Categories : Academic items

1. ONLINE Webinar ‘The Connected Histories of James Baillie Fraser’s The Kuzzilbash: A Tale of Khorasan’

with Brenden Benjamin

British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 28 May, 2025, 5:00 pm UK Time

Information and registration: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_t3w6U1w3RMmE26sS95oqPA#/registration

 

 

 

 

2. Upcoming online course:

The Meaning of Life in Islamic Thought

July 28– August 02, 2025 |  Live Sessions

Hosted by the Sadra International Institute, this unique academic course brings together internationally recognized scholars to explore one of the most profound questions of human existence: What is the meaning of life? through the lens of Islamic philosophy and theology.

📚 Course Topics Include:

1. The Concept of Life and Its Purpose in Islamic Thought – Dr. Maria Massi Dakake, George Mason University, USA
2. Revelation as a Source of Meaning in Islamic Thought – Dr. Khalil Andani, Augustana College, USA
3. The Path to the Perfect Human in Islamic Mysticism – Dr. Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad, Florida International University, USA
4. Mulla Sadra and the Transcendent Philosophy of Life, Dr. Oliver Leaman, University of Kentucky, USA
5. Understanding the Meaning of Life through Islamic Theology – Dr. Ahab Bdaiwi, Leiden University, Netherlands
6. Evil and the Search for Meaning in Islamic Thought – Dr. Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter, UK

This course is ideal for students, researchers, and anyone seeking a deeper understanding of Islamic intellectual traditions and their relevance to contemporary questions of purpose, existence, and fulfillment.

Register here: https://sadrai.com/meaning-of-life-in-islam

 

 

 

 

 

3. Call for Expressions of Interest – Visual Anthropology Book Review Editor (2025-2028)

(This is a voluntary role)

Visual Anthropology seeks a new Book Review Editor, the position is also open to a team of two or three people. The position(s) is suitable for a person with a PhD in a field relevant to visual research and practice. This is an exciting time to join VA as we develop the journal and introduce new content types and strategies. This is a high profile position suitable for applicants who are committed to actively and creatively participating in the relaunch of a pivotal journal for our discipline, and engaging with scholars and practitioners in the field. VA publishes approximately five book reviews per issue (with 4 issues a year), requiring the Book Review Editor(s) to identify and commission up to 20 book reviewers each year.

The Book Review Editor(s) will work directly with book publishers to have hard copy or e-books sent directly to reviewers as they are identified.

As the Book Review Editor(s), the successful candidate(s) will manage the commissioning, review and acceptance process for book reviews submitted to the journal, in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief.

The Book Review Editor is responsible for:

1. Identifying books for review and coordinating the delivery of review copies/e-books from book publishers to the author,
2. Identifying potential book reviewers and commissioning submissions. This includes providing clear instructions as to the format and range of the book review and submission procedures,
3. Corresponding with book review authors (e.g., acknowledging receipt of a submitted book review; providing information about its editorial review as necessary),
4. Providing feedback to book review authors (e.g., editing reviews to the standard of the journal, including content, references and book information, etc.; conveying the editorial decision and providing guidance for revisions),
5. Keeping accurate records to ensure that there is a sufficient flow of reviews,
6. Proving progress reports and updates to the Editor-in-Chief and the Associate Editor as required.

Although the Book Review Editor will have independent authority in selecting the reviewers and the books reviewed, the final decisions will be with the Editor-in-Chief.

The Book Review Editor is encouraged to be innovative in their approach. VA welcomes book review sections (where important books on mixed themes are reviewed) and book review symposia (several reviews on newly published key books and comparisons of two or three related books by a single author). We are also open to proposals for launching something new and exciting, as well as for the continuation and revitalisation of book reviews.

Applications should include:

• Your professional C.V. (two pages)
• An example of a book review that you have contributed to a journal yourself
• A Cover Letter of no longer than one page to include the following:
• Your motivation for applying for this role,
• How you would go about undertaking the role and any experience or skills you bring to it,
• Your vision for a new book review section.

Please send your applications (should be sent as attached PDF file) to the Editor-in-Chief (P.Khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au ) by 30 May 2025 (end of day).

https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/gvan20

 

 

 

 

 

4. ‘Khayyām Literacy among Turkman Copyists, Yāraḥmad Rašidi’s Ṭarabkhānẹ’
DONNINI, Piero
Studia Iranica, 52/1 (2023)
https://poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?url=article&id=3294138&journal_code=SI

 

 

 

 

5. On Monday 26/5/2025, from 3.00 pm – 4.30 pm CET, Simon Stjernholm will discuss his latest book “Sensing Islam: Engaging and Contesting the Senses in Muslim Religiosity” (Bloomsbury). After the book talk, Merve Rehyan Kayikci will offer a response, which will be followed by a Q&A.

Abstract

Simon Stjernholm – “Sensory Engagements in the Study of Muslim Piety”

How have practices and imaginaries of sensing been religiously engaged and contested by Muslims? How do contemporary Muslim practices and debates concerning religious sensing relate to historical precedents?

In his new book Sensing Islam: Engaging and Contesting the Senses in Muslim Religiosity (Bloomsbury), Stjernholm analyses examples dealing with contemporary Sufism and Muslim religious oratory in order to explore practices and imaginaries of sensing. Combining the research fields of Islamic Studies, anthropology of Islam, material religion and sensory studies, this book covers a range of materials, including writings by Muslim religious authorities, ethnographic material, audio recordings and videos. In this talk, he will present the general framework of the book and discuss a few examples of its analyses in detail.

Simon Stjernholm is Associate Professor of the Study of Religion at the University of Copenhagen. His work is situated in the anthropology and history of Islam, with particular focus on Sufism and Muslim preaching.

Discussant Merve R. Kayikci is a postdoctoral researcher at the KADOC Documentation and Research Center on Religion, Culture and Society, Belgium.

To register for this meeting, click here.

To subscribe to IED’s maillist, click here.

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Islamic College:

A one-day workshop: An adventure in the realm of spiritual & moral personal experiences

Sunday 18 May 2025

10 am – 7 pm (London time)
Venue:
The Islamic College 133 High Road London NW102SW

Register here:

https://islamic-college.ac.uk/islamic-college-events/

 

 

 

 

7. RUB Workshop June 11-13: The Reception and Transformation of the Late Ancient Knowledge Tradition in the Arabic-Muslim World

The Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) is thrilled to invite you to our upcoming workshop, “The Reception and Transformation of the Late Ancient Knowledge Tradition in the Arabic-Muslim World.”

 

The workshop’s theme is a key research area of our institute at the RUB. It covers a wide range of topics and texts, and is the first in a series of events to promote the institute’s newly established professorship dedicated to the history of knowledge and its transfer from late antiquity into the Arabic-Muslim world.

Please consider joining us and the distinguished speakers on campus for what we hope will be a memorable and enlightening event.

🗓 Date: June 11–13, 2025

📍 Location: Building GB, Room 5/160, Ruhr University Bochum (Universitätsstraße 150, 44801 Bochum, Germany)

Day One (Keynote Address):

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

18:15–19:45 Asad Ahmed (Berkeley/Paris): “The Legacy of Avicennism in Nineteenth-Century South Asia”

Day Two:

Thursday, June 12, 2025

09:15–09:30 Opening Words by Cornelia Schöck & Andreas Lammer

09:30–10:45 David Wirmer (Cologne): “Ibn Bāǧǧa on the Agent Intellect as ‘Form of Forms’”

11:00–12:15 Ibrahim Safri (Munich): “Re-Thinking Aristotle: An Atomist Account of Motion in Pre-Modern Islamic Philosophy”

13:45–15:00 Miriam Rogasch (Cologne): “al-Fārābī’s Influence on Avicenna’s Ontology of Essence”

15:15–16:30 Alexander Lamprakis (Munich/Utrecht): “The Sources and Afterlife of the Section on Logic in al-Lawkarī’s Bayān al-ḥaqq bi-ḍamān al-ṣidq”

17:00–18:15 Paul Hullmeine (Munich): “al-Bīrūnī’s Reception of Greek Knowledge”

Day Three:

Friday, June 13, 2025

09:00–10:15 Joschka Dunz (Würzburg): “Psychology and Epistemology in Ibn al-Haytham’s Optics”

10:30–11:45 Hanif Amin Beidokhti (Bochum): “In Defence of the Peripatetics: Suhrawardī against Abū l-Barakāt on Void and Body”

11:45–13:00 Cornelia Schöck (Bochum): “Systematic Place and Function of the Division of the Signification of Terms in Avicenna’s Theory of Science”

1.Hybrid Lecture: Fabrizio Speziale, “Noah’s Grandsons and the Elephant: Functions of Persian Pseudonymous Texts in South Asia”, 2 June 2025

The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo, and the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies are pleased to announce a lecture by Professor Fabrizio Speziale (EHESS). The talk will explore pseudonymous Persian texts as a strategy to domesticate non-Muslim technical knowledge and to legitimize the status of Muslim professional groups in Persianate South Asia. The event will be held in a hybrid format, with online participation available via Zoom.

Lecture Title:
Noah’s Grandsons and the Elephant: Functions of Persian Pseudonymous Texts in South Asia
(Abstract below)

Speaker:

Professor Fabrizio Speziale (École des hautes études en sciences sociales)

Profile: https://www.ehess.fr/fr/personne/fabrizio-speziale)

Date:
Monday, 2 June 2025, 18:00–19:30 (JST)

Venue:
Room 305, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (Tōyō Bunka Kenkyūjo), University of Tokyo
and online via Zoom

How to Participate:
(1) In-person attendance: No prior registration is required.
Please note: The institute’s entrance doors will no longer be accessible from outside after 18:00. We recommend arriving before that time. A contact telephone number for those arriving late will be posted at the entrance.
(2) Online attendance: Please register at https://forms.gle/hMtJDBoAJ8ujpGaL9 .
A Zoom link will be sent by noon (JST) on the day of the event.

This lecture is co-organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (Regular Research Project W–1, “Approaches to the ‘Persianate World'”) and the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies.

Contact Info:
Kazuo Morimoto
Email: morikazu[at]ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. CALL FOR PAPERS

International Conference on GLOBALISATION IN LANGUAGES, EDUCATION, CULTURE, AND COMMUNICATION (GLECC2025)
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fglecc.org%2F2025%2F&data=05%7C02%7C%7C4e3aedbf0dbb4fb4a60e08dd8d0d8753%7C2e9f06b016694589878910a06934dc61%7C0%7C0%7C638821811444508841%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=QBJiW%2B%2FTEVEMMVTPZuJyLSnCxyIa4MbyYgBYiGVGvss%3D&reserved=0
Dates: 30-31 July 2025 (main conference)
Venue: Manchester, U.K.
Submission deadline extended to: 18 May 2025
Keynote speakers confirmed:
1.“Beyond borders: The interplay of international mobility, culture, and commerce” by Professor Zheng Wang, University of Dundee, UK.
2.“Rethinking language and culture education for a reglobalising world” by Dr Derek Hird, Lancaster University, UK.
The past two decades have witnessed remarkable advancements in the studies into Education, Second and Foreign Languages, Translation and Interpreting, Cultural Studies & Communication. This growth can be largely attributed to the forces of globalisation. Consequently, adopting the globalisation perspective is timely and provides a natural framework for connecting these diverse yet interlinked disciplines.
This conference aims to bring together researchers, educators, practitioners, and policymakers to disseminate research outcomes, share insights, discuss findings, exchange visions, and identify challenges and trends in an interactive and immersive multidisciplinary environment. The submissions take the forms of abstract, full paper, panel discussion, and workshop proposals.
There is a “conference first” policy in place. Selected papers will be invited to further develop into full journal articles free of APCs. Conference proceedings will be published open access with an ISBN.
There will be optional pre-conference workshops on 29 July and post conference events on 1 August.
Looking forward to the possibility of working together, and we eagerly await your response.
Warm regards,
GLECC2025 Organising Committee

 

 

 

 

 

3. Call for Papers

‘Faithful’ Mothers and the Politics of Nurturing Future Secular Citizens

19th June 2025

A Knowledge Exchange Symposium (funded by British Academy VF grant)

Deadline for Abstracts: 26th May 2025

Mothering in relation to religion remains highly understudied, particularly in relation to non-mainstream models of mothering. In a world ridden with inter-communal conflict, this symposium will explore the significant but unrecognised roles that mothers play in the formation of citizens and state-building beyond times of conflict. By exploring how mothers navigate everyday faith and the pushes and pulls of the largely secular contemporary state, it will forefront their socio-political agency, reinstating them as influential actors and not just victims of conflict. It will bring together mothering practices across communities from the global south, to reflect on their analytical, social and political relevance for diasporic communities in the global north. Further, it is hoped the symposium will enable the laying of the ground in thinking around faith and fathering and non-normative parenting. The symposium will break new scholarly ground in religious studies, feminism and sociology and anthropology and revitalize mothering and religion as a field of study. In particular, among other related issues we hope to explore the following research questions:

• When different religious communities live side by side, what impact does this have on practices and ideas of mothering?
• How might a mother’s religious identity shape her lived experience of mothering in the context of the secular state?
• How do state ideologies and policies concerning development, dislocation, or the modern schooling system intersect or clash with practices of mothering, fathering and non-traditional forms of parenting?
• How can learnings from mothering practices from the global south be used to understand diasporic mothering in the global north?

This knowledge exchange symposium is part of the British Academy Visiting Professorship grant funded project. Hosted by Coventry University, it will bring together scholars to critically engage with mothering, fathering, non-normative parenting in the context of the study of religion and everyday faith. The event’s discussions are intended to inform the creation of a network of scholars, facilitate future research and grant applications and possibly plan a proposal for a panel for upcoming conferences and even a special issue for a relevant journal.

For accepted papers, we will be pay for travel costs (for one person per paper) up to 100 pounds per person and contribute towards accommodation costs up to 105 pounds per person for one night only. We will be able to fund a maximum of 20 presenters accordingly.

Submission Guidelines: Please submit proposals that explore one or more of the questions raised above. Feel free to come up with and explore new questions or propose reflective thought papers, formative ‘laying the groundwork’ papers and the like. Proposals to include an abstract of no more than 300 words accompanied by the paper title, presenter’s name and short bio (100 words), institutional affiliation and contact information. Please submit via this form: https://forms.office.com/e/6mrKik4fUV

Enquires: Professor Rowena Robinson (rowena@iitb.ac.in) Professor Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (ac0967@coventry.ac.uk)

Key Dates:

• Abstract Submission Deadline: 26th May 2025
• Notification of Acceptance: 30th May 2025

Registration

Further details about the registration process will be circulated and posted on the website

 We look forward to your contributions and to advancing the discussion on religion, faith and mothering, fathering and non-normative parenting in the global south and north.

Symposium Organisers

Professor Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor, Professor Rowena Robinson

 

 

 

4. N Ferreira, ‘What Is the Value of the Persianate to Afghan Studies? or, What Can Afghan History Tell Us about the Persianate? Lessons from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries’

PMLA, 2024 139/2, 307-13

https://www.academia.edu/129074892/What_Is_the_Value_of_the_Persianate_to_Afghan_Studies_or_What_Can_Afghan_History_Tell_Us_about_the_Persianate_Lessons_from_the_Sixteenth_and_Seventeenth_Centuries?email_work_card=view-paper

 

 

 

 

 

5. Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien”, qui se tiendra jeudi prochain, 15 mai 2025, 17h-19h, en salle 4.15 à l’INaLCO(65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 4^eétage).

Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir M. Austin O’Malley (University of Chicago), pour une conférence intitulée: “Mixtapes and Local Jams: Selection and Regionality in the Nozhat al-majāles, an Early Collection of Persian Quatrains“.

Résumé:

Among the Persian metrical forms, the quatrain (robāʿi) stands out for its brevity, popularity, and wide use in an array of social situations and performance contexts, from humble “folk” recitations to sermons and samāʿ sessions to courtly symposia. In this talk, I will investigate the 13^th-century Nozhat al-majāles, one of the earliest extant collections of quatrains organized by theme, to better understand the role quatrains played within courtly settings and the larger literary ecosystem. Although centered on the Nozhat, the discussion will also make use of early “genre codes” that discuss the social contexts of quatrains’ production and circulation (i.e., Shams-e Qays’ Moʿjam, the Qābus-nāma) as well as the biographical anthology of ʿOwfi and discourses of Neẓāmi-ye ʿArużi.

Taken together, these investigations show how 13^th-century, northwest Iranian potentates engaged in literary culture not only by receiving the “prestige verse” of polished panegyric, but also by presiding over and participating in a more ephemeral process of selection, exchange, and appreciation of quatrains, which were attributed to a wide variety of individuals who were not necessarily professional poets, and many of which were not ultimately preserved in divāns.

Orientations bibliographiques:

– Davidson, Olga M. “Genre and Occasion in the Rubāʿiyyāt of ʿUmar Khayyām: The Rubāʿi, Literary History, and Courtly Literature.” In Writers and Rulers: Perspectives of Their Relations from Abbasid to Safavid Times, edited by Beatrice Gruendler and Louise Marlow, 133–44. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2004.

– Meier, Fritz. Die schöne Mahsati. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1963

– Mir-afżali, Sayyed ʿAli. “Bar-rasi-ye Nozhat al-majāles (bakhsh-e avval).” Maʿāref 4, no. 1 (1376 [1997]): 90–147.

– Mir-afżali, Sayyed ʿAli. “Bar-rasi-ye Nozhat al-majāles (bakhsh-e dovvom).” Maʿāref 14, no. 2 (1376 [1997]): 135–327.

– Seyed-Gohrab, Ali Asghar. “The Flourishing of Persian Quatrains.” In Persian Lyric Poetry in the Classical Era: Ghazals, Panegyrics, Quatrains, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 488–568. Vol. 2 of A History of Persian Literature, edited by Ehsan Yarshater. London: I.B. Tauris, 2019.

– Shamisā, Sirus. Sayr-e robāʿi dar sheʿr-e fārsi. Tehran: Āshtiāni, 1363 [1984].

– Sharvāni, Jamāl Khalil. Nozhat al-majāles. Edited by Moḥammad Amin-Riyāḥi. 2nd ed. Tehran: ʿElmi, 1375 [1996–97].

Pour rappel, vous retrouverez le programme 2024-2025 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien” sur le site du CeRMI :

https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-de-recherche/societes-politiques-et-cultures-du-monde-iranien-2024-2025/

 

 

 

 

6. DEADLINE 16 May 2025 – Annual Arabic Pasts Workshop

Arabic Pasts is co-convened by Anna Chrysostomides (Queen Mary), Yossi Rapoport (Queen Mary), Hugh Kennedy (SOAS), Lorenz Nigst (AKU-ISMC), and Sarah Bowen Savant (AKU-ISMC).

The annual Arabic Pasts workshop brings together scholars at all career stages to reflect on methodologies, research agendas, and case studies for investigating history writing in Arabic in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond in any period from the seventh century to the present.

This year the Arabic Pasts workshop welcomes Queen Mary University of London as a partner. We will host the workshop in person at the Aga Khan Centre and welcome proposals that deal with the practical and conceptual challenges of working on history writing in Arabic. We encourage scholars working at all career stages to join us.

By way of example, papers might elucidate the following sorts of questions – or others:

• How do nations today tell their stories with respect to their pasts?  In what ways do educational institutions, museums, media organisations and proponents of heritage use history writing to shape loyalties and senses of belonging in society?
• When and how did pre-modern and modern historians writing in Arabic conceptualize the history of Palestine as a distinct geographical and political unit?  What are the Arabic historiographical traditions regarding the city of Gaza and its hinterland, and how have they developed in the last two centuries?
• How is the past used in creative arts, re-enactment, games, and augmented reality?
• What do we consider works of fiction and how do they differ in authorial intent from historical chronicles? Does this authorial intent make a difference in how we treat these sources? What can we learn from combinations of fiction and non-fiction sources, if anything?
• What is the relationship between Arabic and other languages and scripts in bi/multi-lingual and bi/multi-alphabetic texts (tarikh, documents, other genres) across time?
• How can marginalised communities and their varieties of Arabic be given due attention?
• How can all genders (including non-binary) be given due attention when our sources are often composed by male political, intellectual and religious elites?
• How can we explore the past algorithmically? Can digital methods enhance our understanding of the past? Can they also limit or even alter it? Which new digital tools are being developed? What seem to be particularly promising approaches? What is lacking?

Prior to the workshop, we will also run a hands-on workshop on digital methods for Arabic texts – no experience necessary. Please get in touch early if you are interested in joining as we will have to cap participation.

Please submit an abstract of 300 words or less in word document by Friday, 16 May 2025 to ArabicPastsConf@aku.edu. Also please be in touch if you would like to join the digital methods workshop.

 

 

 

 

7. Anna Contadini’s masterclass at Harvard-I Tatti on two illustrated pages from al-Jazari’s automata of 755/1354 is now published and can be viewed here:

https://vimeo.com/1054171670

URL

https://vimeo.com/1054171670?turnstile=0.QxjHDSDHh8E0FkKdd5nu3iV9jRRUG6SqvYHlAg…

 

 

 

 

 

8. Marcus Milwright’s seminar on ‘Messages from the Past: Temporal Relationships in the Study of Early Islamic Visual Culture’ can now be found on the dedicated ReSIA YouTube channel here:

ReSIA – SOAS Research Seminar in Islamic Art – YouTube

URL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNIibY2LlRY&list=PL1z_PGhPjwcqXOrrMPQeQS_OJ0Bd4…

 

 

 

9. The Islamic College:

Zoom Monthly Talk: The Quran and its English Translations

A Talk by Professor Muhammad Abdel Haleem
Wednesday 14 May 2025

6 pm – 7:30 pm (London time)
On Zoom

https://islamic-college.ac.uk/event-register/

 

 

 

 

 

10. Zahra Institute – Two talks:

“Language Ideologies and the Discursive Construction of the Persian Language Hegemony in Iran”

Wednesday, 21 May: 12pm Central / 1pm Eastern

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/97305224624?pwd=TY35GbblrFDvcIizxaadWcqJHexeis.1

Jaffer Sheyholislami (Ph.D., Carleton University) is a Professor at the School of Linguistics and Language Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He is the author of Kurdish Identity, Discourse and New Media (Palgrave 2011) and has co-edited a special issue of the International Journal of the Sociology of Language devoted to Kurdish sociolinguistics (2012). He is also the co-editor of the forthcoming volume Oxford Handbook of Kurdish Linguistics. Sheyholislami’s research centers on general linguistics, critical discourse studies, sociolinguistics, and language policy and planning.

 

“Breakthroughs in Kurdish Lexicography”

 Wednesday, 28 May: 12pm Central / 1pm Eastern

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/95130568250?pwd=Dok0HCmMDhvIhdaNw6yyiKbdiyYauu.1

Michael Chyet (Ph.D., UC Berkeley) retired in June 2024 from his position as Cataloger of Middle Eastern languages at the Library of Congress. Formerly he was Senior Broadcast Editor of the Kurdish Service of the Voice of America, and professor of Kurdish at the University of Paris and at the Washington Kurdish Institute. Chyet is working on a third, expanded edition of his Kurdish-English dictionary, Ferhenga Birûskî.

 

 

 

 

 

11. WZO’s Annual Seminar

Sunday 01^st  June 2025 at 10:30

World Zoroastrian House, 1 Freddie Mercury Close, Feltham. TW 5DF London

Please email Shahin Bekhradnia, shahinbekhradnia@hotmail.com , to reserve your seat.

10:30  Opening Remarks

10:45  Alexandra Buhler: Political, economic and social implications of the relations between Zoroastrians in India and Iran during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

12:00  Dr. Khodadad Rezakhani: The Heart of the Empire: Ctesiphon and DilĒrānšahr in the Sasanian World

13:00   Light Refreshments will be available with a vegetarian option.

14:00  Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis: Royal Splendour: the art of the Sasanian kings

15:00   Questions to the Panel of Speakers.

15:30  Close

 

 

 

 

 

12. Online lecture. Collecting Islamic and Turkish Art at the Harvard Art Museums with Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım.

May 16. 6pm (Turkey). Presented by the Ankara Friends of ARIT.

This talk focuses on the history of art collecting at Harvard by introducing the museum’s history, beginning with the establishment of the Fogg Museum in 1895 and continuing to the present day. It will feature major supporters and donors, the evolving museum culture, provenance studies, and highlights from the Turkish-Islamic collection of the museum. Ayşin Yoltar-Yıldırım is the Norma Jean Calderwood Curator of Islamic and Later Indian Art, at the Harvard Art Museums.

For Zoom Registration: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/XNBdDQ5ATpOmsu7nAEEEDQ. Contact email: ankfarit@gmail.com.

For more information, visit https://aritweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Aysin-Yoltar_.pdf

URL

https://aritweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Aysin-Yoltar_.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

13. ONLINE Lecture “Debate and Dialogue: Polemics, Kalam, and the Artistic Inscription in Islamic Spaces” by Hamidreza Azarinia (University of Tehran), Leiden University, 11 May 2025, 15:30 CET

This event is part of the lecture series “Material Culture, Art, and Archictecture of Pre-Safavid Shīʿism” connected with the ERC-funded project “Embodied Imamate: Mapping the Development of the Early Shīʿī Community”.

Information and registration:

 

 

 

 

 

14. ONLINE Book Talk “Sensory Engagements in the Study of Muslim Piety” by Simon Stjernholm (University of Copenhagen), “Islam, Ethics and Diversity (IED) Network”, Universities of Gent & Zürich & Brussel, 26 May 2025, 15.00 – 16.30 CET

How have practices and imaginaries of sensing been religiously engaged and contested by Muslims? How do contemporary Muslim practices and debates concerning religious sensing relate to historical precedents? This book analyses examples dealing with contemporary Sufism and Muslim religious oratory in order to explore practices and imaginaries of sensing.

Information and registration: https://iednetwork.ugent.be/sensory-engagements-in-the-study-of-muslim-piety/

 

 

 

 

 

15. 23rd Annual Conference of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy (CSID): “Defending Democracy in the Muslim World: Why Democracy is Crucial in the Age of Global Authoritarianism”, Georgetown Capitol Campus, Washington, DC, 29 May 2025

Information, program, and registration: https://tinyurl.com/yck6awyh

 

 

 

 

 

16. HYBRID “Young Researchers 3rd Indo-Persian Conference”, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, 31 May – 1 June 2025

Information, program, and registration:

https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2025/05/YRIPW3-ProgrammeSchedule.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

17. Workshop: “Forms of Urbanity in the Persianate World”, EHESS, Paris, 4 June 2025

The workshop explores the processes of urbanization and the forms of lived urbanity in the eastern Islamicate world in the medieval and the early modern period. It interrogates the religious, social, economic and cultural dimensions of the urban spaces of Persianate societies in Iran, southern Asia and the Indian Ocean by offering a granular analysis of urban experiences, filtered through a variety of archival, textual, literary and material sources.

Information and program: https://crh.ehess.fr/index.php?10278

 

 

 

 

 

18. ONLINE Lecture on “Making Islam Work: Islamic Authority Among Muslims in Western Europe” by Thijl Sunier (VU University Amsterdam), “Islam, Ethics and Diversity (IED) Network”, Universities of Gent & Zürich & Brussel, 23 June 2025, 15.00 – 16.30 CET

In this talk, Sunier will explore the diverse ways in which Islamic authority is constituted, with a specific emphasis on the role of ‘ordinary’ Muslims. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted among Muslims in Western Europe from the mid-1980s to 2020, he aims to shed light on the multifaceted dynamics of Islamic authority in this context.

Information and registration:

https://iednetwork.ugent.be/making-islam-work-islamic-authority-among-muslims-in-western-europe/

 

 

 

 

 

19. 4th Manuscript Culture Symposium: “Mecmuas in the Ottoman World: Interdisciplinary Approaches and Current Research”, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg University, 28-30 May 2026

Mecmuas are composite manuscripts as well as multiple-text manuscripts. We invite papers with codicological, literary, cultural, historical or other perspectives on mecmuas and seek to bring together scholars at various stages of the research process.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/ymvxwe27

1. The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies in collaboration with the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago

present

“Exploring Persian Language Pedagogy through Sadriddin Ayni’s Literary Lens: Using ‘Notes’ as a Teaching Resource”
Dr. Mehrak Kamali
Ohio State University

Saturday, 10 May 2025, 1:00 EDT/12:00 Central Time  

Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/ekqkKaUzQhiQ08ptyUy5TQAfter registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies – Fellowship in the History of Islamic Art & Material Culture
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68743

Closing date: 20.5.25

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Latest Open Access issue of the Cambridge Journal of Anthropology

Articles
‘In the End, We Are Just Bureaucrats’: Shifting State Affects and Bureaucracy in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Lana Askari

Property Documents in Post-Revolution Tunis: Stately Affects and the Multitemporality of Transition Politics
Rosa Sansone

Dismembered Attachment: Documents and the Embodied Continuity of Regional Wars in Iran
Ahmad Moradi

1.The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies and Invisible East present a series of monthly online seminars about archives and documents.

Convened by Arezou Azad and Mohamad Tavakoli, the seminars are held monthly on Zoom.
Please join us this month to hear from Delbar Khakzad on ‘Traditional Forms and Modern Contents: The Hijri-Shamsi Calendar and Critical Engagement with Archival Sources’ Thursday 15 May at 12PM EST / 5PM GMT.

Pre-registration is essential.

https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/4EnVuj2YSxeDsJOkivlBkA#/registration

 

 

 

 

 

2. Durham University

Sir William Luce Memorial Fund

Anarchiving Sudan memories: present war and troubled past

by the 2025 Sir William Luce Fellow

Dr Mariasole Pepa

Al-Qasimi Building, Elvet Hill Road, Durham DH1 3TU

on Wednesday 11 June 2025 at 12.00pm,

followed by a Buffet Lunch from 1.00pm

R.S.V.P. by Friday 30 May 2025

The Honorary Secretary, The Sir William Luce Memorial Fund,

School of Government and International Affairs, Al-Qasimi Building, Durham, DH1 3TU, UK

e-mail: luce.fund@durham.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Arab Media & Society,the biannual journal of the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism in the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the American University in Cairo, is seeking submissions for our next issue on “Media Management and Economics.”

Issue 39, Winter/Spring 2025 on “Media Management and Economics”
The media landscape in the Arab World is undergoing a rapid and profound transformation, shaped by technological advancements, shifting consumer behaviors, and evolving business models. Digital platforms, artificial intelligence, and content creators are redefining the media ecosystem, influencing economic structures, managerial strategies, and regulatory frameworks. As media organizations, content producers, and digital platforms adapt to this changing environment, new challenges and opportunities emerge for sustainable business models, ethical considerations, and innovative revenue streams.

This call for papers seeks to explore the dynamic intersections of media management, economics, and digital transformation in the Arab World. We invite contributions that critically examine how traditional and digital media industries are responding to these shifts and what strategies are being employed to sustain media operations in an era marked by algorithm-driven content distribution, influencer economies, and platformized communication.
Key Themes:
We encourage submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following topics:

1. Economic and Managerial Strategies in the Digital Media Environment
   • Business models of digital media companies, streaming platforms and content creators.
   • Monetization strategies in platform economies (e.g., subscriptions, advertising, influencer marketing).
   • Sustainability and financial resilience of media organizations in the Arab World.
2. The Role of Social Media and Content Creators in Media Economies
   • The economic impact of influencers, micro-entrepreneurs, and independent content producers.
   • Social media monetization and its implications for traditional media businesses.
   • Algorithm-driven visibility and its effect on content distribution and economic viability.
3. AI, Automation, and the Future of Media Management
   • The role of artificial intelligence in newsroom operations, advertising, and audience analytics.
   • Ethical concerns and regulatory challenges surrounding AI-driven content moderation and personalization.
   • AI’s impact on labor structures in media industries.
4. Regulation, Policy, and Media Sustainability
   • Media policies and regulations affecting digital media and platform governance in the region.
   • The role of governments and regulatory bodies in shaping digital economies.
   • Strategies for ensuring content diversity and safeguarding media pluralism in the digital age.
5. Audience Behavior, Consumption Patterns, and Market Trends
   • Changing media consumption habits across different demographic segments.
   • The role of mobile-first and on-demand media consumption in shaping business strategies.
   • The effects of disinformation, trust erosion, and audience fragmentation on media sustainability.
6. Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and New Business Models
   • Media startups, digital entrepreneurs, and emerging players in the Arab Worldern media industry.
   • Case studies of innovative digital ventures in content production and distribution.
   • The intersection of technology, creativity, and economic models in media entrepreneurship.
7. The Global and Local Dynamics of Media Markets
   • Internationalization and localization strategies of global media players in the region.
   • Cross-cultural influences on media management and content strategies.
   • Economic implications of media collaborations and mergers in the Arab World.

The above list is a non-exhaustive set for suggested areas of research. We welcome contributions that explore other dimensions related to media and conflict in the Arab region.
Deadline for Submissions
Authors interested in submitting their research for peer-review consideration must submit manuscripts by July 30, 2025. Other submissions, including book and conference reviews, shorter (non-peer reviewed) research papers, and columns, should be submitted by August 15, 2025
Submission Guidelines: All submissions must be in Microsoft Word format (.doc or .docx), adhere to the Chicago Manual of Style, and have a maximum length of 10,000 words (including footnotes and citations).Please include the author’s name (as it should be published), their affiliation, and a brief abstract of no more than 150 words. Please email all submissions to: editor@arabmediasociety.com For further information regarding our publishing policies, kindly visit: www.arabmediasociety.com/publishing-policies/
Contact Information: For any inquiries regarding the call for papers, please contact: editor@arabmediasociety.com.

 

 

 

 

4. Southampton Arts Academy Concert – The Day of Omar Khayyám

Sunday 18/5/25, 3-6 pm

SOAS Brunei Galley

SOAS University of London

Tickets: https://www.southamptonartsacademy.com/ticket

 

 

 

 

5. SOAS – Middle East and Central Asia Music Forum

9.30am – 7.00 pm, Friday 20 June 2025

The Middle East and Central Asia Music Forum has been running since 2007 and is open to researchers, students and anyone interested in the music and culture of the region. In the spirit of fostering dialogue and interdisciplinarity, we hope that the issues discussed at the Forum will be of interest to a broad audience, including musicologists, ethnomusicologists and other researchers in the arts, humanities and social sciences. In addition, we welcome those working on other aspects of Middle Eastern and Central Asian culture broadly speaking (dance, visual arts, media, film, literature, etc).

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Institute for Iranian Studies, University of St Andrews

SYMPOSIA IRANICA V – CALL FOR PAPERS

Date of conference: 10-12 April 2026

The Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of St Andrews is pleased to announce the Fifth Biennial Symposia Iranica Conference.

We invite Postgraduate and Early Career Researchers from a wide range of disciplines to join us at the University of St Andrews for a friendly, interdisciplinary conference on Iran and the wider Persianate world from the ancient period to the present. Papers are welcome in all related disciplines, including (but not limited to) Archaeology, History, Politics & International Relations, Art, Religious Studies, Language, and Literature. We will also host an early scholars workshop aimed at those seeking a career in academia and the wider research community. Details on this will be released by April.

Each presenter will be allocated 30 minutes, which includes a 20-minute presentation and a 10-minute Q&A session. We welcome individual presenters and panels of 2 or 3 speakers.

Please complete an abstract (up to 300 words) or prepare an excerpt from your presentation paper (up to 500 words). Send this together with your CV (up to 2 pages) to symposiairanica@st-andrews.ac.uk  by 31 July 2025. Successful applicants will be informed by 31 October 2025, and we expect to have registration rates and accommodation details confirmed by then.

Please indicate in your application email if you would be comfortable sharing a room with another delegate. Having this information as early as possible will help keep costs low. Individual travel plans will vary but we hope most delegates will arrive on 9 April and leave on 12 April.

Please direct all enquiries regarding topic suitability and logistical arrangements to the email address above.

Symposia Iranica is a sponsored conference and we aim to keep costs low for all participants. In exceptional cases, registration costs may be waived. Symposia Iranica is a sponsored conference which means that it applies for, and receives, financial backing in advance from a range of different sources. This support keeps costs as low as possible for all participants to encourage participation. All applications will be individually considered, and we particularly welcome waiver applications that demonstrate detailed consideration of the impact of a waiver upon their research prospects and general financial circumstances.

 

 

 

 

7. CONFERENCE 27 & 28 May: ‘Digital Islam Across Europe’ – limited free places available

The Edinburgh Alwaleed Centre is hosting a special conference reflecting on the research findings of its CHANSE-funded project: ‘Digital Islam across Europe: Understanding Muslims’ Participation in Online Islamic Environments’.

Project teams from the UK, Spain, Poland, Sweden and Lithuania will be joined by scholars working across the continent, and beyond, to discuss the impact of online content production, and consumption, on Muslim faith and practice.

We have a limited number of free spaces available for anyone with an interest in the subject. For further information and to book your free place, follow this link: https://llc.ed.ac.uk/digital-islam-across-europe-conference

If you have any questions, please contact the conference team on: digital.islam@ed.ac.uk .

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Spirituality, Political Religion and Lived Experience in Iran

MESA Global Academy Event

A webinar featuring Leyla Hajimehditajer (Independent Scholar), Maryam Heydarkhani (Barakat Postdoctoral Scholar, Khalili Research Centre, University of Oxford), and Zahra Khoshk Jan (Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Sociology, University of Chicago)

Moderator: Nayereh Tohidi (Professor Emerita, CSUN)

Wednesday, May 7, 2025

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM PST

Online

Co-sponsored by the UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies and the MESA Global Academy

https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17152

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Call for Papers 

Journal of Social & Cultural Studies is published biannually, with issues released at the end of June and December. Submissions are accepted until April 15 for the June issue and until October 15 for the December issue.  The publication languages are Turkish and English.

No article processing or submission fees are charged to authors or their affiliated institutions under any circumstances.

Submission: https://dergipark.org.tr/tr/pub/jscs

Contact Information

editor@toplumvekultur.com

https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/jscs

https://www.toplumvekultur.com/tvkjml/index.php/en/

Contact Email

editor@toplumvekultur.com

URL

https://www.toplumvekultur.com/tvkjml/index.php/en/

 

 

 

 

 

10. ONLINE Lecture “Avicenna on Pleasure and the Perception of Beauty. A Multidisciplinary Inquiry” by Dr. Maryam Kheradmand (Tehran), Network “Philosophy in the Modern Islamic World”, 5 May 2025, 18:00 – 20:00 CET

Join us to explore Avicenna’s pathways to questions such as: Does beauty exist independently, or is it co-created by the observer? Why do we sometimes perceive perfection without pleasure? Why does music evoke pleasure while a lecture may not, even if both are “perceived”?

Information and registration:

https://philosophy-in-the-modern-islamic-world.net/en/online-guest-lecture-maryam-kheradmand/

 

 

 

 

 

11. ONLINE: “Association of Middle East Children and Youth Studies (AMECYS)”: Introducing the New Mentorship Program for Mentees and Mentors, 7 May 2025, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm EST

We invite graduate students and scholars working on the Levant, the Gulf and/or Maghreb, children, adolescents, and/or youth, whether you study these populations in the past or present, and whatever your disciplinary or metho-dological approaches might be, whether in the social sciences, humanities, or natural sciences.

Deadline for registration: 10 May 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/ef26vtsn

 

 

 

 

 

12. HYBRID Workshop “Arabic Magical Realisms – Foundations, Concepts and Manifestations”, Cluster of Excellence “Temporal Communities: Doing Literature in a Global Perspective”, Freie Universität Berlin, 22-23 May 2025

How does magical realism manifest itself in Arabic literature? Which literary heritages serve as its inspiration? What role does this mode of writing play in contexts of war, displacement and trauma? These texts constitute powerful literary devices, hybrid and often subversive, which bridge the divide between premodern and modern periods, defy textual and physical boundaries, and break societal taboos.

Information, program, and registration: https://www.temporal-communities.de/events/2025/workshop-arabic-magical-realisms.html

 

 

 

 

13. 4th Conference of the TYPOARABIC Project: “The Role of Italian Presses in Early Arabic Printing. A View from the East”, Università Ca’ Foscari of Venice, 27-29 May 2025

Information and program: https://typarabic.ro/wordpress/

 

 

 

 

 

14. Symposium “Transcendence in the Small Gestures of Life: Attention and Care for Nature and Humans in Religious Traditions”, EASA-Muslim Worlds Network, Venice, 2-3 October 2025

This symposium aims to explore those spiritual states that in different religious traditions are searched for to awaken attentiveness and care for the world, other humans, and creation, paying attention to how they can inform the way we study religion and interpret the challenges humankind faces in the contemporary world, particularly the ecological crisis.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/ms8dknus

 

 

 

 

 

15. ONLINE 54th Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS): “Islam and AI: Challenges and Opportunities”, University of Cincinnati, OH, 20 November 2025

Themes: – Authenticity of Islamic Religious Authority: The Ulama vs A.I. – Training A.I. in Classical Islamic Sources – Rigor and Responsibility in Using A.I. for Research in Islamic and Muslim Studies – Ensuring Accuracy in A.I. Generated Content about Islam and Muslims – Opportunities and Challenges of Using A.I. as a Teaching Assistant in Islamic or Muslim Studies – Addressing Hegemony and Cultural Biases in A.I. – A.I., Ethics and Morality

Deadline for abstracts: 11 July 2025. Information: https://naaims.org/54th-century/

 

 

 

 

16. Programme DECRIPT : Contrat Post-Doctoral/ Collaborateur scientifique WP6 (12 mois) : “Récits civilisationnels et Moyen-Orient – Focus Proche-Orient”, Inalco, Paris

Le post-doctorant ou la post-doctorante développera un projet visant à articuler ces enjeux globaux et régionaux à un terrain empirique. Le candidat ou la candidate idéal-e aura une excellente connaissance du Proche-Orient (Israël, Palestine, Liban et/ou Syrie), qui constitue le « focus » du WP6, mais les dossiers relevant d’autres spécialisations aréales seront également étudiés avec intérêt.

Date limite de candidature : 11 mai 2025. Information : https://tinyurl.com/2tv9xvmv

 

 

 

 

 

17. Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic Studies (1 Year), Williams College, Williamstown, MA

Ph.D. is required by the beginning of the appointment. Excellent training and experience teaching all levels of Arabic language to non-native speakers are essential. We are particularly interested in candidates who have a record of success in teaching Arabic 101/102.

Deadline for applications: 15 May 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/167079

 

 

 

 

18. PhD Research Fellowship in the Modern History of the Middle East
University of Bergen, Norway
The Department of Archaeology, History, Cultural Studies and Religion invites applications for a PhD position in the modern history of the Middle East commencing in January 2026, or as agreed upon. The position is for a fixed-term period of four years. The Department is looking for candidates working on the history of the modern Middle East with a temporal focus on the late nineteenth century onwards.
Deadline | 12 May 2025
More information

 

 

 

 

 

19. Director SOAS Middle East Institute and MBI AI Jaber Chair of Middle East Studies
SOAS, University of London
SOAS wishes to appoint a Director of the SOAS Middle East Institute and MBI Al Jaber Chair in Middle East Studies. The person appointed will split their time 50/50 between these two roles. The successful applicant will conduct research and teach in their area of speciality and will provide strong leadership to the SOAS Middle East Institute.
Deadline | 25 May 2025
More information

 

 

 

 

 

20. Call for Applications | Critical Thinkers PhD Award

Award | The American University in Cairo

The award recognizes outstanding doctoral research that engages critically with the realities and effects of neoliberalism in the MENA region. We invite PhD dissertation submissions that creatively and rigorously explore the complex dimensions of neoliberal economics, policies, ideas, and institutions.

Deadline | 11 May 2025

More information

 

 

 

 

 

21. Call for Submissions | Confluence Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies

Journal Issue | June 2025

The Confluence Journal of Multidisciplinary Studies, an international, peer-reviewed academic journal published by Abdelmalek Essaâdi University, Morocco, is pleased to invite scholars, researchers, and academics to contribute research articles and book reviews for its inaugural issue, to be published in June 2025.

Deadline | 15 May 2025

More information

1.We are delighted to invite you to the first event of the MELA NOTES Book Talks series:

From the Moon to the Well

A Conversation with Hossein Atashparvar, M.R. Ghanoonparvar, and Mehrak Kamali

Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Time: 2:00 PM Central | 3:00 PM Eastern | 12:00 PM Pacific

Location: Online via Zoom

Registration: https://forms.gle/pzYCFiA5sXVKtRcm7

Join us for a rich and engaging conversation around the newly translated Persian novel From the Moon to the Well by acclaimed Iranian author Hossein Atashparvar, translated by M.R. Ghanoonparvar and published by Mazda Publishers (2024).

Panelists:

• Hossein Atashparvar– Novelist and author of From the Moon to the Well
• R. Ghanoonparvar– Professor Emeritus of Persian and Comparative Literature, The University of Texas at Austin; Translator of the book
• Mehrak Kamali– Associate Professor of Teaching & Persian Language Program Coordinator, The Ohio State University; Author of the MELA Notes review of the book

Moderator:

        Mahdi Ganjavi – MELA Notes Book Review Editor; Lecturer, Faculty of Information, University of Toronto

 

 

 

 

 

2. On behalf of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA), we are delighted to announce the recipient of the 2025 IJIA Book Award and two honourable mentions. This year, the submissions represented a wide array of innovative and rigorous scholarship. The selection committee carefully reviewed each submission and engaged in thoughtful deliberation, and we are pleased to recognize these three outstanding contributions to the field.

IJIA Book Award Recipient

Isfahan: Architecture and Urban Experience in Early Modern Iran by Farshid Emami

Farshid Emami’s book examines the transformation of Isfahan during a pivotal period in the seventeenth century. By focusing on both architectural development and the lived experiences of the city’s diverse residents, the book presents a richly textured and methodologically sophisticated narrative. Emami’s elegant prose and mastery of visual and textual sources make this work both scholarly and accessible, offering fresh insights into one of the most iconic cities in the Islamic world.

IJIA Book Award Honourable Mentions

Placing Islam: Geographies of Connection in Twentieth-Century Istanbul  by Timur Warner Hammond

Hammond’s interdisciplinary work reconstructs the spatial imaginaries of residents of the district of Eyüp in Istanbul through geography, ethnography, and literary analysis. His evocative storytelling and innovative methods reveal how spatial practices and religious identity are deeply intertwined in the shaping of urban experience.

Emotion, Mission, Architecture: Building Hospitals in Persia and British India, 1865–1914 by Sara Honarmand Ebrahimi

In this groundbreaking study, Ebrahimi explores how hospitals, as emerging modern institutions, became sites of cultural negotiation and spatial transformation in colonial contexts. Her careful use of illustrations and deep archival research illuminate the intersections of architecture, empire, and healthcare in previously understudied regions.

 

 

 

3. Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA) – Ibn Sina Research Grant

£1,000 grant for innovative research in Persian studies, open to postgraduate and independent scholars. Deadline: 16 May 2025.

The Ibn Sina Research Grant provides £1,000 to support original research in Persian studies, open to postgraduate and independent scholars from any country and discipline. Administered by the PMA, this annual grant supports activities such as archival visits, publication costs, and the organisation of scholarly events, with a preference for projects involving Persian manuscripts.

More information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/grants/

 

 

 

 

 

4. Persian Manuscripts Association (PMA) – Mihan Memorial Art Prize

£1,500 prize for emerging artists of Iranian descent working in any medium, recognising creative excellence. No Fixed Deadline.

The Mihan Memorial Art Prize is a £1,500 award supporting emerging artists of Iranian descent working in any artistic medium, from painting and photography to video, installation, and performance. Open to PMA members worldwide, this prize honours bold, innovative artistic practice and offers professional opportunities including a talk in PMA’s monthly series. Additional support may be available depending on the artist’s needs and future projects.

More information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/grants/

 

 

 

 

5. Prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien”, jeudi 15 mai 2025, 17h, à l’INALCO

Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la prochaine séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien”, qui se tiendra le jeudi 15 mai 2025, 17h-19h, en salle 4.15 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 4^e étage).

Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir M. Austin O’Malley (University of Chicago), pour une conférence intitulée: “Mixtapes and Local Jams: Selection and Regionality in the Nozhat al-majāles, an Early Collection of Persian Quatrains“.

Résumé:

Among the Persian metrical forms, the quatrain (robāʿi) stands out for its brevity, popularity, and wide use in an array of social situations and performance contexts, from humble “folk” recitations to sermons and samāʿ sessions to courtly symposia. In this talk, I will investigate the 13^th-century Nozhat al-majāles, one of the earliest extant collections of quatrains organized by theme, to better understand the role quatrains played within courtly settings and the larger literary ecosystem. Although centered on the Nozhat, the discussion will also make use of early “genre codes” that discuss the social contexts of quatrains’ production and circulation (i.e., Shams-e Qays’ Moʿjam, the Qābus-nāma) as well as the biographical anthology of ʿOwfi and discourses of Neẓāmi-ye ʿArużi.

Taken together, these investigations show how 13^th-century, northwest Iranian potentates engaged in literary culture not only by receiving the “prestige verse” of polished panegyric, but also by presiding over and participating in a more ephemeral process of selection, exchange, and appreciation of quatrains, which were attributed to a wide variety of individuals who were not necessarily professional poets, and many of which were not ultimately preserved in divāns.

Orientations bibliographiques:

• Davidson, Olga M. “Genre and Occasion in the Rubāʿiyyātof ʿUmar Khayyām: The Rubāʿi, Literary History, and Courtly Literature.” In Writers and Rulers: Perspectives of Their Relations from Abbasid to Safavid Times, edited by Beatrice Gruendler and Louise Marlow, 133–44. Wiesbaden: Reichert Verlag, 2004.
• Meier, Fritz. Die schöne Mahsati. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, 1963
• Mir-afżali, Sayyed ʿAli. “Bar-rasi-ye Nozhat al-majāles(bakhsh-e avval).” Maʿāref 4, no. 1 (1376 [1997]): 90–147.
• Mir-afżali, Sayyed ʿAli. “Bar-rasi-ye Nozhat al-majāles(bakhsh-e dovvom).” Maʿāref 14, no. 2 (1376 [1997]): 135–327.
• Seyed-Gohrab, Ali Asghar. “The Flourishing of Persian Quatrains.” In Persian Lyric Poetry in the Classical Era: Ghazals, Panegyrics, Quatrains, edited by Ehsan Yarshater, 488–568. Vol. 2 of A History of Persian Literature, edited by Ehsan Yarshater. London: I.B. Tauris, 2019.
• Shamisā, Sirus. Sayr-e robāʿi dar sheʿr-e fārsi. Tehran: Āshtiāni, 1363 [1984].
• Sharvāni, Jamāl Khalil. Nozhat al-majāles. Edited by Moḥammad Amin-Riyāḥi. 2nd ed. Tehran: ʿElmi, 1375 [1996–97].

Pour rappel, vous retrouverez le programme 2024-2025 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien” sur le site du CeRMI:

https

1.Al-Mahdi Institute (Birmingham, UK) is delighted to announce the launch of its new advanced-level online course ‘Islam and International Law,’ taught by Professor Seyed Mohammad Fatemi.

This 7-week course critically examines the dynamic relationship between Sharīʿa and contemporary international legal frameworks, exploring key issues such as sovereignty, human rights, war and peace, migration, and legal reform. Designed for students, researchers, and professionals within the field of Islamic studies and law, the course offers a rigorous, comparative exploration of foundational theories and current debates on some of the most pressing legal and ethical questions of our time. Sessions begin on 13th May 2025 and will be held online every Tuesday from 2:00–3:30PM (BST). For further details and registration, please visit: https://ami.is/iil

 

 

 

 

2. The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, jointly present the inaugural Webinar on AI-Driven Language Pedagogy for Less Commonly Taught Languages.

The Webinar on AI-Driven Language Pedagogy for Less Commonly Taught Languages will be held beginning in January 2026, and it will assemble scholars from various disciplines teaching less commonly taught languages using innovations in AI. Panels and speakers are invited to present original research on topics related to the AI-Driven Language Pedagogy, including (but not limited to):

• AI and its use for supporting learning, administration, and assessment
• Approaches to course design and assignments that limit the use of AI
• Assessing student use of AI
• Adopting and testing new AI programs, AI agents, or bots
• Expanding and/or assessing existing AI efforts related to teaching and learning
• Fostering AI literacy for instructors and faculty
• Building out an AI module for a course
• Discipline-focused research on AI and pedagogy
• Establish guidelines or policies around AI

The webinar organizers, Azita H. Taleghani and Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi, will invite a select number of proposals to present their papers in a monthly webinar co-hosted by the University of Toronto and the University of Chicago. After the webinars, the papers presented will be published in an edited volume by the organizers.

Abstracts are due May 30, 2025. Please send your proposed title, a 250–300-word abstract, a 100-word bio, and your contact information to: azita.taleghani@utoronto.ca and pshabanijadidi@uchicago.edu

Please include “Webinar on AI-Driven Language Pedagogy for Less Commonly Taught Languages” in the subject line of the email. Notification of acceptance will be sent by September 30, 2025.

 

 

 

 

3. Alwaleed Centre, Edinburgh – Digital British Islam: Research Findings, Insights and Implications | Tues 29th April | 18:00 – 20:00

Committee Room 3, Fleming Room, The Scottish Parliament

We would like to invite you to an event organised by The Alwaleed Centre, to present key findings from the Digital British Islam (DBI) research project for the first time, led by colleagues at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Coventry University, and the University of Edinburgh, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

The project explores the use of online spaces by Muslim individuals and communities seeking online advice and expressing their views about practicing Islam in Britain, examining how online platforms shape religious practice, community engagement, and cultural expression.

The evening will feature presentations from Prof. Gary Bunt and Prof. Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor, who will discuss their findings on emerging trends in key Muslim-focused websites, the gender dynamics that are developing online as the result of the interactions between content producers and consumers, and insights from their survey of online practices.

Please RSVP by emailing Zainab Hussnain at zhussnai@ed.ac.uk by 27th April and kindly let us know how many tickets you would like, and if you have any accessibility and dietary requirements.

 

 

 

 

4. Reading the Destiny in Your Face

Avicenna on Signed-Based Inferences

Silvia di Vincenzo

06 May 2025 – 5 PM (CET)

Is it possible to discern what is concealed within the human soul through what is outwardly manifest? This question has been a subject of inquiry across logical and medical traditions from antiquity to modern times.

Reflection on this issue forms the foundation of a discipline with a long and complex history spanning the Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin traditions: physiognomy.

Physiognomy is of dual significance, encompassing both theoretical and practical dimensions. On a theoretical level, it examines the causal relationship between external symptoms and their underlying causes.

On a practical level, it seeks to apply this understanding to develop a framework that enables one to infer the invisible (character traits) from the visible (external features) and, to some extent, predict human actions and reactions.

Adopting a theoretical, particularly logical, perspective, this lecture will explore attempts to contextualise the reasoning characteristic of physiognomic practices as sign-based inference within the medieval Arabic tradition.

Special attention will be given to the contribution of one of the most prominent figures of this tradition, the philosopher and polymath Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā, 980–1037).

To register for this event please follow the link:

https://csmbr.fondazionecomel.org/events/online-lectures/avicenna-signes/

 

 

 

 

 

5. MERIP-CAIS Keynote Address: Making Space for the Gulf with Arang Keshavarzian,

Professor of Middle East and Islamic Studies, NYU

April 28 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Join MERIP and Villanova’s Center for Arab and Islamic Studies for a Keynote lecture as part of the MERIP-CAIS Writing Workshop. Making Space for the Gulf, Arang Keshavarzian’s latest book from Stanford University Press, reveals how capitalism, empire-building, geopolitics, and urbanism have each shaped understandings of the Gulf region over the last two centuries.

This event is in-person ONLY.
Villanova University

Villanova, Pennsylvania
Garey Hall 31
4-5:30PM

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Department of Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Chicago is honored to have Prof.Fatemeh Keshavarzas speaker in the Franklin Lewis Lecture Series 2025. The lecture will be in person and on zoom on Wednesday, May 14 at 5:00 PM US Central Time in The Tea Room, The Social Science Research Building.

Title: Once you have Matured, these Words will Shake you to the Core

Abstract: This presentation explores a selection of Jalal al-Din Rumi’s (1207-1273) invocations of human speech in his orally delivered discourses, the Fihe ma fih. These references, allusive or extensive, display attention to the varieties, capacities, impacts, and ultimately significance of speech. A sacred tool in God hand, and also available to seekers of spiritual attainment. Born on the intersection of speculative thought (as in the Masnavi), and poetic fervor and freedom (as in the Divan), the Discourses are often spontaneous, interactive, at times accidental, and always instructive. In all these variations, the orality of the text sharpens the edge of expression. Rumi, the poet, remains aware of the cerebral, as well as affective, complexity of speaking.

Register for Zoom Here.

 

 

 

 

 

7. ONLINE Symposium: “Scholarship Beyond Borders – Resilience and Reform in Syrian Academia”, University of Sussex, 28 April 2025, 11:00 – 14:00 CET

The symposium aims to explore the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Syrian academics at home and in exile, fostering dialogue and collaboration. The event will bring together scholars in Syria, Syrian researchers in the UK, and key external stakeholders.

Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/2n3n78jk

 

 

 

 

 

8. Conference „Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses: The Concept of Matter and the Concept of Spirit in Judaism, Christianity and Islam”, University of Erlangen, 25-27 June 2025

Deadline for registration: 18 June 2025.

Information and program: https://www.bafid.fau.de/files/2025/04/KCID_06.2025.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

9. PhD in Civilization Studies (4 Years), Alliance of Civilizations Institute, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul

Fully funded doctoral program, with an additional funded year of Turkish language training. Research areas span Islamic Civilization in the Contemporary World, argumentation theory, comparative history, urban studies, and migra-tion. The program adopts an interdisciplinary framework that engages global challenges through multilayered, comparative, and complementary perspectives.

Deadline for applications: 16 May 2025. Information: https://medit.ihu.edu.tr/en/ph-d-applications

1.HYBRID Summer Schools: “Ottoman Paleography” & “Ottoman Diplomatica” of the “Archive Languages Training Program”, Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakif University, Istanbul, 8-31 July 2025

The classes will be held between 09.00-12.30 (UTC +3 Istanbul) on Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday.

Deadline for applications: 30 May 2025. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/enroll-ottoman-paleography-ottoman-diplomatica-summer-school-istanbul-831-july?e=82aeb6c61d

 

 

 

 

 

2. Exhibition – “MAMLOUKS 1250-1517” – Musée du Louvre

The Musée du Louvre presents, for the first time in Europe, an important exhibition dedicated to the Mamluk Sultanate.

MAMLOUKS 1250-1517

Main exhibition Hall (Hall Napoléon), Musée du Louvre, Paris

From April 30 to July 28, 2025

Institutional curator: Souraya Noujaim, Director of the Islamic Art Department

Scientific curator: Carine Juvin, Curator for the Medieval Near East collections

The exhibition gathers 260 objects from around 40 international institutions.

It is accompanied with a catalogue, edited by Carine Juvin : Mamlouks 1250-1517, Musée du Louvre/ Skira, 2025, 360 p., ISBN : 2370742674. The book gathers contributions from numerous specialists: Omniya Abdel Barr, Iman R. Abdulfattah, Julien Auber de Lapierre, Thomas Bauer, Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Agnès Carayon, Moya Carey, Amélie Chekroun, Hadrien Collet, Anna Contadini, Damien Coulon, Alice Croq, Kristof D’hulster, Shireen Ellinger, Mathieu Eychenne, Gwenaëlle Fellinger, Finbarr Barry Flood, Noah Gardiner, Carine Juvin, Miriam Kühn, Adeline Laclau, Boris Liebrenz, Julien Loiseau, Clément Moussé, Souraya Noujaim, Alison Ohta, Stéphane Pradines, Nasser Rabbat, Mariam Rosser-Owen, Camille Rouxpetel, Noha Sadek, Maria Sardi, Rachel Sarfati, Vera-Simone Schulz, Élodie Vigouroux, Rachel Ward.

A related conference, Mamluk art: attributions, evolutions will be organized on June 23, 2025, at Musée du Louvre, Centre Dominique-Vivant Denon (limited capacity room) with Omniya Abdel Barr, Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Annabelle Collinet, Shireen Ellinger, Carine Juvin, Corinne Mühlemann, Élodie Vigouroux, Rosalind Wade-Haddon, Rachel Ward.

The exhibition will travel for a second venue at Louvre Abu Dhabi, from September 17, 2025 to January 25, 2026, in a slightly revised version, accompanied with a different catalogue, edited by Carine Juvin, featuring numerous international contributors: Mamluks. the Legacy of an Empire, Louvre Abu Dhabi/Kaph, 2025 (Arabic, English, French versions).

Contact Information

Carine Juvin, Curator for Medieval Near East, Department of Islamic Art, Musée du Louvre, Paris, France

Contact Email

carine.juvin@louvre.fr

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. UCLA Bilingual Lecture Series – Farhad Khosrokhavar

The Mahsa Movement and the Feminist Uprising in Iran

Farhad Khosrokhavar

Sunday, April 27, 2025 at 11:30 am

Lecture in Persian

Zoom Registration:

https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_HxPN8qGWQuSbj1Y1WO9TRQ

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Online Workshops. HIAA: Dialogs with Islamic Art: Hamra Abbas and Varunika Saraf. April 25. 9:00am Los Angeles / 12:00pm NYC / 9:30pm Hyderabad.

Join HIAA for a conversation between two contemporary South Asian artists—Hamra Abbas (w. Lahore, Pakistan) and Varunika Saraf (w. Hyderabad, India)—as they discuss their recent work, their relationship to the history of Islamic art, and the urgency of beauty and care in their turbulent present. Moderated by Sylvia W. Houghteling and Meghaa Parvathy Ballakrishnen.

To register: https://temple.zoom.us/meeting/register/QEim4Cw8QNWvd8C1dcng4w

 

 

 

 

 

5. NEW SERIES FROM MAZDA PUBLISHERS

Mazda Publishers – Bibliotheca Iranica: Americans in Iran/Persia Collection

From the 18th to the early 20th centuries, Persia (modern-day Iran) attracted a modest but notable number of American travelers, including missionaries, diplomats, scholars, and adventurers. Although overshadowed by the more prominent European presence in the region, these Americans played a unique role in cultural exchange and early U.S.–Persia relations. Many recorded their observations in travelogues that reflected both fascination and misunderstanding.

One of the earliest and most influential groups of Americans in Persia were Christian missionaries. Arriving in the mid-19th century, particularly through the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, they focused their efforts on Assyrian and Armenian Christian communities in northwestern Persia. These missionaries established schools, medical clinics, and printing presses. Their presence introduced aspects of modern education and medicine to certain areas, but also stirred tensions, as they were often perceived by locals as agents of foreign—and at times, disruptive—influence.

Diplomatic missions also contributed to American engagement with Persia. By the late 19th century, the United States began formalizing relations with the Qajar dynasty. American diplomats and consuls, though relatively few in number, reported on Persia’s internal politics, trade opportunities, and strategic significance—especially as the country found itself entangled in the imperial rivalry between Britain and Russia. These reports fostered a growing, though still limited, American interest in the Middle East.

Among individual travelers, some of the most vivid accounts came from American adventurers, archaeologists, and educators. One such figure was Howard Baskerville, a young teacher from Nebraska who became directly involved in Persian affairs. During the Constitutional Revolution of 1905–1911, he joined the movement in Tabriz and died in battle, becoming a local hero and a rare symbol of American solidarity with Persian aspirations for democracy.

Overall, while the American presence in Persia during this period was limited in scale, it was significant in influence. Their experiences—documented in letters, memoirs, and official reports—reveal a complex blend of idealism, cultural bias, and sincere curiosity. These early encounters laid the groundwork for the longer and sometimes contentious relationship between Iran and the United States in the 20th century.

Mazda Publishers is proud to announce the launch of a new collection of books focusing on this subject. These volumes highlight the contributions and firsthand accounts of American travelers in Iran/Persia over the past several centuries. What truly motivated these journeys—religious conviction, commercial interest, or political involvement? Whatever the reasons, one of the most valuable outcomes of their writings is the vivid and detailed portrait they offer of Persian society during this transformative era.

These memoirs and observations contain highly valuable material for scholars and researchers studying Iranian and Persian history from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

 

 

 

 

 

6. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEMINAR IN ARABIC STUDIES

4/23 Magical Realism in Jordan and Egypt with Caroline Seymour-Jorn

upcoming meeting with Professor Caroline Seymour-Jorn this Wednesday (4/23) at 7pm EST in Faculty House. The talk is titled Magical Realism in Jordan and Egypt:  Interrogating Indigeneity, Colonialism and Futurity in the fiction of Samiha Khrais and Hani Abdel Mourid.

Please note that due to new regulations, non CUID holders will not be allowed into Faculty House without prior notice. If you intend to be present in-person and do not have a Columbia ID, please RSVP ASAP. If we don’t receive your RSVP we will not be able to let you in. You should receive a QR code before Wednesday morning–if not, please reply to this message.  The talk will be live streamed here on ZOOM for guests who can’t make it in person.

We will begin at 7:00 pm. If you would like to join the speaker for dinner at 6:00 pm at Faculty House please RSVP to the seminar’s rapporteur (rma2152@columbia.edu). The cost of dinners is $30, payable via card or check. Attendees who are fasting may take their dinner into the seminar room.

 

 

 

1.UCLA Bilingual Lecture Series – Touraj Atabaki & Lana Ravandi-Fadai

Fallen in the Whirlwind:

The Odyssey and Destiny of Iranian Victims of Stalinist Great Repression in the Soviet Union

Sunday, May 18, 2025 at 11:30 am PST via ZOOM

Zoom Registration:

https://ucla.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_rBjt0ANzRrSrmOOM7chltg

 

 

 

 

 

2. Call for Papers – Digital Methodologies

Digital Methodologies for the Study of Religion

25^th June 2025, Coventry University

A Knowledge Exchange Symposium organised as part of the ESRC-funded Digital British Islam Project

Deadline for Abstracts: 15^th May 2025

https://digitalbritishislam.com/call-for-papers-digital-methodologies/

 

 

 

 

3. Hybrid: UCLA – Pourdavoud Lecture Series with Gunvor Lindström

The Denavar Satyrs as Time Travelers:

From Ancient Persia to Greece, Rome, and 20th Century Collections

Wednesday, May 21, 2025 at 4:00pm Pacific

Royce Hall 306

Hybrid Zoom Option Available

Registration Required

 

 

 

 

4. Hybrid: UCLA – Global Antiquity Distinguished Speaker Series

Climate Change along the Silk Road?

Sitta von Reden

Thursday, April 24, 2025 at 4:00 pm Pacific Time

Royce Hall 306 and Via Zoom

https://globalantiquity.ucla.edu/event/global-antiquity-distinguished-speaker-series-climate-change-along-the-silk-road-with-sitta-von-reden/

 

 

 

 

5. Hybrid: UCLA – Pourdavoud Lecture Series with Wu Xin

Imperial Foundations of the Silk Road: Persian Roads and Han Walls

Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 4:00pm Pacific

Royce Hall 306

Hybrid Zoom Option Available

Registration Required

 

 

 

 

6. IIS London – Hybrid: Conceptual Photography and the Craft of Reading Islamic Historical Texts Lecture

Please join us at 5 pm on Thursday, 24 April, for the next Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series session organised by the Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Professor Shahzad Bashir’s talk is titled “Conceptual Photography and the Craft of Reading Islamic Historical Texts”, with Prof. Amanda Lanzillo as discussant.

The event can be attended in person at the Aga Khan Centre in London and online (on Zoom). To join, please register at https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/conceptual-photography/

Abstract:

When historical texts are read, readers rely on their intellectual conditioning to understand and judge what such texts are conveying. In this experimental talk, Dr Shahzad Bashir utilises 19th-century Indian Islamic texts to suggest that anamorphism highlighted in concept-driven photography provides a useful analogy for seeing how historians’ narratives become containers for irreducibly complex worlds. Historians’ claims about the past are always equally valid and distortive, mirroring the way a two-dimensional image in a photograph captures a three-dimensional world. The analogy helps scholars appreciate historical knowledge as a particular form of truth that cannot be mapped to basic notions of objectivity, subjectivity, normativity, and so on.

 

 

 

 

7. The Spring 2025 issue of Journal18, an online journal dedicated to eighteenth-century art and culture, may be of interest to historians of Islamic art. The theme of the issue is Africa: Beyond Borders.

It can be accessed at:

https://www.journal18.org/

ARTICLES

Between Europe and Africa: A Gift of Prestige in the Era of the Trade in Enslaved Africans
Ana Lucia Araujo

From Harar to Diu: Circulation and Reception of a Qur’anic Manuscript across the Indian Ocean
Sana Mirza

The Indian Madras Cloth and Elite Self-Fashioning in the Bight of Biafra
Eguono Lucia Edafioka
SHORTER PIECES

Forging Swahili Muslim Style: Material Culture from Pate Island (ca. 1750-ca. 1850)
Zulfikar Hirji

The Ujumbe of Mutsamudu, an Eighteenth-Century Swahili Stone House in the Comoros
Stéphane Pradines and Olivier Onezime

Arts of the Maghreb: North African Textiles and Jewelry – Curatorial Reflections
Helina Gebremedhen

URL

https://www.journal18.org/

 

 

 

 

 

8. ONLINE Webinar on “Their Religion Was a Real and Living Thing”: Alan Villiers’ Interactions with Islam and Arabian Culture, 1938-39″ by Taibah Al-Fagih, Royal Museums Greenwich, 22 April 2025, 18:15 – 19:30 CET

Alan Villiers was a celebrated Australian author, photographer, and seafarer who spent his life seeking to extensively document maritime traditions around the world throughout the 20th century. He documented especially the rich sea-faring heritage in the Arabian Gulf in 1938-39. His photographic collection was studied by Taibah Al-Fagih.

Information and registration: https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/online/alan-villiers-interactions-islam-arabian

 

 

 

 

 

9. 2025 Assyrian Studies Symposium”, Arizona State University, 24-26 October 2025

By fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and collaboration, we aim to push the boundaries of critical Assyrian Studies and contribute to a deeper and more just understanding of Assyrian history, culture, and identity. This is an

opportunity to challenge conventional perspectives, explore new research avenues, and elevate the field of Assyrian Studies to a central position in academic discourse.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2025. Information: https://www.assyrianstudiesassociation.org/2025symposium

 

 

 

 

 

10. 4th Biennial Conference on Contemporary Iranian Studies: “Iranian Studies in the Contemporary Era”, University of Tehran, 27-28 October 2025

Main Topics: Contemporary history – Political science & international relations – Sociology & social transformations – Religions & theology – Art & cultural studies – New media & communication studies – Diaspora studies. Interdisciplinary and comparative studies are highly encouraged. Conference Languages: Persian & English.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2025. Information: https://iranianstudies.ut.ac.ir/

 

 

 

 

 

11. Conference “Poetry and Knowledge: The Production and Transmission of Knowledge in Arabic Verse (1100–1800)”, Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Münster, 20-22 November 2025

We aim to explore the diverse strategies used to produce, convey, and disseminate knowledge through poetry. This may include, for example, the composition and structure of the poem, the choice of meter, stylistic devices, sonic and performative aspects, and the use of a specific technical lexicon. We hope this shift in perspective will instead enable a comprehensive analysis of the stylistic, structural, and functional features of the poems.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2025.

Information: https://www.uni-muenster.de/ArabistikIslam/Forschen/Tagungen/poetry-and-knowledge.html

 

 

 

 

 

12. International Symposium: “A Century of Revolutions – Centennial of the Great Syrian Revolt (1925-2025)”, Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l’homme (MMSH), Aix-en-Provence, 8-10 december 2025

We invite researchers from all disciplines in the humanities and social sciences (history, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, political science, etc.) to submit proposals for papers (in English, French or Arabic) on the main themes: Anti-colonial ṯawrāt: rebels and locations of revolt. – Questions at a time of profound changes between two worlds (1918-1946. – From one ṯawra to another. – Rediscovering sources.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 June 2025. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20066275/cfp-century-revolutions-centennial-great-syrian-revolt-1925-2025

 

 

 

 

 

13. University Assistant Predoctoral (4 Years), Department of Islamic-Theological Studies, University of Vienna

Qualification: Completed Master’s degree in Islamic Theology or Religious Education or a comparable discipline. – Willingness and ability to engage in interdisciplinary and international discourse. – Didactic skills, experience in student supervision. – Good IT skills. – Excellent knowledge of English (C1) – High level of written and oral commu-nication skills.

Deadline for applications: 24 April 2025. Information: https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job/University-assistant-predoctoral-at-the-Department-of-Islamic-Theological-Studies/1186314001/

 

 

 

 

 

14. University Assistant Postdoctoral (4 Years), Department of Islamic-Theological Studies, University of Vienna

Qualification: Outstanding dissertation in Islamic-Theological Studies or a comparable discipline. – Research in the field of Islamic theology with a focus on its relevance for European societies. – Critical reflection on socio-political discourses on Islam. – Experience in research management. – Didactic skills and experience in e-learning – Good IT skills. – Excellent knowledge of English (C1).

Deadline for applications: 24 April 2025. Information: https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job/University-Assistant-postdoctoral-at-the-Department-of-Islamic-Theological-Studies/1186325501

 

 

 

 

 

15. “Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions – Postdoctoral Fellowship” (12-24 Months), Institute for Mediter-ranean Studies / Foundation of Research and Technology – Hellas (IMS/FORTH), Rethymno, Crete

Research fields: Ottoman History: preferably (but not exclusively) cultural, economic, political, and social Ottoman history. – Maritime History: maritime history in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea, 17th-20th century. – Mediterranean and Global Economic and Social History: Social history of the 19th and 20th centuries, preferably in Mediterranean and Balkans and in topics relevant to labour history. Etc.

Deadline for applications: 10 May 2025. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20065744/institute-mediterranean-studiesforth-pre-call-applications-marie

 

 

 

 

 

16. ONLINE “11th Yemen Exchange – An Intensive Online Course on Yemen” Hosted by the Sana’a Center for Strategic Studies (SCSS), 5-16 May 2025

The course is designed to provide unique access to information, perspectives, updates, and analysis on Yemen for those seeking to develop a working background on the country as well as those already thoroughly versed in its dynamics. Participants will listen to Yemeni analysts, academics, politicians, bureaucrats, business leaders, and international experts to gain insight and rare first-hand knowledge about the country from a wide range of per-spectives.

Deadline for application: 30 April 2025. Information: https://sanaacenter.org/event/the-11th-yemen-exchange

 

 

 

 

 

17. Articles on “Within and Beyond Islam. Stories and Engagement of Young Muslims in Italy” for a Special Issue of the Journal “Occhialì – Rivista sul Mediterraneo islamico”

We invite both theoretical and empirical contributions that address a diverse array of themes and contexts pertaining to the lived experiences of second-generation Muslims in Italy. Key areas of exploration include: The dynamics of their relationship with Islam and Islamic communities; interactions with the broader Italian population; and engage-ments with media and political landscapes. Contributions may examine the implications of rising Islamophobia, etc.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 April 2025. Information: https://rivistaocchiali.com/cfp-no-17/

 

 

 

1.”11th Islamic Legal Studies Conference” of the International Society for Islamic Legal Studies (ISILS), Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies & Cluster of Excellence “Religion and Politics”, University of Münster, 22-24 May 2025

Deadline for registration: 7 May 2025.

Information: https://isils.net/isils/conferences/the-xi-islamic-legal-studies-conference/

 

 

 

 

 

2. 2nd International Conference of the Persian Manuscript Association: “Listen to the Flute: Timurid Music and Its Transmissions Across the Persianate World”, SOAS, University of London, 20-21 September 2025

The aim of this conference is to cultivate a broader multidisciplinary discourse among musicologists, historians, philosophers, literary scholars, theologians, and art historians, with the goal of facilitating a comprehensive exploration of musical traditions, practices, and institutions in the Persianate world.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2025. Information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/news/

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. We invite paper proposals for a panel on Symmetrical Structures and Patterns in Islamic Architecture, Poetry, and Imagination,for the 13th Congress of the Society for the Interdisciplinary Study of Symmetry. The congress is scheduled to take place August 22-29, 2025,  at the Orthodox Academy of Crete.

ABSTRACTS DUE MAY 1 to bier.carol@gmail.com and charleshowley1@g.ucla.edu.

Papers in the panel will be allotted 20 minutes, plus discussion. See below for a description of the panel and further details, including preparation of the abstract.

PANEL PROPOSAL: Symmetrical Structures and Patterns in Islamic Architecture, Poetry, and Imagination

Persian and Islamic lands witnessed an intense flourishing of art, architecture, mathematics, science and poetry beginning in the 9th century. From the poetry of Ferdowsi, Farrokhi Sistani, and Gorgani to the monuments of Bukhara, Isfahan, and Maragha, poetic, artistic, and architectural forms emerged that would become predominant throughout the Islamic world. At the same time, the translation and advancement of scientific, philosophical, and mathematical thought shaped an ‘Islamic Golden Age.’ Ghaznavid palaces were filled with poets and inscribed with poetry. Likewise, the Seljuk courts attracted literati and learned men of diverse backgrounds contributing to a vibrant intellectual environment.

In response to this rich cultural flourishing from the 9th-12th centuries, we envision an experimental gathering of scholars trained in different disciplines to provide interpretive insights and diverse perspectives on the use and significance of imagination in the arts and discourses of the pre-Mongol Islamic world. Papers will explore lines of thought that are literal, mathematical, and metaphorical with a view towards understanding how imagination figures in the articulation of worlds beyond that of the tangible.

This panel focuses on the symmetries of intricate geometric patterns executed in cut and glazed bricks on monuments in Iran and neighboring regions, considered in relation to Qur’anic passages and contemporary poetry. In particular, study of Nezami’s Haft Paykar, a literary masterpiece of enormous complexity and imagination, explores its architectural references and geometric structures. Together we raise questions for the interpretation of patterns in spatial and imaginative realms.

CONFERENCE DATES AND VENUE

August 22-29, 2025, Kolymbari, Crete, Greece

Orthodox Academy of Crete

CONFERENCE COSTS (for your calculation and planning)

Airfare to/from Chania, Crete, Greece

Visa, if needed

Registration fee (before June 30) 350€, accompanying persons@ 100€

Conference fee (includes accommodation at the Orthodox Academy of Crete [room and full board], 8/22-29/2025)

double room 1170€ per person; single room 1480€ per person

For more detailed information, see https://sites.google.com/view/the-13th-sis-congress/booking

ABSTRACTS

There is a specific format required for submitted abstracts. A template is provided here:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1IkbZ1xHcsWBwtihXe49RkKvBwN9o0nqm

TIMELINE

May 1, 2025 – abstracts to bier.carol@gmail.com and charleshowley1@g.ucla.edu

May 4, 2025 – panel proposal with approved abstracts to conference organizers

June 1, 2025 – notification of acceptance of panel/abstracts

Jun 30, 2025 – payments due (by wire transfer) for conference registration and booking

Please note that conference registration and booking fees are non-refundable.

Carol Bier, Research Scholar, Center for Islamic Studies, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley CA

Charlotte Howley, PhD Student, Iranian Studies, University of California – Los Angeles CA

 

 

 

 

4. Boutheina Khaldi 4/17 Signs & Traces in al-Iṣfahānī’s Adab al-ghurabāʾ

Dear Members of the Arabic Studies Seminar and Friends,

Please find below the information regarding our upcoming meeting with Professor Boutheina Khaldi THIS Thursday (4/17) at 7pm EST in Faculty House. The talk is titled Signs and Traces in The Book of Strangers (Kitāb adab al- ghurabāʾ). Please note that due to new regulations, non CUID holders will not be allowed into Faculty House without prior notice. If you intend to be present in-person and do not have a Columbia ID, please RSVP ASAP. If we don’t receive your RSVP we will not be able to let you in. You should receive a QR code before Wednesday morning–if not, please reply to this message.  The talk will be live streamed here on ZOOM for guests who can’t make it in person.

We will begin at 7:00 pm. If you would like to join the speaker for dinner at 6:00 pm at Faculty House please RSVP to the seminar’s rapporteur (rma2152@columbia.edu). The cost of dinners is $30, payable via card or check. Attendees who are fasting may take their dinner into the seminar room.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SEMINAR IN ARABIC STUDIES

Signs and Traces in The Book of Strangers (Kitāb adab al- ghurabāʾ)

Thursday, April 17, 2025

7 pm EST at Faculty House

Boutheina Khaldi

Abstract:

In Abū al-Faraj al-Iṣfahānī’s (d. 356/967) Adab al-ghurabāʾ, the concept of exile emerges as a human phenomenon portrayed in different colors and shapes, shown in writing as a means of declaring absence and documenting presence. This book includes anecdotes, stories, and short poems that had been engraved on walls and doors, leaving behind a mark for travelers and a trail for wanderers. Several reasons prompted the nomads to write down on the walls since there was no other way to escape their alienation, anguish and complaints except through writing. The talk primarily focuses on the writing on walls (graffiti) in Adab al-ghurabāʾ. This topic was based not only on its novelty and humor, but also on the paucity of prior studies that have been conducted on the subject. The studies and research which focus on the writings and graffiti inscribed on walls in general, and the ones which focus on the writing on walls in Arab culture in particular, were relatively scarce compared to the modern era wherein scholars and researchers have displayed an increased interest in this topic. The talk deals with the different manifestations of the concept of exile in outer space, and searches through traces/graffiti as they reveal a polyphonic, polysemic and multilayered text giving way for marginalized and alienated people to communicate, find their voices and make their presence heard.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://columbiauniversity.zoom.us/j/92597500745

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Call for Abstracts

Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies

May 29-30, 2026

University of Toronto, Canada

The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto and Toronto Metropolitan University in collaboration with The Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies at San Francisco State University and the Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies program at Oklahoma State University jointly present the inaugural Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies.

The Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies will assemble scholars from various disciplines contributing to transnational and multidisciplinary Iranian Diaspora Studies, with a particular interest in South-South relations across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania. Panels and speakers are invited to present original research on topics related to the Iranian diaspora, including (but not limited to):

• Exploring diverse historical, artistic, literary, and cultural expressions of the global Iranian diaspora, including gender, class, ethnicity, generation, and overlapping identities (e.g., LGBTQ+, religious minorities, persons with disabilities)
• Comparative studies across Iranian diaspora communities, including between Iranian and other migrant groups
• Activism and social movements within the Iranian diaspora, including engagement with homeland politics
• The role of language and media in shaping Iranian diasporic identities

The conference organizers invite individual papers, pre-organized panels, and creative submissions that engage with the conference topics. To maximize the value of in-person exchanges, the conference will be held exclusively in-person. Presentations will be conducted in English. A limited number of travel grants may be available to graduate students on a competitive basis.

Abstracts are due May 30, 2025. Please send your title along with a 250-300 word abstract, a 100-word bio, and your contact information to: gidc.eomi@utoronto.ca. Be sure to include “Conference on Global Iranian Diaspora Studies 2026” in the subject line of the email. Notification of acceptance will be sent by September 30, 2025.

Conference Committee:

Mohamad Tavakoli, University of Toronto

Persis Karim, San Francisco State University

Amy Malek, Oklahoma State University

Nima Naghibi, Toronto Metropolitan University

Amin Moghadam, Toronto Metropolitan University

Farzaneh Hemmasi, University of Toronto

 

 

 

 

6. Conference – ARABIC CODICOLOGY WEEK – PARIS, MAY 13-16, 2025

We are delighted to announce an exceptional week dedicated to the study of manuscripts and book culture in Arabic script in Paris. Two conferences will be held by the EPHE and the Collège de France.

Tuesday, May 13 & Wednesday, May 14
From Letters to Digits: The Legacy of Arabic Manuscripts in Contemporary Studies – 2nd Escorial Arabic Codicology Alumni Meeting
Organized by Nuria de Castilla (EPHE-PSL)

• May 13: Collège de France, Room D2
  11, place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris
• May 14: Bibliothèque nationale de France Richelieu, Salle des Conférences
  2, rue de Vivienne, 75002 Paris

Programme

Registration: mss.arabicscript@gmail.com

Thursday, May 15 & Friday, May 16
The Book in the Islamicate World: History and Techniques
Organized by François Déroche (Collège de France)

• May 15: Salle Halbwachs, Collège de France
  11, place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris
• May 16: Amphithéâtre Delmas-Marty, Collège de France
  11, place Marcelin Berthelot, 75005 Paris

Programme

Free admission, subject to seating availability

An opportunity to engage with Arabic-script manuscripts through multidisciplinary lens, bringing together codicology, history, philology, and digital approaches and to foster intergenerational and cross-disciplinary exchange on the history of the Arabic manuscript book.

Contact Email

mss.arabicscript@gmail.com

URL

https://www.academia.edu/128064279/From_Letters_to_Digits_The_Legacy_of_Arabic_…

1.Eleventh Conference of the School of Mamluk Studies, London, May 8-10, 2025

David Sizer Lecture Theatre, Mile End Campus, Queen Mary University London

REGISTRATION IS AVAILABLE UNTIL APRIL 25, 2025

If you want to attend, please first register here: https://mamluk.uchicago.edu/sms2025attend.html

Then follow this link to proceed to payment: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/school-of-mamluk-studies-conference-2025-tickets-1206799593069

For more info: https://mamluk.uchicago.edu/sms-conference.html

 

 

 

 

2. Online Lecture – “Geometry in Islamic Art: Number, Shape, and the Nature of Space,” Carol Bier, Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, April 15

The final talk of the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series for the spring 2025 semester, will take place on Tuesday, April 15, 2025 at 9:00 Berkeley / 12:00 New York / 17:00 London / 19:00 Istanbul.

Carol Bier (Center for Islamic Studies, Graduate Theological Union) will present “Geometry in Islamic Art: Number, Shape, and the Nature of Space.”

To attend, please make sure to register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/pQCnTcDFQnOlMVLtV402mA
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Zahra Institute – Zoom: “Imaginaries of Shingal as a Landscape of Resistance-Narratives around Yezidi Shrines Since the ISIS Genocide”

Wednesday, 30 April: 12pm Central / 1pm Eastern

Zoom link: https://zoom.us/j/93743788619?pwd=L9YZaH1Bbdcd5Kyud91OuaayMxAZOa.1

Benjamin Raßbach (Ph.D., Leipzig University) is a postdoctoral researcher at the Orient-Institute Beirut. His research focuses on politics of autonomy, material cultures and knowledge production among various Middle Eastern minority groups and political organizations.

https://www.zahrainstitute.org/

 

 

 

 

4. Kamran Djam Lectures 2025

The Wisdom of Iran: From the Gāthās of Zarathushtra to the Masnavī of Rūmī

Two Lectures by Professor Alan Williams, The University of Manchester

7–8 May 2025

Lecture 1: 6.30pm, Wednesday 7 May. Followed by a reception.

The Wisdom of the Gāthic tradition in Pahlavi literature: Dēnkard VI (9th Century A.C.)

In 1979 Shaul Shaked published his Wisdom of the Sasanian Sages (Dēnkard VI), which was a revised version of his own doctoral thesis on Pahlavi andarz (gnomic) literature (1964). Shaked had foreshadowed the bold ideas of his thesis about the gnomic aphorisms of Dēnkard VI in an article with the controversial title ‘Esoteric trends in Zoroastrianism’ (Jerusalem, 1969).
This latter article did not meet with much favour among Western scholars at the time. In this lecture, 56 years after its first publication, there will be a further consideration of Shaked’s ideas about ‘esoteric trends’ in Zoroastrianism and andarz literature in general.
Lecture 2: 6.30pm, Thursday 8 May

Wisdom in the Masnavī of Mowlānā Jalāloddīn Rūmī Balkhī (1207-1273)
Rūmī is a Persian ‘Sūfī’ poet who has been afforded ‘saintly’ status in the Muslim world, and is nowadays fêted globally as the epitome of mystical knowledge and love. Yet, in the Masnavi, Rūmī appears as a Ḥanafī Muslim who cites from the Qur’ān and Ḥadīth countless times. The question whether Rūmī himself was ‘orthodox’, on the one hand,  or ‘antinomian’ and unorthodox, remains a live issue for Muslims.
Also, it is possibly of concern to many influenced by the ‘versions’ of those who edit out Rūmī’s Muslim background and depict him as a ‘universalist’ thinker whose poetry transcends religious boundaries and categories.

Registration

Downloadable Programme (PDF)

 

 

 

 

 

5. University of Maryland 2025 Summer Language Institute in Arabic and Persian

https://sllc.umd.edu/special-programs/arabic-persian/summer-langage-institutes

 

 

 

 

6. Study Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, Turkish at MEDLI this summer (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

The Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Language Institute (MEDLI), formerly known as the Arabic, Persian, and Turkish Language Institute (APTLI) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, offers high-quality, proficiency-based courses in 4 languages for undergraduates, graduate students, and adult learners. Our 8-week programs are the equivalent of one year of study. Students learn speaking, reading, listening, and writing skills though classroom instruction and a full range of co-curricular activities.  Students will receive 8 credits and a letter grade (A-F) after completing the program. MEDLI participants must complete both 4-week sessions for a total of 8 weeks. Courses meet Monday-Friday, 9-11am and 12-2pm (CST), from June 16 – August 8, 2025.

Funding is available to cover ½ of tuition for all applicants.

About MEDLI: https://medli.wisc.edu/

Application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf99qeeSMJea24N4Ws_JHY1KXL99pTzQsE0zH3fWm6PI2HxiA/viewform

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. The full programme, abstracts and free registration for our 2-day global online conference Proofs for God’s Existence in Islamic Thought, hosted by Cambridge Muslim College on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th April, is available through the following link: https://www.cambridgemuslimcollege.ac.uk/research/existence/

 

 

 

 

 

8. AMEWS Book Award

The Association for Middle East Women’s Studies (AMEWS) Book Award recognizes and promotes excellence in the field of Middle East gender, women’s and sexuality studies. Books published (copyrighted) in 2024 will be considered for the 2025 award. The competition is open only to books published in English. The winner is recognized at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association and receives a monetary prize. Other books deemed exceptional may receive an honorable mention.

Copies of the nominated book must also be sent to the individual Award Committee members (3 in total) listed below under “Instructions.” Works submitted without an accompanying nomination form and book copies will not be considered–both are required.

The deadline to submit the nomination form and the three copies of each nominated book is June 17, 2024. If you have any questions about the book award process, please contact Ellen McLarney at ellenmc@duke.edu with any questions.

Requirements:

• Books published between January 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 are eligible for this year’s award.
• Books must be non-fiction scholarly monographs based on original research. Works that are not eligible include edited collections and compilations, proceedings of symposia, new editions of previously published books, bibliographies, dictionaries, textbooks, and surveys.
• Books that have already been nominated for this book award cannot be renominated.

To Nominate a Book:

• The deadline is June 15, 2025
• Send copies of the book to each of the three members of the committee (information below).
• The books should be postmarked by June 1, 2025.

Instructions:

Mail one copy of the nominated book to the members of the Book Award Committee:

Ellen McLarney

3901 Darby Road

Durham, NC 27707

ellenmc@duke.edu

Amy Kallander

145 Eggers Hall

Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13244

akalland@syr.edu

Hatoon Alfassi

7252 al-Hamawi Street

AlNafel, Riyadh 13312, Saudi Arabia

hatoon.alfassi@manchester.ac.uk

The nomination is not complete until each member of the committee receives a copy of the nominated book, which should be postmarked by June 1, 2025 to ensure delivery by June 15, 2025. Books cannot be returned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Moroccan Book-making and Manuscript Production: Approaches to Materials, Traditions and Functions (Inperson/online)

14 – 15 April – Qatar National Library is organizing this academic symposium that will bring together a distinguished group of experts and scholars. The symposium will explore the history of book-making (wiraqah) in Morocco and the Maghreb, delving into traditions of authorship and copying, the evolution of materials used in writing, and their impact on the circulation of knowledge.

Key topics of the symposium 

• Authorship, copying, editing and textual verification traditions in Morocco, and the role of scribes and bookmakers (warraqon) in the transmission of learning
• The history of libraries and their role in manuscript preservation
• Materials used in writing: parchment, paper and inks
• Maghrebi and Andalusian scripts: their varieties and historical development
• The aesthetics of Moroccan manuscripts: illumination, decoration and binding
• Paratexts: marginalia, ownership and documentation notes

Event page details and registration: https://events.qnl.qa/event/gowvd/EN

Contact Email

mgomaa@qnl.qa

URL

https://events.qnl.qa/event/gowvd/EN

 

 

 

 

 

10. ONLINE Panel Discussion: “Freedom of Speech, Trump and Campus Repression: The Case of Badar Khan Suri”, Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), Georgetown University, 14 April 2025, 22:00 h CET

Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown, was seized by federal agents outside of his apartment. Nearly a dozen known students and faculty members have been detained by the Trump Administration in recent weeks. More than 300 visas and green cards have been revoked. How can we best understand this assault on freedom of speech in the United States? What political and constitutional principles are at stake in this crisis?

Information and registration: https://georgetown.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DiwuSWE5T6yc_cUpNqTfqQ?#/registration

 

 

 

 

11. The Persian Manuscripts Association offers a £1000 research grant to support innovative scholarly projects focused on any aspect of Persian studies. This grant aims to foster research that explores the rich cultural, artistic, linguistic, and historical aspects of Persian studies. 

The grant is open to postgraduate and independent researchers working on wide-ranging topics related to any discipline as applied to Persian studies. The funds may be used to support research activities such as archival visits, publication costs, or for the organisation of scholarly workshops. Projects concentrated on Persian manuscripts are prioritised, but everyone is welcome to apply.

Deadline for abstracts: 16 May 2025. Information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/grants/

 

 

 

 

 

12. Ferdowsi PhD Dissertation Award

The Persian Manuscripts Association awards an annual Dissertation Award to recognize outstanding doctorate research in Persian studies. This award is part of the PMA’s broader commitment to fostering scholarship of the Persianate world across wide-ranging fields of study, and celebrating the intellectual traditions of the Persian-speaking world. The prize aims to support early-career scholars and promote high-quality research on regions ranging from Iran to Central Asia and beyond.

Eligible dissertations must be written in English or Persian and submitted between January 2023 and December 2024. In addition to the cash prize, winners have the opportunity to publish in the PMA’s academic journal, Shamsa.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2025. Information: https://persianmanuscripts.org/grants/