Categories : Academic items
Shii News – Academic Items
1.York University, Canada, Assistant Prof of Middle Eastern Diasporic Literatures and Cultures
The Department of English, in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional
Studies, invites applications for a tenure-track Professorial Stream
appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor in Middle Eastern
Diasporic Literatures and Cultures to commence July 1st 2020. We are
particularly interested in candidates whose research can be situated
within the fields of Postcolonial and World Literature in English within
and across periods, genres, and regions. Interdisciplinary and
intermedial approaches are especially welcome. Salary will be
commensurate with qualifications and experience. All York University
positions are subject to budgetary approval.
The successful candidate will have a PhD in English Literature or a
related field with a specialization in Middle Eastern Diasporic
Literatures and Cultures; a dynamic, substantial, and ongoing research
portfolio; an innovative scholarly profile; and a track record of
experience and demonstrable excellence in university teaching. We are
particularly interested in candidates who engage Middle Eastern
Diasporic Literatures and Cultures from a variety of global perspectives
that may include but should not be limited to North America, with
demonstrated expertise in theoretical and critical paradigms in
Postcolonial and/or World Literature. The successful applicant will
direct courses in World Literature and Postcolonial writing at all
levels, contribute to curricular development in their area of
specialization, and participate actively in the graduate program. The
successful applicant shall be eligible for prompt appointment to the
Faculty of Graduate Studies. Pedagogical innovation in such priority
areas as experiential education and technology-enhanced learning is
preferred.
To be guaranteed full consideration, completed applications must be received by January 25, 2020.
See: http://webapps.yorku.ca/academichiringviewer/viewposition.jsp?positionnumber=2025
2. Asst Prof in Arabic Language, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait
https://www.gust.edu.kw/Vacancy_details/92978
Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) is Kuwait’s first private, American-model university. GUST currently offers programs in Arts and Sciences, and Business-including an MBA. GUST is internationally accredited by various bodies including ABET/CAC (Computer Science), ACA (Mass Communication), AACSB (Business), NOSS (Foundation Program Unit) and CEA (Foundation Program in English).
The Department of Humanities and Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at GUST invites applications for a full-time faculty position in Arabic Language and Literature at the rank of Assistant Professor to start Fall 2020. The Research area is open but preference will be given to candidates with an experience in teaching both language and literature courses. English fluency is a must.
Qualified candidates are expected to:
- Have completed all the requirements for their doctorate from a reputable international University at the time of appointment.
- Maintain an increasingly significant professional and/or scholarly practice.
- Have a native fluency or a near native-like fluency
- Have an experience teaching for Arabic native speakers or for Arabic majors at the university level
- Have at least three years of teaching experience at the University level
- Have at least published three good quality publications
The University is committed to lively teaching, integrating educational technology, and to active research and other forms of scholarship. Candidates must have completed, at the time of appointment, all requirements for their doctorate in the advertised fields. Applications will be considered until the position is filled. Although preference will be given to candidates who qualify for appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor those who qualify for appointment at higher ranks are also encouraged to apply.
GUST offers generous salaries and an excellent benefits package including a housing and transportation allowances, educational allowances for dependents, private medical and dental plan, as well as annual airfare return tickets home. Kuwait is also an income-tax-free country. Interested applicants are requested to visit our vacancies page at www.gust.edu.kw/vacancies and fill out the online form and upload supporting documents including a cover letter, CV and the names and contact information for at least three references. Review of applications begins in December and will continue until the positions are filled.
3. Persian Language and Culture, University of British Columbia
https://asia.ubc.ca/department/careers/
The Department of Asian Studies, at The University of British Columbia, Vancouver campus seeks to make a full-time appointment in the field of Persian Language and Culture at the rank of Instructor, tenure-track, with responsibility for teaching courses and developing curriculum in Persian language and culture.
Requirements include: advanced proficiency in Persian; a Ph.D. in Persian Language and Linguistics, Persian Applied Linguistics, Persian language pedagogy, or a closely related field; exceptional organizational and leadership skills; evidence of substantial experience and excellent teaching ability in Persian for both heritage and non-heritage learners at the post-secondary level in North America; experience preparing teaching materials independently or collaboratively; and a strong track record of full participation in team work and program affairs. Individuals with experience in community outreach, program coordination and design, and teaching innovative Content-Based Instruction (CBI) curriculum for advanced learners of Persian are particularly encouraged to apply. We seek an exceptional teacher with a track record of employing innovative pedagogies, such as community-based learning, flexible and/or online learning. The successful candidate will be expected to maintain an excellent record of teaching, service, and educational leadership.
Candidates must have a Ph.D. (or expect to have successfully defended) prior to the starting date. The normal teaching load of an Instructor is six 3-credit courses over the academic year. Courses will range from first- to third-year undergraduate courses and the bulk of the annual teaching load will be courses in Persian Language for both heritage and non-heritage learners, with occasional content courses taught in English. The successful candidate will be expected to work closely with tenure-stream Asian Studies faculty in South Asian and Persianate and Islamic history and culture, and with any future hires in the area of Persian/Iranian Studies.
Application closes on December 18, 2019
4. The Department of Modern Languages and Cultures at Virginia Military Institute invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Arabic beginning 1 August 2020.
https://virginiajobs.peopleadmin.com/postings/168558
VMI faculty teach six courses per year and participate in academic advising, committee work, research, and mentoring of undergraduate research.
VMI is a state-supported four-year undergraduate military college of liberal arts, engineering and the sciences located in the southern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Lexington, population 7,000, is also home to Washington and Lee University and offers a stimulating cultural atmosphere in a pleasant, rural setting. Please see our website at http://vmi.edu for more information.
Faculty members at VMI wear uniforms and adhere to military customs, but military experience is not required.
Position open until filled; review of applications begins immediately. To ensure full consideration, please submit all materials by 15 December 2019.
5. The Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
at The George Washington University invites applications for a Teaching
Assistant Professor position in Arabic language and Modern Arabic
Literature to begin as early as Fall 2020. This is a non-tenure accruing
three-year position with the possibility of renewal.
https://www.gwu.jobs/postings/71608
Specific Duties and Responsibilities:
Position entails teaching Arabic at all levels, including Modern Arabic
Literature in the original language and in translation, under the
oversight of the Arabic program director as well as the department chair.
Minimum Qualifications:
All applicants must have PhD in hand in Arabic or a closely related
field, teaching excellence at the university level as demonstrated by
course evaluation summaries, potential for curricular development,
native or near native fluency in Arabic as well as in English, and
experience in use of instructional technology.
Review of applications will begin on December 2, 2019 and will continue until the position is filled.
6. Tübingen Hadith Studies Workshop: „Intersecting Perspectives on Texts, Methods and Interpretation in Hadith Studies“, Tübingen University, 13-14 December 2019
See program at https://uni-tuebingen.de/fakultaeten/philosophische-fakultaet/fachbereiche/aoi/orient-islamwissenschaft/aktuelles/
7. International Workshop: “Multilateral Dynamics between the Middle East and Asia in the Mongol Era“, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 15 December 2019
See program at
https://eacenter.huji.ac.il/event/multilateral-dynamics-between-middle-east-and-asia-mongol-era
8. Workshop: “Historiography of the Perception of Islam through Manuscripts, Korans and Their Displacement”, Naples, 11 February 2020
The aim of this workshop is to approach the question of the relationship between Christianity and Islam through the study of the production, circulation and uses of Arabic manuscripts, and mainly Korans, in the late medieval and early modern Mediterranean Europe.
Information: https://is-le.eu/workshop/historiography-perception-islam-manuscripts-korans-displacement/
9. Islam Section of the AAR Midwest Regional Conference, Muncie, Indiana, 27-28 March 2020
Papers are invited which focus on any aspect of the Islamic tradition, including its texts, history, or practices and on any time period and be from any disciplinary approach, so long as the topic is capable of engaging scholars of Islam.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 January 2020. Information: https://sites.google.com/site/aarmidwestregion/call-for-papers
10. Conference of the Collaborative Research Group Africa in the Indian Ocean: “New Gulf Streams – Middle East and Eastern Africa Intersected”, Lisbon, 23-24 April 2020
The conference will be organised in interdisciplinary thematic panels focussing on the interconnections between Horn of Africa & Eastern Africa societies and the Middle East countries, with a special focus on the challenges of recent geopolitical, religious and economic ties between these regions.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2020.
Information: https://cei.iscte-iul.pt/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/CfP_AEGIS.pdf
11. Workshop: “Travelling Practices and the Emergence of Tourism in the Middle East (16th-20th Centuries), Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Vienna, 12-13 June 2020
This workshop will analyse travel literature (travelogues and guidebooks) from the 16th to the 20th centuries with regard to the practices, patterns and significations of travel. In shifting the focus to routine and mundane aspects of travelling, it will serve to place travel narratives in a relational framework combining basic questions of infrastructure and transportation with the movements and pathways of individual travellers.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 December 2019. Information: https://travelmena.univie.ac.at
12. Conference of the International Association for the Study of Arabia (IASA): „Seminar for Arabian Studies“, Cordoba, 15-18 July 2020
This is the only annual international forum for the presentation of the latest academic research on the Arabian Peninsula. The subjects covered include archaeology, history, epigraphy, languages, literature, art, culture, ethnography, geography, etc. from the earliest times to the present day or, in the case of political and social history, to the end of the Ottoman Empire.
Deadline for abstracts: 28 February 2020. Information: https://www.theiasa.com/2020-seminar/
13. 27th International Congress of the German Middle East Studies Associatiion (DAVO), University of Osnabrück, 24-26 September 2020
Papers are invited in all fields of social sciences and humanities related to the Middle East and North Africa as well as the impact of this region on the development of other parts of the world.
Deadline for proposals of open panels: 30 April 2020.
Deadline for abstracts of papers and closed panels: 30 June 2020.
Information: amke.dietert@googlemail.com
14. Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Politics of the Middle East, SOAS University of London
The appointee will strengthen and work with the Department’s group of Middle East scholars, and they will actively contribute to and shape the delivery of our undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Knowledge of Northern Africa (the Maghreb) is an advantage to complement existing expertise in the Department. We are open as to thematic specialism, but particularly welcome applications from candidates with a background in comparative and/or international politics of the Middle East.
Deadline for applications: 15 December 2019. Information: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/BWS394/lecturer-senior-lecturer-in-politics-of-the-middle-east
15. Assistant Professor in Comparative Politics of the Middle East / North Africa, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Required qualifications: a Ph.D. in Political Science or a closely related field is required by the time of appointment. Candidates must have a research focus that involves comparative political analysis in the MENA region and demonstrated excellence in research. They also must have evidence of teaching effectiveness to meet the Department’s key teaching needs in its B.A. and M.A. programs.
Screening of applications will begin 21 January 2020 and continue until the position is filled. Information: http://careers.pageuppeople.com/968/cw/en-us/job/511605/asst-professor-comparative-politicsmiddle-eastnorth-africa
16. Articles on “Human-Animal Encounters in the Middle East” for Special Issue of Journal „Diyâr – Journal of Ottoman, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies
Submissions should consider the interplay between human and non-human animals and provide a lens to analyse the Middle East in an innovative, creative, and not exclusively anthropocentric way. We welcome contributions from political science, history, sociology, anthropology, literary studies, religious studies and art history.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 December 2019. Information: https://mea2019.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/k_mea2019/Cfp_Diyar_Special_Issue.pdf
17. Article for Edited Book on “International Response to Domestic Violence in the Middle East“ (Routledge Publication)
Special attention is devoted to the evolution of anti-domestic violence laws, the way that law enforcement agencies, non-governmental organizations and/or health agencies deal with domestic violence, and how all these initiatives influence women’s rights and interests.
Expressions of Interest due by 15 January 2020.
Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/5134734/call-chapters-international-response-domestic-violence
18. Aimée Froom, ed., Bestowing Beauty: Masterpieces from Persian Lands ~ Selections from the Hossein Afshar Collection. Houston: The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 2019. ISBN 9780300247022.
https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300247022/bestowing-beauty
This book examines more than 100 extraordinary works in the Hossein Afshar Collection, one of the world’s finest collections of Persian art. Celebrating the beauty that Persian art bestows on its beholders, the featured treasures in a variety of media span centuries—from the eve of the Islamic period in the sixth century to the end of the nineteenth century—and include exquisite miniature paintings; rare Qur’an pages; precious inlaid metalwares; an impressive range of innovative ceramics; sumptuous velvet embroideries; and monumental silk carpets. The collection underscores subjects and themes that resonate across cultures, such as faith and piety, the art of the word, love and longing, banquets and battles, kingship and authority, and earth and nature. These themes offer the scholarly framework for a lavishly illustrated presentation of masterworks from the collection elaborated with extended, meticulously researched catalogue entries and focused essays by renowned international art historians. These thoughtful, original reflections on works that, by and large, have never been published before are accompanied by original translations of the numerous inscriptions that appear on a variety of the objects.
19. A new podcast entitled “DAWLA: New Histories of the Medieval Middle East”. The podcast is inspired by the research being carried out on the historiography of fifteenth-century Egypt and Syria at Ghent University. You can read more about it here.
Our first two episodes are now available on SoundCloud, iTunes, and Spotify.
These episodes introduce the context of our research and challenge the use of the term “Mamluk Sultanate” to refer to the political formation which dominated Egypt and Syria between 1250 and 1517. Instead, we argue for the use of the term “Cairo Sultanate”.
From January 2020, we plan to release new episodes every month focusing on the individual historians we are studying, their lives, and their works.
Any and all comments and feedback would be greatly appreciated. You can contact us at mamlukisation@ugent.be
20. Arizona State University – Assistant Professor in Religious Studies, with specialization in Islamic Studies and Classical Arabic Traditions
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=59670
Application deadline is January 19, 2020.
- December 10, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. The Council on Middle East Studies (CMES) at the MacMillan Center invites applications for a post-doctoral position at Yale University for the 2020-2021 academic year. Candidates must have research and teaching experience relevant to North Africa, including any period from early modern to contemporary (1500 – present).The Council invites applications from across the social sciences and humanities.
The Post-Doctoral Associate will teach one course during the year, preferably in the Fall semester, convene the Middle East Studies Colloquium, and assist the chair of the Council with programming. Associates are expected to be in residence from August 2020 to May 2021 and take an active role in the activities of the Council on Middle East Studies.
Requirements include a viable research project and teaching an undergraduate seminar in the field of specialization. All applicants should have in-depth knowledge of at least one Middle East-related language; be fluent in English; and must have completed the PhD by the time of appointment. Applicants should submit a cover letter; a one-page description of research plans; a draft of a course syllabus and a title and brief summary of a second course; a CV; and two letters of reference. Compensation includes a competitive salary, moving expenses, research account, health insurance, and other benefits afforded to post-doctoral associates at Yale: http://your.yale.edu/work-yale/benefits/my-benefits-yale/postdoctoral-associate-benefits.
We will begin accepting applications immediately with review beginning February 1, 2020 and continuing until the selections are final.
2. Announcement of and Call for Papers for 2020 Conference:
Arabic-Script Manuscripts in Africa, 13-16 September 2020, Alexandria, Egypt
About the Conference
Bibliotheca Alexandrina and The Islamic Manuscript Association—in partnership with the library’s Manuscript Center and the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation—are delighted to announce the conference Arabic-Script Manuscripts in Africa, which will be held at Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt from 13 to 16 September 2020.
The conference will comprise six panels featuring original, current research on the Arabic-script manuscript cultures of North and Sub-Saharan Africa and the care and management of manuscript collections across the continent:
- Historical Traditions of Arabic-Script Manuscripts in Africa
• Manuscript Libraries and Manuscript Heritage Centres in Africa
• African Arabic-Script Languages
• Cataloguing and Publishing
• Preservation, Conservation, and Digitization
• Cultural Property Protection
Each panel will include four papers—one presented by an invited keynote speaker and three presented by persons selected through a call for papers—and the organizers are honoured that the following keynote speakers have confirmed their participation: Dr Helmi Sharawy, Dr Ahmed Chaouki Binebine, Dr Mohamed Diagayeté, and Dr Maria Luisa Russo.
Additionally, the conference will include six workshops corresponding to the themes of the panels. The languages of the conference will be Arabic, English, and French; and simultaneous interpretation will be available throughout the event. Subsequent to the conference, the organizers will publish its papers in an edited volume of proceedings.
Due to limited seating, the organizers recommend registering for the event in advance via the online registration form. Registration will open on 15 January 2020 and be conducted on a first come, first served basis. Persons wanting to attend a workshop must meet any prerequisites for participation and complete the separate online workshop application form. The application period will also open on 15 January 2020.
For more information, please visit the conference’s webpage, at http://asmiaconference.org/
3. Open Access Book:
A Monument to Medieval Syrian Book Culture
The Library of Ibn ʿAbd al-Hādī
Konrad Hirschler
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-a-monument-to-medieval-syrian-book-culture.html
4. Registration for the next MBRN conference, ‘British Muslim Charitable Organisations: A Best Practice Forum’, is now open.
Birmingham, Jan 15th
A one-day conference organised by the Muslims in Britain Research Network in partnership with the Muslim Charities Forum and the Humanitarian Academy for Development
This event is for scholars and practitioners working in, working with or researching Muslim charities that are based in the United Kingdom but conduct charitable activities throughout the world. British Muslim INGOs have been in operation in the UK since the early eighties. Since then, the sector has grown and now includes over a hundred charities which have a total spend of just under half a billion pounds annually.
These charities have been at the forefront of providing aid in times of crisis and in supporting long term economic development in some of the poorest parts of the world. At this conference, scholars and practitioners from across this sector will showcase their work from the field and discuss and debate the challenges the sector faces, whether to do with fundraising, policy contexts, or working internationally. Papers will either focus on a specific aspect of British Muslim charity that presenters wish to highlight as best practice, or seek to open debates about working in any aspect of development work. The conference organisers intend to collect all or part of the proceedings of the conference to be published in book form.
The call for papers for this event has now closed, but all are welcome to register to attend.
The Muslims in Britain Research Network is a network of academics, researchers and practitioners that specialises in studying and supporting the development of the British Muslim community. The Muslim Charities Forum has been studying the sector for the past year and will be launching its research into the charity sector at this event. The Humanitarian Academy for Development is a centre of excellence serving the leadership, research and talent development needs of the humanitarian sector.
Tickets can be booked at the link below:
5. Call for Papers: Ideas in Motion: Arabia in Late Antiquity
Organisers: Leiden University and King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies
Date: August 26-27, 2020
Location: Leiden, the Netherlands
The Leiden University Late Antique and Medieval Studies Initiative in conjunction with the King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies is hosting a two-day international conference on Ideas in Motion: Arabia in Late Antiquity. The conference will address key themes in religious, intellectual, and cultural history in Arabia in the period between 570-1000 AD. Central topics include:
- Transmission of ideas and texts
- Religious and philosophical doctrines and beliefs in Arabia
- Devotional piety and theology
- The Qurʾan, its history, and intellectual debates surrounding the text
- Early Islam and other religiosities and intellectual trends
- Holy men and holy places
- Apocalypticism and eschatology
We particularly welcome contributions from scholars working on the intersection between intellectual-cultural history and religious studies, and whose primary concern is the history of ideas and thought.
For consideration, please send a 300-word abstract in English to a.bdaiwi@hum.leidenuniv.nl by January 15, 2020. The language of the conference will be in English. Participants’ full travel and accommodation costs will be covered by the conference organisers.
6. Perspectives on Academic Persian
Springer Language Policy (LAPO) Series
CALL FOR CHAPTERS
There is a growing competition among many Middle Eastern languages to produce their academic discourse. Similar to academic English, most non-Western languages, including Persian, are developing new styles and genres to produce academic texts. Some follow conventional patterns of academic writings. Although the available literature discusses the literary aspects of Persian exhaustively (an example could be the scholarship on poetry and prose), not much has been written on styles and forms of academic Persian. Non-literary aspects of Persian, particularly its academic potential, remain unnoticed. In this volume, the primary question is, “what is academic Persian?” Could one revisit academic aspects to a language that has long been known for poetry and prose?
Perspectives on Academic Persian is a modest proposal to discover new areas of an old language. The volume would be published by Springer in the Language Policy (LAPO) series.
Abstract submission Feb 10, 2020
Acceptance note Mar 01, 2020
Chapter submission July 30, 2020
Initial reviews Aug 30, 2020
Revision submission Sep 30, 2020
For further information, contact:
Abbas Aghdassi, Ed., (aghdassi@um.ac.ir )
Assistant Professor
Ferdowsi University of Mashhad
7. Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion
Edited by Ralph Hood & Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor
For more information, please visit brill.com/rssr
ISSN 1046-8064
Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion (RSSSR) is an interdisciplinary, international peer-viewed annual series, which publishes new and innovative research within the social scientific study of religion or belief. Contributions span a range of theoretical orientations, geographic contexts and research methods, though most articles are reports of original quantitative or qualitative research related mainly to the sociology and/or psychology of religion.
RSSR usually includes a guest-edited special section that allows networks of researchers to report studies in areas that are or current interest or which are innovative and expanding the discipline into new areas. For 2020, RSSR will include a special section on Feminist Approaches to the Sociology of Religion. This section will include chapter about research that utilises feminist epistemological frameworks to study lived experiences of religion or belief. For this issue we define feminist approaches broadly as those that
- use a gendered lens
- privilege lesser-heard voices including women
- reflect on researcher positionality
- seek societal transformation as an integral aspect of research.
Submitting Proposals: We invite proposals for the next edition of the RSSR. We welcome proposals from academics at all levels of their career, including early career researchers and final year PhD students. Please submit a title and abstract of no more than 300 words together with names and short biographies (150 words), institutional affiliation/s (if relevant), and contact details.
- Deadline for abstracts: 5pm on Monday 13th January 2020
- Notification of acceptance of paper: 30th January 2020
- If accepted full papers will be due by 5pm Friday 31st April 2020
Manuscripts for both the main and special sections should be send to the editors, Ralph Hood (ralph-hood@utc.edu) & Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor (ac0967@coventry.ac.uk). For more information and submission guidelines please visit the Instructions for Authors document on brill.com/rssr, or contact the editor.
8. Anyone who has interest in the intersection between the Bible & the Qur’an, please consider submitting a paper to the Qur’an and Islamic Tradition in Comparative Perspective Unitat the International Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (https://www.sbl-site.org/meetings/Congresses_CallForPaperDetails.aspx?MeetingId=36&VolunteerUnitId=518), which will be held in Adelaide between 5 – 9 July 2020.
Please mark your calendars: the deadline for abstracts is on 29 January 2020.
We especially encourage people of different voices, from senior scholars to graduate students and anyone in between.
You may have hermeneutical connections or intertextuality between Biblical or extra-Biblical texts and the Qur’an or Islamic tradition that you might like to share with other colleagues. The opportunities are endless. As long as it is academic, with a sincere search for truth without any personal agendas, we welcome it. This is an opportunity to appreciate the synergy between great scriptures and have all voices heard.
For those of you in Australia/New Zealand/South Pacific/South East Asia, this is an opportunity for you to present somewhere closer to home. For others, this is a good reason to visit beautiful Australia.
Even if you are not an SBL member, and do not wish to be an SBL member, we can still request a waiver for you to present your paper at the conference.
We look forward to your contributions.
Thanks,
Abdulla Galadari & John Kaltner
- December 07, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Brown University – Associate or Full Professor Islamic Art
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=59613
Closing date: 02/19/2020
2. Workshop at Silsila: Center for Material Histories (New York University)
“Cities Workshop 4: Shiraz,” December 6th.
Situated in Fars, a region of Iran rich in historical memories and monuments, the city of Shiraz has been a crucial nexus between maritime and terrestrial contacts between the central Islamic lands, the Gulf and the Indian Ocean since long before the advent of Islam. From architecture to painting and calligraphy, the renown of the city and its artistry was reflected in the mobility of artisans and artifacts across the Islamic lands. Fragments of these histories are scattered across learned articles and monographs, but a more holistic vision of the city and its role in material and social networks extending far beyond Fars remains elusive. This workshop brings together a range of international scholars who will present aspects of the city’s history and the resonances of its material culture from the pre-Islamic period through its transformation in modernity.
9.45-10.00 Introduction, Finbarr Barry Flood, Silsila/NYU
10-11.00 Simon Rettig, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Institution: Behind the Name: Shirazi Manuscripts from the Injus to the Qajars.
11.00-11.30 Coffee
11.30-12.30 Renata Holod, University of Pennsylvania: The Penn Museum Nizami (NEP 33): An Illustrated Book made for Art Market.
12.30-1.30 Lunch
1.30-2.30 Yves Porter, Aix-Marseille University: Shirazis in Indian Sultanates (14th-16th c.): Impact and Response.
2.30-3.30 Eloïse Brac de la Perrière, Sorbonne University: A touch of Shiraz? Shirazi Influences on pre-Mughal Painting. A Review.
3.30-4.00 Tea
4.00-5.00 Talinn Grigor, UC Davis: The Return of Persepolis to Shiraz, 1771-1971
5.00-6.00 Setrag Manoukian, McGill University: Technology and Subjectivity in the making of Modern Shiraz
Workshops take place at 4 Washington Square North, New York, and begin at 9.30am, but please note that rsvp is essential to ensure a place.
To rsvp please visit https://forms.gle/opqGTtYN187yuuQ26
3. Graduate Student Conference of the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, Columbia University, 5-6 March 2020
The conference brings together graduate students working on the social and intellectual traditions of those three regions related to political economy and social history; study of mysticism; devotional traditions; imperialism and colonialism; law and political structures; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 14 January 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/5435028/call-papers-middle-eastern-south-asian-and-african-studies
4. Second Mid-Atlantic Ottoman Studies Workshop on “Global Ottoman Empire”, Hagop Kevorkian Center for the Near Eastern Studie, New York University, 27-29 March 2020
The workshop will emphasize the connectivity not only between the Ottoman Empire and the surrounding polities, but also among communities, individuals, and many other groups within and beyond its imperial boundaries. We encourage submissions from history, literary studies, manuscript studies, art & architectural history.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 January 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/11419/discussions/5407072/call-papers-2nd-mid-atlantic-ottoman-studies-workshop-nyu-march
5. 11th Western Ottomanists’ Workshop, California State University Sacramento, 10-11 April 2020
Scholars and graduate students interested in Ottoman studies are invited to present work in progress, and engage in broad dialogue with colleagues in different fields and disciplines.
Deadline for abstracts: 13 January 2020.
6. Conference: “Navigating the Non/Confessional in University Islamic Studies”, Department of Theology and Religion, University of Birmingham in partnership with MBRN, 20-22 April 2020
The conference will bring together scholars from across Europe working in different policy and educational settings to look at how Islamic education operates, and the implications of this for the transmission and representation of the Islamic tradition, as well as the teaching of Islam in universities.
Deadline for abstracts: 17 January 2019. Information: http://www.mbrn.org.uk/call-for-papers-navigating-the-non-confessional-in-university-islamic-studies/
7. Academic Roundtable: “Jerusalem in Memory and Eschatology: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Visions of the Past and Future of Jerusalem”, Swedish Theological Institute, Jerusalem, 25-28 May 2020
This conference invites to reflect on how Jewish, Christian, and Muslim traditions of the religiously remembered past and the religiously anticipated future shape understandings of Jerusalem within each tradition. It also aims to apply these reflections to an analysis of current views of Jerusalem within diverse religious traditions, through an investigation of how these sacred histories and eschatologies shape the way that Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities understand the significance of the complex and conflicted city of Jerusalem today.
Deadline for abstracts: 6 January 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/5420126/jerusalem-memory-and-eschatology-jewish-christian-and-muslim
8. Conference: “Discursive Challenges: Power, State Legitimacy and Counter-narratives in the Arab World”, Durham University, 9-11 June 2020
The prime aim of this conference is to understand the dynamics of the protests gripping many states and communities in the Arab region and also the current challenges to regime legitimacy in the MENA region. We would like to explore how the sources of legitimacy multiplied and diversified following the erosion of state power across the region, and how new actors contributed to altering the nature and narrative of this legitimacy.
Deadline for abstracts: 17 January 2020.
Information: https://www.dur.ac.uk/sgia/about/news/?itemno=40154
9. Annual Conference of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA), Washington, DC, 10-13 October 2020
MESA is primarily concerned with the area encompassing Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, and the countries of the Arab World from the 7th century to modern times. Other regions including Spain, Southeastern Europe, China and the former Soviet Union, also are included for the periods in which these territories were parts of the Middle Eastern empires or under the influence of Middle Eastern civilization.
Deadline for abstracts: 18 February 2020. Information: https://mesana.org/
10. Prix de thèse Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans 2020
Sont éligibles des travaux soutenus en français ou en France entre le 1er septembre 2017 et le 31 décembre 2019, dans toutes les disciplines des lettres et sciences humaines et sociales.
Deadline for application: 10 janvier 2020. Information: prix.momm@gmail.com et direction.gis@ehess.fr
11. Call for Papers – American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies (ACSIS) invites scholars and academics for a two-day conference to be held on 27-28 March 2020 at Villanova University, PA.
The theme of the conference is: “The influence of Islam in politics and society: civic engagement, social inclusion and political participation”.
January 24 is due date for the abstracts of no more than 250 words.
The abstracts should be sent to this address: l.chamankhah@gmail.com
We recruit new members. In the ACSIS website < acsis.villanova.edu > you will find more information about membership.
Follow us on Twitter: @ACSIS20
12. Reed College – Visiting Assistant Professor of African, Middle Eastern, South Asian or Latin American History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=59630
Closing date: 6 January, 2020
13. AGSIW job opening: Research Associate (Regional Politics and Security)
https://agsiw.org/job/research-associate-regional-politics-and-security/
Research Associate (Regional Politics and Security)
Department/Team: Resident Scholars
Period: Part-Time (20-25 hours/week, no benefits)
Location: Washington, DC
Interested candidates should forward resume or curriculum vitae, cover letter, contact information for two references, and a writing sample of scholarly work (e.g., dissertation chapter) or policy writing sample if available (e.g., op-ed) to jobs@agsiw.org <mailto:jobs@agsiw.org>. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. /Must have authorization to work in the United States./
14. The British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies is looking for an associate editor to manage articles dealing with Iran and the Persianate world.
The job entails finding referees for the articles submitted to the journal, and usually involves about five hours of work per week, although this occasionally increases when the number of articles on Iran submitted to the journal rises. The post necessitates fluency in Persian, as well as good ability in IT skills.
Those interested should contact the editor of the journal, Dr Lloyd Ridgeon (lloyd.ridgeon@glasgow.ac.uk ). Candidates should also be affiliated to a UK HEI. Deadline for applications is 31 January 2020.
- December 04, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Strength and Promise of a Shared Idea, The Digital Library of the Middle East London, 5 December 2019
Abstract:
Dr. Charles Henry of the Council on Library and Information Research and Peter Herdrich of the Antiquities Coalition are building the Digital Library of the Middle East (DLME), uniting libraries, archives, and museums in an international effort to make the cultural heritage of the Middle East and North Africa more accessible, while fighting to safeguard culture at risk. They discuss lessons learned and the vast potential of the Digital Library of the Middle East as it expands its global reach and influence. The Aga Khan Library is pleased to host their return for a discussion with the library and the university community of the strength and promise of the DLME.
The lecture will be moderated by Dr Walid Ghali, the Head of the Aga Khan Library who will share more information about the recent digitisation project in the library. On November 7th, the Digital Collections Portal of the Aga Khan Library was launched with its first collection focusing on Ottoman material.
Time and Venue
Thursday 5 December 2019, 16:00-18:00
Room 220
Aga Khan Centre,
10 Handyside Street,
London N1C 4DN
Booking
This event is free but booking is essential. Book as soon as possible.
2. International Conference: “Language as a Bridge of Intercultural Communication”, Faculty of Languages (Al-Alsun), Luxor University, 3-5 March 2020
The conference aims to provide modern studies in the fields of linguistic studies and intercultural communication as a basis in today’s business world. It also seeks to address the studies of the analysis of Arabic discourse and studies of non-Arabic speakers, as well as the comparative studies between Arabic and other languages.
Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/4531399/die-sprache-als-br%C3%BCcke-der-interkulturellen-kommunikation (English text at the end)
3. International Seminar: „Persian-Arabic Poetics and South Asian Literatures: Readings Recoveries and Re-orientations”, Comparative Literature Association of India, Patna, India, 20-23 March 2020
We look forward to a fruitful exchange of ideas that will unpack the relations between the mainstream and margins, great and little traditions, major and minor languages within South Asia. The very idea of the ‘literary’ here is open to question as the subject proposed covers both the written and the oral, the philosophical and religious, the narrative and the performative.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 January 2020. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/5412876/international-seminar-be-organized-comparative-literature
4. International Conference: “Middle Eastern Studies: Conflicts and Struggles of the Contemporary Period”, Altınbaş University, Istanbul, 14-15 May 2020
Papers are welcomed on: Security; Cooperation; Ethnic and religious conflicts/struggles; Migration ; Refugees; Violence ; Islamist movements and organizations; Impact of new technologies on conflicts and struggles; Political and social movements; Foreign policies towards the Middle East and North Africa.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 January 2020. Information: http://www.icmesistanbul.com/
5. Postdoctoral Fellowship in Modern Middle East Studies, Council on Middle East Studies, Yale University (2020-2021 Academic Year)
Candidates must have research and teaching experience relevant to the Modern Middle East, including any period from early modern to contemporary (1500 – present). Focus on the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, or Turkey.
Review of applications will begin 1 February 2020. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/71070
6. MA & PhD Scholarships at the Central European University, Department of History, Vienna
We have excellent resources for Middle Eastern and Islamic studies, including language training in Ottoman, Arabic, Turkish, and Persian. CEU offers MA & PhD scholarships to students from all countries.
Deadline for applications: 30 January 2020.
Information: https://history.ceu.edu/financial-aid; https://history.ceu.edu/howtoapply
7. Contribution for Edited Book: “Between State and Market: The Making and Breaking of the Middle Class in the Middle East”, University of Exeter Press
In this edited volume, we seek to re-introduce the analytical category of ‘class’–and particularly of ‘middle class’–into the study of political economies in the contemporary Middle East. Bydoing so, we intend to explore the changing roles of middle classes in Middle Eastern nation-states since independence and until the Arab Spring.
Editors Relli Shechter and Ben Zarhi, Ben-Gurion University. Deadline for proposals: 15 December 2019.
Information: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bjeg8w85o4x7kac/Call%20for%20papers.docx?dl=0
8. Book Launch: War and Peace in Medieval Middle East
Time and Venue
Thursday 9 January 2020, 18.00-20.00
Atrium Conference Room,
Aga Khan Centre,
10 Handyside Street,
London N1C 4DN
Booking
This event is free but booking is essential. Book as soon as possible.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/book-launch-war-and-peace-in-medieval-middle-east-tickets-78999715275
9. CFP: Beyond Jewish-Muslim Relations (19-20 May: Manchester)
The Jewish-Muslim Research Network (JMRN) Conference 2020 on the subject “Beyond Jewish-Muslim Relations,” in collaboration with the Sherman Conversations 2020 and the Centre for Jewish Studies, will be held at The University of Manchester on 19-20 May.
Keynote Speakers: Najwa al-Qattan (Loyola Marymount University), Seth Anziska (University College London), Yulia Egorova (Durham University), and Brian Klug (Oxford University)
Call for Papers
Beyond ‘Jewish-Muslim Relations’ invites scholars of Jewish and Muslim histories, cultures, politics, theologies and peoples to share comparative, transnational, and interdisciplinary approaches to the study of these topics as they relate to and come into contact with one another. Despite many theological and cultural similarities and frequent social proximity between Jews and Muslims, Jewish-Muslim relations in both contemporary societies and in diverse historical and geographic settings are often depicted in polarized binary terms. This conference aims to understand interactions and relations between Jews and Muslims in a wide variety of contexts beyond this binary. We encourage papers which offer innovative theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions to the study of these topics, and in particular seek papers which adopt a critical approach to the terminology of ‘Jewish-Muslim relations,’ which might itself inadvertently invoke binary, possibly predetermined relations between Jews and Muslims qua Jews and Muslims, often within historical and socio-political frameworks that have reified categories of Jews, Muslims, and inter-ethnic/-religious relations.
We welcome papers on topics including, but not limited to:
- Historical cases of interaction between Jews and Muslims
- Representations and self-representations of Jews and Muslims
- Jewish and Muslim interfaith activism/dialogue
- Religion, tradition, secularism and innovation
- Antisemitism and Islamophobia
- Islamic and Jewish polemic and intellectual cross-fertilisation
- Critical theory and Jewish-Muslim relations
- Gender and sexuality
- Jews and Muslims in the arts, literature and media
- Multilingualism, translation and transnationalism
Paper proposals should include abstracts of 250 words and a speaker biography of no more than 100 words. Speakers are allocated 20 minutes to present and 10 minutes for questions and discussion. Lunch will be provided, with kosher and halal options available upon request. Please address all proposals and queries to the organizers (Adi Bharat and Katharine Halls) at jewish.muslim@manchester.ac.uk
Deadline for submissions: December 1, 2019
Contact: jewish.muslim@manchester.ac.uk
- November 26, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. The second course of Contemporary Iranian Studies, March 4-14, 2020.
The program provides an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary platform for the study of modern Iranian culture, politics, and society. It seeks to deliver an academically and professionally enriching experience and offer a unique program for those who wish an intimate, insider’s look at modern Iran.
The Iranian Studies Intensive Course is a well-balanced mixture of 1) academic lectures by outstanding professors, 2) handpicked social programs, and 3) cultural tours guided by experts of the filed. The academic lectures give you plenty of opportunities to better understand contemporary Iran. The social programs give you the chance to take part in reflective events and activities to taste real-life experiences in Iran. And the guided tours of Iran let you truly immerse yourself in the vibrant atmosphere that Iran has to offer.
The main purpose is to allow those interested from abroad to explore Iran, to be directly in touch with their subject of interest, to learn about Iran from a multidisciplinary academic approach and to gain first-hand experience of living in Iran.
Cities: Qom, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tehran
Structure: On-site & On-campus lectures, Social programs, Cultural tours
Academic Themes: Religion, Art, Culture, Politics in Contemporary Iran
Language: English
Partial Scholarships: Available
Visa Sponsorship: Available (without label and/or stamp on your passport)
More Details: iranianstudies@urd.ac.ir
2. The Bibliotheca Arabica project is pleased to announce an international workshop on Marginal Commentaries in Arabic Manuscripts (2-3 December 2019), which brings together experts from different fields in order to compare the use, significance, and impact of scholia in Arabic manuscripts from different genres, regions, and periods.
Unlike in many other academic disciplines, glosses and scholia are a comparatively unexplored field of research in Arabic and Islamic Studies. However, the practice of annotating a text in the margins of a manuscript or between the lines was a widespread cultural practice that fulfilled a variety of functions. Apart from guiding the reader and providing translations of texts within a multilingual context, such annotations were meant to explain and interpret the main text, or even to explain other annotations in the margins. It was here that commentaries were produced, transmitted, and used for teaching and studying purposes. As such, these marginal commentaries constitute an imprint of intellectual history and a rich source that illuminates how knowledge production worked.
The workshop aims at exploring the potential inherent in analysing scribal and textual practices as seen in marginal commentaries in Arabic manuscripts. These scribal and textual practices will be discussed with respect to a number of variables, such as different genres, geographical regions, and times in history. The presentations range from geographical, natural scientific, philological, philosophical, and historical texts to various Islamic religious writings. The workshop covers a broad range of manuscript traditions from West Africa, al-Andalus and the Middle East to India, dating from the 7th to the 18th century.
The workshop is organised by Stefanie Brinkmann, research fellow at the Bibliotheca Arabica project at the Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Leipzig, Germany. It will take place on 2-3 December 2019 at the Saxon Academy in Leipzig. Presentations will be in English.
On the project, see: www.saw-leipzig.de/bibliotheca-arabica
Programme: https://www.saw-leipzig.de/de/projekte/bibliotheca-arabica/files/programme-marginal-commen…
3. The Department of Middle Eastern & South Asian Languages & Cultures at the University of Virginia invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in Iranian Literature, Cinema, and Culture with an expected start date of August 2020.
The successful candidate will join a community comprising faculty teaching and doing research on Arabic, Hebrew, Hindi, Persian, Urdu, and Sanskrit from linguistic, literary, cultural studies, historical, and social scientific perspectives. The teaching load is four courses per year (a 2-2 load). Candidates should be prepared to teach graduate and undergraduate courses in classical and modern Persian literature, as well as introductory courses on Iranian cinema or culture.
Applicants must have: an active program of research in Persian Literature, Cinema, or related field; a commitment to excellence in teaching; native or near-native fluency in Persian and English; and a Ph.D. in hand by August 2020.
Priority will be given to applications received by January 30, 2020. Review of applications will begin in early February and continue until the position is filled…
for details and to apply, see here:
https://uva.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/UVAJobs/job/Charlottesville-VA/Iranian-Literature–Cinema–and-Culture-Assistant-Professor-Tenure-Track_R0011705
4. Riza ‘Abbasi and the Embedded Image: Three Paintings
Michael Chagnon, PhD (Curator, Aga Khan Museum)
Venue: Room 318, the Jackman Humanities Building, 170 St. George St., University of Toronto
Date and Time: Nov. 28th, 2019. 6:00pm (refreshments included)
Registration: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/iamcc-michael-chagnonriza-abbasi-and-the-embedded-image-3-paintings-tickets-82862434773
In the study of Perso-Islamic painting, the name Riza ‘Abbasi (fl. 1590-1635) has become a byword for transformations in image-making during the Safavid dynastic era, particularly the ascendency of single-sheet painting and drawing as the preeminent vehicle for pictorial expression during the Isfahan phase of Safavid rule. Riza is renowned for his figural studies, executed in a modulated calligraphic line, enhanced by subtle washes or luxurious pigments, and depicting generic types as well as specific individuals identified in captions. Several of his compositions feature ancillary objects such as textiles and vessels, which are themselves adorned with figural imagery. These secondary, “embedded” figures often appear as active participants in the image rather than mere decoration, directing their gestures and gazes toward the main subjects. In the limited scholarly attention given to such figures, hypothetical narrative pretexts for such puzzling activity have been posited. Focusing on three paintings, this paper argues instead that Riza’s embedded figures function as metatexual commentaries on the ambiguous role of figuration in early modern Perso-Islamic thought. When examined through this lens, such works help connect period proto-theoretical texts on image-making to its contemporary visual expression.
The Islamic Art and Material Culture Collaborative (IAMCC) is a new collaborative research network based in Toronto that brings together the capacities and resources of the University of Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Aga Khan Museum. The aim of the IAMCC is to foster innovative and interdisciplinary research on Islamic art and material culture, support a joint student internship program, host monthly talks and research seminars and present a high-profile annual visiting lecture.
5. The Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien invites researchers to apply for up to 5 postdoctoral fellowships for the academic year 2020/21 in the research program Europe in the Middle East—The Middle East in Europe (EUME).
Location: Berlin / Closing Date: 4 January, 2020
Application cover sheet (DOC) or (PDF)
EUME seeks to rethink key concepts and premises that link and divide Europe and the Middle East. The program draws on the international expertise of a growing network of scholars in and outside of Germany and is embedded in university and extra-university research institutions in and outside of Berlin. EUME supports historical-critical philology, rigorous engagement with the literatures of the Middle East and their histories, the social history and life of cities and the study of Middle Eastern political and philosophical thought as central fields of research not only for area or cultural studies, but also for European intellectual history and other academic disciplines. The program explores modernity as a historical space and conceptual frame. EUME is interested in questions relating to ongoing transformation processes in Europe and the Middle East, in re-imaginations of the past and present that contribute to free, pluralistic and just societies.
The program puts forward three programmatic ideas:
1) supporting research that demonstrates the rich and complex historical legacies and entanglements between Europe and the Middle East; 2) re-examining genealogical notions of mythical ‘beginnings’, ‘origins’, and ‘purity’ in relation to culture and society; and 3) rethinking key concepts of a shared modernity and future in light of contemporary cultural, social, and political divisions and entanglements that supersede identity discourses as well as national, cultural or regional canons and epistemologies that were established in the nineteenth century.
Europe in the Middle East—The Middle East in Europe supports and rests upon interconnected research fields and themes:
Travelling Traditions: Comparative Perspectives on Near Eastern Literatures
directed by Friederike Pannewick (Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies/Department for Arabic Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg) and Samah Selim (Rutgers University) reassesses literary entanglements and processes of translation and canonization between Europe and the Middle East.
Cities Compared: Urban Change in the Mediterranean and Adjacent Regions
directed by Ulrike Freitag and Nora Lafi (both Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin) contributes to the debate on plurality, migration, citizenship and civil society from the historical experience of conviviality and socio-cultural, ethnic, and religious differences in the cities around the Mediterranean.
Tradition and the Critique of Modernity: Secularism, Fundamentalism and Religion from Middle Eastern Perspectives
directed by Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva) tries to rethink key concepts of modernity in the context of experiences, interpretations, and critiques from the Middle East in order to contribute to a more inclusive language of culture, politics and community.
Politics of Change, Archaeologies of the Present, and Processes of Change in the Middle East
are research themes that emerged during the last years and are represented by the work of several EUME Fellows and members of the Collegium (e.g. Cilja Harders, Friederike Pannewick, Rachid Ouaissa).
These research fields and themes mark the framework for the fellowship program that constitutes EUME. Since 1997, more than 280 scholars from and of the Middle East have been EUME Fellows, who, by their scholarly projects, engagement, and their questions relating to the order of knowledge, society and politics, shape the academic program of EUME.
FELLOWSHIPS
The fellowships are intended primarily for scholars in the humanities and social sciences who want to carry out their research projects in connection with the Berlin program. Applicants should be at the postdoctoral level and should have obtained their doctorate within the last seven years. Fellows gain the opportunity to pursue research projects of their own choice within the framework of one of the above-mentioned research fields and in relation to the overall program Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe. Successful applicants will be fellows of EUME at the Forum Transregionale Studien, and associate members of one of the university or non-university research institutes listed below or connected to the Forum Transregionale Studien.
The fellowships start on 1 October 2020 and will end on 31 July 2021. Postdoctoral fellows will receive a monthly stipend of 2,500 € plus supplements depending on their personal situation. Organisational support regarding visa, insurance, housing, etc. will be provided. Fellows are obliged to work in Berlin and to help shape the seminars and working discussions related to their research field. Scholars are also invited to apply with own funding. The working language of EUME is English.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
An application should consist of
– the application cover sheet (please download above on this site);
– a curriculum vitae (including a list of publications);
– a project description (no longer than 5 pages), stating what the scholar will work on in Berlin if granted a fellowship; and
– the names of two university faculty members who can serve as referees (no letters of recommendation required).
The application should be submitted by e-mail as one PDF file in English and should be received by January 4, 2020, sent to: eume(at)trafo-berlin.de
Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe (EUME)
Attn: Georges Khalil
c/o Forum Transregionale Studien
Wallotstraße 14
14193 Berlin
In case of questions, please consult the FAQ or write an email to eume(at)trafo-berlin.de.
INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
Europe in the Middle East—The Middle East in Europe (EUME) has been initiated in 2006 as a joint research program of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, the Fritz Thyssen Foundation and the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. It builds upon the previous work of the Working Group Modernity and Islam (1996-2006). Since 2011 EUME is continued at the Forum Transregionale Studien.
In scholarly terms EUME is directed by a Collegium that currently consists of Ulrike Freitag (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin), Cilja Harders (Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin), Kader Konuk (Institut für Turkistik, Universität Duisburg-Essen), Nora Lafi (Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin), Rachid Ouaissa (Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg), Friederike Pannewick (Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg), Amnon Raz-Krakotzkin (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva), Samah Selim (Rutgers University), and Stefan Weber (Museum for Islamic Art, Berlin).
The Berlin-based Forum Transregionale Studien (Forum) is a research platform that promotes the internationalization of research in the humanities and social sciences. The Forum provides scope for collaboration among researchers with different regional and disciplinary perspectives and appoints researchers from all over the world as Fellows. In cooperation with universities and research institutions in Berlin and outside, it carries out research projects that examine other regions of the world and their relationship to Germany and Europe systematically and with new questions. The Forum currently supports the following research programs and initiatives: Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East in Europe (EUME), Prisma Ukraïna: Research Network Eastern Europe, Re:Constitution: Exchange and Analysis on Democracy and the Rule of Law in Europe. Zukunftsphilologie: Revisiting the Canons of Textual Scholarship and 4A Lab: Art Histories, Archaeologies, Anthropologies, Aesthetics are programs that are closely connected to the Forum.
The Forum is a founding member of the Academy in Exile and of the consortium of MECAM: Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb to be established in Tunis in 2020.
For more information on the Forum Transregionale Studien, please visit
www.forum-transregionale-studien.de
For further information on EUME and for detailed information on the research fields, please visit www.eume-berlin.de
For information on the research institutions participating in EUME, please visit:
Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies, Freie Universität Berlin
Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics, Otto Suhr Institute of Political Science, Freie Universität Berlin
https://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/en/polwiss/
Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient
Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/en/friedrichschlegel
Institute of Islamic Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/islamwiss
Museum for Islamic Art
Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies, Freie Universität Berlin
www.geschkult.fu-berlin.de/en/e/semiarab
Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies, Philipps-Universität Marburg
Institut für Turkistik, Universität Duisburg-Essen
6. Postdoctoral Fellowship, Silsila: Center for Material Histories, New York University.
Applications are invited for a postdoctoral fellowship at Silsila: Center for Material Histories, New York University. The Center fosters interdisciplinary scholarship on material histories of the pre- and early modern Islamicate world, broadly conceived. It supports research on transcultural and transregional phenomena that contributes to a reimagining of current disciplinary boundaries, chronologies, and epistemic paradigms.
The successful candidate will be expected to contribute actively to Center seminars and events, to liaise with other university departments and Centers, to assist with program planning in collaboration with the director, and to work with an administrative aide to help organize, advertise and host events. They will also be expected to teach one course per semester, either a survey or an advanced course in their subject area. The appointment will run from September 1st 2020 to August 31st 2021 with the possibility of a one-year renewal, pending budgetary and administrative approval.
Qualifications
Applicants should have a PhD in hand, relevant language skills, and proven research interests in the art, architecture or material culture of Islamicate societies before 1500. Candidates must have completed their Ph.D. no earlier than September 1, 2015. Review of applications will begin on November 25th and continue until the position is filled.
Application Instructions
Please apply online through Interfolio: apply.interfolio.com/70001 with a cover letter to the search committee that describes your research and teaching interests, a resume or curriculum vitae, the names of three references and a statement on your approach to diversity and inclusion. Diversity is an important part of the NYU mission and we ask that you address how diversity and inclusion factor into past and present teaching, research, and/or community engagement, as well as how you would bring issues of diversity to bear on teaching and programming at NYU. For more information, please see here.
For questions regarding the application, contact Shavanna Calder, sc1886@nyu.edu.
The Faculty of Arts and Science at NYU is at the heart of a leading research university that spans the globe. We seek scholars of the highest caliber who embody the diversity of the United States as well as the global society in which we live. We strongly encourage applications from women, racial and ethnic minorities, and other individuals who are under-represented in the profession, across color, creed, race, ethnic and national origin, physical ability, gender and sexual identity, or any other legally protected basis. NYU affirms the value of differing perspectives on the world as we strive to build the strongest possible university with the widest reach. To learn more about the FAS commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion, please read here: http://as.nyu.edu/departments/facultydiversity.html.
EOE/Affirmative Action/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity.
7. Date change for application due date for Assistant or Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
The original notice on this post was sent out on 29 October, 2019.
And, the submission date was referenced as ‘To apply, please send your documents via email by December 1, 2019 to: careers@dohainstitute.edu.qa.’
That date has now been changed to February 1, 2020.
8. The Department of Asian and Near Eastern Languages (ANEL) at Brigham Young University seeks to hire a full-time, non-tenure track visiting Arabic faculty member to begin teaching in Fall 2020. Ph.D. preferred, MA required in Arabic language teaching, Arabic literature or linguistics, Middle Eastern Studies, or Second Language Acquisition (degree must be in hand by the start date). The deadline for applications is 5 December 2019.
We seek candidates with significant training in foreign language teaching and learning; a minimum of near-native fluency in Arabic; at least 3 years of experience in teaching various levels of Arabic, but especially advanced-level students at the postsecondary level using a proficiency-based, communicative methodology. Desired qualifications include previous experience working with students in the context of intensive language programs; teacher training and materials development; and experience with using an integrated curriculum that reflects the sociolinguistic realities of the Arab world. The teaching load is three or four courses in any level of Arabic each semester, depending on the needs of the department.
Please list the individual contact information for each of your three recommenders on the faculty application. At some point during the selection process they may be contacted to submit their letters of reference electronically.
Please attach your updated Curriculum Vitae, cover letter, and teaching philosophy to the faculty application using this link. Thanks for your time and attention.
9. Open Access Book: Among Digitized Manuscripts. Philology, Codicology, Paleography in a Digital World
https://brill.com/view/title/56196
- November 23, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.International Conference: “Historicity and Islamicity: Perceptions of Early Islamic History in Contemporary Muslim Thought”, Institute for the Study of Islamic Culture and Religion, Goethe University in Frankfurt a.M., 12-14 December 2019
Our conference attempts to shed light on the contemporary Muslim perceptions and perspectives on the early history of Islam. It will first address the mechanisms of construction of ‘early Islamic history’ and its use in the processes of identity building among Muslims and, in a next stept, the critical and revisionist approaches to history developed by Muslim scholars.
Organizers: Prof. Dr. Armina Omerika, Dr. Soumaya Louhichi-Güzel.
See program at https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/82093441/ContentPage_82093441
2. Research Fellow, German Institute for Global and Area Studies, Hamburg
Qualifications: excellent university degree (master’s or equivalent) in Political Science, Sociology, Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, or related social sciences / area studies; familiarity with academic research on radicalisation, political Islam and jihadism; proficiency in English and Modern Standard Arabic; good working knowledge of German; etc.
Screening of applications will begin on 18 November 2019. Information: https://www.giga-hamburg.de/sites/default/files/md_pdf/GIGA-19-11_Call_ResearchFellowIMES.pdf
3. Ph.D. Research Grant at the Orient-Institut in Istanbul for 2020
Field research in Istanbul for Ph.D. students not living in Turkey will be supported. Grants are available for one of the research areas of the Institute: – Musicological research on the Ottoman Empire and Turkey; – Narrative sources on Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire; – Historic and contemporary forms of religious expression in Anatolia since the 11th century; – Sociolinguistics; – Human, medicine, and society; – Manuscript cultures of the Ottoman Empire and Iran. The research grant consists of a monthly stipend of € 1,100 for six months. Travel expenses will be reimbursed.
Deadline for applications: 5 January 2020. Information: https://www.oiist.org/en/stipendien/
4. Spring School of the Innovative Training Network “Mediating Islam in the Digital Age” (MIDA) and the European Network for Islamic Studies (ENIS) on “Contesting Authority: Knowledge, Power and Expressions of Selfhood”, Catania, Italy, 2-8 March 2020
PhD candidates and advanced MA students are invited to participate. How have technological revolutions informed the performance of selfhood (including gender), the modes of engagement with society, and the political consequences of shifting boundaries between public and private spheres? The school addresses the construction and transformation of religious authority and religious knowledge production, and concomitant questions of legitimacy, power and discipline, under changing circumstances.
Deadline for applications: 25 December 2019.
Information: https://www.ehess.fr/fr/appels-%C3%A9tudiants/midaenis-spring-school-2020
5. Monographs for Series “Routledge Studies in Islam and Human Rights”
We invite scholarly monographs that examine the rich and complex intellectual and institutional legacy of Islam relevant to human rights and social (in)justice since the formative period of Islam (7th century CE). The Series welcomes works dealing specifically with the topic of human rights theories as well as discoveries that connect human rights to social issues, institutions, themes, ideas, and events.
Information: https://www.routledge.com/Routledge-Studies-in-Islam-and-Human-Rights/book-series/RIHR
6. New Book Series “Gulf Studies” by Gulf Studies Center (GSC), Qatar University, in Collaboration with “Springer Nature”
The series takes an interdisciplinary approach to documenting the changes taking place in the Gulf societies, and the evolving relationship between the Gulf and the other regions. The series is dedicated to advancing a non-Western perspective for studying societies in the Gulf, and their interactions with the rest of the world.
7. The ERC-funded research group Novel Saints. Studies in Ancient Fiction and Hagiography at the Ghent University (Belgium) is currently advertising a postdoctoral researcher post (two years full-time) for a specialist in late antique and medieval hagiography (in Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Greek, Latin, Slavonic and/or Syriac) to work as a database coordinator.
All information can be found on our website: https://www.novelsaints.ugent.be/news/vacancy-postdoctoral-researcher. The application deadline is 20th December 2019.
Please share with any interested parties. The information can also be shared on social media (facebook and twitter both @NovelSaints).
- November 19, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.A testament to diversity: Kurdish manuscript collections at the British Library
2. Associate Lecturer (Education Focused) in Iranian and Middle Eastern History c. 1700-1950 at the School of History, University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK
Deadline: 5 December 2019
Applications are invited for an Associate Lectureship (Education Focused) in Iranian and Middle Eastern History focused on the period 1700-1950, available from 6 January 2020 for a period of two years. The ideal candidate will be a specialist on the 18th and/or ‘long’ 19th c. This post is intended as a temporary teaching replacement for Professor Ali Ansari who will be on leave during this time.
The successful candidate will be required to teach at least one of the following Honours (third/fourth year) courses: Persia in the 18th Century – 1722-1834 (The Age of the Warlords) and/or Modern Iran from 1834-1941: Enlightenment, Nationalism & Revolution. They will also be expected to contribute substantially to lectures and tutorials of the group-taught sub-honours (second year) module MH2002 Introduction to Middle Eastern and Islamic History. The successful candidate may also be required to contribute to the teaching of other sub-honours modules (e.g. MO1008 Themes in Late Modern History, c.1776 – 1989; MO2008 Scotland, Britain and Empire, c. 1500 – 2000), and the MLitts in Middle Eastern and Iranian Studies.
The successful candidate will join a distinguished cluster of scholars working on aspects of Middle Eastern history. You must have excellent command of Persian and ideally also another Middle Eastern language (e.g. Arabic, Turkish) and be able to contribute to the activities of the Institute of Iranian Studies (http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~iranian/).
You should have completed a PhD in a relevant field and show substantial promise of research excellence. Experience of teaching at university level is also desirable, combined with an ability to bring imagination to tutorials, seminars and lectures. Although undergraduate teaching is based on sources in English translation, the successful candidate will have an excellent command of Persian, and may be required to offer some MLitt level teaching of primary sources in this language, depending on student demand.
Further information and the online application form may be accessed through the following link:
To discuss this post informally, candidates may wish to contact the Chair of the Department of Middle East Studies, Dr Dimitri Kastritsis (dk19@st-andrews.ac.uk).
3. ARMACAD is offering full scholarships to qualified students in Iranian Studies and related fields to participate in Persian language summer course 2020 organized by ASPIRANTUM, Yerevan, Armenia.
The scholarship:
ARMACAD will offer up to 3 scholarships to those students who meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in learning Persian in Armenia.
For more details please visit: https://armacad.info/armacad–2019-10-03–full-scholarships-for-persian-language-courses-of-aspirantum
4. PhD position in Iranian Studies, Univ. of Oslo
For information about the PhD fellowship:
https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/178544/doctoral-research-fellowship-in-middle-eastern-and-islamic-studies
The deadline is 12th January.
5. New journal: Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW)
Brill has entered into a partnership with The Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, (London, UK) and the Aga Khan Museum (Toronto, Canada) to publish a new peer-reviewed, academic journal called Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World (MCMW) in full open access. With the support of the University and the Museum, all author charges will be waived.
The Journal of Material Cultures in the Muslim World aims to be a new reference for field archaeologists, (art) historians, anthropologists, curators, and scholars and students of the archeology, (art) history, architecture, anthropology and ethnography of the Muslim world. This readership represents a new broader definition of material culture that includes not only artefacts, architectural structures and monuments, but also crafts. The journal aims to inform (other) disciplines and historiographies, for example by also including archaeological field surveys.
The journal also focuses on un(der)explored Muslim regions outside of the Middle East and North Africa: sub-Saharan Africa, the Indian Ocean, Central Asia, India, South-East Asia and Europe.
The journal accepts submissions in English, French, German and Spanish and short reports in Arabic, Persian and Turkish with an English abstract.
Submissions should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Stéphane Pradines, at Stephane.Pradines@aku.edu.
Further info at:
- November 16, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Aquinas and ’the Arabs’ International Working Group
Related Events 2020
Link: shorturl.at/ftFJ7
or
https://academic.mu.edu/taylorr/Aquinas_and_the_Arabs/AAIWG_2020_Events.html
Ancient and Medieval Philosophy Conference websites & Calls For Papers / Panels:
2020:
Eighth Annual AAIWG On-Line International Live Video Graduate Student Workshop, Milwaukee, 20-21 March 2020:https://academic.mu.edu/taylorr/Aquinas_and_the_Arabs/Grad_Student_Workshops.html
AAIWG annual meeting London 11-13 June 2020: “ Philosophy in the Abrahamic Traditions: Structures of Being, World and Mind” : https://academic.mu.edu/taylorr/Aquinas_and_the_Arabs/Summer_2020_London_AAIWG.html (Deadline 15 December 2019)
Fifteenth Annual Marquette Summer Seminar in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy 22-24 June 2020: “Causes and Causality in Aristotle and the Aristotelian Tradition:
https://academic.mu.edu/taylorr/Midwest-Seminar/2020_Summer_Conference.html
Thirteenth Annual Summer Conference on Philosophy in the Abrahamic Traditions, Marquette University 17-19 June 2020: “Apophaticism in Maimonides and the Latin Tradition”:
https://academic.mu.edu/taylorr/The_Abrahamic_Traditions/2020_Summer_Conference_Milwaukee.html
2. The ICA Commission on the History of Cartography will hold its 8thInternational Symposium from 21 to 23 April 2020 in Istanbul, partnering with the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) – Istanbul Department.
The theme is ‘Mapping the Ottoman Realm: Travelers, Cartographers and Archaeologists’. The organizers invite the submission of abstracts for long (25 min) and short (10 min) oral presentations focusing on one of two main themes: “the cartography of the Ottoman countries in Europe, Asia and Africa” or “the mapping of archaeological sites, landscapes and excavations in the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries”. More information about the symposium (including the abstract submission system) can be found here: https://history.icaci.org/istanbul-2020
3. Call for applicants
Interdisciplinary Masterclass on:
Ali ibn-Musa al-Reza’s Sacred Mortuary Complex:
Shiite Pilgrimage, Devotional Practices, and Religious Healing
18-24 April 2020- Mashhad, Iran
Conveners:
Majid Fouladiyan (Assistant Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Ferdowsi University, Mashhad, Iran)
Pedram Khosronejad (Adjunct Professor, Religion and Society Research Cluster, Western Sydney University, Australia)
Ali ibn-Musa al-Reza’s shrine and its related mortuary complex have been used for centuries by devotees as one of the most important healing sites of the Muslim world. Although pilgrimage to Imam Reza’s shrine should be considered as one of the oldest religious rituals in Shiite Iran, it remains and continues its vibrant movement in the twenty-first century. Pilgrims to this sacred site have and combine different traditional and modern motivations, but most importantly seeking healing for physical disease or spiritual issues. The existence of a huge number of national and international pilgrims to the city of Mashhad for the visitation of this holy Shiite saint’s shrine is testimony to the power that Imam Reza continues to hold for those devotees who undertake these sacred journeys.
In this masterclass, for the first time, through the use of anthropological and interdisciplinary research methods, we aim to examine different and persistent forms of Persian Shiite rituals and practices to expand our understanding of the role of Imam Reza and his holy shrine in the traditional and modern practices of Ziyarat (physical and digital). By focusing on the different dimensions of pilgrimage to the shrine of the eighth Shiite Imam, we aim to perform selected case studies grounded in different research methods to help participants to understand the many ways in which pilgrimage provides help and support to the pilgrims.
During the seven-day program (30 h) participants will be introduced to:
- The history of the martyrdom of Imam Reza and the establishment of his shrine,
- The importance of Imam Reza’s shrine and related sacred sites in the construction of a holy Shiite site,
- Methodologies for studying Imam Reza’s shrine from different aspects of Shiite doctrine,
- The importance of pilgrimage to Imam Reza’s shrine and its social, cultural and political influence at the personal, local, national, and international levels,
- Rituals and ceremonies related to Imam Reza’s shrine and its sacred and religious sites.
The entire masterclass will be organized under the governance of the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad and will primarily be held in the shrine of Imam Reza and its research institute.
Complementary to the theory classes and fieldwork will be the private visitation of the research institute, library and archive of Imam Reza’s shrine (Astan-e Qods), visitation of other saints’ shrines and cemeteries of Mashhad and neighbouring cities for further comparative studies.
Participants:
This program is only open to university-based scholars, registered students, and official researchers.
Visa:
The Ferdowsi University will issue an official invitation for all participants, who should apply for their own visas individually. The Ferdowsi University has no responsibility in this regard and cannot guarantee the result of related applications.
Accommodation:
For the duration of the masterclass, all participants will stay in the hotel booked by the Ferdowsi University.
The registration fee (including: program fee, accommodation, food, and transportation for the duration of the masterclass)
- Registered students: $ 600
- University scholars and researchers: $ 1000
* The registration fee should be paid in cash during the first day of arrival at the university campus.
Deadline for preliminary registration:
15th January 2020.
For further enquiries, to complete your preliminary registration and reserve your place, please contact Dr. P. Khosronejad (P.Khosronjead@westernsydney.edu.au).
4. MESA free access collection of De Gruyters until December 15
5. CFP – Decolonizing Islamicate Manuscript Studies Roundtable at BRISMES 2020
The theme of annual conference of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) 2020 is Knowledge, Power and Middle Eastern Studies. The conference organizers have invited participants to “reflect on the concept of decoloniality and practice of decolonization of knowledge and pedagogy in relation to the study and teaching of the Middle East.”
In that vein, please see our call for participants below:
Decolonizing Islamicate Manuscript Studies Roundtable
Shephard (2006) contends that a French man coined the term “decolonization” with regard to Algeria in 1836. While the meanings of the term changed according to context, it no longer means (simply?) the withdrawal or decline of imperial powers, but also mandates a challenge to white supremacy. As Tuck and Yang (2012) have pointed out, its use cannot be metaphorical.
How, and should decolonization be operationalized in the field of Islamicate manuscript studies?
For this roundtable discussion at the 2020 BRISMES, we invite participants to critically engage with the possibilities for the decolonization of Islamicate manuscript studies.
Discussants could speak on, but not be limited to, the following areas:
Neocolonial uses of manuscript digitization projects
How politics and social forces shape access (intellectual and physical) to manuscripts
Custody and the repatriation /rematriation of Islamicate manuscripts
Colonial confiscation of manuscripts / Colonial book collecting
Critical provenance of manuscripts in western libraries
Use of Islamicate mss in graduate study
The idea of (some) Islamic manuscripts as sacred texts
Biographies/social histories of specific mss and
Over emphasis of codicology in the study of Islamicate texts
Reading Islamicate manuscripts through an orientalist lens
Differences between western and indigenous scholarship of Islamicate manuscripts
The role of the critical edition as a (de)colonial practice
The appropriateness of the term “decolonization” for the field of Islamicate manuscript study.
Participants are asked to submit a 250 word abstract of their roundtable discussion along with a recent CV to sumayya.ahmed@ucl.ac.uk by November 18, 2019.
Roundtable organizers: Nadirah Mansour, Princeton University, USA
Sumayya Ahmed, University College London- Qatar
6. International Conference “Imperial Mysticisms: Piety and Power in Early Modern Empires from a Global Perspective”, Central European University Budapest, 27-30 November 2019
The conference aims to explore the political and social impact of mystical movements of different religious traditions on the formation of empires in early modernity. Employing a global comparative approach, it addresses a wide range of imperial settings, such as the Ming Chinese, the Mughal, Safavid and Ottoman Empires, and the Austrian and Spanish Habsburgs.
See conference program at https://religion.ceu.edu/imperial-mysticisms-2019-program
7. Conference of the Islamicate Graduate Student Association: “Who Speaks for
Islam?: Approaches to Authority within the Academy and Beyond”, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 29 February 2020
In light of recent attempts at intimidation by the state, we are particularly interested in thinking through the politics of power. As such, we are seeking papers that interrogate questions of authority and power. Potential topics include, but are not limited, to the following: who gets to speak for Islam and Muslims? What landscapes of authority exist in the Islamicate world? For example, what geographies constitute the Islamicate world? Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 November 2019. Information: https://www.jadaliyya.com/Details/40033
8. Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track) in Middle Eastern Diasporic Literatures and Cultures, York University
We are particularly interested in candidates whose research can be situated within the fields of Postcolonial and World Literature in English within and across periods, genres, and regions. Interdisciplinary and intermedial approaches are especially welcome. The successful candidate will have a PhD in English Literature or a related field with a specialization in Middle Eastern Diasporic Literatures and Cultures; a dynamic, substantial, and ongoing research portfolio; etc.
Deadline for applications: 25 January 2020.
Information: http://webapps.yorku.ca/academichiringviewer/viewposition.jsp?positionnumber=2025
9. Assistant Professor in Gender, Post-Colonialism, and the Islamic World, York University
A PhD by the start of the appointment in Political Science or an appropriate related field is required. The successful candidate’s research should complement the present scholarly profile of the Department of Politics in the study of gender, post-colonialism, anti-imperialism, and the Islamic World, conceived to encompass not only “Islamic countries” but in a diasporic sense, and to develop the conception in new and innovative ways.
Deadline for applications: 25 January 2020.
Information: http://webapps.yorku.ca/academichiringviewer/viewposition.jsp?positionnumber=2029
10. Director of the Middle East Studies Center (MESC), American University in Cairo
Requirements: PhD degree in a discipline relevant to MESC’s field of study. Candidates should have well established and extended experience in policymaking and implementation related to the Middle East. They should have research and publications records showing interest and contributions to the field of Middle East studies. They may also bring evidence to contributions to negotiations, policymaking or policy advice in the Middle East at a high level in government, international organizations and/or think tanks.
Deadline for applications: Open until position is filled.
Information: https://academiccareers.com/job/4902/director-middle-east-studies-center-mesc-115424/
11. Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair in Islamic Art, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, Qatar
Required qualifications: PhD in art history; well-developed scholarly/research portfolio with evidence of multi-disciplinary applications; university teaching experience.
Deadline for applications: 15 December 2019. Information: https://www.vcujobs.com/postings/94363
12. Tenure-Track Instructur in Persian Language and Culture, Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Requirements: advanced proficiency in Persian; a Ph.D. in Persian Language and Linguistics, Persian Applied Linguistics, Persian language pedagogy, or a closely related field; evidence of substantial experience and excellent teaching ability in Persian for both heritage and non-heritage learners at the post-secondary level in North America; etc.
Deadline for applications: 18 December 2019. Information: https://asia.ubc.ca/department/careers/
13. Assistant Professor of Arabic (Tenure-Track), Virginia Military Institute, Lexington
Specialization open; Ph.D. in Arabic, Arabic Studies, Middle Eastern Studies or related field required. Native or near-native fluency in Modern Standard Arabic and at least one dialect of Arabic required. The successful candidate should provide evidence of excellence in teaching Arabic language, literature and culture at the college-level using the integrated approach.
Position open until filled; review of applications begins immediately. To ensure full consideration, please submit all materials by 15 December 2019. Information: https://virginiajobs.peopleadmin.com/postings/168558
14. Teaching Assistant Professor of Arabic, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Requirements: All applicants must have PhD in hand in Arabic or a closely related field, teaching excellence at the university level as demonstrated by course evaluation summaries, potential for curricular development, native or near native fluency in Arabic as well as in English, and experience in use of instructional technology.
Review of applications will begin on December 2, 2019 and will continue until the position is filled.
Information: https://www.gwu.jobs/postings/71608
15. New Professional One-year Master Program in English on “Contemporary Art in the Arab World, Iran and Turkey”, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice in Collaboration with the University of Geneva
Starting in February 2020, the Program balances theory and practice. It starts from a global perspective and focuses on modern and contemporary artistic production in the Arab world, Iran and Turkey. The training course includes a six-week internship at one of the partner institutions and concludes with the completion of a project or a final paper.
Registration deadline: 11 December 2019. For further information see https://www.unive.it/pag/33862/
16. Request to Answer a Questionnaire on “Emotional Stress among MENA Researchers”
The questionnaire has been designed for a qualitative assessment of stress-induced emotional difficulties of researchers working in (or on) the Middle East and North Africa after many colleagues have reported about deteriorating working conditions, not only in terms of actual research possibilities, but also concerning psychological challenges. You are invited to answer the 24 questions at https://de.surveymonkey.com/r/HR3KF5Z until 30 November 2019.
Information: Dr Jan Claudius Völkel, Senior Researcher, Arnold Bergstraesser Institute, University of Freiburg, jan.voelkel@politik.uni-freiburg.de
- November 11, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Grabar Opportunities:
The Grabar Travel Grant competition is open to graduate students (doctoral candidates) who have been invited or accepted as participants in a scholarly conference or other professional meeting for the purpose of presenting papers, chairing sessions or moderating discussions. The maximum amount of the award is $700 US.
The Grabar Post-doctoral Fellowshipis intended to support post-doctoral scholars at early stage of their careers in advancing their research. Fellowship funds may be used in one of two ways:
- To spend up to two months in residence as a visiting professor or fellow/research scholar at a university, museum, research institute or similar institution outside their usual country of residence or employment.
- To support additional research to aid in preparing the dissertation for publication.
Applicants should have completed their PhD within the last five years or have submitted their dissertations by the start of the fellowship.
The Grabar Post-doctoral Fellowship will provide up to $2000 US per month, for a maximum of two months. An additional $1000 may be requested for travel or for supplies.
For further details and to apply, please visit the HIAA website:
https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/grabar-grants-and-fellowships
2. International Conference: “Monotheistic Believing and Pluralistic Societies from an Islamic Perspective”, Department Islamic-Religious Studies, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, 7-9 November 2019
The central matter of interest will be whether and how Islamic monotheistic understandings of God have impacted social interactions between Muslims and non-Muslims, in both historical and contemporary contexts.
See program, abstracts and contact at https://www.dirs.phil.fau.eu/2019/10/07/international-conference-monotheistic-believing-and-pluralistic-societies-from-an-islamic-perspective-from-november-7th-9th-2019/
3. Assistant Professor in Islamicate South Asian Studies, Columbia University
Required qualifications: Applications from scholars working in Urdu and a second South Asian language are especially welcome. The successful candidate will be expected to sustain an active research and publication agenda, to teach both broad courses for undergraduates as well as graduate seminars, and to direct MA and PhD theses. The appointment will begin on 1 July 2020. The Ph.D. must be in hand by the appointment start date.
The review of applications will begin 1 January 2020; the position will remain open until filled.
Information: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=59458
4. Summer School Languages Program: Modern Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Arabic, and Persian, Ibn Haldun University Süleymaniye Complex, Istanbul, 8 June – 24 July 2020
Application deadline: 31 March 2020.
5. Arabic Culture and Language Program at Bar-Ilan University, 23 December 2019 – 9 January 2020
The program includes three weeks (five days per week) of intensive classwork in the Arabic language. In addition, excursions are arranged in order to experience first-hand local customs, culture and culinary delights through direct interaction with Arab hosts in their homes within the local villages.
Deadline for applications: 15 November 2019. Information: https://biuinternational.com/short-term-and-exchange/arabic-culture-language-winter-program/
6. Call for Submissions: SERMEISS Book Award for 2020
Established in 1977, the Southeast Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Society (SERMEISS) is a professional society for specialist and non-specialist educators whose professional activities engage the Middle East or Islam. The organization was founded to provide scholars in the southeastern United States with an opportunity to meet regularly with colleagues to share research findings and teaching concerns. SERMEISS is an affiliated organization of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). For more information, see: sermeiss.org
SERMEISS is pleased to announce its academic book prize for 2020 to recognize outstanding scholarship in Middle Eastern or Islamic studies in any academic discipline in the social sciences or humanities from any time period. Submitted books should be peer-reviewed nonfiction, published in English, and exhibit original empirical and theoretical contributions. Books published within the last three years (2017, 2018, 2019) will be considered. Edited volumes, handbooks, and novels are not eligible for the book award. SERMEISS will also give an honorable mention award.
Submissions will be accepted from authors based at a university within the SERMEISS 10-state region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Recipients will be required to attend and provide a brief presentation of their books at a future SERMEISS meeting. The society’s annual meeting occurs in October in Valle Crucis, North Carolina, and we have a biennial spring meeting.
Recipients of the SERMEISS prize will receive a $200 honorarium and certificate at their presentation. Recipients also receive a conference registration fee waiver
Submissions should include:
A cover letter including the following information:
Author name
University of Affiliation
Book Title
Publisher Name
Year of Publication
ISBN #
Contact name, phone, email
A copy of the book
SERMEISS will only accept one submission per author.
Send submissions to the SERMEISS Executive Director postmarked by March 1, 2020:
Calvin H. Allen, Jr., PhD
Executive Director-SERMEISS
208 Henkel Hall
Shenandoah University
Winchester, VA 22601
Contact: edsermeiss@gmail.com
7. Call for Submissions: SERMEISS Article or Chapter Prize for 2020
Established in 1977, the Southeast Regional Middle East and Islamic Studies Society (SERMEISS) is a professional society for specialist and non-specialist educators whose professional activities engage the Middle East or Islam. The organization was founded to provide scholars in the southeastern United States with an opportunity to meet regularly with colleagues to share research findings and teaching concerns. SERMEISS is an affiliated organization of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). For more information, see: sermeiss.org
SERMEISS is pleased to announce its second annual academic article or book chapter prize for 2020 to recognize outstanding scholarship in Middle Eastern or Islamic studies published as a peer-reviewed article or edited volume book chapter from any academic discipline in the social sciences or humanities from any time period). The submission should be peer-reviewed nonfiction, published in English, and exhibit original empirical and theoretical contributions. For the 2020 prize, submissions must have a copyright date within the previous two years (2019 or 2018). SERMEISS will also give an honorable mention award.
Submissions will be accepted from scholars based at a university within the SERMEISS 10-state region: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Virginia.
Recipients will be required to attend and provide a brief presentation of their publications at a future SERMEISS meeting. The society’s annual meeting occurs in October in Valle Crucis, North Carolina and we have a biennial spring meeting.
Recipients of the SERMEISS prize will receive a $100 honorarium and certificate at their presentation. Recipients also receive a conference registration fee waiver.
Submissions should include:A cover letter including the following information:
Author name
University of affiliation
Publication Title
Journal Name
Year of Publication
Citation information
Contact name, phone, email
A copy of the publication in pdf format.
SERMEISS will only accept one submission per author.
E-mail submissions to the SERMEISS executive director at edsermeiss@gmail.com by March 1, 2020:
Calvin H. Allen, Jr., PhD
Executive Director-SERMEISS
208 Henkel Hall
Shenandoah University
Winchester, VA 22601
Contact: edsermeiss@gmail.com
8. 8th International Conference on Contemporary Philosophy of Religion
Subject Matter: Religious Diversity
Basics:
- Description of Religious Diversity in the world
- Explanation of Religious Diversity in the world (and its epistemological, ontological and anthropological basis)
- Approaches in facing Religious Diversity
Issues:
- The definition of religion and the extent of Religious Diversity
- Religious Diversity and interreligious dialogue
- Religious Diversity and epistemic obligation
- Religious Diversity and religious pluralism
- Religious Diversity and guidance and legitimacy
- Religious Diversity and the transcendental unity of religions
- Religious Diversity and peaceful coexistence
- Religious Diversity and tolerance and global peace
- Religious Diversity and global theology
- Religious Diversity and religious minorities
- Religious Diversity and politics
- Religious Diversity and mysticism
- Religious Diversity and futurology
Time: 4-5 February 2020
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 6 December 2019
Deadline for Submission of Full Text of Speech (1500-2000 words): 10 January 2020
Venue: Islamic Propagation Center, Shahid Rajaei St., Mashhad, Iran
Submissions:
Proposals of papers should consist of a title, a 300-350 word abstract, at least 3 keywords, and the author’s affiliation and email address. The proposal should be sent online from the form, available here.
Accommodation: The conference secretary offers you a two day stay in Mashhad for FREE.
Website: www.en.philor.org
Contact Conference Secretariat
philorconf@gmail.com
m.mahdi.fallah@gmail.com
Telephone: +989126048893
- November 05, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Call for Papers
IRANIAN STUDIES INITIATIVE COLLOQUIUM SERIES
2020-2021
UC Santa Barbara, California, United States
The 2020-2021 Colloquium Series of the Iranian Studies Initiative will be held this next year in caboration with the UCSB Graduate Center for Literary Research (GCLR). The theme of the colloquium is:
ART AND LITERARY EXCHANGE BETWEEN IRAN, TRANSCAUCASIA, CENTRAL ASIA, AND RUSSIA IN THE 20th CENTURY
We welcome interdisciplinary proposals for papers and seminars addressing such transnational exchanges in roughly three periods: The Tsarist/Qajar Era, the Soviet Union/Pahlavi era, and the Islamic Republic/Post 1991 era, with a focus on Iran, Russia, Transcaucasia, and Central Asia. Although our focus is on literary, artistic, and cultural exchange, we will entertain submissions by historians and political scientists provided they relate to these areas.
The deadline for sending your abstract is December 31, 2019. If you are interested in participating, please send a resume, the title of your presentation, and an abstract (250 words). Please include any theoretical or methodological approaches used in your research. If your paper or seminar is accepted, we ask that you provide a draft of your paper/an outline of your seminar by late September 2020. Your lecture or seminar may be scheduled for the Fall, Winter, or Spring quarters 2020/21 on a Wednesday evening. If you have a preference for a particular time of day, please let us know.
Two nights of accommodation and meals, as well as travel expenses (in the US), and a small honorarium will be provided. Funds may be available for international travelers, but will be decided on an individual case by case basis.
For questions and paper proposals, please contact:
Christine D’Anca
Colloquium Organizer
Contacts:
Janet Afary, Mellichamp Chair Director, Iranian Studies Initiative, UCSB
Sven Spieker, Professor of German and Slavic Studies Comparative Literature Program, UCSB spieker@gss.ucsb.edu
2. Inaugural lecture, Islamic Art and Material Culture Collaborative (IAMCC), Toronto. Nov. 7
Tiles that tell Persian Tales–the Safavid Tile Arch Project of the Royal Ontario Museum
Lisa Golombek, Curator Emeritus, Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)
Venue: Institute of Islamic Studies, University of Toronto (Jackman Building, room 530)
In 1976 the ROM acquired two large Safavid arched panels composed of colourful glazed square tiles: a royal picnic and a heroic dragon-slaying scene. Recently, The Safavid Tile Arch Project (Lisa Golombek and Robert B. Mason) decided to delve further into their history. They found that there are at least another 24 such pictorial arched panels representing a wide range of subjects (e.g., Shahnameh, Nizami, Jami, Safavid history and daily life), some yet to be identified. Stylistically, they date the tiles to c. 1680, the reign of Shah Sulayman. In this talk, Lisa Golombek will present their research and discuss the issues that have yet to be resolved—who commissioned these tiles, when and for what building, and why were these images chosen.
The Islamic Art and Material Culture Collective (IAMCC) is a new collaborative research network based in Toronto that brings together the capacities and resources of the University of Toronto, the Royal Ontario Museum, and the Aga Khan Museum. The aim of the IAMCC is to foster innovative and interdisciplinary research on Islamic art and material culture, support a joint student internship program, host monthly talks and research seminars and present a high-profile annual visiting lecture.
3. Ševčenko Prize Deadline — 15 November 2019
Every year HIAA sponsors a competition and awards the Margaret B. Ševčenko Prize for the best unpublished essay written by a junior scholar (pre-dissertation graduate student to three years after the Ph.D. degree) on any aspect of Islamic visual culture. This competition is open to HIAA members only. The Ševčenko Prize recipient receives an award of $500 and a citation, generally presented at HIAA’s annual business meeting. The Prize is named in memory of Margaret Bentley Ševčenko, the first and long-serving Managing Editor of Muqarnas, a journal devoted to the visual culture of the Islamic world and sponsored by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and at MIT. The winning essay will be considered for publication by the Muqarnas Editorial Board.
For more information, see the Historians of Islamic Art Association website:
- November 02, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
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