Categories : Academic items
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Annual Congress of the Middle East Studies Association of North America: “MESA 2023”, Montréal, Québec, Canada, 2-5 November 2023
The preliminary program includes over 350 sessions on a wide range of topics. It is now available and search-able at https://my-mesa.org/program
2. 31st I.R. “Iran`s World Book Award”
Books to be considered can be in any language, while need to be on either Islamic Studies or Iranian Studies. They also have to be published (in their first edition) outside of Iran in 2022.
Deadline for scholars, writers, translators, and publishers to nominate book(s) for consideration: 22 October 2023. Information:
http://www.bookaward.ir/NewsDetails-En/2059/Call-for-The-31st-I-R–Iran%60s-World-Book-Award-issued
3. CfP, IFPO: Pour une histoire sonore des sociétés de l’islam médiéval/ A sound history of medieval Islamic societies
The aim is to bring together contributions on social and political history, on the history of the senses and the sensible, on anthropology, literature, law, philosophy, art history, musicology, etc. This allows an exploration of subjects as diverse as commercial communication, social conflicts, spatial and social control, political com-munication, urban expansion, rituals, revolts and war, from a new angle and at different scales.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 September 2023. Information: https://www.ifporient.org/beo-71/
4. AIS (Association for Iranian Studies) Conference 2024 Announcement
The AIS 2024 Conference site is now open on the AIS website. You can now submit your Independent Paper/Panel/Roundtable/Special Session abstracts for the AIS 2024 Conference at the National Autonomous University of Mexico from Aug 12 to 15, 2024. Just login to the AIS website https://associationforiranianstudies.org/conferences/2024 and follow the instructions for submission and conference pre-registration.
5. Zoom – Invisible East
The Village and the Archive: On Documents in Iranian Languages, 11th-13th century
Thursday 20 July 2023, 12:00 PM Toronto Time / 5PM UK Time
For more info and to register:
6. UCLA – Pourdavoud Center
Achaemenid Workshop 1 Videos Available!
We are pleased to share with you the recorded lectures from the First Achaemenid Workshop, Identity, Alterity, and the Imperial Impress in the Achaemenid World, hosted at UCLA on April 12–14, 2023.
- July 04, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Islamization and Archaeology
Religion, Culture and New Materialism
José C. Carvajal López
Bloomsbury, 2023
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/islamization-and-archaeology-9781350006669/
2. Early Islam in Medina
Malik and His Muwatta’
Yasin Dutton
Bloomsbury, 2023
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/early-islam-in-medina-9781350261907/
3. Digital Scriptorium (DS) is seeking applications for a 12-month, part-time (20 hrs/week) Manuscript Data Curation Graduate Student Fellowship. Please feel free to share this announcement widely!
Funded by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, the Manuscript Data Curation Fellow will support the expansion of the DS Catalog. Working with the DS Project Manager and the Project Director, the fellow will participate in gathering, reconciling, and enriching member institutions’ data for upload into the DS Catalog’s Wikibase. PhD students in a field related to global premodern manuscript studies or MLIS students with a background in the same scope of fields are encouraged to apply.
In addition to providing general support for DS Catalog data creation, the Fellow will work with current and prospective member institutions with uncatalogued manuscript collections that do not otherwise have sufficient staff expertise or support to create basic structured manuscript descriptions in the DS Catalog spreadsheet themselves. Additionally, the Fellow will work with the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas–Austin to pilot a project to enter data on “in situ” manuscript fragments in bindings that would not otherwise be cataloged in the institutional OPAC. On completion of the pilot, the fellow will offer this service to other institutions with similar in situ fragment collections.
Required qualifications:
- Enrollment in an MLIS or PhD program in a field or area relevant to premodern manuscript studies; graduate students working in a field with a non-European focus are encouraged to apply.
- Strong facility with a classical or non-English language, including non-western languages
Preferred qualifications
- Knowledge of best practices in digital libraries, cataloging, databases, authority work and metadata management.
- Knowledge of linked open data practices and technologies in the Wikimedia environment
- Outstanding oral and written communication skills
- Ability to work effectively with stakeholders and collaboratively with technical staff
Again, the fellowship term is part-time (20 hours/week) for 12 months, starting in late August or early September 2023, with the option of working remotely. The expected pay is $20/hour. The successful applicant must be a US citizen or have permission to work in the US if not a citizen. The position will be administered through the University of Pennsylvania Libraries. To learn more about DS and the DS Catalog, visit https://digital-scriptorium.org/about/about-ds/.
Application Process
To be considered, applicants must submit the following to Lynn Ransom (lransom@upenn.edu) by July 15, 2023:
- A cover letter stating the applicant’s interest in the fellowship and how it will support long-term career goals
- CV
- Two letters of recommendation, including one from the student’s advisor and another from an established scholar in the graduate student’s field with expertise relating to manuscript studies (to be sent separately to lransom@upenn.edu)
4. Avicenna Study Group: Fourth Meeting 2023 in France (13–15 September 2023)
It is with great pleasure that we would like to inform you that the Fourth International Meeting of the Avicenna Study Group (ASG IV) will take place 13–15 September 2023 in France, more precisely in the “Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l’Homme” in Aix-en-Provence (for the first two days) and in the “Musée des Civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée” in Marseille (for the final day).
The topic of the fourth meeting of the ASG is: “A Hidden Treasure: Editorial, Historical, and Philosophical Issues in Avicenna’s ‘Minor’ Works (rasāʾil)”
Confirmed speakers are Nicholas Aubin (University of Warwick) – Cristina Cerami (CNRS, UMR 7219 Sphère, Paris) – Mohammad Javad Esmaeili (Iranian Institute of Philosophy, Tehran) – Dimitri Gutas (emeritus, Yale University, New Haven) – Wilfrid Hodges (emeritus, University of London) – Jawdath Jabbour (CNRS, Centre Paul Albert Février, Aix-en-Provence) – Damien Janos (Alexander-von-Humboldt-Stiftung/LMU Munich) – Jules Janssens (De Wulf-Mansion Centre, Leuven) – Ivana Panzeca (FSCIRE/University of Palermo) – Marwan Rashed (Université Paris-Sorbonne) – Burak Şaman (Istanbul 29 Mayis University) – Yotam Schremer (Hebrew University of Jerusalem) – Omer Michaelis (Tel Aviv University) – Meryem Sebti (CNRS, UMR 8230 Centre Jean Pépin, Paris) – Sarah Virgi (Utrecht University) – Mali Alinejad Zanjani (École normale supérieure, Paris) – Nadjet Zouggar (Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, Iremam)
The provisional programme is available here: http://www.arabic-philosophy.com/index.php/asg-iv/programme/.
If you wish to attend in person, please register online: http://www.arabic-philosophy.com/index.php/asg-iv/registration/. The registration helps us to organise the venue and everything else.
For all further questions, do not hesitate to get in touch. We are looking forward to welcoming you in Aix/Marseille.
Many thanks – and all best wishes,
Olga Lizzini and Andreas Lammer
Andreas Lammer | Assistant professor | Center for the History of Philosophy and Science | Radboud University | P.O. Box 9103, 6500 HD Nijmegen | Room E16.03a | +31 (0) 24 36 12438 | https://www.ru.nl/english
5. Sovereign Metals
Festivities, the Hunt and the Firmament in Medieval Islam.
Part of the Liquid Frontiers and Connected Worlds exhibition programme
Exhibition curated by Veronica Prestini, The Aron Collection
16 June – 17 September 2023
MAO Museo d’Arte Orientale, Turin
Press kit HERE
The second stop in the lead-up to the major autumn exhibition devoted to art from the Far East and Central Asia up to the Mediterranean shores is a small exhibit focused on exquisite metal Islamic art objects. Titled Sovereign Metals. Festivities, the Hunt and the Firmament in Medieval Islam, it is also the debut collaboration between the Museo d’Arte Orientale and The Aron Collection.
The exhibition, which is replacing Lustre and Luxury from Islamic Spain in MAO’s Islamic Gallery, features a carefully chosen selection covering the main types of Islamic metal art objects (incense burners, pen holders, candlesticks, trays, basins, bowls, perfume bottles) that, along with miniature painting, represent some of the highest expressions of Muslim artistic creativity.
Creativity that spread from Persia out into the world like a language, reaching India and China in the East and the slopes of Mount Atlas in the West. The object of admiration and imitation, it also arrived in Europe, showing that the borders of aesthetic perception are not tied to those of politics and religion.
What were the artisans’ preferred themes for these invaluable metal objects?
First and foremost, the hunt, and in particular the iconography of the king on horseback flanked by animals (often a falcon, a leopard or a camel) and a female servant, who could be an artist, a scientist or a musician.
Another major theme was astronomy, which, together with astrology, played a central role in the life of sovereigns and influenced their political, military and even romantic decisions. Popular motifs included planets, constellations and zodiac signs, as well as imagery linked to predicting the future.
Lastly, festive and banquet scenes, which were connected to the literary genre Bazm-o-Razm, meaning ‘feast and fight, encapsulating the cyclical opposition of the glories of peace to the passion of combat.
Astrology, with its scenes of court life and regal pomp, was especially able to evade Islamic iconoclasm in the Middle Ages, becoming the preferred theme for objects produced for the flourishing medieval Islamic middle class that started filling the cities of the Caliphate in the tenth century.
This extraordinary and metaphysical repertoire is joined by the rigour of the calligraphic arts, for the most part used for objects associated with producing light, like candlesticks and lamps, which were fundamental not only for secular everyday life but also for the more opulent religious and spiritual sphere.
One of the most refined objects on view in the exhibition is a silver encrusted pen holder (Mosul, Iraq, late 13th century), decorated with an image of the Sun surrounded by the planets, a typical motif for objects made for rulers and other members of the elite as well as an emblem of astrological iconography in medieval Islam. Another is a large brass basin with silver damascene and engraving (Fars, southern Iran, 14th century), the entire surface of which is decorated with highly symbolic imagery depicting scenes of hunting with a leopard, a falcon and a bow, expressive of a royal prerogative and the sovereign’s exceptional qualities as a combatant.
As with previous exhibitions at MAO, Sovereign Metals opens up dialogue between old and contemporary works, offering itself as a tool for study and in-depth analysis of cultures and materials. This time, MAO is delighted to present, within the exhibit, the work Monochrome Bleu (1959) by Yves Klein (1928–1962).
Yves Klein’s artistic experimentation with the transformation of colour into art, exalting the luminosity and intensity of ultramarine blue, was in a certain way the completion of a artistic pursuit with ancient roots. Ultramarine blue was unquestionably the most important natural pigment used in ancient Egyptian and Assyrian painting. The hue was also central to the work of Islamic miniature painters devoted to illuminating manuscripts. Ultramarine blue, also known as Persian blue, dominated these fine manuscripts and was often expertly paired with gold leaf.
With this in mind, Monochrome Bleu provides an opportunity to appreciate the development of technical, artisan and artistic knowledge and expertise, in continuous expressive tension, which became a philosophical model in Klein’s interpretation, and to fully enjoy the breathtaking depth of its colour.
The exhibition Sovereign Metals offers MAO visitors a chance to view numerous objects that are normally kept in the museum’s storage, paired with works from the Aron Collection and other important private collections.
Admission to the exhibition is included in the ticket for the permanent collection.
6. University of St Andrews – Lecturer in Global Early Modern Art
(1400-1750)
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=65512
We are seeking to appoint a full-time lecturer in Global Early Modern Art (1400-1750). This is a full time, position, offered on a fixed term contract until 31 December 2026, to provide cover for staff research leave. Applications are invited from candidates whose research interests lie in any field of early modern art, architecture, urbanism or visual culture, regardless of geographical focus. We encourage applications from candidates whose research and teaching focuses on issues including environment, race, gender, sexuality and politics and / or whose work takes a transnational, cross-cultural or multidisciplinary approach.
You should already have, or be close to completing, a Ph.D. You should be able to provide evidence of your research abilities in the form of publications of internationally-recognised quality as well as a programme of on-going research that will contribute to our reputation as one of the leading Art History departments in the UK. Other indications of research activity (e.g. grants awarded, conference papers delivered, exhibitions organised) will also be taken into account, as will evidence that your research has had or will have an impact beyond academia.
You will be expected to offer attractive and accessible research-led undergraduate courses, giving students as much first-hand experience of works as possible. You will also be required to contribute lectures and tutorials on our first-year survey modules. Working with postgraduates, particularly teaching M.Litt. classes, will also be a vital part of your role.
Like other members of the School, you will be expected to take on administrative tasks as required by the Head of School.
Informal enquiries can be directed to the Head of School, Professor Laura Moretti: lm93@st-andrews.ac.uk
Applications are particularly welcome from women, people from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community, and other protected characteristics who are under-represented in Arts posts at the University.
Equality, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of the St Andrews experience. We strive to create a fair and inclusive culture demonstrated through our commitment to diversity awards (Athena Swan, Carer Positive, LGBT Charter, Race Charters and Stonewall). We celebrate diversity by promoting profiles of BAME, LGBTIQ+ staff and supporting networks including the Staff BAME Network; Staff with Disabilities Network; Staff LGBTIQ+ Network; and the Staff Parents & Carers Network. Full details available online: https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/hr/edi/
Please note, there will be a short turnaround between the closing date, short-listing and date of interview.
Closing Date: 11 July 2023
Interview Date: 20 July 2023
Please quote ref: AC2042RXNB
Further Particulars: AC2042RXNB FPs.doc
School of Art History
Salary: £45,585 – £56,021 per annum
Start Date: September 2023
Fixed Term: Until 31 December 2026
7. CFP – 10th School of Mamluk Studies Conference (Kuwait University, Kuwait) – March 5-7, 2024
The conference, which will be exclusively in person (no online presentations will be accepted), will be conducted in two parts (March 5-7, 2024), and will be preceded by a three-day (March 2-4, 2024) intensive course on Mamluk archaeological material taught by Professor Bethany Walker, University of Bonn.
Themed Day: Mamluk Past Narratives and Present Artifacts: A Meeting Halfway!
The first day of the conference, March 5, will focus on the relationship between historical narratives and archaeological findings of the Mamluk period. This theme invites individual papers that shed light on this challenging relationship from various angles; this could include, but is not limited to: theories and principles of employing artifacts in historical research; fields of history where artifacts are more informative than narratives, and vice versa; fields where the relationship between artifacts and narratives is more complementary or more competitive; limitations of both artifacts and narratives when they meet in historical research.
A maximum of 12 to 15 paper proposals will be selected. Should a greater number of proposals be received, the authors of those which are not selected for the conference may be offered the possibility to publish their contribution in the proceedings. Each paper will be allocated 20 minutes with an additional 10 minutes for discussion.
Paper Panels: The remaining two days of the conference (March 6-7) will be structured in preorganized panels, which may focus on any aspect of the intellectual, political, social, economic, and artistic life of the Mamluk period. The panels will be organized into presentations of three to four papers of twenty minutes each. Time allotted to each paper will be twenty minutes with a discussion at the end of each panel. Panel proposals must be made by a representative, who will be responsible for the panel’s organization. Please note that in case of cancellation of two papers out of the three (or three out of the four) composing the panel, the panel will have to be withdrawn from the program.
Language: The official languages of the conference will be English and Arabic.
Proposals: Paper proposals for the themed day must be submitted electronically through the conference webpage (http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/school-of-mamluk-studies.html) by August 31, 2023. Panel proposals must be submitted in the same manner by September 30, 2023. No proposal will be accepted after the deadline. Those who would like to express their intention to attend the conference as listeners must fill in the registration form by October 31, 2023.
Paper proposals require the name and a one-page CV of the speaker, a provisional title, and an abstract of a maximum of 300 words per paper. Panel proposals must be submitted as such, including the relevant information for each component paper as well as the name of the panel’s chair (the chair can be one of the panelists).
Acceptance: Paper and panel proposals will be peer-reviewed. A first circular will be sent by December 2023 to those whose proposals have been accepted, and to those who have expressed interest in attending the conference as listeners.
Fees: The conference registration fees will be $60 for all participants and attendees. A farewell dinner will take place on the last day (March 7) at a cost to be determined. Payment of the fees (registration and farewell dinner) must be received by January 15, 2024 (information on the method of payment to be used will be provided in the first circular, which will be sent in December 2023).
Cancellations received in writing by January 31, 2024, will secure a full refund, minus 20% of the registration fee. Refunds of fees (registration and farewell dinner) will not be made under any circumstances for cancellations after January 31, 2024. Participants must make their own travel arrangements; information and suggestions for accommodation will be provided in the first circular.
Publication:
- Themed Day: the papers will be published in a volume of proceedings. Further details will be announced in due course.
- Panels: selected papers will be published in Mamlūk Studies Review.
Intensive Course: To What Degree Can Mamluk Artifacts be Interrogated?
A three-day intensive course in Mamluk archaeology intended for advanced graduate students and other qualified participants will be offered by Professor Bethany Walker (University of Bonn) and will be held immediately before the tenth conference of the School of Mamluk Studies at Kuwait University, in collaboration with Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah (March 2-4, 2024). The course will serve as an introduction to what is now a mature discipline within Mamlukology: Mamluk Archaeology. It is also a venue for exploring ways in which archaeology could serve as a primary source for historical studies during the Mamluk period. Participants will be exposed to both theory and methods, and emphasis is placed on “learning by doing”, making use of the Mamluk-era holdings of the unique al-Sabah Collection of Dar al-Athar al-Islamiyyah and artifacts from excavations.
Since the number of the participants will be limited (a maximum of 20), those who desire to take part in the course are requested to submit a CV, a statement of purpose, and a letter of recommendation by someone familiar with your work to the following email address: sms10kuwait24@ku365.onmicrosoft.com by November 30, 2023. Those who are selected for the course will be notified by the end of December 2023, at which time information about the method of payment for the course fees will be provided.
The course fee is $350, which also includes the registration fee for the subsequent conference (March 5-7). The fees must be paid by January 15, 2024. Registration and participation will not be confirmed until payment is received. Cancellations received in writing by January 31, 2024, will secure a full refund, minus 20% of the course fee. Refunds of course fees will not be made under any circumstances for cancellations received after January 31, 2024.
Participants must make their own travel arrangements. Information and suggestions for accommodation will be provided in the first circular.
We look forward to meeting you in Kuwait.
Amenah Abdulkarim, Kuwait University (local organizer) – sms10kuwait24@ku365.onmicrosoft.com
Frédéric Bauden, Université de Liège
Antonella Ghersetti, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice
Marlis Saleh, University of Chi
8. Journal of Art Historiography, Number 28 (June 2023): A Historiography of Persian Art: Past, Present and Future (Articles can be downloaded)
https://arthistoriography.wordpress.com/28-jun23/
A Historiography of Persian Art: Past, Present and Future
Guest edited by Yuka Kadoi and András Barati
Articles
Introduction
Yuka Kadoi (University of Vienna), ‘A Twenty-Year Retrospect on ‘The Mirage of Islamic Art’: Polarising Islamic art, consolidating Persian art’
The Making and Remaking of Art Histories
Nile Green (University of California), ‘The rekhta of architecture: the development of ‘Islamic’ art history in Urdu, c.1800-1950’
Ebba Koch (Aga Khan Trust for Culture), ‘Discovering Mughal painting in Vienna by Josef Strzygowski and his circle: the historiography of the Millionenzimmer’
Scholars, Collectors and Agents
Henry P. Colburn (New York University, Kelsey Museum of Archaeology), ‘A brief historiography of Parthian art, from Winckelmann to Rostovtzeff’
Iván Szántó (Eötvös Loránd University), ‘West-östlich diplomacy and connoisseurship in the late Habsburg Empire: Baron Albert Eperjesy and his dispersed collection of Persian art’
A New Direction to Carpetology
Kassiani Kagouridi (Corfu Museum of Asian Art), ‘Musealisation and ethno-cultural stereotypes in Persian art: the case of Baluch carpets ca. 1870s – 1930s’
Tomasz Grusiecki (Boise State University), ‘Rethinking the so-called Polish carpets’
Dorothy Armstrong (Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford), ‘Persophilia and technocracy: carpets in the World of Islam Festival, 1976’
Revisiting the Schools of Painting
Jaimee K. Comstock-Skipp (Nizami Ganjavi Centre, University of Oxford), ‘The ‘Iran’ Curtain: the historiography of Abu’l-Khairid (Shaybanid) arts of the book and the ‘Bukhara School’ during the Cold War’
Robert Hillenbrand (University of St. Andrews), ‘Eric Schroeder: maverick polymath’
Authenticity and Falsification
Andrea Luigi Corsi (Independent), ‘A matter of timing: the modern history of a ‘Sasanian’ silver plate from Rashy’
The Problem of Terminology
Johannes L. Kurz (University of Heidelberg), ‘Dashi 大食 reconsidered’
Documentary biographies
Jens Kröger (Museum of Islamic Art – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), ‘Kurt Erdmann (1901-1964)’
Jens Kröger (Museum of Islamic Art – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin), ‘Carl Johan Lamm (1902-1981)’
Joachim Gierlichs (Zayed National Museum, Abu Dhabi), ‘Ernst Cohn-Wiener (1882-1941)‘
Research notes
Paola D’Amore and Michael Jung (Museo d’Arte Orientale/Museo delle Civiltà), ‘Notes on the formation of Persian art collections at the Museo Nazionale d’Arte Orientale “Giuseppe Tucci”: research projects, exhibitions and Italian missions in Iran’
Conference report
Sandra Aube (CNRS) and Martina Massullo (Institut Catholique de Paris), ‘Through the lens of Henry Viollet: an undisclosed photographic and paper archive on Islamic monuments (1904-1913)’
Translation
András Barati (Austrian Academy of Sciences), ‘Aʽẓam Naẓarkarde, ‘Painter and artist of the Âstân-e Qods during the Afsharid period’
This publication was funded in whole, or in part, by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [M2428-G25]
9. CFP – CIHA 2024: Indian Ocean Objects above and below the Waterline – Deadline: September 15
We invite paper proposals for the session “Indian Ocean Objects above and below the Waterline” at the 36th Congress of the Comité international d’histoire de l’art (CIHA), June 23 – 28, 2024, in Lyon, France.
Deadline: 15 September 2023
In the past decade, the field of Indian Ocean art history has witnessed a rapid growth, with a wealth of new research oriented around the circulation of objects across this ocean’s breadth and a rising focus on how maritime mobilities generated dynamic lives and meanings for traveling goods. While these efforts have brought into sharper focus the history of the Indian Ocean’s littoral zones, its port cities, and the objects that frequented them, interpretation has tended to cling to the coasts, implicitly prioritizing land over water. We have spent more time studying the Indian Ocean along a horizontal axis, namely the water’s surface, thus documenting and conceptualizing materials that moved or were moved across the ocean rather than those that came from the ocean itself or the detritus that rests on its floor.
Pushing against art history’s historiographical emphasis on land or the ocean’s role as a path of conveyance, this session explores the material intersections between horizontal and vertical histories of the Indian Ocean. Inspired by Isabel Hofmyer’s call for an oceanic turn that extends both “above and below the waterline,” we invite speakers to explore objects that traversed the water’s breadth or to delve into the physical qualities of those that emerged from the depths of the sea, such as shells, mother of pearl, as well as images of the underwater realm. Most poignantly, we hope to think through the ambiguities of the boundaries between water and land, by exploring sites where these arenas meet and interact. How can we understand the ocean as a “maker” of materials and objects in tandem with its role as a medium of transmission and exchange? How can we understand water as a fundamentally creative and transformative environment, which actively conjures the tactile character of things, or reshapes the materials that it comes into contact with? What new forms or material characteristics emerged from objects that had an underwater journey, alongside journeys across water? How did immersion in water change the life of objects “en route” and, as a result, their broader migrations and meanings? How was the Indian Ocean perceived, conceptualized, or visualized as an agent in shaping both the materiality and mobility of things? How did objects emerging from the ocean reshape understandings of the ocean itself?
We invite proposals for short, but rich, presentations of no more than 10 minutes. We aim to organize this session as two panels of short presentations followed by responses to papers and broader discussion. Proposals should be between 350 and 500 words in length, and engage with the questions outlined above, or themes that include but are not limited to:
– Material histories of the Indian Ocean as a space of commercial and artistic exchange across Asia, Africa, and beyond
– Matter and underwater metamorphosis
– Shifting sensory contours of objects underwater
– Drifting objects and their itinerant materiality
– Blue humanities
– Shells, marine life, ships, and shipwrecks
– Oceanic waste, debris, and material remains
Proposals should be submitted by 15 September 2023 via the CIHA platform, which includes instructions and a full description of all sessions (in English and French): https://www.cihalyon2024.fr/en/call-for-papers
Funds may be available from CIHA to assist presenters who require financial assistance to participate.
Organized by: Nancy Um (Getty Research Institute), Peyvand Firouzeh (University of Sydney), Pauline Monginot (Institut national d’Histoire de l’art)
10. Funds Fulbright Scholar Awards for Your Network
| The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers over 400 unique awards for U.S. citizens to teach, research, and conduct professional projects in more than 130 countries. You can join the more than 400,000 Fulbrighters who have come away with enhanced skills, new connections and greater mutual understanding. We encourage you to visit our website for application resources: · Application Guidance and Instructions · Open Awards in the 2024-25 Competition, searchable by discipline, country/region, etc. · Office Hours, a great way to get your questions answered live by Fulbright staff |
| We look forward to receiving your application by our deadline of September 15, 2023. To receive program updates and application resources, connect with Fulbright. Know someone who could benefit from a Fulbright U.S. Scholar award? Refer a colleague! Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program Contact: scholars@iie.org |
11. Webinar – British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS)
‘Treasures of Herat: Two Timurid Khamsah of Nizami Manuscripts’
with Barbara Brend
12 July, 2023, 5pm UK time
For full information and to register:
https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/treasures-of-herat/
12. BRISMES Annual Conference: “Ecology, Crisis, and Power in the Middle East”, University of Exeter, 3-5 July 2023
See program at https://whova.com/embedded/event/aUuHwd6DHihkOs0dhkxi%403nk%40Oyem9cIRXA-VTGFeXA%3D/?utc_source=ems
13. Conference “Locating the Self, Negotiating the Other: Imperial Expansion and Conversion in the Early Modern Period”, University of Münster, Germany, 5-7 October 2023
The conference will bring together recent research on conversions and the lives of converts in different empires, to elaborate on commonalities as well as peculiarities and, in doing so, examine possible global conjunctures of conversion processes in the process. The focus is on the early modern period (emphasis on the 17th and 18th centuries), but contributions from other periods are also welcome.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 July 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/12887482/locating-self-negotiating-other-imperial-expansion-and
- July 01, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. ONLINE Virtual Book Discussion “State, Peasants, and Land in Mid-Nineteenth-Century Egypt” with Author Dr. Maha Ghalwash (British University in Egypt), American University in Cairo Press, 5 July 2023, 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Cairo Time
Drawing on a wide array of archival sources, some only rarely utilized by other scholars, the book argues that state policy targeting the peasant land tenure regime was informed by the dual economic principles of the
Ottoman, or traditional, philosophy of statecraft, and that the workings of the relevant regulations did not produce extensive peasant land loss and impoverishment.
2. Conference “The Spirit of Laws’ in the Ottoman Empire and Its Social Practices”, Arkhé Project, Sirince, 16-23 July 2023
This program (in Turkish) is dedicated to how the law was made, practiced, and transformed in the Early Modern Ottoman Empire. It includes the legal-theoretical aspects of law-making and how it was practiced in everyday life and was adapted and transformed over the centuries.
Information: https://archeprojesi.com/kamp/din-u-devlet-ii-celse-osmanlida-kanunlarin-ruhu-ve-toplumsal-pratikler/41
3. ONLINE 5th International Interdisciplinary Conference: “Postcolonialism, Postcommunism and Postmodernism”, University of Gdańsk, Poland, 27-28 July 2023
Topics include postcolonial societies, history of (post)colonialism, postcolonialism and orientalism, postcolo-nialisim and Islamophobia, postcolonialism and anti-Semitism, postcolonialism and terrorism, postcolonialism and racism, etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 7 July 2023. Information: https://www.inmindsupport.com/post-conference
4. HYBRID 17th Annual Conference on Asian Studies (ACAS): “Interpretation and Misinterpretation”, Olomouc, Czech Republic, 24-25 November 2023
Contributions are invited that relate to the themes on any aspect of cultures or societies in Asia as well as their diasporic manifestations. We seek both synchronic and diachronic perspectives from anthropology, the arts, cultural geography, history, international relations, linguistics, literary studies, philosophy, political sci-ence, religion studies, sociology, and other fields in the humanities and social sciences.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2023. Information: http://acas.upol.cz/call-for-papers/
5. 10th international Conference “Fire on the Mountain: Media, Religion, and Nationalism”, University of Colorado-Boulder, 10-13 January 2024
Proposed themes: Coloniality, imperialism, and religious nationalism; Nationalism, race, ethnicity, gender, and religious identity; The global rise of right-wing populism, religion, and media; Nation, nationalism, and globalization; Religion, nationalism, and social media; Religious nationalism, journalism, conspiracy theories, and disinformation.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 July 2023. Information: https://www.colorado.edu/cas/2023/06/20/cfp-10th-international-conference-fire-mountain-media-religion-and-nationalism
6. Workshop “Written Representations of the Oral Aspects of the Qur’ān”, Università l’Orientale di Napoli, Naples, 21-22 May 2024
Muṣḥafs provide plenty of information about the modalities of recitation of the Qur’ān before the Industrial Revolution. How this form of notation developed and if it was in a certain way regulated (regionally or globally) will be explored in this workshop.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 September 2023. Information: https://euqu.eu/2023/05/02/call-for-papers-recited-ink-written-representations-of-the-oral-aspects-of-the-quran/
7. Postdoctoral Researcher Position on “Women’s Labour in Islamic Law”, Institute for the Study of the Middle East and Muslim Societies, University of Bern
Candidates must hold a PhD in Islamic, Middle Eastern and/or Arabic Studies (no more than six years prior to employment). Proficiency in spoken and written English and Arabic are required. A good understanding of current debates in gender and/or labour history is expected, and the candidate will be expected to work in an interdisciplinary way.
Deadline for applications: 7 August 2023.
8. PhD Position in “Non-Western (Islamic) Public Administration and Public Value” (4 Years, Early Stage Researcher), Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia
Requirements: M.A. in political sciences, economics, sociology or public administration; excellent command of English; knowledge of the local languages of area studies; familiarity with relevant Islamic texts and tradi-tions.
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2023. Information: https://www.euraxess.ee/jobs/115688
9. Chapters for Edited Book on “Slavery and the Slave Trade in the Red Sea Region, 7th – 20th Century”
We are especially interested in essays that draw on new sources, those that adopt approaches that are sensitive to regional, transregional/translocal dimensions. Our interest is more focused on the experiences of those involved and/or impacted by slavery and the trade (the enslaved, freedmen/freedwomen, their de-scendants, as well as agents, traders, and smugglers).
Deadline for abstracts: 15 September 2023. Information: https://www.academia.edu/103469234/Slavery_and_the_Slave_Trade_in_the_Red_Sea_Region_7th_20th_c_Call_for_papers_for_an_edited_volume
10. Youth Writing Contest for a New Afghan Social Contract, Institute for Law and Society in Afghanistan, Kardan University
What direction is Afghanistan and its people taking? How can Afghans overcome the devisions of the past? We cordially invite Afghans aged up to 25 years to share their views, hopes and demands. Please send us your essay in Dari, Pashto or English by 31 July 2023. We will not publish your name if you prefer so. The best contributions will be awarded (10.000 AFN).
Deadline for essays in Dari, Pashto or English: 31 July 2023. Information:
- June 27, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Reconstructing the Variant Generation Process of Hadith
Based on the Quantitative and the Isnād-cum-Matn Analysis
Hiroyuki Yanagihashi
Equinox, 2023
For more information and to order at 25% off quoting the code VAR visit the book page:
https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/reconstructing-variant-gen/
2. Funds: Research grants in History of the Book including Maps
Grants up to £4,000 for research into the history of the book, including studies of the production, transmission, circulation, dissemination, and consumption of text and graphics (i.e. maps, music, illustrations, and mass-produced prints).
The Willison Foundation Charitable Trust promotes the advancement of the History of the Book by awarding funding to researchers working within that global field of study. It is interested in studies of the production, transmission, circulation, dissemination, and consumption of text and graphics (i.e. maps, music, illustrations, and mass-produced prints). It therefore expects to serve the needs of those working in the history of authorship, publishing, reading, and archiving, including maps, music, and prints; the history of libraries including deposit of computer memory; textual studies in the widest sense; codicology, palaeography, textual biography and editorial practice, textual communication, reception studies within oral as well as inscripted cultures.
To learn more see https://willisoncharitabletrust.org/applications/guidance-for-applicants/
3. The AIS (Association for Iranian Studies) Online Symposium team is happy to announce an extension of the deadline for submission of panels and individual papers for our October 20-22, 2023 online symposium. We are looking forward to receiving your abstracts by *10 July 2023*. Please submit your proposals at the following link: https://associationforiranianstudies.org/ais-online-symposium-2023 <https://associationforiranianstudies.org/ais-online-symposium-2023>
4. Programs at Hikmat International Institute for Summer, Fall 2023
To learn more, visit the Hikmat website at the address below:
https://hikmat-ins.com/courses/
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us any time at info@hikmat-ins.com
5. 2023 BRISMES Annual General Meeting
Members are reminded that the BRISMES Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place as follows:
Date: Wednesday, 5 July 2023
Time: 11:30-13:30 (BST)
Venue: The Forum Auditorium, University of Exeter
All members of BRISMES are invited to attend the AGM. The final agenda and associated papers will be sent by email to all BRISMES members on 26 June 2023.
6. BRISMES Conference Student Paper Prize
Submissions for this prize are currently closed and will open after the annual conference in July.
About the Prize
The aim of this prize is to support BRISMES student members in the development of peer-reviewed work. The prize winner will receive £300 and will be mentored through a review process at the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (BJMES) by a senior member of the BRISMES academic community. Such a mentor will be identified on the basis of the disciplinary field and topic of the awarded conference paper. In addition, the desk review process will be skipped and the journal will commit to sending the paper directly to external reviewers for the final decision about publication.
Eligibility
- The applicant must be a BRISMES student member by the time the application is submitted.
- The applicant must have registered for the Annual Conference.
- The paper must be on the same topic on which the applicant is presenting at the Annual Conference.
- The paper needs to be an original unpublished work from any discipline on any topic related to the study of Middle East and North Africa.
- The only selection criteria is academic excellence.
How to apply
Send the paper with a short biography (150 words max) and CV to office@brismes.org, indicating the disciplinary field to which the paper is contributing.
The estimated word count for a typical paper in BJMES is 10,000 words, inclusive of the abstract, tables, references, figure captions.
Deadline: Two weeks after the annual conference
https://www.brismes.ac.uk/awards/brismes-conference-student-paper-prize
7. Departmental Lecturer in Middle Eastern Politics
University of Oxford
Applications are invited for the position of Departmental Lecturer in Middle Eastern Politics in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford. As well as providing teaching for the department’s core Middle East politics provision, the Departmental Lecturer will be expected to teach on research methods, including leading on research design sessions.
Deadline | 26 June 2023
8. Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in the Political Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies
Australian National University
The Centre for Arabic and Islamic Studies within the Research School of Social Sciences, ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences is seeking to appoint a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in the Political Sociology of Islam and Muslim societies with a focus on the Arabic Speaking World. Research rooted in the political sociology of religion and intellectual/social trends and movements in the Arabic Speaking World, as well as informed by fieldwork and linguistic competence is highly desirable.
Deadline | 31 July 2023
9. Call for Applications – Editor of International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES)
The MESA Board of Directors invites applications and nominations for the next editor of the International Journal of Middle East Studies (IJMES) for a five-year term beginning July 1, 2024. Candidates should be internationally recognized Middle East scholars in either the humanities or the social sciences and be affiliated with an academic institution prepared to contribute space and support to an editorial office. Applications should include proposals for this institutional contribution, endorsed by the institution involved.
Deadline | 1 August 2023
10. Jalal al-Din Rumi and his Legacy: Religion, Literature and Culture between Medieval Anatolia and the Persianate World, 13th-14th Centuries
Conference | 6-7 July 2023 | BIAA and BIPS
This conference is a partnership between the British Institute at Ankara and British Institute of Persian Studies. It will take place over two days in Ankara. Please note that places are extremely limited due to the venue’s capacity. The conference will be conducted in English.
More information
11. The Islamic College – Hawza Taster Course (in House)
DATE: 30th June – 2nd July
TIME: 10:00 am – 4:30 pm (London time)
Venue: The Islamic College, London, 133 High Road Willesden Green London
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/study/hawza-taster-course/
- June 24, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Journée d’étude (Conférence bilingue, français et anglais): « La Patrimonialisation du Religieux dans le Monde Méditerranéen », Sciences Po Paris, 22 juin 2023, 9h30 – 19h30
Programme : https://www.sciencespo.fr/ceri/lab/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/22062023_prog.pdf
2. Two German-Yemeni Workshops for German and Yemeni Students on “Science Communica-tion for Social Cohesion in Yemen”, Amman, 14-18 August & 23-26 October 2023
This is a joint project of Sana´a University and the “Center for Applied Research in Partnership with the Orient” (CARPO) in Bonn funded by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). The workshops will bring together German and Yemeni students with a civil society background, representatives of civil society organizations from Germany and Yemen, as well as Yemeni artists.
Deadline for application: 30 June 2023.
Information: https://carpo-bonn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Ausschreibung-Artists-Yemen.pdf
3. Workshop “The Urban and Local Dimensions of Political Violence in Syria and the Middle East”, SUR-Project and the Alliance of Civilizations Institute (MEDIT), Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, 27-29 October 2023
The workshop seeks to understand how political violence becomes “urbanized” and transformed within cities in the Middle East. The organizers are hosting a workshop for postgraduate students and young scholars to present and develop their research using georeferenced datasets. The workshop will include training on mapping and visualization skills, provided by Beirut Urban Lab.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 July 2023. Information: https://sur-project.com/workshop
4. 50% Acting Professor in Islamic Studies for History and Culture of the Pre-Modern Middle East (Oct. 2023 to March 2024), University of Hamburg
The successful applicant is expected to have international research experience. The University places particular emphasis on the quality of teaching and therefore requests applicants to provide details of their teaching experience and objectives.
Deadline for applications: 13 July 2023. Information: https://www.uni-hamburg.de/en/stellenangebote/ausschreibung.html?jobID=05443483922c241098ece0df46a5d39a6b0b2bb5
5. Teaching Fellow in Religious Studies and Islam (1 Year), University of Leeds
You will have submitted your PhD thesis (or be very close to submitting it) in Religious Studies, Islamic Studies or another demonstrably relevant area and have relevant subject expertise and teaching experience in the areas of the sociology and anthropology of Islam and Muslim religion, culture, politics and society, especially in the UK context, and Religious Studies more broadly.
Deadline for application: 30 June 2023. Information: https://jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx?ref=AHCPR1057
6. PhD Fellowship (3 Years) at EHESS (Paris) and IFEA (Istanbul) for Research on the 19th-Century Ottoman Translation Bureaus
The PhD research will focus on the archives of the “translation bureaus” (tercüme odaları) established within the Ottoman administration of the time, both in the provinces and in the capital. Language requirements: Proficiency in Ottoman Turkish and French (or another working language used in Ottoman archives) must be demonstrated by certificates, transcripts or own publications.
Deadline for application: 14 July 2023.
Information: https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR8032-MARAYM1-001/Default.aspx
7. Continuing Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in the Political Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies with a Focus on the Arabic Speaking World, Australian National University
Research rooted in the political sociology of religion and intellectual/social trends and movements in the Arabic Speaking World, as well as informed by fieldwork and linguistic competence is highly desirable.
Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2023/06/15/lecturer-senior-lecturer
8. Assistant Professor on Contemporary Islam, Department of Religious Studies, Michigan State University
We seek a scholar with preferred subspecialties in any of the following: Islam and racial identity; Islam and gender/sexuality; Islam in the US; Islam and Migration; Transnational Islam; Islamic Thought; Qur’anic Her-meneutics; Islam and new technologies; Digital Islam; and Islam and non-profit leadership. Our preferred time frame is the 20th and 21st centuries.
Deadline for applications: 16 August 2023. Information: https://careers.msu.edu/en-us/job/515244/assistant-professortenure-system
9. Arab Language and Political/Social Sciences Courses, Palestine and Arabic Studies Program, Birzeit University, 3 July – 31 August 2023
The courses offer international students the opportunity to combine the study of the Arabic language with social sciences courses about Palestine and the Arab World, with immersion in the culture.
Deadline for applications: 26 June 2023. Information: pas-isp@birzeit.edu.
Registration: https://ritaj.birzeit.edu/be1/en/admission/international-students/pas
10. Articles for New “Druze Studies Journal (DSJ)”
DSJ is an open-access interdisciplinary journal that aims to advance scholarly understanding of the Druze communities, including their history, society, and faith. We seek submissions that focus on the Druze as a whole, or on specific Druze communities, or include a comparison between the Druze and others or a com-parison between several Druze communities.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 October 2023. Information: https://journals.ku.edu/druze/announcement/view/124
11. Articles on “75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: What Are the Trajectories of Human Rights Movements Amid Changing Global Dynamics?” for Journal “Rowaq Arabi”
This peer reviewed journal of human rights studies, calls for submissions of abstracts of original research articles that discuss the trajectories of human rights in the region 75 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Relevant articles (English or Arabic) from all disciplines of social sciences, humanities and law are welcome, and will be financially compensated.
No deadline, submissions are processed until the issue is complete. Information:
12. Islamic Texts Society – Hajj Discount 2023
In celebration of the Hajj and the Eid al-Adha, the Islamic Texts Society would like to offer readers a 15% discount on all titles*. In order to take advantage of this offer, please visit our website https://its.org.uk and enter the coupon code, HAJJ23, on the purchase page.
The offer is valid from 19th June to 2nd July.
- June 20, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Metadata Librarian for Middle Eastern Languages
The University of Chicago: The Library
Location : Chicago, IL
Open Date: Jun 09, 2023
Description
The University of Chicago Library is seeking an innovative and forward-thinking individual for the position of Metadata Librarian for Middle Eastern Languages. The University of Chicago is home to one of the world’s great collections for the study of the Middle East. The Middle Eastern collection in Regenstein Library is recognized by scholars throughout North America, Europe, and the Middle East as one of the premier research collections in Middle Eastern and Islamic studies in the world. The collection supports undergraduate, graduate, and faculty research and teaching in all disciplines of the social sciences and humanities including history, literature, language, religion, philosophy, bibliography, art, political science, anthropology, music, sociology, and film.
The collection, amounting to over one million items, consists of monographs, serials, microformat materials, lithographs, maps, films, photographs, video and audio tapes, DVDs, CD-ROMs, and electronic resources, covering the area between Central Asia and the Atlantic Ocean and from Asia Minor to sub-Saharan Africa. It includes materials in the principal languages of the Middle East—Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and their dialectical variants—as well as the relevant materials produced in various languages in North America, Europe, Japan, the states of the former Soviet Union, and elsewhere in the world. The successful candidate will be responsible for original and complex copy cataloging of monographs, serials, electronic resources and visual materials in all subjects, in Middle Eastern and other languages as necessary.
Working in the central Metadata Management Services Unit, and working closely with the Librarian for Middle Eastern Studies, the Metadata Librarian for Middle Eastern Languages will provide leadership and coordination for the metadata provision for the University of Chicago Library’s extensive collection of Middle Eastern resources that is responsive to the needs of the user community and supports the Library’s vision and goals.
The position reports to the Head of Metadata Management Services, a section of the Technical Services Department that provides leadership and expertise for the Library’s cataloging activities and creation and management of metadata. Metadata staff are involved in national and local activities related to implementation of BIBFRAME and linked data, and provide strategic direction on metadata standards for the Library’s resources and the University’s institutional repository.
The University of Chicago Library is a long-time member of the Library of Congress Program for Cooperative Cataloging (PCC) and contributes to BIBCO/NACO/SACO/CONSER programs. The Metadata Management Unit is also active in the Big Ten Academic Alliance Cooperative Cataloging Partnership (BTAA CCP), and the Library of Congress’ Electronic Cataloging in Publication Program (ECIP), which provides pre-publication metadata for the University of Chicago Press publications as well as those of other scholarly publishers.
The successful candidate is expected to combine a thorough understanding of cataloging and metadata standards, Middle Eastern resources, library user needs and behaviors with technical and interpersonal skills. As a member of the library’s professional staff, the Metadata Librarian for Middle Eastern Languages is expected to contribute to the library by serving on committees and by participating in library-wide programs and activities, and is expected to be active professionally both locally and nationally.
Responsibilities and Duties
- Performs metadata creation and management through original and complex copy cataloging with all associated authority work, according to the following standards:
- Resource Description and Access (RDA) via RDA Toolkit
- Library of Congress-PCC Policy Statements
- Library of Congress Program for Cooperative Cataloging (BIBCO/NACO/SACO/CONSER)
- Library of Congress classification via Classweb
- MARC 21 formats for Bibliographic and Authority data
- National standards pertaining to providing access to resources in non-Latin scripts
- Contributes to metadata activities related to Middle Eastern materials, such as digital library metadata development and remediation and enhancement of existing metadata
- Proposes and reviews workflows and policies around the metadata creation for Middle Eastern materials, and trains staff, as needed.
- Participates in departmental projects and initiatives experimenting with new forms of metadata creation
- Engages in professional service and research activities in areas appropriate to the position and to academic librarianship
- Participates in grant management, including in leadership roles, promoting improved access to hidden collections and digital access initiatives.
- Contributes to the development of local, national, and international metadata standards and applications.
Qualifications
Required:
- Library/Information Science degree from an ALA accredited institution OR advanced degree in Middle Eastern studies.
- Study of, or background in Middle Eastern Studies
- Demonstrated knowledge of current national cataloging/metadata standards, knowledge of subject analysis and classification systems.
- Advanced reading knowledge of Arabic and Persian
- Ability to communicate effectively in English
Preferred:
- Previous cataloging experience in an academic/research library, applying current standards and systems including MARC21, RDA, Library of Congress Classification, Library of Congress Subject Headings, OCLC Connexion, and library management and discovery systems
- Reading knowledge of Turkish, Ottoman Turkish or Hebrew
- Experience contributing to the Program for Cooperative Cataloging (BIBCO, NACO, SACO, CONSER)
- Knowledge of current trends, resources, and methodologies in cataloging and metadata as they relate to description and discovery of materials in Middle Eastern languages
- Experience applying non-MARC metadata standards (e.g., Dublin Core)
- Understanding of linked data principles, including RDF and ontologies as well as emerging metadata standards (e.g., BIBFRAME) and identity management systems (e.g., ISNI, VIAF, ORCID)
Application Instructions
To Apply: Submit cover letter, curriculum vitae, and reference contact information online through the University of Chicago’s Academic Recruiting website: apply.interfolio.com/126668. Review of applications will begin after July 9, 2023. Screening of applications will continue until the position is filled or the search is closed.
Salary and Benefits: Appointment salary based on qualifications and experience. Benefits include retirement plan, insurance, and paid time off.
Questions: Contact University of Chicago Library Human Resources, libraryhr@uchicago.edu
2. ASPIRANTUM, the Armenian School of Languages and Cultures, is delighted to present four exceptional online courses. Please take a look at the course descriptions below for more information.
1. Learn Persian through Early Classical Persian Prose
Three weeks, from Oct 30, 2023, to Nov 17, 2023
https://aspirantum.com/courses/learn-persian-through-early-classical-persian-prose
2. Learn Persian through Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat
Three weeks, from Oct 09, 2023, to Oct 27, 2023
https://aspirantum.com/courses/learn-persian-through-omar-khayyam-rubaiyat
3. Learn Persian Through the Shahname
Two weeks, from Sep 25, 2023, to Oct 06, 2023
https://aspirantum.com/courses/learn-persian-through-shahname
4. Middle Persian Online School
Three weeks, from Sep 04, 2023, to Sep 22, 2023
https://aspirantum.com/courses/middle-persian-pahlavi-school
3. Celebrating Journal of Abbasid Studies‘ 10th Volume
Brill is celebrating Journal of Abbasid Studies reaching its 10th volume. We are happy to share with you a selection of outstanding and remarkable articles published in the journal in recent years.
These articles were specially selected by the Editors-in-Chief and will be offered as free access until 31 December 2023. No need to sign up for an account.
4. CFP: Session at the 36th conference of the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA), Lyon, France, 23 to 26 June 2024
Dressing Bodies, Dressing Spaces: Challenges and New Approaches to Textiles and Adornment (300-1600) / Habiller le corps, Habiller l’espace: Enjeux et approches aux textiles et à l’adornement (300-1600)
Organizers: Patricia Blessing (Princeton University), Eiren Shea (Grinnell College), and
Elizabeth Dospel Williams (Dumbarton Oaks)
Chair: Maximilien Durand (Musée du Louvre)
To submit an abstract, please visit https://www.cihalyon2024.fr/fr/appel-a-communications and create a new submitter account.
Deadline for submissions: 15 September 2023.
With any questions about the session, please contact Elizabeth Dospel Williams, williamse@doaks.org
Holistic consideration of the interrelationships of pre- and early modern bodies and spaces across Eurasia (300—1600) has been limited by conceptual frameworks divided into geographic, temporal, and methodological specialization. Thus, work on dress has dealt with personal appearance, highlighting questions about identity through clothing, jewelry, and accessories. Likewise, scholarship on interior decoration has considered the relationship of ephemeral design elements to permanent architectural forms through function and placement. Further, scholarship on the body’s presence in space has tended to work with movement, placement, and perception of abstracted bodies, rather than concrete figures weighed down by clothing and jewels.
These approaches, divided largely by medium, reflect art historiographical biases and technical specializations which silo, on the one hand, experts in textiles (weaving), jewelry (metalwork), and sculpture (architecture), or of art historians, archaeologists, and architectural historians, on the other. Similar divisions of body and interior also occur in the broader perspective of material culture theory, while modernist aesthetics have further obscured the interrelatedness of human form and spatial environment. Museum contexts reinforce this divide: objects tend to be isolated within cases, leading to a view of these pieces as context-free, while the museumification of historical spaces means that attendant furnishings are often displayed in special exhibition spaces, whereas historical rooms lie empty.
The proposed panel considers adorned human bodies in their spatial environments to forge new theoretical frameworks drawn from decorative arts historiography, ornament studies, sensory archaeology, anthropology, and material spatiality. An intermedial approach is essential, such as advocated in Luke Lavan and Ellen Swift’s (2009) work on late antique dress and interior decoration and in Jonathan Hay’s (2010) explorations of the somatic experiences of surfaces in early modern Chinese decorative arts objects. Recent efforts to draw together diverse Eurasian experiences of dress and furnishing textiles include a conference on medieval wearables at the Bard Graduate Center (2022) and a panel on embodied movement and interior decoration at the ICMS-Kalamazoo (2023). We seek papers that:
- articulate new theoretical approaches that treat pre- and early modern dress and furnishings as coherent visual and material systems;
- consider the concept and metaphor of “dress,” viewing bodies as structures for adornment and decor, and buildings as immersive environments that respond to the embellished body;
- evaluate dress and furnishings in a cross-cultural or comparative global framework, particularly in terms of status, value, ritual, identity, and somatic experience;
- include contributions that draw from museum collections, given the history of textile research and collections in Lyon.
5. Graduate Study Day – “Egyptian Textiles and Medieval Indian Ocean Trade”, Dumbarton Oaks Museum – October 13
October 13, 2023 | In conjunction with the ongoing interdepartmental project “Passage Between Worlds: Exchanges Along the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in the Middle Ages.”
Egyptian Textiles and Medieval Indian Ocean Trade
Friday, October 13, 2023
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Applications due: July 17, 2023
In conjunction with the ongoing interdepartmental project “Passage Between Worlds: Exchanges Along the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean in the Middle Ages,” the 2023 Dumbarton Oaks Museum Graduate Study Day Egyptian Textiles and Medieval Indian Ocean Trade will consider Indian cotton textiles found in Egypt, India, and Indonesia and emblematic of a vibrant maritime trade network found east of the Mediterranean Sea in the late antique and medieval periods.
The workshop will be co-taught by Elizabeth Dospel Williams (Dumbarton Oaks), Anna Kelley (University of St. Andrews), Sumru Belger Krody (The George Washington Museum and The Textile Museum), and Arielle Winnik (Yale University), who will discuss the trade, manufacture, and use of textiles across the Indian Ocean in the premodern periods.
In the morning, these scholars will present their current research, with a particular focus on recent exhibitions featuring Indian textiles. After lunch, participants will spend the afternoon studying textiles from the Dumbarton Oaks Collection in object storage and the Cotsen Textiles Collection at the Textile Museum.
Funding
Dumbarton Oaks will reserve participants’ accommodation in its on-site Guest House for one night (October 12) and will arrange for Friday lunch in the Refectory. Participants should book their own travel to Washington, to be reimbursed up to $600 upon submission of receipts.
Applications
Currently enrolled graduate students in good standing are eligible to apply. Dumbarton Oaks does not sponsor J1 visas for Study Day attendees. We encourage applicants from graduate programs in art history, archaeology, history, classics, religious studies, and other fields who might benefit from close engagement with our collections and from training in material culture approaches.
To apply, please submit a CV and cover letter with a brief summary of the candidate’s research interests, plans for future research, and an explanation of why attendance is important to the candidate’s intellectual and professional development. All materials should be submitted as one pdf to museum@doaks.org . Applications are due July 17, 2023.
6. ‘Muslim Minorities and Application of Islamic Law in Europe’
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 42/4, 2022
Asif Mohiuddin & Abd Hadi Bin Borham
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602004.2023.2191911
7. ‘Do discriminatory laws have societal origins? The diffusion of anti-Ahmadiyah regulations in Indonesia’
Politics and Religion, online 8.6.23
M Buehler
8. CFP: Arts of the Indian Ocean
Toronto, Canada
May 2-4, 2024
Conveners: Sarah Fee (Royal Ontario Museum) – Zulfikar Hirji (York
University) – Ruba Kana’an (University of Toronto)
Keynote Speakers: Iftikhar Dadi (Cornell University) – Stephen Murphy
(SOAS) –
Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor (Fiction Author, Kenya) – Samira Sheikh (Vanderbilt University)
Collaborators: Deepali Dewan (Royal Ontario Museum) – Kajri Jain (University of Toronto) – Pedro Machado (Indiana University) – Chantal Radimilahy (University of Antananarivo) – Fahmida Suleman (Royal Ontario
Museum) – Nancy Um (Getty Research Institute) – Richard Vokes (University of Western Australia) – Aga Khan Museum – Centre for South Asian Critical Humanities (University of Toronto Mississauga)
Conference Call for Papers
The ‘global turn’ in academia brings a renewed focus on the Indian Ocean and its diverse histories of mobilities and interactions. The ocean’s unique climatic systems of seasonal monsoon winds and currents and its geographic contours whose littoral shapes the shorelines of Africa, Asia, Australia, and Antarctica have over millennia facilitated and sustained movements of human and non-human animals, plants, minerals, things, and ideas.
The historical formation of the Indian Ocean’s ecologies, mobilities, and economies have been regular subjects of scholarly enquiry and research, and the focus of numerous publications, conferences, and workshops. By contrast, there has been limited attention on the study of the Indian Ocean’s distinctive materialities and artistic expressions, both past and the present, and their roles in forging connections between the region’s peoples and generating new visual and expressive cultures. Additionally, scholarship on the Indian Ocean’s material and artistic worlds is often siloed by disciplinary approach, medium of production, periodization, ethnicity, religious affiliation, nationalism, or geographical demarcation.
Arts of the Indian Ocean will bring together knowledge producers from diverse backgrounds and scholarly arenas to present and discuss research and work on the materialities and artistic expressions in the Indian Ocean world, across geographies — from eastern and southern Africa, through the Gulf and Red Sea to South and Southeast Asia and the south China Sea — as well as across temporalities — from antiquity up until the present-day. The conference aims to gather emerging and established researchers from the fields of archaeology, art history, history, architecture, museum studies, anthropology, visual studies, material culture, and fashion studies, as well as practicing artists from around the Indian Ocean region.
Arts of the Indian Ocean seeks to open up new questions on the multiple pasts, presents, and futures of the Indian Ocean through the examination of the creation, production, and circulation of material culture in a wide range of forms including the visual arts, portable objects, manuscripts and maps, ships and navigational instruments, landscape, architecture, and the built environment, textiles and dress, photography and film, as well as the digital and plastic arts.
We welcome the submission of individual papers presenting case-based object studies as well as full panel proposals that engage in one or more of the following topics: production, materials, circulation, reception, transformation, connectivity, exchange, encounter, mobility, fluidity, transmediality, pilgrimage, ecology, faith and the spiritual, intimacy, materiality, heritage, imaginaries, (dis)placement, marginialities, resistance, violence, collecting and collections, decolonization, futurity, or the sensory.
The conference will be held in a hybrid format (virtual and in-person) to facilitate the participation of colleagues from around the world. The in-person gathering will be held in Toronto, Canada. Travel scholarships may be available for graduate students and colleagues working in the Indian Ocean region. Selected papers will be included in an edited volume.
Submissions of Individual Paper Abstracts and Panel Proposals
Individual Paper Submissions should include:
• Name, affiliation, and contact information • Abstract of 200-300 words • 1 to 2 images (related to proposed paper) • 100-word author bio
Panel Proposal Submissions should include:
• Names, affiliations, and contact information of panel organizer and panelists • Panel title and abstract of 100 words • Abstract of 200-300 words for each paper • 1 to 2 images (related to each proposed panel paper) • 100-word bio for each panelist
Send all Submissions by email attachment in a single pdf to:
ArtsOfTheIndianOcean@gmail.com
Deadline for Submissions: September 15, 2023
Notification of accepted Abstracts and Panel Proposals: October 5, 2023
Send all inquiries to: ArtsOfTheIndianOcean@gmail.com
9. CIHA 2024 Congress call for Papers
The Call for papers for the 36th Congress of the Comité international d’histoire de l’art (CIHA) is open!
- Deadline :15 September 2023
- Over 90 sessions with chairs from all over the world!
The CIHA conference is open to researchers from all professional backgrounds in the broad field of art history. Proposals from young researchers are welcome.
Submissions should be written in English or French. Papers may be presented in either language.
Proposals must be submitted on the submission platform only: find the access below.
Papers will be presented in person in Lyon at the Centre de Congrès – Cité internationale, from 23 to 28 June 2024.
Speakers are responsible for their own registration, travel and accommodation fees.
We invite you to get in touch with your institutions of affiliation to find out how to finance your participation in the Congress. The organising committee is actively seeking support for the mobility of researchers. Please check regularly the the “Call for Grants” section of the website.
The 36th CIHA Congress Lyon 2024 will host more than 90 parallel sessions over the 4 days of conferences, from 23 to 28 June 2024.
To submit your proposal, consult the texts of the calls for papers below. An index of the names of the session chairs is included at the end of the document.
Download the list of calls for papers
The submission of your proposals is only possible on the submission platform: find the access below.
Submit your paper proposal
To find out more, download the submission procedures below and visit our FAQ page.
10. Hybrid Conference – STUDIES IN INDO-PERSIAN CULTURAL EXCHANGES AND THE POZZI COLLECTION, Museum of Art and History in Geneva – June 29
Since the beginning of the 20th century, Switzerland, particularly Geneva, has been home to artistic treasures that witness rich cultural exchanges between peoples and regions. Among these treasures is the exceptional Pozzi Collection of Persian paintings housed at the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire in Geneva. This collection represents one of the most significant collections of Persian paintings assembled by European private collectors during the 20th century. It was bequeathed by Jean Pozzi (1884-1967) the French Plenipotentiary Minister to the museum.
Transmission of knowledge and exchange of expertise are notably discernible in the Indo-Persian world, where languages, religions and cultural materials have been shared over several centuries. Art amateurs from Europe, fascinated by Indo-Persian and more generally by Islamicate arts and material cultures, assembled rich collections from the end of the 19th century. To what extent have these exchanges and fascination been reciprocal, and in which domains are they more perceptible today? Moreover, while gender studies have received ample attention in several subfields of global studies in art and literature, they have been overlooked in Indo-Persian studies.
This hybrid international colloquium aims to show the importance of these exchanges and to offer a critical dialogue to contribute to the understanding, knowledge, preservation and respect of material and immaterial heritage.
For Zoom registration: https://www.mahmah.ch/colloque-international
- June 17, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Iran at War, Interactions with the Modern World and the Struggle with Imperial Russia
M Behrooz,
Bloomsbury, 2023
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/iran-at-war-9780755637379/
2. 7th International Symposium on „Politics and Society in the Islamic World”, University of Lodz, Poland, 26-28 October 2023
We invite researchers from different disciplines: science, sociology, cultural studies, regional studies and who combine various disciplines. Presentations will analyze various parts of the Islamic world to explore domestic policies of the states inhabited by Muslims as well as foreign policies and international relations, and issues connected with the presence of Muslims in the West.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 July 2023.
Information: https://www.kbwipa.uni.lodz.pl/en/islamic-symposium/islamic-symposium-2023c
3. ISAR Ottoman Sciences Symposium Series IX: “Ethics in the Ottoman Empire: Scholars, Works, and Problems”, Istanbul Center for Research and Education (ISAR), 15-16 December 2023
The symposium aims to illuminate the works, sources, methods, tendencies, aims, and theories of individual scholars who dealt with ethics on one hand, and to illuminate the principles, various aspects, and stages of the contemplation on ethics in the Ottoman Empire on the other.
Deadline for abstracts: 25 June 2023. Information:
https://www.isar.org.tr/en/symposiums-workshops/ethics-in-the-ottoman-period/call-for-papers-13
4. Conference “Women and the History of State Building in Postcolonial African Countries”, Department of African Studies, University of Vienna, 6-7 June 2024
The conference aims to retrieve histories of African women’s contribution to the postcolonial politics of state building. Who were the women who vied for positions of power, how/why did they campaign, for which ideas? What did they achieve during their political mandates? What impact did they have? What are the methodo-logical challenges that emerge when writing these histories?
Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announce-ments/12874833/cfp-women-and-history-state-building-postcolonial-african
5. Two PhD Positions (3 Years) in the Research Project “Bibliotheca Arabica – Towards a New History of Arabic Literature”, Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig
Requirements: MA in Islamic Studies, Arabic philology or a related discipline; excellent knowledge of Arabic and preferably one other primary language of the Islamicate world; experience in working with Arabic manuscripts; proficiency in academic English as well as the ability to work with secondary literature in modern European languages as well as Arabic.
Deadline for applications: 31 July 2023.
Information: https://www.saw-leipzig.de/de/ausschreibungen/stellenausschreibungen
6. Faculty Position in Classical Ottoman History (1300-1700), Department of History, Bilkent University, Ankara
Preference will be given to those who can demonstrate excellence in research, publications and teaching. The Department of History particularly welcome applications from scholars who will enhance standing thematic and interdisciplinary strengths in the department. Candidates must have completed the Ph.D. by 1 September 2023.
Deadline for applications: 1 August 2023. Information: https://history.bilkent.edu.tr/job-opportunities/
7. Visiting Lecturer in Modern Hebrew and Middle East Studies, Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures (MESALC), University of Virginia
The successful applicant will have native or near-native fluency in Israeli Hebrew, experience in second-language pedagogy at the university level, and an active scholarly engagement with Israel and/or Palestine in its Middle Eastern context.
Deadline for applications: 3 July 2023. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2023/06/08/visiting-lecturer-in-modern-hebrew-middle-east-studies
8. Prizes of the “Syrian Studies Association” for an Outstanding Dissertation and an Article on Syria
In 2023, the SSA seeks submissions for the most outstanding dissertation published between July 1, 2022 and July 1, 2023, and the most outstanding article or book chapter published between July 1, 2022 and July 1, 2023.
Deadline for applications: 15 July 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/12875629/syrian-studies-association-call-2023-prize-submissions
9. MA in “Mediterranean Studies” 2023/2024, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of the Peloponnese, Corinth
The MA is designed to be a flexible and dynamic umbrella program that covers an array of pressing issues, such as: Conflict, security and nationalism in the Mediterranean; democratization and civil society; human rights and activism; inter-cultural dialogue; energy security and environmental challenges, etc.
Deadline for applications: 30 June 2023. Information: https://med.pedis.uop.gr/
10. Persian International Summer School, Center for Persian Studies, University of Belgrade, Serbia, 3-21 July 2023
Instructors: Native Persian-speaking university professors. – Levels: Beginners, Intermediate, Advanced. – Hours per week: 20 hours per week / 60 hours in total.
Information and registration: https://farsi.fil.bg.ac.rs/summer-school/
11. Fifth International Winter School on “Social Media, Surveillance and Societies of Control”, Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Doha, 6-11 January 2024 The Winter School will address the interaction between social media, surveillance, and control by governments and corporations and the vulnerability of popular culture to manipulation and control through social media. The School welcomes submissions from advanced PhD students and early career scholars special-ized in different social science and related computer science and engineering disciplines across the globe. Funding for travel expenses is available on a competitive basis. Deadline for applications extended to 8 July 2023. Information: https://www.dohainstitute.org/en/Events/winter-school-5th-round-2024/Pages/index.aspx
12. Articles for the “Syrian Studies Association Bulletin”
The Journal invites feature, news, and research article proposals, as well as book reviews, for its Fall 2023 issue, covering issues of contemporary or historic interest in Bilad al-Sham and modern Syria in the disciplines sociology, religion, journalism, history, anthropology, international relations, archeology, media studies, environmental studies, music / art studies, etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 August 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/12875628/cfp-syrian-studies-association-bulletin-fall-2023-issue
13. Articles Featuring Research on Istanbul’s Past and Present for the Journal “YILLIK: Annual of Istanbul Studies”
The journal is accepting submissions of original research articles, opinion pieces and visual essays (Meclis), book and exhibition reviews in Turkish or English, by researchers working on any period of the city through the lens of history, history of art and architecture, archaeology, sociology, anthropology, geography, urban planning, urban studies, and other related disciplines in humanities or social sciences.
Deadline for submissions: 20 June 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/8330/discussions/12741885/yillik-annual-istanbul-studies-5-2023-and-6-2024-call-papers
14. Research project RE-VISUALIZE ” “Gender in Islam in the Francophone Digital World.”
We are pleased to announce the launch of our website: Home | Re Visualize , as part of our research project on “Gender in Islam in the Francophone Digital World.”
(Women | Re Visualize , French version)
“Re-Visualize: Muslim Women Digital Empowerment” is a research project co-funded by the ERASMUS+ program of the European Union, and is carried out by a consortium consisting of the Université Saint Louis in Brussels, the University of Amsterdam, the University of Lorraine, the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, and the PLURIVERS’ELLES Studies and Training Association.
The project stems from the desire to create a dynamic of collaborative research and knowledge sharing between universities and associative structures, in other words, to combine scholarly perspectives with field expertise.
The website provides a detailed presentation of the project, its activities under “Re-Visualize,” and upcoming productions. It also includes information about the research team members and the university partners involved in the project.
Our goal is to establish an online platform to disseminate the results of our research, share reflections, and engage in debates with the academic community and stakeholders in the field of gender in Islam.
We are grateful to the European Commission for their financial support and to our university partners for their collaboration and commitment to this project.
Malika Hamidi
15. The University of Sydney (Australia) is opening up to 40 new positions for early career researchers (= less than 10 years since PhD or equivalent). The subject areas are Climate change, health, and sustainability–any discipline.
Full details here: https://www.sydney.edu.au/research/research-funding/research-fellowships/sydney-horizon-fellowships.html.
Research challenges
Climate change, health, and sustainability are three of our most pressing contemporary challenges. Drawing on and developing their disciplinary and multidisciplinary skills, Fellows will address these challenges and advance potential solutions. The latter may include the development of novel technologies, biomedical, legal, business, design, policy, and political instruments.
Fellows will be supported to join existing Centres and form new communities of practice across the schools and faculties of the University, working together to address the three grand challenges.
Eligibility
Applicants must:
- be less than ten years since the award of their PhD (or equivalent) at the closing date of the application, relative to opportunity,
- commit to working on the Fellowship from the agreed start date of the award,
- obtain and maintain the right to work in Australia,
- apply via the Sydney Horizon Fellowships application page – applications, including attachments and questionnaire responses will not be accepted via other methods.
Applicants will be asked to provide their ORCID iD (where available) in their application to assist with the assessment process.
The Sydney Horizon Fellowships are open to all disciplines. Applicants must propose research that addresses at least one of the challenges of climate change, health or sustainability.
Applications close 11:59pm on Wednesday 5 July 2023 AEST.
16. Recording of the 10th IDHN Conference is online!
Dear friends and colleagues,
The recording of our 9th IDHN Conference from May 30, 2023 is online: https://youtu.be/cTah_2hLmZ0.
It is also posted on our IDHN forum: https://idhn.org/forums/topic/9th-idhn-conference-recording/
We thank our presenters for their generosity in sharing their inspiring research with the IDH Network and look forward to seeing you at our upcoming 10th IDHN Conference in the fall of this year!
17. Persian Art in Qajar Period (Video: Exhibition in Armenia)
Exhibition at Matenadaran Museum, Yerevan (Armenia)
VIDEO:
- June 13, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Jameel Scholarships
The Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK is a leading academic institution for research and teaching about Islam and Muslims in Britain.
We have 1 International PhD Jameel Scholarship and 2 UK PhD Jameel Scholarships in British Muslim Studies available for suitably qualified students with an innovative and significant PhD proposal.
The PhD is based at the School of History, Archaeology and Religion and supervised by the Islam-UK Centre at Cardiff University.
We are seeking exceptional applicants with a First Class or high Upper Second Class Honours Degree or Masters’s Degree (or equivalent).
Research proposals are invited on topics that clearly align with the research interests and expertise of staff at the Islam-UK Centre. Proposals must demonstrate exceptional academic merit, potential and relevance to Muslims in the UK.
Relevant areas of research interest include:
- Islam and Public Life
- Islam in Prison and Rehabilitation
- Islam and the Media
- Muslim Religious Professionals including Chaplaincy and Imams
- Mental Health and Islam
- Pastoral Care and Pastoral Theology
- Imams and Religious Leadership
- Islamic Law in Britain
- Religious Authority, Revival Movements, Tradition, and Modernity in Britain
- Islam and Muslims in Wales, British Muslim History
- Socio-economic inequality amongst British Muslims
- Mixed methods research
- Muslim Women and Islam
The scholarship is funded by the Jameel Foundation.
How to apply
For further details on the scholarship and information on how to apply, please visit the PhD studentships and projects webpage.
The deadline for receipt of applications is 23:59 Monday 3 July 2023.
https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/centre-for-the-study-of-islam-in-the-uk/study/jameel-scholarships
2. Science Communication, Islam and Muslim Communities
A lecture on Muslim perceptions of science hosted by the Institute for STEMM in Culture and Society (ISTEMMiCS) and the Science and Technology Cluster in the Department of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Policy, University of Birmingham
29.6.23, 6.30 pm UK time.
While there have long been lively discussions about gender and racial inclusiveness in science communication, Muslims, one of the UK’s most marginalised populations, have largely been ignored. This is despite Muslims being a group whose members are often described as being especially resistant to science, with news media regularly claiming they stand in opposition to everything from evolution to COVID regulations.
In this public lecture, Stephen H. Jones will use a range of data to look at what British Muslims really think about science and at the question of whether, and how, science communicators should engage Muslim members of the public. Drawing on a new research project hosted at the University of Birmingham, ‘Science and British Muslim Religious Leadership’, the lecture will offer particular insight into Islamic authorities’ role in arguing for and against scientific theories and how they approach issues such as human origins, organ donation, and engaging with secular society.
This lecture is free to attend. Refreshments and snacks will be provided. You can register at the following link:
3. CHSTM working group on Medieval European Medical Manuscripts, Monday 12 June: Ayman Atat on Arabic manuscripts as witnesses of pharmaceutical knowledge
CHSTM working group on Medieval European Medical Manuscripts takes place next week, Monday, 12 June, 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm BST/11:00 am to 12:00 pm EDT. We are very pleased to welcome Dr Ayman Yasin Atat (Technical University of Braunschweig).
* Please note that we are meeting on a Monday rather than our usual Thursday slot! *
To join the working group and receive the Zoom link, visit
Ayman Yasin Atat (Technical University of Braunschweig), ‘Manuscripts as Storytellers. What Could Manuscripts as Witnesses of Pharmaceutical Knowledge Tell Us? A Case Study of Rawḍat al-ʿiṭr Manuscript’
4. Bloomsbury Webinar:
‘Presentism in Teaching History: A Live Webinar with Professional Historians’
26 June, 10 am ET/3pm UK time
The trend of presentism in history has caused sufficient controversy over the past year to garner mainstream media coverage in The Atlantic, The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and more.
Join six professional historians and go beyond the headlines to explore the trend of presentism in teaching history. Drawing on their teaching experience as well as their recent exclusive articles in the digital resource ‘Bloomsbury History: Theory & Method’, each historian will discuss their article in turn, including how its subject matter lends itself to presentism, before turning to a panel discussion with all six participants about the overall trend of presentism in teaching.
This event is chaired by Associate Professor Tyson Retz, who is a member of the editor team for ‘Bloomsbury History: Theory & Method’.
For more information and to register:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/9716850295599/WN_PEMb5t30Tpa20WkyzsLraw#/registration
For the texts to be discussed (free access), see:
https://www.bloomsburyhistorytheorymethod.com/featured-content
5. Doha Residence Program in Advanced Arabic & Social Studies
Spring Semester 2024
A limited number of merit-based tuition waiver and housing support
The Language Center at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI) is pleased to announce its Spring semester 2023-2024 Residence Program in Advanced Arabic Language and Social Studies.
The Program is a unique forum for academic and cultural exchange between the DI’s predominantly native Arabic- speaking graduate students and faculty (from across the Arab world) and their international non-native or heritage peers.
The Residence Program is offered for one semester on site in Doha. It meets the language, culture, and academic needs of advanced non-native and heritage graduate students who wish to strengthen their language and cultural skills, as well as prepare for specific challenges related to their academic areas of expertise. The Program is delivered entirely in Arabic and consists of a twin advanced language-training and academic components.
The language-training component prepares students to function professionally in Arabic and offers dedicated courses in language, translation, and content-based instruction. The program adapts to the academic needs of students as a base for linguistic and cultural acquisition, emphasizes productive and presentation skills, and develops higher levels of proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and translation.
The academic component gives fellows the opportunity to take advantage of the wide array of unique graduate-level courses the DI distinguished faculty teach in Arabic through its academic units: The School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the School of Public Administration and Development Economics. For more detailed information about the DI, please go to:
https://www.dohainstitute.edu.qa/EN/Pages/default.aspx
The Residence Program is an important part of the DI’s mission to establish, maintain, and nurture intellectual links and two-way dialogues between its students, faculty, and the international learning and research community. The DI aims to create an enduring legacy of intellectual innovation and education within the Arab world and beyond. It assumes and promotes the Arabic language as a tool of scientific inquiry, an official language in public discourse, and a primary language for teaching and research.
To Apply to the Doha Residence Program, click on the link below:
https://dilc.wufoo.com/forms/zvlz3kp0kd4036/
Semester Program Features:
- 6 credits of Intensive Arabic,
- A language partner,
- Option to audit graduate academic courses taught in Arabic if eligible,
- Option to have an academic partner,
- Access to the DI rich conferences, symposia, and guest lectures.
Admission Requirements:
- Advanced level in Arabic,
- Tuition fees: 9,000 QAR (approximately 2,250€ or 2,465$),
- Housing: 11,000 per semester (approximately 2,650€ or $3000).
Program Dates:
- Application Deadline: August 15, 2023
- Start of Classes: January 07, 2024
- End of Program: April 25, 2024
6. Zoom: SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry Memorial Lecture – The Sassanian Empire: A Fire That Was Extinguished
6.00pm, Tuesday 13 June 2023
This lecture is about the Sassanian Dynasty which ruled Persia for over 400 years and was a bulwark against the Roman Empire, which could never cross the Euphrates river because of the resistance put up by the Persians.
The lecture takes the audience through a series of remarkable Monarchs, some of whom ruled a vast empire with justice and sagacity. Zoroastrianism was the state religion for these 400-odd years, which was finally put out by the invading Arabs who imposed Islam on this great nation. Two earlier dynasties had ruled Persia for 200-odd years, and 400-odd years respectively.
To register:
7. Leighton House
Imagination Unbound: An Evening of Persian Poetry
7.00pm-8.30pm, Thursday 22 June 2023
Poetry is the art par excellence of Iran and the Persian speaking world. For more than a thousand years, poetry has enhanced and sustained the lives of Persian speakers, and for many centuries now, these rapturous expressions of love, longing, and acceptance of providence are enjoyed by Western audiences through translation.
Join Narguess Farzad, author and Senior Lecturer in Persian Studies, as she discusses how Persian poetry remains the unrivalled means of encapsulating experiences and emotions, memories, traumas, and delights. The evening will include a selection of classical and contemporary poetry, recited in Persian and in English translation, by British actor Matt Addis.
To attend:
https://leightonhouse.digitickets.co.uk/event-tickets/49169?catID=48518&
8. The British Museum
Luxury and power: Persia to Greece
04 May – 13 August 2023
Drawing on dazzling objects from Afghanistan to Greece, this exhibition moves beyond the ancient Greek spin to explore a more complex story about luxury as a political tool in the Middle East and southeast Europe from 550–30 BC. It explores how the royal Achaemenid court of Persia used precious objects as markers of authority, defining a style of luxury that resonated across the empire from Egypt to India. It considers how eastern luxuries were received in early democratic Athens, self-styled as Persia’s arch-enemy, and how they were adapted in innovative ways to make them socially and politically acceptable. Finally, it explores how Alexander the Great swept aside the Persian empire to usher in a new Hellenistic age in which eastern and western styles of luxury were fused as part of an increasingly interconnected world.
More information:
https://www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/luxury-and-power-persia-greece
9. Frontline Club
Screening +Q&A: Nazanin with Richard Ratcliffe
7.00pm-8.30pm, Thursday 06 July 2023
The behind-the-scenes account – part love story, part thriller – of how Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was thrown into a Tehran jail, and how her family battled to get her home.
Chaired by Ramirta Navai, an Emmy and Robert F. Kennedy award-winning British-Iranian journalist, documentary producer and author. She has reported from over forty countries and has a reputation for investigations and work in hostile environments.
Registration:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/screening-qa-nazanin-with-richard-ratcliffe-tickets-641440805717
10. ‘Current debates and emerging trends in the history of science in premodern Islamicate societies’
History of Science, 2023
N Fancy, et al.,
This roundtable brings together contributions from nine senior, mid-career and junior scholars who work on the history of science in pre-1800 Islamicate societies. The contributions reflect upon some of the challenges that have historically constrained the subfield, how they have sought to overcome them, and what they see as some of the more productive and fruitful turns the field has taken and/or should take in the future. A central trend in all contributions is how they seek to confront the combined weight of colonialism, Orientalism, and the teleological history of science that continues to haunt contemporary discussions in both academia and the general public with regards to science in pre-1800 Islamicate societies.
Without diminishing the pioneering achievements of the generations of historians who have preceded us, and upon whose work we continue to rely, this combined weight has tended a) to marginalize the study of occult sciences in Islamicate societies; b) to emphasize investigations of content from an etic perspective of how we got to the present, which is primarily seen as how the scientific content is connected to the rise of modern science in Europe; and c) to concomitantly marginalize the study of science in post-1200 Islamicate societies, particularly those with little to no connection to the rise of “Western” science. The contributions build upon conversations that took place among participants in December 2019 at a workshop at New York University (NYU), Abu Dhabi Institute in New York City, funded by a grant from NYU Abu Dhabi.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00732753231154690
11. Early Sciences 2023 Essay Prize
Early Science and Medicine and the Early Sciences Forum of the History of Science Society are joining together to run a prize competition for the best essay focusing on early science, medicine, technology, and other forms of natural knowledge across the globe before 1800. We especially welcome submissions from early career scholars. The author of the winning essay will receive a $200 award and the piece will be published as an article in Early Science and Medicine 29 (2024) subject to peer review; the committee will provide mentorship throughout the process. The winner will be strongly encouraged to attend the 2023 History of Science Society Conference meeting on November 9-12 in Portland, Oregon as the prize will be awarded at the Early Sciences Forum Meeting.
We invite you to submit unpublished essays between 8,000 and 15,000 words in English that are not under consideration at another journal. Please follow the ESM style guide and make sure that your paper has been anonymized. ESM publishes images in color and black-and-white; the author will handle permissions. Please submit essays by August 1, 2023 via this form (https://forms.gle/5bzAJigAaAruSRfQ9). For questions, please email earlysciencesforum@gmail.com.
12. Position: UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies Associate Director
Job Title: Associate Director, UNC Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies
Start date: Monday, August 7, 2023
Hours: 40 hours per week
Pay: $64,500 – 79,100
Mode: Hybrid, Monday-Friday 8-4:30, occasional evening/weekends
Apply online here – due Thursday, June 22
Position Description:
This position is located in the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies within the College of Arts and Sciences. The staff and programs of the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies work to provide the University and the people of North Carolina with a campus hub to promote an understanding of the Middle East through teaching, research, and community outreach, and to explore and promote cross-regional approaches to Middle East and Islamic studies, including sponsorship of a wide variety of activities that bring together interested faculty and students from a large number of academic disciplines. The Associate Director will be involved in all aspects of Middle East and Islamic studies program development, including management of the Center’s Title VI and Foreign Language and Area Studies award from the U.S. Department of Education while organizing and overseeing day-to-day center programs such as workshops, conferences, and lecture series. The Associate Director will also work closely with the Center’s Director, Outreach Manager, and Business Manager, as well as the Center’s partners at Duke University and Durham Tech.
Required Qualifications:
M.A. or Ph.D. in a Social Science or humanities field required, with academic background and experience in Middle East or Islamic Studies; candidates demonstrating comparable independent research productivity or comparable background in independent academic or instructional activities, will accept a relevant bachelor’s degree (or foreign degree equivalent) and 3 or more years of relevant experience in substitution. The candidate will have expert knowledge of Middle East or Islamic studies, well-developed communication skills, experience in writing and administering grants, and administrative experience.
Preferred Qualifications
At least two years of experience in a professional capacity in the field of international studies, such as teaching in a related field, budget management, program development, grant proposal, and/or research. Basic knowledge of at least one Middle Eastern language preferred
Apply online here – due Thursday, June 22
For questions about the position, please contact Claudia Yaghoobi yaghoobi@email.unc.edu
- June 10, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Conference “(Un)growing Into Generational Roles”, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 8-9 June 2023
The conference aims at understanding intergenerational relations as a key intersection where the transformation of family relations, social power relations, and translocal transformation processes can be observed. It brings together scholars from anthropology, sociology, and history presenting research extending across Euro-American, Middle Eastern, Central, South and Southeast Asian and other localities and migratory trajectories.
Information and registration: https://www.zmo.de/en/events/ungrowing-into-generational-roles
2. ONLINE Book Presentation “The Mosul Incident of 1909 – Its Sociopolitical, Judicial and Military Consequence” by Nurkan Sever (Pavia University), Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Ber-lin, 13 June 2023, 1:00 pm, CET
The banishment and murder of Sheikh Said Barzanji who was the family head of Sadaat al-Barzanjiyya as the most influential religious organization of region, created a critical threshold in the history of Mosul. As the urban shootout on January 5 turned into a provincial bloodshed, Kurdish Sayyids, tribes and religious orders consolidated and revolted against the Ottoman authorities.
Information and registration: https://www.zmo.de/en/events/the-mosul-incident-of-1909
3. ONLINE Webinar “The Arabic Documents from Early Islamic Khorasan” by Geoffrey Khan (Pro-fessor of Hebrew, University of Cambridge), University of Oxford, 15 June 2023, 5:00 pm UK Time
The speaker describes the Arabic documents from early Islamic Khurasan, which he published in 2007 and will discuss their importance for the understanding of the development of Arabic documentary culture. The corpus is datable to the 8th century AD. The documents exhibit innovations in formulae that appear in the Arabic papyri from Egypt several years later.
Information and registration: https://invisibleeast.web.ox.ac.uk/event/the-arabic-documents-from-early-islamic-khurasan
4. Conference “Anti-Feminism and Anti-Gender Politics in Authoritarian Regimes. The Role of the State, Religion, and Feminist Counter-Strategies in the Near and Middle East and Eastern Europe”, Herder-Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe, Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS), University Marburg, 21-23 June 2023
The purpose of this conference is to compare the anti-feminist politics of authoritarian regimes in the Near and Middle East and Eastern Europe. To that end, it brings together two strands of research – the study of anti-feminism and anti-gender politics and the study of authoritarian populism – and focus on two regions that have previously been under-researched from a comparative perspective.
Deadline for registration: 18 June 2023. Information and program:
5. ONLINE Webinar “The Village and the Archive: On Documents in Iranian Languages (11th-13th Century)” with Arezou Azad, University of Oxford, 20 July 2023, 5:00 pm UK Time
Dr Azad presents samples of documents in the Bamiyan Papers written in 11th to 13th century-Khurāsān (in today’s Afganistan), some of which are the oldest pieces of Perso-Arabic writing in the original in the world. We will see how this archive has been reconstructed, what sorts of documents are in it, and how closely they are aligned with prescriptions in administrative manuals (inshāʿ).
Information and registration: https://invisibleeast.web.ox.ac.uk/event/the-village-and-the-archive-on-documents-in-iranian-languages-11th-13th-century
6. ONLINE 52nd Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS): “Creating Islamic Spaces and Places”, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, Indiana University, Indianapolis, 19 October 2023
Papers are invited papers from professors and advanced Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences on the themes: The Quest for Muslim Spaces and Places in Travelogue Literature; How Migration and Trade Shape Muslim Experiences of Space & Place; African Muslims Experience of Slavery in the USA; Being an American Muslim Woman in the Workplace; American Muslims in the Public Sphere; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 16 June 2023. Information: https://naaims.org/52nd-annual-conference/
7. Workshop “The Urban and Local Dimensions of Political Violence in Syria and the Middle East”, SUR-Project and the Alliance of Civilizations Institute (MEDIT), Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul, 27-29 October 2023
The workshop seeks to understand how political violence becomes “urbanized” and transformed within cities in the Middle East. The organizers are hosting a workshop for postgraduate students and young scholars to present and develop their research using georeferenced datasets. The workshop will include training on mapping and visualization skills, provided by Beirut Urban Lab.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 July 2023. Information: https://sur-project.com/workshop
8. Mediterranean Seminar Fall 2023 Workshop on “Mediterranean Studies, Present & Future: The “California School” Twenty Years On”, UC Santa Cruz, 3-4 November 2023
Contributions are invited that reflect the depth and breadth of Mediterranean Studies and its approaches, whether applied to the Mediterranean itself or adjacent or comparable regions, from the earliest historical period up to today.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 August 2023. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-mediter-ranean-studies-present-future-med-sem-fall-2023-workshop-santa-cruz-34-november
9. Panel on “Muslims in America”, SAMLA 95 Conference, Atlanta, GA, 9-11 November 2023
This panel intends to examine the works of Muslim American poets, novelists, playwrights, jazz musicians, punks, hip hop artists, filmmakers, and visual artists. Papers are invited that explore the diverse compositions of Muslim American identities in cultural texts as they challenge and engage with the canonical codes and sociopolitical norms of national, theoretical, literary, and aesthetic spaces.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 June 2023. Information:
https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/12686252/muslims-america-panel-samla-95
10. Assistant Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies, Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (CTR) and Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES), Lund University
Qualifications: PhD or the corresponding research expertise that is of value in view of the subject matter of the post (Islamic Studies); ability to teach in English; research expertise and progression in Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern Studies; demonstrated ability to obtain external research grants; ability to carry out high-quality research on Islam in the contemporary Middle East ; ability to conduct research in at least one lan-guage of the contemporary Middle East.
Deadline for application: 17 August 2023.
Information: https://lu.varbi.com/en/what:job/jobID:616354/type:job/where:4/apply:1
11. New Research Program “Horn & Crescent. Connections, Mobility and Exchange between the Horn of Africa and the Middle East in the Middle Ages”
Le projet ERC HornEast a pour objectif de documenter les relations entre les sociétés chrétiennes de la Corne de l’Afrique (Éthiopie, Nubie) et leur environnement islamique aux échelles locale et régionale (Égypte, Palestine, péninsule Arabique), afin de mieux comprendre les modalités du processus d’islamisation à l’oeuvre dans la région au cours du millénaire médiéval (VIIe – XVe siècle).
Information: https://horneast.hypotheses.org/presentation-du-programme-2
12. “Schools” Comprising Reading Classes and Excursions for Turkish and German Students/Postdoctoral Researcher in the DAAD-Project “Aesthetic Approaches beteen the Early Christian, Byzantine and Early Islamic World”
This project aims to connect different disciplines and bring students from Turkey and Germany together through scientific and cultural dialogues. It is open to advanced BA and MA students, PhD candidates as well as Early Career Researchers of disciplines such as Art History, Byzantine Studies, Archaeology, Islamic Studies, Sociology, etc. The common language will be English; knowledge of Turkish would be advantageous.
Deadline for applications: 15 June 2023. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/12871505/call-student-applications-aesthetic-approaches-between-early
13. Health and health policies in the Mediterranean region [CALL FOR PAPERS]
This issue of Confluences aims to examine the state of health systems around the Mediterranean, in a com-parative perspective, as health issues will have to be placed in their political, economic and social context. It aims to gather contributions addressing different aspects of implemented policies and their impact, as well as the behavior and expectations of the populations, not to mention the situation and strategies of health professionals.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2023. Information:
https://iremmo.org/contribuer-a-la-revue/health-and-health-policies-in-the-mediterranean-region/
14. 18th Annual UMAA Conference 2023: Islam in America : Challenges, Opportunities and Advocacy
June 30 – July 2, 2023
https://www.umaamerica.com/?mc_cid=f793ae7313&mc_eid=745ddc2b63
15. The Islamic College (London)
Monthly Seminar: Islamic Medicine- the cases of Prayer and Hijama: Some Critical Considerations
A Talk by Professor John Mayberry
Thursday 22 June 2023
6 pm – 8 pm (London time)
Venue: The Islamic College London 133 High Road London NW10 2SW
Register to attend:
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/monthly-seminar-islamic-medicine/
16. Conference
The migration of objects between Islam and Christianity in the medieval and early modern Mediterranean: new uses, new meanings
June, 15-16 2023
University of Sarajevo – Faculty of Philosophy
Franje Račkog 1. 71000 Sarajevo – Bosnia and Herzegovina
Details:
17. La 9ème séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien” aura lieu le jeudi 15 juin 2023
17h à 19h, salle 3.15 à l’INALCO 65, rue des Grands-Moulins 75013 Paris
Pour cette séance, nous recevons Nina Soleymani Majd (Maître de conférence, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle) pour une conférence intitulée :
« Récits de voyageuses britanniques en pays bakhtiyāri (XIXe-XXe siècle) »
Résumé
Respectivement en 1890 et en 1927, Isabella Lucy Bird-Bishop puis Vita Sackville-West se rendirent en pays bakhtiyāri et en tirèrent des récits de facture fort différente, entre relation épistolaire scientifique, et voyage d’inspiration romantique.
Elles y rapportent leurs observations avec le tranquille sentiment de leur supériorité d’Européennes, laissant transparaître une adhésion au projet interventionniste anglais dans le pays qu’elles appellent encore la Perse à cette époque. Voilà comment il faut comprendre les constantes associations de « l’Occident » avec la « civilisation », au point que les deux termes sont souvent utilisés par elles comme de parfaits synonymes, et de l’autre côté l’assimilation de « l’Orient » à un ensemble de pays figés dans un passé immuable, et a fortiori incapables d’un progrès qui les ferait entrer dans la modernité attribuée à l’âge industriel. À cet égard, le nomadisme fait à première vue figure de preuve irréfutable de ce fossé qui sépare à leurs yeux Orient et Occident, en ce qu’il est le mode de vie le plus éloigné de l’idée qu’elles se font de la civilisation. Et pourtant, grâce à cette position qui le place à l’extrême opposé du spectre s’étendant de la civilisation à l’état de nature, le nomadisme est paradoxalement pour ces voyageuses la meilleure porte d’entrée vers la découverte d’un monde radicalement différent, dépouillée des vaines comparaisons entre habillement, architecture, ou encore système politique occidental et oriental. Ainsi naît l’opportunité d’une véritable ouverture à l’autre, opportunité dont elles se saisissent à des degrés divers, en fonction des contraintes littéraires ou scientifiques qu’elles se sont fixées.
Orientation bibliographique
- Isabella L. Bird-Bishop, Journeys in Persia and Kurdistan, Londres, John Murray, 1891, 2 vol. [Online]
- Laurence Chamlou, Mirages persans : Les récits de trois voyageuses au tournant du XXe siècle, Grenoble, UGA Éditions, 2022.
- Jean-Pierre Digard, Une Épopée tribale en Iran : Les Bakhtyâri, Paris, CNRS Éditions, 2015.
- Vita Sackville-West, Twelve Days : An account of a journey across the Bakhtiari Mountains in South-western Persia, Londres, Hogarth Press, 1928. [Oline] ; trad. fr. Une Aristocrate en Asie : Récit d’un voyage en pays bakhtyar, dans le sud-ouest de la Perse, trad. Isabelle Di Natale, Monaco, Éditions du Rocher, 2000 [rééd. Payot/Rivages 2006]. [Online]
Retrouvez les détails de cette séance et le programme complet du séminaire sur le site web du CeRMI : https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-de-recherche/societes-politiques-et-cultures-du-monde-iranien-2022-2023/
18. Elements and Environment in the Middle Ages: A Multidisciplinary Workshop
Belfast, Thursday 29 June 2023
Queen’s University Belfast
The Graduate School, ROOM TR6
Programme and to Register to attend online:
19. Winner of the Inaugural Mo Habib Translation Prize
The Department of Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures (MELC) is thrilled to announce the winner of the inaugural cycle of the Mo Habib Translation Prize in Persian Literature: Dr. Michelle Quay, for her translation of Reza Ghassemi’s novel Woodwind Harmony in the Nighttime (Hamnava’i-ye shabaneh-ye orkestr-e chubha). Dr. Quay and Mr. Ghassemi will be awarded $10,000 and $5,000 respectively while the novel will be published by Deep Vellum Publishing in 2025. The judges would like to recognize Hajar Hussaini for her translation of Khosraw Mani’s Death and Its Brother as an honorable mention.
The second cycle of the Mo Habib Translation Prize will be announced in September and will focus on Persian poetry.
More information at:
https://melc.washington.edu/news/2023/06/05/announcing-winner-inaugural-mo-habib-translation-prize
20. Persian lacquered bookbinding: A journey through its layers and conservation challenges, Mandana Barkeshli (Oxford) – June 27
Tuesday 27 June 2023
11–12pm
At the Weston Library, University of Oxford
Persian artisans are known for their contributions to the field of bookbinding, with the lacquered bookbinding technique being one of their notable breakthroughs. This intricate technique involves multiple layers, each with their own materials, methods, and motifs that have been used from the Safavid to Qajar periods.
Professor Barkeshli will delve into the details of each layer and explore the various treatments used during manufacture, as well as providing insight into the environmental enemies of the lacquered bookbinding.
Prof. Dr. Mandana Barkeshli is Head of Research and Post Graduate Studies of De Institute of Creative Arts and Design in UCSI in Malaysia and Principle Fellow at University of Melbourne. Her current research project is titled, ‘Paper Dyes Used in Persian Medieval Manuscripts: Creating a Materials Construction Digital Database’.
21. Hybrid conference “Empires of Language in Islamicate Eurasia” on June 9-10 at Simon Fraser University
Please join us at our hybrid conference at Simon Fraser University titled “Empires of Language in Islamicate Eurasia on June 9-10 (this Friday and Thursday.
Here is a link to the program with the zoom link through which both the paper presentations and Nile Green’s (UCLA) keynote address can be listened to.
https://events.sfu.ca/event/35260-empires-of-language-in-islamicate-eurasia
https://events.sfu.ca/event/35292-keynote-by-nile-green-from-but-to-buddha-the
- June 06, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Zoom: The British Institute of Persian Studies/The British Museum
‘Open Sesame: Ancient Persia and the Greek Imagination’
with James Fraser & Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
Tuesday, 13 June, 2023, 5pm UK time
For information and to register:
https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/ancient-persia-and-greek-imagination/
2. The Latin America and Caribbean Islamic Studies Newsletter
Vol. 3, no. 3 | Spring 2023
Available at:
https://www.lacisa.org/newsletter
3. BATA 2023 Conference: Registration and Provisional Programme
We are delighted to announce that registration for the 2023 BATA 3rd Annual International Conference, 6th – 7th July, University of Manchester, is now OPEN!
The Conference will feature a wide range of themes covering different aspects of Arabic language, culture and pedagogy, linguistics, literature and translation. The programme consists of over 58 papers delivered by over 60 presenters from 60 institutions in 23 countries, in addition to two eminent keynote speakers, Professor Hussain Al-Qarni, King Saud University, and Dr. Ruba Khamam, University of Leeds.
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME: A copy of the provisional programme can be found HERE.
REGISTRATION (conference in-person)
To attend the conference, please register at: bit.ly/3BZKTiu. In order for your paper to feature in the final conference programme, please register as soon as possible and no later than 5pm on Saturday 10th June.
For further information on the registration and the categories, please check BATA website. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to drop us a line at bata.conference.2023@outlook.com
4. Open Access articles on Ibn Batuta and medicine
- Tresso, Claudia Maria. “India’s Epidemics in the Riḥla of Ibn Baṭṭūṭa: Plague, Cholera or Lexical Muddle?,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, published online 29 May 2023, 1-30. doi:10.1017/S0041977X23000204, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bulletin-of-the-school-of-oriental-and-african-studies/article/indias-epidemics-in-the-rihla-of-ibn-battuta-plague-cholera-or-lexical-muddle/36992C41ABCF7658A275114DBE812AB7.
- Tresso, Claudia Maria. “Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s ‘Prayer of Damascus’: A Window on to Damascus in the Hell of the Black Death (Part One),” Kervan: International Journal of African and Asiatic Studies 25, no. 1 (2021), 131-161, https://www.ojs.unito.it/index.php/kervan/article/view/5785.
- Tresso, Claudia Maria. “Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s ‘Prayer of Damascus’: A Window on to Damascus in the Hell of the Black Death (Part Two),” Kervan: International Journal of African and Asiatic Studies 25, no. 2 (2021), 207-235, https://iris.unito.it/retrieve/e27ce433-e084-2581-e053-d805fe0acbaa/The%20Prayer%20of%20Damascus%2C%20Kervan%2025.2%2C%20207-235.pdf.
- Tresso, Claudia Maria. “A Two-year Journey under the Arrows of the Black Death: The Medieval Plague Pandemic in Ibn Baṭṭūṭa’s Travels,” Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 21 (2021), 137-189, https://journals.uio.no/JAIS/article/view/9292.
5. CALL FOR PAPERS AND PROPOSALS
XXIst Biennial Symposium of the American Council for Southern Asian Art (ACSAA)
April 4 – 7, 2024
We are happy to announce that the XXIst Biennial Symposium of the American Council for Southern Asian Art (ACSAA) will be held in Ann Arbor, MI. It will be hosted by the University of Michigan with generous support from the Department of the History of Art.
ACSAA symposia occur in alternating years and serve as opportunities to meet colleagues, reconnect with mentors and graduate school cohorts, and share one’s current research with the field. From senior scholars to graduate students, ACSAA symposia are one of the primary ways ACSAA members gather and support one another, develop ideas in a collegial environment, and participate in the ACSAA community.
This is a call for:
- Individual paper submissions
- Proposals for pre-formed panels
Individual papers and panels alike should reflect original and unpublished scholarship in the history of South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Himalayan art. All members are welcome to propose ideas for new papers or panels, even if they presented a paper or chaired a panel at ACSAA XX held in Georgia in 2022. To encourage a diversity of voices, an individual scholar’s participation in the symposium will be restricted to no more than two formal roles (e.g. as a speaker in one panel and as a chair/discussant of another panel).
All presenters, panel chairs, and discussants must be ACSAA members in good standing. To join or renew your ACSAA membership, please visit https//acsaa.us/membership/
The Organizing Committee welcomes proposals on a broad range of topics in our field. The Committee would especially like to encourage submissions informed by new archaeological research, ethnographic fieldwork, careful attention to primary textual sources, as well as those that are informed the study of race, caste, and Indigeneity, and by ecocriticism and materiality, irrespective of medium, region, and time period. Individual papers and/or panel proposals honoring the life and work of ACSAA’s founding members and the organization’s supporters, especially those who have passed away recently, are also welcome.
Individual paper proposals should include a title, abstract (250 words maximum), and one-page CV of the presenter. Pre-formed panel proposals should include a panel title and abstract (250 words maximum), individual paper titles and abstracts (each 250 words maximum), and a one-page CV for the panel chair and each presenter. Panels may include a minimum of three and a maximum of five speakers. Each panel will have an allocated time of ninety minutes.
Submit all materials and inquiries to: acsaa2024@gmail.com
A symposium website will be launched in the coming weeks and be updated periodically.
Individual Paper Proposals due: August 1, 2023
Pre-Formed Panel Proposals due: August 1, 2023
Final Selection Announcement: December 1, 2023
6. Scents of Religious Authority
https://www.alchemiesofscent.org/events/workshop-scents-of-religious-authority
At this workshop, we take a cross-cultural look at the scents of religious authority in sources from Ancient Egypt, Ancient Greece and Medieval Europe. We will read about and smell the scent of divinity and death as they pertain to religious figures and their claims to authority.
Guest Speaker: Joëlle Rollo-Koster, Rhode Island, “The Fragrance of Authority: Did Medieval Folks Smell Power? And Did Power Want to be Smelled?”
Abstract: “Growing from research undertaken for my latest book, The Great Western Schism, 1378-1417: Performing Legitimacy, Performing Unity (CUP, 2022) my new project emphasizes the sense of smell as a vehicle to inculcate political authority. While seeing, hearing, tasting, and touching are overly emphasized by the historiography, smell has not been fully considered. Looking at the ceremonials surrounding the granting of the Golden Rose, a precious object that the pope offered to the most ardent defensor of Christianity of his time, I will discuss how the rose taught its audience (via its aroma) how to recognize legitimate authority, and maybe how authorities “controlled” this smell to assert themselves.”
Hosted by Alchemies of Scent, Department for the Study of Ancient and Medieval Thought & Centre for Medieval Studies, Institute of Philosophy, Czech Academy of Sciences.
Programme
MONDAY 5 JUNE 2023
Location: Alchemies of Scent, FLU AVCR Husova 7, 110 00 Prague 1
10.00–10.30. Scent in the Egyptian Temple: Worshipping the Gods with Fragrance in the Daily Ritual (Heike Wilde)
10.40–11.10. “Death seems to me today like the fragrance of myrrh”: Scent and stench in the Egyptian realm of the dead (Diana Míčková)
11.20–11.50. Later Greek Medical Sources of Religious Scents (Sean Coughlin)
12.00–13.30. Lunch
(Note change of location)
*Location: Center for Medieval Studies, FLU AVCR Jilska 1, 110 00 Prague 1
14.00–16.00. The Fragrance of Authority: Did Medieval Folks Smell Power? And Did Power Want to be Smelled? (Joëlle Rollo-Koster)
18.00. Dinner
TUESDAY 6 JUNE 2023
Location: Alchemies of Scent, FLU AVCR Husova 7, 110 00 Prague 1
10.00–12.00. Smelling: rose, “musks,” balsam
12.00–13.30. Lunch
13.30–17.00. Blending and experiment
ONLINE (via Zoom)
Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/640737070827
Zoom link (direct): https://cesnet.zoom.us/j/98787379977?pwd=Yk9HSytrVFlULzAxVUczVjRFNERKQT09
Meeting ID: 987 8737 9977
Passcode: 253969
7. Prelude to a History of Naqḍ (Inconsistency and Untenable Entailment) in Islamicate Dialectics
Dr. Walter Edward Young,
Lecture, June 8 at 8:00 pm (Moroccan time) and 3:00 pm (Montreal time).
This lecture is the eighth in the second season of the series of lectures organized by Philosmus. (www.philosmus.org)
You can also follow the lecture on Philosmus’ page on Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/Philosmus
For a link to attend on line, email beahmedf@gmail.com
8. Call for papers
Symposium: The Mashrabiya Project, craft and architecture
Organizers: Museum for Art in Wood and the Center for Architecture + Design
Date: July 20–21, 2023
The mashrabiya is an iconic component of Islamic architecture. A scalable window lattice that facilitated ventilation while providing privacy and shade, the mashrabiya also brought ornament to severe building façades. Found across North Africa, West Asia, South Asia, and the islands of the Pacific, the mashrabiya can be made from lathe-turned or carved wood, stone, or cement.
Its porosity, material versatility, geometric patterning, and adaptability present unexplored opportunities for architecture. From Hassan Fathy, I. M. Pei, and Jean Nouvel in the twentieth century, to Farshid Moussavi, Zaha Hadid, and Senan Abdelqader in the twenty-first, architects and designers have studied this form for inspiration and found innovative ways to incorporate it.
What applications does the mashrabiya present for the future of architecture? Despite its power as a signifier for Islamic material culture, little material has been dedicated to the study of the mashrabiya. In this two-day symposium co-hosted by the Museum for Art in Wood and the Center for Architecture + Design, architects, designers, engineers, and makers are invited to discuss the potential of the mashrabiya on architecture that is sustainable, culturally meaningful, and supports the needs of our future spaces.
The Museum for Art in Wood seeks emerging scholars and practitioners to present during this symposium, held in conjunction with the Museum’s exhibition, The Mashrabiya Project. Selected papers will be awarded an honorarium.
Please email up to 250 words and a brief CV for consideration no later than June 15, 2023, to info@museumforartinwood.org ; subject line should read MASHRABIYA SYMPOSIUM.
9. ONLINE Webinar “Conflict and Consensus: Decision-Making and Leadership Selection in Cairo’s Guilds, Late Eighteenth / Early Nineteenth Centuries” with Pascale Ghazaleh (AUC), Historicity of Democracy Seminar, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 5 June 2023, 4:00 pm – 6:00 pm CET
The Ottoman courts of Egypt produced abundant documentation, which allows historians to trace some of the social dynamics that animated Cairo under Ottoman rule. The craft and trade groups of the Ottoman period appeared in court to resolve and register their disputes and agreements. The scholar looks at a specific type of document involving guilds, and examines its implications for what we know of decision-making, state intervention, and autonomy with regard to this social group.
Information and registration: https://www.zmo.de/en/events/deliberation-and-self-autonomy-in-ottoman-egypts-trade-and-crafts-community
- June 03, 2023
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment