Categories : Academic items
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Residency in Persian Lit. @ UW
The University of Washington recently concluded its week-long residency in Persian literature. Laura Catterson, Shahzoda Nazarova, and Asef Soltanzadeh took part in the inaugural cycle of the residency. Future cycles have not been announced.
Here is a brief write up with a few photos.
2. ONLINE 5th CARPO Research Forum: “Changing Patterns of Global Politics – The Middle East in a Multipolar World”, 27 November 2024, 15:00 – 18:00 CET The focus is on changes in global governance and the multipolar world, examining their implications for Middle Eastern actors. The discussions will highlight the evolving ties between the Middle East and regions of the so-called Global South, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa and Central Asia. Additionally, the forum will address Middle Eastern activities such as in conflict mediation, development cooperation, investment in sustainable technologies, energy diversification, etc. Information, programme and registration: https://carpo-bonn.org/en/5th-carpo-research-forum-changing-patterns-of-global-politics-the-middle-east-in-a-multipolar-world/
3. Colloque « Le Coran et le christianisme de l’Église d’Orient aux VIe et VIIe s. », MSH/EPHE Paris, 28-29 novembre 2024 Ces journées d’étude, se proposent de revisiter la question de l’arrière-plan chrétien du Coran, en examinant notam-ment les liens possibles entre la sphère d’influence de l’Eglised’Orient et le milieu coranique. Il s’agira notamment d’explorer comment cette institution religieuse, solidement implantée dans la péninsule Arabique depuis plusieurs siècles au moment de l’émergence de l’islam, a pu influencer le développement et la formation du texte coranique. Information et programme : https://lem-umr8584.cnrs.fr/IMG/pdf/coran_et_le_christianisme.pdf
4. Conference „The Authority of Silence. Constructing the Figure of the Salaf (7th – 15th Centuries)“, Études orientales & American University in Cairo, 2-3 May 2025 The conference will focus on the numerous areas where the Salaf are considered an authority: ḥadīṯ sciences, historical narrative, Quranic commentary, theology, law, spirituality… It will also look at the diversity of references to the first generations of Muslims, which are not confined to traditionalist circles. Deadline for abstracts: 15 January 2025. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2024/11/22/the-authority-of-silence.-constructing-the-figure-of-the-salaf-7th-15th-centuries
5. Symposium “Islamic and Jewish Law in the Modern Economy”, Villanova University, 5-6 May 2025 The symposium will explore the integration of pre-modern religious law and norms into the modern financial economy. Papers are welcome from a variety of disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to legal studies, inclu-ding law, sociology, anthropology, politics, and history, from scholars based in law schools and other academic departments. Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2025. Information: https://callingallpapers.law.uga.edu/2024-09-13_islamic_and_jewish_law_in_the_modern_economy
6. ONLINE Symposium “Survival, Resistance, Flourishing: Religion and Disability (Focus Islam)”, 17 May 2025 We welcome a wide variety of methodological and theoretical approaches including ethnography, historical, cultural, or textual analysis, personal narrative, and theological/philosophical investigation. Our aim is to move scholarship at the intersection of Religion and Disability forward. The essays emerging out of this symposium will be published in a Routledge volume on Religion and Disability. Deadline for abstracts: 1 January 2025. Information: heike.peckruhn@emu.edu
7. “15th Gulf Research Meeting”, Gulf Research Centre Cambridge (UK), 22-24 July 2025
The Gulf Research Meeting (GRM) offers a unique environment to explore matters of key importance to the Gulf region and provides a platform for discussion and dissemination of research in a wide variety of Gulf-related fields, including economic and financial issues, international relations, security, environment, energy and renewable ener-gy, as well as education, labour and social issues. Deadline for papers: 5 January 2025. Information: https://www.gulfresearchmeeting.net/
8. International Conference “Romance on the Nile: The Ancient Novel in Egypt – Egypt in the Ancient Novel”, Freie Universität Berlin, 10-12 September 2025 The aim of this conference is to bring together scholars from different disciplines (e.g., Egyptology, Biblical studies, Classics) who, in one way or another, deal with some facet of the phenomenon “the ancient novel in Egypt” or “Egypt in the ancient novel,” i.e., novelistic works produced by different cultures (Egyptians, Greeks, Jews) in Egypt and/or that transmit a literary concept of Egypt. Deadline for abstracts: 30 November 2024. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/group/announcements/20050401/call-papers-romance-nile-ancient-novel-egypt-egypt-ancient-novel
9. Doctoral Student in the Project “Economic Cosmology: Ethics, Sustainability, and the Nonhuman in the Muslim World (EcoCos)”, Lund University This project examines various empirical, religious, philosophical, and historical manifestations of economic and environmental thought as they were conceptualized across the Muslim world. Pre-modern approaches to economic teachings and the nonhuman environment have called into question colonial and postcolonial imaginative circuits and political formations, creating new forms of ethical engagement and analysis. Deadline for applications: 22 December 2024. Information: https://lu.varbi.com/what:job/jobID:773316/
10. Postdoctoral Research Associate in Middle East Studies (2 Years), Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University Candidates are invited from across the social sciences, who are conducting research related to the Middle East and North Africa and/or their diasporas on issues that can be understood in a comparative global context. The selection process is open with regard to nationality and geographic area of research. Scholars who have received their Ph.D.s within two years of the application deadline are eligible to apply. Deadline for applications: 5 December 2024. Information: https://cmes.watson.brown.edu/news/2024-10-31/alomran-postdoc
11. Postdoctoral Research Associate in Middle East Studies (2 Years), Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Brown University Candidates are invited from across the social sciences, who are conducting research related to the Middle East and North Africa and/or their diasporas on issues that can be understood in a comparative global context. The selection process is open with regard to nationality and geographic area of research. Scholars who have received their Ph.D.s within two years of the application deadline are eligible to apply. Deadline for applications: 5 December 2024. Information: https://cmes.watson.brown.edu/news/2024-10-31/alomran-postdoc
12. Winter School “Reading and Analysing Ottoman Manuscript Sources”, Institute for Mediterranean Studies/FORTH in Rethymno, Crete, 17-21 March 2025 MA students and junior researchers are invited to participate in an international winter school devoted to reading and analysing Ottoman manuscript sources, with a particular focus on archival documents in Ottoman Turkish and Arabic. The winter School is organised by Institute for Mediterranean Studies, University of Halle-Wittenberg, Ifpo, CETOBaC, IREMAM, University of Heidelberg, ASBÜ Ankara, Orient Institut Beirut and Rethmno. Deadline for applications: 15 December 2024. Information : https://www.ims.forth.gr/en/news-item/view?id=1753
13. Articles for “Hamsa: Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies” We welcome proposals offering original analysis on the broad subject of Judaic and Islamic studies and their inter-sections. Deadline for abstracts: 31 March 2025. Information: https://journals.openedition.org/hamsa/4762
14. Articles on “Islamic Philosophy and Thoughts” for a Special Issue of the Journal “The Maghreb Review” We welcome original contributions in English or French on “Islamic Philosophy and Thoughts” from the earliest times to the present day. For example; original articles that combine philosophy and sufism and modernity: al-Fârâbî, Avicenna; Averroès; al-Kindi; Mohamed Abed Al-Jabri and Taha Abderrahmane. Deadline for contributions: 28 February 2025. Information: https://www.maghrebreview.com/
15. Resource: “Lifeworlds in the Quran – عوالم†الحياة†في†القران†”– a Thoughtful and Contemporary Quran Interpretation in Podcast Form This channel bridges the gap between the lives of modern Muslims and the experiences of the earliest listeners of the sacred text in German, English and Arabic language. Information: https://www.youtube.com/@sohaybmohamedalbashar/videos
16. Resource: “The Crusades Regesta” – Searchable Database of Charters, Letters and Other Docu-ments Relating to the Latin Kingdoms of the Eastern Mediterranean (1098 –1291) The project is an international collaboration between experts on the crusades, crusader states and medieval Mediterranean which began over twenty years ago, instigated by eminent historian Prof. Jonathan Riley-Smith. To-day, supported by the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East, a team of prominent historians continues to add new entries to the database. Information: http://crusades-regesta.com/
17. Routledge International Handbook on Global Islam and Consumer Culture
edited by Francois Gauthier (Université de Fribourg) and Birgit Krawietz (Freie Universität Berlin).
18. Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg – 6 * three-year PhD Positions (65% / 3 years) / Freiburg, Germany
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68233
Closing date 31.12.24
19. 2nd Annual Islamic Art History Research Network Conference
December 5th (online) and December 6th (hybrid) 2024
University of York, King’s Manor [K/G07]
DAY 1: Thursday 5th (15:30-18:00 GMT) – Online
https://york-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/92526110780?pwd=3MbmbrTJWs1psnaeryDkajrwNMu7b6.1
Panel 1 (15:30-16:30)
Chandini Jaswal
Becoming ‘Maryam’: Mothering in the Early Mughal World
Parshati Dutta
Charity, Criticality, Cosmopolitanism, and Colonialism: Examining contradictions in Lady Hardinge’s Caravanserai
Panel 2 (16:30-18:00)
Khadijeh Bakhtiari
A Comparative Study of the Art of Manuscript Illumination in the Works of Quran Scribes from the Timurid and Safavid Eras
Filiz Tütüncü Çağlar
Reframing Time and the Past: The Ottoman Imperial Museum as a Temporal Agent
Ahmad Rafiei
Exploring the Judgement of Solomon in the Context of Sabk-i Hindi
DAY 2: Friday 6th (9:00-18:00 GMT) – K/G07, King’s Manor, York
https://york-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/94630268456?pwd=Men5fwO2zPV0rP3d89FAeT32CUI4HK.1
Panel 3 (9:10-10:30)
Michael Marx
Carbon Dating of Qurʾān Manuscripts as a Contribution to the Chronology of Script Styles
Marcus Milwright
Technical and Aesthetic Change in Early Islamic Woodwork
Zarifa Alikperova
A Reassessment of the Shrine of Rumi in Medieval Konya
Panel 4 (11:00-12:30)
Richard Piran McClary
Between Rum Seljuqs and Ottomans: Re-Examining Beylik Architecture in Anatolia
Leila Danesh
Re-Examining the Ilkhanid Stucco at Bastam
Ahmad Yengimolki
Symbolism, Inscription, and Artistic Fusion: Analysing a Mamluk Basin
Panel 5 (13:30-15:00)
Fahimeh Ghorbani
Crafting Virtue: The Fusion of Futuwwa and Material Culture in Safavid Iran with a Focus on Futuwwatnama-yi Chitsazan
Sukaina Husain
Writing in Crisis: Making Power and Shaping Language in the Sixteenth Century Mughal World
Lauren Winch
Traversing Persia and India: Transcultural Encounters in the John Rylands Shahnameh (MS 933)
KEYNOTE LECTURE (17:00-18:00 GMT)
Melanie Gibson
Making a ‘Moorish Cosy Corner’: Displaying Islamic Art in British Homes in the Late 19th Century
20. Call for Papers
Online Lecture Series Program Spring 2025
Islam and Antiquity: Islamic art and culture and the ancient world across Europe, Africa and Asia
Convened by Bethany Simpson and Jochen Sokoly (Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar)
This online lecture series explores how Muslims across diverse geographies and chronologies have engaged with the material legacies of ancient and pre-Islamic societies, from the beginning of the Islamic era to the present. We seek to examine the diverse ways in which Islamic communities, including scholars, and religious and political authorities, have valued and interacted with the material, visual, and ideological culture of past civilizations. The contributions will explore a range of issues, from the preservation and collection of antiquities to the complex dynamics of iconography and iconoclasm, the transfer of methods and ideas, providing a deeper understanding of how Muslims have understood and engaged with ancient legacies over time.
We welcome papers from scholars at all levels of their careers that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- The Role of Ancient and Pre-Islamic Artifacts in Islamic Thought: How have material and immaterial remains, and the memory of ancient civilizations been preserved, studied, and integrated into Islamic intellectual traditions, from early Islamic historiography to modern archaeology?
- Iconography and Material Culture in Muslim Contexts: How have images, symbols, and material objects from ancient and pre-Islamic societies been interpreted, appropriated, or rejected in Islamic visual culture? What role does ancient iconography play in the making of Islamic art and architecture?
- Framing of Islamic Identity in Relationship to Dimensions of Antiquity: How have ancient histories, sites, and artifacts served to define and construct Islamic identity and historical consciousness?
- Islamic Archaeology and Heritage Preservation: A critical examination of the practices of collecting, preserving, and interpreting ancient material culture in Muslim-majority regions. How have these practices shifted over time, and what tensions exist between conservation, commercialization, and cultural preservation?
- The Destruction and Appropriation of Antiquities: How have Islamic movements—whether political, theological, or cultural—confronted the issue of destroying or preserving pre-Islamic material heritage? How can destruction be the basis for the creation of new forms and ideas? What are the implications of iconoclastic acts for broader cultural and religious narratives?
- The Politics of Collections and Museums: How have collections of antiquities in Islamic contexts shaped the understanding of ancient civilizations? What role have Islamic rulers, scholars, and institutions played in the creation and display of such collections? What tensions arise in the global circulation of these objects?
- Materiality and the Sacred: The significance of material objects, from relics to monuments, in creating connections between the past and the present in Muslim societies. How do material objects function as mediators of memory, spirituality, and historical continuity?
“Islam and Antiquity” aims to provide a multifaceted view of how Muslims have interacted with the legacies of the ancient world—seeing them not only as historical artifacts but as active agents in shaping Islamic intellectual and cultural life. In addition to this Spring 2025 online lecture series, we hope to develop a more lasting community of colleagues, the beginning of a research group that will provide the opportunity for interaction on an ongoing basis and in a multidisciplinary environment. We hope to organize physical meetings beyond these online lectures where we can discuss the subject in more depth. We are also thinking of an edited volume to disseminate our findings.
Submission Guidelines:
- Abstracts (300-500 words) should be submitted by 15 January 2025.
- Presentations are expected to be delivered online twice a month between March and May 2025 with dates to be announced. Each paper should be 40 mins in length with 20-30 min for discussion.
- Abstracts and inquiries should be sent to islamicartandantiquity@gmail.com.
We look forward to your contributions to this important and timely exploration of the intersections between material culture, history, and identity in the Islamic world.
Contact Information
Dr. Jochen Sokoly, DPhil MPhil (Oxon) MA (London) FRAS
Associate Professor, Art and Architecture of the Islamic World, Department of Art History
Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar
PO Box 8095, Doha, Qatar
www.qatar.vcu.edu
jasokoly@vcu.edu | M +974 5570 9912
21. The Islamic College
Arabic Online Language Course
Tuesdays & Wednesdays 4 hours (2 sessions of 2 hours each week)
Fee: £220 (30% discount available for students (with valid ID), senior citizens (60+), and low-income art enthusiasts.
Starting from 10th December 2024
Registration Deadline: 5 December 2024
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/study-short-courses/learn-arabic/
- November 26, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.CfP: Oxford Middle East Review
for our upcoming issue, themed “Resistance”.
We are currently accepting submissions that reflect on the position of the MENA’s people, civil societies, organisations, and governments, within a broader context of hegemonic and subaltern powers, with a broad temporal theme (though typically the contemporary MENA world, from the mid-1800s onwards). Papers will be considered for the journal’s two sections: a policy section (shorter pieces up to 2,000 words in length) and a research section (in-depth articles from 7,500-10,000 words). We are also welcoming interest in individuals who would like to review some of the latest books on the MENA region, of which we have a selection. Students can enquire as to the book review at omerjournal@gmail.com, and can submit to editors@omerjournal.com.
Deadline for Submission: 3 January, 2025
Full Submission Guidelines: https://omerjournal.com/submit/
To submit, please email: submissions@omerjournal.com
For general queries, please email: editors@omerjournal.com
The Oxford Middle East Review (OMER), established in 2016 at St Antony’s College, Oxford, is a student-run, peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal for discussion and debate on issues relating to the Middle East and North Africa. Our goal is to create an engaging forum that links academic work with contemporary social and political issues. We seek to bring a sense of urgency and wider societal relevance to the work of Middle Eastern Studies’ students and researchers.
2. Intellect is pleased to present Journal of Arab & Muslim Media Research 17.2.
For more information about the journal and issue click here>>
https://www.intellectbooks.com/journal-of-arab-muslim-media-research
3. Fellowship – Library of Congress Short-term Fellowship program
Sacred Soundscapes:
Music, Poetry, and Aurality within
African and Middle Eastern Religious Cultures
Short-term Fellowship Opportunities
The African and Middle Eastern Division (AMED) of the Library of Congress invites applications for short-term postdoctoral and senior fellowships on the theme of sacred soundscapes, defined in the broadest terms. There is no limitation regarding the time period covered but projects must relate primarily to the Library’s African, Middle Eastern, Hebraic and Central Asian collections. Researchers are encouraged to propose projects that utilize new methodologies, interdisciplinary approaches, or comparative perspectives to explore religious culture manifested in sonic traditions. Topics may include but are not limited to sacred music, poetry, spoken word, chanting, performance, mysticism and spiritual practices.
The fellowships are part of the Enhancing Public Understanding of Religious Cultures initiative, which aims in part to support innovative scholarship of some of the most understudied and misunderstood parts of the world through the collections of the Library of Congress. Four fellowships will be awarded each year on different annual themes through a competitive selection process.
This program is made possible through the generous support of the Religion and Cultural Institutions Initiative at the Lilly Endowment.
Eligibility:
Fellowships will be offered to individuals with doctoral degrees in the humanities or social sciences. To qualify for a Senior Scholar Fellowship, candidates must have held a doctoral or equivalent degree for at least seven years and have a strong record of publication. For an Emerging Scholar fellowship, individuals can be up to seven years beyond their doctoral or equivalent degree.
Applicants who are not U.S. residents but who otherwise meet the above academic qualifications may also apply and be considered for a fellowship, contingent upon the applicant’s visa eligibility.
Stipend & Tenure:
All appointments must start in 2025. Senior scholars are eligible for a stipend of $5,000 for a minimum residency of two weeks.
Emerging postdoctoral scholars are eligible for a stipend of $7,000 for a minimum residency of one month.
Deadline:
All application materials must be submitted by 11:59PM EST on January 20, 2025, including 2 letters of recommendation. Successful applicants will be notified by March 15, 2025.
Application
To apply, please visit: https://www.loc.gov/research-centers/african-and-middle-eastern/about-this-research-center/fellowship-information/
For questions or clarifications, please write to Nadine Sfarjalani at African@loc.gov
Specialists in the African and Middle Eastern division are available to discuss questions about the collections. Contact them at: https://ask.loc.gov/africa-middle-east
4. ONLINE Webinar: ‘Making Music in Iran from the 15th to the Early 20th Century’
with Amir Hosein Pourjavady
British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 4 December, 2024, 5:00 pm UK Time
This presentation focuses on Music Making in Iran from the 15th to the Early 20th Century, recently published by Edinburgh University Press in association with Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilization and Aga Khan Music Programme. The book provides a comprehensive study of music in Iran spanning from the Timurid period in the fifteenth century to the end of the Qajar period in the early twentieth century. It delves into various aspects of music making during this era, including the centers of musical patronage, the roles of patrons, music theorists, and musical treatises.
The book is structured into two parts, each comprising three chapters. Part I explores the historical and social contexts of music in Iran, examining aspects such as the social organization of musicians and the influence of courtesan and concubine culture. Part II delves into music theories and practices, addressing topics such as modal entities, court repertoires, rhythmic structures, and the evolution of genres and forms of composition.
Moreover, the study promises to illuminate the historical connections between Persian music and neighboring regions, such as the Azeri mugam. It also introduces methodologies that could be applied to the study of other large-scale ordered repertoires in the Middle East and Central Asia, including the Iraqi maqām, Tajik-Uzbek shashmaqom, and the Uyghur on ikki muqam.
Information and registration:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_k6-_AdWKR0y_Zd9Jex4tDw#/registration
5. Applications Open for Spring 2025 in Kurdish and Critical Muslim Studies
Zahra Institute is delighted to announce the opening of applications for our M.A. and Certificate Programs in Kurdish Studies and Critical Muslim Studies. The deadline for applications for Spring semester is 15 December 2024. The online, two-year M.A. programs consist of 31 credits. We welcome full-time and part-time students.
The Master of Arts in Kurdish Studies is the first of its kind in the United States. Our courses offer insights into the lives and cultures of the Kurds, a Middle Eastern people living in Kurdistan and beyond, spread across the borders of several modern states and linguistic and cultural zones.
The M.A. Program provides excellent background preparation for a doctoral degree in any field related to the Middle East and for those interested in pursuing careers in media, government, and international organizations. Our liberal arts approach to Kurdish Studies is based on rigorous academic standards and strong commitment to scholarly freedom.
The Master of Arts in Critical Muslim Studies approaches Islam and Muslims in the context of lived experience and history. It takes Muslim life as its primary object of study and underlines the relevance of the humanities and social sciences, including sociology, anthropology, history, and comparative religion.
The M.A. Program provides a strong interdisciplinary understanding of diverse Muslim experiences in global terms. It equips students with critical knowledge and skills in demand for excellent service in politics, law, education, and public policy.
For the 2025 Spring semester courses, Zahra Institute offers the following: Kurds in the Middle East: History and Politics, Kurdish Intellectual Profiles: Ehmedê Xanî, Muslim Societies, and Kurmanji and Sorani Kurdish language courses, among others.
We also offer Kurdish language courses as electives in the M.A. programs, or as standalone courses. For application information, visit our website: www.zahrainstitute.org .
Zahra Institute, a research center and graduate school located in Chicago, intends to provide an open, collaborative environment for learning, teaching, and scholarship in the fields of Kurdish Studies and Critical Muslim Studies.
6. CALL FOR BOOK PROPOSALS; The IHF Modern Iran Series
I.B. Tauris, an imprint of Bloomsbury Academic, is seeking book proposals for a new Open Access peer reviewed academic book series: The IHF Modern Iran Series
The Iran Heritage Foundation (IHF) will support successful applicants with Open Access publication
To submit a proposal to the series, please contact Rory Gormley (rory.gormley@bloomsury.com ) and Hassan Hakimian (hh2@soas.ac.uk )
Deadline for submission of the first round of proposals is January 31 2025.
7. CfP: special issue in Middle East Critiqueon the conceptual confusion between ‘state’ and ‘regime’ in the scholarship on the modern MENA.
Information at:
8. CfP: Deadline 10 Jan 2025. Visual Arts in Arabic and Islamic Manuscripts
Fourth Abu Dhabi International Conference on Manuscripts
“Visual Arts in Arabic and Islamic Manuscripts: Artistic Heritage and Contemporary Influence.”
Wednesday 8 October – Tuesday 9 October, 2025
Location: Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, UAE
The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi is pleased to announce that it will host the Fourth Abu Dhabi International Conference on Manuscripts at The Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation in 2025. Organized in collaboration with McGill University in Canada, this conference invites scholars across several disciplines, including art history, Islamic and Arabic manuscripts studies, cultural preservation, and digital humanities, to engage with the theme “Visual Arts in Arabic and Islamic Manuscripts: Artistic Heritage and Contemporary Influence.”
Held in Abu Dhabi, this conference explores the aesthetic and cultural significance of Arabic and Islamic manuscripts, including their influence on contemporary art. We welcome papers that address the core themes listed below and related subjects aligned with the main theme. Proposals will be peer-reviewed, and accepted papers will be eligible for inclusion in a formally published volume of conference proceedings.
Conference Themes:
- Historical and Cultural Context of Visual Arts in Arabic and Islamic Manuscripts
Explore the evolution of visual arts across Islamic eras and the impact of Islamic art schools on manuscripts, examining the relationship between text and imagery. - East-West Cultural Exchange and its Impact on Visual Arts and Manuscripts
Analyse the mutual influences between East and West in Islamic manuscripts, tracing how they became instruments for cultural knowledge and exchange. - The Role of Visual Arts in Shaping Arabic and Islamic Manuscripts
Discuss distinctive visual arts such as calligraphy, illumination, miniatures, and examine their religious, cultural, and artistic value. - Artistic Excellence in Medical, Scientific, and Literary Manuscripts
Investigate creative elements in manuscripts across medical, astronomical, geographical, mathematical, and literary domains. - The Role of Digital Technology in Manuscript Preservation
Assess the importance of digital technology in the preservation of manuscripts and their artistic heritage, with a focus on digitisation, conservation, and archiving techniques. - Islamic Manuscripts in Contemporary Art and Future Directions
Examine how contemporary artists reinterpret Islamic manuscript art, integrating traditional elements into modern forms.
Important Dates:
- Abstract Submission Deadline: January 10th, 2025.
- Review of proposals by the Conference Committee: January 11 to February 2nd, 2025.
- Notification of Acceptance: February 3rd, 2025.
- Full Paper Submission Deadline: September 5th, 2025.
Submission Guidelines:
- Submit abstracts via conference submission form
- Abstracts should not exceed 500 words; full papers should be 4,000–6,000 words.
- Include an updated academic CV in Arabic or English.
- Papers must be original and unpublished.
- Ensure that submissions meet academic standards and offer scholarly value.
- Papers can be submitted in Arabic or English only.
Additional Notes:
- No registration fee.
- The Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi will issue visas for accepted participants.
- Travel and accommodation for one author per accepted paper.
- Breakfast, lunch, and coffee breaks provided for all invited participants.
- Both in-person and virtual participation options, with online streaming and recording.
For more details and inquiries, please contact: manuscript@dctabudhabi.ae
9. CFP for the 6th International Graduate Conference in Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies, ‘Shifting Fortunes in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages’.
The deadline for submissions is 21st February, and applicants will be notified by 7th March.
Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages Edinburgh’s Centre for Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies (CLAIBS) is pleased to announce the call for papers for the 6th International Graduate Conference in Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies, to take place on 24th-25th April, 2025, at the University of Edinburgh. We invite papers which approach the theme of ‘shifting fortunes’ in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, from a global perspective.
For more information: edibyzpg@ed.ac.uk
- November 23, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.University of California Los Angeles – Assistant Professor, History, Languages/Literary Traditions, and Religions of Ancient Iran
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68185
“To assure full consideration, applications should be submitted by December 15, 2024.”
2. The American of Research in Amman 2025–2026 Fellowships
Applications are open for the American Center of Research 2025–2026 Fellowship Cycle! The deadline to apply is February 15, 2025. ACOR offers fellowships for undergraduates, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers (of all levels). Some of these fellowships are residential at our center in Amman, while others are for field/independent research conducted in Jordan. For the current cycle, we are offering:
- Two or more two- to six-month fellowships for postdoctoral scholars and scholars with another terminal degree in their field, pursuing research or publication projects in the natural and social sciences, humanities, and associated disciplines relating to the Middle East. U.S. citizenship is required. Maximum award is $34,200. Awards must be used between June 1, 2025, and May 31, 2026, and fellows must reside at the American Center of Research. Funding for this fellowship is provided by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
- Two or more two- to six-month fellowships for master’s and doctoral students. Fields of study include all areas of the humanities and the natural and social sciences. Topics should contribute to scholarship in Middle East studies. U.S. citizenship required. Maximum award is $27,600. Awards must be used between June 1, 2025, and May 31, 2026, and fellows must reside at the American Center of Research. Funding for this fellowship is provided by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs
- Eleven or twelve Named fellowships for shorter research periods in Jordan, ranging from $500 to $3,000 each. Some of these fellowships provide the opportunity to reside and conduct research at the American Center!
- Four awards for Jordanian students, ranging from $1500 to $3000 each
- Two awards for Jordanian citizens to participate in international conferences
Applications should be submitted online at https://orcfellowships.smapply.org. Please direct any inquiries to fellowships@acorjordan.org. For further information, please visit our website: https://acorjordan.org/fellowships-2/
3. The ERC project Polymathy and Interdisciplinarity in Premodern Islamic Epistemic Cultures (KNOW) at Ghent University is looking to appoint one PhD student (4 years) and one postdoctoral researcher (3 years).
For details and instructions on how to apply:
PhD position: https://www.ugent.be/en/work/scientific/phd-student-37
Postdoc position: https://jobs.ugent.be/job/Ghent-Postdoctoral-Researcher-9000/807717802/
Project website: https://erc-know.ugent.be/en
Applications are due by 31 December 2024.
4. UCLA: Order and Disorder in the Ottoman Empire: A Book Roundtable
Co-sponsored by the Ibn Khaldun Chair in World History
Friday, November 22, 2024
12:30 PM PST
Bunche Hall 10383 & Online
To register:
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/16801
5. UCLA: Women’s Political Imagination in the Kurdish Movement
Co-sponsored Event
Thursday, November 21, 2024
12:30 PM – 1:45 PM PST
Online
To register:
- November 19, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – Academic Items
1.William Morris & Art from the Islamic World
9 November 2024 to 9 March 2025
The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London presents the first exhibition on the influence of art from the Islamic world on William Morris (1834-1896), one of Britain’s most important 19th-century designers and thinkers. A principal founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Morris was responsible for producing hundreds of patterns for wallpapers, furnishing fabrics, carpets and embroideries, helping to introduce a new aesthetic into British interiors. While it has long been acknowledged that Morris was inspired by Islamic art, this will be the first exhibition to explore this important aspect of his artistic journey in depth.
https://www.wmgallery.org.uk/event/william-morris-art-from-the-islamic-world/
The exhibition is accompanied by a new publication, Tulips and Peacocks: William Morris and Art from the Islamic World (Yale University Press).
William Morris & Art from the Islamic World is curated by Rowan Bain, principal curator of the William Morris Gallery, and Qaisra M. Khan, Curator of Islamic Art, The Khalili Collections.
2. Events with Shahzoda Samarqandi
The major Uzbekistan-born Tajik novelist Shahzoda Nazarova Samarqandi is on a US tour for the release of the English translation of Zamini Modaron/Zamin-e Mādarān, previously published in Tajik, in Arabic-script Persian, and in Russian, as Mothersland (trans. Shelley Fairweather-Vega). It’s a postcolonial gothic novella in which a girl, cast as her Soviet labor hero mother in a Russian-directed film about the ecological violence of the Uzbek cotton crop, loses her mind in the hall of mirrors of historical representation and reenactment. Zamin-e Mādarān is a dense, formally original work, and I highly recommend it.
Samarqandi is in Seattle now, with a book launch with Fairweather-Vega and UW’s Professor Aria Fani scheduled for tomorrow 7pm at Thirdplace Books.
Next Monday 11/18 in Washington DC, Prof. Erica Marat and George Mason University will host an event at 7pm at Busboys and Poets.
Next come two events at Yale, both of which will be accessible on Zoom. Tuesday 11/19 at noon, our MacMillan Center Writer in Residence, the brilliant Homeira Qaderi, will host a webinar conversation in Persian with Samarqandi (register here), continuing her speaker series that has previously included talks by Aliyeh Ataei, Prof. Fatemeh Shams, Mujib Mehrdad, and Reza Mohammadi.
Wednesday 11/20 at noon, Samarqandi will read from the English translation of the book, and discuss it with me and my colleague, Prof. Claire Roosien (you can attend in person at 320 York St, rm. 131, New Haven, or register online here).
3. ASPIRANTUM’s Persian language summer school will start on June 22, 2025, in Yerevan, Armenia.
45% BLACK FRIDAY DISCOUNT if students apply till November 30, here: https://aspirantum.com/courses/persian-language-summer-school
4. Muslim Materialities Lecture Series
University of Toronto
Department of Historical Studies
Timur Hammond
November 21, 2024
3–5pm EST
Fluid Geographies: Water, Mediation and Infrastructure in an Istanbul Shrine
As scholars of Islam know, water occupies a key devotional position for Muslims. This includes everything from sacred wells to fountains established through pious endowments to the provision of water for one’s ablutions. This talk, drawing on my recently published book, focuses on the fluid geographies built into the Istanbul mosque-shrine complex of Eyüp Sultan. Following water’s overlapping infrastructures and the debates and desires that surround water’s use, I offer one way to consider the broader geographies of Islam.
https://utoronto.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3Y3AI0TmTnSslzcSjIyGcQ#/registration
5. Call for papers for the international conference Badr – Writing and remembering the battle of Badr (7th-21st century)
Conference dates: 13-14 November 2025
Venue: University of Strasbourg, France
Organisers: Nourane Ben Azzouna (Unistra, Faculty of History, ARCHIMEDE), Anne-Sylvie Boisliveau (Unistra, Faculty of History, ARCHIMEDE), Adrien de Jarmy (Unistra, Faculty of Languages, GEO), Clarck Junior Membourou Moiméchème (Unistra, Faculty of Languages, GEO), Renaud Soler (Unistra, Faculty of Languages, GEO), Moussa Abou Ramadan (Unistra, Faculty of History, DRES) et Éric Vallet (Unistra, Faculty of Languages, GEO)
Conference funded by the French Institute of Islamology (IFI)
Summary of the project
The Battle of Badr (2/624), the first major victory of the Muslims led by Muḥammad and the only battle explicitly named in the Qur’an, is a key event in early Islam. Mentioned in Sura 3, verse 123, and associated with the exegesis of Sura 7 al-Anfāl (The Booty), the Battle of Badr has been the subject of numerous memorial constructions over the centuries. Used in various historical conflicts, it serves as a repertoire of actions and discourses in different contexts of confrontation. The BADR project aims to study the evolution of accounts of this battle and their use in Islamic societies, from their earliest traces in texts to their contemporary reinterpretations.
This project has led to the organisation of the ‘Islamology and Digital Humanities’ research seminar at the University of Strasbourg during the academic year 2024-2025. Led by Adrien de Jarmy and Clarck Junior Membourou Moiméchème, the first sessions of the seminar will be devoted to presenting the development of a TEI-XML database of texts relating to the Battle of Badr, as well as the creation of an encoding standard for ancient Arabic texts. The second part of the seminar will welcome international researchers who will discuss the impact of digital humanities on their work in Islamology. The full seminar programme is available at https://islamologie.unistra.fr/actualites/seminaire-de-recherche-islamologie-et-humanites-numeriques/.
The aim of the colloquium is to broaden reflection beyond the strictly technical aspects addressed in the seminar and within the restricted project team, to focus on the reception of accounts of the Battle of Badr up to the 21st century.
We particularly encourage contributions from researchers working on regions outside the Arab world, notably in the Turkic, Persian, Asian and African worlds.
Themes of the conference
- Development and transmission of accounts of the Battle of Badr
The study of the Battle of Badr begins with a detailed exploration of the way in which its narratives have been elaborated, transmitted and reworked over the centuries. This battle, often regarded as the first military triumph of the Muslim community under the leadership of Muḥammad, has given rise to a multitude of oral and written traditions. Researchers are invited to examine the anecdotes, poems, lists of combatants and other traditions, which have been integrated to form a coherent narrative. Analysis will focus on how these narratives were compiled in historical works and biographies of the Prophet (sīra, maghāzī). Particular attention will be paid to the integration of these traditions into different genres of Islamic scholarship, such as Qur’anic commentaries (tafsīr), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), prophetic traditions (ḥadīth), theology (kalām) and genealogy, in order to show how these traditions reinforce each other to legitimise various religious authorities, associating the event of Badr with a divine intervention in favour of the Prophet. Contributors are also invited to explore how these narratives have circulated throughout the different eras and regions of the Islamic world. Contributions may address the reception of the Badr narratives in various cultural and political contexts and analyse how they have been adapted to meet the needs and expectations of different Muslim communities.
- Badr in contemporary political and religious contexts
The Battle of Badr continues to resonate strongly in modern and contemporary Islamic history. Researchers are encouraged to examine the mutual influences between the Badr narratives and the socio-political contexts in which they have been reproduced, particularly in periods of religious conflict or reform, in order to show how the Battle of Badr has been used to legitimise or challenge the powers that be. This theme will look at the political and religious uses of Badr in the Ottoman era, in modern and contemporary contexts, as well as during the Iran-Iraq war, in propaganda and in various inter-state conflicts. Researchers are invited to explore how the memory of Badr is mobilised in current political discourse and practice, and how it is used to legitimise contemporary politico-religious causes. This theme will also address the way in which the Badr narratives are reinterpreted in the light of the current challenges facing Muslim societies, through the analysis of continuities and breaks with traditional interpretations.
- Materiality and visual culture of the Battle of Badr
The aim of this theme is to study the Battle of Badr through the various archaeological materials, epigraphy and iconographic supports, in order to verify the existence of a possible gap between the written sources and the existing material traces. Researchers will be invited to examine the contribution of these sciences, which shed new light on this high-profile event. The study of illuminated Ottoman and Persian manuscripts, such as the Siyar-i Nabī (1595) commissioned by Sultan Murad III and preserved in the library of the Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul, also offers a possible field of investigation, which would enable us to renew our knowledge of this famous confrontation. Analysing the illustrations of the Battle of Badr not only provides an opportunity to analyse the differences in treatment between the written word and the image, but also to see how different artistic traditions treated the event. In addition to printed works, the study of manuscripts should finally make it possible to highlight the many interactions between the account of Badr and its readers, materialised by the various notes they left in the margins of the chapters devoted to the battle.
Submission of proposals
Proposals should include a title, a 300-500 word abstract, a short biography of the author (200 words maximum) and full contact details. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to the following address: projetbadr2025@gmail.com before 15th March 2025. Papers may be presented in French, English or Arabic. Applicants will be informed of the acceptance of their proposal at the beginning of June. The proceedings of the conference will be published as a collective volume in 2026.
If you have any questions or require further information, please contact the project managers at the same address: projetbadr2025@gmail.com.
Contact Email
URL
https://islamologie.unistra.fr/actualites/appel-a-contributions-pour-le-colloqu…
6. Kurdish Women Through History, Culture and Resistance
Shahrzad Mojab
Mazda, 2024
http://www.mazdapublishers.com/book/kurdish-womenthrough-history
7. Colloque international « Sur les routes d’Arabie : itinéraires terrestres et maritimes » — IMA Paris, 12-14 décembre 2024
Le colloque international se propose d’étudier les routes de la péninsule Arabique, qu’elles soient terrestres ou maritimes, et les échanges qu’elles ont favorisés via l’archéologie, les sciences historiques, philologiques et religieuses mais aussi les sciences de la vie.
Information : https://iismm.hypotheses.org/106050
8. “4th International Conference on the Military History of the Mediterranean Sea” (Focus Turkey and Greece), Ibn Haldun University & University of Ioannina, Greece, 9-11 June 2025
This conference aims to offer a vertical history of war in the Mediterranean from the early Middle Ages to the Early Modern period (c. AD 1700), putting the emphasis on the changing face of several of war’s aspects and contexts over time. This is a collaboration between academics from Turkey and Greece that aspires to bring together scholars of military history and stimulate academic discussion in different aspects of the military history of the Mediterranean Sea.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 December 2024.
Information: https://hist.ihu.edu.tr/en/4th-international-conference-on-the-military-history-of-the-mediterranean-sea
9. 3rd Kurdish Studies Conference, London School of Economics, 11-12 June 2025
The conference welcomes paper submissions with social sciences and humanities disciplinary approaches to any aspect of Kurdish studies. These might include but are not limited to: history; political movements; social movements; gender; political representation; governance; displacement; anthropology; nationalism; ethnography, ecology, politi-cal economy; international relations; cultural studies; diaspora; security; and religion.
Deadline for abstracts: 21 November 2024.
Information: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/news/kurdish-studies-conference-2025
10. University Assistant Predoctoral in Turkish Studies (4 Years), University of Vienna
Qualification: MA or Diploma in Turkish Studies (Ottoman History and Culture) or a related discipline. – Interest in DH and Ottoman Studies, Armeno-Turkish Texts, Cultural Heritage, Environmental History. – Excellent knowledge of Turkish and knowledge of Ottoman Turkish. – Excellent command of written and spoken English (C1).
Deadline for application: 29 November 2024.
Information: https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job/University-assistant-predoctoral/1137021301/
11. Tenure-track Assistant Professor on the History of the Modern Middle East, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Requirements: A PhD in History, or a related field by the start date of the appointment. Candidates will be considered based on their scholarly research as well as strong potential for effective undergraduate and graduate teaching.
Deadline for applications: 25 November 2024. Information:
- November 16, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – Academic Items
1.HYBRID 15th Conference of the Asian Federation of Middle East Studies Associations (AFMA), Kyoto, Japan, 7-8 December 2024
Information and programme: https://www.james1985.org/uploads/files/AFMA15_2024_Program_1.pdf
2. Sixième édition du Congrès des études sur le Moyen-Orient et les mondes musulmans, Strasbourg, 24-27 juin 2025
Les ateliers pourront couvrir un ou plusieurs domaines des sciences humaines et sociales (anthropologie, archéolo-gie et histoire de l’art, droit, économie, géographie, histoire, islamologie et sciences religieuses, linguistique, littéra-ture, philosophie, sociologie, sciences politiques), dans une perspective globale ou régionale, en lien avec l’étude du Moyen-Orient et/ou du Maghreb, des mondes musulmans au sens large ou de l’islam dans le monde.
Les propositions doivent être soumises avant le 8 décembre 2024.
Information: https://momm-strasbourg.sciencesconf.org/?lang=fr
3. Postgraduate Symposium on “Muslims of the UK and Europe”, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge, 29-30 September 2025
Current Masters and PhD candidates to present their research on issues pertaining to Muslims of the UK and Eu-rope, from any discipline. Topics vary widely, from Sufism to Salafism, from charity to burial rites, religious travel to therapy, Islamophobia, deradicalisation initiatives and more. Accommodation will be provided and economy travel expenses will be reimbursed up to £300.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 January 2025. Information: https://www.cis.cam.ac.uk/call-for-papers/
4. Conference “59th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA)”, Washington, DC, 22-25 November 2025
Deadline for abstracts: 13 February 2025. Information: https://mesana.org/
5. 130 Fully-Funded, Four-Year Scholarships in the Doctoral Programmes in Economics, History and Civilisation, Law, Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute (EUI), San Domenico di Fiesole, Italy
Deadline for applications: 31 January 2025.
Information: https://www.eui.eu/en/services/academic-service/doctoral-programme
6. Online event: ‘Contemporising Islamic Art’ with eL Seed and Dr Zahra Kazani, Monday 18 November, 1pm GMT
You are warmly invited to a special online conversation this coming Monday celebrating UNESCO’s International Day of Islamic Art.
We are delighted to be welcoming French-Tunisian contemporary artist, el Seed, and art historian Dr Zahra Kazani (University of Cambridge) to discuss ‘Contemporising Islamic Art: Arabic Calligraphy Across Time’. The event will take place online via Zoom from 1pm-2pm GMT on Monday 18 November.
The event is free to attend but registration is essential. For further information and registration visit the Alwaleed Cultural Network website here: https://www.alwaleedculturalnetwork.org/en/events/contemporising-islamic-art/
7. We are inviting you to our 11th IDHN Conference on November 21, 2024.
We will hear five exciting presentations:
Rahmi Oruç: Introducing MunazaraGPT v.01
Fateme Najjarzadehgan: A Digital Exploration of Narrations on Women
Covadonga Baratech Soriano: Authorship attribution of a premodern Arabic work through stylo
Jehad Mohammed Oumer: Modeling Hadith Narrations Using Property Graphs
Yıldırım Leman: Decline and Science According to Kâtib Çelebi (1609 – 1657)
In order to attend the conference please register at: https://georgetown.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYucu2hrDkqGdf4jpuue6nP2-GEyvv8zdbm
- November 12, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
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Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence
Call for Papers
27 – 28 March 2025
Hochhauser Auditorium, V&A South Kensington, London
This conference is organised in conjunction with the V&A exhibition The Great Mughals: Art, Architecture and Opulence (9 November 2024 – 5 May 2025). This major exhibition celebrates the extraordinary creative output and internationalist culture of the ‘Golden Age’ of the Mughal Court (c. 1560–1660) during the reigns of its most famous emperors: Akbar, Jahangir and Shah Jahan. Continuing the V&A’s long history of fostering advanced research in the field of South Asian art history, this conference will provide an opportunity to share impactful, innovative and emerging research on Mughal art and design.
Participation in the two-day conference will be both in person at V&A South Kensington and online. Keynote speakers will include Rajeev Kinra, Associate Professor of South Asian history and comparative literature at Northwestern University, and Susan Stronge, Senior Curator in the Asia Department at the V&A and curator of The Great Mughals exhibition.
We welcome proposals from researchers at all stages of their careers, including academics, curators, conservators and scientists, especially those which respond to the Mughal collections of the V&A or place them in their wider context. We particularly welcome proposals from early career scholars. Topics of particular interest include:
• Mughal patronage and collecting
• Mughal workshops and regional production
• The impact of Iran on Mughal art and design
• Hindus at the Mughal court
• The Mughals and Europe
• Mughal architecture and gardens
• Technology, especially relating to Mughal warfare
• Museum practice in displaying, conserving, and interpreting Mughal collections
Conference papers will be 20 minutes each.
Proposals for papers, comprising a 250-word abstract and 150-word biography, should be
sent to greatmughals.conference@vam.ac.uk by Friday 6th December 2024.
Deadline: 6th December 2024
Notification to speakers: 20th December 2022
Please send all enquiries to greatmughals.conference@vam.ac.uk
2. CFP – “The image in Muslim religious contexts”, Congress of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies – deadline: December 8
Dear colleagues,
I am writing to share the CfP for a panel I am organizing at the 6th Congress of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies in France, Strasbourg, 24-27 June 2025. I hope you will consider submitting a proposal.
The CfP for the panel is below.
The full congress CfP can be found here: https://momm-strasbourg.sciencesconf.org/
To offer a paper:
- You need to provide your name and institutional affiliation (if any), a title and an abstract (up to 2000 characters) for a 20-minute paper.
- Please upload your paper proposal directly via this link: https://framaforms.org/proposition-de-contribution-individuelle-a-un-atelier-du-6e-congres-du-gis-momm-strasbourg-24-27
- Deadline for submissions: 8 December 2024
Contact Information : benazzouna@unistra.fr
CfP: The image in Muslim religious contexts
The “Bilderverbot“, the ban on images of living creatures in Islam, and its circumventions, have been the subject of constant debate for several centuries. As far as we know, the first traces of such debates, or more accurately accusations, date back to the Council of Nicaea II in 787. The first “Critical Dissertation” devoted to “this question, whether the figures of men and animals are banned in the Alcoran” was published in 1789 (Toderini 1789). There are still many publications on the topic today. These debates themselves have been the subject of historiographical analyses, for example by Christiane Gruber (Gruber 2019) or Finbarr Barry Flood (Flood 2022). The longevity and passionate nature of the discussion can be explained, among other things, by the fact that it is marked by the radical paradigms of incoherence and even contradiction. As Islam is generally considered to be “a fiercely trancendent and iconoclastic doctrine” (Moin 2015), the image is often confined to the limbo of anomaly, from “irregularity” (Toderini 1789) to “implausibility” (Papadopoulo 1976).
The aim of this workshop is to contribute to the debate precisely by reconsidering the supposed fundamental contradiction between the Muslim religion and the representational image, by crossing the testimony of Muslim normative texts and Islamic representational images. While the Qur’ān contains no passage comparable to the second commandment, it is the Ḥadīth, the Traditions of Prophet Muḥammad, and Muslim law that are considered the reference sources on the status of the representational image in Islam. Yet neither of these two corpora has yet been the subject of an in-depth study from this perspective. What might the “isnād-cum-matn” or “matn-cum-isnād” method (Motzki 2005; Natif 2019) contribute to our knowledge of the history of the status of the image in the traditionalist milieu? Similarly, what would a systematic analysis of the legal corpora, from fiqh manuals to collections of fatwās, reveal? And more importantly, how to evaluate the impact of the ulamāʾ on the conception and practice of the image and, more generally, of the visual arts in the Islamic world?
Cross-referencing textual and visual sources is also possible at the level of material culture. In fact, many Islamic works bear both texts and images in dialogue. While the text-image relationship is beginning to be studied in scientific and narrative illustrated manuscripts, this is not yet the case in other forms of material culture, from architecture to art objects. There are many cases where not only a text, but also a religious text such as an excerpt from the Qur’ān, a reference or an invocation to God, the Prophet or another holy figure, is displayed alongside an image. The best-known case is that of the coins predating the reforms of Umayyad caliph ʿAbd al-Malik in 77 H / 696-7, but many other examples can be cited. In this respect, pre-Islamic spolia reused in Muslim monuments deserve particular attention. For example, are there convergences between Byzantine capitals and reliefs incorporated into mosques such as al-Aqṣā or al-Azhar? How do Qurʾānic quotations and iconographic spolia interact in public buildings, from Seljuk Anatolia to Mamluk Egypt? How do Muslim texts and images created ex nihilo fit together in Andalusi and Fatimid textiles, Iranian and Iraqi inlaid metalworks or lustre tiles from Kashan…?
In attempting to address some of these questions, the contributions will take a fresh look at both well-known and lesser-known works, with particular attention to the relationship between religious texts and representational images. The aim is to move beyond the paradigm of anomaly towards an analysis of the image as a language in its own right in Islamic societies.
References cited :
Flood, Finbarr Barry, “Islam and image: Paradoxical histories», in Axel Langer (ed.), In the name of the image. Figurative representation in Islamic and Christian cultures, Berlin, 2022, p. 301-318.
Gruber, Christiane (ed.), The Image debate: Figural representation in Islam and across the world, Londres : Gingko, 2019.
Moin, A. Azfar, 2015, “Sovereign violence: Temple destruction in India and shrine desecration in Iran and Central Asia”, Comparative Studies in Society and History 57/2, pp. 467-496.
Motzki, Harald, 2005, “Dating Muslim Traditions: A survey”, Arabica 52/2, pp. 204-253.
Natif, Mika, 2019, “‘Painters will be punished’ – The politics of figural representation amongst the Umayyads”, in Gruber, Christiane (ed.), The Image debate: Figural representation in Islam and across the world, Londres : Gingko, 2019, pp. 33-45.
Papadopoulo, Alexandre, 1976, L’Islam et l’art musulman, Paris : Editions d’Art Lucien Mazenod.
Toderini, 1789, « Dissertation critique sur cette question, si les figures d’hommes et d’animaux sont défendues dans l’Alcoran », in De la littérature des Turcs, trad. de l’italien par M. l’abbé de Cournand, Paris : Poinçot, vol. 3, pp. 47-78 (le texte original est daté de 1785).
Key words
Art history, image, figurative representation, Islam, Muslim religion, religious space, text-image relationship
Contact Email
URL
https://momm-strasbourg.sciencesconf.org/
3. Persian cultural heritage in Bosnia and Herzegovina
SOAS Centre for Iranian Studies,
5.00pm, Monday 18 November 2024
Dr. Haverić will present the Bosniaks’ Literary Legacy in Persian, highlighting valuable manuscripts of Persian works preserved in libraries in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Her talk will explore the Influence of Persian Classics on the literary heritage of Bosniaks written in Persian, Turkish, and Arabic. Bosnian writers have drawn inspiration from prominent writers and poets of Arab, Turkish, and Persian literature, resulting in a significant body of works in these oriental languages. Her book, “Words of Persian Origin in Bosnian Language,” co-authored with Amela Šehović, contains a comprehensive list of 1,808 words of Persian origin
Registration is necessary.
4. SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Book Launch: Zoroastrianism in India and Iran by Alexandra Buhler
6.30pm, Thursday 21 November 2024
This book examines the cultural, religious, and political ties between the Zoroastrian communities of Iran and the Zoroastrian communities of India during the late Qajar and early Pahlavi periods.
A major theme is the increase in philanthropy directed to the Zoroastrians of Iran by the Parsis and the involvement of the British in encouraging Parsi feelings of patriotism towards Iran. Not only were Parsis affected by events taking place in Iran, they also contributed to the broader change in attitudes towards Zoroastrians in that country.
Registration is necessary.
5. SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Film screening: Derbent: What Persia Left Behind
7.00pm, Tuesday 26 November 2024
“Derbent: What Persia Left Behind” is a comprehensive documentary that explores the unique history and archaeology of this UNESCO World Heritage Site. The documentary features exclusive footage shot in Derbent just before the Russo-Ukrainian war, along with interviews with renowned scholars who illuminate the rich yet often overlooked history of the fortifications. Funded by the Persian Heritage Foundation and the Soudavar Memorial Foundation, the film also highlights the critical condition of the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) inscriptions found in the region, the northernmost of their kind in the world.
6. School of Arts, SOAS
2025 Yarshater Lectures in Persian Art
16 – 21 January 2025
This four-part series looks at both familiar and overlooked aspects of deluxe Persian manuscript production during the early modern period, roughly the fourteenth through seventeenth centuries.
Individual lecture topics include paintings as frontispieces and finispieces, the presence of page markers, manuscript illuminators and their graphic styles, and the image of the book in illustrated manuscripts. The overall aim is to explore some of the material and artistic features, forms and functions that shaped the making of Persian manuscripts in the past and that contribute to the continuing appeal of this celebrated tradition in the present.
The Yarshater Lectures in Persian Art at SOAS are sponsored by the Persian Heritage Foundation.
7. Inperson only: AKU-ISMC Studying State Muftis: The Case of Egypt,
Lecture by Professor Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen
4 December, 2024
London, 5.30
8. Call for Submissions to Oxford Middle East Review
OMER is currently accepting submissions that reflect on the position of the MENA’s people, civil societies, organisations, and governments, within a broader context of hegemonic and subaltern powers, with a broad temporal theme (though typically the contemporary MENA world, from the mid-1800s onwards).
Papers will be considered for the journal’s two sections: a policy section (shorter pieces up to 2,000 words in length) and a research section (in-depth articles from 7,500-10,000 words).
They are also welcoming interest in individuals who would like to review some of the latest books on the MENA region.
Students can enquire about the book review at omerjournal@gmail.com, and can submit to editors@omerjournal.com.
Further information about the theme and this call are in the attached document.
Deadline for Submissions: January 3, 2025
Full Submission Guidelines: https://omerjournal.com/submit/
To submit, please email: submissions@omerjournal.com
For general queries, please email: editors@omerjournal.com
9. Call for Papers: Muslims of the UK and Europe Postgraduate Symposium
Organised by the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies at the University of Cambridge
The Centre of Islamic Studies invites applications from current Masters and PhD candidates to present their research on issues pertaining to Muslims of the UK and Europe, from any discipline. This postgraduate symposium, taking place on 29th/30th September 2025 at the Moller Centre in Cambridge, will be a platform for students to present and exchange current research on any topic in this field in a dynamic forum. Papers should present, analyse or interpret research findings, data or material. Participants are expected to attend all sessions. Accommodation will be provided and economy travel expenses will be reimbursed up to £300.
To apply please submit a 500-word abstract, with curriculum vitae outlining current research interests, to admin@cis.cam.ac.uk by 15 January 2025.
Successful candidates will be notified at the start of March 2025 and invited to submit draft papers of no more than 3000 words by 1 Sept 2025.
Click here to read about the bi-annual ‘Muslims of the UK and Europe’ Postgraduate Symposium.
10. IQP Series of Meetings (15th):
Partners in Sacred History
(The Animals in the Qur’an and hadith and early Islamic history)
Prof. Sarra Tlili, University of Florida
Nov. 13, 2024
11:30 AM – 13:30 PM (UTC)
For Registration and to receive the meeting link, send your name and affiliate to:
11. The Making of Persianate Modernity: Language and
Literary History between Iran and India
A Jabbari
Cambridge University Press, 2023
https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-of-persianate-modernity/A796FA74ABF9B0B6FAE1C81F60D75891
12. ONLINE Conference “58th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA)”, 11-16 November 2024
Information, final programme and registration: https://mesana.org/pdf/MESA2024_Nov4_sm.pdf
13. ONLINE Lecture “Re-Imagining Jerusalem: The Ritual Recreation of Pilgrimage between Syria and Georgia” by Prof. Emma Loosley Leeming, University of Exeter, 15 November 2024, 6:00 pm CET
This lecture will introduce some of the ways that believers recreated the rituals of Jerusalem pilgrimage without leaving their hometowns and villages. It will introduce examples from Syria and Georgia in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and encourage future research in this widely under-studied area of ritual practice.
Information and registration:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vWTAIvvFQPiKXEjgPRFszA#/registration
14. PhD Fellowships in the Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies Program, University of Ghent
PhD candidates are invited for studies on: The history of Egypt, historical Syria, and the Ottoman Empire (focus on state formation, knowledge practices, historical consciousness, etc.). – The anthropology of the Middle East (focus on love, sexuality, materiality, identity, gender and modernity). – The analysis and preservation of source materials relevant to the study of epigraphy, historiography, and documents in various languages.
Deadline for applications: 1 December 2024.
Information: https://www.middleeast.ugent.be/en/research/research-fellowships/
15. Junior and Senior Postdoctoral Fellowships via the Research Foundation Flanders (3 Years) in the Arabic, Islamic, and Middle East Studies Program, University of Ghent
The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) funds postdoctoral fellowships at junior and senior levels for excep-tional researchers to pursue independent research projects for three years. If you are interested in pursuing one of these fellowships, please contact the professor in the program whose research interests most closely align with the project you would like to pursue.
Deadline for applications: 2 December 2024.
Information: https://www.middleeast.ugent.be/en/research/research-fellowships/
16. Lecturer or Assistant Teaching Professor of Arabic, Pennsylvania State University
Requirements include native or near-native fluency in English and Arabic, a Master’s degree or its equiva-lent in Arabic or a related field (Ph.D. preferred) by the appointment date, and relevant teaching experience. Candidates who have experience with communicative and standards-based methodologies, program-building experience such as supervision or curriculum development, etc.
Deadline for applications: 18 November 2024. Information: https://apptrkr.com/5740511
- November 09, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.BRAIS Prize 2024 Winner Annoucement + 2025 Call now open!
The British Association for Islamic Studies is delighted to announce that the winner of the 2024 BRAIS Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is:
Dr Raashid S. Goyal (Cornell University) for his thesis entitled ‘War and Law in the First Islamic Polity: Arabness, Emigration, and the Dhimma of God and His Messenger’.
Very many congratulations to Dr Goyal who has kindly provided an abstract of his thesis which you can read here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize/brais-prize-2024
We are also excited to announce that the 2025 BRAIS Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is now open for submissions. The submission deadline is 5pm GMT on Friday 24 January 2025. Full details about the submission process, including all rules and regulations, can be found here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize/brais-prise-2025-call-for-submissions
This international prize is awarded annually to one outstanding doctoral thesis. English-language submissions on any aspect of the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world, past and present, including Muslim-minority societies are accepted.
2. Zoom: Dr. Joanna Bocheńska will present, “Between Whisper and Revolution: Kurdish Heritage, Art and Literature”. 6.11.24.
Dr. Bocheńska is an Associate Professor and Director of the Section of Kurdish Studies at the Department of Iranian Studies at Jagiellonian University. Between 2020 to 2024, she was the principal investigator of two research projects entitled Citizens of the World: Modern Kurdish Literature and Heritagisation as a Means for Transforming and Revitalising the Kurdish Language and the Oral Tradition, and Activism and Its Moral and Cultural Foundation: Alternative Citizenship and Women’s Roles in Kurdistan and the Diaspora.
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Between Whisper and Revolution: Kurdish Heritage, Art and Literature
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧: 12:00 pm Central /1 pm Eastern, Wednesday, 6 November
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: Zoom, https://zoom.us/j/92336051781?pwd=OL4HZsu8SBexwIg46ezoEmfL4qynGW.1
See also: https://www.zahrainstitute.org/.
3. Postdoctoral Research Associate (Mapping Connections)
University of Exeter
The successful applicant will be part of the “Mapping Connections: China and Contemporary Development in the Middle East” project, funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and led by Professor Adam Hanieh at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies (IAIS).
Deadline | 7 November 2024
4. Call for Submissions | Colonial, Postcolonial and Decolonial Paper Prize for Early Career Scholars
Prize | British International Studies Association (BISA)
The prize is aimed at supporting CPD’s early career members in the development of peer-reviewed work, while at the same time carving out space in International Studies to engage with the question of empire and coloniality as fundamental to the discipline.
Deadline | 18 November 2024
5. Call for Papers | From Past and Present to Future: Finding a Positive Path between Ideals and Possibilities in Yemen
Workshop | LSE Middle East Centre
What does Yemen’s political, economic and social history and experience, since unification and before, tell us about what is realistic for the coming decade and beyond? This workshop will provide an opportunity to develop answers to this question through exploring topics within four main themes: peace, governance, economy and society.
Deadline | 2 December 2024
6. Inperson: “AFRICAN INTELLECTUALS IN MEDIEVAL ASIA: DEBATES AND CIRCULATIONS ACROSS THE INDIAN OCEAN”
Mahmood Kooria, University of Edinburgh
Silsila NYU Lecture, Wednesday, November 6th, 6:30pm-8:30pm
In person only, Room 222, 20 Cooper Square, NY 10003
Registration for all attendees is essential. Due to current university security restrictions those who have not pre-registered will not be admitted.
In accordance with university regulations, visitors must show a valid government-issued photo ID (children under 18 can provide non-government identification).
Please use the following link to rsvp as an in-person attendee:
https://forms.gle/9gLpFDsTZX8ZhexD7
For full details please visit the Silsila website:
7. Assistant Professor in Global Architecture and/or Urbanism Post 1700 CE
New York University: NYU – NY: Arts and Science (A&S): Art History
Deadline: Nov 29, 2024 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68101
The Department of Art History and its Urban Design and Architectural Studies program (URDS) at New York University seeks applications for a full-time, tenure-track, Assistant Professor in Global Architecture and/or Urbanism Post 1700 CE.
We hope to attract candidates who can contribute to our program’s interdisciplinary, analytic approach to urban design and architecture and our emphasis on student development. We invite applications from candidates working in any of the following geographical areas: Africa, Australasia, Central and South America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Asia.
We encourage applications from candidates with enthusiasm and proven success or demonstrated potential for research, teaching, student mentoring, and program development. Candidates should be prepared to teach four courses each academic year: three undergraduate courses in the Department of Art History, consisting of a mix of core curriculum courses, departmental surveys, advanced courses, and seminars in the candidate’s area(s) of expertise and research; and one graduate course at the Institute of Fine Arts. The candidate will supervise undergraduate independent studies and honors theses, and master’s and doctoral theses.
Candidates must have completed the Ph.D. by September 1, 2025. Successful candidates will demonstrate excellence in scholarship and teaching.
The appointment will begin on September 1, 2025, subject to budgetary and administrative approval.
Full details are available on Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/157032
8. British Institute of Persian Studies Hybrid Event:
‘Examining the origins of Iran’s political and cultural ties with Africa under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’
21 November 2024, 5:45PM UK time
with Robert Steele
BIPS AGM Lecture and Ann Lambton Lecture 2024
This talk explores the development of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s Africa policy in the final three decades of his reign, examining both geopolitical developments in the Middle East that compelled Iran to look to Africa, and the specific Iranian context.
To register for inperson/online:
https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/political-ties-with-africa/
9. Please join us in person or online for the symposium “Reinventing Islamic Architecture in the 20th and 21st Centuries,” hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 7-8 November, 2024
The symposium investigates the phenomenon of 20th- and 21st-century architecture making references to premodern Islamic monuments and built environments. The modern and contemporary resurrection or reinvention of “classical” Islamic form can serve diverse functions and contexts. It can proclaim connections to a glorious imperial past; craft new national identities through architectural revivals; recall a nostalgic homeland for diasporic communities; or even incorporate Orientalist tropes to convey luxurious consumption or cosmopolitan sophistication. Within the discipline of Islamic art history, scholars have debated the logical terminus for the field’s timeline, with traditional narratives ending before the rise of European colonialism. Recent studies have expanded the consideration of art and architecture beyond this limited framework, but scholars are only beginning to question how the forms and narratives of pre-colonial Islamic art history inform post-colonial architectural practice.
In this symposium, UW-Madison welcomes 11 scholars from the U.S. and abroad. The talks and papers are drawn from transnational, cross-cultural contexts and feature examples from a wide range of geographies such as the Middle East, North Africa, the Americas, Europe, and South Asia. The topics are wide ranging but are united in exploring how scholarly narratives of pre-colonial Islamic art history have shaped these kinds of projects. In doing so, we seek to offer new insights into the connection between modern/contemporary architecture and the historiography of Islamic art.
Online registration is here: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuceyorjkrH9C34sdOpVvx_qJI-VBNi1TC#/registration
10. Honoring the great Palestinian Female Commentator:
Nāʾila Hāshim Ṣabrī And her Qurʾanic Exegesis:
Tafsīr al-mubṣir li-nūr al-Qurʾan
Qom, University of Tehran, I.R.Iran
Nov. 27, 2024 – In person and Virtual
For Registration: info@zabanshenasitarikhi.ir
11. Upcoming online course, “Introduction to Early Judeo-Persian: Jewish Letters from Dandan Uiliq to the Cairo Genizah.”This 2-week course will introduce participants to Early Judeo-Persian (EJP), a formative variety of Early New Persian that offers valuable insights into the development of New Persian.
Course Details:
- Dates: December 9 – December 19
- Schedule: Monday to Thursday, with 2-hour sessions each day (including a short break)
- Format: Online, with interactive classes and time for discussion
Course Overview: The course will focus on selected EJP texts, including commercial letters, legal records, and religious arguments, providing a close view into historical development of Persian in its earlier stages, as it was used by Jewish communities in regions from Xinjiang to Egypt. Participants will learn to read the EJP script and orthographic conventions, while exploring the dialectal history of Early New Persian through these unique manuscripts.
For more details or to register, please follow the link: https://ferdowsi.org/introduction-to-early-judeo-persian/
12. Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la prochaineséance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien”, qui se tiendrale jeudi 14 novembre 2024, 17h-19h, en salle 4.15 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 4e étage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir M. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (EPHE-PSL, LEM), pour une conférence intitulée: “Poésie mystique persane et exercices spirituels“.
Résumé:
La poésie mystique de langue persane à l’âge classique (Xe-XVe siècle) se caractérise, on le sait, par l’extrême richesse de ses lexiques symboliques : de l’évocation de l’érotisme et des beautés de la nature à la beuverie, à la débauche et à l’immoralité. Le présent examen ne concerne pas ces technicités qui ont été, depuis longtemps, abondamment étudiées ; il s’attachera plutôt à recouvrer une couche de sens méconnue, cachée sous ces lexiques, qui a rapport avec les pratiques ascétiques et les exercices spirituels. Les allusions éparses dans la littérature mystique en prose ou les fables philosophiques symboliques permettent en effet de découvrir des grilles herméneutiques où « la brise du matin » peut désigner des exercices respiratoires matinaux, où « la rosée » peut évoquer la transpiration de l’ascète, et « les pétales de rose », les joues empourprées. De cette manière, chez le grand Ḥāfeẓ par exemple, une description lyrique de la nature ou la complainte du chagrin d’amour peuvent renvoyer, outre leur sens obvie exprimé dans un sublime langage poétique, à des pratiques mystiques spécifiques et à des expériences intérieures.
Orientations bibliographiques:
– Naṣrallāh Pūrjavādī, Zabān-e ḥāl dar ‘erfān va adabiyyāt-e fārsī, Téhéran, Hermes, 1385 solaire/2006.
– Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, « Chanter la douceur de la prière. De quelques aspects méconnus du vocabulaire technique de la poésie mystique persane », Journal des Savants, Janvier-Juin 2014, p. 121-141.
– Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, « Provocation, amour, liberté intérieure. De quelques aspects spirituels de l’islam iranien », Revue des Sciences Philosophiques et Théologiques 101.2 (avril-juin 2017), p. 187-200.
Pour rappel, vous retrouverez le programme 2024-2025 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien” sur le site du CeRMI :
13. Jobs: Georgetown University – American Druze Foundation Fellowship
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68135
University of Arizona – Assistant Professor of Persian and Iranian History
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68133
University of California Los Angeles – Call for Applications: Two Postdoc positions (early modern China and early modern Islamicate world) Ahmanson-Getty Core Program Fellowships, 2025–2026
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68123
- November 05, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.BRAIS Prize 2024 Winner Announcement + 2025 Call now open!
The British Association for Islamic Studies is delighted to announce that the winner of the 2024 BRAIS Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is:
Dr Raashid S. Goyal (Cornell University) for his thesis entitled ‘War and Law in the First Islamic Polity: Arabness, Emigration, and the Dhimma of God and His Messenger’.
Very many congratulations to Dr Goyal who has kindly provided an abstract of his thesis which you can read here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize/brais-prize-2024
We are also excited to announce that the 2025 BRAIS Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is now open for submissions. The submission deadline is 5pm GMT on Friday 24 January 2025. Full details about the submission process, including all rules and regulations, can be found here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize/brais-prise-2025-call-for-submissions
This international prize is awarded annually to one outstanding doctoral thesis. English-language submissions on any aspect of the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world, past and present, including Muslim-minority societies are accepted.
2. Zoom: Dr. Joanna Bocheńska will present, “Between Whisper and Revolution: Kurdish Heritage, Art and Literature”. 6.11.24.
Dr. Bocheńska is an Associate Professor and Director of the Section of Kurdish Studies at the Department of Iranian Studies at Jagiellonian University. Between 2020 to 2024, she was the principal investigator of two research projects entitled Citizens of the World: Modern Kurdish Literature and Heritagisation as a Means for Transforming and Revitalising the Kurdish Language and the Oral Tradition, and Activism and Its Moral and Cultural Foundation: Alternative Citizenship and Women’s Roles in Kurdistan and the Diaspora.
𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: Between Whisper and Revolution: Kurdish Heritage, Art and Literature
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧: 12:00 pm Central /1 pm Eastern, Wednesday, 6 November
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: Zoom, https://zoom.us/j/92336051781?pwd=OL4HZsu8SBexwIg46ezoEmfL4qynGW.1
See also: https://www.zahrainstitute.org/.
3. Postdoctoral Research Associate (Mapping Connections)
University of Exeter
The successful applicant will be part of the “Mapping Connections: China and Contemporary Development in the Middle East” project, funded by Carnegie Corporation of New York and led by Professor Adam Hanieh at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies (IAIS).
Deadline | 7 November 2024
4. Call for Submissions | Colonial, Postcolonial and Decolonial Paper Prize for Early Career Scholars
Prize | British International Studies Association (BISA)
The prize is aimed at supporting CPD’s early career members in the development of peer-reviewed work, while at the same time carving out space in International Studies to engage with the question of empire and coloniality as fundamental to the discipline.
Deadline | 18 November 2024
5. Call for Papers | From Past and Present to Future: Finding a Positive Path between Ideals and Possibilities in Yemen
Workshop | LSE Middle East Centre
What does Yemen’s political, economic and social history and experience, since unification and before, tell us about what is realistic for the coming decade and beyond? This workshop will provide an opportunity to develop answers to this question through exploring topics within four main themes: peace, governance, economy and society.
Deadline | 2 December 2024
6. Inperson: “AFRICAN INTELLECTUALS IN MEDIEVAL ASIA: DEBATES AND CIRCULATIONS ACROSS THE INDIAN OCEAN”
Mahmood Kooria, University of Edinburgh
Silsila NYU Lecture, Wednesday, November 6th, 6:30pm-8:30pm
In person only, Room 222, 20 Cooper Square, NY 10003
Registration for all attendees is essential. Due to current university security restrictions those who have not pre-registered will not be admitted.
In accordance with university regulations, visitors must show a valid government-issued photo ID (children under 18 can provide non-government identification).
Please use the following link to rsvp as an in-person attendee:
https://forms.gle/9gLpFDsTZX8ZhexD7
For full details please visit the Silsila website:
7. Assistant Professor in Global Architecture and/or Urbanism Post 1700 CE
New York University: NYU – NY: Arts and Science (A&S): Art History
Deadline: Nov 29, 2024 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=68101
The Department of Art History and its Urban Design and Architectural Studies program (URDS) at New York University seeks applications for a full-time, tenure-track, Assistant Professor in Global Architecture and/or Urbanism Post 1700 CE.
We hope to attract candidates who can contribute to our program’s interdisciplinary, analytic approach to urban design and architecture and our emphasis on student development. We invite applications from candidates working in any of the following geographical areas: Africa, Australasia, Central and South America and the Caribbean, Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, and West Asia.
We encourage applications from candidates with enthusiasm and proven success or demonstrated potential for research, teaching, student mentoring, and program development. Candidates should be prepared to teach four courses each academic year: three undergraduate courses in the Department of Art History, consisting of a mix of core curriculum courses, departmental surveys, advanced courses, and seminars in the candidate’s area(s) of expertise and research; and one graduate course at the Institute of Fine Arts. The candidate will supervise undergraduate independent studies and honors theses, and master’s and doctoral theses.
Candidates must have completed the Ph.D. by September 1, 2025. Successful candidates will demonstrate excellence in scholarship and teaching.
The appointment will begin on September 1, 2025, subject to budgetary and administrative approval.
Full details are available on Interfolio: https://apply.interfolio.com/157032
8. British Institute of Persian Studies Hybrid Event:
‘Examining the origins of Iran’s political and cultural ties with Africa under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’
21 November 2024, 5:45PM UK time
with Robert Steele
BIPS AGM Lecture and Ann Lambton Lecture 2024
This talk explores the development of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi’s Africa policy in the final three decades of his reign, examining both geopolitical developments in the Middle East that compelled Iran to look to Africa, and the specific Iranian context.
To register for inperson/online:
https://www.bips.ac.uk/event/political-ties-with-africa/
9. Please join us in person or online for the symposium “Reinventing Islamic Architecture in the 20th and 21st Centuries,” hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 7-8 November, 2024
The symposium investigates the phenomenon of 20th- and 21st-century architecture making references to premodern Islamic monuments and built environments. The modern and contemporary resurrection or reinvention of “classical” Islamic form can serve diverse functions and contexts. It can proclaim connections to a glorious imperial past; craft new national identities through architectural revivals; recall a nostalgic homeland for diasporic communities; or even incorporate Orientalist tropes to convey luxurious consumption or cosmopolitan sophistication. Within the discipline of Islamic art history, scholars have debated the logical terminus for the field’s timeline, with traditional narratives ending before the rise of European colonialism. Recent studies have expanded the consideration of art and architecture beyond this limited framework, but scholars are only beginning to question how the forms and narratives of pre-colonial Islamic art history inform post-colonial architectural practice.
In this symposium, UW-Madison welcomes 11 scholars from the U.S. and abroad. The talks and papers are drawn from transnational, cross-cultural contexts and feature examples from a wide range of geographies such as the Middle East, North Africa, the Americas, Europe, and South Asia. The topics are wide ranging but are united in exploring how scholarly narratives of pre-colonial Islamic art history have shaped these kinds of projects. In doing so, we seek to offer new insights into the connection between modern/contemporary architecture and the historiography of Islamic art.
Online registration is here: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUuceyorjkrH9C34sdOpVvx_qJI-VBNi1TC#/registration
10. HYBRID Lecture “Listening to the Qur’an” by Kristina Nelson (University of California), Centre d’études et de documentation économiques, juridiques et sociales (CEDEJ), Cairo, 3 November 2024, 10:30 am CET
Reciters of the Egyptian melodic tradition of recitation, mujawwad, aim to use their artistry to emotionally and spirit-ually engage listeners in the sonic experience, and they draw on elements of the Arabic music system. Islamic scholars are careful to eschew the term “music” in connection with the Qur’anic text precisely because the text itself is unique, sui generis.
Information and registration:
https://cedej-eg.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Music-and-sound-seminar-series-1-Kristina-Nelson.pdf
11. HYBRID Book Introduction “Why Islamists Go Green: Politics, Religion, and the Environment” by Dr Emmanuel Karagiannis, Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, King’s College London, 4 November 2024, 18:00 – 19:30 GMT
The environmental policies and approaches of Islamist groups have received scant scholarly attention. In the era of globalisation, however, more and more Islamists talk about planting trees, protecting water supplies, and reducing pollution. The presentation focuses on the emergence of Islamist environmentalism as a new phenomenon that requires a scientific investigation.
Information and registration: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/events/why-and-how-islamists-want-to-protect-the-environment
12. HYBRID Lecture “The Emirates’ Efforts to Promote Religious Tolerance, and Moderate Islam Within and Beyond the Middle East” by Dr Ali Al Nuaimi (Chairman of the International Steering Board of Hedayah, Doha), National University of Singapore, 7 November 2024, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm SGT
Information and registration:
https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2024/10/28/s-r-nathan-distinguished-lecture-2024
13. International Conference “Perspectives on the Development of Islamic Law: Philosophy of Law & Islamic Medical Ethics”, Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 8. – 9. November 2024
Information and programme:
14. Conference “Metempsychosis in Islam II: Community Constructions”, Aix-Marseille Université, 14-16 November 2024
Programme and abstracts:
https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2024/10/2024-11-14_16_LIVRET-METEMPSYCOSE-LAUSANNE-AIX-vl.pdf (pages 21-31)
15. University Assistant Predoctoral in Turkish Studies (4 Years), University of Vienna
Qualification: MA or Diploma in Turkish Studies (Ottoman History and Culture) or a related discipline. – Interest in DH and Ottoman Studies, Armeno-Turkish Texts, Cultural Heritage, Environmental History. – Excellent knowledge of Turkish and knowledge of Ottoman Turkish. – Excellent command of written and spoken English (C1).
Deadline for application: 29 November 2024.
Information: https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job/University-assistant-predoctoral/1137021301/
16. Lecturer or Assistant Teaching Professor of Arabic, Pennsylvania State University
Requirements include native or near-native fluency in English and Arabic, a Master’s degree or its equivalent in Arabic or a related field (Ph.D. preferred) by the appointment date, and relevant teaching experience. Candidates who have experience with communicative and standards-based methodologies, program-building experience such as supervision or curriculum development, etc.
Deadline for application: 18 November 2024. Information: https://apptrkr.com/5740511
- November 02, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.ONLINE Presentation “ARSHEEF: Getting Closer to Libraries and Archives” by Athena Pfeiffer and Mathias Ghyoot, Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University, 8 November 2024, 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm EST
ARSHEEF is a collaborative project and a website that makes available up-to-date guides to libraries and archives across North Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus, and South Asia, as well as digital options for those who cannot travel. We will also discuss political and practical problems associated with research in these regions.
Information and registration:
https://theias.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYtf-ytqzMoGtJpFRoDJDB5oxMigAbcCHCe#/registration
2. Colloque international « Liberté et féminisme dans la pensée arabe des XIXe et XXe siècles. Avancées et blocages », Université Paris Nanterre, 14 novembre 2024, 9h00 – 17h30 CET
Information et programme : https://iismm.hypotheses.org/108756
3. Symposium “Braudel’s La Méditerranée (1949): Paradigms and Possibilities after 75 Years”, Stanford University, 15-16 November 2024
Information and program:
https://cmems.stanford.edu/sites/cmems/files/media/file/braudel-symposium-program-15-oct-2024.pdf
4. ITS-Colloquium “Islamic Feminism – Exploring Boundaries and Embracing Possibilities”, Frankfurt am Main, 22-23 November 2024
The workshop explores Islamic feminism as one of the most discussed intellectual movements in the Islamic world, examining its diversity and reflecting on its boundaries and theoretical potential for further development. Speakers: Sedigheh Vasmaghi (Tehran), Ravza Altuntaş Çakır (Istanbul), Randa Aboubakr (Cairo), Marzieh Bakhshizadeh (Reutlingen), Aicha Barkaoui (Casablanca), Clara Bauer (Freiburg), Kata Moser (Göt-tingen), and Mansooreh Khalilizand (Freiburg).
Deadline for registration: 10 November 2024.
Information and program: https://aiwg.de/colloquium_islamic_feminism/
5. Assistant Professor of Medieval Jewish Literature and Thought in the Islamic World, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
Applicants must have a strong command of medieval Hebrew and Arabic and be versed in the philology, aesthetics, and history of both languages and literary traditions. Knowledge of additional relevant languages (Aramaic, Persian, Latin) will be considered an asset.
Deadline for applications: 25 November 2024. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/157195
6. Saturday, 2 November, 12:00 p.m. ET: Teaching Persian Grammar through Literature: Bringing Language to Life in Persian Second Language Classrooms
The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies
in collaboration with the
Department of Middle Eastern Studies and the
Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago
jointly present:
Teaching Persian Grammar through Literature: Bringing Language to Life in Persian Second Language Classrooms
Azita H. Taleghani, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream, University of Toronto
Saturday, 2 November 2024, 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time (Canada and US)
Zoom Meeting Registration:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEvdO2qpjMuGNwq5LZUoaVQ1W2expF2RC-0
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Abstract:
The term grammar has been interpreted as a set of arbitrary rules about fixed structures in language such as verb paradigms and rules about linguistic forms. Grammar is unquestionably much more than this. As Batstone (1994) states, grammar is a broad and diverse phenomenon that characterizes three interdependent dimensions: form, meaning, and use. Teaching grammar is significantly essential for second or foreign language learning. Its main purpose is to help students carry out either verbal or written communicative tasks. This paper explores the use of literature in teaching grammar in second-language classrooms in general and Persian second-language classes in particular. After a brief discussion of various theories and methods of teaching grammar, the benefits, and challenges of using different genres of literature in Persian second-language classes will be examined by answering the following questions: Why are literary texts useful for teaching grammar in Persian second-language classes? What kind of literary texts should be selected and how to use them in Persian second language grammar classes?
7. Online Event at Cambridge:
Fri 1 Nov, 1:00pm – 2:00pm UK time
Istanbul in the 16th Century An Online Specialist Art Short Course
(Convened by Chiara De Nicolais)
8. AKU-ISMC: ‘The Rise of Islam in a Multicultural Setting’ Lecture by Professor Ilkka Lindstedt
London, 20.11.24, 5.30 pm UK time
Inperson only.
Registration required:
9. CfA: International Summer School Towards Inclusive Global Histories
Organized by the European Network in Universal and Global History (ENIUGH) in collaboration with Global Diplomacy Network (GDN), Linnaeus University Center for Concurrences in Colonial and Postcolonial Studies (LNUC), and the Asian Center, University of the Philippines.
The Summer School
Archives and Voices have become much-debated aspects of recent research in global history. Under the overall theme of “Towards Inclusive Global Histories” the summer school aims to further discussion, self-reflection, and the exploration of new avenues in global history. We aim to explore alternative ways of practicing global history and to meet the challenges of connectivity bias, Eurocentrism, Anglophone dominance, and lack of attention to gender perspectives and Indigenous methodologies. In recent years, decoloniality as a research practice and method has raised further questions regarding the situatedness of knowledge and the role of local sources in global history. At the same time, a current nationalist backlash in many countries has led to calls for a return to national history, thereby challenging the fundamental premises of global history.
The summer school will focus on three novel research fields within global history: Global Diplomacy, gender, and environmental questions. By framing approaches that emphasize different voices and alternative archives in terms of “global histories” in the plural, we aim to promote the inclusion of a broad range of voices, perspectives, and orientations within the field, while forcefully rejecting the possibility of insisting on a single, dominating story or grand narrative of global history. The summer school will offer plenary sessions by leading experts in the field and allow for hands-on methodological conversations among all participating scholars. Early career scholars will be encouraged to reflect on key methodological questions along the lines of the summer school themes with scholars from around the world.
We invite contributions consisting of projects based on original research and empirically grounded PhD thesis work in progress. We encourage theoretical, methodological, ethical, and historiographical reflections on how to make global history more inclusive. Although the main language of the summer school will be English, individual presentations and panels in other languages can be accommodated.
In particular, we welcome contributions (individual papers) tailored to one (or more) of the following themes:
- Indigenous, subaltern, gender, LGBTQ+, non-human, and minority studies
- Expanding the global archive along and against digitization
- Diplomatic practices, languages, and concepts of Interpolity Relation, c. 1400-1900
- Global History and Decoloniality
- National history, nationalist backlash, and identity politics
- Global Environmental History
- Nordic Colonialism
With these themes in mind, the European Network in Universal and Global History (ENIUGH) is happy to announce its summer school in partnership with the Global Diplomacy Network and the Concurrences Centre for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies to be held at Växjö, Sweden, on 7-9 September 2025. Early career scholars (PhD students, postdocs, and assistant professors) are invited to present on-going research exploring relations, transfers, and entanglements between actors or groups of actors located in, or spanning, different regions of the world allowing for comparative and longue durée conversations. The summer school provides the perfect platform to kick-start a week of intense discussions that will culminate in the 8th European Congress on World and Global History (10-12 September 2025).
The Application Process
The Call is open to Ph.D. students and early career scholars from history and related disciplines, who work in the interdisciplinary field of writing connected, entangled, or comparative histories that incorporate transnational or transregional perspectives or challenge the confines of national and Eurocentric historiographies.
The language of presentations will be English but papers in other languages are also accepted. Participants are expected to present a paper of 3000–4000 words in length as the basis for discussion with the whole group; the papers will be circulated among the participants beforehand.
On the final day, participants are invited to pitch their research to the audience of the ENIUGH congress, marking the end of summer school and the opening of the ENIUGH congress.
The Summer School will cover the participation fees of early career scholars from the Global South, who may not have access to institutional funding. Travel grants will be considered awarded to outstanding applicants based on availability and individual needs.
Applications should contain:
- a CV
- a summary/exposé of the dissertation
- an abstract of your planned paper
- your contact data and institutional affiliation.
Please send your applications electronically as ONE PDF DOCUMENT to Christoph Gümmer: christoph.gummer@uni-leipzig.de and headquarters@eniugh.org. The last day of submission is 31st January 2025.
10. Hybrid: Book Launch: Governance and Islam in East Africa 7 November 17:30 GMT
Join the Governance Programme of the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisation (AKU-SMC) in a celebration of the publication of Governance and Islam in East Africa: Muslims and the State in Kenya and Tanzania edited by Farouk Topan, Kai Kresse, Erin E. Stiles and Hassan Mwakimako. Focusing on relations between Muslims and the State in post-Independence Kenya and Tanzania, the book brings together scholarship from both the Global North and Global South. Professor Michael Jennings will engage the book’s editors in a discussion that examines this complex topic through the three lenses of politics, institutions and the law.
The book has been published Open-Access, so please download your free copy HERE.
7 November 2024
17:30
Aga Khan Centre, 10 Handyside St, London N1C 4D
REGISTER NOW TO ATTEND IN PERSON OR ONLINE
Further details are provided in the image below or click here.
- October 29, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Centre de Recherche sur le Monde Iranien (CNRS, Sorbonne nouvelle, Inalco, EPHE-PSL) is pleased to announce the
Ehsan and Latifeh Yarshater Distinguished Lectures in Iranian Studies in Paris
(XIe Conférences d’études iraniennes Ehsan et Latifeh Yarshater)
To be held on November 18, 20, 26, and December 2 and 9, 2024
at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA)
2 rue Vivienne 75002 Paris, Auditorium Jacqueline Lichtenstein
Our speaker, Dr. David Durand-Guédy (Universität Hamburg) will deliver five lectures (in French) on the theme:
Une histoire de l’espace à l’époque des premières dynasties turques et mongoles
Further information at: https://cermi.cnrs.fr/evenements-periodiques-du-cermi/conferences-detudes-iraniennes-ehsan-et-latifeh-yarshater/
Since 2001, the Centre de Recherche sur le Monde Iranien is the recipient of an endowment provided through the Persian Heritage Foundation for a biennial lecture series in Iranian Studies – the Ehsan and Latifeh Yarshater Distinguished Lectures in Iranian Studies in Paris.
Information regarding past lectures can be found here:
2. UCLA : ‘Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State’
Historiography of the Middle East Lecture Series
Tuesday, October 29, 2024
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM PST
UCLA Bunche Hall 10383
3. The Supreme Wisdom Lessons
A Scripture of American Islam
Michael Muhammad Knight,
University of Central Florida, 2024
series: Comparative Islamic Studies
For more information and to order at 25% off quoting the code RELIGION visit the book page:
https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/supreme-wisdom-lessons/
Part of our Equinox Religion Library Islamic Studies Collection:
https://equinoxreligionlibrary.com/projects/islamic-studies-collection
4. Writing People’s Histories: Sanaa Alimia / Asim Qureshi / Fatima Rajina
Join the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations for an evening of conversation as the journalist and presenter Malia Bouattia discusses with Sanaa Alimia, Asim Qureshi and Fatima Rajina how their books are woven together through the writing of people’s histories and rendering visible racialised, purposefully marginalised and often dehumanised subjects.
1 November 2024, 17:30
Aga Khan Centre, 10 Handyside St, London N1C 4D
REGISTER NOW TO ATTEND IN PERSON OR ONLINE
Further details are provided here.
5. The MBRN and Cardiff’s Islam in UK Centre are organising a conference about conversion to Islam, see below and attachment. The deadline for the CfP is 31 October.
Do you study conversion or work with converts? We’re looking forward to welcoming you to the next Muslims in Britain Research Network and Islam UK Centre conference on the impact of Muslim Converts in Britain.
The Islam-UK Centre, Cardiff University & MBRN (Muslims in Britain Research Network) invite submissions for academic papers and professional contributions to a one-day conference about Muslim converts in Europe. This interdisciplinary conference is open to academic scholars, non-academic professionals and practitioners, and members of religious communities.
We will showcase contemporary research and practice in relation to Muslim converts in Britain, and identify topics for future research and practice by addressing the following questions:
- What impact have British Muslim converts had on Muslim communities and wider British society?
- What resources do British Muslim converts use to create progress and change in their own lives, and more widely?
- What are the challenges and needs faced by British Muslim converts in the contemporary context, and how can research help to identify and address these?
Find further information on submission criteria here:
https://mbrn.org/upcoming-events/
6. AKU-ISMC’s new Centre for the Languages of the Muslim World is delighted to offer this short course as part of its Professional Development series. Arabic Transliteration for Academics, Publishers and Librariansis aimed at professionals, scholars and students who work with Arabic text and would like to acquire knowledge of transliteration systems and gain or improve their practical transliteration skills under the guidance of experienced tutors.
The course is a 5-hour practical workshop-style course taught in two highly interactive sessions. Both sessions incorporate tailored feedback from the tutors.
In session I, participants will learn about transliteration and transcription, the various conventions and scholarly traditions, linguistic issues, contextual needs, and specific problems of Arabic-to-roman rendering; participants will learn and practise contextually appropriate practical transliteration, with tailored feedback from the tutors. Session II will comprise a “problem clinic” workshop focused on short, sample texts chosen by each participant and submitted in advance. During the course, consideration will also be given to issues of bias and ideology.
The course is equally well suited to native and non-native speakers of Arabic.
Aims of the course
Develop an understanding of transliteration and transcription, linguistic issues, contextual needs, and specific problems of Arabic-to-roman rendering
Familiarisation with the various conventions and scholarly traditions
Practise contextually appropriate practical transliteration, with tailored feedback from the tutors.
Date and time
5 December | 14:00 – 17:00 (London time) 12 December | 14:00 – 16:00 (London time)
Eligibility Criteria
The course assumes full reading ability of the Arabic script, and at least some basic knowledge of, or working familiarity with, the Arabic language. The course is equally well-suited to both native and non-native speakers of Arabic.
Note
The course will be delivered via Zoom. Readings and further details will be provided later upon registration.
This course will not be recorded.
7. CFP: Sensescapes of War and Ritual in the Early Modern Islamic World, c. 1500-1800
International Conference, Utrecht University, 13-14 February 2025
The religiopolitical landscapes of Islamicate empires were reshaped by the introduction of new destructive warfare technologies and intense ideological propaganda during the early modern period. In this crucial era, collective religious identities were recast in the crucible of prolonged conflicts and contending visions of piety, eschatology, and community. Warfare and rituals were deeply intertwined, as both served performative and symbolic roles in the construction and maintenance of confessional boundaries. These symbolically loaded phenomena served to purify communities of heresy and reinforce distinct religious identities. The ritualization of violence shaped the sensory experience of both warfare and religious ritual. This conference, convened by the SENSIS research project at Utrecht University, invites contributions that examine how sensory experiences both shaped and were shaped by religious transformation, mobility, and violence in this pivotal period between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.
By searing the traumatic experiences of battle into collective memory and affecting the psychological and emotional states of both combatants and noncombatants, wars were not only fought on the battlefield but also felt in the streets, in homes, and in the imaginations of people, thereby creating new emotional and sensory communities. Although research on the early modern Islamic world has made great strides in exploring military technology, the mobilization and provisioning of armies, and the relationship between warfare and state-building, the impact of these developments on the sensory regimes and experiences of early modern Muslims remains largely unexplored. This conference aims to address this gap by highlighting how warfare transformed sensory experiences, thereby contributing to a deeper understanding of the sensory dimensions of early modern Islamic societies.
Moreover, apart from the visceral theaters of war, the early modern period saw the rise of states that legitimized themselves through elaborate public rituals, offering new multisensory experiences. Clamorous commemorations, carnivalesque ceremonies, and starkly embodied rituals stimulated and calibrated the senses. New sartorial, sonic, tactile, and olfactory practices enriched the senscapes of war and religious rites. While scholarship has advanced the study of confessionalization in the context of the Ottoman and Safavid empires, the sensory dimensions of public expressions of religious identity formation remain underexplored. Parallel to the theme of warfare, this conference also seeks to highlight how sensory experiences contributed to the formation of religious identities in Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal contexts.
The conference will address the following key questions:
How did the development and adoption of new military technologies by Muslim dynasties transform the sensory experience of battlefields in the early modern era? How did early modern authors construct, mediate, and express the sensorium of warfare? How did violence reshape the sensory perception of landscapes, sacred spaces, and bodies? In what ways did religious transformations, imperial conversions, and polemical encounters reconfigure the sensory experiences of people? How did they contribute to the crystallization of confessional differences both within and between Sunni and Shia Islamic traditions? How did mobility (particularly pilgrimage, travel, and migration) transform the sensory worlds of early modern Islamicate empires? How can sensory history complement our understanding of broader historical dynamics in the early modern period, such as the formation and development of empires, intercommunal relations, and the transformation of religious practices?
Possible topics for papers include, but are not limited to, the senses in:
- Experiences of violence and war
- The performance of rituals
- Sectarian conflict
- Devotional practices
- Mysticism and occult sciences
- Islamic law, theology, philosophy, and ethics
- Mobility (travel, migration, pilgrimage, and exile)
- Cross-cultural encounters
- Religious change and its effects on the sensory landscape of sacred spaces
- Religious identity
- Material cultures of war and religious ritual
- Colonial expansion and war
Paper proposals:
Please send your proposals to sensis@uu.nl including paper title, abstract (max 250 words), name, and institution, by December 15. We welcome scholars regardless of geographical location and particularly encourage graduate students and early-career scholars to submit paper proposals. We have limited funds available to supplement travel costs of presenters. Please indicate in your email if you would like to be considered for a travel grant and/or whether you can secure travel funding from your home institution. No registration fee is required for participation.
Please note that this will be the second of three conferences organized by the SENSIS research group. The final conference, scheduled for May 2025, will focus on sensory history approaches to material culture. For more details, visit our website: https://sensis.wp.hum.uu.nl.
Contact Email
URL
https://sensis.wp.hum.uu.nl/2024/10/call-for-papers-sensis-conference-2025/
8. International Workshop “Accessing the Sea in the Middle Ages: Quantitative Approaches to Mediterranean Mobility”, Heidelberg University, 30-31 October 2024
Utilising the eponymous ‘Database of Medieval Maritime Predation’ as a tool, the medievalists are collecting and analysing documents from the Archives of Barcelona, Valencia, Mallorca, Genoa, Venice and Malta to track maritime predators from East to West and vice versa.
Information and program: https://rmblf.be/2024/10/04/colloque-accessing-the-sea-in-the-middle-ages-quantitative-approaches-to-mediterranean-mobility/
9. Post-doctoral Fellowship (2 years, for Non-German Female Researcher) for the Project “Studies in Late Antiquity and Early Islam (LAESSI)”, University of Göttingen
The Projects investigates religious, political, cultural, economic trajectories from Late Antiquity to Early Islam (ca. 300 to ca. 930) in the MENA region. Individual proposals related to this overall theme are welcome. Applications should comprise a CV, a list of publications and a short proposal (max. five pages).
Deadline for applications: 3 November 2024.
Contact Prof. Dr. Jens Scheiner (jschein@uni-goettqaboo.de )
- October 26, 2024
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment