Categories : Academic items

1.Postponed: Seventh Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies, scheduled to be held in Nicosia, Cyprus, July 2–4, 2020, will be postponed, not cancelled. All being well, the conference will be held in the same location July 1–3, 2021. The accompanying intensive course will be held June 28–30, 2021, and the trip to visit Famagusta will follow the end of the conference on July 4, 2021.

More information will be available on the official website of the SMS: https://mamluk.uchicago.edu/school-of-mamluk-studies.html.

 

 

 

2. ‘Why Religious People Support Ethnic Insurgency? Kurds, Religion and Support for the PKK’

E. Karakoc, Z. Sarigil

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/politics-and-religion/article/why-religious-people-support-ethnic-insurgency-kurds-religion-and-support-for-the-pkk/849D2EF7A64EA895D00714A82D0B3DB0

 

 

 

 

3. Digitised East India Company ships’ journals and related records

British Library

https://blogs.bl.uk/asian-and-african/2020/05/digitised-east-india-company-ships-journals-and-related-records.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+asian-and-african+%28Asia+and+Africa%29

 

 

 

 

4. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin Institute for Islamic Theology:

(Contact Persons: Prof. Mira Sievers / Prof. Serdar Kurnaz)

Two PhD positions, limited to three years 

Application deadline: 02.06.2020

1. https://www.personalabteilung.hu-berlin.de/de/stellenausschreibungen/research-assistant-all-genders-welcome-with-1-2-part-time-employment-e-13-tv-l-hu-for-a-limited-period-of-3-years
2. https://www.personalabteilung.hu-berlin.de/de/stellenausschreibungen/research-assistant-all-genders-welcome-with-1-2-part-time-employment-e-13-tv-l-hu-for-a-limited-period-of-3-years-1

 

 

 

 

5. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Institute for the Study of Islamic Culture and Religion:

(Contact Person: Prof. Rana Alsoufi)

Two research fellow positions, limited to two years

Application deadline (extended): 29.05.2020

1. /   2. https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/48794875/FB09___Sprach__und_Kulturwissenschaften

 

 

 

6. Ristow Prize in the history of cartography–June 1, 2020 deadline

Students of the history of cartography are invited to submit papers for the 2020 Ristow Prize competition. Undergraduate, graduate, and first-year postdoctoral students of any nationality are eligible to compete. Papers must be in English, not exceeding 7500 words, and should be submitted digitally as a PDF document to kaparker18th@gmail.com by 1 June 2020. Appropriate illustrations, especially maps, are encouraged. The winning essay will receive a cash prize of $1000 USD and will be published in The Portolan, the journal of the Washington Map Society. The prize, named in honor of the late Dr. Walter W. Ristow, is sponsored by the Washington Map Society of Washington, D. C. For more information, including a list of previous winners, go to the website www.WashMapSociety.org or contact Dr. Katherine Parker at kaparker18th@gmail.com.

 

 

 

7. The University of Hamburg’s Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures and Islamic Painted Page are happy to announce the launch of a new online facility, specifically to assist Qur’an manuscript scholars and researchers.

 

The database at www.islamicpaintedpage.com now has a new “Qur’an Details” search page, which allows scholars to search among 4,700 detailed entries for historically interesting Qur’an pages, spanning 110 collections from all over the world, and representing all eras and all places of production. Using this facility, scholars can make specialist searches for terms including

• Qur’an page description (type of illumination, decoration or binding),
• Qur’an type (fragment, Juz etc.),
• Qur’an Sura reference,
• Script (kufic, naskh, etc.),
• Number of lines per page,
• Page size (height and width),
• Qur’an name (e.g. Oljaytu’s Baghdad Qurʼan), and
• Calligrapher name.

 

This is in addition to all the standard search parameters such as date and place of production, holding collection, accession number and folio, and full publication details. The data covers items published online as well as in print and includes bindings. Search results include images for about 20% of the entries.

 

Meanwhile the website’s existing “Main search” page remains unchanged and now offers access to all 48,000 entries in the site’s overall database, which covers published Islamic manuscript miniatures, illuminations, bindings and other painted works, as well as the Qur’an entries, from over 300 collections worldwide. At present the site is able to display images for about 50% of the overall database, and supportive item-specific links are also provided to VIAF, WORLDCAT and FIHRIST.

 

The Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures aims to enable the continued development of the Islamic Painted Page database, and the site is hosted and supported by the University of Hamburg. We hope that the new facility will assist Qur’an scholars and their work. We also invite and warmly welcome feedback as well as any suggestions for future developments,

 

Stephen Serpell

 

Islamic Painted Page & Research Associate,

Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC),

University of Hamburg

 

e-Mail: stephen.serpell@uni-hamburg.de

 

 

 

 

8. Qur’anic Matters, Material Mediations and Religious Practice in Egypt

N. Suit

https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/quranic-matters-9781350121386/?utm_source=Adestra&utm_medium=email&utm_content=More%20info&utm_campaign=NL-CT_Material%20Religion_May-20_UK

Qur’anic Matters spans the time between two important technological shifts-the introduction of printed Qur’anic books in Egypt in the early nineteenth century and the digitization of the Qur’an almost two centuries later. Throughout, Natalia Suit weaves together the theological, legal, economic, and social “presences” of the Qur’anic books into a single account. She argues that the message and the materiality of the object are not separate from each other, nor are they separate from the human bodies with which they come in contact.

 

 

 

 

9. OPEN CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTER CONTRIBUTIONS

Handbook on Islamic Environmental Law

Editors:  Nadia Ahmad, Saba Kareemi, and Oluwakemi Ayanleye

 

Islamic Environmental Law is simultaneously a classical legal framework and contemporary approach for environmental protection, human rights, and an earth-centered jurisprudence. This area of the law, while nascent in many respects, but developed in others, may be able to reconcile many global environmental challenges and corporate disputes; disputes that emerge from human and commercial interactions with nature along with the tensions between the Global North and Muslim-majority countries in the Global South due to scarce natural resources.

 

The book develops the synergies between Islamic Law, Environmental Law, and Corporate Social Responsibility to situate the concern of environmental degradation looking at regional, transboundary and global disputes between the state, corporate actors, and stakeholders. This book will lay the foundations of Islamic thought related to environmental protection, air quality control, and water rights. Through the lens of environmental law, the work will broaden the framework for Islamic law and critique political and economic dynamics in Muslim-majority countries that give rise to increased levels of environmental toxicity, hazardous waste, water stress, and rampant extractivism.  This collection examines these concerns in terms of rigidities and interdependencies, between competing claims to resources, rights and responsibilities, strategy and governance, between state and corporate actors, and the implications for equity and the common good over the long term.

 

The book explores three jurisprudential features of classical Islamic thought and integrates them with a contemporary formulation for environmental protection: 1) Taharah – Cleanliness of the Earth; 2) Hurmah – Sanctity of Life; and 3) Waqf – Endowed Future. The majority of research on Islamic Environmental Law has thus far focused on the field as the unit of analysis, set within a developed Islamic Law framework. Less examined is the ongoing debate within Muslim-majority countries in the Global South (on pragmatic and ideological grounds) about whether environmental legal constructs are a function of an Earth-centered approach to jurisprudence. There is a desire for self-determination and sovereignty, which is wedged between the harnessing and extracting of scarce human, natural, and financial resources, and a desire to contextualize the responsibilities and duties of Investor and Host Nations in the Islamic Environmental Law framework.

 

There is also a desire to consider the significance of stakeholders in the national and subnational legal constructs as agents of environmental innovation, compliance, and enforcement. To what extent have faith-based approaches to environmental protection worked to achieve and enhance efforts at sustainability? What is the possibility of Islamic Environmental Law as an alternative legal framework to aspire to sustainability?

 

This book will be a valuable resource to researchers, professors, lecturers, practitioners, postgraduate and final year undergraduates in environmental studies, environmental law, international relations, area studies, business strategy, international business and international management, public sector policy and management, international development, political economy. It is also suitable for more specialist courses on sustainability, corporate responsibility, governance, international development, Islamic law, water law, and transboundary disputes.

 

We seek contributions that provide theoretical and empirical perspectives on these issues from scholars around the globe, in any relevant discipline and at any career stage.

 

Handbook is organized by section, around the following key topics:

1)    A Historico-Legal Trajectory of Islamic Environmental Law

2)    Challenging Existing Environmental Law Paradigm

3)    Reconciling Islamic Customs and Norms

4)    Corporate Actors and Sustainability for a Faith-Based Approach

 

Authors’ Instructions

 

Interested colleagues are requested to submit extended abstracts of 400-500 words by June 15, 2020. Please indicate which of the sections above you see as the best fit for your contribution. Contributions should be no more than 8,000 words. Please direct all submissions to nahmad@barry.edu.

Decisions regarding abstracts will be communicated by late June 2020.

 

Timeline for completion of papers:

• First draft of papers due by September 2020
• Final revised pieces received and edited late 2020
• Plan to submit final manuscript in spring 2021

 

 

 

 

10. MESA Undergraduate Research Workshop of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA), Washington, DC, 10 October 2020

The workshop is an opportunity for students in any academic discipline with a focus on the Middle East to present their research in conjunction with MESA’s annual meeting.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2020. Information: https://mesana.org/annual-meeting/undergraduate-workshop

 

 

 

 

11. 5^th Annual International Conference of the Gulf Studies Centre: “Social Change in the Gulf Societies in the 21^st Century, Qatar University, 11–12 November 2020

This conference aims to explore the role of economic transformation, education, social media, migration, and urbanization in the social changes in the Gulf societies, with a focus on their directions, magnitudes, and relevant policy options.

Deadline for abstracts extended: 30 June 2020. Information: http://www.qu.edu.qa/research/gulfstudies-center/events/Social-Change-in-the-Gulf-Societies-in-the-21st-Century

 

 

 

 

12. Two Workshops on „Jews in the Muslim World: Histories, Memories, and Narratives“, Penn State (February 2021) and Ben Gurion University (June 2021)

Proposals are invited on histories, memories, and narratives about Jews in the Middle East in the 20^th and 21^st centuries in order to counter the broad narratives that lament the end of Jewish existence in the Middle East and the Muslim World and promote a one-dimensional understanding of the Jewish experience in the recent century and a half.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/6151424/jews-muslim-world-histories-memories-and-narratives

 

 

 

 

13. 7^th Regional Conference of the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS), University of World Economy and Diplomacy, Tashkent, Uzbekistan, 24-27 June 2021

We invite submissions relating to all aspects of humanities and social science scholarship. The geographic domain of Central Eurasia encompasses Central Asia, the Caucasus, Iran, Afghanistan, Tibet, Mongolia, Siberia, Inner Asia, the Black Sea region, the Volga region, and East and Central Europe.

Deadline for abstracts: Early 2021. Information: https://www.centraleurasia.org/conferences/regional/

 

 

 

 

14. Professor (W1, Tenure Track) of the History of the Medieval Middle East and the Mediterranean (7^th-15^th Century), University of Tübingen

Requirements: Completed doctorate which demonstrates potential for outstanding publications in leading international journals; teaching experience; ability to read historical sources in at least two different languages (Greek, Arabic, Syrian, Persian, Coptic, etc.).

Deadline for applications: 29 June 2020. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/job-history-of-the-medieval-middle-east-and-the-mediterranean-tbingen?e=82aeb6c61d

 

 

 

 

15. Fellowships for Research about Oman, Sultan Qaboos Cultural Center

The fellowship is open to PhD candidates and university academics who are US citizens or affiliated with an American university, and funds one scholar or team of scholars to carry out research in Oman each year. The fellowship awards up to $51,000 for the fellow or team of fellows.

Deadline for applications: 15 September 2020.

Information: https://www.sqcc.org/Scholarships-0024-Fellowships/Research-Fellowship-Program.aspx

 

 

 

 

16. Posts:

 

Lecturers in Middle East and South Asia Studies, University of California Davis

The Middle East/South Asia Studies Program seeks instructors for lecturer positions in the broad areas of Middle East studies and South Asia studies, pending administrative approval and funding, for the academic year 2020-2021. Demonstrated experience in teaching and advanced degree in the specific language or related discipline is desirable.

Deadline for applications: 22 May 2020.

Information: https://professorpositions.com/lecturer-in-middle-east-south-asia-studies,i9140.html

 

 

Lecturers in Arabic, Hebrew and Persian, University of California Davis

Demonstrated experience in teaching and advanced degree in the specific language or related discipline is desirable.

Deadline for applications: 22 May 2020.

Information: https://professorpositions.com/lecturer-in-middle-east-south-asia-languages,i9032.html

 

 

Lecturer in Turkish Language, University of California Los Angeles

The candidate must have experience teaching Turkish language courses at the university level. A Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages or related field is required.

Deadline for applications: 1 June 2020.

Information: https://professorpositions.com/lecturer-in-turkish-language,i8989.html

 

 

Eastern Armenian Language Lecturer, University of California Los Angeles

The candidate must have experience teaching Armenian language courses at the university level. A Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages or related field is required.

Deadline for applications: 1 June 2020.

Information: https://professorpositions.com/lecturer-in-eastern-armenian-language,i8988.html

 

 

 

 

17. Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Awards Offered by the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA)

Students completing their dissertations between July 1, 2019 and June 30, 2020 may submit entries for the 2020 Malcolm H. Kerr Dissertation Awards.  Winner in each category (social sciences and humanities) is awarded $1000.

Submission deadline: 1 July 2020.

Information: https://mesana.org/awards/category/malcolm-h-kerr-dissertation-awards/kerr-guidelines

 

 

 

 

18. Graduate Student Article Prize of the “Women Historians of the Middle East (WHOME)“

Applications and nominations are invited for the annual prize for the best article about Middle Eastern history written by a female-identifying graduate student (Masters or PhD).

Deadline for applications: 1 July 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/8378/discussions/6152822/whome-graduate-student-article-prize-call-applications-and

 

 

 

19. TOMidEast Summer School: “Understanding the Middle East: Dis(order) in the Middle East: Space, Power and Politics “, University of Torino, 22-27 June 2020

The aim is to critically deconstruct the relationship between space and politics by exploring the role they have played not only in redefining the boundaries of sovereignty and power, but also of socio-cultural and economic identities and assets.

Deadline for registration: 2 June 2020. Information: http://www.to-asia.it/to-mideast/

 

 

 

 

20. New Book Series “Worlding the Middle East“ (Stanford University Press)

Books in this series engage in three areas: Rule: Who rules, who is ruled, and how has this dynamic been contested over time? – Resilience: How do contemporary issues like climate, energy, and health shape social, economic, and political life? – Religion: How do religious perceptions and beliefs (or a lack thereof) shape social life throughout the region and around the world?

Information: https://cmes.berkeley.edu/worlding-middle-east-book-series

 

 

[Editor’s note: I will continue to circulate this ‘academic items’ list but please note that I am unable to verify if the events listed herein are going on, postponed or even cancelled. My advice is to check the website/email address(es) given for each. Stay healthy!]

 

1. Jordan Language Academy is pleased to announce that we will be offering our intensive summer Arabic programs ONLINE as scheduled in our calendar (please click HERE to view our 2020 summer calendar).

In our courses and programs we teach all skills of MSA, Media Arabic, Levantine dialect, translation, paragraph and essay writing, Arabic literature, Arabic music, etc. These subjects are offered according to the language proficiency level. For example, literature, essay writing and translation are offered only for those who are intermediate level and above. All programs provide intensive online instruction in the language and culture through a rigorous academic program that is complemented by an integrated cultural components.

If you decide to join any of our programs , please fill out our online registration form.
We have no application deadline, registration stays open until seats are filled. Therefore, please try to secure a seat as early as possible .Please feel free to share our calendar with anyone who might be interested in Arabic.
For more information, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Best regards ,
Manal
Director Assistant
Jordan Language Academy
Mobile: +962 779502220
www.jordanla.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/jlaarabic
facebook: www.facebook.com/jlaarabic

 

 

 

 

 

2. Conference: “Reading the Gospels in Islamic Context”, Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford (or online if not possible in person), 7- 9 September 2020

Papers which explore different aspects of how the canonical gospels have been, are, and can be interpreted in Islamic contexts. Themes might include: Muslim references to the gospels in classical literature;  How the gospels are interpreted in current Muslim-Christian dialogue and debate; etc. Selected papers will be published as a volume in the ‘Routledge Reading the Bible in Islamic Context’ series.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2020. Information: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab2686bcef37284f39cbe8b/t/5dee5dd15e5ce97f94fec893/1575902673690/Reading+the+Gospels+in+Islamic+Context_SH.pdf

Additionally, CMCS is hosting free online public seminars via Zoom, which some of you might be interested in attending. For a list of upcoming seminars, please visit:

https://www.cmcsoxford.org.uk/our-events

 

 

 

 

3. Conference: “Islam, Peace, and Justice”, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada, 21-22 September 2020

Papers are invited that challenge stereotypes about Muslims, their relationship with cultural and religious pluralism, and the connection between Islam and violent extremism. We are looking for critical articulations of how Islam and Muslims draw on faith-inspired principles and energies to fostering resilient cultures of peace and justice.

Information: https://stmcollege.ca/academic-initiatives/conferences-and-lectures.php

 

 

 

 

4. 2020 Meeting of the European Network for the Study of Islam and Esotericism (ENSIE): “Islamic Esotericism in Global Contexts”, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, 24-26 September 2020

The aim is to consider the relationship between Islam and esotericism, and Islamic esotericism, in a global context, shifting the emphasis not only from Western perspectives, but also being more inclusive of the experience of Islam beyond the Arabo-Persian domains.

Information: http://ensie.site/conferences.html

 

 

 

 

5. 49^th Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS): “Diverse Approaches to Qur’anic Studies in the Western Academy”, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 25 September 2020

Papers might address the following questions: What Determines the Course Outline for Qur’anic Studies in the Western Academy and the Curricula for Qur’anic Studies in Muslim-Majority Nations? What Roles do Social Media Platforms Play in Understanding the Qur’an? How has Digitization of Texts Affected the Field of Qur’anic Studies? Etc.

Information: https://naaims.org/

 

 

 

 

6. Conference: “Christian-Muslim Missionary Encounters, Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries”, Mission and Modernity Research Academy (MiMoRA#3), Leuven, Belgium, 3-10 November 2020

Contributions are invited on: Reactions to Christian/Muslim missionary activities in the fields of education, literacy, health care, etc.; Space-settings of Christian/Muslim encounter-interaction; Muslim responses to (Western) Christian missions; The agency of Islamic activism in transforming the practices and thinking of Christian missionaries; Muslim responses to Christian interventions into Islamic religious practice; etc.

Information: https://kadoc.kuleuven.be/english/3_research/31_ourresearch/mimora/cfp-mimora-3.pdf

 

 

 

 

7. Panels for the “4^th Congress of Studies on the Middle East and Muslim Worlds”, Aix-en-Provence, 28-30 June 2021

This event is organized by GIS Moyen Orient et mondes musulmans (MOMM) in collaboration with IREMAM, IDEMEC, CHERPA, IMAF, and SEMOMM. Researchers and university teachers (from PhD level upwards) are invited to send their proposals in French or English for thematic panels.

Deadline for abstracts of panel proposals: 1 July 2020. Deadline for final panels: 15 December 2020. Information: http://majlis-remomm.fr/63296 (see link to English and Turkish invitation).

 

 

 

 

8. Doctoral and Postdoctoral Fellowships of the Orient-Institut Beirut in 2020/21

The OIB awards visiting fellowships of up to 12 months for the academic year beginning in September 2020 to doctoral candidates in support of excellent research projects in the humanities and social sciences. We are particularly interested in research projects that fit our annual topic of “the global movement and exchange of ideas and norms”.

Deadline for applications: 17 May 2020. Information on Doctoral Fellowships: https://www.orient-institut.org/support/scholarships/doctoral-fellowships/; Information on Postdoctoral Fellowships: https://www.orient-institut.org/support/scholarships/postdoctoral-fellowships/

 

 

 

 

9. Research Assistant for Book Project on Islamic Contract Law, Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar

The ideal candidate will be fluent in Arabic and English and will possess a thorough knowledge of the primary and secondary sources of Islamic contract law.

Interested applicants should contact Prof. Ilias Bantekas at: ibantekas@hbku.edu.qa

 

 

 

 

10. PhD in History at Koç University in Istanbul

The History PhD program seeks to provide students with a strong grounding in the advanced study of history, especially in Ottoman history and the following areas: the Arab World (Greater Syria and Egypt), Europe (East and Southeast Europe including Russia and the former Soviet Union), the Eastern Mediterranean, and Turkey.

Deadline for application: 29 May 2020. Information: https://gsssh.ku.edu.tr/en/academics/history/program-overview/

 

 

 

 

11. Online Summer School Course: “The Middle East in Global Politics”, SOAS University of London, 29 June – 10 July 2020

This course will help students place the modern Middle East in its global context, exploring histories of empire and decolonisation, alongside themes of hegemony and resistance, conflict and cooperation, identity and foreign policy. The course is exceptionally moving fully online with reduced tuition fees and 15 transferable UK credits.

Deadline for application: 25 May 2020. Information: Course convenor https://www.soas.ac.uk/staff/staff94526.php at ra47@soas.ac.uk and https://www.soas.ac.uk/summerschool/subjects/the-middle-east-in-global-politics/

 

 

 

 

12. Articles on “Historizing Islamophobia” for Special Issue of “The Journal of the Contemporary Study of Islam”

We seek articles that present counter-hegemonic analyses, approaches and concepts, examining Islamophobia as a longer and more complex phenomenon. We are especially interested in papers which examine how settler-colonial projects against Indigenous communities and colonized communities have informed Islamophobia formations across varying national, social and political contexts.

Deadline for submissions: 20 February 2021. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/6142269/special-issue-%E2%80%9Chistorizing-islamophobia%E2%80%9D

 

 

 

 

13. Articles on “Travel to, in, and from the Ottoman World and Turkish Republic” for Special Issue of “Turkish Journal of History (Tarih Dergisi)”

We particularly welcome studies of travel works in any format – books, manuscripts, letters, diaries, journals, reports, log-books, cartography, web-blogs – by Ottoman, Turkish, Arab, Asiatic and African travellers of any period.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/6137376/travel-and-ottoman-world-and-turkish-republic-special-issue

 

 

 

 

14. Articles on “Alcohol in the Muslim World: History, Geography, Practices and Policies (15^th – 21^st Centuries)” for Special Issue of “Revue des mondes musulmans et de la Méditerranée” (REMM)

Contributions may consider the construction of alcohol consumption norms based on a co-construction of usage and consumption norms by different groups, not simply as a fiat decision “from above”.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 September 2020. Information: https://journals.openedition.org/remmm/13379

 

 

 

 

15. Chapters for Edited Book on “Monarchies in Contemporary Global Affairs” (Focus MENA!) Published by Academia Press

Chapters may concentrate on any country, region, or time period from 1945 to present. Monarchy should be interpreted broadly, to include individual other members of royal families. The primary focus should be on the role or impact of the monarchy on foreign or international, as opposed to domestic, affairs (i.e. the Gulf monarchies are pioneers in sustainable development and renewable energy).

Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/6103962/call-papers-monarchy-global-affairs

 

 

 

 

16. Contributions for New Page of “Jadaliyya” on “Environmental Issues in the Middle East”

As both the stakes of and interest in environmental questions in the Middle East grow, this page will provide a platform for activists and scholars to experiment with new approaches and to transform this conversation.

Information: https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/40981/Jadaliyya-Launches-New-Environment-Page

 

 

 

 

17. In partnership with Climate Change and History Research Initiative and with the support of the Humanities Council, the Program in Medieval Studies launches a new virtual seminar series that examines the historical context and the social, cultural, and environmental impact of pandemics through the ages. The virtual series entitled “Pandemics in the Past: from Prehistory to (almost) the Present” features guest scholars from across U.S and Europe and is coordinated by John Haldon, Shelby Cullom Davis ’30 Professor of European History, Emeritus, and the Director of the Program in Medieval Studies Helmut Reimitz.

The series will be introduced on Thursday May, 14 by John Haldon. Click the links below to register for each seminar and to receive the Zoom meeting link.

Thursday, May 14, 13:30 – 15:00 EST

“The Story of Pandemics in Scholarship and Popular Culture, 1890-2020”
Merle Eisenberg, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center in Annapolis, MD, and Lee Mordechai, Hebrew University

 

Thursday, May 21, 13:30 – 15:00 EST

“Plague: From the Late Neolithic to the Black Death”
Phil Slavin, University of Stirling

 

Thursday, May 28, 13:30 – 15:00 EST

“The ‘Plague of Cyprian’: Sources, Problems, Origins and the ‘Crisis of the Third Century’”
Sabine Hübner, University of Basel

 

Thursday, June 4, 13:30 – 15:00 EST

“Avoiding Plague like the Plague: Some Pathogenic Context for Late Antique Pandemics”
Tim Newfield, Georgetown University, Washington

 

Thursday, June 11, 13:30 – 15:00 EST

“The Justinianic Plague: Apocalypse or Overblown?”
Lee Mordechai, Hebrew University, and Merle Eisenberg, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center in Annapolis, MD

 

Thursday June 18, 13:30 – 15:00 EST

“From Healthscaping to Disease Tracing: Plague and Public Health After the Black Death”
Abigail Agresta, George Washington University; Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, Washington

Followed by a general discussion: comparative perspectives, and the way forward

 

 

 

18. The Journal of African History has just brought out an open-access virtual edition which collects previously published essays and book reviews relating to the history of epidemics: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-african-history/covid-19-virtual-special-issue.

 

 

1.The Harvard Islamic Law Blog (from the Program in Islamic Law) is sponsoring a series of observations about the role of epidemics/pandemics in the history of the Islamicate world: https://islamiclaw.blog/2020/05/05/pandemic-roundtable-introduction/.

(Ed note: Several items thereat have been noted already but the material is growing.)

 

 

 

2. “SHARIAsource is a project of the Program in Islamic Law at Harvard Law School, that aims to provide comprehensive content and context on Islamic law in a way that is accessible and useful. It is a Portal into the digital world of Islamic legal studies and related tools from data science and AI. Working with a global team of advisors, senior scholars, and editors, our mission is to organize the world’s information on Islamic law.”

https://beta.shariasource.com/

1.Cancelled:

 

42^nd Annual Conference of Middle East Librarians (MELCom International), University of Marburg, 26-28 May 2020

 

27^th International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO), University of Osnabrück, 24-26 September 2020

 

Summer School of Arabic and Kurdish Dialects, French National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisations (Inalco), Paris, 2 June – 10 July 2020

This summer course is canceled in 2020. See you next year!

Information: http://www.inalco.fr/en/study/summer-school/arabic-dialects/kurdish

 

 

 

2. 54^th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington DC, 10-13 October 2020

This conference is primarily concerned with the area encompassing Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, and the countries of the Arab world (and their diasporas) from the seventh century to modern times. Other regions, including Spain, Southeastern Europe, China and the former Soviet Union, also are included for the periods in which their territories were parts of the Middle Eastern empires or were under the influence of Middle Eastern civilization.

Information: https://mesana.org/annual-meeting/call-for-papers

 

 

 

 

3. 6^th World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES-6), University of La Manouba, Tunis, 19-23 September 2022

(Note date)

 

 

 

4. Eight Fully Funded Scholarships for PhD Program in “Global History of Empires”, Universities of Turin, Moscow and St. Petersburg

This program provides educational and research environment for dissertation research in the fields of early modern, modern, and contemporary history, with particular attention to its global dimension. Each scholarship is 17.500 Euros per year.

Deadline for applications: 4 June 2020. Information: https://t.co/UCALDJWX5T?amp=1

 

 

 

 

5. Free Online Course “The Sharia and Islamic Law: An Introduction” Relaunched by the University of Edinburgh (Beginning 11 May 2020)

With contributions from renowned experts, this five-week course explores some of the diverse roles the Sharia and Islamic law have played in Muslim life, both historically and today. Students can learn in their own time, at their own pace.

Information and free registration: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/an-introduction-to-the-sharia-and-islamic-law

 

 

 

 

6. Articles on “Visibility of Religious Difference in Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean“ for “Hamsa: Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies”

The goal of this volume is to show ways in which religion marked a perceptible difference in Medieval Europe and the Mediterranean.

Deadline for papers: 30 July 2020. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/call-for-articles-visibility-of-religious-difference-in-medieval-europe-and-the-mediterranean-hamsa-journal-of-judaic-and-islamic-studies?e=82aeb6c61d

 

 

 

 

7. Articles on “Media, Accountability and Dissent in the Middle East and North Africa” for Special Issue of the “Journal for International Press/Politics”

This issue aims to provide new research perspectives on the momentous upheavals that took place in the Middle East and North Africa in the past ten years by shedding light on the interactions between citizens, social movements, and different types of media actors

Deadline for manuscripts: 15 June 2020. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2020/04/23/media-accountability-and-dissent-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa

 

 

 

 

8. Articles for Edited Book on “Middle Eastern Gothics”

The volume’s focus is on Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or Hebrew literary engagements with the Gothic but articles on minority literatures of the Middle East, such as Armenian or Kurdish, are also welcomed.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2020. Information: https://mesana.org/resources-and-opportunities/2020/04/28/middle-eastern-gothics-cfp-for-edited-volume

 

 

 

 

9. ONLINE RESOURCES: Kurdish

 

– The Kurdish Digital Library (Kurdish Insititute of Paris), the institute has digitized a thousand books related to Kurds and the Middle East general. Some books can be downloaded as pdf via the following link: https://bnk.institutkurde.org/?l=en

 

– Arşîva Kurd (Journal, Newspaper, and Magazin), their website offers numerous Kurdish periodicals from 1898 to the present. http://www.arsivakurd.org/index.php/kovar

 

– Kurdish Music Archive of Radio Yerevan, (Deutsch-Kurdisches Kulturinstitut) has transferred rich Kurdish music collection of Kurdish Radio of Yerevan from 1961 to their Youtube channel. The lyrics also can be found on the channel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oe0s2Xd3Nc&list=PLAXCuqYJmH1JIXy9MURiU7ikIHCBoQxkR

 

 

 

 

10. Pierre Siméon, From Ordinary to Luxury. Islamic Ceramics from Iran, Central Asia and Afghanistan. Studies on the Bumiller Collection I (ed. Verena Daiber), 2020.

 

“From Ordinary to Luxury” is a profound study of Iranian and Central Asian ceramics based on the glazed and unglazed pottery from The Bumiller Collection, Bamberg. The Bumiller set is not a collection of masterpieces but it provides an insight into the most diverse wares of daily life. Pierre Siméon’s expertise and hands-on experience as an archaeologist are invaluable assets for the knowledge of provenance and distribution of Iranian and Central Asian pottery. Apart from that, his study takes into account the works of our Russian colleagues, that have gone without adequate acknowledgement for decades due to the language barrier.

Further information:
https://reichert-verlag.de/fachgebiete/archaeologie/archaeologie_archaeologie_allgemein/9783954903870_from_ordinary_to_luxury-detail

 

 

 

11. A series of introductory to advanced levels with the option of e-books for 4 years of Persian language and culture courses. The audio files are all free for download in the companion website of the publisher. You can also request a free Inspection Copy for yourself if you are teaching Persian courses.

 

1. The Routledge Introductory Persian Course: Farsi Shrin Ast 1 (2^nded., 2019) by Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi and Dominic Parviz Brookshaw

 

2. The Routledge Intermediate Persian Course: Farsi Shrin Ast 2 (2012) by Dominic Parviz Brookshaw and Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi

 

3. The Routledge Advanced Persian Course: Farsi Shrin Ast 3 (2019) by Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi

 

4. What the Persian Media Says: A Coursebook (2014) by Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi

 

 

12. Persianate Selves: Memories of Place and Origin before Nationalism. 

Stanford Univ Press, 2020

By Mana Kia, Associate Professor of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University.

https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=29033

 

 

13. Cambridge University Press:

Free Access to the Most Cited Articles from its Middle East Studies Journals

See: https://view.updates.cambridge.org/?qs=5d1a52f4d67df248a7abe5a432453f6acb4d03449fac2f08af39f8b3c51a805572b245dca79bb1e10140fbad955db3d29f90b19af1cdf28291e25df017234bfef5bcc293311812dc86bdc2904e1d36fe

1. An Arabic-English Lexicon of the CoronaVirus Outbreak containing commonly-used CoronaVirus terms and extensive vocabulary lists related to:

– Health & Sickness

– Plagues & Pandemics

– Medical Prevention

– Medical Symptoms

 

This lexicon was compiled and written in a joint collaboration between

• Dr. Mariam Aboelez, Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the Department of Applied Linguistics and Communication, Birkbeck, University of London
• Mr. Mourad Diouri, Teaching Fellow & Course Organiser (PG Arabic) at IMES (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), U. of Edinburgh

 

If you wish to contribute to this lexicon, we would love to hear from you.

 

https://bit.ly/2UJ5zGF

 

 

 

 

2. CfP: International Relations in a Multi-Polar Middle East

SEPAD E-Workshop 29th June-1st July 2020

This online conference seeks to explore international relations in today’s Middle East, a region that has become increasingly multi-polar. In the years after the Arab Uprisings, the fragmentation of political projects and opening up of schisms between rulers and ruled – resulting in protest, resistance and conflict – has expanded the  arenas competed over by regional powers, global actors and non-state players. The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran has found traction across the region but the aspirations of Riyadh and Tehran have become contested by other regional actors including Turkey, Egypt and Israel, while smaller players like the UAE and Qatar have also increased their regional activism. The United States, once seemingly intent on a hegemonic ‘Pax Americana’ has stepped back, leaving its rivals and allies, Russia, China and the EU, among others, with both concerns and opportunities. Meanwhile some non-state players, like Islamists, nationalists and separatists have taken advance and/or entrenched their positions, while transnational identities, ideologies, economic trends and threats continue to influence local and international politics. Added to this the local and global ramifications of the Covid-19 Pandemic look set to further impact the region’s international dynamics moving forward.

We welcome papers addressing any area of international relations relating to this broad topic. Abstracts should be no more than 200 words and submitted by 11th May 2020. Papers will be presented in online panels for 15 minutes per presenter, followed by a Q and A with registered participants. In an effort to address concerns about online events, we encourage all presenters to use powerpoint presentations.

 

Please submit abstracts to Eyad Al Refai at E.AlRefai@Lancaster.ac.uk .

 

 

 

3. Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP)

MERIP have lifted their paywall until the end of May to allow access for people displaced by COVID-19.  Their archive contains invaluable analysis of the systems, structures and conditions that will shape how COVID-19 impacts the Middle East.  As students, scholars, activists and concerned citizens find themselves displaced from their institutions and facing frightening economic uncertainty, MERIP want to ensure that anyone can access this content regardless of circumstance.

https://merip.org/covid-19-update/

 

 

 

4. The National Archive: free access to digital records  

The National Archives are making digital records available on their website free of charge for as long as our Kew site is closed to visitors.
Registered users will be able to order and download up to ten items at a time, to a maximum of 50 items over 30 days.

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/digital-downloads/

 

 

 

5. Arabic Collections Online

Arabic Collections Online (ACO) is a publicly available digital library of public domain Arabic language content. ACO currently provides digital access to 13,224 volumes across 7,842 subjects drawn from rich Arabic collections of distinguished research libraries.

http://dlib.nyu.edu/aco/about/

 

 

 

6. Two short pieces on Muslim views on pandemics and contagion now on Harvard’s IslamicLaw blog:

 

https://islamiclaw.blog/2020/04/28/against-flattening-the-curve-of-diversity-of-approaches-to-muslim-understandings-of-contagion-in-a-time-of-pandemic-part-one/

 

https://islamiclaw.blog/2020/04/29/against-flattening-the-curve-of-diversity-of-approaches-to-muslim-understandings-of-contagion-in-a-time-of-pandemic-part-two/

 

See also, on the same blog, Ari Schriber on a 19th century Moroccan historian’s take on a 17th century Moroccan Sultan who advised his son to flee the plague:

 

https://islamiclaw.blog/2020/04/22/a-precedent-for-the-unprecedented-historical-reflections-on-plague-quarantine-and-islamic-law-in-morocco/

 

 

 

7. Digitized Ottoman manuscripts from the İstanbul Araştırması Enstitütüsü = Istanbul Research Institute

https://katalog.iae.org.tr/yordambt/yordam.php?aAltTur=293

 

 

 

8. The editors of Manuscript Studies: A Journal of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries are pleased to make the following announcements:

• The Spring 2020 issue is out! Abstracts are available here: https://mss.pennpress.org/about/current-issue-abstracts/.
• We are seeking peer-reviewed article submissions for the Spring 2021 issue and beyond. Articles for possible publication in the Spring 2021 should be submitted no later than June 1, 2020.
• Non-peer review Annotations can be submitted up to September 1, 2020 for the Fall 2020 issue. Annotations submitted after that date are eligible for publication in Spring 2021 and beyond.
• Thanks to a generous agreement with the University of Pennsylvania Press, all Articles and Annotations in Manuscript Studies are made available for open access after one year from the date of publication. Articles and Annotations from Vol. 4:1 (Spring 2019) are now available for downloading on Penn’s Scholarly Commons repository. To access the pdfs, go to: http://repository.upenn.edu/mss_sims/

**Please note: In response to the Covid-19 situation, Penn Press is providing FREE access to its journals until June 30, 2020. Here is the link to Manuscript Studies: https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/698.

Manuscript Studies brings together scholarship from around the world and across disciplines related to the study of pre-modern manuscript books and documents. This peer-reviewed journal is open to contributions that rely on both traditional methodologies of manuscript study and those that explore the potential of new ones. We publish articles that engage in a larger conversation on manuscript culture and its continued relevance in today’s world and highlight the value of manuscript evidence in understanding our shared cultural and intellectual heritage. Studies that incorporate digital methodologies to further understanding of the physical and conceptual structures of the manuscript book are encouraged. A separate section, entitled Annotations, features research in progress and digital project reports.

For more information about submitting and to subscribe, go to http://mss.pennpress.org. For direct inquiries, please contact the editors at sims-mss@pobox.upenn.edu .

 

 

 

9. The University of Cambridge has started “The History of Now,” a series of podcasts mostly devoted to epidemics and pandemics: https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/podcasts/covid-19-podcasts.

1.Announcing Forthcoming Series: Brill Kurdish Studies

The Brill Kurdish Studies book series is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of Kurdistan and the Kurdish people. It welcomes proposals from every branch of the humanities and social sciences, including literature, linguistics, the arts, history, sociology, political science, religious studies, anthropology, and economics. The series includes monographs, thematic collections of articles, handbooks, text editions, and translations. All the volumes are peer-reviewed and are aimed at a better understanding of the Kurds, their past, their present, and their future.

https://brill.com/page/bks

Please send your book proposals to Abdurraouf Oueslati, Acquisitions Editor at Brill, at oueslati@brill.com

 

 

 

2. The Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) is pleased to announce that we will be offering our intensive summer Arabic programs online between June 15 and July 31, 2020

The application deadline for the online program is May 10, 2020.

For detailed information about the academic content of the programs, application forms, cost, and financial support available, please visit our website:  http://www.aub.edu.lb/fas/cames/sap/

If you have any questions, do contact us at cames@aub.edu.lb.

 

 

 

 

3. As a fully Open Access Journal, the Journal of Islamic and Middle Eastern Multidisciplinary Studies (mathal) is accessible to both researchers and readers. Authors are able to submit their work online and online their work will be peer-reviewed and published. Works, once published, is available for students and reader to download from anywhere in the world without paying fees.

 

Mathal would also like to take this moment to remind authors of other advantages of publishing in fully Open Access Journals. We have made key documents public, accessible through the links at the end of this email.

 

Submit your work for peer-review here:  http://ir.uiowa.edu/mathal 

 

 

 

4. Iran Heritage Foundation: Persian on-line

Persian Language Online is one of the IHF’s flagship projects devoted to providing online language learning resources for anyone interested in learning Persian.   During this difficult time where many of us find ourselves housebound, Persian Language Online offers a wealth of practice texts, dialogues, animations and regular blogposts relating to Persian language and culture which will occupy you from your very first attempts at the Persian script, to forays into the vast world of Persian poetry and literature.   Visit the website here and follow Persian Language Online on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to keep up to date.

 

 

 

5. Afghanistan On-Line Resource:

The A to Z Guide to Assistance in Afghanistan 2020 – fourteenth Edition

https://areu.org.af/publication/the-areu-a-z-guide-2020/

 

 

6. Postponed:

 

POSTPONED: Conference “Discursive Challenges 2020”, Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (IMEIS), Durham University, 9-11 June 2020

 

POSTPONED: 7^th Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies, Nicosia, Cyprus, 2-4 July 2020

 

POSTPONED: Conference of the International Association for the Study of Arabia (IASA): “54^th Seminar for Arabian Studies“, Cordoba, 15-18 July 2020

 

POSTPONED: ATLAS Annual Conference of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education and Research (ATLAS): “Tourism as a Driver of Regional Development and Collaboration,” Prague, 8-11 September 2020

 

 

 

7. International Conference: “An African Metropolis: Cairo and its African Hinterland in the Middle Ages”, IFAO, Cairo, 15-17 September 2020

This conference’s goal is to portray, for the first time in the same frame, the relationships between the capital city of Egypt and the African continent, on both shores of the Sahara and from the western Maghreb to the Horn of Africa, in the Middle Ages.

Information: https://www.ifao.egnet.net/actus/manifestations/ma1210/

 

 

 

 

8. Conference: “Images and Borderlands: Mediterranean Basin between Christendom and Ottoman Empire in the Early Modern Age”, Split, Croatia, 16-17 September 2020

The starting point of examination will be images, i.e. the usage of images (pictures, mental images, literally images and other visual representations) as historical evidence.

Information: https://is-le.eu/calls/conference-images-and-borderlands-mediterranean-basin-between-christendom-and-ottoman-empire-in-the-early-modern-age/

 

 

 

 

9. Graduate Assistant in Studies of Islam in South Asia, University of Lausanne

Start date: 1 August 2020. Length of contract: maximum 5 years. Work rate: 80%. Profile: M.A. in Language and Cultures of South Asia or a related discipline. Interest to write a doctoral thesis in the cultural, social, and political histories of Muslim societies in South Asia. Knowledge of Urdu is necessary. A good knowledge of French and Persian will be an advantage.

Deadline for applications: 1 May 2020. Information: https://career5.successfactors.eu/career?career_ns=job_listing&company=universitdP&navBarLevel=JOB_SEARCH&rcm_site_locale=fr_FR&career_job_req_id=15317&selected_lang=fr_FR&jobAlertController_jobAlertId=&jobAlertController_jobAlertName=&_s.crb=6lIl/EOPiPI94hnrY7In+JKHNjE=

 

 

 

 

10. Associate Professor and/or Full Professor in Political Science, University of Copenhagen

Candidates are invited within the field of International Relations including, but not limited to security studies, gender, diplomacy, war, post-colonialism, international political sociology and political economy.

Deadline for applications: 10 June 2020. Information: https://socioloxy.com/professorship-of-international-relations,i6621.html

 

 

 

 

11. Best Article Award in Kurdish Political Studies, University of Central Florida (UCF)

For this award cycle, articles published in English in peer-reviewed journals in 2019 will be considered. The award is open to all disciplines under social sciences and humanities. The primary author of the article needs to be an untenured scholar at the time of the publication. The winner will be awarded $500.

Deadline for (self-) nominations: 3 July 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/6127501/call-submissions-best-award-kurdish-political-studies

 

 

 

 

12. “Fifth Yemen Exchange“: Intensive Online Course on Yemen, 11-15 May 2020

Participants will listen for more than 25 hours to Yemeni analysts, academics, politicians, bureaucrats, business leaders and international experts to gain insight and a rare first-hand knowledge about the country from a wide range of perspectives. Participants will have the chance to virtually engage with speakers both during the sessions and connected with speakers they wish to engage individually after the Exchange.

Deadline for applications: 4 May 2020. Information: https://sanaacenter.org/event/the-fifth-yemen-exchange

 

 

 

13. Online Summer Programme; ‘Gender in Muslim Contexts’ 6-14 July

Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations

In response to COVID-19, our Summer Programme; ‘Gender in Muslim Contexts ‘ will now be delivered online. The nine-day course will be delivered through live and recorded online lectures, interactive seminars and one to one sessions with lecturers.

All information at: https://www.aku.edu/ismc/short-courses/Pages/home.aspx

 

1. Interview on Pandemics in Islamic thought

Justin Stearns, Associate Professor, Arab Crossroads Studies, NYU Abu Dhabi

https://soundcloud.com/radio-786-100-4fm/covid-19-pandemic-a-test-from-god-radio-786

 

 

 

2. Call for Contributions: “Marginal Commentaries”

In December 2019, the Bibliotheca Arabica Project organised a workshop on “Marginal Commentaries in Arabic Manuscripts” at the Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Leipzig.

We are now calling for contributions to the edited volume on “Marginal Commentaries and Glosses in Arabic Manuscripts”. The volume will be published in the Bibliotheca Arabica series with Brill Publishers (series editor: Prof. Dr. Verena Klemm). The editors of the volume are Stefanie Brinkmann and Boris Liebrenz.

For further details, please go to
https://www.saw-leipzig.de/de/projekte/bibliotheca-arabica/news/volume-marginal-commentaries-in-arabic-manuscripts

 

 

 

3. MEM dissertation prize

Middle East Medievalists (MEM) is pleased to announce its biennial prize for the best dissertation on the medieval Middle East (roughly 500-1500 CE). In an effort to recognize excellent doctoral research in the field, MEM will award the second biennial prize at the annual meeting of the Middle East Studies Association in Washington, DC in October 2020. Dissertations filed and defended between 1 July 2018 and 31 May 2020 will be eligible for this year’s prize.

Applicants must be current members in good standing of Middle East Medievalists to be considered. To join MEM or renew your membership please go to: https://www.middleeastmedievalists.com/membership-application/.

Deadline for electronic submissions is 1 June 2020.

If you have any questions about submission, please contact:

Adam Talib [adamtalib@gmail.com]

 

 

 

 

4. Software Developer for Arabic Literature Project, University of Muenster

Requirements: Completed university studies in computer science or related fields or a comparable qualification acquired in practice; very good knowledge of German OR English; willingness to acquire a minimal knowledge of the Arabic language; etc.

Deadline for applications: 25 May 2020. Information: https://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/md/content/ arabistikislam/stellenausschreibungen/softwareentwickler_ausschreibung_wwu_09.04.20.pdf. English text at the end.

 

 

 

 

5. Eight 24-month Fellowships of the “Academy in Exile” in the “Critical Thinking Program“ at Freie Universität Berlin

Eligible are scholars worldwide (PhD in humanities, social sciences, or law) who are threatened because of their academic work or engagement with human rights, democracy, and intellectual freedom. AiE fellowships provide opportunities for pursuing research and multidisciplinary collaborations in Germany. Evaluation criteria include academic merit, risk assessment, and suitability for AiE programs.

Application deadline: 15 May 2020.

Information: https://www.academy-in-exile.eu/2020/04/07/call-for-applications-eight-aie-fellowships-at-the-free-university-in-berlin/

 

 

 

 

6. Articles on “Islamic Ethics of Pandemics and Covid-19” for Special Issue of “Journal of Islamic Ethics (JIE)” (Brill)

The articles will be dedicated to the moral questions triggered by the novel coronavirus pandemic and how they can be addressed within the broad context of ethics of pandemics throughout history. The chapters will address Islamic Ethics as an interdisciplinary field where a wide range of scholarly disciplines will be engaged, including Islamic theology, philosophy, jurisprudence (fiqh & uṣūl), Sufism, adab.

Deadline for papers: 31 July 2020.

Information: https://www.editorialmanager.com/JIE/default.aspx; Contact : jie@brill.com

 

 

 

1.The Summer Institute for Languages of the Muslim World (SILMW) is an annual intensive language program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We invite students to join the 9% of Americans who choose the unique and meaningful experience of learning a Less Commonly Taught Language (LCTL).  We believe that learning these languages will allow students to gain new global perspectives and set them apart as highly qualified individuals for international work and engagement.  Many of these languages can assist students in securing international positions in governmental, development, and academic sectors.

 

This summer SILMW will take place from June 15 to August 8, 2020, and we will be offering Arabic, Persian, Swahili, Turkish, and Wolof.  The program is 8 weeks and is divided into two, 4-week semesters. The institute will be offered in an online format, consisting of activities such as language practice, conversation tables, movie nights, and more!

 

When you complete the program, not only will you be able to hold a conversation in a new language and have earned up to 10 credits, you will have had fun!

 

For more information, visit our website at https://linguistics.illinois.edu/languages/summer-institute-languages-muslim-world.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at silmw@illinois.edu.  We hope to see you this summer!

 

Staff for Less Commonly Taught Languages Program

Department of Linguistics
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
silmw@illinois.edu

 

 

 

 

2. Expressing Islam in a New Creative Space Online
6 May 2020, AKU-ISMC

 

The final lecture in the series “Recognising Islam in Europe and North America” that presents exciting research on Muslim contexts in Europe and North America. The series focuses on issues relating to Muslim agency, creativity and strivings. What engages people and drives them to find new directions? The series challenges conventional narratives about Islam in Europe and North America by providing stimulating, new perspectives based on recent and ongoing research.

Time and Venue
Wednesday 6 May 2020, 18.00-19.30
Online

Booking
This event is free but booking is essential:
To attend online, please click here

 

 

 

3. Columbia’s summer Persian language courses will also now be moving online.

See: https://summer.sps.columbia.edu/courses/summer-courses/middle-eastern-south-asian-and-african-studies

 

 

 

4. Online course on Mawlana Rumi

A new educational platform is now live, and ready to receive you and your students: Illuminated Courses.
https://www.illuminatedcourses.com

 

The first course is recorded, online, and open for registration: “The Heart of Rumi’s Poetry”

https://www.illuminatedcourses.com/theheartofrumispoetry

 

This is a chance to see Rumi in his full context, as a Persian-speaking Muslim sage drawing richly from the Qur’an and the being of the Prophet, and the teachings of the centuries of Muslim poets and sages who came before him.   If you have always wanted to see an aesthetically rich model of Islamic spirituality centered around Rumi’s teachings and poetry, this is for you!

 

The “Heart of Rumi’s Poetry” course contains all the material you and your students will need:   Twelve lessons, providing seven hours of video-based instructions for you and them to watch at your own pace.   The focus is on Rumi’s Masnavi.

 

The lectures are pre-recorded and loaded online, so one could start the class at any point, and would have three months to go through the lectures.    We are hoping to add three live classes in beginning and end of May and June to help answer questions, etc.

 

 

 

5. Hunter College will be offering Arabic 101 and 102, and Modern Palestinian Culture online this summer. Students do not have to be in New York to take these courses.

 

Please forward this e-mail your colleagues and students, and if there are any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me, or have your students contact me at aelinson@hunter.cuny.edu

 

Classes will be taught remotely.

 

Students who are not CUNY students will apply to Hunter College as non-degree students. Applications are being processed within 24-48 hours. Information on that can be found here: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/admissions/admissions-information/non-degree

 

Tuition and fees information can be found here: http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/onestop/finances/bursar/tuition-and-fees-information

1.Workshop on “Cinema & Islam – How Filmmaking Shapes Islam and How Islam Shapes Filmmaking”, Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London, 12 June 2020

The workshop examines the ways in which filmmakers explore Islam as a human and historical phenomenon characterized and constituted, not merely by immense variety and diversity, but by the prodigious presence of outright contradiction shaped by Muslims and Non-Muslims.

Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/5856093/call-paper-creative-work-cinema-islam-how-filmmaking-shapes

 

 

 

 

2. BRISMES Annual Conference 2020: “Knowledge, Power and Middle Eastern Studies”, University of Kent, Canterbury, 29 June – 1 July 2020

In light of the rapidly-evolving public health situation connected to the COVID-19 outbreak, the BRISMES Annual Conference (29 June – 1 July 2020) has been postponed until 2021.

http://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference/postponed-brismes/

 

 

 

 

3. 49^th Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies (NAAIMS): “Diverse Approaches to Qur’anic Studies in the Western Academy”, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 25 September 2020

Papers might address the following questions: What Determines the Course Outline for Qur’anic Studies in the Western Academy and the Curricula for Qur’anic Studies in Muslim-Majority Nations? What Roles do Social Media Platforms Play in Understanding the Qur’an? How has Digitization of Texts Affected the Field of Qur’anic Studies? Etc.

Deadlines for abstracts: 20 April 2020. Information: https://naaims.org/

 

 

 

 

4. International Conference: “Musical Sources and Theories from Ancient Greece to the Ottoman Period”, Ruhr-University Bochum, 19-21 November 2020

Papers will focus on Arabic, Persian and Byzantine music theory, instruments and ways of transmission, with their roots in Ancient Greece and an outlook onto Ottoman and Safavid music. We encourage especially early career researchers to send their proposals.

Information: https://www.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/orient/aktuelles/index.html

 

 

 

 

5. Various Grants of the Istanbul Research Institute

The grants are offered for researchers working on projects related to its departments of Byzantine, Ottoman, Atatürk and Republican-Era studies, and its “Istanbul and Music” Research Program, including grants for PhD projects as well as travel und conference grants.

Deadline for applications: 11 May 2020. Information: https://en.iae.org.tr/Grants/18

 

 

 

 

6. PhD in History at Koç University in Istanbul

The History PhD program seeks to provide students with a strong grounding in the advanced study of history, especially in Ottoman history and the following areas: the Arab World (Greater Syria and Egypt), Europe (East and Southeast Europe including Russia and the former Soviet Union), the Eastern Mediterranean, and Turkey.

Deadline for application: 29 May 2020. Information: https://gsssh.ku.edu.tr/en/academics/history/program-overview/

 

 

 

 

7. CALL FOR PAPERS International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA)

Special Issue: “Hinterland Forces: Architectural Responses at the Margins”

Thematic volume planned for July 2022

Abstract submission deadline: 15 June 2020

The hinterland is a realm beyond the known, beyond the confines of the urban core, or beyond the acceptable iterations of religious praxis, cultural identity, political affiliation, and ways of being. The hinterland is a notional locale and a physical one, operating as a geographical reference, a spatial designator, and a conceptual frame. Those who stray or are forced into hinterland spaces may be at the frontiers of new thought, interactions, and technologies, but they are also at the margins. In current parlance, “marginality” describes a state that is the result of societal conditions that should be ameliorated. In other words, those at the centre (of power, urbanisation, settlement, scholarship, education, religious decision making, economic stability, etc.) have superior resources to those on the margins and may even be the source and cause of their peripheralisation. The marginalised may face state and societal pressure to conform or face punitive actions, including physical relocation, or the loss of access to important shrines, prayer spaces, schools, and other resources including hospitals, banks, and government offices. The architectures of persecuted, disadvantaged, and vulnerable people showcase unique adaptive strategies, which, in the writings of French thinker Michel de Certeau, reflect “tactics” that co-exist with the long-term and therefore spatially entrenched “strategies” of those in power (de Certeau, 1984).

 

This special issue of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture invites papers on architectural responses at the margins, including examinations of the forces that create the hinterland categories of marginalisation, the tactical approaches of the marginalised, and the strategic efforts to destroy sites, limit spatial agency and access, and control people. We particularly welcome papers on regions and communities not widely covered in the published record of Islamic architectures, sites and responses, including but not limited to western and coastal China, sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The margins are in constant flux; this is both the result of and cause for outright conflict and restrictive policies. Indeed, scholarly emphasis is sometimes determined by the accessibility of study sites and regions. Subjects that may exist beyond the traditional scholarly scope of the field and outside what is often considered the geographical heartland of the Islamic world, and work on those living at the extremities of cultural and doctrinal expectations for communities entrenched in either predominantly Muslim or majority non-Muslim surroundings are also welcome.

 

In the Islamic context, marginalization creates specific architectural responses that are often dynamic, transient, temporary, mobile, or executed in an everyday/vernacular idiom. Whether these are the mosques of the Uyghur minority in western China, the prayer rooms of Muslim students in Latin American universities, or the schools and dormitories of the recently besmirched Hizmet movement in Turkey, these sites and the people that make, care for, and use them are frequently at risk. Built environments made marginal, or made by or for the marginalised, can draw the ire of the central power structure, even long after the historical period of their construction. The iconoclastic destruction of shrines and manuscripts in Timbuktu, Mali in 2012 is a case in point. In other contexts, such buildings may escape the notice of those expecting “mainstream” approaches to religious and social life by providing hidden congregational spaces and sanctuaries for the people and activities within.

 

A number of historical Muslim communities formed on the outer reaches of the early Islamic world. Muslims settled seasonally and permanently along Chinese and Southern African coastal cities, on islands and peninsulas in the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean, and on the frontiers of sub Saharan trade routes, bringing Islamic beliefs and practices with them. In the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the move from empires to nation states, the end of colonial rule, and shifting sources of international financing have created heretofore unknown categories for people and their architectures in marginal zones. Social theories of the dichotomies between steppe and savannah, rural and urban, nomadic and settled, centre and periphery have been used as a framework for many historical studies. Yet, dynamic forces persistently cause people to interact and to intertwine their lives, so that populations grow and change. Ideas about “purity” in race, religious heritage, practice and behavior in Islamic society deny the social realities of the hinterland. Language, cuisine, doctrine, the use of space, and design preferences at the margins take on new aspects precisely because they are subject to hinterland forces. These innovations and adaptations are not always accepted by the broader community, or are seen as a threat by those in power.

 

Studies which examine the impacts of disenfranchisement and the structural conditions that lead to marginalization have strong applications in policy development. In the Islamic context, people on the margins may not fit societal expectations, may have made intentional moves to live outside the “centre,” or may have been forced into the hinterland by their governments, religious leaders, or neighbours. While the role of architecture is not typically central to these discussions, architecture is a significant marker of marginalisation. Social issues, political shifts, neoliberal policies, and transnational design questions are at the forefront of the contemporary built environment, and some aspects of design have abetted the creation of new margins. The term “Islamic” can be used to regulate and restrict design projects, a strategy that is emerging as states with Muslim governance are reacting against international policies and perceived amorality and heterodoxies.

 

Architectural technologies and media for monitoring spatial change are being used by scholars and activists to assemble data on the destruction of buildings, the movement of people, the shifting of boundaries, and the eradication of ecosystems. Open-source collaborations are positioning architectural approaches at the forefront of hinterland analysis, and while digital reporting once provided a kind of shield for those seeking to disseminate critical examinations of refugee landscapes, crimes against the vulnerable, and spaces of contention, activists and scholars of the marginalised are no longer beyond the surveillance of authorities who may detain, question, and deny them the ability to obtain travel papers and entry visas.

 

This special issue encourages case studies of architectural forces that have impacted people by relocating them to hinterland positions or emphasising their marginalisation, as well as architectures created, utilized, and envisioned by marginalised groups within the Islamic context. The issue particularly welcomes: scholarship from disciplines and methodological approaches that posit new definitions of what constitutes architecture and space or of what makes architecture “Islamic”; studies that combine statistical analysis and architecture or offer policy assessments alongside architectural matters; positions beyond the design and history of architecture fields (geography, anthropology, religious studies, linguistics and religious studies, gender and children and youth studies, musicology, sociological disciplines, and others); analysis of design solutions for people at the margins; projects at the “academic margins” (reporting on lived experience, traditional teachings on the environment, journalism).

 

Questions that might be addressed by contributors to this special issue are unlimited but might include:

1. What means are available to investigate the palimpsest left behind by sites that existed for a brief time, were confiscated and converted for other uses, or were razed and removed from the record, even the record of community memory?
2. What is the relationship between state and ethnic geographical margins and groups that gravitate away from doctrinal centrality?
3. How have postcolonial and post-secular tendencies impacted the built environment of the hinterland?
4. What are the possible architecturally-rooted relationships between poverty, labour, impermanence and tenuousness, and marginalisation?
5. How do marginalised communities access emergency services or participate in state and international policy formation during a disease pandemic or a natural disaster? How do such communities cope with legal, health, and supply issues within their own sectors?
6. How do marginalised spaces function when ties are severed to the historical archive of buildings, documents, and oral histories?
7. How do the areligious and antireligious function in devout societies, and how are believers marginalised amongst non-practising communities?
8. How are new technologies used in capturing, recording, and disseminating information about and from the margins, including photographic methods, satellite mapping, social media, and open-source collaborations?
9. Why are some subjects more readily available in the published record or course offerings?
10. How does focusing linguistic training for researchers on Arabic and Persian, or emphasizing connections to what are frequently called the “central” Islamic lands, seemingly push western Chinese, Southeast Asian, Sub-Saharan African, Eastern European, and Latin American Islamic architectures to the hinterlands of the publishing and scholarly realms of Islamic fields? Furthermore, do conference topics, journal entries, the parameters for research grants, and the wording of job applications support or defy what lies on the margins?
11. How do the margins operate, conceptually and physically, to quarantine people to certain sites and spaces?

Articles offering historical and theoretical analysis (DiT papers) should be between 6000 and 8000 words, and those on design and practice (DiP papers) between 3000 and 4000 words. Practitioners are welcome to contribute insofar as they address the critical framework of the journal. Urbanists, art historians, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists, sociologists, and historians are also welcome. Please send a title and a 400-word abstract to the guest editor, Dr. Angela Andersen (angela.andersen.53@gmail.com), by 15 June 2020. Authors of accepted proposals will be contacted soon thereafter and will be requested to submit full papers by 30 January 2021. All papers will be subject to blind peer review. For author instructions, please consult: www.intellectbooks.com/ijia

1. University of Chicago Press posts this notice on its website: “all e-books on our site are immediately available for direct purchase at 30% off using the EBOOK30 code at checkout.” (https://pressblog.uchicago.edu/2020/03/31/a-message-from-university-of-chicago-press-director-garrett-kiely.html)

 

 

 

2. CfP: The First International Online Conference on “Ethics and Inclusive Disasters (Focusing on Coronavirus Disease)”

 

Faculty of Religious Studies of Shahid Beheshti University,Tehran,Iran July 6th, 2020

 

The first international academic conference on “Ethics and Inclusive Disasters (Focusing on Coronavirus Disease)” is an academic event in ethical/moral studies. The conference will be held online by Shahid Beheshti University, in Tehran, Iran. All accepted abstracts/ papers will be published after double-blind peer review. This conference has five main aims:

1) Analyzing religious and moral challenges caused by the spread of coronavirus disease

2) Strengthening social tolerance and soothing the community

3) Helping the country’s health system in crisis situations

4) Helping governmental institutions in controlling and guiding society in crisis situations

5) Analyzing the behaviors and religiosity of contemporary man in the post-corona period

Conference Topics:

1. a) Medical ethics and the challenges of coronavirus disease
2. b) Media ethics and inclusive disasters
3. c) Political ethics and the duties of governments in the face of inclusive disasters
4. d) Inclusive disasters and religious moral lifestyle
5. e) Socio-economic ethics and inclusive diseases

 

Important Dates:

Abstract submission deadline: May 4th, 2020.

Final paper submission deadline: June 19th, 2020.

Conference online holding date: July 6th, 2020.

 

Email: ayenehmarefat@sbu.ac.ir

Phone number: 021- 22431785

 

 

 

 

3. Manchester University Press offers free access to its digital content of over 1,600 eBooks and journals.
It can be accessed through this platform: https://www.manchesteropenhive.com/

 

 

 

4. Middle East History. Wesleyan University’s History Department invites applications for a visiting assistant professor to teach the history of the Middle East. The position will run from September 1, 2020 until May 31, 2021.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Interviews for finalists will be conducted via Skype or Zoom.

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=60079

 

 

 

 

5. The Department of History at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, invites applications for two full-time assistant professors in the field of History of Science.

The candidates’ research record and teaching should focus on one of the following fields:

• History of science in the Islamic world from the Medieval or Early-Modern to the Modern era;
• History of science in the Ottoman World from the Medieval or Early-Modern to the Modern era;
• History of science in Europe and the US from the Medieval or Early-Modern to the Modern era.

 

 

The deadline for submitting applications is May 7, 2020.

https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=60078

 

 

 

 

6. AMECYS Call for Papers:

Graduate Student Paper Prize

 

Submissions deadline:  Friday, May 1, 2020

The Association of Middle East Children’s and Youth Studies (AMECYS) calls graduate students engaged in the study of children and youth in the region to submit their papers to the AMECYS graduate student paper prize.

 

Papers can be submitted in any capacity that aligns with AMECYS’ mission statement:

The AMECYS is a private, non-profit, international association for scholars with an interest in the study of children and youth in the Middle East, North Africa and their diasporic communities. Through interdisciplinary programs, publications, and services, AMECYS promotes innovative scholarship, facilitates global academic exchange, and enhances public understanding about Middle Eastern children and youth in diverse times and places. 

 

Requirements for submission:

• Papers should not exceed 7,500 (excluding bibliographies and endnotes)
• The paper should never have been submitted for publication
• The format needs to include: Standard font, Double-spaced, 1” margins, IJMES standards for endnotes and transliteration
• Registered member of AMECYS
• Proof of registered graduate student enrolment for the 2019-2020 academic year may be requested at a later date

 

Send submissions as a pdf or word doc to Dylan.baun@uah.edu.

The AMECYS program chair and one other AMECYS board member will review all papers submitted by members of AMECYS that are received by the deadline of Friday, May 1.

For any queries, email AMECYS program chair at dylan.baun@uah.edu.

 

 

 

 

7. CFP: Catastrophes and Memory (500-1500 CE), 4th Edinburgh Conference in Late Antique, Islamic, and Byzantine Studies 19-20 November 2020

Disasters (natural, manmade or “supernatural”) shape historical memory and our understanding of the past. This conference focuses on the problematic relations between catastrophes and memory in Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine societies. Memory plays a crucial role in the way events are perceived, understood and narrated by different groups and elites: locals might see the conquest of their city as a catastrophe, while the conquerors portray the same as glorious or divinely inspired.We invite papers and posters that address issues and questions including, but not limited to:

• Natural/environmental: Plagues, earthquakes, famines/droughts, floods, fires,climate change
• Socio-cultural/linguistic: Iconoclasm, artistic and urban disruption/renewal, cultural vandalism, translation movements, language death and breaks in literary tradition
• Political/military: Conquests, coups, sieges, wars, revolts, revolutions, civil wars, usurpations, succession crises and religious/ “holy” wars (Crusade/Jihad)
• Religious: Heresies, schisms, theological or dogmatic conflict, new religions, apocalyptic traditions and eschatology
• Memory “devices” and strategies:How do memories of catastrophes manifest themselves in material culture, texts, images and other different sources? Where do we see evidence of intentional forgetting?
• Comparative/Interdisciplinary: Elites versus non-elite memory of catastrophes; geographical (Mediterranean and Eurasia); temporal (500-1500CE)
• The role of the 21st century cultural historian: What is and should be modern scholars’ role in situating catastrophe?

This conference will be hosted by the Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Society of the University of Edinburgh on November 19-20, 2020 in Edinburgh.We welcome papers and posters from postgraduate students and early career researchers from all disciplines with an interest in Late Antique, Islamic or Byzantine studies.

Papers: Presentation is 20 minutes in length, delivered in English.

Posters:Participants will present their research at a poster session. Dimensions should not exceed 70cm (width) x 100cm (height) and posters must be printed and brought by the author.We strongly encourage undergraduate, masters and first-year PhD students to summit posters of their dissertations or research.

To apply, please respond with an e-mail including whether you hope to present a paper or poster, an abstract of no more than 300 words, and a small academic biography of no more than 120 words to edibyzpg@ed.ac.uk.

The deadline for submitting papers and posters is June 15, 2020.

Registration Fees:

Students speakers: £15 before September 15, 2020; £20 after

Non-Students speakers: £35 before September 15, 2020; £40 after

(fee includes lunch both days)

We will publish a selection of the papers in a peer-reviewed volume that will bring together the strongest contributions in each area to produce an edited volume of high-quality, deep coherence and rich variety.

Any questions please address to edibyzpg@ed.ac.uk