Categories : Academic items

1.CONVOCATORIA Sexto encuentro sobre el Islam en América Latina

CALL Sixth meeting about Islam in Latin America

https://www.lacisa.org/convocatoria-sexto-encuentro-sobre-el-islam-en-america-latina

 

 

 

 

 

2. Call for Papers: Special Issue of MELA Notes in Honor of Jane Lewisohn and Nooshafarin Ansari

The editorial board of MELA Notes, the official journal of the Middle East Librarians Association (MELA), invites submissions for a special issue celebrating and critically examining the enduring legacies of two pioneering women in Iranian archives and library & information science: Jane Lewisohn and Nooshafarin Ansari. As foundational female leaders in the field, their scholarship, institution-building, and mentorship have profoundly shaped generations of librarians, archivists, and information professionals in Iran and beyond.

This pairing is intentional, as Lewisohn and Ansari belong to the same generation of Archivist/Librarians who served as bridges between local and global contexts. Both worked within Iran and contributed significantly to Iranian studies and cultural preservation in the diaspora. Their intertwined legacies highlight the connections between national and international perspectives, women’s leadership in knowledge institutions, and the transnational circulation of cultural heritage.

This issue aims not only to recognize their contributions but also to use their work as a lens for advancing scholarship in library and information science, archival studies, and Middle Eastern studies. We seek articles that situate their efforts within larger questions of knowledge production, gendered labor, cultural preservation, and the professionalization of LIS and archival practice in Iran, the Middle East, and diasporic contexts. In this way, the issue will extend beyond biography to generate new insights into the histories, challenges, and futures of the field.

The themes of the proposed articles may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Pathways, barriers, and breakthroughs for women in Iranian and Middle Eastern LIS/archives
• Gendered labor, recognition, and leadership models inspired by Lewisohn and Ansari
• The role of archives and oral history projects in documenting Iranian women’s history and contributions

Submission Guidelines:

• Abstracts: Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words by October 31, 2025. The abstract should clearly outline the article’s research question, methodology, key findings, and its relevance to the special issue’s theme.
• Please consult the Guidelines for Contributors on our website for citation and transliteration styles. 
• https://escholarship.org/uc/melanotes/Guidelines

• Full Articles: Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to submit a full article of 5,000 to 10,000 words. The deadline for full article submission is January 1, 2026.
• Submission Method: Abstracts should be sent via email to fsonboldel@ucsd.edu.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Call for Applications: The Holocaust, World War II, and Iranian Studies Research Workshop

June 22–26, 2026

Toronto, Canada

Applications due January 12, 2026

The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies and the William Levine Family Institute for Holocaust Education at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in cooperation with the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto invite applications for a research workshop on the connections between Iran, the Holocaust, and World War II. Arash Azizi, Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism, Yale University; Jennifer L. Jenkins, Department of History, University of Toronto; and Lior B. Sternfeld, Department of History, Pennsylvania State University, will serve as co-convenors for the program, which will be held June 22–26, 2026, at the Mir-Djalali Institute at the University of Toronto.

This workshop will bring together scholars working at the intersection of Iranian history and Holocaust studies to share their research and to lay the groundwork for a collective publication featuring the participants’ papers.

We seek to contribute to the growing body of scholarship on Iran in the 1930s and ‘40s that highlights the country’s role as a site of refuge, transit, and multifaceted political, social, and cultural exchange. Iran served as the most important non-combatant theater of World War II, and the Anglo-Soviet occupation of the country in 1941 fundamentally altered the trajectory of both the war and Iranian history, creating what some have termed a “lost decade” in the country’s national development. During the war years, Iran became a haven for hundreds of thousands of European refugees, including thousands of European Jews, mostly from Poland, who fled Nazi persecution through the Soviet Union. As a result, the country emerged as an important center for global Jewish and Zionist institutions, which established extensive operations in Tehran after 1942, drawn in part by the proximity of the estimated five million Jews in the Soviet Union.

The global war profoundly reshaped Iran’s national politics, fostering the growth of civil society organizations while various nationalist, internationalist, fascist, and anti-fascist commitments animated the Iranian political scene. Iranian political actors found themselves advocating for both Allied and Axis forces. Some embraced the notion that Iranians belonged to a mythical “Aryan race,” an idea that would persist in certain intellectual and political circles in the years to come. This terminology served multiple purposes: Iranian diplomats in Europe deployed it strategically in relations with Nazi Germany, while domestic political actors invoked it to advance nationalist projects at home.

Iranian responses to the war itself were equally diverse. Many celebrated their country’s role as a “bridge to victory” for the Allied war effort, even as increasing numbers gravitated toward the emerging anti-colonial political movement led by Mohammad Mossadeq. These wartime transformations of Iran’s political landscape had lasting effects on political movements and remain an understudied dimension of this period.

While Iranian Jews in Europe were targeted by the Nazis and their collaborators and some Iranians were imprisoned and/or killed in concentration camps, the Iranian diplomatic apparatus in Europe worked to aid Iranian citizens in distress, including rescuing Iranian Jews from the Holocaust and facilitating their safe passage to Iran. The war years brought profound change for Iranian Jews at home, expanding their involvement in the political and cultural life of the country and bringing them into contact with Jewish populations beyond Iran and across the Middle East. Interactions with European Jewish refugees and transnational Jewish aid organizations proved pivotal in shaping Iranian-Jewish responses to Zionism.

In later years, the memory of the Holocaust and the war experience would become contested subjects. Iranian Jews and non-Jewish Iranians commemorated the Holocaust in media and art, while other Iranians denied it—a stance that the Islamic Republic, founded in 1979, adopted and institutionalized as state-sponsored Holocaust denial that continues today.

To deepen our understanding of this crucial period and its enduring impact, we invite applications that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Iranian survivors and victims of Nazi persecution and the Holocaust
• Iranian experiences in wartime Europe (as rescuers, witnesses, and bystanders)
• European refugee experiences in Iran during the 1930s and 1940s, with particular attention to Jewish refugees
• Nazi propaganda targeting Iranians
• Refugee transit through the Soviet interior to Iran
• The Anglo-Soviet invasion and occupation of Iran
• Relations among British, American, and Soviet occupiers in Iran
• The Soviet Union’s role in wartime Iran, especially based on Soviet archives
• German-Iranian diplomatic, political, and economic relations during the interwar period and World War II
• The activities of the Polish government-in-exile in Iran and its relationship with the Iranian and Allied governments
• The activities of Jewish and Zionist organizations in Iran during the war
• Pro-Nazi and fascist networks in Iran and their subsequent legacies
• Anti-fascist organizing and discourse in wartime Iran and its legacies
• “Aryan race” discourse in politics, arts, and culture, including conflicts with Nazi officials over Iranian nationalist appropriations of the concept
• Depictions of the Holocaust in Iranian film and television
• Holocaust commemoration and historiography in Iranian political and cultural discourse and media
• Iranian-Polish ties and postwar memorialization of Polish refugees in Iran, including the marginalization of Polish-Jewish experiences
• Holocaust denial by Iranian state and non-state actors

We particularly encourage contributions that adopt transnational perspectives or engage innovative methodological approaches. Scholars whose work draws on understudied sources,  such as Persian-language material and Soviet archival sources, are particularly encouraged to apply.

Daily sessions of the workshop will consist of presentations of participants’ research as well as opportunities to consult with Museum staff about its educational outreach and academic programming. In Toronto participants will have access to the Tavakoli Archives, a unique repository of Persian-language rare books, manuscripts, lithographs, newspapers, and other written ephemera documenting the transnational Persian literary and print culture of the 19th and 20th centuries. Of particular interest is the archive’s extensive newspaper collection, which reflects the evolution of Iran’s press landscape from strict censorship in the 1930s to the flourishing of diverse political journalism in the 1940s and early 1950s, when publications across the ideological spectrum—from nationalist conservative to communist—served as organizational hubs for emerging political movements and fostered dynamic public discourse despite wartime censorship by the Allied occupiers. The wartime press coverage held by the archive runs to around 250,000 pages printed between 1938 and 1956 and includes unique material. Holdings include a number of daily and weekly publications from across the political spectrum, such as Iran-e Ma, Iran-e Bastan, Nasim-e Shomal, Mard-e Emruz, Parcham-e Eslam, and Setareh-e Islam; the satirical weekly Baba Shamal; literary and scientific journals such as Sokhan, Yaghma, and Mehr; the record of parliamentary proceedings Mozakerat-e Majles; and numerous other rare publications.

Participants will also have the opportunity to learn more about archival resources related to Iran in the Museum’s David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation, which houses an unparalleled repository of Holocaust evidence that documents the fate of victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others. The Museum’s holdings chronicle the experiences of European Jewish refugees in Iran and Iranian citizens in Europe during World War II through oral histories, personal papers, and institutional records. Extensive collections from major Jewish aid organizations operating in Tehran, combined with personal collections of letters, memoirs, photographs, music, and artifacts from refugees, illuminate the complex networks of refuge, aid, and cultural life in Iran during the war and its aftermath.

To Apply

Applications are welcome from scholars and researchers affiliated with universities, research institutions, or memorial sites and in any relevant academic discipline whose research addresses Iran during the Holocaust and World War II and their aftermath.

The Mandel Center will reimburse the costs of round-trip economy-class air tickets to/from Toronto, and related incidental expenses, up to a maximum reimbursable amount calculated by home institution location, which will be distributed within 6–8 weeks of the workshop’s conclusion. The Mandel Center will also provide hotel accommodation for the duration of the workshop. Applicants should submit abstracts for papers that will be developed for publication in a special journal issue and/or edited volume. Participants are required to attend the full duration of the workshop and to circulate a draft paper in advance of the program.

The deadline for receipt of applications is January 12, 2026. Applications must include:

• A short biography
• A curriculum vitae
• A list of any related publications and/or on-going research projects
• An abstract of no more than 500 words for the paper the applicant is prepared to present during the program

All application materials must be submitted in English online at ushmm.org/iran-workshop.

Questions should be directed to researchworkshops@ushmm.org.

Co-Organizers

The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto offers a transdisciplinary hub for scholars, students and community partners to engage in conversation to celebrate, study and preserve Iranian history and culture. The Institute represents faculty and students working on Iranian history, literature, religion, languages and arts across the University of Toronto’s three campuses, and offers a meeting place to engage community in this discipline across Canada.

An international leader in the field of Holocaust scholarship, the Museum’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies provides for continued growth and vitality in the field of Holocaust studies, promotes networking and cooperative projects among Holocaust scholars around the world, and ensures the training of future generations of Holocaust scholars in the US and abroad.

The Initiative on Holocaust Denial and Antisemitism at the Museum’s Levine Institute, in collaboration with IranWire, has sought to educate Iranian audiences about the intersections between Iran and the history of the Holocaust, highlight its contemporary relevance, and counter the Islamic Republic’s state-sanctioned Holocaust denial through The Sardari Project: Iran and the Holocaust. Since launching in 2020, The Sardari Project has introduced Iranian audiences to Holocaust history through articles and videos on topics ranging from Nazi propaganda to Muslim rescuers, a Persian translation of a graphic biography about Anne Frank, fabricated texts like the “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and original research on Iranian victims of the Nazis, Persian newspapers from the Holocaust era, Iran as a refuge to those fleeing German occupation, and more. To date, Persian-language content produced through the project has received more than 15 million views across multiple social media platforms.

Contact Email

researchworkshops@ushmm.org

URL

https://www.ushmm.org/iran-workshop

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Smarthistory’s new “syllabus” of Islamic art and architecture

a new Islamic Art and Architecture “syllabus” of Smarthistory content has just been published. This curated guide of Smarthistory content is organized into 13 units and, as of today, includes 137 essays and videos: https://smarthistory.org/curated-guide/islamic-art-and-architecture-syllabus/

Unit 1: Introduction and context

Unit 2: Art and architecture for a new Islamic world

Unit 3: The Umayyad Dynasty (661–750 C.E.)

Unit 4: The Abbasids (750–1258) and the Fatimids (909–1171)

Unit 5: The political mosaic of the 10th–13th centuries

Unit 6: In the wake of the Mongols (1256–1507)

Unit 7: A medieval world, connected (c. 13th–15th centuries)

Unit 8: Shifting landscapes in the Maghreb (before and after 1492)

Unit 9: The Mughal Empire (1526–1857)

Unit 10: The Safavid Empire (1501–1736)

Unit 11: The Ottoman Empire (1299–1922)

Unit 12: Islamic art in the 19th and 20th centuries

Unit 13: “Modern Islamic Art”? “Contemporary Islamic Art”?

The curation of this body of public scholarship was only possible because of the many authors who have already contributed essays to Smarthistory. Thank you all! More directly, my work on this syllabus is indebted to the editorial guidance of Marika Sardar and the encouraging support of Smarthistory leadership.

Over the next few months, we hope to augment this syllabus and fill in gaps where we can. If you would like to contribute an essay to this syllabus, or if you would like to share any questions or comments, please reach out to me at courtney@smarthistory.org with a short note.

I look forward to collaboratively expanding Smarthistory’s content on Islamic Art and Architecture over this academic year.

Autumnally,

Courtney

Contact Information

Courtney Lesoon

Macaulay Family Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Islamic Art History

Smarthistory

Contact Email

courtney@smarthistory.org

URL

https://smarthistory.org/curated-guide/islamic-art-and-architecture-syllabus/

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. CFP: Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, Spring/Fall 2026

We are pleased to announce the Call for Proposals for the 2026 Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series (VIAHSS). We invite proposals for individual papers and workshops for our Spring and Fall 2026 series. Please see full details below and submit proposals via our online form by Friday, November 14, 2025.

Founded at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series (VIAHSS) has brought together a diverse community of researchers from around the world interested in the history of art and visual culture in the Islamicate world. The series’ monthly virtual seminars and workshops have successfully filled a new niche in academic discourse. While travel has resumed and in-person events have begun again, the need for a forum which brings together international and intergenerational audiences in an inclusive and supportive fashion remains.
We are now inviting proposals for paper presentations on topics related to the history of art, architecture, and visual culture of any time period from the Islamic world for spring and fall of 2026. We welcome submissions from current graduate students, faculty, curators, and independent scholars.
The virtual seminar series will take place on Zoom from mid-January onwards. Each session will include a 20–30 minute presentation followed by a 20-minute discussion in a constructive and friendly manner. In addition to individual proposals we are also open to workshop proposals, which might include moderated discussions of pre-circulated papers, roundtables, discussions with practicing architects or artists, or other formats.
If you are interested in presenting, please upload an abstract detailing your topic (not more than 500 words) and your CV or resume by Friday, November 14, 2025, to this form.
If you have any questions, please contact co-organizers Dr. Alexander Brey (alexander.brey@wellesley.edu), Dr. Rachel Winter (winterr6@msu.edu), and Dr. Jaimee Comstock-Skipp (jaimee.comstock-skipp@ames.ox.ac.uk) with the phrase “VIAHSS 2026 proposal” in the subject line.

Contact Information

Drs. Alexander Brey, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Rachel Winter

Contact Email

winterr6@msu.edu

https://viahss.org/

 

 

 

 

 

6. Exhibition – The Bumiller Collection / University of Bamberg Museum of Islamic Art relaunched

After two years of refurbishing the private collection of founder M. Bumiller, the permanent exhibition is open again.
With a new educational concept, the museum presents topics related to art and craftsmanship in Iranian lands.
Covering an area of around 400 m² visitors experience the history of arts and crafts, production, science and medicine, and the history of the Central Asian Ghaznavid dynasty through the objects on display.
The collection focuses on metalwork from the 9th to 13th centuries from the Iranian region, Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Ceramics, glass and coins complete the collection.

Contact Information

Dr. Verena Daiber, curator

The Bumiller Collection
Bamberg University Museum of Islamic Art

Austraße 29
96047 Bamberg
Germany

+49 (0)951 25954
www.the-bumiller-collection.com

Contact Email

v.daiber@the-bumiller-collection.com

URL

http://the-bumiller-collection.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Fall 2025 AKPIA Lecture Series: A Forum for Islamic Art & Architecture at Harvard University

October 16, 2025, 6:00pm

“A Technology of Femininity: The Imperial Camera in the Abdülhamid II Albums”

Erin Hyde Nolan

AKPIA Fellow; Visiting Assistant Professor, Bates College

485 Broadway, Lower Lecture Hall

This event will not be livestreamed.

October 30, 2025, 6:00pm

“Fictions of Capital: Inventing, Extracting, and Fabricating Islamic Ceramics for a Global Market”

Margaret Graves

Adrienne Minassian Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture in Honor of Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, Brown University

485 Broadway, Lower Lecture Hall

This event will not be livestreamed.

November 20, 2025, 6:00pm

“The Erotics of Empire: Mughal Albums and Visible Bodies, ca. 1720–1800”

Yael Rice 

Associate Professor of the History of Art & Asian Languages and Civilizations, Amherst College

485 Broadway, Room 422

This event will be livestreamed. To register, visit

https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TvIUvmEuTxmIua_Cbv-uhA

THE AGA KHAN PROGRAM FOR ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

Lectures are open to the public and held Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm, at 485 Broadway

(HAA Lower Lecture Hall, or Room 422), Cambridge, MA 02138.

Registration is required to view lectures streamed via Zoom Webinar.

For further information, call 617-495-2355 or email agakhan@fas.harvard.edu.

For registration information, visit https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events.

Contact Information

THE AGA KHAN PROGRAM FOR ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY

485 Broadway, HAA Lower Lecture Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138

Phone: 617-495-2355

Contact Email

agakhan@fas.harvard.edu

URL

https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. Zoom: The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies and Invisible East

Please join us on Wednesday 12 November at 12PM EST / 5PM GMT to hear from Martina Massullo of the Louvre Museum on ‘Framing the Past: Exploring the Godard Photographic Archives of Iran and Afghanistan’. Pre-registration is essential.

https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/azuvuYKIRh-yNsSYNoA_5A#/registration

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. “Re-Introducing the Classics: Teaching Classical Persian through the Works of Saʿdi”
Prof. Cameron Cross
University of Michigan
Prof. Matthew Thomas Miller
University of Maryland
Saturday, November 1, 2025, 1:00 p.m. EDT  

Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/rJS6O8qgTkqDnOa-scg49A

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. The Arabic and Latin Science of Compound Medicaments

A New Reading of Book Ten of the «Practica Pantegni»

Anna Gili

11 November 2025 – 5 PM (CET)

The Royal Book (al-Kitāb al-Malakī), a medical encyclopaedia written by the Arabic physician al-Majūsī (930–994), includes an entire book devoted to the science of compound medicaments in its practical section. Rather than merely compiling lists of antidotes, it begins with a passionate defence of rationalist physicians’ views on the necessity of using compound antidotes, emphasising their effectiveness as an essential tool in the battle against disease.

Notably, the Latin translation by Constantine the African (1020–1087), preserved in a single manuscript from Toledo, goes beyond simply translating al-Majusi’s doctrines. It transforms them into a more philosophically informed discussion, substantiating the rationalist physicians’ claims by explaining how medicaments exert their virtues, while also incorporating fragments of earlier Latin learning.

This talk will present a selection of passages to highlight the main features of this neglected text and its Latin adaptation.

Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR) – Assistant Coordinator

Domus Comeliana, Via Cardinale Maffi 48, 56126 Pisa, Italy

Tel.: +39.02.006.20.51 – Mobile: +39.333.13.12.203

Email: ah@csmbr.fondazionecomel.org 

To register for this event please follow the link:

The Arabic and Latin Science of Compound Medicaments

 

 

 

 

 

11. HYBRID Conference “Decolonizing Archaeological Epistemologies”, Leiden, 29-30 October 2025

The conference will critically examine archaeological histories and practices, proposing instead more expan-sive, democratic, and liberatory approaches to the past and material culture, challenging extant museological, academic, economic, and legal systems governing the ways that material culture is collected, studied, and traded.This conference proposes a counter-colonial approach that rethinks the status of the historical object in the public eye.

Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/133323.

Registration: https://www.decolonizingarchaeology.com/registration/

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. Journée d_’étude„Patrimoine_et mémoire du monde iranien. Autour des archives d_’André Godard (1881-1965) et Yedda Godard (1889-1976)“ – Musée du Louvre, Paris, 4 novembre 2025

Information et programme : https://tinyurl.com/4yvd3ncd

 

 

 

 

 

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

The conference will explore the intersection of literature and the history of knowledge by focusing on Arabic didactic poetry, a genre in which knowledge was composed, transmitted, and performed in verse rather than prose. This event will bring together scholars from various disciplines to discuss the poetic, linguistic, and epistemic dimensions of this tradition.

Information, program and online participation: https://tinyurl.com/3rt5rkdz

 

 

 

 

 

14. ONLINE Virtual Seminar Series “Islamic Art History (VIAHSS)”, Michigan, Spring/Fall 2026

We invite proposals for paper presentations on topics related to the history of art, architecture, and visual culture of any time period from the Islamic world for spring and fall of 2026. We welcome submissions from current graduate students, faculty, curators, and independent scholars.

Deadline for abstracts: 14 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3cpc973d

 

 

 

 

 

15. Yale`s “Central Asia Workshop” (Including Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey), University of Almaty, Kazakhstan, 25-26 May 2026

Participation is open to advanced graduate students and junior scholars in the humanities and social scien-ces. Advanced graduate students must be in the second or third year of a doctoral program. Scholars with PhDs and junior faculty must be no more than five years beyond the degree. Travel, accommodation, and meals will be provided to all selected candidates.

Deadline for applications: 9 January 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4u49n9nj

 

 

 

 

 

16. MA in “Critical Asian and Middle Eastern Humanities”, Duke University

The MA is training students in the written, visual, and performance cultures of East Asia and the Middle East. The program integrates approaches and methodologies from literary studies, film studies, and cultural studies, providing skills for either a doctoral or professional degree.

Deadline for applications: 17 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/muvy8psa

 

 

 

 

 

17. Call for Articles on “Non-Orientalist Approaches to Modern Uyghur Studies” for a Special Issue of a Journal TBA

Uyghur Studies has gained unprecedented global attention, yet much of the scholarship remains entangled in Orientalist assumptions, securitization discourses, and Eurocentric epistemologies. This special issue seeks to move beyond such paradigms by fostering non-Orientalist, decolonial, and critical perspectives on the modern Uyghur experience within China, Central Asia, and the broader transnational context.

Deadline for submissions: 1 January 2026. Information: Guest Editor immanuel.ness@brooklyn.cuny.edu

 

 

 

 

 

18. Call for Articles for the Journal “Global Discourse” (Focus Middle East)

The journal is welcoming contributions for a special edition critically assessing frame theory in the study of conflict. We invite contributions focused on current events from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines, to explore how discourse can be examined using frame theory.

Information: https://tinyurl.com/mvm25w99

 

1. Oxford: Call for Applications Bahari Visiting Fellowship in the Persian Arts of the Book 2026-27

Call for Applications for Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections.

Of particular interest may be the Bahari Visiting Fellowship in the Persian Arts of the Book.

You can find the full details of opportunities, and instructions on how to apply, at:

Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections | Bodleian Libraries

The call closes on 28 November 2025.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Call for Expressions of Interest – Visual AnthropologyEditorial Assistant (2025-2028)

(This role is supported by an annual editorial honorarium of $1,400 USD)

Visual Anthropology is seeking a highly organized and motived Editorial Assistant to provide specified editorial and administrative support to the executive editors. This is a high profile position suitable for applicants who are committed to actively and creatively participating in the redevelopment of a pivotal journal for our discipline, and engaging with scholars and practitioners in the field.

The Editorial Assistant will assist with all stages of the editorial process from submission to publication. The Editorial Assistant will play a key position at VA and work in close collaboration with the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team to help manage manuscripts through the peer-review process. This is an exciting time to join VA as we re-launch and develop the journal to introduce new content types and formats.

The Editorial Assistant will provide editorial and administrative support to the executive editors in:

• Operating an online submission and peer review system (ScholarOne Manuscript (S1M)) to support scholarly manuscripts through the peer review process, working within defined workflows and timelines,
• Maintaining accurate records of submissions, peer review reports and related correspondence within the online submission and peer review site.
• Corresponding with authors, reviewers and editorial team members regarding manuscripts and workflows,
• Ensuring processes are followed by authors, reviewers and editorial team members in the use of the S1M online submission and peer review site to maintain compliance with best practice publishing standards.

To be considered you will need:

• Experience of anthropological research involving visual or multimodal theory, ethnographic study, methods or practice at doctoral level (e.g. as a doctoral candidate),
• Experience with working effectively as part of a team,
• The capacity to devote time each week to the role, and to attend Editorial Board meetings and training sessions as needed,
• The ability to ensure all submitted manuscripts are considered in a prompt, consistent and professional manner.
• The ability to confidently use an online peer review management system,
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to supply timely and accurate information in a professional manner to internal and external stakeholders,
• Proficient computer skills across contemporary platforms and applications and willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies,
• Proven organizational skills and attention to detail in running processes,
• Demonstrated ability to use initiative in selecting appropriate solutions, remaining calm under pressure and knowing when to escalate an issue,
• A good understanding of the peer review process.

Applications should include professional C.V. (two pages), and a Cover Letter of no longer than one page, to include the following:

• Your motivation for applying for this role,
• How you would work in partnership with the Editor-in-Chief and wider editorial team
• The experience and skills you would bring to the role.

Please send your applications (should be sent as attached PDF file) to the Editor-in-Chief (P.Khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au ) by 21 November  2025 (end of day).

 

1.ONLINE WORKSHOP: Collectively Situated Knowledge: A decolonial research method for constructing collective auto-narratives and positionalities

To Apply: Please fill out the form here- https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/forms/s/9sxrFz2ZiLbLttWb43oy9tnb

Application Deadline: Until all spaces are filled.
Payment Deadline: November 13th, 2025
Dates: Mondays and Tuesdays November 16th- December 1st, 2025
Time: All sessions are Mondays and Tuesdays:

– 9hrs to 11hrs, Mexico City Time,

– 16hrs-18hrs Central European Time,

– 20:30hrs-22:30hrs India Standard Time

Location: ONLINE

**SPACE IS LIMITED**

THIS COURSE FOCUSES ON CREATING RESEARCH METHODS THROUGH COLLECTIVE PRACTICE

IT IS TIME TO CENTER COLLECTIVE THOUGHT AND PRACTICE IN RESEARCH

This workshop addresses two principal discrepancies that arise in the creation of scholar/activist knowledge with indigenous, rural and organized urban communities that seek to create a decolonial research methodologies. Through participatory practices of knowledge exchange we will first work to incorporate collective forms of knowledge creation drawing on the decision-making structures of community assemblies present in many rural and indigenous communities around the world and then, we will explore collective auto-narrative as a research method. In this process we will dismantle the construction and practice of situating knowledge in order to create collective positionalities that reflect the construction of the self within the collective contexts that we inhabit. By exploring collective forms of agency in knowledge creation we will delve into the multiplicitous protaganisms that conglomerate in creating praxis and have the potential to resist epistemicide.

THIS COURSE WILL COVER

-Methods and analyses for creating decolonial economic projects.

-Understanding ourselves as situated knowers and how to position ourselves collectively.

-Unlearning colonial paradigms of research and knowledge production.

-Rethinking value, exchange, and labor in research.

-El Cambalache as an example of an anti-capitalist and non-hierarchical research project that practiced collective auto-narrative.

FOR WHOM?

The practice, research and theories of non-capitalist social power included in this course were developed by and for all of us in order to bring about social change. For this reason, it is designed for people interested in creating, practicing and collectively researching noncapitalist and anti- colonial social power to be carried out in their places of residence or research. Everyone is invited to participate – women, people with diasporic heritages, indigenous people and LBGTQ++ are especially invited.

CALENDAR

All sessions are Mondays and Tuesdays:

– 9hrs to 11hrs, Mexico City Time,

– 16hrs-18hrs Central European Time,

– 20:30hrs-22:30hrs India Standard Time

Monday November 16th-

Introductions, Remembering Knowledge Beyond Extraction

Tuesday November 17th-

Positionality, Power, and Partial Perspectives- Making them Collective

Monday November 23nd-

Collective Knowledge as Method

Tuesday November 24th-

Persistent Relationships: collectivity and communality: Non-Capitalist Ethics of Research through Collective Autonarrative

Monday November 30th-

Practicing Collective Auto-narrative and Story as Resistance

Tuesday December 1st-

Living the Method — Research as Relationship and Collective Creation

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Decolonial methodologies call for shifting the power relationships within the construction of knowledge. This involves not only recognizing the obfuscation of the persistence and value of the great multitude of epistemes present in the majority world but also the consequential urgency to shatter the hierarchy of intersectional structural violences that deny the inherent diversity, wealth and abundance of these ontologies. The disparate nature of epistemicide within academia simultaneously seeks to innovate in the creation and practice of institutionalized minority world forms of knowledge while silencing, devaluing and ultimately eliminating the epistemic polyphony present in the majority world. In order to shift this dynamic new forms of research methods are necessary. In order to create new methodologies we, as researchers, are pushed to transform ourselves and our systems of valuing.

In Capitalism social power is constructed through the acquisition of wealth through commodities and currency. Access to wealth is limited through intersectional structural violence across geographies which consequentially restrict access to social power and, as such, diverse epistemes are devalued. Many pre-hispanic empires and now, indigenous communities in the Americas have persistently functioned with moneyless economies that are sustained through collective work, exchange and thought. However, these forms of thought and practice have no value in a capitalist/colonial economy because they have no monetary value. These forms of indigenous praxis create non-capitalist social power which is the most available form of social power in the world.

Ethnography constructs knowledge through the investigation of ethnic expression, experience and is now recognized as intercultural research across epistemologies and ontologies. Ground-up approaches to ethnography such as photo-voice, community cinema, community radio, varied forms of artistic expression and podcasting seek to decenter the investigator while privileging the agency of research participants in the co-creation of knowledge. Meanwhile, beyond academia, social media around the world has created a platform for people from all walks of life to express themselves and their ontological experiences. Simultaneously, indigenous and rural communities in the Americas (and around the world) employ the structure of community assemblies to create knowledge about themselves, their context and resolve problems that they face.

The push towards collective knowledge creation amplifies the imperative to recognize the polyphonic nature of life on Earth. In order to audaciously create knowledge about resistance to coloniality and the expressions of flourishing in spite of all of the violence and chaos that greets us in 2025 academic practice would do well to incorporate and recognize the collective nature of our own experience, the interwoven immersion that accompanies us through our fields of research, our protagonism and that of others as we mutually influence and transform ourselves

and each other in the co-creation of knowledge. The community assembly as method for decision-making and knowledge creation simultaneously recognizes the incredible strength to persist in cultural maintenance and innovation inherent in those communities whose epistemes and territories are under constant attack through the mechanisms of capitalism/coloniality while also shifting away from the extractive nature of academic research. If we want to change the system it would do us well to let those that have always had different ways of knowing and being to take the lead in constructing the expression about their quotidian experience and its implications.

This is not to say that these practices are not fraught with contradiction and complexity. However, giving voice to those experiences creates the possibility to activelychange what we consider knowledge and who we understand to have access to it. Consequently, it is also necessary to piece apart the fraught nature of individualism, ethics and relationality within academic practice so that we may innovate towards a future that seeks liberation from capitalism/coloniality through a multiplicity of epistemologies and ontologies. Through this workshop we will practice collective work and thought through sharing our research experiences, challenges and steps towards developing futures that resist genocide and epistemicide.

HOW TO APPLY

Please fill out this online form:

https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/forms/s/9sxrFz2ZiLbLttWb43oy9tnb

In the form you will be asked to include a 1,000-word letter of motivation to explaining why you would like to participate in the workshop and what types of research or community projects that will benefit from your participation. It is recommended that you write the letter beforehand and then paste it into the form. If you have any questions please contact:

Dr. Erin Araujo, cambalach@autoproduzioni.net

IMPORTANT DATES

Sessions: November 16th to December 1st 2025

Application Deadline: until all seats are filled (limited capacity).

Course Payment: Due by November 13th, 2025

**SPACE IS LIMITED**

COSTS

Cost for participants from countries with a high access to money

(in US dollars)

$500 – $350 Solidarity price for well employed participants or collectives who want

to participate with a single contribution. This price is suggested for people who have

some kind of funding for their professional development or can afford it because of

their high salary level. This price contributes some support to other people, with less

economic possibilities of work, so that they can pay less.

$350 – $200 Students and participants who can afford it because they have access

to some type of financing or are collectives that want to participate through a single

contribution.

$200 – $80 Students, grassroots activists and participants who have little access to

money.

Cost for participants from countries with little access to money (in Mexican

pesos):

$5,000-$3,500 Solidarity price for well-employed participants or collectives who

want to participate with a single contribution. This price is suggested for people

who have some kind of funding for their professional development or can afford

it because of their high salary level. By paying this price, you will contribute in

supporting other people who lack economic resources or whose access is very

limited, and who want to participate in the workshop, so that they can pay less.

$3,500-$2,000 Students and participants who can afford it because they have

access to some type of financing or are collectives who want to participate

through a single contribution.

$2,000 – $800 Students, grassroots activists and participants who have little

access to money.

If for any reason you are unable to cover the fees, please ask for moneyless

exchange options to cover prices.

All proceeds from this workshop will go to support El Cambalache’s research,

community and decolonial work.

This workshop is provided by El Cambalache from its Department of Decolonial Economics.

El Cambalache is a project that works on decolonizing the economy. Located in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas

and made by and for women and all those we know. It focuses on the exchange of things, knowledge and mutual aid

through workshops, actions, publications and an emerging podcast. Cambalache was started in 2014 and has been

created on a foundation of anti-systemic, anti-colonial and anti-capitalist values from local social movements towards

a future of well-being for all.

For more information see:

FB LaCambalache – IG Elcambalachesancristobal – X LaCambalachera – TT cambalacheras –

YT https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCslgLGj8V0LFxSaDnL8iYQg

Our documentary: Inter-Change Value (2016) https://vimeo.com/159060233

Please contact Dr. Erin Araujo at cambalach@autoproduzioni.net  with questions.

Workshop on De- / Anti-Colonial Methods for Creating Collectivity, Incorporating Multiple Forms of Valuing and Supporting the Persistence of Our Relationships

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Workshop – Monastic Landscapes in Northern Mesopotamia in the 6th-10th centuries
The study of Christianity in northern Mesopotamia during the late Sasanian and early Islamic periods (6th-10th centuries), particularly within the context of monasticism, offers critical insights into how Christian communities were shaped by the intersection of religious, cultural, and political dynamics. This era was characterized by significant religious diversity, with Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Manichaean, and Islamic communities coexisting in the region. Northern Mesopotamia, encompassing regions like the Tur Abdin plateau, the Jazira plain, and the upper and middle Tigris valley, was a significant center of Christianity and monasticism. The region was home to numerous monastic communities that functioned not only as religious centers but also as hubs of religious education and cultural interaction.

The workshop (organized by Mustafa Ahmad and Alexander Pruß) will explore the archaeological, architectural, social, and cultural dimensions of monasticism and investigate the role of monasteries in shaping the socio-religious landscapes of northern Mesopotamia. The presentations of case studies, along with the discussions that follow, will contribute to a deeper understanding of the spatial organization, communal life, and broader societal impact of these monastic communities. Additionally, the workshop aims to highlight the ways in which monasteries functioned as centers of religious practice, education, and cultural exchange, providing new insights into the dynamics of interfaith interaction and the region’s historical development.

Contact Information

Dr. Mustafa Ahmad

Contact Email

m.ahmad@em.uni-frankfurt.de

URL

https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/177344484/Poster_Programma.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

3. Book launch (hybrid) – Explorations in Islamic Archaeology

The book Explorations in Islamic Archaeology: Material Culture, Settlements, and Landscapes from the Mediterranean to Western Asia edited by Joanita Vroom & Hagit Nol is launched at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (Leiden) and online.

The symposium includes a keynote by Neil Price (Uppsala University): “The Vikings and Asia” and a session focusing on Leiden junior research in Islamic archaeology with Kate Mokránová, Aila Santi, and Jonathan Ouellet.

Registration until November 18th. Please mention if you join the museum event or online.

Contact Information

Hagit Nol

Contact Email

H.Nol@em.uni-frankfurt.de

URL

https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2025/11/book-launch-explorations-in…

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. CFP – EHG Colloquium: The production of material culture in the Islamic world: centers, craftsmen and technique
The 21st Colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society is taking place on July 2-4, 2026, at the Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany). It aims to bring together scholars of various disciplines to discuss the Islamic world from a materiality perspective. Shifting the focus from consumers and patrons to craftsmen, their workshops and their ‘know how’ allows to foreground social and economic dynamics that often go unnoticed. The interdisciplinary discussion would enable a better understanding of such dynamics as well as establishing a fuller historical narrative for craftsmen. We invite researchers from the fields of Islamic archaeology, Islamic architecture, Islamic art history and the contemporary arts as well as manuscript studies, museology, history, ethno-archaeology and archaeometry to submit a paper proposal by November 25, 2025.

Contact Information

Dr. Mustafa Ahmad

Contact Email

m.ahmad@em.uni-frankfurt.de

URL

https://ernst-herzfeld-gesellschaft.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EHG2026.Fran…

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Conference – Central Asian Pottery Network (CAPN) – First Meetin

Upcoming Conference in Siena | 30–31 October 2025
Central Asian Pottery Network (CAPN) – First Meeting

Towards a New Agenda for Ceramic Studies and Related Fields in Central Asia

We are pleased to announce the first meeting of the Central Asian Pottery Network (CAPN), which will take place in Siena (Italy), 30–31 October 2025.

Central Asian ceramics represent a vast and diverse field of study, encompassing a wide range of materials, methods, and scholarly traditions. Following the successful EAA Session “Pots in Transition” (Rome 2024), this meeting aims to put into practice the ideas and collaborations discussed there, and to consolidate an active network of researchers working on pottery and related materials from Central Asia.

While ceramics remain at the core of the discussion, the meeting welcomes contributions addressing other categories of material culture — such as glass, metals, and ecofacts — as well as interdisciplinary and archaeometric studies that integrate technical, historical, and socio-economic perspectives.

Particular emphasis will be placed on fostering dialogue between young scholars and colleagues from Central Asia and neighbouring regions. By exploring themes such as urbanism, rurality, and exchange through the lens of ceramics, the CAPN meeting seeks to promote a more holistic understanding of how material culture shapes and reflects ancient societies.

We look forward to meeting in Siena and to building a collaborative, dynamic community for the study of Central Asian ceramics and beyond. You can also follow the meeting online: https://unistrasi-it.zoom.us/j/88332720771.

Contact Information

Agnese Fusaro – University for Foreigners of Siena – International University (Italy); agnese.fusaro@unistrasi.it

Gabriele Puschnigg – Institute of Iranian Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria); Gabriele.Puschnigg@oeaw.ac.at

Jacopo Bruno – Institute of Iranian Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria); “A tale of pots and people” project (FWF – der Wissenschaftsfonds ESPRIT-Projekt ESP 422-G); jacopo.bruno@oeaw.ac.at

Contact Email

capn@unistrasi.it

URL

https://www.unistrasi.it/1/798/1111953/Central_Asian_Pottery_Network.htm

 

 

 

 

6. The British Association for Islamic Studies is delighted to announce that the 2025 BRAIS Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World has been jointly awarded to:

Dr Razieh S. Mousavi (PhD awarded by the Humboldt University of Berlin) for her thesis entitled: ‘Al-Farghānī’s Elements of Astronomy (c. 860 CE): An Interplay of Meaning and Form at the Intersection of Astronomical and Medical Tradition

and

Dr Leone Pecorini Goodall (PhD awarded by the University of Edinburgh) for his thesis entitled: ‘Sons and Daughters of the Caliphate:
Succession Politics in the Marwanid and early Abbasid family (64-216/684-831)’

Both submissions were praised in the highest possible terms by our reviewers and our Prize Committee, and we offer our sincere congratulations to Dr Mousavi and Dr Pecorini Goodall who have both kindly provided abstracts of their superb theses which you can read here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize/brais-prize-winner-2025

BRAIS Prize 2026

We are also excited to announce that the 2026 BRAIS Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is now open for submissions. The submission deadline is 5pm GMT Friday 30 January 2026. Full details about the submission process, including all rules and regulations, can be found here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize/brais-prize-2026

 

This international prize is awarded annually to one outstanding doctoral thesis. English-language submissions on any aspect of the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world, past and present, including Muslim-minority societies are accepted.

 

BRAIS would like to offer its heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave so generously of their time to the BRAIS Prize this year, including the many reviewers across the world who read the manuscripts and our Prize Committee who had the very difficult task of selecting our winner. Particular thanks to the BRAIS Prize Chair, Dr Saeko Yazaki, and Prize Coordinator, Adam Ramadhan, for their tireless work in overseeing the process from start to finish

Congratulations again to Dr Mousavi and Dr Pecorini Goodall and very best wishes from us all at BRAIS,

The British Association for Islamic Studies

The Alwaleed Centre

University of Edinburgh

16 George Square

Edinburgh

EH8 9LD

1. brais@ed.ac.uk

www.brais.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

7. CLAMS Presents: Disasters and Resilience in the Mediterranean 400-1000 CE: Friday October 31st, 12:00 to 2:00 pm; Zoom Link: https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/…/BLPWCRdeRo-DHlQrx8xM7A

The first program of CLAMS’ fourth year!
Registration Link:

https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/BLPWCRdeRo-DHlQrx8xM7A

 

 

 

 

 

8. Full-time tenure track open rank position at Department of Arabic Language and Culture, National Chengchi University (ROC/Taiwan)

Job Description

The Department of Arabic Language and Culture at National Chengchi University invites applications for one full-time tenure track open rank position in Arabic/Arab/Middle East/Islamic studies, starting on 1 August 2026. The deadline for the application is 2025 December 15.

We are seeking a junior or senior scholar with an excellent track of research in one (or more) of the following fields:

Arabic linguistics

Arabic literature

Arabic language teaching

Islamic studies

Middle Eastern studies

The ideal candidate will have active research agendas and a remarkable record of publications in their field after the appointment. The candidate will contribute to Arabic teaching in accordance with the teaching guideline of the Department, or teach the courses on the Department’s curriculum. They will have to teach 6 hours per week in one semester, which usually comprises 16 weeks, and two semesters per year. In addition, the candidate is expected to share the administrative responsibilities, engage in the intellectual activities of the Department, and take part in students’ activities. The candidate must be able to communicate in English and/or Chinese with the faculty members and the administrative staff.

Employer: National Chengchi University

Location: Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)

Starting Date: 1 August, 2026

Deadline for Applications: December 15, 2025 (GMT +8). Review of applications will begin immediately after the deadline.

Qualification: Applicants must have a PhD in Arabic Studies, Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern studies, or a related discipline, preferably with a record of an active research agenda and teaching experience.

Application Instructions and Procedures

All applicants complete the application form and submit the required documents (listed below) via the link below  https://forms.gle/JDvZdhwgtXWVfGMG8

Enquiries concerning the application and related matters may be directed to the Department’s secretary, Ms. Wei (arabic@nccu.edu.tw ), or the Head of the Department, Dr. Ching-An Chang (chingan@nccu.edu.tw ).

 

 

 

 

 

9. UCLA: Surveying the Nile: Scholarly Misaha Manuals in Late Ottoman Egypt

Thursday, October 23, 2025

3:30 PM PST

UCLA Bunche Hall, Rm 10383

Organized by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies

https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17317

 

 

 

 

 

10. UCLA: Book Talk – Female Religiosity in Central Asia: Sufi Leaders in the Persianate World

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

3:30 – 5:00 PM PST

UCLA Bunche Hall, Rm 6275

Organized by UCLA Program on Central Asia, co-sponsored by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies

https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17274

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la première séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien”, qui se tiendra jeudi 23 octobre 2025, 17h-19h, en salle 5.08 à l’INaLCO(65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 5^eétage).

Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir Mme. Kristine Kostikyan, Historienne, Professeure à l’Université d’État d’Erevan et membre de l’Institut d’Études Orientales d’Arménie, pour une conférence intitulée : Persian Documents of the Matenadaran on Some Issues Referring to the Armenian Merchants of the Early Modern Period.

 Résumé:

Matenadaran possesses a big collection of Persian historical documents: about 3000 units including decrees, letters and shari‘a notarial documents. The main core of the collection are the documents referring to the Armenian Church and its various issues, and only a small part of it refers to the Armenian merchants, who had any connection with the catholicoses of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Armenian monasteries in the regions. However, these documents contain interesting information and details concerning their activities in 17^th till the beginning of 19^th centuries. Some of them reveal the cooperation and co-assistance of the Armenian Church and the eminent merchants, the inclination of the Armenian merchants to acquire land and other property in the regions where they lived, the ties of some merchants of New Julfa in Isfahan with the merchants living in the provinces of Eastern Armenia, their participation in the local administration of the Safavid and Afsharid states of Iran, and some details referring to their network connecting them with their agents in different regions of the Middle East and the ways of money transfer accomplished by them. These issues considered with the involvement of the other sources help elucidate some realities of the social-economic history of the Middle East in the given period, the peculiarities of the activities of the Armenian merchants and the means of their adaptation to various changes happened in different phases of the period securing their consistent participation in the international trade accomplished through the transit routes crossing the territories of the Armenian highland, the Caucasus and Iran.

Orientations bibliographiques:

– Aslanian, S. D. 2011. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, Berkeley – New York – London, 2011.

– Avery, P. 2008. “Nādir Shāh and the Afsharid Legacy”, The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 3-63.

– Bournoutian, G. 1982. Eastern Armenia in the Last Decades of Persian Rule: 1807–1828; A Political and Socioeconomic Study of the Khanate of Erevan on the Eve of the Russian Conquest. Malibu, CA: Undena Publications (tr. 2004).

– Bournoutian, G. 2004. The Chronicle of Deacon Zak‘aria of K‘anak‘er, Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers Inc.

– Bournoutian, G. 2003. The Journal of Zakaria of Agulis. Annotated transl. with commentary by GA. Bournoutian. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, Inc.

– Floor, W. M. 1998. A Fiscal History of Iran in the Safavid and Qajar Periods. New York: Bibliotheca Persica Press.

– Herzig, E. M. 2018. “The Commercial Law of the New Julfa Armenians”, in S. Chaudhury, K. Kevonian, eds., Les Arméniens dans le commerce asiatique au début de l’ère moderne, Paris, Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme (openedition.org), p. 63-81.

– Margaryan, G. A., Kostikyan, K. P., Tovmasyan, A. A. 2021. “Agulis on the Crossroads of International trade through Caucasus in XII-XVIII centuries”, History, Archaeology and ethnography of the Caucasus 18-4, p. 848-858 DOI https://doi.org/10.32653/CH174848-858

– Khach‘ikyan, Sh. L. 1988. Nor Jughayi hay vachaṛakanut‘yuně ev nra aṛevtra-tntesakan kaperě Ṛusastani het XVII-XVIII darerum, Yerevan.

– Khach‘ikyan, Sh. L. 1994. Shahvelu vordi Sarhadi hashvematyaně, Yerevan, Gitutyun.

– Khach‘ikyan, Sh. L. 2006.  Lazaryan aṛevtrakan ěnkerut‘yan hashvemat‘yaně (1741-1759), Isfahan – Yerevan.

– Kostikyan, K. and G. Margaryan 2024. ‘Nādir Shāh’s Decree Issued at the Request of the Armenian Merchants of Agulis’, Iran and the Caucasus, 28 (2024), p. 166-178, DOI:10.1163/1573384X-02802004.

– Minorsky, V. F. 1943. Tadhkirat al-muluk, A manual of Safavid administration (circa 1137/1725), Persian text in facsimile, translated and explained, London: W. Heffer and sons LTD.

Vous trouverez prochainement l’intégralité du programme 2025-2026 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien” en ligne sur le site du CeRMI: https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-de-recherche/

 

 

 

 

12. University of Exeter:

RESCHEDULED Monday Majlis. GABRIEL SAID REYNOLDS, A Faithful Dog and a Clay Bird: The Qur’an in Its Christian World. Monday Majlis Online on the 19th of JANUARY, 17:00-18:30 (UK time)

 

 

 

 

 

 

13. ONLINE Book Panel: “Histories of Political Thought in the Ottoman World”

The book provides a survey of the history of political ideas in the Ottoman world from its dawn around 1300 to its downfall in the early 20th century. It features 14 original papers by some of the most prominent and innovative scholars of Ottoman history and sheds light on the complex role that ideas have played in all aspects of Ottoman social and political life throughout the history of the Ottoman world.

Information: https://tinyurl.com/42k7hzp3 . Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/mr2br2tv

 

 

 

 

 

14. HYBRID Vortrag “Werte und Rechtsnormen in Bibel und Koran – _Perspektiven aus der inter-religiösen Praxis” von Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Reinbold, Seminar für Arabistik/Islamwissenschaft II, Universität Göttingen, 13. November 2025, 16:15 – _17:45 CET

Der Vortrag ist Teil des Seminars “Vortragsreihe: Religiöse Rechtsordnung als Grundlage für ein interreligiöses Diskursfeld”.

Information: https://tinyurl.com/yc3a2ud4 . Registrierung: https://tinyurl.com/4k2zbjz5

 

 

 

 

 

15. Workshop “Beyond Conflict and Coexistence – Majority-Minority Relations in the Late Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Space”, Hochschule für Jüdische Studien & Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, 25-26 January 2026

This workshop explores majority–minority relations across the late Ottoman and post-Ottoman worlds, from Jewish-Arab dynamics in Israel and Kurdish-Turkish relations in Turkey to interethnic tensions in the Balkans. We invite interdisciplinary contributions that examine coexistence, exclusion, and transformation across imperial, national, and contemporary contexts.

Deadline for abstracts: 10 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2uchsavu

 

 

 

 

 

16. Workshop “Constitutionalism and Religious Identity in the Middle East: Historical and Transnational Perspectives”, University of Oxford, 11-12 June 2026

We invite proposals that highlight the dynamic historical nature of constitutionalism and religion in the region. With particular attention to the hybridities, entanglements, and messy overlaps that resist dichotomies, the workshop will focus on the dramatic transitional period between 1850 and 1950, when competing visions of constitutionalism, the secular, and religion were simultaneously being debated, contested, and reimagined.

Deadline for abstracts: 10 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3b3pktth

 

 

 

 

 

17. 26th Symposium of the “International Committee for Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Studies (CIÉPO), Varna, Bulgaria, 23-27 June 2026

Themes: The Black Sea Region and Crimea in Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Times. – Europe, the Mediterranean World, and the Ottomans: War, Trade, and Diplomacy. – The Nomads and the State. – Ottoman Agriculture between Tradition and Transformation. – Demography and Migrations. – Governance and Corruption, Public Order and Justice. – Ottoman Studies and Digital Humanities. Languages are English, French, German, and Turkish.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 October 2025. Information: https://ciepo26varna.weebly.com/

 

 

 

 

 

18. “Academic Freedom and Knowledge Production in the Arab Region”

The followship supports individual researchers holding a PhD degree in the field of social sciences, humanities and/or allied and interdisciplinary fields with an established research record, to conduct research projects on and in the Arab region. A grant of up to USD10,000 is available for individual researchers to undertake research on the topic and explore potential areas of collaboration and joint outputs with other researchers.

Deadline for applications: 26 October 2025.

Information: https://theacss.org/about-grants-fellowships/scg-cycle-2-call-for-applications/

 

 

 

 

 

19. Two Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2 Years) on “Islamic Studies after Gaza” and “Interdisciplinarity and Experimental Methods in Islamic Studies”, University of Toronto

Qualifications: PhD in a field of Social Sciences or Humanities, with the degree completed no earlier than August 2021. – PhD candidates may apply if they complete their dissertation defence successfully no later than July 2026. – Demonstrated research expertise and publication record in Islamic studies or a closely related field. – All nationalities may apply.

Deadline for applications: 9 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4ejwpxh9

 

 

 

 

 

20. Fellowship (9 Months) in Druze and Arab Studies of the “American Druze Foundation”, Georgetown University

The purpose of the ADF Fellowship is to promote research on the Druze and Arab minorities with a concentration in the political, economic, and social history of the Druze. The ADF Fellowship supports academic research in the disciplines of history, political science, sociology, economics, anthropology, and archaeology. It cannot be used to support research that relates essentially to matters theological or religious in scope and nature.

Deadline for applications: 2 January 2026. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/174867

 

 

 

 

 

21. Assistant Professor on the History Studies on Israel and/or the Middle East, University of Nebraska at Omaha

Qualifications: The successful candidate will have a research and teaching agenda that focuses on Israel, Israel Studies, and/or the Middle East. Applicants must have their dissertation and all other work for a Ph.D. in history or a closely related field completed and approved by August 2026.

Deadline for applications: 21 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/46d2c2jr

 

 

 

 

 

22. Award of the “Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies” for the Best MA Thesis on the Middle East or Islam Submitted at a Nordic Educational Institution during 2024/25

The thesis must be submitted at an educational institution in one of the Nordic countries (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) and written in English, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.

Deadline for application extended to 31 October 2025. Information: https://www.nsmes.org/awards

 

 

1.‘A “Social Constructionist” Approach to “Muslim Biomedical Ethics: Examining “Muslim” Opposition to Physical-Assisted Suicide‘

H Godazgar,

Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory

2025

https://www.jcrt.org/archives/24.1/

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. The last two Ferdowsi Online Classes of this year. 

The first is the “Introduction to Pahlavi: Online Autumn School of Zoroastrian Middle Persian” (November 3 – November 20), generally open to everyone who is interested in getting a solid introduction to this language, with an overview of the academic literature, and an historical-linguistic contextualization.

The second course is the weekly “The Shahname: Introduction to the Iranian Epic” (November 7 – December 22), during which we will be reading the story of Rostam and Esfandyar. The main stress during this course falls on the understanding of the grammar of the Shahname (which means analyzing the morphology and syntax of Early Classical Persian), viewing the text from the historical and philological perspective.

If you share this with your students, that will always be appreciated!

In addition, in case you haven’t seen this before, on the website of Ferdowsi School there is a small section called Ferdowsi Blog, where I compile lists that might be of use to both students and researchers in the field. I wanted to share with you the list of the posts from there which you might find interesting (I am aiming at expanding the list in the future):

• Iranian & Silk Road Studies Book Series
• New Journals on Iranian Studies
• Journals on Silk Road and Central Asian Studies
• Festschrifts & Memorial Volumes on Iranian Studies
• 35 Persian Journals for Iranian Studies
• 15 Websites for Reading Persian Manuscripts Online

Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature

Yerevan, Armenia

Website: www.ferdowsi.org

 

 

 

 

 

3. Zoom: Gennadeion Seminar: A Material History of an Athonite Monastery’s Ottoman Archive, Oct. 15

• 10/15/2025
• 4.00pm – 5.30pm (EEST)

Presented by

The Gennadius Library, American School of Classical Studies at Athens

Speakers (in order of presentation at seminar):

Vanessa R. de Obaldía, University of Cambridge (alumna)

Georgios Boudalis, Senior Book and Paper Conservator, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki

Nikolaos Vryzidis, Adjunct Instructor, University of West Attica

Maciej Pawlikowski, Head of Cambridge Heritage Imagining Laboratory (CHIL)

Location

Pia Zombanakis Seminar Room, Gennadius Library/Zoom

Register on Zoom

Webinar Registration – Zoom

Description
This seminar presents the preliminary findings of an interdisciplinary project investigating a previously undocumented practice discovered at the Ottoman archive of the 13th-century Athonite monastery of Simonopetra: pasting of high-quality textile or paper linings onto the back of documents which are primarily of legal importance to the monastery. In line with contemporary trends in interdisciplinarity, the team comprises an Ottoman historian, a historian of material culture, a paper conservator, and an expert in advanced scientific imaging. While rooted in a microhistorical case study, this inquiry opens broader avenues for exploring the archive as both a physical entity and a medium of materiality. Additionally, it interrogates the significance of this practice – extending beyond its role in document preservation – within the broader context of the Ottoman Empire, with a particular focus on the experiences of Ottoman Christians. Essentially, this study introduces the concept of “material history” as a theoretical framework for examining two interconnected dynamics: first, the materiality of the linings highlights the perceived importance of specific documents; and second, the research uncovers materials that were not intended for widespread visibility, thus offering a new lens on the period’s material culture. As a pilot project with potential for broader expansion, Material History also addresses the inherent inaccessibility of these documents, given their continued significance to the monastery today. Specifically, it explores how this challenge can be partially solved through digitization, with the monastery providing digital copies of materials that are ordinarily not meant to be handled in-situ. Ultimately, this project engages with the interplay between materiality and intangibility, both rooted in a specific historical context, and explores novel, interdisciplinary avenues of research that could add value to the monastic archive itself.

Contact Email

Msmali.Genn@ascsa.edu.gr

URL

https://www.ascsa.edu.

 

 

 

 

4. Call for Papers

Pre-arranged Panel at the 15th Biennial Conference of the Association for Iranian Studies

Utrecht University, the Netherlands | 5–8 August 2026

Panel Title: The Legacy of Dr. Hans Eberhard Wulff: Pioneer of Research on Traditional Crafts, Technology, Science, Material Culture, and Art of Persia

Convenor: Professor Pedram Khosronejad (Western Sydney University, Australia)

Background

Johannes Eberhard Wulff (1907–1967) was a German engineer and scholar whose groundbreaking work documented the traditional crafts, technology, science, material culture, and art of Iran. In 1936, at the request of Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925–1941), Wulff was appointed to establish Iran’s first technical engineering schools as part of a German-Iranian educational cooperation initiative. He founded the first technical college in Shiraz in 1937, and at its opening ceremony, received a royal commission to compile a comprehensive encyclopedia of Persian traditional crafts and technology.

Between 1937 and 1941, while directing technical colleges in Shiraz, Isfahan, and Tabriz, Wulff conducted extensive fieldwork throughout Iran. He observed, interviewed, and photographed master craftsmen across numerous guilds, meticulously documenting their production techniques and tool-making practices. This research served both pedagogical purposes for his technical schools and as primary material for his royal commission.

The outbreak of World War II disrupted Wulff’s work. Following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, he and other German nationals were interned in Australian camps. Released in 1947, Wulff joined the University of New South Wales in 1950 as a lecturer. In 1953, he retrieved his research materials from Iran, including extensive notes, diaries, and photographs. In 1963, he enrolled as a doctoral candidate in the Department of Industrial Arts at UNSW, basing his thesis on his Iranian research. Wulff returned to Iran in 1964 and 1965 to complete his fieldwork and published The Traditional Crafts of Persia (MIT Press, 1966), presenting only a portion of his extensive documentation. Wulff passed away in 1967, leaving the bulk of his archive unpublished. This archive was retrieved from his family in Australia in 2019 and is currently held by Professor Pedram Khosronejad.

Panel Objectives

This panel seeks to illuminate the significance of Wulff’s scholarship from multiple disciplinary perspectives. We invite papers that examine:

This panel is part of a broader collaborative project to identify, digitize, and make Wulff’s archive accessible to scholars and the public, to publish his encyclopedia of Persian traditional arts and technology, and to produce a new edition of his 1966 monograph.

Submission Guidelines

We invite proposals from scholars working in:

Early career scholars and PhD candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.

Please submit:

Deadline: 15 October 2025

Submit materials to: pedram.khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au

Important Information

Accepted speakers are responsible for all costs, including conference registration, travel, and accommodation.

For conference details, visit: https://associationforiranianstudies.org/…/information

Contact Information

Pedram Khosronejad, Western Sydney University, Australia

Contact Email

pedram.khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Research Awards – 2025 CFSACK – Deadline Extended until Oct. 20

Application Deadline Extended – 2025 CFSACK Research Awards
We are pleased to announce that, due to high interest, the application deadline for the 2025 CFSACK Research Awards has been extended. Applications will now be accepted until October 20, 2025 at 23:59 PST.Applicants who have already submitted may revise their materials by logging into the application portal until the new deadline. Please ensure your application is submitted before the deadline, as no late submissions will be accepted.

The Canadian Friends of Sufi Arts, Culture, and Knowledge (CFSACK) Research Awards support original research related to Sufi arts, culture, and knowledge across a wide range of disciplines. Eligibility has been expanded this year to include applicants affiliated with higher education or cultural institutions in both Canada and the United States, with support from the American Friends of Sufi Arts, Culture, and Knowledge (AFSACK).

Award Amounts

• Undergraduate & Master’s Students: up to $2,000 CAD
• PhD Candidates & Postdoctoral Fellows: up to $5,000 CAD

Supported Research Activities
Funding may support archival and manuscript research, fieldwork, conference participation, acquisition of specialized research materials, or scholarly programming. A complete list of eligible and ineligible expenses is available on the program website.

Eligibility
Applicants must be affiliated with a Canadian or U.S. higher educational or cultural institution for the duration of the award. Eligible applicants include:

• Undergraduate students
• Master’s students
• Doctoral students/candidates
• Postdoctoral fellows

Note: Eligibility for the CFSACK Research Awards spans a wide range of disciplines. Any research project related to Sufi art, culture, or knowledge is welcome, including but not limited to: art history, fine arts, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, classics, cultural studies, ethnomusicology, history, literature, musicology, philosophy, psychology, religious studies, sociology, and other related fields. This interdisciplinary scope reflects the program’s commitment to advancing a holistic and nuanced understanding of Sufi traditions across academic and creative domains.

Special Opportunity
Recipients may request exclusive scholarly access to the Musée d’Art et de Culture Soufis MTO™ (MACS MTO) in Chatou, France, including:

• Privileged access to collections
• Consultations with curators/research staff
• On-site research support

Important Dates

• Applications Opened: August 4, 2025
• New Deadline: October 20, 2025, 23:59 PST
• Awards Commence: January 2026

Full details and application portal: https://www.cfsack.org/research-awards
Inquiries: research.awards@cfsack.org

Contact Information

Nooshin Esmaeili, Chair, CFSACK Research Awards Committee

Shahed Ejadi, CFSACK Board of Directors

Contact Email

research.awards@cfsack.org

URL

https://www.cfsack.org/research-awards

 

 

 

 

 

6. International Conference: The Empire that Made India: 500 Years of the Mughals

3–4 June 2026

École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 54 Boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris

Organiser: Naveen Kanalu (EHESS-CRH)

The year 2026 marks half a millennium since the foundation of the Mughal Empire (1526-1857), the last precolonial imperial power that governed most parts of the Indian sub-continent. Though earnest in its beginnings following the Central Asian chieftain, Babur’s victory at the First Battle of Panipat on 22 April 1526, in its heyday, the Mughal dynasty ruled over a population of more than 100 million subjects. The Mughal Empire has remained at the centre of major debates in Indian historiography on issues as diverse as the nature of political and administrative institutions, fiscal and economic systems, literary and artistic cultures as well as inter-religious cohabitation prior to colonial rule. The international conference organised to mark the 500-year anniversary of the empire’s foundation provides an opportunity to critically engage with various historiographical approaches that have been proposed thus far, as well as explore potential avenues for future research.

Since its inception in nineteenth-century British colonial debates, Mughal historiography has undergone several mutations in the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries, including nationalist, Marxist and cultural interpretations among others, demonstrating the continued vitality of the field. Yet the vast archival and manuscript sources, available in Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and regional languages, dispersed across repositories in South Asia and beyond, still await scholarly studies. Even a cursory glance at catalogues reveals that such a rich, unexplored corpus could infuse the field with new empirical and analytical approaches.

In recent decades, historians have rejected framing the construction of the Mughal Empire within the narrow scope of “methodological nationalism” and increasingly approached it through transregional connections and interactions. At the same time, professional history-writing can also find itself in a tense relation with trends in the public sphere. This is particularly acute today, given that the legacy, symbols and contribution of the Mughals are increasingly contested in India. In the current climate of political crisis, how can historians challenge popular stereotypes that depict the Mughal rulers as either paragons of harmonious syncretism or perpetrators of religious bigotry? How can we move beyond the study of representations, self-fashioning of the elites and courtly cultures that have dominated the field in the last few decades and explore other areas of research such as social, legal, economic and intellectual history? Are there other types of archival sources that would allow us to chart new directions in understanding how the Mughal Empire worked?

Themes

We welcome papers on the following topics and related themes:

Institutional, legal, military and political frameworks of governance

Administrative logistics, information circulation and forms of exercising authority

Documentary practices and archival cultures

Economic, financial and fiscal patterns

Social histories of religious communities, ethnic, clan and caste configurations

Borderlands, regions and frontiers in the construction of imperial space

Longue durée connections and interactions with the Islamic world

Keynote

Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Distinguished Professor of History and Irving & Jean Stone Chair in Social Sciences, UCLA, will deliver the keynote address.

Practical information

The organisers will cover economy class air/train tickets and hotel accommodation for 3 nights.

Please send an abstract of 300 words and a short biography of 200 words by 25 November 2025 to the following email address: mugurba@ehess.fr

Selected participants will be notified by mid-December.

The proceedings will be published as a special issue of a journal or an edited volume.

The conference is funded by the Agence national de la recherche (ANR) project, MugUrba: “The Bureaucratic Rhythms of Imperial Urbanity: Law, Property, and Public Life in Mughal South Asia, c. 1650–1750”.

Contact Information

Naveen Kanalu

EHESS – École des hautes études en sciences sociales

Centre de recherches historiques

Bureau B4-16, 54 Boulevard Raspail – 75006 PARIS

Contact Email

mugurba@ehess.fr

URL

https://mugurba.hypotheses.org/

 

 

1.Nemati Book Award For Studies on Iran’s Minoritized Ethnic and Religious Communities

The Nemati Book Award honors exceptional monographs on Iran’s minoritized ethnic and religious groups. Established in memory of Mrs. Nemati [from Kermanshah in Iran], the award supports inclusive, interdisciplinary scholarship. The UNC-Chapel Hill Persian Studies Program administers this award in collaboration with the Association for Iranian Studies (AIS).

Prize: $1,000 (awarded biennially)
Eligibility: Books published in the past two years (January 1, 2024- December 31, 2025)
Focus: Communities such as Armenian, Assyrian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Bahá’í, Kurdish, Baluch, Yarsan, and others
Submission: Authors or publishers may submit a digital copy of the book, a nomination letter by authors/publishers, and a CV by January 31, 2026, to yaghoobi@email.unc.edu

 

 

 

 

 

2. Special Panel: ALMOST FREE: A Conversation on Kurdish Contemporary Art

Wednesday, October 15, at 12 PM CST / 1 PM EST, for a special online panel, “ALMOST FREE: A Conversation on Kurdish Contemporary Art.” Moderated by Şener Özmen, the panel will feature leading Kurdish artists, curators, and scholars in a discussion on Kurdish contemporary art, the diaspora, and curatorial practices.

Register now via Zoom to be part of this important conversation.

🗓️  Wednesday, Oct 15  | ⏰ 12 PM CST / 1 PM EST

🔗 Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/DtAf2kRwTI6Li7whnixJvA

Hosted by Zahra Institute

🌐 www.zahrainstitute.org  (https://www.zahrainstitute.org/)

 

 

 

 

 

3. The Department of History at Georgetown University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the history of the Persianate World from the Muslim conquest to the present, to begin in August 2026. 

https://apply.interfolio.com/174364

Deadline: 30 October, 2025

 

 

 

4. Open Access – ‘Exploring ‘diversity’ and ‘pluralism’: a sociological analysis of religious education textbooks in the ‘Islamic Republic’ of Iran’

H Godazgar,

BJRE, 2025

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01416200.2025.2451031#abstract

 

 

 

 

 

5. 2026 BRISMES Annual Conference

SOAS University of London 

23-25 June 2026 

Submissions are now open for the 2026 BRISMES Conference

https://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference

To submit:

https://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference/about-the-conference/instructions-for-submission

 

 

 

 

6. The Department of Spanish and Portuguese, in collaboration with the Middle East and North African Studies (MENA) Program at Tulane University, invites applications for a tenure-line position at the rank of Assistant Professor:https://apply.interfolio.com/174060

Review of applications will begin on November 1, 2025, and continue until the position is filled.

 

 

 

 

7. The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, jointly presents the inaugural webinar on Assessment in Persian Language Pedagogy. This event is a result of our collective effort and commitment to the advancement of Persian language pedagogy.

The webinar on Assessment in Persian Language Pedagogy, a crucial and often understudied topic, will be held beginning in January 2027. It will bring together scholars of Persian language teaching and assessment, aiming to explore the most efficient formative and summative methods of assessment used in Persian language programs across the world. This is a significant step in our field, as different universities have developed their own non-standard tests and exams, which do not necessarily follow the accepted criteria for assessing students’ knowledge and proficiency levels. We aim to bridge this gap by aligning the various methods of assessment used by Persian language educators with the testing standards used in more commonly taught languages to achieve standardization of assessment in Persian.

Panels and speakers are invited to present original research on topics related to Assessment in Persian Language Pedagogy, including (but not limited to):

• Language assessment in multilingual contexts
• Adaptive language assessment
• Assessment and Academic Integrity in the digital and AI era
• Automated scoring and feedback
• Equity and cultural relevance
• Learning-oriented assessment
• Dynamic assessment
• Competency assessment
• Proficiency assessment
• Authentic Assessment
• Assessing Intercultural Competence
• Aligning Assessment with Learning Objectives and Learning Outcomes
• Technology in Assessment
• Validity, Reliability, and Unbiasedness in Assessment

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

Abstracts are due January 1, 2026. Please send your paper title along with a 250-300-word abstract, a 100-word bio, and your contact information to us at: azita.taleghani@utoronto.ca and pshabanijadidi@uchicago.edu. Be sure to include “Webinar on Assessment in Persian Language Pedagogy” in the subject line of the email. Notification of acceptance will be sent by February 1, 2026.

 

 

 

 

 

8. Yale Central Asia Workshop 2026 in Almaty – May 25-26, 2026
The Yale Central Asia Initiative is organizing a workshop next spring for advanced graduate students and early-stage postgraduate scholars to share and develop their work on topics in the study of Central Asia, within any discipline and from any period. The workshop, on May 25-26 2026, will be hosted by KIMEP University in Astana, Kazakhstan. We particularly encourage applications from scholars in or from Central Asia and neighboring countries, including Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, and the Caucasus.

Full details and the application portal are here

 

 

 

 

 

9. Arabic Studies at AUC: an Online Information Session about our MA Degree

29 October 2025, 7–8pm Cairo time

(9am Los Angeles, 12pm New York, 5pm London, Midnight Beijing) over Zoom.

Join here! (ID: 931 7316 8355 Passcode: 017862)

AUC offers students the unparalleled experience of living in Cairo, excellent opportunities to develop Arabic language skills, and explore local archives and sites. The faculty is world-class. Recent alumni have gone on to doctoral programs at the University of Chicago, McGill University, Harvard University, Oxford, and Cambridge, while others are pursuing careers in heritage management, education, journalism, and a wide range of related fields.
AUC offers fellowships and scholarships for graduate students and most of our graduates receive at least partial support during their years of study.

The Arabic Studies MA degree offers concentrations in:

• Arabic Language and Literature
• Islamic Art and Architecture
• Middle Eastern History
• Islamic Studies

Apply by December 15, 2025 for Fall 2026 Admission!

During the information session, faculty in Arabic Studies will discuss the department’s diverse course offerings, doing research with Arabic primary sources, and opportunities for professional development.

We look forward to answering any questions you or your students may have during the Online Information Session. You’re also very welcome to direct questions to us by email: aric@aucegypt.edu

 

 

 

 

 

10. “Modern Short Stories and Poems: Authentic Texts as a Tool for Teaching Persian as a Foreign Language”
Dr. Nima Mina
Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn
Saturday, October 18, 2025, 1:00 p.m. EDT  

Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/rJS6O8qgTkqDnOa-scg49A

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

 

 

 

 

 

11. Seminar (In-Person and Online) – Visualizing Music: from Iconography to Notation – Owen Wright

ReSIA (Research Seminar in Islamic Art)

Thursday 23 October 2025, 6PM

Room RG01, SOAS, University of London

Convenor: Professor Anna Contadini

Presents

Prof. Owen Wright, Emeritus Professor of Musicology of the Near and Middle East, SOAS, University of London

Visualizing Music: from Iconography to Notation

Click here to register on Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/resia-presents-prof-owen-wright-tickets-1757924612839

Past and future ReSIA talks can be found on our YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1z_PGhPjwcqXOrrMPQeQS_OJ0Bd4OHEN

We may be tempted to think of music as an exclusively aural phenomenon, one that cannot be smelt, felt, or seen. But it is socially grounded, and its participants, listeners, singers, instrumentalists, and dancers can be observed and represented. It is also an object of thought, so that various aspects of it can be shown schematically, for example in the form of diagrams, or expressed through metaphors; and for performers it can be represented symbolically, translated into visual code to provide an aide-mémoire. Some of these various approaches and techniques will be explored, drawing especially upon representations in paintings and in theoretical texts.

Owen Wright took his first degree in French (at Leicester University) and a second BA in Arabic at SOAS University of London, where he also completed his PhD in musicology and pursued his academic career. He was appointed Lecturer in Arabic, then Reader in Arabic and finally Professor of Musicology of the Near and Middle East and was at various times Head of the Department of the Near and Middle East and Chair of the Centre of Music Studies. His research concentrates on the historical development of the art-music traditions of the Islamic world, with at its core an engagement with both the theoretical literature, initially in Arabic and subsequently also in Persian and Turkish, and the extant documentation of practice as recorded in notations and song-text collections.

A publication in his honour appeared in 2018: Theory and Practice in the Music of the Islamic World. Essays in Honour of Owen Wright, edited by Rachel Harris and Martin Stokes, Routledge. Prof. Wright is the recipient of the 2025 British Academy Derek Allen Prize for Musicology.

His latest publications include: The Ottoman classical repertoire in historical perspective. Abingdon and New York: Routledge (in press); ‘The modal road: Bokhara – Baghdad – Cairo’, Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Arabisch-Islamischen Wissenschaften 2024; ‘Persian perspectives: Chardin, Kaempfer and De la Borde,’ Rast Musicology Journal, Special Issue 2019/7(2): 2050-83; Music theory in the Safavid age. The taqsīm al-naġamāt wa-bayān al-daraj wa-’l-šu‘ab wa-’l-maqāmāt. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2019; ‘The peregrinations of panjgāh’, Annali di Ca’ Foscari 55, 2019: 73-119; ‘Bridging the Safavid-Ottoman divide’, in Reinhard Strohm (ed.), The music road. Coherence and diversity in music from the Mediterranean to India (Proceedings of the British Academy 233), Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019, pp. 168-93.

URL

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/resia-presents-prof-owen-wright-tickets-17579246…

 

 

 

 

12. UCLA – Hybrid

Pourdavoud Lecture Series

‘Zoroastrianism in the Religious Context of the Arsacid Empire’

Lucinda Dirven

Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 4:00 pm Pacific Time

Royce Hall 306 and Via Zoom

To register for inperson or zoom:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2x1NaeS5tntf4y3KwewyAVQaLY1TBINdl2TjFmhthndNktw/viewform

 

 

 

 

 

13. Hybrid AGM Lecture Webinar: ‘The Idea of Persia’

With Ramin Jahanbegloo

British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 20 November, 2025, 6.45 pm UK Time

Location:

The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH & Online on Zoom

The event will take place in person at the British Academy, London, and online on Zoom. The event is free to attend, but booking is necessary. In person bookings are currently closed and members will be notified once they have opened. 

The lecture will take place between 6:45-8PM and it will be followed by a light reception.

In 1721, the French philosopher Montesquieu posed the question, “Comment peut-on être persan?” in the title to his famous Persian Letters (Lettres persanes). After centuries of invasion, murder, destruction, authoritarian rule, decay of political theory, and increasing dissolution in Iran’s politics, this volume is an investigation into what the answer to that question might be today. The Idea of Persia explores the notion of what it is to be Persian, but not as it has been constituted in the past, with reference to the political experience of antiquity, nor as an affirmation of the secular-rational project of modernity. Rather, the book examines the question of what it is to be Persian against the backdrop of centuries in which a common, plural subjectivity of Persian-ness has been continually delayed by those who, with or without ideologies, believed in politics only as a means of ruling or of being ruled. The historical battle for social and political freedoms is still underway in Iran, and as the nation wrestles with the possibility of an extended period of political, social, and cultural decline, it is a timely moment to return to the perspective embodied in the enlightened thinking of figures such as the writer and three times prime minister of Iran Mohammed Ali Foroughi (1877–1942) and his vision of a country possessing rational and moral capabilities, and to a possible renaissance of social and political institutions. The idea of Persia as it is presented here sees hope in the future as the means by which Iranians may liberate themselves from the duality of heroes and saints and remake their political mentality while staying true to an age-old idea of Persia.

Zooms registration: 

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_uZwNV4eqQMunbH59czMcpQ?ampDeviceId=61e43afd-fcbc-4450-83e5-e413786ccde4&ampSessionId=1760104937077&_gl=1*a8n35n*_gcl_au*ODY2ODQyMzM0LjE3NTQ5OTk3NTE.*_ga*MTc5ODIxNTgxNi4xNzM4NzQ3MzU0*_ga_L8TBF28DDX*czE3NjAxMDQ5MzYkbzUzJGcxJHQxNzYwMTA1MDA4JGo1OCRsMCRoMA..#/registration

 

 

 

 

14. Position in Arabic Studies: The Department of Arabic and Translation Studies at American University of Sharjah invites applications for a faculty positionat the rank of Assistant Professor to begin in Fall 2026, subject to budgetary approval. A PhD in Arabic Studies, Arabic Literature or allied areas is required. The willingness and ability to teach entry-level Arabic heritage classes is essential. The ability to offer courses on the history, culture and society of the United Arab Emirates will be a distinct advantage as is the integration of new technologies in teaching and research. Candidates should also indicate any interests, qualifications or experiences related to course and program design/development. We seek candidates with a passion for both teaching and research in any relevant area of specialization to join our faculty. UAE nationals are encouraged to apply.

Successful applicants will have native or near-native proficiency in Arabic and English. The language of instruction at AUS is English, however, candidates able to teach courses in both Arabic and English are preferred. Strong scholarly record/potential and relevant teaching experience are expected. Familiarity with western models of higher education is preferred.

Applicants are requested to submit their CV including a list of three referees, a cover letter outlining their areas of expertise, teaching philosophy, research interests and how they fit with the position. Salary and benefits are highly competitive.

Please submit the required documents in PDF format through https://acg-apps1.aus.edu/cas/empapp/apply.php?p=ATS-26-01 by November 30, 2025. We may request additional information from candidates who make it to the next stage of evaluation.

Online interviews with shortlisted candidates will take place on a rolling basis.

Candidates are welcome to contact the department at <ATS@aus.edu> with any questions about the position, American University of Sharjah or expatriate life in the UAE.

 

 

 

 

 

15. ONLINE Seminar “Local Expertise? A Postcolonial History of Heritage and Preservation in Qatar” by Trinidad Rico (Rutgers University), Centre for Gulf Studies, Exeter, 14 October 2025, 18:00 – 19:30 CET

What does it mean to study ‘locally-grown’ heritage traditions Responding to postcolonial calls in the field of heritage studies for more diverse, inclusive, and situated or localized approaches to heritage and preservation, the speaker addresses the rise of a heritage preservation tradition in Qatar as an example of resistance to a monolithic universal heritage ethos by what was once a ‘marginal’ player.

Information and registration: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/events/details/index.php?event=15107

 

 

 

 

 

16. ONLINE Seminar “Local Expertise? A Postcolonial History of Heritage and Preservation in Qatar” by Trinidad Rico (Rutgers University), Centre for Gulf Studies, Exeter, 14 October 2025, 18:00 – 19:30 CET

What does it mean to study ‘locally-grown’ heritage traditions Responding to postcolonial calls in the field of heritage studies for more diverse, inclusive, and situated or localized approaches to heritage and preservation, the speaker addresses the rise of a heritage preservation tradition in Qatar as an example of resistance to a monolithic universal heritage ethos by what was once a ‘marginal’ player.

Information and registration: https://www.exeter.ac.uk/events/details/index.php?event=15107

 

 

 

 

 

17. Annual History Seminar “Trading Patterns in Middle East History, 700-1900. Impacts, Ruptures and Continuities”, American University in Cairo, 27-28 March 2026

The Seminar invites papers that study and explore ruptures and continuities in trade and its patterns at important juncture and the role that trade played in its economies and how this interacted and intersected with different institutions in state and society at various historical periods.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/swxnm9m6

 

 

 

 

 

18. “19th Annual International Conference on Mediterranean Studies”, Athens, Greece, 30 March – 2 April 2026

The aim of the Conference is to bring together scholars from various areas of Mediterranean Studies, such as history, arts, archaeology, philosophy, culture, sociology, politics, international relations, economics, business, sports, environment, ecology, and other related disciplines. The conference is designed to facilitate discussions among academics from Mediterranean countries and those conducting research on Mediterranean-related issues.

Deadline for abstracts: 2 December 2025. Information: https://www.atiner.gr/mediterranean

 

 

 

 

 

19. HYBRID Panels on “History & Theory” during the “Istanbul Heritage(s) Conference: Cultural Pasts – Urban Futures”, Istanbul, 6-9 July 2026

Deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2025. Information: https://amps-research.com/heritages-history-theory/

 

 

 

 

 

20. Assistant Director for Research, Middle East Initiative (MEI), Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Qualifications: PhD in political science, economics, or sociology. – Minimum seven years professional work experience in conducting original research. – Experience leading research projects in the Middle East and North Africa. – Ability to manage large research teams. – Experience with statistical programming in either R or Stata. – Fluency in a regional language (Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or Hebrew).

Information: https://tinyurl.com/36d2v46x

 

 

 

 

 

21. Kuwait Program Research Fellowship for 2026-2027, Middle East Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge, MA

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3yc42w64

 

 

 

 

 

22. Assistant Professor (Tenure-track) with Expertise in Jews of the Islamic World, Smith College, Northampton, MA

We seek an innovative scholar-teacher with a passion for undergraduate teaching and an active research agenda who will bring new energy and ideas to our Jewish Studies program.

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/174654

 

 

 

 

 

23. Fellow (up to 3 Years) Raoul Wallenberg Institute, University of Michigan

This open-rank fellowship is intended for scholars and practitioners from any relevant discipline working on topics related to ethnic and religious hatred or tolerance. Applications are open to scholars regardless of citizenship or permanent residency status.

Deadline for applications: 8 December 2025. Information: https://lsa.umich.edu/wallenberg/fellowship-program.html

 

 

 

 

 

24. Andreas Tietze Memorial Fellowship in Turkish Studies (1-3 Months), Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of Vienna

The Fellowship 2026 is open to advanced doctoral candidates and postdoctoral/early-stage researchers working on a specific topic in Turkish Studies, especially in environmental history, history of technology, digital humanities, consumption history, history of tourism, and cultural heritage. The Fellow will receive a monthly scholarship of €1500.

Deadline for applications: 15 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/59sxjxnm

 

 

 

 

 

25. Grants of the Iran Heritage Foundation UK

Preference will be given to applications on archaeology, architecture, art, history, linguistics and literature, as well as subjects of contemporary interest, such as cinema, music, sociology and so on; applications from other disciplines will also be considered. Projects to be supported may include the most varied academic initiatives, from fieldwork to workshops, conferences, building databases and digitising images.

Deadline for applications: 22 October 2025. Information: https://ihf.org.uk/grants-tsandcs2025/

 

 

 

 

 

26. Call for Articles on ” On both sides of the border: Muslims in Garb al-Andalus and Portugal during the Middle Ages” for the Journal “Hamsa: Journal of Judaic and Islamic Studies”

The aim of this monographic issue is to serve as a compilation and new impetus for this research into the Muslim presence in Portuguese lands, both under the sphere of Andalusian influence (Garb al-Andalus) and under Christian rule (Portugal).

Deadline for articles: 28 February 2026. Information: https://journals.openedition.org/hamsa/5249

1. CFP ACLA Seminar: “World Literature Through the Spectrum of Digital Humanities; Textual Geographies and Technologies of Decentralization.”

This seminar explores how digital humanities reshape the study of world literature by highlighting circulation, adaptation, and resistance across diverse cultural contexts. We welcome papers that engage with:

• Digitization and the geographies of texts, authors, and readers
• Challenges of applying DH to non-Anglophone and non-Latin corpora
• Worlding, minor literatures, and digital infrastructures
• Critical reflections on DH and world literature

For details and submission, please visit this Link: https://www.acla.org/seminar/65659de7-cc35-4a64-98c6-f33019e7b1de

 

 

 

2. Quran Commentary Tafsir Series from Fons Vitae

NOW ALSO AVAILABLE in PDF & eBOOK formats: Up until now, these fundamental tafasir have remained out of reach for many English speaking Muslims (and non-Muslims). Among the most important sources for understanding the Qur’an are the tafsir works, commentaries on the Qur’an, which help to properly explain and contextualise the Revelation. VIEW ALL COMMENTARIES…

The series aims to make widely available the leading exegetical works in translation for study and research in unabridged form, which are faithful to the letter and meaning of the Arabic

 

 

 

 

3. CFP – Eco-art-histories: Plants and Paintings in the Arts of Asia

Call for PAPERS

ASSOCIATION FOR ART HISTORY 2026 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

8-10 April 2026, University of Cambridge

Eco-art-histories: Plants and Paintings in the Arts of Asia

This panel explores eco-art-historical analysis to re-evaluate received knowledge about the place of plant lives in painting in Asia. Moving away from the art historical tradition of reading ‘iconographically’ into plants in paintings, we turn attention to the acknowledgment that art and ecological phenomenon have always been inescapably entangled and sharpen the focus here on the question of the artist’s place in negotiating their plant worlds—trees, bushes, flowers, weeds.

How did plant ecologies inspire artists of Chinese, Indian, or Persian painting? Is it viable as a critical approach to assume that the European herbals were enough for Mughal painters to learn and include species of flowers in their album paintings? Is Chinese landscape painting in dialogue with the ecologies the artists encountered or simply presents formulaic iconographies? Are plants in Persian paintings of 14th century mindless, isolated, and merely mechanical imitations of specimens seen in fragments of Song textiles or Yuan scroll paintings? How did painted plants represent the less explored forms of multiplex culturation and different manners of perceiving and receiving the nature and environment?

We invite innovative and interdisciplinary approaches, retooling the analytical approach for the study of painting in Asia through the lens of eco-art-history. Such retooling may happen through revisiting the relationship between the medieval/early modern Asian artist and their immediate – or mediated – environment and questioning what constitutes and entails the agency of the artist and their subjective experience of or encounter with nature and its consequential translation into art.

Please email your abstract for a short presentation of about 10-15 minutes to be followed by discussions by November 2, 2025 to:

Sussan Babaie, The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, Sussan.babaie@courtauld.ac.uk

AND

Mahroo Moosavi, Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Max-Planck Institute, Mahroo.moosavi@khi.fi.it

Please keep your abstract to a maximum of 250 words and include a short CV!

Please note that you will need to be an AAH member and register for the conference to take part and present your paper.

For further information, see:

https://forarthistory.org.uk/events/cfp-association-for-art-history-2026-annual-conference/

Contact Email

Sussan.babaie@courtauld.ac.uk

URL

https://forarthistory.org.uk/events/cfp-association-for-art-history-2026-annual…

 

 

 

 

4. CfP – Facing the Mongol Empire: The Role of Art History (AAH Conference Session)

• AAH Conference: 8-10 April, 2026, University of Cambridge (UK)
• Call for Papers deadline: Sunday 2 November 2025

In the vibrant field of Middle Period art history, the study of cultures across Northeast Asia, the region from the Korean peninsula to the edges of the Taklamakan desert, is beginning to stand out. In this area Kitan/Liao, Tangut/Xia, Jurchen/Jin, Uighur, Chinese/Song, Korean/Goryeo and latterly Mongol/Yuan cultures, among others, co-existed and/or succeeded one another over the Middle Period (10th-14th centuries). This session seeks to centre and correlate the role (or roles) of art historical practices in approaches to this age in two parts, the first ranging from the Kitan period through to the unification of the Mongols by Chinggis Khaan (r. 1206-27) under the Great Mongol State and the second on the varied state and cultural manifestations under the successors of Chinggis. Proposals that bridge the two halves are also welcome.

Suggested areas of enquiry include: 1) Regional and transcultural/transhistorical character — how did the diverse ecologies of NE Asia shape the arts and patterns of artistic production across dynastic and political boundaries? 2) The priority of sources —scholarship on the groups that inhabited this region have historically relied on texts for information: how are these contradicted, or complicated, by objects and visual histories? 3) Buddhism, especially Himalayan and other esoteric strands of doctrine, and its relation to other religions. 4) Hierarchy of media within art history. 5) How nomad polities shaped the roles of women, and women as role models in cultural production and the generation of value systems. 6) The problematic notion of universal culture under a world empire.

This session will be in two parts. In the first, we consider the arts and the role(s) of art history in the context of nomad-sedentary relations from the arrival of the Kitans in around 908 to the unifying reign of Chinggis Khaan, which marked the launch of the Mongols’ quest to dominate the world. In the second, we shift attention to the ensuing rapid and vast expansion of the Mongol empire under Chinggis’ heirs and successors, whereby many regions of Eurasia far distant from the Mongol homeland in Northeast Asia were now incorporated or else entered into various new diplomatic, confessional, tributary and other relations with the Mongols. Proposals that bridge the two halves are also welcome. We anticipate 3-5 papers per half of the session, followed by a discussion and Q&A.

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Eiren Shea, Grinnell College, sheaeire@grinnell.edu

Shane McCausland, SOAS University of London, sm80@soas.ac.uk

Contact Email

sheaeire@grinnell.edu

URL

https://forarthistory.org.uk/facing-the-mongol-empire-the-role-of-art-history/

 

 

 

 

 

5. CFP – Animal Representation in the Global Middle Ages – Bridging the Natural and Social Worlds (AAH Conference Panel)

Animals occupied a multivalent space in the medieval world. As part of nature, they were embedded in ecological systems, yet they were also abstracted into symbols of power, religious allegory, and medicinal knowledge—ultimately serving as a nexus between human societies and the natural environment. This panel explores the representation of animals across the global Middle Ages (c. 500–1500 CE), examining how diverse cultures imbued fauna with meaning through their representation. Moving beyond Eurocentric frameworks, we investigate how animal representations functioned as dynamic sites of meaning-making, from the meticulously rendered beasts in Islamic manuscripts, the symbolic menageries of Chinese paintings and prints, to the creatures that materialized along the Afro-Eurasian trade routes.

How did artists and patrons deploy animal iconography to articulate political authority, spiritual ideologies, or ecological knowledge? In what ways did the circulation of creatures, whether real or imagined, confer social prestige or negotiate cultural encounters? How did depictions of animals reflect or shape premodern environmental consciousness? Adopting a global perspective, we seek to illuminate the interconnectedness of medieval visual cultures while challenging anthropocentric narratives in art history. Of particular interest are studies that demonstrate how animals, as living beings and symbolic constructs, actively participated in shaping artistic traditions across regions. We welcome submissions focusing on understudied geographies and encourage interdisciplinary approaches bridging art history and environmental humanities. Ultimately, this panel aims to reconsider the global Middle Ages through its creaturely representations, revealing how such species—real, mythical, and metamorphic—fundamentally shaped medieval visual knowledge.

Session format

The session will include between three and eight 20-minute research papers, each followed by 5 minutes for questions.

This panel is part of the Association for Art History 2026 Annual Conference, which will be held from 8–10 April 2026 at the University of Cambridge.

https://forarthistory.org.uk/events/cfp-association-for-art-history-2026-annual-conference/

Paper Proposals

The 2026 Annual Conference is open to all, members and non-members of the Association for Art History. Anyone can submit a paper. Speakers, delegates and conveners pay to attend.

Please include in your paper proposal:

• Title of your paper (please make sure the title is concise and reflects the contents of the paper because the title is what appears online, in social media and in the digital programme).
• Brief abstract (max 250 words)
• Your name
• Affiliations (or if independent/freelance)
• Email address for your convenor to contact you
• Social media handles

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Yuxi Pan, SOAS University of London, 714232@soas.ac.uk

URL

https://forarthistory.org.uk/animal-representation-in-the-global-middle-ages-br…

 

 

6. Al-Mahdi Institute invites paper submissions for its upcoming international conference, “Who Cares? Care and Support Practitioners in Muslim Contexts” (27–28th April 2026).

This interdisciplinary event explores the question of who provides care within Muslim communities, how such work is sustained, and under what ethical, social, and theological frameworks. Scholars and practitioners are invited to examine issues such as mental health, domestic abuse, family breakdown, migration, and the professional–religious dynamics that shape care provision in Muslim contexts.

Selected papers will be featured in an edited volume with Brill.

Abstracts (max. 400 words) are due by 12 January 2026.

Full details: www.almahdi.edu/msc-cfp

 

 

 

 

 

7. Journée d’étude – Sociétés et environnement dans le monde islamique médiéval (16/10/2025)

Dear colleagues,
We are pleased to send you, below, the programme for a workshop that my colleague Mathieu Eychenne and I are organising at Paris Cité University on the 16th of October. This workshop, entitled Societies and the Environment in the Medieval Islamic World (7th-16th centuries): Current State of Research and Future Prospects, is open to anyone interested.
Please feel free to share this information with your colleagues and students.
Kind regards,
Camille Rhoné-Quer and Mathieu Eychenne

Chers collègues,

Nous avons le plaisir de vous envoyer, ci-dessous, le programme d’une journée d’étude que mon collègue Mathieu Eychenne et moi-même organisons à l’Université Paris Cité le 16 octobre. Cette journée, intitulée Sociétés et environnement dans le monde islamique médiéval (VIIe-XVIe s.). État des lieux et perspectives de recherche, est ouverte à toute personne intéressée.

N’hésitez pas à relayer cette information auprès de vos collègues et étudiants.

Bien cordialement,

Camille Rhoné-Quer et Mathieu Eychenne

Programme

9h — Accueil des participants

9h10 — Introduction

Camille Rhoné-Quer et Mathieu Eychenne

9h20 — Éléments pour une histoire environnementale de Damas au Moyen Âge. Sources et perspectives

Mathieu Eychenne (Université Paris Cité, ECHELLES – UMR 8264)

9h45 — L’économie circulaire au Maghreb et en al-Andalus : quelques remarques préliminaires

Yassir Benhima (Université Lyon 2, CIHAM – UMR 5648)

10h10 — Discussion

10h30 — Pause café

10h45 — Des mangroves aux montagnes, des wadis aux oasis. Relations sociétés-environnements en Arabie orientale durant la période médiévale islamique par l’archéobotanique

Vladimir Dabrowski (CNRS, Orient & Méditerranée – UMR 8167)

 11h10 — Les hommes et leur environnement dans l’Égypte médiévale (VII^e-XVI^e s.)

 Nicolas Michel (Aix-Marseille Université, IREMAM – UMR 7310)

11h35 — Environnement et sociétés dans la Syrie du Nord médiévale : l’apport des données archéologiques et géographiques

Marie-Odile Rousset (CNRS, Archéorient – UMR 5133)

12h00 — Discussion

12h30 — Déjeuner

 14h — La vallée de la basse Moulouya au Moyen Âge : dynamiques de peuplement et transformations socio-environnementales

Jennifer Vanz (Université Paris-Est Créteil, CRHEC – EA 4392)

14h25 —  Mandu, cité de l’eau : paysages et environnements au croisement des disciplines (Inde centrale, XIV^e-XV^e s.)

Anne Casile (IRD, PALOC – UMR 208)

 14h50 — Discussion

15h10 — Pause café

 15h25 — Quid de l’environnement aux marges d’al-Andalus ? Approche interdisciplinaire des systèmes agrosylvopastoraux d’Albalat (X^e-XII^e s., Estrémadure, Espagne)

Jérôme Ros (CNRS, ISEM – UMR 5554)

 15h50 — Archives archéozoologiques du Plateau iranien entre l’Antiquité et le Moyen Âge et indices de changements environnementaux

Marjan Mashkour (Muséum national d’histoire naturelle, BioArch – UMR 7209)

 16h15 — (Re)penser la place des moutons dans la vallée de l’Amou Darya à l’époque islamique médiévale : un exemple d’approche interdisciplinaire

Camille Rhoné-Quer (Aix-Marseille Université, IREMAM – UMR 7310)

 16h40 — Discussion

 17h10 — Conclusion

Contact : mathieu.eychenne@u-paris.fr ou camille.rhone@univ-amu.fr

 

 

 

 

8. The Institute of Ismaili Studies:

Sculpting the Self: Islam, Selfhood, and Human Flourishing IHTLS lecture invitation 8 October 2025

Please join us at 5 pm (London, UK time) on Wednesday, 8^th of October, for the next session of the Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series organised by the Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Professor Muhammad U. Faruque’s talk is titled  “Sculpting the Self: Islam, Selfhood, and Human Flourishing”, with Dr Daryoush Mohammad Pour as discussant.

To join, please register for online only attendance at  https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/sculpting-the-self/

 

 

 

 

 

9. The Sharmin & Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies Postdoctoral Research Associate(s) Application Details

The Sharmin and Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at Princeton University invites applications for the position(s) of postdoctoral research associate (PDRA) or associate research scholar (ARS) in the relevant fields of Iran and the Persian Gulf in the 19th – 21st century.

Anticipated to start in September 2026, the position is open to scholars of all academic disciplines in the humanities and social sciences. The Term of Appointment is based on rank: the PDRA position is for one year with the possibility of renewal pending satisfactory performance and continued funding; those hired as an ARS have a three-year appointment. The center promotes interdisciplinary approaches to advancing the study of Iran and the Persian Gulf, with special attention to the region’s role and significance in the contemporary world. The goal of the program is to support outstanding scholars of Iran and the wider Persianate world at an early stage of their careers and thus to strengthen the field of Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies in the United States and abroad.

In addition to their salary, researchers receive funding (up to $4,000 per academic year) for research related expenses (books, conferences, travel expenses, etc.). The center provides office space and staff support as well as a taxable moving allowance to help defray domestic or international moving expenses. The work location for this position is in-person on campus at Princeton University.

This offer is contingent upon completion of all requirements for the Ph.D., received between 2023 and the start date. If you do not have proof of Ph.D. before your start date, however, you may be temporarily appointed (for at most one year) as a Senior Research Assistant with a 10% reduction in salary. Upon providing verification that you have completed all requirements for the Ph.D., you would then be promoted in rank and salary. Researchers may not pursue another degree while in this appointment, nor may they hold any other fellowships or visiting positions concurrently. Appointment(s) cannot be deferred to a later term.

Candidates are required to apply online and submit the following documents: (1) cover letter with title and summary of proposed research project (200 words); (2) research proposal (max. 1500 words, exclusive of bibliography), including description of project, bibliography, timetable, explicit goals, and the reason for pursuing at Princeton; (3) curriculum vitae and list of publications; (4) sample chapter (in English) of dissertation or other recent work; (5) contact information for three references.

DEADLINE: All materials must be received by November 3, 2025, 11:59 p.m. EST. Preferred start date is September 1, 2026.

Please visit iran.princeton.edu for further information about the Mossavar-Rahmani Center. View the post on AHIRE to apply.

This position is subject to the University’s background check policy.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

 

 

 

 

 

10. University of Maryland’s Roshan Institute for Persian Studies Announces the Establishment of Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Persian Digital Library

The University of Maryland’s Roshan Institute for Persian Studies has received a major new gift to establish the Dr. Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Persian Digital Library (EOMPDL) to preserve, study and share Persian literary heritage.  The gift comes from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute, a private foundation created by Mir-Djalali, a distinguished linguist, educator and philanthropist dedicated to the preservation and global celebration of Persian language, literature and heritage.

Funded by a $1.5 million endowment and $310,000 in startup funds, the EOMPDL will be the first open-access Persian digital library to feature texts that have been professionally edited and vetted by scholars. Building on UMD’s internationally recognized leadership in Persian digital humanities, the initiative will provide free, global access to a constantly expanding body of classical and modern Persian texts. The project will also partner with institutions to help safeguard thousands of at-risk manuscripts and rare books from collections in India, Pakistan and beyond.

As such, the initiative will serve as a hub for training a new generation of digitally fluent Persian scholars, with access to previously inaccessible Persian manuscripts and printed books. “Thanks to this generous support, we are poised to dramatically expand access to Persian literature and create a sustainable future for Persian digital humanities,” saidStephanie Shonekan, dean of UMD’s College of Arts and Humanities. “This investment will inspire the next generation of scholars and attract the brightest minds to contribute to this important work, ensuring that this rich cultural legacy remains accessible for generations to come.”

A 2007 gift from Mir-Djalali enabled the establishment of the university’s Roshan Institute, which has emerged as a global leader in the field of Persian digital humanities. It developed the first major corpus of Persian texts prepared using internationally recognized standards for digital editing and markup. It also created critical digital tools for researchers, including open-source software and digitized collections.

Supported by nearly $3.25 million in grants from the Mellon Foundation, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, UMD researchers have revolutionized the use of open-source optical character recognition and handwritten text recognition technologies for Persian texts, which allow users to automatically extract digital texts from scanned images of books or manuscripts. UMD scholars have also spearheaded collaborative projects with universities, libraries and cultural institutions around the world to digitize endangered Persian manuscript collections. “We are delighted with this additional field-building gift in recognition of the institute’s achievements in Persian digital humanities and other academic domains,” said Fatemeh Keshavarz, the Roshan Institute’s chair and director.  Matthew Thomas Miller, assistant professor of Persian literature and digital humanities, will lead the creation of the EOMPDL and serve as the Library’s director. He has spearheaded Persian digital humanities work at the Roshan Institute since 2015. “We are opening a new chapter in the preservation and study of Persian literature,” Miller said. “Ultimately we aim to foster deeper appreciation and understanding of Persian culture and ensure its treasures are preserved for future generations.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

11. ONLINE Webinar: ‘Iran and Afghanistan: Toward a Connected (Literary) History’

with Aria Fani

British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 15 October 2025,  5:00 pm UK Time
Contrary to the presumption that literary nationalism in the Global South emerged solely through contact with Europe, Reading across Borders shows how the cultural forms of Iran and Afghanistan as nation-states arose from a shared Persian heritage and sustained cross-cultural exchange. In this talk, Aria Fani charts the individuals, institutions, and conversations that made this exchange possible, exploring how Afghans and Iranians invented modern selves through new ideas about literature. Fani illustrates how voluntary and state-funded associations of readers helped formulate and spread “literature” as a recognizable concept, adapting older Persian ideas to fit new national imaginaries. Focusing on early twentieth-century periodicals circulated in Afghan and Iranian cities and their diasporas, the book reveals how nationalism intensified—rather than severed—literary contact between the two societies. This once-vibrant history of exchange was ultimately forgotten, shaping many of the cultural and political tensions between Iran and Afghanistan today.

Information and registration:  https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ssVlfjs5Q9mTwWxv6kJyQw#/registration

 

 

 

 

 

12. CFP: Roshangar- The Undergraduate Persian Studies Journal

We’re thrilled to share the Call for Papers for the Fall 2025 issue of Roshangar: The Undergraduate Persian Studies Journal (digital, peer-reviewed). This issue focuses on architecture and urbanity in Iran and the Persian-speaking world. We warmly welcome submissions from undergraduates anywhere in the world. The contributors do not need to be a Persian Studies major/minor or a UMD student.

What we’re looking for

• Research essays (English): 1,500–2,000 words, double-spaced, .doc/.docx, MLA citations
• Research essays (Persian): 500–800 words
• Poetry: 1–3 pages
• Creative work (e.g., translations, photo essays, creative nonfiction, etc.) is encouraged if it meaningfully engages the theme
• Abstract: up to 200 words for all submissions
• Bio: 150 words

Deadline: Monday, November 10, 2025

How to submit
Please email your submission, abstract, and brief bio to roshangar@gmail.com. Before sending, kindly review our style guide on the Roshangar website.

 

 

 

 

 

13. New Release: Theatre in Travel: Collected Articles
By Duman Riyazi

Asemana, 2025
ISBN: 9781997503125

To read more:

Click here.

To order your Copy

Click here.

 

 

 

 

 

14. CFP – RECLAIMING CRAFT: DECOLONIAL PERSPECTIVES ON HERITAGE AND INNOVATION IN THE ISLAMIC WORLD
Craft traditions from the Muslim world have often been framed through colonial and Eurocentric lenses, reducing them to exotic artifacts or static relics of a bygone era. This session seeks to disrupt these narratives by exploring and reimagining traditional crafts in present and future contexts while maintaining their profound historical and cultural significance. Can crafts be represented in contemporary art and museums without erasing their original meaning or commodifying their heritage? Can current theoretical and/or methodological frameworks dismantle colonial legacies and promote equitable engagement with these traditions?

We invite submissions of papers presenting a critical examination of the decolonizing process of craft histories within the Islamic world and their evolving paths. Case studies exploring different artistic traditions are welcome, as well as ones focusing on specific media (including ceramics, textiles, metalwork, woodwork, calligraphy). Panel contributors could address topics such as intersections between craft and contemporary art expressions, technological adaptations of crafts, the role of Islamic aesthetics, and resistance to cultural appropriation. We also encourage different methodological approaches to examine the various facets of craft preservation and innovation, such as postcolonial theory, material culture studies, Islamic art historiography and Islamic epistemologies. Submissions may be in the form of traditional research papers or more informal practice-based presentations. We would also consider combining some presentations into a roundtable discussion, allowing for a more collaborative dialogue.

Ultimately, the session seeks to reframe traditional crafts as dynamic, living practices that contribute to the formation of cultural and spiritual identities, an exploration of the ways in which decolonial perspectives can encourage sustainable and innovative approaches to craft representation and evolution in a global context.

Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:

Sami L. De Giosa, University of Sharjah, lgiosa@sharjah.ac.ae

Mariam Rosser-Owen, V&A Museum, m.rosserowen@vam.ac.uk

For further information, see:

https://forarthistory.org.uk/reclaiming-craft-decolonial-perspectives-on-heritage-and-innovation-in-the-islamic-world/

 

 

 

 

15. CFP – Sohbat: Third Biennial Graduate Student Symposium on Islamic Art and Architecture

Sohbat: Third Biennial Graduate Student Symposium on Islamic Art and Architecture

Department of the History of Art | Yale School of Architecture

March 26-27, 2026.

Yale University

CALL FOR PAPERS

Theme

The ever-wider scale of destruction in our present moment has engendered a sense of urgency not only about the preservation and reconstitution of memories but also our roles in this world, stretched across multiple personal and professional identities. We invite papers from a range of historical, geographical, and methodological positions, to respond to this urgency by asking, how can art and architectural histories recuperate the material past, as well as sensory and cognitive experiences that register in the memory and mentalities of a community? To what extent do events of destruction and reconstruction catalyze and heighten sensibilities of the ephemeral?

Taking the imagery of the canopy, which can simultaneously symbolize the sky and suggest a roof or a dome, as a starting point, we ask how the histories of Islamic art and architecture help us recover or reimagine rituals and practices of belief, care, and creativity? How can we see beyond buildings and surfaces to consider and care for embedded systems (craft, ecology, land, etc.) while paying attention to shifts in political, environmental, and global movements?

Logistics

• The symposium will provide meals and two nights of accommodation; travel subsidies are possible depending on funding availability. We encourage students to apply for additional

funding from their institutions for expenses related to travel.

• Each student speaker will present their paper for 15 minutes. There will be time for Q&A in each panel.

Submission Guidelines

Please send your abstract (250 words), a working title, CV, and the images of two artworks related to your proposed paper to singleslidesohbat@gmail.com by 11:59 PM on October 31, 2025.

Please title your email “Submission.” Please send inquiries and submissions to

singleslidesohbat@gmail.com

Notifications will be sent by November 24, 2025.

Symposium Organizers

Graduate Student Organizers: Anas Alkhatib, Hasan Nisar, Julia Qingye Wang, and Yupeng Wu.

 

 

 

 

 

16. Lecture – “The Metaverse and its Premoderns: Islam in an Expanding Reality”

Christiane Gruber, Professor of Islamic Art, University of Michigan

📅 Thursday, October 16, 2025
🕙 10:00–11:20 AM
📍 110 Warren, Room 312, Rutgers University–Newark

In this talk, Christiane Gruber explores how today’s Muslim imaginary worlds in the Metaverse draw on pre modern Islamic artworks, objects, and creative expression. She examines the “realm of similitudes” (‘alam al-mithal) from historical Islamic dream thought and considers how technology shapes immersive virtual spaces that connect the past, present, and future. Attendees will gain a fresh perspective on the intersections of faith, art, and digital innovation.
Can’t make it in person? Register for our webinar here

Contact Information

Alex Dika Seggerman, Associate Professor, Rutgers University-Newark

Contact Email

alex.seggerman@rutgers.edu

URL

https://sites.rutgers.edu/islam-humanities/event/the-metaverse-and-its-premoder…

 

 

 

 

 

17. 2025 Hybrid Bilingual Interdisciplinary Conference: “Druze in the Levant and the Diaspora – Discourses of Tradition and Modernity”, The University of Kansas, 16-17 October 2025. 

Information and registration: https://druze.ku.edu/2025druzeconference

 

 

 

 

 

18. International Conference On Arabic Language And Linguistics (ICALL), 21.11.25

welcome researchers, students, scholars, and professionals from around the globe. You can meet exceptional personalities, build connections and create remarkable participation.

Information, program, and registration: https://internationalconferencealerts.com/eventdetails.php?id=3257723

 

 

 

 

 

19. International Conference “Water Management and Environmental Change in Central Asia and the MENA Region: Politics, Society, and Transnational Connections Since 1945”, University of Padua, Italy, 5-6 February 2026

The conference seeks to bring together scholars from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds to examine the history, legacies, and current challenges of water management and land use. A particular focus will be given to the multifaceted relationships between the socialist bloc and the Middle East.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3ka6fmww

 

 

 

 

 

20. The Sewanee Medieval Colloquium: “Resistance and Refuge in the Medieval Mediterranean”, Sewa-nee, 10-11 April 2026

This sub-theme calls for papers that consider the various forms of resistance and refuge evident across the medieval Middle Sea, broadly-construed. Topics could touch upon a wide assortment of questions across an extensive timeframe across the Middle Ages (c. 500-1500).

Deadline for abstracts: 1 November 2025.

Information: https://www.sewaneemedievalcolloquium.com/refuge-in-the-medieval-mediterranean

 

 

 

 

 

 

21. Call for Papers

Conference on Manumission in the Islamicate World

University of Leicester, UK

_22 April 2026

The study of slavery, manumission and abolition has generally focused on the Western world and the trans-Atlantic slave-trade. The conference seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of slavery and manumission practices within the Islamicate world, and develop conversations and conceptual connections amongst scholars working across different epochs, dynasties, and geographies.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 October 2025. Information: https://www.dosseproject.com/outputs/

 

 

22. Tenure Track Professor in Contemporary Middle East Studies, East Asian and Arabic Research Unit, KU Leuven

Profile: PhD in Arabic and Islamic Studies or Middle East/North Africa Studies. – _Demonstrated expertise in the study of the politics, society, culture or media of the contemporary Middle East and/or North Africa. – _Proficiency in Arabic at native or near native level is required. – _Strong and validated, international academic portfolio with highly regarded publications.

Deadline for applications: 26 November 2025.

Information: https://www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jobsite/jobs/60559597?lang=en

 

 

 

23. Two Postdoctoral Fellowships Focused on the Histories, Cultures, Societies, and Media of the Global South (Especially Arab World), Northwestern University in Qatar

We are currently accepting applications related to any of our current research themes (Genealogies and Epistemologies of the Global South; Arab Media, Culture, and Politics; Southern Digitalities; Critical Security Studies) and are particularly interested in scholars conducting comparative or transnational research on media, culture, and/or politics in or between the Arab world, Latin America, and Africa.

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025.

Information: https://www.qatar.northwestern.edu/research/ias_nuq/cfa-pd-2026.html

 

 

 

24. Visiting Assistant Professor in Middle East/Islamic History (3 Years), Colby College

Although the position is for a scholar of medieval Islam, or of the medieval or early modern Middle East or Ottoman Empire, an interest in offering courses which speak to the present would be welcomed. We are particularly interested in candidates who bring to the classroom experiences, identities, ideas, and ways of engaging that resonate with the increasingly diverse student body at Colby.

Deadline for applications: 17 October 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/173987

 

 

 

 

 

25. Position in Modern Iranian History (1700 CE to the Present), Princeton University

We seek a dynamic and innovative scholar whose research engages critically with the historical development of Iran and the Persianate World in this timeframe. While the core of the position is historical in nature, we welcome applications from candidates whose work is grounded in History or other related humanities or social science disciplines, and whose scholarship brings fresh perspectives to the study of Iranian history and culture.

Deadline for applications: 15 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mnmh762

 

 

 

 

26. Membership for Historical Research on the Islamic World, Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton University

Accepted Members receive access to the extensive resources of the Institute, including offices, access to libraries, subsidized restaurant and housing facilities, and some administrative services. A number of memberships are provided by funds dedicated to supporting scholars who meet specific criteria.

Information: https://www.ias.edu/hs/membership

 

 

 

 

 

27. Mediterranean Seminar Prize for the Best Authored Monograph in Mediterranean Studies, 2026

Eligible publications are dated 2023 – _2025. Although we focus on the pre- and Early Modern, books ranging from any period will be considered. Books from any of the relevant Humanities and Social Sciences disciplines are welcome, including but not limited to all fields of history, art and material culture, literary and cultural studies, anthropology, and sociology.

The submission deadline is 31 December 2025.

Information: https://mediterraneanseminar.squarespace.com/book-prize-2026-call

 

 

 

 

28. Call for Papers – ZDMG (Section: Islamic Studies) – 2025

The ZDMG calls for the submission of new and innovative articles in Islamic Studies of various thematic foci to be published in the issues 176.2 (2026) und 177.1 (2027). We particularly welcome articles with a historical orientation grounded in philological analysis. Contributions should focus on pre-modern Muslim societies (up to approximately 1800 CE) and address topics such as history, religion, culture, law, literature, or social structures.

Deadline for submission: 15 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdhmd2td

1.Call for Papers – English Issue of the Biannual Journal of Metaphysical Investigations

We are pleased to announce that the Biannual Journal of Metaphysical Investigations, a peer-reviewed scientific journal (Grade B, Philosophy Department, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran and indexed in some databases including google scholar, Academia, ISC (Islamic Science Citation), Noormags, Sid, Philosophers’ Index, etc.), after publishing eleven issues in Persian, has now received authorization from Iran’s ministry of Science, Research and Technology to publish one issue per year in English. Accordingly, we cordially invite esteemed scholars to submit their valuable, scholarly articles in all areas of philosophy in English for consideration in this special English-language issue. For further information and submission guidelines, please contact the Editor-in-Chief via email at qorbani48@gmail.com.

The website of the journal is:

https://mi.khu.ac.ir/index.php?slc_lang=en&sid=1

Qodratollah Qorbani
Editor-in-Chief

 

 

 

 

 

2. Call for Papers – “Figures of Authority. Argumentative Strategies, Exemplary Motifs, and Narrative Patterns in the Political Advice Literature of the Premodern Islamic World”, University of Tübingen, 15–16 June 2026
The workshop will investigate the rhetorical, narrative, and exemplary
devices through which political advice literature in Arabic, Persian,
and Turkish articulated authority across the premodern Islamic world.
From the circle of justice to the metaphor of the lion-king, from
Aristotle’s words of advice to Alexander to the anecdotes on
Anūshirwān’s court, from the motif of light to signify the ruler’s
authority as guarantor of rights and duties by dispelling obscurity to
the Qurʾānic notion of God as mālik al-mulk (Q. 3:26), from the
sisterhood of religion and kingship to the body-and-organs metaphor
that explains the hierarchical structure of the polity—the repertoire
of political advice literature abounds with recurring allegories,
exemplary figures and narratives that both reflect and shape political
discourse across centuries. Rather than treating these elements as
accessory or stereotypical devices, the aim is to examine how they
operate as integral parts of political reasoning and as powerful
vehicles for specific messages, adapted to different contexts and
audiences.
We welcome proposals from scholars at all career stages.

We invite proposals for papers that address, among others, the following themes:

• The use of literary tropes, historical reports, and popular wisdom as argumentative

tools within individual works or in a comparative approach

• The integration of narrative patterns into broader theoretical or normative frameworks
• The transformation of the political meaning of a metaphor across time and contexts
• The existence and function of alternative versions of the same narrative
• The reuse of the exemplary motifs in different works and the shifts in meaning they

undergo

• The variety of narrative strategies employed to advance similar arguments in different

sources

• The argumentative techniques employed by a specific author
• The interplay between historical anecdote and literary construction in legitimising

political authority

• The role of religious tradition in grounding and reinforcing political legitimacy

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, including a select bibliography

and a short CV, by 15 December 2025 to marianna.zarantonello@unituebingen .

de.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 15 January 2026.

Travel and accommodation expenses will be covered according to budget availability; further details will be provided upon acceptance.

 

 

 

3. International Conference on: Arabic Literature and World: Towards a Universal Dialogue between Self and Other

The Moroccan Comparative Literature Association (MCLA) Organizes, in collaboration with The Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, Ibn-Zohr University, An International Conference On Arabic Literature and World: Towards a Universal Dialogue between Self and Other In Partnership with ICLA Research Committee on Arabic Comparative Literature; AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies (AWEJTLS); And The Comparative Literature & Society Research Group (CL@S) of the Comparative Humanities and Applied Language Studies Lab (CHALS) Space of Humanities, Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, Ibn-Zohr University – Agadir, Morocco 16–18 April, 2026 Selected papers of the conference will be published in AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies (https://www.awej-tls.org/ ). The paper should be in the English language. We kindly ask the authors to register and submit their paper according to the submission guidelines https://www.awej-tls.org/paper-submission/.  Please send the final paper in a Word file as an attachment to tls@awej.org  by January 30, 2026.   Each paper should include: full name, full affiliation, Email address, ORCID ID, and an abstract (150-250 words). For authors whose conference paper has been selected for publication in the special issue, they should adhere to all the submission details and guidelines of AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies. For the full call for papers, please click here Download the full call for papers Kind regards, AWEJ for Translation and Literary Studies https://www.awej-tls.org/ tls@awej.org

 

 

 

 

4. The Department of History at Georgetown University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the rank of Assistant Professor in the history of the Persianate World from the Muslim conquest to the present, to begin in August 2026. 

https://apply.interfolio.com/174364

Deadline: 30 October, 2025

 

 

 

 

 

5. January 6 – 15, 2026 | Cambridge, UK

Learn to Read and Analyse Early Christian Arabic Texts

From the early Middle Ages, Christian Arabs have made profound contributions to biblical scholarship, theology, poetry, and history. This winter school invites you to begin reading these remarkable texts for yourself — many of which remain unpublished and underexplored.

Designed for those with at least one year of Arabic study (Classical or Modern Standard), this course offers a gateway into a world of forgotten manuscripts and fresh scholarly discovery.

https://www.westminster.cam.ac.uk/biblical-languages/christian-arabic-2026

 

 

 

 

 

6. The International Journal of Islamic Architectureis pleased to announce the call for submissions for the 2026 Professor Hasan-Uddin Khan Article Award. 

In honour of Professor Hasan-Uddin Khan’s contributions to the field of Islamic architecture, the International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) offers this award in recognition of ground-breaking scholarship on the subject published in peer-reviewed journals. The criteria on which papers will be judged are: innovation in approach(es) to posed research question(s), originality, written clarity and style, and the overall impact on research in the field. Articles should provide new insights into the field, making a distinct or significant scholarly contribution to the understanding of architecture, architectural heritage, and the built environment in the Islamic world (both historic and contemporary), especially in marginalized geographies. This award, offered every two years, is judged by a jury that includes three members of the academic community. The third award will be given in 2026 and we are delighted that Professors Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Finbarr Barry Flood, and Attilio Petruccioli will serve on the jury. Papers published in English in a peer reviewed journal in 2024 or 2025 will be eligible for this round of the award.

Nominations should be submitted by scholars or journal editors to the chair of the award, IJIA Associate Editor Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi, at HUKaward@gmail.com by 16 November 2025. Self-nominations are permitted, of a single article. The nominations should include a PDF of the published paper, full details of publication, and the author’s affiliation and contact information. The winner and runner-up will be announced in March 2026 on the IJIA website, social media platforms, and in the journal’s July issue. The winner will receive a cash prize of $1000 and a two-year subscription to IJIA; the runner-up will receive a two-year subscription to IJIA.

 

 

 

 

 

7. 2026 BRISMES Conference

The 2026 BRISMES Annual Conference will be hosted by the Middle East Institute at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, between 23-25 June 2026. The conference theme and call for papers will be announced soon. Please stay tuned!

More Information

 

 

 

 

 

 

8. From Subordination to Revolution: A Gramscian Theory of Popular Mobilization
John Chalcraft
At a time of mass discontent, revolutionary weakness, and right-wing ascendancy, John Chalcraft presents a new theory of popular mobilization. From Subordination to Revolution is based on an innovative reading of the living Gramscian tradition, and it offers an alternative to conservative, liberal, Marxist, and poststructuralist theory. Drawing on examples from across the globe, Chalcraft defines popular mobilization as the many ways in which subordinated groups rearrange their relationships to challenge and overcome domination.

Read more

Book Launch: LSE, 15.10.25, 5.30 UK time

https://www.lse.ac.uk/government/events/2025/Thinking-Popular-Mobilization-with-Gramsci

 

 

 

 

 

 

9. Fellowship in the History of Visual Culture in the Ottoman Empire
University of Oxford

The Khalili Research Centre for the History of the Art and Material Culture of the Middle East and Wolfson College, University of Oxford, invite applications for a Fellowship in the History of Visual Culture in the Ottoman Empire. This will offer a scholar an exceptional opportunity to carry out research on a major, largely unpublished assemblage of artworks: the Celsing Collection. Both early career and senior researchers are invited to apply.

Deadline | 3 October 2025

More information

 

 

 

 

 

10. Lecturer (Teaching) in Middle East Politics
School of Oriental and African Studies

The role holder will be expected to contribute to the Department’s undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. They will convene and teach both general and specialist in-person modules, convene online and distance learning modules, advise both undergraduate and postgraduate dissertations, provide pastoral care for students, and contribute to administrative roles as needed.

Deadline | 12 October 2025

More information

 

 

 

 

 

11. 5 Positions as Research Associate and Visiting Faculty in the “Women’s Studies in the Religion Program”
Harvard Divinity School

Proposals for book-length research projects using both religion and gender as central categories of analysis are welcomed. They may address women and religion in any time, place, or religious tradition, and may utilize disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches from across the fields of theology, the humanities, and the social sciences. Positions are open to candidates with doctorates in the fields of religion and to those with primary competence in other humanities, social science, and public policy fields.

Deadline | 15 October 2025

More information

 

 

 

 

 

12. New Graduate Programme in Middle East Public History

North Carolina State University is proud to announce the launch of a new Graduate program (MA & PhD) in Middle East Public History, beginning in Fall 2026. This innovative program is the first of this kind in the world, designed to prepare scholars who combine rigorous historical research with public engagement and digital humanities practices. The program brings together outstanding Middle East history scholars, whose expertise spans the late Ottoman Empire, colonial and post-colonial transformations, migration and diaspora, gender and labor, and the modern Middle East. Faculty are committed to mentoring students in both traditional scholarship and new approaches to public history. Anchoring the program is the Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies, the world’s leading institute dedicated to the study of Middle East diasporas. Students will have unique opportunities to work with one of the largest digital archives of Arab migration and heritage, gaining hands-on experience in archive, digital humanities, oral history, public exhibits, and collaborative research.

Deadline | 31 January 2026

More Information

 

 

 

 

 

13. Two Islamic medicine talks coming up:

In Ibn Al-Nafis’ Shadow

Transformations in Medical Theory in Islamic Societies (1200-1520)

Nahyan Fancy

Webinar: 7 October 2025 – 5 pm (CEST)

Nahyan Fancy shows how Ibn al-Nafīs advanced medical theory beyond the works of Galen, Aristotle and even earlier Islamic physicians through his commentaries on Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine and its abridgements. Examining four commentaries on the Canon plus four on its Epitome, this lecture argues that post-classical practices of taḥqīq (verification) – lexical, philosophical, empirical – played a key role in assessing, revising or rejecting inherited theoretical frameworks.

Register Now

The Arabic and Latin Science of Compound Medicaments

A New Reading of Book Ten of the «Practica Pantegni»

Anna Gili

Webinar: 11 November 2025 – 5 pm (CEST)

This lecture explores the Arabic and Latin traditions of compound medicaments through al-Maǧūsī’s Kitāb al-Malakī and its Latin translation in Constantine the African’s Practica Pantegni. It highlights how al-Maǧūsī framed antidotes as essential tools in the contest between disease and nature, and how Constantine reshaped this material into a more philosophically charged discussion enriched with earlier Latin learning. At its centre lies Book X of the Practica Pantegni, read as a distinctive synthesis at the crossroads of Arabic and Latin medicine.

Register Now

1. Invisible East

Invisible East’s Digital Corpus 2.0 & 6th launch of documents

The 2.0 version of the Invisible East Digital Corpus (IEDC) which will be officially launched on 13 October! The digitisation team, with Ed, Mateen and Mike Allaway, have improved our user and search experience; added the ability to download the texts in Word and JSON (XML to be added soon); and, vitally, have produced a Persian language version of the website. Your feedback on this new and improved IEDC before the launch would be very welcome: please let us know what does and doesn’t work for you. The launch will be accompanied by a sixth release of documents, bringing us up to nearly 1,300 texts in the digital corpus

One of the central aims of our project has been to enable digital repatriation – ensuring that manuscripts and documents held in collections around the world can be studied and engaged with in the regions from which they came. With this new Persian language functionality we hope to open up new avenues for engagement and collaboration and to encourage more people to explore and work with these remarkable documents.

 

 

 

 

 

2. CfP: Research Seminar on Reproductive Ethics and Kindship (Doha, Jan 2027)

Call for Papers: Research Seminar on Reproductive Ethics and Kinship in Contemporary Islamic Thought and Practice | CILE – Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics

 

 

 

 

 

 

3. Bloomsbury: Lisa Nielson, author of Music and Musicians in the Medieval Islamicate World: A Social History, talks to Morteza Hajizadeh in this podcast from New Books Network.

LISTEN NOW

 

 

 

 

 

4. IHF ACADEMIC COMMITTEE ANNOUNCEMENT

The second cycle of the Iran Heritage Foundation’s 2025 grant programme, with the deadline of 31 October 2025, is now open for receipt of application. With the overall aim of fostering knowledge and appreciation of Iran’s rich cultural heritage research grants in various academic disciplines are awarded.

Preference will be given to applications on (in alphabetical order) archaeology, architecture, art, history, linguistics and literature, as well as subjects of contemporary interest, such as cinema, music, sociology and so on; applications from other disciplines will also be considered.

Projects to be supported may include the most varied academic initiatives, from fieldwork to workshops, conferences, building databases and digitising images. The Committee privileges ground-breaking research, which may include editions and translations of key texts. In order to support multiple initiatives grants of up to a maximum of £3,000 will be considered.  The application process and conditions for the grants can be viewed on our website.

To apply please click here

For Terms and Conditions please click here

 

 

 

 

5. Online Monday Majlises organised by the Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter

5. 6^thof October (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

John Esposito, Among the Believers: A Journey in Islam, the Muslim World and Global Politics

https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/uMZuYLICSDqMH2gQW3IwCA

13^th of October (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Said Reza Huseini, The Arab Conquests in Bactria: Local Politics and Arab Domination (651–750 CE)

https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/4qcbR_CRQ2miDRV35B6zPw

20^th of October (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Gabriel Said Reynolds, A Faithful Dog and a Clay Bird: The Qur’an in Its Christian World

https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/3uYLlGdRRcGlh0sgg2JnOw

27^th of October (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Badr Tachouche, The Chanting Faqihs: Retuning Islamic Discourse through Muwashshahs and Zajals

https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/eApkGIWNRlm18Ff1SlXKEg

3^rd of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Michael Shenkar, Sogdian Civilisation and the Arab Conquest.

https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/I4D-2AlYTDSPJ6hkQpmuLw

10^th of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Godefroid de Callataÿ and Laura Tribuzio, A Ruby Which Is Not a Ruby: Symbol, Substance, and Political Imagination in Timurid and Mughal Thought.

https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/m2hq7EbfSBSoC1dFFG3X8g

17^th of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Edith Szanto, Mourning and Performing: Twelver Shi‘ism in Ba‘ath Syria

https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/U4Yl0PCMRYS7s9x-wO4f2A

24^th of November (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Safa Mahmoudian, Palace Gardens in Lower Mesopotamia: 8th–11th Centuries

https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/nvNXpR70Q_i_ZQ1-12kDdw

1^st of December (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Pranav Prakash, Exploring the Raison d’Être of the Oldest Dated and Illustrated Manuscript of a Persian Translation of Śiva Purāṇa

https://universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/s6Vjx5M6RZ-cYqGJGOdkZw

8^th of December (Monday) 17:00-18:30 (UK time).

Alireza Doostdar, Facing Satan: The Iranian Revolution and Its Demons

https://Universityofexeter.zoom.us/meeting/register/n-wjuscLTkazo1TgWSQgsQ

 

In the spirit of the label ‘Majlis’ and also to make the talks even more interesting, our speakers present the topic discussed as embedded in their own journey. You can watch the previous Majlises, since October 2022, here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8YRkUahFj_81oJzCSDLTx4kVQQgeHLc-, but we don’t record the Q&A in order to keep the discussion free. Please come and enjoy the talks and the discussions : )

If you’d like to be included in the CSI (Centre for the Study of Islam, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter) mailing list, please write to I.T.Kristo-Nagy@ex.ac.uk

 

 

 

 

 

6. NEW PUBLICATION, available for pre-order now
Elegies of the Earth: Selected Poems by Ahmad Shamlou
Edited and Translated from Persian by Niloufar Talebi
(World Poetry Books, Fall 2025)

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Exhibition – Mamluks: Legacy of an Empire

he second venue of the Mamluks exhibition presented at the Louvre Abu Dhabi: Mamluks. Legacy of an Empire.
This is a slightly reviewed version of the first venue presented at the Musée du Louvre from 30 April to 28 July 2025.

This second venue is accompanied with a shortened catalogue, edited by Carine Juvin, gathering five introductory essays by Doris Behrens-Abouseif, Carine Juvin, Souraya Noujaim, Nasser Rabbat and Élodie Vigouroux, as well as short entries by numerous specialists (available in English, Arabic and French).

Contact Information

Dr Carine Juvin

Curator of Medieval Near East Collections

Louvre Museum – Paris

Contact Email

carine.juvin@louvre.fr

 

 

 

 

8. CALL FOR PROPOSALS: ACLA Seminar “Rethinking Literature’s Persons” 

Deadline: Proposals must be submitted by October 2nd, via the ACLA website

The ACLA conference is Feb 26 to March 1 in Montreal.

Co-organizers: Julie Orlemanski (julieorlemanski@uchicago.edu) or Samuel Fallon (fallon@geneseo.edu)

Character, person, speaker, voice: these English-language terms are at once ubiquitous elements of literary criticism and disputed ones. On the one hand, they have never seemed formal enough: caring about character has long been the sign of the sentimental reader; poetic speakers threaten to usurp, or to dissolve back into, the linguistic codes that summon them. On the other hand, such terms have never felt sufficiently historical: when we call Gilgamesh, Layla and Majnun, Hamlet, Anna Karenina, and Superman “characters,” are we really talking about the same thing at all? How responsive, or not, are literature’s anthropomorphic affordances to differing regimes of social identity? This seminar invites presentations on the formal, historical, or generic dimensions of literary persons or person-effects (including characters, narrators, lyric speakers, personifications, types, and other figures). We seek participants who will bring particular texts (or authors, or traditions) to bear on a shared comparative conversation. How might we teach one another to rethink literature’s persons?

A surge of recent scholarship suggests that these questions have gained fresh urgency. In an age of autofiction, the relation of literature to person may itself be changing: “I’m not interested in character,” Rachel Cusk said in 2018, “because I don’t think character exists anymore.” This seminar asks whether it ever did. Recent reevaluations spring as well from the still-unfolding aftermaths of New Criticism and poststructuralism. As those formalisms have aged, the interpretive habits they once instilled have grown strange. In their wake, some have celebrated the cognitive and affective realities of literary characters; others remain fascinated with the disfiguration, reification, and figural drift that a literary person can occasion. Comparative approaches, with their provincialization of received critical idioms, have further catalyzed scholarly interest. Scholars are renovating our common theoretical edifice in light of the heterogeneity of literature’s populace across time and space.

We invite proposals that link case study to concept, or otherwise suggest how a specific interpretation may yield methodological, theoretical, or historiographic transformation (“rethinking”). Organized by a medievalist and an early modernist, the seminar aspires to dialogue across subfields and language traditions and across the modern/nonmodern divide. We welcome papers on poetry and narrative alike, on topics including—how grammatical forms or literary tropes imply models of the person; literature’s relation to historically shifting socio-political regimes of personhood; what voice has to do with literary persons; the porous boundaries of the person, via the poetics of impersonality; extension of mind, feeling, and will beyond the individual or the human; and the responses, including but beyond identification, that literary persons elicit from readers.

Submit proposals via the ACLA submission site no later than October 2nd. Feel free to contact Julie Orlemanski at julieorlemanski@uchicago.edu with queries.

 

 

 

9. News from UCLA’s Center for Near Eastern Studies

New Data Dashboard offers insights about Iranians living outside Iran

The Center has published a public online dashboard that pulls together data on Iranians living outside of Iran. The online tool provides demographic and socioeconomic profiles of Iranian diaspora communities worldwide and is now available through the CNES website.

The dashboard is the product of several years of research conducted by Kevan Harris, associate professor of sociology at UCLA and a president of the CNES Faculty Advisory Committee, and his graduate students. Read more here.

 

Sohaib Baig writes about manuscripts endowed by Muslim women at UCLA Library Special Collections

UCLA Library stewards the second-largest Islamicate and Arabic-script manuscript collection in North America. Through its ongoing Islamicate Manuscript Initiative, the Library and its partners are working to individually describe and conserve thousands of manuscripts within its collection to make them accessible to scholars and the broader public. This article, co-authored by Sohaib Baig, a MENA librarian and CNES Faculty Advisory Committee Member, highlights the practice of Muslim women endowing individual manuscripts, and introduces examples of these manuscripts held in UCLA Library Special Collections. Read more here.

 

Surveying the Nile: Scholarly Misaha Manuals in Late Ottoman Egypt

A lecture by Samaa Elimam (UCLA)

Thursday, October 23, 2025

3:30 PM – 5:30 PM

Bunche Hall 10383

Details & Register

 

Manuscripts in Arabic Script at UCLA: Where Did They Come From?

A workshop featuring Nir Shafir (UCSD), Garret Davidson (College of Charleston), Kathryn Babayan (University of Michigan), Khalil Afzali (UCLA) and Taha Tuna Kaya (UC Davis)

Faculty organizer and moderator: Luke Yarbrough (UCLA)

Organized by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies. Co-sponsored by UCLA Center for Early Global Studies, UCLA Dean of Humanities, UCLA Islamic Studies, and UCLA Library

Monday, November 17, 2025

9:30 AM

Charles Young Research Library Conference Room

Details & Register

 

The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life

Film screening followed by a panel with Persis Karim (San Francisco State University) and Kevan Harris (UCLA), and a reception.

Organized by the Fowler Museum at UCLA. Co-sponsored by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies.

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM PST

Fowler Museum at UCLA

Details & Register

 

Female Religiosity in Central Asia: Sufi Leaders in the Persianate World

A book talk by Aziza Shanazarova (Columbia University)

Organized by UCLA Program on Central Asia. Co-sponsored by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies.

Wednesday, October 22, 2025

3:30 PM – 5:00 PM PST

Bunche Hall 10383

Details & Register

 

Strange Synchronicities and Familiar Parallels in Asia, 1600–1800

Conference 1: Empires of Thought (Ottoman, Mughal, and Qing Empires)

Organized by Choon Hwee Koh (UCLA), Meng Zhang (UCLA), and Abhishek Kaicker (UC Berkeley). Co-sponsored by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies.

Friday, December 5, 2025 

11:00 AM – 4:00 PM PST

Location TBD

Details & Register

 

Call for Papers: Fifth International Conference on

Heritage / Community Languages

UCLA National Heritage Language Resource Center is inviting applications for its Fifth International Conference on Heritage / Community Languages. The two-day conference will focus on heritage and community language studies as a multidisciplinary field impacting a variety of educational contexts. Submissions from disciplines including but not limited to anthropology, demographics, linguistics, sociology, applied linguistics, policy, psychology, bilingualism, education, and assessment, are welcome.

Submission deadline: September 30, 2025

Conference Webpage

 

 

 

 

 

10. Analytic Islamic Epistemology: Critical Debates

Edited by Safaruk Chowdhury, Ramon Harvey

EUP, 2025

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-analytic-islamic-epistemology.html

 

 

 

 

11. DeGruyterBrill

The recording of our webinar “AI and Research Integrity” is now available

https://marketing.degruyterbrill.com/ArtificialIntelligenceInAcademia?utm_source=marketing-cloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=collection&utm_term=AI-09-2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

12. 3rd Annual Islamic Art History Research Workshop, 5th–6th December 2025

Building on the success of the first two hybrid Islamic Art History Research Workshops, held both in-person at the University of York and online over the last two years, the third workshop, run jointly with the Persian Manuscripts Association, will take place on the 5th and 6th of December this year.

In honour of Sheila Canby, and in line with the aims of the Persian Manuscripts Association, the overarching theme will focus primarily on the material culture of the wider Iranian world in the late medieval and early modern period. However, there are no geographical, chronological or methodological restrictions for the proposals.

The event will include a keynote lecture on the 6th December (speaker TBC), and this announcement also serves as a call for paper proposals from scholars at all career stages. We welcome proposals from those who wish to attend in person in York, as well as those who prefer to present online.

The aim of combining in-person and online participation is to make the event accessible to the largest possible number of scholars and members of the public, regardless of location, and to encourage a diverse range of voices, topics, and approaches. We invite proposals for 20-minute presentations based on your current research on any aspect of Islamic art history.

The deadline for submissions is the 10th October 2025. Please indicate in your proposal whether you prefer to present online or in person. Kindly note that those attending in person on the 6th of December will be responsible for arranging their own travel and accommodation.

Please send your 150-200 word proposals to:

richard.mcclary@york.ac.uk

marcus.milwright@york.ac.uk

smihan@britishmuseum.org

 

 

 

 

 

13. Online Talk – The Silent Margins in Ibn al-Bawwab’s Qur’an, 22.10.25

Dr Alya Karame, Cochrane Research Fellow 2025

A Qur’an manuscript copied at the turn of the eleventh century by the renowned Baghdadi calligrapher Ibn al-Bawwab has become one of the most celebrated Qur’ans in the world. With its elegant script and exceptional illumination, Ibn al-Bawwab’s Qur’an, as it is now known, has featured prominently in lectures on Islamic art and was even reproduced as a postcard by the Chester Beatty, where it is housed today. As the earliest dated Qur’an written in the newly adopted round script and on paper – a material that marked a shift away from the earlier use of parchment – its historical and aesthetic significance is undeniable. Yet, what does its elevation as a masterpiece obscure? What assumptions underlie its fame, and what conventions are reinforced in the process? By examining both the manuscript itself and its modern reception, this presentation explores what was gained, and equally, what was lost, on the road to its iconic status: from the construction of authenticity and artistic singularity to the overlooked networks of interconnectivity that shaped book culture in the medieval Islamic world.

💻 Online talk: Please register for online viewing via Zoom HERE.

https://chesterbeatty.ie/whats-on/the-silent-margins-in-ibn-al-bawwabs-quran/

 

 

 

 

 

14. Assistant, Associate or Full Professor in Anthropology (Focus MENA), American University in Cairo

Requirements: A PhD in Cultural Anthropology or Social-Anthropology and a demonstrable record of teaching that illustrates an ability to teach courses in the BA in Anthropology and the MA in Sociology and Anthropology programs at AUC, including those with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa, as well as courses in their area of sub-disciplinary expertise. A second regional expertise will be considered advantageous.

Deadline for applications: 15 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yk63pj3z

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15. Two Postdoctoral Associates (2 Years) in Middle Eastern History, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

We seek outstanding junior scholars whose research engages Arab and/or Jewish History in the Middle East and North Africa, in any time period. We have particular interest in scholars working on Palestinian and/or Israeli history or the history of Jewish-Muslim relations. Applicants must have received a Ph.D. in History (or a related field) within the past five years.

Deadline for applications: 22 October 2025. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30660

 

 

 

 

 

16. Scholar/Visitor in Middle East History, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah

Applications are welcome from scholars with expertise in Middle East history, preferably with a specialization in the period 600-1800 CE. Those with exceptional teaching and a strong research agenda are encouraged to apply. Salary commensurate with experience and rank.

Deadline for applications: 30 September 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yc5w44ns

 

 

 

 

 

17. Professor of Comparative Literature (Focus Persian Literature and Culture), Stanford University

Applicants must have demonstrated a commitment to effective teaching and mentoring and the ability to maintain a world-class research program. The successful candidate must have a Ph.D. in a related field. We seek a candidate with a deep understanding of the Persian literary tradition and its relevance within interdisciplinary and comparative frameworks.

Deadline for applications: 25 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mrxxj7rp

 

 

 

 

 

18. Grants of the Iran Heritage Foundation UK

Preference will be given to applications on archaeology, architecture, art, history, linguistics and literature, as well as subjects of contemporary interest, such as cinema, music, sociology and so on; applications from other disciplines will also be considered. Projects to be supported may include the most varied academic initiatives, from fieldwork to workshops, conferences, building databases and digitising images.

Deadline for applications: 22 October 2025. Information: https://ihf.org.uk/grants-tsandcs2025/

 

 

 

 

 

19. 33rd Islamic Republic of Iran`s World Book Award in Islamic Studies and Iranian Studies in the Categories of Authorship, Translation, and Critical Edition

Books to be considered can be in any language, while need to be on either Islamic Studies or Iranian Studies. They also have to be published (in their first edition) outside of Iran in 2024. Scholars, writers, translators, and publishers are invited to nominate book(s) for consideration.

Deadline for submissions: 22 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/462anzth

 

 

 

 

1. Invisible East

The Islamicate East series

Three books in The Islamicate East series are now listed on the EUP website and will be arriving in bookstores soon:

• The Warehouse of Bamiyan. Economic Life in Medieval Afghanistan by Arezou Azad, with a contribution by Pejman Firoozbakhsh (former Invisible East Postdoc);
• Persian World Histories in the Mongol Era. The Transmission and Reception of Rashid al-Din’s Jami al-Tawarikh, edited by Tomoko Masuya, Osamu Otsuka and Masatomo Kawamoto; and
• The Rise and Fall of the Barmakids: Stories from a Forgotten Persian Manuscripts, edited and translated by Pejman Firoozbakhsh and Arezou Azad.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Introducing The Intensive Online Course on The Life of the Prophet Muhammad (s)

December 08 – 13, 2025
A unique opportunity to journey through the profound stages of the Prophet’s life, guided by distinguished scholars of Islamic studies.

Over six interactive sessions, we will explore how the Prophet (s) lived, struggled, and transformed the world around him, with each lecture focusing on a pivotal dimension of his mission:

📖 Course Topics:

– What Qualities in the Prophet’s Early Life Prepared Him for Prophethood?

– How Did the Prophet Receive Revelation and Face the First Waves of Opposition?

– How Did the Prophet Maintain His Mission Under Hardship and Loss?

– How Was the Migration (Hijrah) a Turning Point in Islamic Civilization?

– Battles and Strategy – What Was the Prophet’s Approach to Faith, Diplomacy, and Defense?

– What Is the Lasting Legacy of the Prophet’s Final Years?

✨ Format: 6 live online sessions with Q&A

📅 Dates: December 08 – 13, 2025

📍 Platform: Online (via Zoom)

🎓 Organized by: Sadra International Institute

This is a chance to gain deep insights into the Sirah with the guidance of some of today’s leading Muslim scholars.

🔗 Register now: https://sadrai.com/prophet-muhammad

 

 

 

 

3. ‘The Military in Safavid Iran, 1501-1736’,

R Mathhee,

In THE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF WAR, VOLUME III:

War and the Early Modern World

Edited by D Parrott and G Agoston, 283- 308.

https://www.cambridge.org/gb/universitypress/subjects/history/military-history/cambridge-history-war-volume-3?format=HB&isbn=9780521874281#contents

 

 

 

 

4. Open Access – Music Making in Iran from the 15th to the Early 20th Century

A H Pourjavady,

EUP, 2025

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-music-making-in-iran-from-the-15th-to-the-early-20th-century.html?utm_source=Edinburgh%20University%20Press&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=15169001_IMES%20Newsletter%20-%20September%202025&dm_i=CEQ,914H5,MWI2D5,11QJ5P,0

 

 

 

 

5. Zoom: ASPS Virtual Event Series XV

Actors/Performers, Audience, and Narrative Strategies in Naqqāli:

New Approaches

The Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies and the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo, are pleased to co-host ASPS Virtual Event Series XV: “Actors/Performers, Audience, and Narrative Strategies in Naqqāli: New Approaches,” an online workshop on naqqāli that gathers together three papers by young naqqāli scholars across the globe. This workshop explores the vast, almost uncharted terrain of naqqāli, Persian professional storytelling in terms of performance, audience, and narrative. It also offers a Shāhnāma-kh^vāni performance by Mohammadali Mirzaee Jadideslam who is a naqqāl.

Pre-registration is required for the participation.

Date and Time: Thursday, November 27, 2025 at 15:00 (JST)

Venue: Online via Zoom

Language: English

Pre-registration: Please complete the registration form at < https://forms.gle/YFENy7uJwiqWMix67> by November 24, 24:00 (JST). A Zoom link will be sent to all registrants by the end of the following day.

Co-organized by: Japan Office, Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS Virtual Event Series XV); Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (Tobunken Symposium).

Contact: Naoki Nishiyama (nishiyama@ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

Program

Chair: Kazuo Morimoto (ASPS Japan Office; IASA, UTokyo)

15:00-15:15: Kazuo Morimoto

Opening Remarks

15:15-15:45: Mohammdali Mirzaee Jadideslam (PhD candidate, University of Hamburg):

“Naqqāli, Narrating or Acting?”

15:45-16:15: Sara Mashayekh (PhD candidate, UC Santa Barbara)

“Audience, Performer, Venue: The Role of Spectators and the Space in Shaping Naqqāli Performances”

16:15-16:30: Shāhnāma-kh^vāni by Mohammad Mirzaee Jadideslam (naqqāl)

Break

16:30-17:00: Radman Rasooli Mehrabani (Independent scholar)

“Negotiating Myth and Reality: Naqqāls’ Strategies for Constructing Narrative Credibility”

17:00-17:20: Kumiko Yamamoto (ILCAA, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)

17:20-17:45: Discussion

Abstracts:

Mohammdali Mirzaee Jadideslam, “Naqqāli, Narrating or Acting?”

Bahram Beyzaei identifies the naqqāl as an actor who embodies every character of a story alone. In line with Eric Bentley’s definition of theatre—“A impersonates B while C looks on”—naqqāli itself can be considered theatre, and the naqqāl’s performance, a form of acting. Still, a fundamental question emerges: can the naqqāl’s actions be aligned with principles established by major theatre figures such as Stanislavski, Michael Chekhov, or Grotowski? And if alignment exists, does this justify calling the practice “acting”?

To answer, a precise analysis is necessary. First, naqqāli must be examined in its earlier form, when it was closer to the act of narrating. Second, recent elements—innovations within the tradition—must be identified in order to trace their sources, evaluate their impact, and measure their integration. Only then can one assess whether this transformed version of naqqāli has merged with theatrical models, or instead taken an alternative path requiring a new classification.

In 20th-century Iran, Western theatre significantly influenced naqqāli. These influences shaped performance length, rhythm, suspense, vocal expression, and character building. Singing, costume design, and modern literature also contributed to its development. This study therefore positions naqqāli between narrating and acting, aiming to define the skills essential for the naqqāli.

Sara Mashayekh, “Audience, Performer, Venue: The Role of Spectators and the Space in Shaping Naqqāli Performances”

The relationship between the performer and the audience of a performance has long been the subject of scholarly discussions. However, the nature of the group we call “the audience” changes dramatically depending on time, place and the style of performance; naqqāli is no exception. This paper explores the nature of the relationship between the spectators of a naqqāli performance and the naqqāl who is telling the tale, as well as the influential role that the venue plays in shaping this relationship. By looking at the text of tumārs that have been left to us, as well as firsthand observations from those who have witnessed live naqqāli performances, this paper is attempting to make a series of inquiries into the power dynamic between the performers and their spectators, the level of audience’s involvement in altering the story being narrated, as well as the effect of the coffeehouse in shaping the performance.

Radman Rasooli Mehrabani “Negotiating Myth and Reality: Naqqāls’ Strategies for Constructing Narrative Credibility”

Naqqāli, a vibrant and influential performance tradition during the Safavid period, gradually declined from the late Qajar era, and its stories came under increasing criticism in the modern period, especially during the Pahlavi era. In response to these critiques, storytellers (naqqāls) sought to defend their art and enhance its credibility. To counter this, naqqāls sometimes reduced the hyperbolic elements of the stories to render the narratives more “realistic” and believable. Their responses were sometimes expressed explicitly—through interpreting and explaining the stories and by emphasizing that Ferdowsi’s poetry embodied wisdom, reason, and intellect—and at other times implicitly, through modifications within the narratives themselves. Another strategy was the modernization of the stories. Modernization not only made the tales more engaging for contemporary audiences but also functioned as a means of granting credibility. For instance, one storyteller narrated the revolt of Kāveh against Ẓaḥḥāk in a manner resembling modern political revolutions, while another claimed that the American story of Tarzan had been stolen from the tale of Goudarz’s son, yielding millions of dollars in profit abroad. A further strategy was the historicization of the Shahnameh: naqqāls sometimes turned to historical works to compare competing versions and occasionally to critique Ferdowsi’s account. One of them even claimed to be narrating the “real” history. Finally, embedding moral lessons and ethical reflections into the narratives was another strategy, widely regarded as one of the enduring values of the naqqāli tradition.

 

 

 

 

6. Indiana University’s Summer 2026 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Pashto program!  

Online Courses

• Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
• Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
• Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
• Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners

Funding Opportunities

• Explore your funding options here: http://go.iu.edu/language-workshop-funding

Priority Application Deadline

• December 5, 2025

Learn more and apply here: go.iu.edu/pashto-workshop

Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.

Contact Information

Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop

Contact Email

ke1@iu.edu

URL

http://go.iu.edu/pashto-workshop

 

 

 

 

 

7. Indiana University’s Summer 2026 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive online Persian program!  

Online Courses

• Learn 1 year of language in 2 months
• Multiple levels of instruction
• Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
• Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
• Accelerate your learning with daily 1-on-1 skills training
• Speed up your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners

Funding Opportunities

• Explore your funding options here: http://go.iu.edu/language-workshop-funding

Priority Application Deadline

• December 5, 2025

Learn more and apply here: go.iu.edu/persian-workshop

Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.

Contact Information

Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop

Contact Email

ke1@iu.edu

URL

http://go.iu.edu/persian-workshop

 

 

 

 

8. Indiana University’s Summer 2026 Language Workshop is now accepting applications for its intensive, accelerated Arabic programs!  

Online Courses

• Learn 1 year of Arabic in 2 months
• 5 levels of study
• Enjoy 18 hours of live instruction per week, plus cultural activities
• Combine the effectiveness of intensive study with the convenience of an online class
• Speed your learning by studying alongside enthusiastic and talented language learners

Funding Opportunities

• Explore your funding options here: http://go.iu.edu/language-workshop-funding

Priority Application Deadline 

• December 5, 2025

Learn more and apply here: go.iu.edu/arabic-workshop

Questions? Email the Language Workshop at languageworkshop@iu.edu or join virtual office hours.

Contact Information

Kathleen Evans, Director, Indiana University Language Workshop

Contact Email

ke1@iu.edu

URL

http://go.iu.edu/arabic-workshop

 

 

 

 

 

9. Bowdoin College – Assistant Professor of Art History

https://networks.h-net.org/jobs/69128/bowdoin-college-assistant-professor-art-history

1.Spaces of Exchange: Human–Environment Interactions from the Mediterranean to the Indus (Antiquity to the Early Islamic Period)

In recent decades, transcultural history has received increasing scholarly attention, revealing the complex processes through which ideas, practices, and objects moved, adapted, and transformed across regions, religions, societies, and historical periods. This workshop brings together scholars from Assyriology, archaeology, architectural history, and cultural studies to
examine the various methodological approaches used to trace these dynamics. By focusing on the interactions between people and environments, the workshop highlights how spaces such as gardens, palaces, and agricultural landscapes became sites of cultural negotiation, where circulating practices, forms, techniques, and aesthetic tastes intersected with
local geographies, ecological conditions, and social frameworks – crossing cultural and political zones and acquiring new meanings in the process. It will also consider how the translation and circulation of knowledge, especially in scientific and medical texts, functioned as tools for reinterpretation, adaptation, and integration into new intellectual landscapes.
By drawing on a range of case studies and methodologies – from textual and material analysis to landscape archaeology as well as economic and social networks – the workshop encourages interdisciplinary dialogue on how movement, adaptation, and reinterpretation shape cultural and material landscapes.

Convenor: Dr. Safa Mahmoudian
2–3 October 2025
Venue: Department of Near Eastern Studies, Hörsaal, Campus of the University of Vienna, Courtyard 4.1
Free admission – pre-registration required (safa.mahmoudian@univie.ac.at )

URL

https://orientalistik.univie.ac.at/en/news-events/detailed-view-articles/news/international-workshop-spaces-of-exchange-interactions-from-the-mediterranean-to-the-indus-antiqu/

 

 

 

 

 

2. Virtual and In-Person Lecture – Indonesia’s Islamic Heritage and the Aftermath of Colonialism – Mirjam Shatanawi

Advance registration is required
Thursday, September 25 at 6:30 PM
The Institute of Fine Arts
1 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075
and Online

To register, please use the link at:

https://ifa.nyu.edu/events/southeast-asia.html
This event, part of the series South-East Asian Connections: Art, History and Archipelagos, is supported by the Institute’s Gulnar Bosch Fund.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Between Two Arabic Translators

https://arablit.org/between-two-translators/

In this new monthly interview series, translator Yasmeen Hanoosh talks with talented and celebrated Arabic translators about their work, about making a living as a translator, about the politics and art of translation, about what informs their choices—on a large and small scale—and more.

 

 

 

 

4. Invisible East

The hybrid series Rethinking History: Returning Archives and Documents kicks off. Registration is essential:

• Wednesday, 15 October 2025, 5PM UK Time: ‘Persian Archives for Histories of Colonial-State Formation in South Asia in the Eighteenth Century’, with Robert Travers, Cornell University.
• Wednesday, 12 November 2025, 5PM UK Time: ‘Framing the Past: Exploring the Godard Photographic Archives of Iran and Afghanistan’, with Martina Massulo, Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre museum.
• Wednesday, 10 December 2025, 5PM UK Time: ‘SAVAK Calling: Exploring the Diaries of Telephone Directives to the Editor of Diplomat’, with Mohamad Tavakoli, University of Toronto.

 

 

 

 

5. The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), University of Tokyo, together with the Kakenhi Grant-in-Aid “Sunnis” and “Shiʿis”: Historical Inquiries into Confessional Identities and Mutual Perceptions” and the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS), is pleased to co-host a lecture by Professor David Lelyveld (William Paterson University, retired) entitled “A Reflection on Muslim Identities in South Asia.”

The lecture is open to the public. Please note that advance registration is required for online participation. The co-organizers look forward to your participation.

Lecture Title:
A Reflection on Muslim Identities in South Asia

Speaker:
Professor David Lelyveld (William Paterson University, retired)

Chair:
Professor Kazuo Morimoto (IASA / Japan Office, ASPS)

Date and Time:

24 October (Fri) 2025, at 18:00-19:30 (JST)

Venue:

Room 304, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo (東京大学東洋文化研究所3階、第一会議室304), and online via Zoom

Abstract:

To what extent are the sectarian, regional, ethnic, “caste” and language identities of South Asian Muslims characteristic of historic India as opposed to other parts of the Islamic world? This discussion will concentrate on how such identity categories have been foregrounded or obscured over time with respect to the Aligarh movement, the emergence of Urdu, British social analysis, and nationalist projects. The presentation seeks to stimulate comparisons and ideas for further research.

Speaker’s Bio:
David Lelyveld is the author of Aligarh’s First Generation: Muslim Solidarity in British India (1978, reprinted 2003). His publications also deal with the social and political history of Urdu and its differentiation from Hindi. A graduate of Harvard University, he did his Ph. D at the University of Chicago. He has held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Minnesota, Columbia, and Cornell. He retired as Professor of History at William Paterson University. He lives in New York City and is presently exploring aspects of the cultural relationship between India and Japan in the early twentieth century.

How to Participate:
Pre-registration is required for online participation. Please fill in the form at https://forms.gle/Mn2z2HJ4rG78baq17 by 23 October, at 24:00 JST.
In-person attendance does not require advance registration.

Contact Person: Naoki Nishiyama (nishiyama@ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)

This event is co-organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (organized by the Regular Research Project W-1: Approaches to the “Persianate World” as a Tobunken Seminar), Kakenhi Grant-in-Aid “Sunnis” and “Shiʿis”: Historical Inquiries into Confessional Identities and Mutual Perceptions” (23K25371) and the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (as a Gilas Lecture).

 

 

 

 

 

6. Lecture – “Berlin – Toronto – Rome: Mughal Medallion Genealogies Revisited,” Franziska Kabelitz, Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, September 23

Please join the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series for our next talk on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at 12:00 New York / 17:00 London / 18:00 Berlin / 19:00 Istanbul.
Franziska Kabelitz (Museum für Islamische Kunst) will present “Berlin – Toronto – Rome: Mughal Medallion Genealogies Revisited.”

To attend, please register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/JgE8_c2xQTuA2tKtGsoYzQ
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.
The full schedule of talks for the semester is available on our website at
https://viahss.org/. Although not every talk is recorded, recordings of several recent talks are available on the VIAHSS Vimeo page at https://vimeo.com/viahss/videos.

Contact Information

Drs. Rachel Winter, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Alexander Brey

Contact Email

winterr6@msu.edu

URL

https://viahss.org/

 

 

 

 

 

7. HYBRID Keynote “Rebellions, Mandates, and Margins: Placing Druze Studies in the Historiography of the Modern Middle East” by Prof. Michael Provence, “2025 Druze Studies Conference”, University of Kansas, 16 October 2025, 19:15 – _20:45 CET

Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/59zjzmhm

 

 

 

 

 

8. HYBRID International Conference “Islamic Feminism and Decolonial Futures: Epistemology, Ethics and Praxis”, Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women’s Studies, New Delhi, 1-2 November 2025

This conference invites contributions that critically engage with feminist hermeneutics, ethical reinterpretations of Islamic texts, the politics of knowledge production, legal reform, literary and lived practices of Muslim women across diverse contexts. Submissions are encouraged from scholars, researchers and practitioners who seek to explore the intersections of theory, faith, activism and justice within the framework of Islamic feminism.

Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2025.

Information: https://networks.h-net.org/system/files/attachments/concept-notepdf.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

9. 59th Annual Meeting of MESA, Westin Washington, DC, 22-25 November 2025

There are over 300 sessions of panels, roundtables, workshops, and special sessions.

Deadline for registration at discount price: 24 October 2025.

Program preview: https://mesana.org/pdf/MESA2025_preview.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

10. HYBRID “Seventh Annual Islamic Philosophy Conference”, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 5-7 December 2025

We invite academic studies of scholars, methods, institutions, texts, and topics typically considered within the domain of philosophy, as well as those that treat kalam-theology, Islamic legal philosophy (usul al-fiqh), or other intellectual trends that at times may be seen as distinct from philosophy. Papers may be within specific disciplines (Philosophy, Islamic Theology, Religious Studies, etc.) or may be interdisciplinary.

Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2025. Information: https://asipt.org/conferences/#current-conference

 

 

 

 

 

11. Conference “Public History in the Middle East”, Qatar National Library, 19-20 October 2026

This conference seeks to map the current state of public history in the Middle East and foster dialogue on its challen-ges, opportunities and intersections with broader social, political and cultural processes.

Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/27mr5xdr

 

 

 

 

 

12. Senior Lecturer in Arabic, Gothenburg University

A university lecturer in Arabic must also have demonstrated educational skills and hold a doctoral degree in Arabic. Knowledge and ability to teach in Swedish (or other Scandinavian language), English and Arabic are a requirement from the start of employment.

Deadline for applications: 22 September 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4z2vdnnf

 

 

 

 

 

13. Associate or Full Professor in Islamic Studies, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, Hartford, CT

A successful candidate should demonstrate expertise in a particular area of Islamic Studies, though the research specialization is open. The person must be grounded in the Islamic tradition and able to teach in broad areas related to contemporary issues and themes. The successful candidate will teach at the graduate master’s level and should have the intellectual depth required to direct doctoral level students.

Deadline for applications: 1 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2xaedr9s

 

 

 

 

 

14. Faculty Member in Islamic Chaplaincy, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, Hartford, CT

HIU seeks an engaged, dedicated practitioner-scholar to join our esteemed faculty. We invite applications for a full-time or half-time faculty position in Islamic Chaplaincy (open rank). The ideal candidate would be classically trained in the Islamic tradition, experienced as a chaplain, inter-culturally sensitive, and actively involved with local and broader Muslim chaplaincy communities.

Deadline for applications: 1 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/tuc4fhjt

 

 

 

 

15. Bourses de recherche en islamologie Master 2 (1 à 3 mois) et Doctorants/Jeunes docteurs (6 mois), IRMC & UMIFRE

L’octroi d’une bourse de mobilité devra permettre aux étudiant/es et chercheur/ses d’accomplir un travail de terrain de recherche en islamologie en étant accueilli/es dans une UMIFRE (ou instituts partenaires du programme).

Les dossiers de candidatures sont à envoyer avant le 30 septembre 2025. Information : https://tinyurl.com/53dk3k6v

 

 

 

 

 

16. Call for Articles on “Protracted Warfare in West Asia and North Africa: Global Questions for Marxist Approaches to War” for a Special Issue of the “Journal of Labor and Society”

We are interested in contributions that engage with this question of warfare in West Asia and North Africa through the lens of Marxist theoretical struggles and praxis.

Deadline for abstracts: 25 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3sp2wznh

 

 

 

 

 

17. New Book “Songs of the Arabian Red Sea: A Cultural History” by Dionisius A. Agius, Muhammad Zafer Alhazmi, and Hasan Hujairi, I.B.Tauris-Bloomsbury, 264 pages

Using fieldwork conducted along the Hijaz and Upper Tihama coasts, the book documents examples of different musical forms and styles. Presenting the songs and their lyrics in the context of the geography, culture, oral history and musicology of the region, the book reveals the complex and connected network that influenced their development and the vital place of song and music for diverse communities of the region.

Information: https://tinyurl.com/yncyb6nr