusive of, but not limited to: Religious Studies, Political Science, Sociology, History, Art History, Anthropology, Comparative Literature, Philosophy, Asian Studies, African American Studies, Geography, Women and Gender Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, American Studies, and African Studies.
3. ONLINE Discussion “Trans/Formations in Arabic Literary Theory: Prospects and Limits”, Columbia University, 19 March 2021, 10:00 am EST; First Session: 14-17 June 2021; Second Session: 14-17 October 2021
We invite scholars to explore a plethora of thematic issues tied to the challenges of mapping, reconstructing, and studying varied sets of Arabic literary theoretical frameworks with the aim of identifying cross-temporal and trans-local conceptualizations and terms for a genealogy of Arabic literary theory.
Information: https://icls.columbia.edu/news/cfp-transformations-of-arabic-literary-theory/
4. ONLINE Panel on “What Does Diaspora Mean in the 21st Century” during the “12th International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS 12)”, Kyoto, 24-27 August 2021
The conference will explore the meaning of diaspora in the 21st century. The diasporic discourse is at risk of becoming teleological as a means of articulation, and, thereby, masking the very real struggles that may only eventually produce collectiveness. Or, does this disavow any room for dynamics within diasporic studies? The globalisation also brings with it a whole new set of parameters for perspectives on belonging.
Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/6752090/icas-conference-diaspora-call-papers
5. Panel on “European Islam and the Emergence of New Religious and Political Authorities between the Local Dimension and Transnationalities” during the “Annual Conference of the European Academy of Religion”, Münster, 30 August – 2 September 2021
The papers, with sociological, anthropological, theological and historical approaches, discuss how new forms of authority undermine the traditional ones and redefine the transnational ties between Islamic communities in Europe and Islamic countries which through various mechanisms influence the construction of European Islam.
Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2021. Information: Dr. Minoo Mirshahvalad (University of Turin), mmirshahvalad2@gmail.com
6. Workshop and Publication: “Islamic Legacy: Narratives East, West, South, North of the Mediterranean (1350-1750). A Thesaurus under Discussion”, University Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 7 September 2021
To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the relations between Christianity and Islam, the conference will especially discuss the following specific terms: Orient – Occident, Morgenland – Abendland, Doğu-Batı – Coexistence, Convivencia – Hybridity – Border-Frontier, Center – Periphery, Holy Land – Reconquista, Rückeroberung, Fetih.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 April 2021. Information: https://is-le.eu/calls/islamic-legacy-narratives-east-west-south-north-of-the-mediterranean-1350-1750-a-thesaurus-under-discussion/
7. ONLINE Workshop: “Rewiring the House of God: Religious Self-World Relations in the Digital Environment (Including Islam)”, Universities of Birmingham, Graz and Erfurt, 15-17 September 2021
The workshop will examine the mutually transformative relationship between digital technologies and contemporary modes of religiosity.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 March 2021. Information: https://www.uni-erfurt.de/en/max-weber-kolleg/kolleg/recent-news/translate-to-english-veranstaltungen/eventdetail/rewiring-the-house-of-god-religious-self-world-relations-in-the-digital-environment
8. Post-doctoral Research Fellow (3 Years, Focus “Age & Generation” in Historical Iran), Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin
The research unit “Age & Generation” studies processes of reshaping inter-generational relations. The candidates must hold a PhD in history, anthropology, sociology, area studies, or cognate disciplines. Applications should preferably have a historical perspective.
Deadline for applications: 15 February 2021. Information: https://www.zmo.de/fileadmin/Karriere/Ausschreibung_Age_Gen_Postdoc_1.pdf
9. Academic Coordinator for Joint Project on Democratic Impulses in North Africa and the Middle East since the 19th Century, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin
Requirements: Above-average degree results (MA or equivalent) in the humanities or social sciences, ideally relating to West or North Africa. Very good German and English language skills; French skills desirable. Experience in academic management.
Deadline for applications: 16 February 2021. Information: https://www.zmo.de/fileadmin/Karriere/Ausschreibung_Academic-CoordinatorEZV_ZMO.pdf
10. Post-doctoral Researcher on the “European Qur’an”, Université de Nantes
To join the project “The European Qur’an: Islamic Scripture and European Culture and Religion (1150-1850)”. Requirements: Applicants should have a PhD in a discipline in the humanities by the time of application, or at least strong assurance that they will obtain the PhD by August 2021. Candidates should be fluent in English and French and have strong skills in other languages appropriate to their research topics. Some knowledge of and experience in digital humanities (e.g., XML-TEI) is welcome.
Deadline for applications: 31 March 2021. Information: https://euqu.eu/research-opportunities/
11. Lecturer in the History of the Middle East, SOAS University of London
The preferred candidate will be proficient in the regional languages relevant for their research, with a demonstrated openness to transnational and interdisciplinary approaches. We particularly welcome applicants working on histories of gender, migration, and the environment. The periodic focus is open.
Deadline for applications: 14 March 2021. Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/51899
12. Associate Director, Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies, Stanford University
Requirements: PhD strongly preferred; ability to develop program partnerships and funding sources; excellent oral, written, and analytical skills, exhibiting fluency in area of specialization; ability to oversee and direct staff; basic knowledge of managing budgets and developing financial plans.
Information: https://careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/associate-director-abbasi-program-in-islamic-studies-11439
13. Appel à Candidatures 2021: Prix Michel Seurat, Sociétés contemporaines du Proche-Orient et du Maghreb
Ce programme vise à aider financièrement chaque année (15 000 € en 2021) un jeune chercheur, ressortissant d’un pays européen ou d’un pays du Proche-Orient ou du Maghreb, contribuant ainsi à promouvoir connaissance réciproque et compréhension entre la société française et le monde arabe.
Date limite de dépôt des candidatures : 15 avril 2021. Information : prix.michel-seurat@cnrs.fr.
14. Summer Programme: “Gender in Muslim Contexts”, Aga Khan University London, 28 June – 6 July 2021
Run by leading experts on gender and Islam, the programme will bring together scholars and students from diverse backgrounds to discuss key issues in the study of gender in Muslim contexts.
Deadline for application: 16 April 2021. Information: https://www.aku.edu/ismc/study/Pages/summer-programme.aspx
15. École doctorale : « Les usages du Coran dans les sociétés musulmanes contemporaines », IRMC, Tunis, 14-18 juin 2021
Cet atelier doctoral entend examiner les modalités de cette reconfiguration en étudiant les incidences et les recompositions induites par ces nouveaux usages du Coran dans les activités ordinaires des croyants, y compris l’éducation religieuse.
Les dossiers sont attendus avant le 15 février 2021. Information: https://calenda.org/830282?file=1
16. MIDA/ENIS Summer School: “Spoken Images of/in Islam:Languages and Translations in Texts and Images”, Università degli Studi di Catania, Sicily, New Dates: 5–9 July 2021
The main objective of this school is to investigate the image–text relations in Muslim traditions by applying to different genres of images and texts and by thinking about how they are affected by translation or interpretation.
Deadline for application: 1 April 2021. Information: http://iismm.ehess.fr/docannexe/file/2147/call_ed2021_06_11_20_final3.pdf
17. Articles for “Diyâr. Journal of Ottoman, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies“
Diyâr is a new, interdisciplinary and interregional academic journal concerned with research on Turkey, the Ottoman Empire and its successor states, Iran, Central Asia and the Caucasus. We accept articles of a variety of research topics and areas in the field of the humanities, cultural studies and social sciences written in German, English, and French.
Deadline for articles: 15 March 2021. Information: https://www.diyar.nomos.de/index.php?id=7418&L=1
18. Articles on “Muslim Women and Gender at the Margins” for Special Issue of “Religions”
This Special Issue seeks to focus on the heterogeneity and multiply gendered ways of being Muslim by drawing attention to the subjectivities, performativity and experiences of those women who tend to be marginalized even within critical feminist scholarship on women and Islam.
Deadline for manuscripts: 1 December 2021. Information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/Muslim_women_margins
19. Contributions for “The IASA Bulletin” of the International Association for the Study of Arabia (Spring 2021)
The IASA Bulletin compiles notices on research, publications, fieldwork, museum updates, societies, conferences and events in the Arabian Peninsula as well as feature articles and book reviews.
Deadline for contributions: 14 February 2021. Information: https://www.theiasa.com/publications/bulletin/
20. Chapters for the Edited Volume “Marxism in Muslim Contexts: Communist Organizing, Socialist Movement, and Religious Response”
Proposals investigating Muslim responses to Marxism from historical, anthropological, literary, sociological, cultural, and religious perspectives are welcomed.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 March 2021. Information: dwidmannabraham@ursinus.edu.
21. Complex Metallurgy of the Bronze Age-Iron Age Transition in Iran: Archaeomaterials and Forensic Investigations
Funded PhD: EU and UK only; March 15 2021
The Cranfield Forensic Institute and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory are offering, in partnership with the British Museum, a fully-funded PhD studentship on the archaeometallurgy of Iran during the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition (c. 1200–800 BCE). The student will investigate an exceptional collection of artefacts that includes substantial quantities of bladed weaponry.
For more information and to apply, see:
22. Open Access:
Materials for a History of the Persian Narrative Tradition. Two Characters: Farhād and Turandot.
Author: Orsatti, Paola.
Published: Venezia: Ca’ Foscari, 201
23. University of California – Berkeley
Lecturer Pool All Specializations – Department of History
The Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley invites applications for a pool of qualified temporary instructors to teach courses should an opening arise. Screening of applicants is ongoing and will continue as needed. The number of positions varies from semester to semester, depending on the needs of the department. Positions may range from 16% to 100% time, which would translate to 1 to 6 courses over a two semester academic year.
The Department of History at the University of California, Berkeley, is generating an applicant pool of qualified instructors to teach courses in all areas of History (Africa, Ancient Greece & Rome, Byzantine, Early Modern Europe, East Asia, North America, Jewish, Late Modern Europe, Latin America, Medieval Europe, Middle East, Science, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and other various needs), pending openings.
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=61008
24. The Institute of History and the Research group for the Near and Middle East of the Károli Gáspár Reformed University, and the Department of Turkic Studies of Eötvös Loránd University cordially invite you to the following online event:
VÁMBÉRY STUDIES COLLOQUIUM
12 February 2021 (Friday)
Invite Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81972924889
Meeting ID: 819 7292 4889
Opening address:
09.00. (CET). István Vásáry (member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, ELTE University, Department of Turkic Studies, Budapest):
Has Vámbéry’s lifework any relevance for today?
25. The Toronto Initiative for Iranian Studies Presents:
Forugh Farrokhzad, Modernity and Madness
Leila Rahimi Bahmany, Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Friday, February 12, 4-6 pm EST
Zoom Registration: https://uoft.me/IranianStudies
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/4142168369145728
- February 09, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Upcoming conference: Islamic Traditions in ‘Greater Khurāsān’
You are warmly invited to attend Islamic Traditions in ‘Greater Khurāsān: Ismailis, Sufis and Sunnis’ (February 24 – 27, 2021) convened by Dr Dagikhudo Dagiev at The Institute of Ismaili Studies.
The goal of this international conference is to explore a variety of manifestations of Islamic culture over a vast geographical area situated in the easternmost part of the Islamic world, including contemporary Central Asia, Afghanistan, north-eastern Iran, the Xinjiang region of western China and northern and western Pakistan. We have chosen to use the medieval geographic term ‘Greater Khurāsān’ to refer to this area.
Click below to learn more, download the conference programme, and register to attend.
Dates: 24 – 27 February 2021
Time: Sessions start from 11.30 GMT
Location: Online (Zoom)*
*Please note that the conference will be recorded, and may be published online by the Institute for use in teaching, research and marketing.
For further information and registration, please click the above link.
2. Qur’an manuscripts from Southeast Asia in the British Library
The British Library’s collections of manuscripts from the Islamic world of Southeast Asia were largely formed during the early 19th century by officials in the service of the East India Company. These early colonial philologists eagerly sought out original literary, historical and legal texts composed in local languages such as Malay, Javanese and Bugis, but paid little attention to the rich corpus of writings in Arabic, constituting the bedrock of Islamic scholarship in the region. Manuscripts of the Qur’an, commentaries and prayerbooks were usually ignored, being regarded as poor copies of canonical texts already well known from multiple ‘better’ and older prototypes from the Middle East.
3. 18 Feb event – Black Monuments Matter – an insider’s guide to the exhibition.
The Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and the Zamani Project at the University of Cape Town are pleased to present an online talk, chaired by Professor Stephane Pradines and given by three of the scholars and surveyors who designed and delivered the site.
Ralph Schroeder, Bruce McDonald and Roshan Bhurtha will cover an introduction to Zamani including some interesting documented sites and the recent House of Wonders collapse in Zanzibar.
The lecture will offer an overview of the Black Monuments Matter website and will share an in-depth look at three of the sites; Zimbabwe, Kua and Meroe using video and modelling to illustrate key points with additional insight into how data was used in the creation of the exhibition. The talk will conclude with a preview of the team’s upcoming projects.
Black Monuments Matter recognises and highlights African contributions to world history by exhibiting World Heritage Monuments and architectural treasures from Sub-Saharan Africa.
Black Monuments Matter aspires to create links to living African heritage by making it visible, assessable and known to as many people as possible. In general, we would like to raise awareness of and respect towards Black cultures and Africa’s past to a larger audience.
Black monuments matter and black cultures matter. Sites and monuments are physical representations of histories, heritage and developments in society. This exhibition aims to display the diversity and richness of African cultures as part of world history through the study of African monuments; bringing awareness and pride of African roots and contributions to other cultures.
The African continent has numerous sites and monuments of historic and cultural importance, and our exhibition showcases some of its diversity and richness. From the pyramids of Sudan, the Great Mosque of Timbuktu, to the Swahili cities of East Africa, each site is presented in a virtual room and is introduced by short texts written by African scholars.
Through an approach founded on the latest knowledge and technology developed by the Zamani Project, this online exhibition offers visitors an opportunity to learn more about the glorious monuments and sites of African heritage and black cultures across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Time
18 February 2021 at 12 noon London time
Join Online via Zoom
Meeting ID: 981 1417 2743
Passcode: 017672
Register here for updates.
4. From Malabar to Coromandel: Deccan Heritage, Art and Culture
Seminars and lectures co-organized by the Deccan Heritage Foundation, the Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge, and the HH Sri Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar Foundation, Mysore, presenting the pioneering scholarship in various cultural fields from both the Northern and Southern Deccan regions of India.
MARCH 2021
- “The Idea of Sacral Kingship between Islamic and Turco-Mongol Concepts of Politics”
Evrim Binbas, University of Bonn, March 5, 1pm GMT
- “Written in Stone: Traces of Medieval Architects”
Subhashini Kaligotla, Yale University, March 26, 2pm GMT
APRIL 2021
- “Balsam and Betel Nut Palm: Botanical Representation in the Early Modern Deccan”
Nicolas Roth, Harvard University, April 9, 1pm GMT
- “Jaina Temple Architecture of Coastal Karnataka: Climatic Dependencies and Artistic Freedoms”
Julia A. B. Hegewald, University of Bonn, April 30, 1pm GMT
MAY 2021
- “Deccani Portraits in Jahangir’s Albums”
Navina Najat Haidar, Metropolitan Museum of Art, May 14, 1pm GMT
- “Discovering the Deccan”
William Dalrymple in conversation with George Michell, May 28, 1pm GMT
JUNE 2021
- “The Persianate World: What is it? How did it appear? Why did it Collapse?”
Richard Eaton, University of Arizona, June 11, 2pm GMT
- “Dressing in the Deccan: Clothing and Identity at the Courts of Central India”
Marika Sardar, Aga Khan Museum, June 25, 1pm GMT
Registration: https://www.deccanheritagefoundation.uk/events/webinars
Centre for Visual Culture Seminar: New York, Lahore: In Dialogue with Shahzia Sikander and Salman Toor
March 10, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM GMT
Shahzia Sikander changed the game of the art world with her breakthrough at the Whitney Biennial in 1997. This year, Salman Toor, debuted his first solo museum exhibition at the Whitney, How Will I Know. In June, Sikander will open a career retrospective, Extraordinary Realities, at the Morgan Library & Museum co-organised with the RISD Museum. Centered on issues of gender, identity, global affiliations, appropriation, and narrative, this conversation engages the relationship between two artists on how they have navigated the shifting worlds of New York and Pakistan. In dialogue, we will pause and reflect over how we got here and anticipate where we are going.
Registration link: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/centre-for-visual-culture-seminar-2020-21-tickets-138079279843
5. NES Lecture: The European Qur’ān: The Qur’ān in European Religious and Cultural History, February 10, 2021, 12:00 pm (EST)
Mercedes García-Arenal (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [CCHS-CSIC], Madrid), Jan Loop (Københavns Universitet), John Tolan (Université de Nantes) and Roberto Tottoli (Universita degli Studi di Napoli L’Orientale). Hosted by Sabine Schmidtke (School of Historical Studies, IAS).
“The European Qur’ān” (EuQu: https://euqu.eu/) is an ongoing project funded by a Synergy Grant of the European Research Council (ERC), dedicated to the important place of the Muslim holy book in European cultural and religious history. From the 12th century to the 19th, European Christians read the Qur’ān in Arabic, translated it into Latin, Greek and various vernacular languages, refuted it in polemical treatises, and mined it for information about Islam and Arab history. The “European Qur’ān”, in its various manifestations (Arabic editions, Latin and vernacular translations) should be conceived as scholarly efforts to understand Islam; as weapons in polemical exchanges between divergent versions of Christianity; as financial ventures on the part of printers and publishers; and as tools for the understanding of Semitic languages, Arab history and culture, and the history of monotheism.
The team that leads the project —Mercedes García-Arenal, John Tolan, Roberto Tottoli, Jan Loop— with their respective units in Madrid, Nantes, Naples and Copenhagen, will be dealing with various aspects of the transmission, translation, uses and study of the Qur’ān in Europe, on the role the Qur’ān played in debates about European cultural and religious identities, and more broadly about the place of the Qur’ān in European culture.
Register in advance for this webinar here. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
6. ReOrienting Histories of Medicine, Encounters along the Silk Roads
Ronit Yoeli-Tlalim
Bloomsbury 2021
7. Leiden University – Lessons in codicology and palaeographybased on manuscripts from the Middle East, Islamic Africa and beyond
This is a collection of lessons in codicology – the study of handwritten documents or codices – and palaeography from the Muslim world. The lessons will guide you through the ways books were made and used there before the printing press, by investigating the traces left by producers, owners and readers of manuscripts. Using your mouse, you will come close to people in the manuscript age as they produced, transmitted, cherished and “consumed” the written texts.
The lessons are centered around fully digitalised manuscripts from the oriental collection of Leiden University Libraries. They include samples in Arabic, Persian and Coptic, from cultures ranging from the Maghrib to Mughal India. The lessons can be read in any order. All include suggestions for further reading and questions (with answers) or assignments.
8. I am writing on behalf of the Editorial Board of Essays in History (EiH) to announce that the journal is currently soliciting submissions for its upcoming fifty-fourth volume. We welcome submissions from scholars of the history of Middle Eastern politics.
Essays in History (EiH) is an open access journal for emerging historians. EiH publishes peer-reviewed articles and historiographical essays in all areas of historical inquiry, as well as reviews of the most recent scholarship. The journal has been staffed by graduate students at the University of Virginia since 1954. EiH aims to provide a supportive experience for our editors, authors, and referees. The editorial team is committed to ensuring that equity, anti-racism, and accessibility are at the heart of who we are, how we operate, and the work we publish.
Essays in History welcomes submissions from graduate students, scholars who have received their PhD within the last five years, and accomplished undergraduates. The deadline for submissions is April 2, 2021. You may submit your work or volunteer to serve as an anonymous referee through our website: https://www.essaysinhistory.com
Regards,
Alice King, Managing Editor,
The Editorial Team of Essays in History
essays_in_history@virginia.edu
9. Arab Translators Association (ArTA) is pleased to invite you to attend the Lecture titled:
Translation as an intercultural encounter
Dr. Ayman Nazzal
An-Najah National University, West Bank, Palestine
Day: Wednesday 10/2/2021
Time: 8 p.m. Jerusalem Time, 6 p.m. GMT
Zoom Link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89615401270
Free Certificate of Attendance sent to your email on the same day.
Dr. Ayman Nazzal:
Assistant Professor: Taught courses in General Linguistics, syntax and semantics, sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, and Rhetoric & Public Communication
PH.D. in General Linguistics, Speech Communication, and Humanistic Studies
State University of New York at Albany, Albany, N.Y. 1996-2001
M.A. Degree in General/theoretical Linguistics & Cognitive Science
NYU, New York, N.Y. 1990-1993 Part-time
M.A. Degree in Applied Linguistics & Pedagogy
S.U.N.Y AT Stony Brook, N.Y.
Page: https://www.facebook.com/ArabTranslatorsAssociation /
Translation Courses:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ArTACourses/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQSdhuPN8G050I_IyqxoAQA
10. The programme of the second semester of the monthly seminar “Companies, Policies and Cultures of the Iranian World” organized by the Iranian World Research Center (CeRMI, UMR 8041) can be accessed at:
https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaire-de-recherche/
- February 06, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.ONLINE Lecture by Prof. Abbas Amanat (Yale University): “Kings and Clerics in Modern Iranian History”, Department of Middle East Studies, USC, 13 March 2021, 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm PST
This is a part of the Iranian Studies Initiative Annual Distinguished Lecture Series arranged by the USC Department of Middle East Studies.
Information and registration: https://usc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yCHea1iwRly2ToYcyGp27g
2. ONLINE Workshop on “What Does Decolonizing Kurdish Studies Mean?”, Middle East Studies at Yale University and Brown University, 9 April 2021
Proposal should engage with the themes of decolonizing epistemologies and methodologies and its implications in the field of Kurdish studies. We welcome novel approaches, creative strategies, and emerging scholarship informed by first-hand data that brings in “the Kurdish voice and perspective” into discussion.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 February 2021. Information: https://cmes.macmillan.yale.edu/events/decolonizing-kurdish-studies-initiative
3. ONLINE 54th Seminar for Arabian Studies, International Association for the Study of Arabia (IASA), Casa Arabe, Cordoba, Summer 2021 (Date to be Announced)
This is the only international forum that meets annually for the presentation of the latest academic research in the humanities on the Arabian Peninsula from the earliest times to the present day or, in the case of political and social history, to the end of the Ottoman Empire (1922).
Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2021. Information: https://mailchi.mp/d561f3a9ad87/reminder-call-for-papers-2021-seminar-for-arabian-studies?e=18cf0337f7
4. International Conference: “Musical Sources and Theories from Ancient Greece to the Ottoman Period”, Ruhr-University Bochum, 10-12 June 2021
Papers will focus on Arabic, Persian and Byzantine music theory, instruments and ways of transmission, with their roots in Ancient Greece and an outlook onto Ottoman and Safavid music. Call for Papers closed. Guests are welcome!
Information: https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/orient/aktuelles/index.html.en
5. International Colloquium: “Itinerant Prophets – Rewritings, Appropriations and Metamorphoses of Prophetic Figures in the Religious, Literary and Historiographical Texts of Pre-modern Islam”, Paris, 16-18 Septembre 2021
This colloquium will seek to grasp the itinerant figures: the prophets of the pre-modern Arab world, between Judaism, Christianity and Islam, between sacred model and familiar figure of popular literature, between mythical authority and historical hero. It will welcome proposals devoted to Islamic Studies, literary or historiographical approaches, as well as those that explore the continuities and discontinuities between these different fields.
Deadline for abstracts in French, English or Arabic: 26 March 2021. Information: https://f-origin.hypotheses.org/wp-content/blogs.dir/1460/files/2021/01/LES-PROPHETES-ITINERANTS-Appel-a-contributions.pdf
6. Third NEHT Workshop on “Environmental Histories of the Ottoman and post-Ottoman World: The Anthropocene: From Empire to Nation-States”, University of Vienna, 16-18 September 2021
The workshop will discuss the ways of integrating the concept of the Anthropocene into the field of Ottoman/post-Ottoman environmental history. It will open a space for analysing the role of human activities in transforming the Ottoman/post-Ottoman landscapes in the age of the Anthropocene.
Information: https://orientalistik.univie.ac.at/en/disciplines/turkish-studies/events/neht-2021/
7. International Workshop: “Religion as an Object of Historical and Social Scientific Study: Global Perspectives (Including Middle East)”, University of Leipzig, 4-5 November 2021
We are especially interested in the global presence and characteristics of religion as an object of study in the History of Religion; Comparative Religious Studies; Sociology; Anthropology and Political Science (excluding Theology and Philosophy). Central questions concern the place, status and history of research on religion in these disciplines.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2021. Information: https://multiple-secularities.de/events/event/religion-as-an-object-of-historical-and-social-scientific-study-global-perspectives/
8. International Workshop: “Religion as an Object of Historical and Social Scientific Study: Global Perspectives (Including Middle East)”, University of Leipzig, 4-5 November 2021
We are especially interested in the global presence and characteristics of religion as an object of study in the History of Religion; Comparative Religious Studies; Sociology; Anthropology and Political Science (excluding Theology and Philosophy). Central questions concern the place, status and history of research on religion in these disciplines.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2021. Information: https://multiple-secularities.de/events/event/religion-as-an-object-of-historical-and-social-scientific-study-global-perspectives/
9. W1 Assistant Professor (Juniorprofessor) with a W2 Tenure Track for “Islamic Philosophy”, Centre for Islamic Theology (CIT), University of Münster
The candidate must hold a university degree in Islamic theology or Islamic studies, pedagogical aptitude and special ability at pursuing advanced, independent research which is substantiated by a subject-relevant, above-average doctoral degree. Research and teaching experience in the field of Islamic philosophy with a focus on Islamic ethics and very good, subject-specific Arabic skills should be proven.
Deadline for applications: 19 February 2021. Information: https://universitoxy.com/juniorprofessur-fuer-islamische-philosophie,i10659.html
10. Post-doctoral Researcher for Project “The European Qur’ān: Islamic Scripture in European Culture and Religion (1150-1850)”, University of Nantes
Each candidate should propose an original, innovative research project on an important aspect of the role played by the Qur’ān in Medieval and Early Modern European culture and should be fluent in English and French and have strong skills in other languages appropriate to their research topics.
Deadline for applications: 31 March 2021. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/postdoc-european-qurn-nantes?e=82aeb6c61d
11. Post-Doctoral Fellowship (History, Arabic, Islam Studies) in the Program “ReLRace – Religions, Lignages et ‘Race’”, Le Mans University
Qualifications: PhD in history (preferably) but also sociology, anthropology, Arabic philology; proficiency in Classical Arabic; good knowledge of ancient and contemporary Muslim sources; French and English fluent.
Deadline for applications: 5 January 2022. Information: https://relrace.hypotheses.org/post-doctoral-fellowship-2
12. Online 4-Week Course: “Christian-Muslim Relations”, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, Commencing 15 February 2021
You’ll explore some of the key historical moments, compare the teachings of both the Bible and the Qur’an, will learn about the everlasting theological debates that concern the study, and will also decipher how politics and societies have been directly impacted by Christian-Muslim relations.
Information: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/christian-muslim-relations.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5myqlYXPPM
13. ONLINE Course: “Manuscripts in Arabic Script: Introduction to Codicology”, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, Aga Khan University, London, 23-24 April 2021, 11:00 am – 15:00 pm GMT
This introductory course is intended for students, researchers and librarians who are working in the field of manuscript studies. The lecturers will cover a wide range of aspects for those who are acquiring basic knowledge in this field.
14. ONLINE Course: “Manuscripts in Arabic Script: Introduction to Codicology”, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, Aga Khan University, London, 23-24 April 2021, 11:00 am – 15:00 pm GMT
This introductory course is intended for students, researchers and librarians who are working in the field of manuscript studies. The lecturers will cover a wide range of aspects for those who are acquiring basic knowledge in this field.
15. Chapters for Edited Book on “Muslims and Societies in Africa” (Including Arab Muslims of North Africa), University of Abuja
To what extent has the Muslim life been resilient or influenced by colonialism and globalisation? What is the extent of conformism or dissonance from the various constructs that determine Muslim identity. How does being a Muslim matter in the social, political and economic spheres of African societies.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 April 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/7149932/muslims-and-societies-africa
16. Chapters for Edited Book on “Übersetzerforschung in der Türkei II” for Series “Germanistik in der Türkei”
In the chapters the life and / or works of translators who translate from Turkish to a foreign language or from a foreign language to Turkish are discussed.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 March 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/7175074/cfp-%C3%BCbersetzerforschung-der-t%C3%BCrkei-ii
17. A call for submissions: Journal of Arab & Muslim Service, Tourism and Hospitality Research (https://www.jamsthr.com/) is a multidisciplinary, free of charge, peer-reviewed academic journal aiming at publishing a large variety of articles focused on consumer and organizational behavior in the Arab and Muslim world. JAMSTHR accepts qualitative and quantitative, theoretical and applied, articles focused on themes pertinent to the understanding of business and consumer phenomena related to Service, Tourism, Hospitality and related fields from the supply and demand perspective. The Journal also publishes case studies, literature reviews, and opinion pieces. The journal encourages researchers and academics to share their work and contribute to building a knowledge base focused on this important and yet invisible and misunderstood consumer and business market. Descriptive/exploratory and explanatory papers are welcome.
The Journal’s website: https://www.jamsthr.com/
Send your paper (and/or) interest to join our Editorial Board to:
Editor-in-Chief Dr. Omar Moufakkir at: moufakkir.o@gust.edu.kw
Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait.
18. Women of Faith and the Quest for Spiritual Authenticity
Comparative Perspectives from Malaysia and Britain
Sara Ashencaen Crabtree
Routledge 2021
19. Events at Cambridge this week:
Wed 3 Feb
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Qatari Women and the Labour Market- Towards an Empowering Alternative
(Dr. Mawahib Abubakr (Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics))
2:00pm – 3:00pm – Equality and difference: some reflections on religion, ethnicity and the pandemic in South Asia
(Radhika Coomaraswamy (Former Under-secretary General of the United Nations))
7:00pm – 8:30pm – A Christian Insurgency in Islamic Syria: The Jarajima (Mardaites)between Byzantium and the Caliphate
(Christian Sahner (University of Oxford))
Fri 5 Feb
5:00pm – 6:30pm – The Place of Religion After the Uprisings
(Shadi Hamid (Brookings) and Nadia Oweidat (University of Kansas) Chair: Dr Usaama Al-Azami (Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford))
- February 02, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Half-day workshop on Islam in Southeast Asia (Wednesday March 3rd, 9.30 am – 12.30 pm)
The Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World (University of Edinburgh)
Please join us at the Alwaleed Centre for this special half-day workshop on Islam and Inter-Religious Relations in Southeast Asia, which will comprise an opening plenary lecture on the history of Islam in the region, by Professor Michael Feener of Kyoto University, followed by a panel event showcasing some of the interesting and creative Islamic thought in the region on the themes of The Study of Religion, Gender, and the Environment.
2. As part of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies’ Wednesday Seminar Series for Hilary Term 2021, we’re delighted to be joined by Professor Scott Redford (Nasser D. Khalili Professor of Islamic Art & Archaeology, SOAS) and Professor Sussan Babaie (Professor in the Arts of Iran and Islam, The Courtauld Institute of Art):
Wednesday, 3 February 2021 at 5pm GMT: Scott Redford, Writing as Talisman in Medieval Islamic Art
Wednesday, 17 February 2021 at 5pm GMT: Sussan Babaie, Isfahan and Istanbul: European views before the long shadow of ‘Orientalism’
Talks will take place via Zoom. Please register here. All welcome!
3. Roundtable on the 100th Anniversary of the 1921 Coup and Reflections on the Reza Pahlavi Period
Monday, February 22, 2021 at 10:00am Pacific via Zoom
https://nelc.ucla.edu/event/pahlavi-workshop-panel-1/
The first panel of the Iranian Studies workshop, “History and Historiography of Pahlavi Iran, 1921-1979: A Workshop” will feature a round table discussion centered on the 100th anniversary of the coup that initiated the Reza Pahlavi Period in Iran.
This panel will be chaired by workshop organizer Dr. Robert Steele, the Jahangir and Eleanor Amuzegar Post-Doctoral Fellow in Iranian Studies at UCLA.
Featured panelists of the round table discussion include:
Camron Michael Amin, Professor of History, University of Michigan-Dearborn
Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian History, University of St Andrews and Senior Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute
Stephanie Cronin, Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Research Fellow, St Antony’s College, University of Oxford
Afshin Marashi, Professor of Middle Eastern History, University of Oklahoma
To register for this event and receive the Zoom webinar information, please click here.
4. Muqarnas: An Annual on the Visual Cultures of the Islamic World invites submissions for the forthcoming volume 39, to be published in 2022.
Muqarnas is a scholarly journal that publishes articles on art, architectural history, and archaeology, as well as all aspects of Islamic visual and material cultures, historical and contemporary. Full-length articles are accompanied by shorter submissions grouped under a separate section titled “Notes and Sources,” for which we particularly welcome studies that introduce textual and visual primary sources.
Deadline for submissions: March 1, 2021.
Manuscripts should be submitted by email to the Managing Editor of Muqarnas at muqarnas@fas.harvard.edu.
A complete submission includes five elements:
- Microsoft Word document of the main text file. Submissions should be double-spaced throughout in 12-point typeface. Use endnotes rather than footnotes; no bibliography is required. Articles should be no longer than 50 pages (not including endnotes).
- Images. All submissions must be accompanied by images, with an upper limit of approximately 30. Low-resolution images are acceptable for initial consideration, with the expectation that authors will provide high-resolution TIFFs or JPEGs (at least 300 dpi at 4 x 6 inches) and secure all necessary permissions if the article is accepted for publication.
- Captions file. Each image should be clearly labeled and have a corresponding caption that provides identifying information and appropriate image credits.
- Abstract and keywords. Submit a 150- to 200-word abstract and 12 keywords for publication in the online version of the journal.
- CV, stating the author’s institutional affiliation (if any), mailing address, phone number, as well as academic status and a list of publications.
Any submission that does not include these five elements will be returned to the author, as will articles that do not conform to the Muqarnas style sheet.
Articles must present original research that has not been published in any language previously. Authors must properly credit previous scholarship on the subject and cite the source of each quotation, with full bibliographic details given in the endnotes (no additional bibliography is required).
All articles are subject to review by the Editorial Committee and anonymous external readers, whose comments will be sent to the author only if the article is accepted for publication. Authors may be expected to make revisions based on the feedback of the readers and editors.
Muqarnas follows the most recent edition of the Chicago Manual of Style. For further specifications on preparing text and images for publication, see the Muqarnas style sheet (available to download from our website: https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/submission-guidelines).
Contact Info:
Managing Editor, Muqarnas
History of Art and Architecture Department, Harvard University
485 Broadway, Office 411
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Phone: 617-495-3774
E-mail: muqarnas@fas.harvard.edu
5. Spring 2021 AKPIA Lecture Series – A Forum for Islamic Art & Architecture
The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University presents
February 4, 2021, 5:30pm
“The Intellect of the Hand: Making and Thinking the Medieval Islamic Art of the Object”
Margaret Graves
Associate Professor of Islamic Art, Department of Art History, Indiana University
Co-sponsored with the Standing Committee on Medieval Studies at Harvard University
March 25, 2021, 5:30pm
“The Visual and Material Culture of Rayy, as Revealed through the Excavations Headed by
Erich Schmidt in the Late 1930s”
Renata Holod
College of Women Class of 1963 Professor in the Humanities, History of Art Department; Curator, Near East Section of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Pennsylvania
April 22, 2021, 5:30pm
“Imagining a World: Selfhood and Empire in Safavid Iran”
Kishwar Rizvi
Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture, Department of the History of Art, Yale University
Lectures are held via Zoom session; time listed is Eastern Standard Time; registration is required. Register here: https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events. All lectures will be recorded and made available from the AKPIA website, after the event date.
THE AGA KHAN PROGRAM FOR ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
For further information, email agakhan@fas.harvard.edu, or visit https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events
Contact Info:
Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture
Harvard University
Sackler 415
485 Broadway
Cambridge, MA 02138 USA
Tel 617-495-2355
https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events
6. An Online Course in Persian Calligraphy
Nasta’liq Script
12 February – 16 April, 2021
The Iran Heritage Foundation is delighted to offer once again a course in Persian Calligraphy, with teaching provided online.
This ten-week exercise-based course is suitable for all levels, from beginners to advanced. It is based on a one-to-one teaching method, so everyone will be given the instructions based on their own level and previous experience.
You will learn the writing techniques of the Nasta’liq script during the course, and the first session will start with a general introduction to the traditional tools, materials, and various Islamic calligraphy styles.
Although previous knowledge of Persian language is not necessary, you will enjoy the course more if you have familiarity with the alphabets and particularly the language, as the materials are constantly engaged with Persian language and literature.
The course will be taught online and remotely. Each week the student will submit photographs of their practice; the teacher will record personal videos of comments and advice, along with further practice. For those requiring materials, a special pack including a traditional reed pen cut and prepared by the teacher, paper and ink, can be posted to the student at an additional charge of £25 for UK and £35 for International shipment.
Keramat Fathinia is a Persian calligrapher born in Iran who has been teaching calligraphy for over 17 years. He received a distinguished certificate in both Nasta’liq and Shikasteh Nasta’liq styles from the Iranian Calligraphers Association (ICA) in Iran, and has had several exhibitions, workshops, and demonstrations in both Iran and London, including at SOAS, Cambridge University, BIPS (British Institute of Persian Studies), and the Courtauld Gallery.
Price: £300 for ten classes
Pack of materials (sent by post): £25 UK, £35 International
To register click here. The registration deadline is Friday 12 February 2021
For any enquiries please contact leonard@iranheritage.org, Tel: 020 3651 2124
Organised by: Iran Heritage Foundation.
Forthcoming Events
7. The Indo-Persian Confluence Symposium Three:
“Indo-Persian Musical Hybrids in Afghanistan”
Sunday, January 31, 2021
10am PST, Zoom
RSVP: https://ucla.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIpcuutrjIiHdV4WsLZhCyRQGsssq-uH1Fk
Join us for our third event in the Indo-Persian Musical Confluence series, featuring a panel of eminent ethnomusicologists on Indo-Persian musical hybrids in Afghanistan and a performance by Homayun Sakhi on the rubab.
Panelists
John Baily (Goldsmith University of London)
Lorraine Sakata (UCLA)
Mark Slobin (Wesleyan University)
Chair and Discussant
Richard Wolf (Harvard University)
Performance: Indo-Persian music on the rubab by the renowned Afghan musician Homayoun Sakhi
https://festival.si.edu/2016/sounds-of-california/homayoun-sakhi/smithsonian
For more information on The Indo-Persian Music Confluence project:
https://schoolofmusic.ucla.edu/indo-persian-musical-confluence
Details of subsequent events will be forthcoming soon.
Project leader: Mohsen Mohammadi
Event Sponsors:
UCLA Mohindar Brar Sambhi Chair of Indian Music
UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology
UCLA Center for Musical Humanities (Robert U. Nelson Fund)
UCLA Jahangir and Eleanor Amuzegar Chair in Iranian Studies
UCLA Iranian Studies program
UCLA Center for India and South Asia (CISA)
UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies (CNES)
8. Waikato Islamic Studies Review – Call for Papers
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/UWISG/review.shtml
On behalf of the University of Waikato Islamic Studies Group, I warmly invite submissions of papers which examine Islam in the widest sense to the Waikato Islamic Studies Review for publication consideration.
Articles can be as short as 2000 words and up to a maximum of 5000. For full details regarding paper guidelines and submissions and the Waikato Islamic Studies Review please see:http://www.waikato.ac.nz/fass/UWISG/review.shtml
If you have any questions please feel free to contact me asap if you think that you might like your work considered; the next edition is due for publication in March 2021.
Kind regards,
Abdullah Drury
Editor: Waikato Islamic Studies Review
Email: abdullah@xtra.co.nz
9. Call for Papers
CALL FOR PAPERS: JOURNAL OF THE CONTEMPORARY STUDY OF ISLAM
The newly established, fully open-access Journal of the Contemporary Study of Islam is now accepting submissions.
The Journal of the Contemporary Study of Islam was launched by the Institute for the Contemporary Study of Islam, based in the UK, to promote and disseminate research related to Islam and Muslims in the contemporary world. Although we may consider any submissions that fall within the scope of JCSI, we are keen to publish research articles that deal with some of the most pressing issues that Muslims face in the contemporary world, such as new approaches to Islamic law, new religious trends in the Muslim world (e.g. new atheism, deism, and agnosticism), Islam and politics, sectarianism in the Muslim world, Islam and social change, Islam and human rights, Islamophobia, Muslim-Christian relations, new methodological developments in Quranic studies, and hadith studies.
JCSI aims to reach a wider readership beyond academia, and thus we suggest authors use accessible language in their submissions. The journal is open-access, free of cost for authors and readers alike, and provides unrestricted online access to its readers.
JCSI is a member of Crossref, an independent membership association for building shared technologies. Crossref was launched in early 2000 as a cooperative effort among publishers to enable citation linking in journals using the Digital Object Identifier, or DOI. Our DOI prefix is 10.37264 and our ISSN is 2633-7282 (online). We are in the process of applying for membership to the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) and CLOCKSS archival service.
JCSI has a prestigious advisory board and will be covered by the leading relevant indexing services.
Interested scholars are invited to submit their articles for consideration at https://contemporarystudyofislam.org/index.php/jcsi/about/submissions
Manuscripts will undergo a process of blind peer review. Author guidelines are available at https://contemporarystudyofislam.org/index.php/jcsi/about/submissions#authorGuidelines
10. Harvard University – NELC – TENURED PROFESSOR IN ARMENIAN STUDIES
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=60958
11. CALL FOR PAPERS International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA)
Special Issue: Rupture and Response
Thematic volume planned for July 2023
Abstract submission deadline: April 5, 2021
This special issue of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture addresses urban and architectural responses to rupture. Prompted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, this issue understands and investigates rupture as a state of emergency which may reveal systemic inequalities through the moment of crisis. Such rupture can be caused by events including epidemics, explosions, fires, episodes of armed conflict, and earthquakes or other natural disasters – events which all have myriad and wide-reaching effects on buildings, cities, urban environments, and the communities that inhabit them. While not directly addressing the current pandemic disrupting many of our lives, this special issue aims to explore moments like these and responses to them through built environments. In line with the mission of the IJIA, which aims to encourage dialogue between practitioners and scholars, this special issue hopes to be strongly interdisciplinary. Contributions will be drawn from fields ranging from urban design, history, architecture, planning, and art and architectural history.
Rupture can take the form of a physical rending, manifesting itself in the tearing apart of our built environment. For example, an earthquake might tear down a building important for the social life of a community or level a town. In the first instance, therefore, such moments of rupture themselves may have an effect on the built environment – they may cause direct damage or other change to buildings. However, such an event might also rend the social, economic, or political structures around it. All too often, the damage done by events such as epidemics, natural disasters, or explosions is exacerbated by, while also exacerbating, pre-existing social inequalities. Such moments can place extra strain on political, social, economic, and personal crises. In addition, aspects of culture, such as the production of art or the performance of music and theatre, are also impacted, as they are often deemed secondary needs and neglected at such times of crisis. These two aspects – the urban/architectural and the social/cultural – are, thus, frequently affected in parallel. A moment of sudden disruption might be made manifest in the built environment, as well as the social structures which inhabit and support it.
Further, subsequent to these initial moments of change, the urban and built environment is a medium in which responses to rupture are frequently made material. The environment we build around us is so often the space on and in which we make our preoccupations manifest. The buildings affected by moments of rupture are in many ways extensions of the people who call them home, and the economic and social structures which shape their lives. In light of this, contributors are encouraged to approach these moments as catalysts for architectural and urban change, but also for other, wider forms of change within society. Moreover, as this special issue will have a focus on the built environment, it may also address acts of commemoration and the architectural memorialisation of the loss of life that is often a consequence of the moments investigated by this special edition.
Indeed, rupture and the response to it can take myriad forms and the past year provided many examples. In 2020, the world has been unexpectedly disrupted in many ways by the spread of COVID-19. Iran, for example, one of the countries dramatically impacted by the pandemic, has already seen effects caused by this outbreak made manifest on its architecture and urban environments. Many of the most significant religious sites in the country have had their doors shut for months, with the shrine of Shah Abdol-Azim in Rayy even being repurposed as a mask factory. The past year also saw the explosion in the port of Beirut on August 4, 2020 which devastated the city and its inhabitants in many ways, one of which was the widespread damage to the urban fabric. Homes, work spaces, places of worship, museums, and many other sites felt the full force of the blast. In the days that followed, many of the responses were embedded within and emerged from the damaged cityscape, whether in the shape of the clean-up effort or anti-government protests.
The changes that take place after rupture affect not only physical spaces, but also social relationships. In response to COVID-19, for example, buildings are used differently and space is managed in new ways. Interior spaces look different – they bear the paraphernalia of social distancing enforcement and increased sanitisation. Many of us are inhabiting spaces differently – frequenting them less; distancing ourselves from others when we do. In addition, new technologies might be developed to guard against further damage. Legislative adjustments, as well as changes to social norms brought about in response to the moment of rupture will have their own effects on the built environment. Thus, the changes can range from repurposing or renovation to reconstruction or relocation. Through studies of the manifestation of rupture and such responses to it in architecture and the wider built environment, this issue aims to explore not only the rending of urban, but also social, fabrics and the conjunction between these two aspects.
Paper proposals should work from the framework outlined above and offer insights relevant to the IJIA’s remit, which is defined broadly as ‘the historic Islamic world, encompassing the Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia, but also the more recent geographies of Islam in its global dimensions’. In this vein, we encourage contributors to address Islamic architecture in less-frequently represented geographies such as sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas. Equally, papers addressing groups often under-represented in the study of Islamic architecture such as women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and people with disabilities are very welcome. Papers can address past or present moments of rupture and the responses to it.
Contributors might range from an architectural historian investigating a mosque built in the early-modern period to commemorate the damage wrought by a fire, or an historian working on the impact of pandemics on hospital design, to an urban planner designing a new town in southern Iran after a major earthquake, or an entrepreneur trying to design a prototype shelter for Syrian refugees in Iraq, etc. Contributions are welcomed from individuals at any stage of their careers, and advanced graduate students are encouraged to submit proposals. Questions that might be addressed by contributors to this special issue are unlimited but could include:
- How are the social and political ramifications of these events reflected in architecture? After rupture, how are new and changing societal or political needs expressed through art, architecture and urban design?
- In what ways are societies’ responses to rupture reflected in the worlds they build around them? Are there responses which are distinctive to particular regions? How do religious practice and cultural traditions play a role in the response? Have marginalised communities produced distinctive responses through architecture?
- What role do architecture, urban design, planning etc. play in recovery from rupture? How is architecture used to mend tears in the social fabric?
- What are the consequences of the lack of an architectural response to rupture?
- What effect do such moments have on social justice and disparity? How do they exacerbate pre-existing patterns of inequity and marginalisation? How can responses to these moments build toward a more equal society?
- How might architectural studies help us understand moments of rupture more clearly? What are the benefits or challenges of working with buildings as sources in these cases?
- How have planners, architects, and designers understood their role in providing responses to pandemics, earthquakes, etc.?
- How is architecture used to memorialise such moments? How are urban spaces used for the making of memory? In what ways does damaged or otherwise altered architecture stand in testament to the moment of rupture?
Articles offering historical and theoretical analysis (DiT papers) should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words, while those on design and practice (DiP papers) between 3,000 and 4,000 words. Urbanists, art historians, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists, sociologists, and historians are also welcome. Practitioners from all relevant fields (i.e., architecture, urban planning, landscape design, art) are welcome to contribute insofar as they address the critical framework of the journal. Please send a title and a 400-word abstract to the guest editor, Fuchsia Hart, University of Oxford (ijia.rupture@gmail.com), by April 5, 2021. Authors of accepted proposals will be contacted soon thereafter and will be invited to submit full papers by January 2022. All papers will be subject to blind peer review. For author instructions, please consult: www.intellectbooks.com/ijia.
12. Research Fellow, ‘Science and the Transmission of Islamic Knowledge in Britain’, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham
Part time 80% FTE, fixed term for 24 months
This position is for a post-doctoral Research Fellow to work on the new Templeton Religion Trust-funded research project, ‘Science and the Transmission of Islamic Knowledge in Britain’. This project will investigate how the relationship between Islam and science is understood and discussed by those involved in the transmission of Islamic knowledge and the establishment of Islamic authority in Britain. It will examine: if, and how, scientific concepts are used by Muslim religious leaders to legitimise their arguments; if Islamic education centres and religious leaders oppose any scientific theories, and if so what movements influence them; and how Muslim leaders’ answers to questions about science and Islam are affected by UK policy context and Muslims’ position within British society. It will provide one of the first in-depth portraits of whether, when and how Muslim religious leaders interact with scientific concepts and popular narratives about science.
The post holder will work with the Principal Investigator and external Co-investigator to conduct ethnographic observation of women’s and co-educational Islamic educational institutions as well as interview research with current and in-training Muslim religious leaders. They will also assist in research by carrying out literature reviews, conducting data analysis and writing up research findings. The post holder will be expected to engage in, and support, aspects of project dissemination, team meetings and international networking activities, including contributing the project-related websites, workshops and seminars. They will also be expected to effectively contribute to the presentation and dissemination of research outputs, including developing academic and non-academic publications/presentations.
Some of the responsibilities of this role are outlined below.
- With the PI and Co-I, negotiate access to research sites and interviewees.
- Conduct ethnographic and interview research at two case study sites, as well as interviews at a variety of settings around the UK.
- Undertake research administration and support the PI and Co-I in research management.
- Analyse and interpret data gathered for the project.
- Co-ordinate the collaborative preparation of findings for dissemination to academic and non-academic audiences both in the UK and internationally.
- Present research outputs at UK-based and international conferences and contribute to academic publications.
- Actively contribute to public reports based on the data collected and related public/media engagement activity.
- Work with Muslim educational and community organisations to set up forums for the discussion and dissemination of the research.
- Provide guidance to support staff and any students and colleagues who may be assisting with research.
For informal inquiries, please contact Dr Stephen Jones (PI) at s.h.jones@bham.ac.uk.
As this vacancy has limited funding, the maximum salary that can be offered is Grade 7, salary £30,942.
Closing date: 24th Feb 2021 Reference: 12098
- January 30, 2021
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment