Categories : Academic items
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Arabian Gulf Digital Archive
(collaboration between the UK National Archives and United Arab Emirates)
https://www.agda.ae/en/
“The Arabian Gulf Digital Archive (“AGDA”) is an online archive that has been created to showcase historical and cultural material that tells the story of the rich, intriguing and complex history of the Arabian Gulf.
An accessible resource, it serves to offer digital material that spans two centuries, documenting events and personalities that have shaped and defined the region. The contents offer an insight into the past with some material previously unseen by the general public.
AGDA contains, among other things, letters, memos, transcripts, photos and official correspondence from leaders and governments that shaped the events of their time. It’s a free and open resource for students, researchers, enthusiasts and anyone who is curious to explore the rich and varied past of the Arabian Gulf.”
2. Manuscripts of the Muslim World project made recently available digital copies of 208 manuscripts. The goal of the project is to provide digital
editions of more than 500 manuscripts and 827 paintings from the
Islamicate world broadly construed. Together these holdings will
represent in great breadth the flourishing intellectual and cultural
heritage of Muslim lands from 1000 to 1900, covering mathematics,
astrology, history, law, literature, as well as the Qur’an and Hadith.
The bulk of the collection consists of manuscripts in Arabic and
Persian, along with examples of Coptic, Samaritan, Syriac, Turkish, and
Berber.
The primary partners are Columbia University, the Free Library of
Philadelphia, and the University of Pennsylvania with significant
contributions from Bryn Mawr College and Haverford College.
This project is funded by the Council on Library and Information Resources.
The collection is available here:
http://openn.library.upenn.edu/html/muslimworld_contents.html
These 208 online manuscripts come from the following institutions:
37 manuscripts from the Free Library of Philadelphia
45 manuscripts from the University of Pennsylvania
127 manuscripts from Columbia University
1 manuscript from the Philadelphia Museum of Art
New content is added regularly so please check the site often.
Eventually the manuscripts housed there will also be available in more
public-friendly page-turning format but the OPenn raw files will remain
the canonical source. In addition, the local library catalogs at
Columbia, the FLP, and Penn will contain links to the digitized
facsimiles as well as to other manifestations differing by institution
(Columbia for instance will link to Internet Archive e-book versions).
Please do let us know about any interesting finds in the digitized corpus.
Kelly Tuttle, the cataloger for the project has recently begun tweeting
images from the project at https://twitter.com/MmwProject
3. “Dear Iranian Studies and Iranian Diaspora Studies Scholars,
The proposal submission website will open on May 15. As you draft your proposals and organize your panels, you can also take two additional steps today:
1) Register for the conference:https://associationforiranianstudies.org/conferences/2020/registration.
2) Review submission guidelines: https://associationforiranianstudies.org/conferences/2020/submission-guidelines
If your membership needs to be updated, you can take care of that too: https://associationforiranianstudies.org/membership.
We are looking forward to your participation in AIS 2020 at the University of Salamanca in Spain. For more information on the conference :https://associationforiranianstudies.org/conferences/2020 ”
4. Workshop on the History of Arabic Logic
May 7 – May 8
St Andrews, UK
Further info and the programme may be accessed at:
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/arche/event/workshop-on-the-history-of-arabic-logic/
5. 1st Islamic Perspectives on Ethical Issues Workshop.
The first workshop in the series is entitled: “Islamic Perspectives on Organ Donation after Death”
3rd – 4th October 2019
Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, UK.
Proposals for a single presenter should include the following:
- Contact information and a brief bio of presenter(s),
- Tentative title(s),
- Abstract(s) (300- 500 word).
The deadline for submission of proposals is 26th July 2019. Successful applicants will be notified by 2nd August 2019.
The workshop will be hosted at Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham. Accepted applicants from within the E.U. will be supported for their travel and hospitality during the workshop, with a further limited number of travel bursaries available for those applying from outside the E.U.
Further info at: https://www.almahdi.edu/call-for-papers-islamic-perspectives-on-organ-donation-after-death/
6. Islamic Manuscript Association’s Introduction to Islamic Codicology course on 23–27 September 2019 at Cambridge University Library, Cambridge.
This intensive five-day course will introduce the study of Islamic manuscript codices as physical objects, or the archaeology of the Islamic book. The lectures will provide an overview of writing supports, the structure of quires, ruling and page layout, bookbinding, ornamentation, tools and materials used in book making, the palaeography of book hands, and writing Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) manuscript descriptions. During hands-on sessions, participants will examine Islamic manuscripts from Cambridge University Library’s collections and complete a series of practical exercises on codicological description.
If you are interested then please contact the Association or apply via their website: http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/courses/introduction-to-islamic-codicology,-cambridge,-2018/course-fees-and-registration.aspx
7. L’inscription du troisième Congrès des études sur le Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans est désormais ouverte et le restera jusqu’au 1er juin 2019.
Le Congrès se tiendra les 3, 4, 5 juillet 2019 à l’Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, centre Panthéon.
L’inscription est obligatoire et sachez qu’il ne sera pas possible de vous inscrire au moment du Congrès.
La liste des ateliers est disponible à cette adresse, rubrique “Ateliers” https://congres-gismomm.sciencesconf.org/
L’inscription au Congrès se fera sur le site https://congres-gismomm.sciencesconf.org/register , rubrique “inscription”.
Pour ceux qui disposent déjà d’un compte sur HAL, les identifiants et mots de passe sont les mêmes que ceux de HAL. Les autres doivent se créer un identifiant et un mot de passe.
Le formulaire d’inscription est pré-rempli avec le nom et le prénom, il vous suffit de compléter le laboratoire et l’établissement d’appartenance, puis de cliquer sur le montant de votre inscription (rubrique “Participant”) :
– chercheurs non-membres de la SEMOMM : 30 euros
– doctorants non-membres de la SEMOMM : 10 euros
– adhérents de la SEMOMM (Société des études sur le Moyen-Orient et les mondes musulmans) à jour de leur cotisation : https://www.semomm.fr/adherer/ Exonération des frais d’inscription
NB: les étudiants (en licence et master) qui souhaiteraient assister à un atelier pourront le faire, avec inscription obligatoire sur place.
Nous vous rappelons que le transport ne pourra pas être pris en charge, en revanche, un déjeuner (sandwichs et salades) vous sera proposé les 3 et 4 juillet (dans la limite des stocks disponibles) et un buffet sera organisé le 5 juillet.
Les pauses café et le cocktail inaugural sont compris dans l’inscription.
La participation sera libre pour le concert du jeudi 4 juillet, les fonds récoltés seront reversés à des associations humanitaires.
Nous vous remercions très vivement pour votre participation et votre collaboration, en souhaitant à tous un excellent congrès.
—
Cyrielle Michineau
Secrétaire générale du GIS Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans
email : cyrielle.michineau@ehess.fr
contact.gis@ehess.fr / direction.gis@ehess.fr
http://majlis-remomm.fr/
English version : http://majlis-remomm.fr/en/
https://www.facebook.com/GISMoyenOrient
- May 11, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Department of Middle Eastern Studies in the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas at Austin invites applications for a lecturer position in Arabic starting in fall 2019. This position is expected to teach Arabic language courses at all levels (including advanced content courses) for an average of twelve hours per week according to the needs of the program. This position is renewable annually; contingent upon budgetary funding and performance. Security sensitive position; background check conducted on applicant selected.
Qualifications:
The successful candidate will be a native or near-native speaker of Arabic and hold an MA in teaching Arabic as a foreign language (TAFL) or a related field. Experience teaching for the Arabic Flagship Program is preferred. Applicants should have at least three years’ university teaching experience and experience teaching in an intensive program integrating the teaching of both standard and spoken Arabic. The successful candidate should have experience in coordinating multiple sections of a course.
Application Instructions:
Applicants should submit a letter of application indicating interest in the position, curriculum vitae, three letters of recommendation, formal student evaluations, and statement of teaching philosophy.
More info: https://careers.insidehighered.com/job/1771395/2019-20-lecturer-of-arabic/
Close Date:
May 23, 2019
2. The Persian Heritage Foundation (New York) and SOAS are pleased to invite you to four lectures on Artists, Paintings and their Publics: Safavid Albums in the Seventeenth Century by Dr Massumeh Farhad, Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian Instituton, Washington, D.C.
Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS University of London
Russell Square WC1H 0XG
Admission Free – All Welcome
16, 17, 20 and 21 May
Lecture programme available here
3. Two PhD positions at the University of Bologna (Department of Philosophy and Communication studies), fully funded for 3 years in the framework of the ERC project: “Alchemy in the Making: From ancient Babylonia via Graeco-Roman Egypt into the Byzantine, Syriac and Arabic traditions (1500 BCE -1000 AD)”, Acronym: AlchemEast.
For a full description of the ERC project, please visit www.alchemeast.eu
Applicants are expected to submit a research project (max. 20.000 characters with spaces) on any aspect of the ancient alchemical tradition. The submitted project can either focus on a selection of primary sources (depending on the period of interest, Greek, Syriac or Arabic alchemical texts) or propose a broader and more transversal investigation of issues related to ancient alchemical science and its relationship with adjacent areas, such as natural philosophy and medicine.
The posts will be based in Bologna. Deadline for applications: May 15th, 2019
For further information, please feel free to contact: matteo.martelli@unibo.it
Applications can be submitted only via the on-line system at the links
(Eng) https://www.unibo.it/en/teaching/phd/2019-2020/philosophy-science-cognition-and-semiotics-pscs
The two positions are part of the PhD programme: “Philosophy, Science, Cognition and Semiotics”. For a complete description of the programme and the required documents to be uploaded, please look at the PHD PROGRAMME TABLE available in the application webpage.
4. Six Postdoctoral and One PhD Positions, Project: “Thinking through Translocal Entanglements: Perspectives from Asia, Africa, and the Middle East” (2020-2024) at the Leibnitz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin
Specialists from History, Islam Studies, Anthropology Political Science, Sociology, Cultural Geography, and Economic History / Economic Anthropology are encouraged to apply.
Deadline for applications: 2 June 2019. Information: http://www.zmo.de/Ausschreibungen/Ausschreibung_ResearchProgramme2020_postdoc_phd.pdf
5. Two Two-Year Postdoctoral Fellowships for the Project „Refugees and the Arab Middle East: Protection in States Not Party to the Refugee Convention (REF-ARAB)“, University of Oslo, Norway
Requirements: PhD or equivalent academic qualification with a specialization in the Middle East, refugee studies, legal history, sociology of law, sociolegal studies, legal anthropology and/or a related discipline; fluent oral and written communication skills in English; knowledge of Arabic is strongly desirable. Experience from the Middle East and/or refugee studies is desirable.
Deadline for applications: 24 May 2019. Information: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/168961/1-2-post-doctoral-research-fellowships
6. Senior Lecturer in Islamic Economic and Finance, Al-Maktoum College, Dundee, Scotland
The successful applicant will have proven research and teaching expertise and be able to contribute to teaching in any relevant areas, including to Islamic Moral Economy and Finance, Islamic Capital Markets, Islamic Commercial Law and Financial Transactions, Applied Islamic Banking and Insurance, etc. Fluency in English is essential and the knowledge of one or more languages of Islam, preferably Arabic, is desirable for the post.
Deadline for applications: 13 May 2019.
7. Lecturer in Islamic Economic and Finance, Al-Maktoum College, Dundee, Scotland
The successful applicant will be able to contribute to teaching in any relevant areas, including but not restricted to Moral Economy and Finance, Capital Markets, Commercial Law and Financial Transactions, Applied Banking and Insurance, Accounting and Auditing, and Risk Management in Banking and Finance. Fluency in English is essential and the knowledge of one or more languages of Islam, preferably Arabic, is desirable for the post.
Deadline for applications: 13 May 2019. Information: https://d1ssu070pg2v9i.cloudfront.net/pex/almcollege/2019/04/10155042/Lecturer-Islamic-Finance_May-2019_Further-Particular.pdf
8. 15 Early Stage Researcher Positions in the Marie Skłodowska Curie Action, Innovative Training Network MIDA: “Mediating Islam in the Digital Age”, IISMM, Paris
The project is to train 15 creative, entrepreneurial, and innovative researchers in social and human sciences through an interdisciplinary research programme, whose main objectives are to understand the tremendous influence that digitisation and technological innovations have on Islam. The location is depending on which project the candidate applies for.
Deadline for applications: 1 June 2019. Information: https://www.itn-mida.org/callforposition
9. Assistant Professor or Associate Professor for the History of the Ottoman Empire, University of Virginia
This is a one-year salaried part-time appointment (renewable for up to one additional year), starting 25 August 2019, through 24 May 2021.
The position will remain open until filled. Information: Karen Parshall (khp3k@virginia.edu)
10. Postdoctoral Fellowships (1-2 Years) and Visiting Scholarship (One Month – 2 Semesters) in Modern Turkish and Middle East Studies, Center for Global Governance, Shanghai University, 2019-20
Deadline for application: 26 May 2019. For information and application contact Prof. Tugrul Keskin (tugrulkeskin@t.shu.edu.cn)
11. Middle East and North Africa Mobility Grants for Young Researchers
The aim of this call for projects is to fund research stays between Switzerland and the following countries: Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
Deadline for applications: End of December 2019.
Information: http://cefas.cnrs.fr/spip.php?article672&lang=fr
12. Applications for Best Ph.D. Dissertation Award, 2019
Deadline for Submissions is August 15, 2019.
The Foundation for Iranian Studies invites applications for its annual award of $1000 for the best Ph.D. dissertation in a field of Iranian Studies. Students completing their dissertations between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019 are eligible to apply for the 2019 award.
Dissertations must be nominated by the author’s advisor and be accompanied by the Dissertation Committee’s letter of acceptance. Both documents may be emailed provided they contain appropriate official insignias and signatures.
Applicants for the 2019 award should submit a digital copy of the dissertation, either mailed on disc to
Secretary
Foundation for Iranian Studies
Bethesda, MD 20814 USA
Or emailed to
For further information about the award, selection criteria, and previous winners consult the Foundation for Iranian Studies Website at www.fis-iran.org, Programs, Dissertation Awards. Inquiries should be emailed to fis@fis-iran.org.
Gholam Reza Afkhami
Chair
Dissertation Award Committee
- May 08, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Bibliotheques d’Orient
“This searchable web site began in 2016 by the Bibliothèque National de France and seven heritage and research libraries in Cairo, Alexandria, Beirut, Istanbul and Jerusalem. It was created to reveal the permanence and wealth of the scientific, intellectual and interreligious exchanges in this region. It is for researchers, teachers and students, and for all those who want to broaden their understanding of this region of the world, in its historic depth, so as better to grasp current events. It will be updated over time when new resources are obtained. Collaboration of the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and international partners to create and curate open access thematic collections of digitized material from and about the Middle East.”
http://heritage.bnf.fr/bibliothequesorient/en/discover-project
2. Conference on “Sufism and the Body”, University of Utrecht, 12-13 September 2019
Drawing on recent literature regarding sensation, embodiment, and the material turn in the study of religion, this conference assesses the role of the human body in Sufism. It attempts to bridge the gap between the study of the spiritual and corporeal in Sufism by focusing on the place of the body in Sufi thought, practice, literature, and art.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 May 2019.
3. Two Lecturers/Assistant Professors in Turkish Linguistics and in Modern Turkish Literature, University of Cyprus
Sufficient knowledge of Greek and Turkish is required. Other requirements for appointment depend on academic rank and include prior academic experience, research record and scientific contributions, involvement in teaching and in the development of high quality undergraduate and graduate curricula.
Deadline for applications: 10 June 2019. Applications to be submitted at https://applications.ucy.ac.cy/recruitment . Information: www.ucy.ac.cy/acad.staff.procedures
4. AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Studentship, Research Project:“Material_Cultures_ of_ Refuge_ in_ Lebanon”, University College_London
In cooperation with Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University Museums. Applicants may have a strong Master’s-level degree or equivalent experience, including, but not limited to, museums or curatorial experience or work in the third sector relating to displacement in the Middle East. Regional expertise in the Middle East would be preferable and proficiency in (Levantine) Arabic would be an additional asset. Students with experience working on museum collections, archives, or related topics are particularly encouraged to apply.
Deadline for applications: 17 May 2019. Information: https://atsv7.wcn.co.uk/search_engine/jobs.cgi?b3duZXI9NTA0MTE3OCZvd25lcnR5cGU9ZmFpciZ2dF90ZW1wbGF0ZT05ODImamNvZGU9MTc5OTAyOSZwb3N0aW5nX2NvZGU9MjI0Jg%3D%3D=&owner=5041178&ownertype=fair&vt_template=982&jcode=1799029&
5. Lecturer in Modern Middle Eastern History, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
One-year, non-tenure-track lectureship, commencing 1 August 2019. The successful applicant will be able to teach World Civilization after 1500 and upper division courses in the area of specialty. Ph.D. in history or a related field must be in hand before the position begins.
Deadline for applications: 15 July 2019. Information: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=58500
6. Intensive Arabic Courses, Casa Árabe, Madrid and Cordoba, 3 June – 12 July 2019
Intensive and semi-intensive courses in Modern Standard Arabic, conversational Arabic, Moroccan Darija and Levantine Arabic, intended for people who want to begin learning Arabic or gain new momentum for their Arabic in a few weeks. We are offering Arabic classes in English (beginners and A1.1, according to MCER) in Madrid and Arabic classes in Córdoba (in Spanish).
Deadline for registration: 26 May 2019. Information: http://en.casaarabe.es/event/summer-courses-intensive-arabic-courses-for-children-and-adults (Madrid); http://www.casaarabe.es/eventos-arabes/show/cursos-intensivos-de-arabe-en-verano-en-cordoba (Córdoba – in Spanish).
7. Master of Science: “Economics of the Middle East (EMEA)”, University of Marburg
The program offers a wide range of courses focusing on economic, social and geopolitical issues of the Middle East and North Africa region, which equips students with the theoretical and empirical knowledge necessary to start a professional or academic career in this growing field of study.
Deadline for application: 15 July 2019. Information: www.uni-marburg.de/emea
8. “The Digital Muṣḥaf Project aims to create a database of images of early Qurʾānic fragments from dispersed muṣḥafs or codices of the Qurʾanic text and, as far as possible, virtually re-create the original codices so that they are available for scholars and the public in one place together with descriptions and metadata.
There is an ever-growing scholarly interest in Qur’anic Studies in the East and the West. The newly founded International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) is but one manifestation of this. In particular there is an interest in early Qur’anic fragments from a number of points of view including those of chronology, textual criticism, art history, palaeography, and codicology. There may be a number from the high-hundreds to as many as a figure in the low-thousands of fragments from early muṣḥafs from the 7th to 10thcenturies C.E., scattered throughout the libraries of the world, the exact figure is not known, and although Whelan (1990), Dutton (1999) and others have done valuable work in identifying fragments belonging to the same muṣḥaf, much work remains to be done.
For this Pilot Project, the team decided to focus on a single muṣḥaf, namely the codex discussed by Estelle Whelan (Writing the Word of God, Part I, p. 116-118 ) of which 344 folios are known to be dispersed throughout various libraries. We have given this Codex the rubric Digital Muṣḥaf 1 (DM1). Please refer to Appendix 1 for details of currently known fragments.
Of this muṣḥaf, the following fragments have been selected for the pilot project:
Chester Beatty Library, CBL Is 1407, fols. 1-4.
Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, Cod. 12.11 Aug. 2°, fols. 1-6.
BNF Cod. 350a, fols. 99-141.
The Bodleian Libraries, MS. Marsh 178, 22 fols.
For the online reconstruction of DM1, 149 images from the four participating libraries have been gathered for display: 44 from the Bodleian Libraries in Oxford, seven from the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, 86 from the Bibliothèque nationale de France, and 12 from the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel. Our reconstruction of the original codex is powered by the International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF), a set of standards and tools for creating interoperable image repositories.
The images of DM1 are hosted in IIIF-compatible format by the Bodleian (in the case of the Chester Beatty, Wolfenbüttel and Bodleian images) and the BnF (in the case of the BnF’s own images). To bring all 149 images together, and to display them in the correct original sequence rather than in the order in which the libraries’ fragments have been bound, the Bodleian team created a IIIF manifest (http://iiif.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/manifests/mushaf.json), a piece of linked data in JSON-LD format that specifies the sequence, location and associated metadata for a collection of digitized objects. The Digital Mushaf manifest specifies the location and technical details for each DM1 image, along with page-level metadata provided by our scholars.”
http://digitalmushaf.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/
9. The monograph GEOPOLITICS OF ISLAM (Araucaria magazine)
can be found at:
https://revistascientificas.us.es/index.php/araucaria/index
| 10. The Alwaleed Centre at the University of Edinburgh seeks to appoint an Early Career Teaching and Research Fellow on Muslims in Europe for a three-year fixed-term position to provide cover for the Alwaleed Lecturer during her externally funded research leave. |
Information and details on how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=047791.
11. Oklahoma State University – Postdoctoral Researcher in Medieval Middle Eastern History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=58507
- May 01, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. American University of Beirut
Sheikh Zayed Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies
A conference marking 100 years since the birth of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Mysticism and Ethics in Islam
التصوف والأخلاق في الإسلام
Organized by Bilal Orfali, Radwan Sayyid, and Mohammed Rustom
May 2-3, 2019
Olayan School of Business, Maamari Auditorium
May 2, 2019
9:00-9:30 Opening Remarks: Dean of Arts and Sciences and Conference Organizers (Bilal Orfali, Radwan Sayyid, and Mohammed Rustom)
9:30-11:30 Panel 1: Defining Boundaries I
Chair: Ramzi Baalbaki, American University of Beirut
Suad al-Hakim, Lebanese University: “الأخلاق في التصوف: بين تزكية النفس وتزكية السلوك”
Chafika Ouail: Post-Doc, Orient Institute Beirut: “النسق المعرفي لإعادة إنتاج المفاهيم الأخلاقية عند الصوفية”
Issam Eido, Vanderbitt University: “تلوّنات المتصوّفة والمفهوم الأخلاقي في الأدب الصوفي”
Khaled Abdo, Mominoun Without Borders: “من نقد التصوّف إلى إصلاح الأخلاق :الكشف عن أعمال الديلمي”
11:30-12:00 Coffee Break
12:00-13:30 Panel 2: Defining Boundaries II
Chair: Atif Khalil, University of Lethbridge
Michael Arnold, American University of Beirut: “Sufism as an Ethical Panacea? Situating Taṣawwuf in Islamic Ethics”
Sophia Vasalou, Birmingham University: “Does al-Ghazālī have a Theory of Virtue?”
Jeremy Farrell, Emory University: “A “Value Theory” of Obligations: Early Sufi approaches to zuhd”
13:30-14:30 Lunch Break
14:30-16:30 Panel 3: From Grief to Love
Chair: Sebastian Günther, University of Göttingen
Riccardo Paredi, American University of Beirut: “To Grieve or Not to Grieve? The Concept of ḥuzn in Early Sufism”
Atif Khalil, University of Lethbridge: “On Patience in Early Sufi Ethics”
Kazuyo Murata, King’s College London: “Sufism and the Pursuit of Happiness”
Mohammed Rustom, Carleton University: “Theo-Fānī: ʿAyn al-Quḍāt and the Fire of Love”
16:30-17:00 Coffee Break
17:00-18:00 Keynote Address: Jamal Elias, University of Pennsylvania: “Revisiting Rūmī’s Mathnawī as the ‘Persian Qur’an’ through the Lens of Anqarawī”
May 3, 2019
9:00-11:30 Panel 4: Late Pre-Modern Sufism
Chair: Bilal Orfali, American University of Beirut
Matthew Ingalls, American University in Dubai: “al-Shaʿrānī’s Laṭāʾif al-minan and the Virtue of Sincere Immodesty”
Rizwan Zamir, Davidson College, N.C: “‘Dogs are Better than You!’ Mockery in Punjabi Sufi Poetry”
Alexandre Papas, French National Center for Scientific research: “Sufism and Ethics in Central Asia: Ṣūfī Allāhyār’s Thabāt al-ʿājizīn and its Legacy”
Marcia Hermansen, University of Chicago: “Shāh Walī Allāh and the Virtues”
Muetaz A. Al-Khatib, American University of Beirut/Hamad Bin Khalifa University: “المعارف والأحوال: العزّ بن عبد السلام والتأسيس لأخلاق الظاهر والباطن”
11:30-12:00 Coffee Break
12:00-13:30 Panel 5: Literary Engagements
Chair: Enass Khansa, American University of Beirut
Lina Jammal, American University of Beirut: “أحلام المتصوّفة”
Richard McGregor, Vanderbilt University: “Beauty, Vision, and the Discipline of Bodies in Sufi Aesthetics”
Vahid Behmardi, Lebanese American University: “Social Ethics in Rūmī’s Mathnawī”
13:30-14:30 Lunch Break
14:30-16:00 Panel 6: Sufism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries I
Chair: Lyall Armstrong, American University of Beirut
Paul Heck, Georgetown University: “Mystical Traditions of Prophetic Ethics in Moroccan Sufism: The Case of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Dabbāgh”
Ahmed El-Shamsy, University of Chicago: “Modernist Appropriations of Sufi Ethics”
Leila Almazova, International Relations Kazan (Volga Region) Federal University: “Sufism and Modern Muslim Ethics in 20th Century Russian Islamic Thought”
16:00-16:30 Coffee Break
16:30-18:00 Panel 7: Sufism in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries II
Chair: Bashshar Haydar, American University of Beirut
Mohammed Helmi: “سؤال التصوف في الأفق الـمُعاصر: التاريخ والـمصائر”
Oludamini Ogunnaike, College of William and Mary: “The Existential, Epistemological Ethics of Tarbiyah: Ibrahim Niasse’s Maqāmāt al-dīn al-thalāth”
Abdelouahab Belgherras, Centre de recherche en anthropologie sociale et culturelle: “الأخلاق الصوفية في الخطاب المعاصر: الإنسان “الكامل” والمواطنة العالمية”
American University of Beirut
P.O. Box 11-0236, Riad El Solh 1107 2020, Beirut, Lebanon
T: +961-1-350000 ext. 3800
F: +961-1-744461
http://www.aub.edu.lb/alabhath/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.aub.edu.lb/pages/profile.aspx?memberID=bo00
2. The Hajji Baba Club, New York, Announces a New Fellowship in the Field of Carpet Studies
The Hajji Baba Club is pleased to announce the creation of a new fellowship in the field of carpet scholarship. The Hajji Baba Club is the oldest organization in the United States devoted to the study of oriental carpets and antique textiles. Founded in New York City in 1932, its original members included many collectors whose carpets and textiles now form principal holdings at several major US museums.
The fellowship seeks to support established and early-career scholars of outstanding promise. The first HBC Research Fellowship will be for the 2019-2020 academic year, from September to June. An annual HBC Research Fellowship will be awarded thereafter.
For the application procedure and terms of the fellowship, please see:
https://www.hajjibaba.org/fellowship/
3. Conference: “A Century of State Making in Iraq: The Middle East in Transition”, University of Leicester, 24 April 2019
On the occasion of the anniversary of Woodrow Wilson’s famous ‘Fourteen Points’ speech with regard to the Middle Eastern region, this is an inter-disciplinary scholarly activity focused on history, law and politics. The conference will bring together British, Iraqi and international experts and practitioners to discuss the inter-relationship between theory and practice.
See program at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-century-of-state-making-in-iraq-the-middle-east-in-transition-tickets-59189098186
4. The Most Important Event in Middle East and North African Studies in France 2019: “Congrès des études sur le Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans”, SEMOMM, IISMM, GIS MoMM, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, 3-5 July 2019
This is the joint Congress of SEMOMM (Société d’études du Moyen-Orient et des mondes musulmans), IISMM (Institut d’études de l’Islam et des sociétés du monde musulman) and GIS MOMM (Groupement d’intérêt scientifique Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans).
Deadline for abstracts: 1 June 2019. Information: https://www.semomm.fr/congres-gis-moyen-orient-mondes-musulmans-2019-appel-a-contributions/
5. 53rd Seminar for Arabian Studies, University of Leiden, 11-13 July 2019
See program at: https://www.thebfsa.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Seminar-2019-Draft-Programme.pdf
Further Information: https://mailchi.mp/33eed0779ee8/bfsa-bulletin-call-for-contributions-1770885?e=18cf0337f7 _
6. Conference: “Regime-Critical Media and Arab Diaspora: Challenges and Opportunities Post-Arab Spring”, University of Copenhagen, 5-6 September 2019
The research project ‘Mediatized diaspora (MEDIASP): Contentious Politics among Arab Media Users in Europe’ is pleased to announce the call for papers for this conference on regime-critical media – produced in or outside the Middle East and North Africa – and their users in diaspora.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 May 2019. Information: https://ccrs.ku.dk/research/
7. Conference: “The Urban Artistic Heritage in the Islamic World”, RCICA, University of Tunis, 14-17 November 2019
Papers, videos and posters are invited on the following topics: 1) Issues and approaches associated with the urban artistic heritage in the Islamic world. 2) Islamic architecture and interior design. 3) Islamic book artworks (miniatures and book / manuscript illuminations) and Arabic calligraphy. 4) Applied arts and crafts (wood carving, metalwork, textile, carpets, leatherwork) in traditional Islamic cities.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 May 2019. Information: ateru.recherches.urbaines@gmail.com
8. PhD Position for Research Project “Bibliotheca Arabica – Towards a New History of Arabic Literature: Libraries between the Mamluk and Ottoman Era”, Saxon Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Leipzig
The long-term research project invites applications for a part-time PhD position. Start date is January 2020; the contract period is 3 years, with an option of extension for another year. Requirements: MA or equivalent degree in Islamic Studies, Arabic philology; excellent knowledge of Arabic and preferably one other primary language of the Islamicate world; paleographical skills preferred; etc.
Deadline for application: 18 May 2019. Information: https://www.saw-leipzig.de/de/ausschreibungen/stellenausschreibungen/phd-position-in-the-research-project-bibliotheca-arabica.pdf/view
9. Research Associate at the Syria/Iraq Office of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, Beirut
Qualifications: Master or doctoral degree in political or social science with focus on the Middle East and preferably international relations, Germany and the EU; good knowledge of the situation in the Middle East with special focus on Syria and Iraq; excellent knowledge of English and German; etc.
Applications and start of the position at the earliest possible date. Information: gregor.jaecke@kas.de
10. Visiting Faculty Position in Middle Eastern and North African History, University of the Holy Cross, Worcester (MA)
Including Fall 2019 semester and Spring 2020 semester. Requirements: Ph.D. in Middle Eastern/North African History is preferred. Candidates must demonstrate commitment to, and excellence in, undergraduate teaching as informed by current practice and scholarship in the field.
Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position has been filled. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/62147
11. Dissertation Award of the German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO) for Research on the MENA Region
DAVO will award a prize of 3,000 Euro to the best dissertation in the field of contemporary research on the Middle East and North Africa which was written in German or English and submitted to a university by a member of DAVO in 2018.
Please send an application with a printed copy and a digital version of your dissertation, a summary, your CV and the assessments of your dissertation by two professors to davo@geo.uni-mainz.de until 28 April 2019.
For further information on the advantages of being a member of DAVO see http://davo1.de/en/uber-die-davo/
12. LUCIS Summer School: “Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World”, University of Leiden, 20-30 August 2019
This summer school is for graduate (MA and PhD) students and researchers who have an interest in handwritten materials, editing, and the tradition of editing in the Muslim world. It offers theoretical lectures as well as hands-on practice with samples from the world-famous collections of the Leiden University Library.
Deadline for applications: 28 June 2019. Information: https://www.universiteitleiden
13. Call for Submissions: Syrian Studies Association Prizes for Outstanding Book
In order to promote and highlight excellence in research, the Syrian Studies Association awards annual prizes for the best writing on Bilad al-Sham until 1918 and on Syria in the period following.
In 2019, the SSA seeks submissions for the most outstanding book published between July 1, 2017 and June 30, 2019, and the most outstanding article or book chapter published between July 1, 2018 and June 30, 2019.
In order to be considered for the prize, candidates must join the association. Information about the Syrian Studies Association is available at the following website: http://www.ou.edu/ssa/index.html
Submissions in languages other than English are welcomed.
Articles should be sent electronically. Books can be sent either electronically or in hard copy.
The deadline for submissions is July 15, 2019. All submissions should be sent to Paul M. Cobb, Chair of the Prize Committee, at the following address: pmcobb@upenn.edu Winners will be announced at the SSA annual meeting held in conjunction with the Middle East Studies Association in November 2019. Inquiries should be directed to Paul M. Cobb.
- April 25, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Marriage and Divorce in Modern Islamic Law
Tuesday 23rd April 2019
Seminar Room 1: IAIS, University of Exeter
If you wish to attend, please email: csi@exeter.ac.uk
Marriage and Divorce in Modern Islamic Law
Tuesday 23rd April 2019
Seminar Room 1: IAIS, University of Exeter
In the last 200 years, a series of legal innovations have appeared in both Islamic legal thought and practice in the areas of marriage and divorce. In this workshop we will examine the changes in how marriages are conducted, and how divorce is initiated. The workshop is sponsored by the Understanding Sharia: Perfect Past Imperfect Present project (www.usppip.eu) which has been examining how the past is employed in contemporary Islamic law, and how it has been responding to societal change in the modern period.
1230 Lunch
1330 Introduction: Robert Gleave (Director of USPPIP Project) 1400 Dr Sejad Mekic (Exeter, USPPIP Fellow), ““Tafwid al-Talaq: Delegating the Power of Divorce to the Wife in Hanafi and Imami Legal Traditions”
1430 Dr Nijmi Edres, (Göttingen, USPPIP Fellow; Exeter, Visiting USPPIP Fellow) “Stipulations into Muslim marriage contracts in Israel: preliminary insights into tafwid al-talaq and property relations agreements”
1500 Dr Mahmood Kooria, (Leiden, USPPIP fellow): “High Rate of Divorce among Matrilineal Muslims: Islam and Law in the Indian Ocean Littoral”
1530 Coffee/Tea
1600 Mr Mahmoud Afifi (Lancaster University): “Q4: 34: marital qiwamah and ‘wifely discipline’”
1630 Dr Ayesha Shahid (Coventry University): “Protecting Muslim Women’s Right to Post-Divorce Maintenance in Pakistan: Making the Case for Law Reform”
1700 Mr Muhammad Al-Marakaby (University of Edinburgh): “The impact of social norms on fatwas of marriage and divorce: an ethnographic study at Al-Azhar’s Fatwa Council”
1730 Concluding remarks: Robert Gleave
2. Call for applications: Residential Fellowships for the Critical Edition of Key Text
This call for applications pursues a novel approach to one of the fundamental problems of Islamicate History, and Islamicate intellectual history in particular: With the support of the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg of the Islamicate Intellectual History of the Later Middle and Early Modern Periods at the University of Bonn, scholars are invited to submit a proposal for the critical edition and/or translation into English of a key text of this period. With an estimated 85% of the texts of the Later Middle and Early Modern periods remaining unpublished, basic research (“Grundlagenforschung”) is required to make accessible key texts. In the case of Islamic Studies such basic research means indeed preparing critical editions of primary texts based on a careful selection and comparison of the extant manuscript witnesses of relevant texts.
In a time and world where critical editions are not the stuff that attract financial support, this is a unique opportunity for those scholars for whom solid philological work means something. Applications for the completion of an edition that has already been begun are also welcome.
With this, first, call for applications, we invite scholars to apply for two different strands of residential fellowships, one (i) for an already identified work that we believe deserves publication, and one (ii) bottom-up proposal for the preparation and publication of a critical edition of a text freely chosen and proposed by the applicant. The texts should pertain to the period 1200-1600 and can be written in Arabic, Persian, or Ottoman or Chagatay Turkish.
(i) Call for applications to prepare a critical edition of one of the unpublished parts of Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa’s (d. 747/1347) Taʿdīl al-ʿulūm. Applications are particularly encouraged from such scholars who have previously worked on Ṣadr al-Sharīʿa and/or have already started preparing a (partial) edition, though entirely new projects are equally welcome. The length of the fellowship depends on the reasoned timeline proposed in the application.
(ii) Call for applications to prepare a critical edition and/or English translation of a relevant text freely chosen and suggested by the applicant.
Eligibility: Scholars of all nationalities are eligible to apply. Applicants should hold the Ph.D. or equivalent in hand by the time of the start of their scholarship, usually in October of each year, and must prove excellent knowledge of the academic field, historical context, and literary language in which was composed the work they propose to edit, together with a thorough understanding of, and preferably prior experience in, reading and editing Islamic manuscripts according to the latest academic standards.
Duration: While Fellowships at the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg are usually for the duration of 9 months, the length of the fellowships can be adjusted to the actual time needed for the critical edition of a given text, depending on the time necessary for completing such a project as reasoned in the proposal.
Fellowship: In addition to a monthly stipend, this research fellowship will provide successful applicants with working space as well as access to the various libraries and other research facilities at the University of Bonn. We shall also be happy to facilitate contact with other colleagues and research institutions in Bonn and in Germany. Depending on the experience of the applicant, a stipend equivalent to in the amount of an Alexander von Humboldt Post-doctoral Research Fellowship (2.650 Euro/month) or Alexander von Humboldt Senior Research Fellowship (for scholars with a university post or equivalent) plus travel to and from Germany, and financial support to acquire the relevant manuscripts will be awarded. Information about support needed for the acquisition of relevant manuscripts should be provided together with a reasoned budget at the time of application.
To apply, please submit a letter of interest together with a curriculum vitae, a proposal, and in the case of Post-doctoral applicants also the names and contact details of three referees to fellowships@avh-islamicate.uni-bonn.de. The proposal should not exceed five pages, including bibliography, and should review the state of the art, state why it is important to publish the selected work, name the manuscript witnesses to be considered for the edition, explain the method to be used and why the applicant is apt to undertake the proposed edition, and give a realistic and reasoned estimate for the time and resources required to prepare the edition. Proposals for the completion of editions that are already under way are welcome, and will be scrutinized by the same standards as proposals that start from scratch.
Grant value: 2.650,– Euro/month, plus travel to and from Germany, and financial support to acquire the relevant manuscripts based on the budget submitted at the time of application.
Start date: 1 October 2019.
Closing date for applications is 12 noon on Friday, 17 May 2019.
To apply for this Fellowship, please submit the required application material to fellowships@avh-islamicate.uni-bonn.de.
Prior questions are welcome and may be directed to judith.pfeiffer@uni-bonn.de.
For further information, and how to apply, please see https://www.academia.edu/38788863/Call_for_applications_Residential_Fellowships_for_the_Critical_Edition_of_Key_Texts.
3. Islamic Art Circle, Revisiting Baghdad: Mosques, Caliphs and the ‘Ulama (May 8) and Bahari Foundation Lectures, The Shah and the ‘Ulama: A Tale of Two Mosques in Safavid Isfahan (May 9), Ruba Kana’an
The Islamic Art Circle at SOAS, London University
Revisiting Baghdad: Mosques, Caliphs and the ‘Ulama
May 8, 2019, 7:00 pm
The Bahari Foundation Lectures on Art and Culture of Iran, The Courtauld Institute of Art
The Shah and the ‘Ulama: A Tale of Two Mosques in Safavid Isfahan
May 9, 2019, 6:00 pm
Islamic Art Circle at SOAS, London University. May 2019 Lecture
The Islamic Art Circle at SOAS is delighted to announce that our May lecture will be given by Dr Ruba Kana’an, University of Oxford, on Wednesday, 8th May at 7.00 pm in the Khalili Lecture Theatre, L/G Phillips Building, SOAS, London University, WC1H 0XG – all welcome. Enquiries to Rosalind Wade Haddon: rw51@soas.ac.uk
Dr Kana’an’s topic is: Revisiting Baghdad: Mosques, Caliphs and the ‘Ulama
Her lecture will explore relationships between the historical narratives about Friday mosques in pre-Mongol Baghdad and legal discourses about Friday prayer. It revisits Jacob Lassner’s 1970 study of the Abbasid city where he translated and analyzed the topographical introduction to the multivolume work of the 11th century historian al-Khatib al-Baghdadi (d. 1071), but departs from it by situating al-Baghdadi’s section on Friday mosques within the contemporaneous socio-religious context of the Abbasid city. The paper will demonstrate that the history of these mosques is intertwined with the formation of legal discourses on Friday prayer as exemplified by Abbasid period furu‘ literature. Furthermore, it will demonstrate that the legal discourses on Friday prayer that evolved predominantly in Abbasid Baghdad continued to influence the establishment of Friday mosques and shaping the urban growth of medieval cities.
The Bahari Foundation Lectures on Art and Culture of Iran. The Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London
Thursday 9 May 2019, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Lecture Theatre 1, The Courtauld Institute of Art, Vernon Square, Penton Rise, King’s Cross, London, WC1X 9EW
Dr Kana’an’s topic is: The Shah and the ‘Ulama: A Tale of Two Mosques in Safavid Isfahan
Safavid art of the sixteenth century is celebrated for its exceptional painted manuscripts and the monumental architectural patronage of its dynastic shrines. Yet the same period did not produce a single Safavid Friday mosque. This paper explores relationships between the historical narratives about the architectural patronage of Safavid Friday mosques and the legal discourses about Friday prayer. It examines views penned by Shi‘a ulama in the sixteenth century about the performance of Friday prayer during the occultation of the Imam (ghayba), and the impact of these debates on the architectural patronage of Isfahan’s two Friday mosques: the Great Mosque of Isfahan and the Shah’s Mosque begun under Shah Abbas 1st in 1611. Theoretically, the paper takes a comparative approach to the patronage of Friday mosques. It situates Safavid architectural patronage within a comparative framework with similar debates that took place amongst Sunni legal scholars and shaped the monumental architecture of cities like Baghdad, Cairo, and Istanbul.
https://courtauld.ac.uk/event/the-shah-and-the-ulama-a-tale-of-two-mosques-in-safavid-isfahan
4. IN QUEST OF IDENTITY. STUDIES ON THE PERSIANATE WORLD:
Mirosława Michalaka Magdaleny Rodziewicz, eds.
ISBN: 978-83-8002-328-4
Publisher: Academic Publishing House DIALOG , Warsaw
Date Of Publication: 2015
Introduction
The Role of the King of Kings: An Interpretation in Historiography – Dariush Borbor
Kasravi – Was He Truly the Integrative Nationalist of Iran? – Stanisław A. Jaśkowski
A Glance at New Persian Translations of the Middle Persian Texts – Mateusz M. Kłagisz
Who is a Madame? – Anna Krasnowolska
A Lost Identity: Iranians as Seafarers and Explorers – Mirosław Michalak
The National Identity of Iranian Jews, As Manifested in their Intellectual & Judeo-Persian Contributions – Nahid Pirnazar
Blasphemers or Mystics? Reflection over the Nature of Revelation in Contemporary Iran – Magdalena Rodziewicz
Indigenous versus International? The Role of “Preislamic” Identity and Shici Islam in the Clashes of the Bāwandid Kingdom with the Nizārī Ismācīlīs in Northern Iran – Miklós Sárközy
Razi’s Egalitarian Idea – Reza Shomali
Rūmī, Balkhī, Mevlevī: The Ambiguities of Identity in the Poetry of Jalāl al-Dīn Muh.ammad (1207-1272 CE) – Rafal Stepien
How the Characters Speak for Themselves: Colloquial Language as a Mean of Expressing Identity in Čerāqhā rā man xāmuš mikonam, a Novel by Zoyā Pirzād – Katarzyna Wąsala
List of Contributors
Index
5. Apply now to the E.J W Gibb Scholarships 2019-20 (http://www.gibbtrust.org/scholarships/)
The Gibb Memorial Trust offers two annual scholarships to students studying at British Universities who are undertaking doctoral research in the field of the Trust’s activities.
The Gibb Memorial Trust’s Centenary Scholarship of up to £2,000 is available to postgraduate students at an advanced stage of their doctoral research in any area of Middle Eastern Studies (7th century to 1918) at a British university.
Centenary Scholarship application form & past recipients
The A. H. Morton Memorial Scholarship for Doctoral Research in Classical Persian Studies is for a maximum of £3,000 and can be applied to any year of a course of doctoral study at a British university, including for an approved period of study abroad.
H. Morton Scholarship application form & past recipients
Applications must be submitted by 30 April. It is the applicant’s responsibility to contact two referees and to ask them to send references direct to me.
- April 20, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.AIS (Assoc for Iranian Studies) Members and Friends, starting on May 15th, 2019, will be able to submit your paper, panel, and roundtable proposals for AIS 2020.
Right now, you can update your membership, pre-register for the conference and review information about the conference site, the University of Salamanca, Spain. Remember, only current members who have pre-registered may submit proposals. Here is a link to get started: https://associationforiranianstudies.org/conferences/2020
2. Position Announcement LACMA
Assistant Curator, Islamic Art
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art is home to a highly significant collection of Islamic art. These widely diverse arts, from an area extending from southern Spain to Central Asia, trace the distinctive visual imagination of Islamic artists over a period of fourteen hundred years. This comprehensive collection consists of over 2,000 works.
Reporting to the Curator & Department Head of Art of the Middle East, the Assistant Curator provides specific expertise in Islamic art. Primary areas of responsibility include exhibition-related projects, involving preparation of checklists, and research and writing for catalogues and didactics. In addition, the Assistant Curator serves as the department’s liaison to collections management, education and other departments within the Museum.
The qualified candidate will have a recent PhD or advanced ABD in the history of Islamic art, ideally with some professional museum experience and/or a demonstrated enthusiasm for working with objects. The successful applicant will have a sound knowledge of one or both of the following languages: Arabic; Ottoman Turkish, and, preferably, will have a strong interest in Art of the Arab Lands or the Ottoman Empire. Since the Assistant Curator also will have administrative responsibility for the department’s collection of ancient Near Eastern art, a general knowledge of this area would be helpful.
Please send a CV, cover letter, writing sample and list of three references by May 12 (approx.), 2019 to amec@lacma.org or access the LACMA website http://www.lacma.org/jobs The position will commence by September 1, 2019.
3. Announcing a one-day Introduction to Arabic Scientific Manuscripts on 10 June 2019 as part of the London International Palaeography Summer School (LIPSS) at the Institute of English Studies, University of London.
This course will provide a practical, hands-on introduction for students beginning research with Arabic scientific manuscripts. The main aim of the course is to familiarise students with some of the major features and obstacles specific to scientific manuscripts, while giving practical experience in interpreting a variety of Arabic scientific manuscripts representing a wide range of periods, locations and scientific topics. Manuscript examples will be chosen from amongst the following topics; Astronomy/Astrology, Geometry/Optics, Mechanics, Arithmetic, Chemistry/Alchemy, Medicine, Divination, Agriculture.
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis until a course is full. Courses fees range from one-day fees of £100 (standard) and £90 (student), to five-day fees of £450 (standard) and £400 (student).
For the full list of courses and further information about the LIPSS please visit the following link https://www.ies.sas.ac.uk/lipss. Questions can be directed to Summer School administrator Georgia Reeves (Georgia.reeves@sas.ac.uk)
4. 15th Great Lakes Ottomanist Workshop at the University of Vermont, from April 26th to 28th, 2019. For further information, please inquire at 2019glow@gmail.com
| Great Lakes Ottomanist Workshop (GLOW)
April 26-28, 2019 Burlington, Vermont |
Friday April 26
| 4:45 – 5:00pm | Welcome Message
Boğaç Ergene (University of Vermont)
|
| 5:00 – 6:30pm | Panel 1: Translating to and from Ottoman
Chair: Victor Ostapchuk (University of Toronto)
Bob Zens (Le Moyne College), “Rising from the Dead in London: Pasvanoğlu Osman Pasha in 1819” Will Smiley (University of New Hampshire), “Translating Trump to Ottoman”
|
Saturday April 27
| 8:30-9:00am | Coffee/Tea and Pastries
|
| 9:00-10:30am | Panel 2: Intellectual, Religious, Scientific
Chair: Virginia Aksan (McMaster University)
Ahmet Barış Ekiz (University of Michigan), “A Prolegomena to Islamic Paideia: Humanistic Ideals of Ottoman Literati” Özgün Deniz Yoldaşlar (Boğaziçi/Harvard University), “Reading the Ottoman Religio-Legal Dynamics of the Seventeenth Century Through a Religious Debate: Minkarizade Yahya’s Rebuttal to Kürd Molla’s Commentary” Elizabeth Frierson (University of Cincinnati), “Ottoman Pharmacists and New Masculinities”
|
| 10:30-10:45am | Break
|
| 10:45am-12:30pm | Panel 3: Military, Political, Bureaucratic
Chair: Boğaç Ergene (University of Vermont)
Christopher Whitehead (Ohio State University), “The Veledeş Conflict: Military Reform and Rebellion in the Seventeenth-Century Ottoman Empire” Masayuki Ueno (Osaka City/Yale University), “More than Tax Farmers: The Armenian Patriarchs of Istanbul in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries” Veysel Şimşek (McGill University), “The Mahmudian Origins of the Tanzimat”
|
| 12:30-2:00pm | Lunch at the venue
|
| 2:00-3:30pm | Panel 4: Sources, Documents, History-Writing
Chair: Febe Armanios (Middlebury College)
Ahmet Yusuf Yüksek (Binghamton University), “Surveying Early Modern Istanbul with GIS: The Space of Artisans in Late Eighteenth-Century Galata” Henry Clements (Yale University), “Documenting, Forgetting, and Remembering the Süryani of the Ottoman Empire” Lale Javanshir (University of Toronto), “Poetry and History in the Paşanāme: ‘Anti-Corruption’ Campaign Meets Ṭulūʿī’s Poetic Skills”
|
| 3:30-3:45pm | Break
|
| 3:45-5:15pm | Panel 5: Away from the Center
Chair: Jane Hathaway (Ohio State University)
Tyler Kynn (Yale University), “The Seasonal Empire: Ottoman Authority in Early Modern Harameyn” Ayşe Baltacıoğlu-Brammer (New York University), “The Notions of Border and Border Formation in the Early Modern Ottoman-Safavid Relations” Maryna Kravets (University of Toronto), “Captivity and Slavery in Early Modern Crimea and the Northern Lands (Poland-Lithuania and Muscovy) from a Comparative Perspective”
|
| TBA | Dinner/Reception
|
Sunday April 28
| 9:00am | Coffee/Tea and Pastries
|
| 9:30-11:30am | Roundtable: On Ottoman Early Modernity
Moderator: Bob Zens (La Moyne College)
|
| 11:30-12:30pm | Lunch at the venue |
5. POS: Librarian/Curator for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, UCLA
SEE: https://chroniclevitae.com/jobs/0000478722-01?cid=ja
Department: International Studies
Rank and Salary: Assistant Librarian – Librarian ($60,843 – $119,734)
Position Availability: Immediately
Application deadline for first consideration: April 23, 2019
The UCLA Library has initiated recruitment for the position of Librarian/Curator for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, and is actively seeking applications. The application deadline for first consideration is April 23, 2019.
For your convenience, the complete posting can be viewed here: https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/apply/JPF04457
Anyone wishing to be considered for this position should apply online. Applications should include: a cover letter describing qualifications and experience; a current curriculum vitae detailing education and relevant experience; and the names and addresses for three professional references, including a current or previous supervisor.
6. Call for Papers
Geometry and Colour: Decoding the Arts of Islam in the West 1880–1945
International Conference, Zurich, May 14-15, 2020
Organizers: Sandra Gianfreda (Kunsthaus Zürich), Francine Giese (Universität Zürich), Ariane Varela Braga (Universität Zürich) and Axel Langer (Museum Rietberg Zürich)
Venue: Museum Rietberg Zürich / Kunsthaus Zürich
Deadline for submission: May 31, 2019
Keynote Speaker: Rémi Labrusse (Université Paris Nanterre)
The art and architecture of the Islamic world had a decisive impact on the development of decorative and fine arts from 1880 to 1945. Many leading artists such as Paul Gauguin, Henri Matisse, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, masters of decorative arts such as Émile Gallé and Max Laeuger, and architects Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier took inspiration from the rich Islamic language of forms and ornamentation. They were inspired by the mathematical principles and unusual harmonies of colours in Persian miniatures and rugs, stained glass windows or Iznik tiles, and punched metal works and ceramics from the Near East, North Africa and Moorish Spain.
While only some of them actually visited the Islamic world and studied its art and architecture in situ, many discovered it through exhibitions and publications. Following on from Paris (1893/1903), Stockholm (1897) and Algiers (1905), Munich set new standards in 1910 with the exhibition “Meisterwerke muhammedanischer Kunst” (“Masterpieces of Muhammadan Art”). Museums, art dealers and private collectors from a number of countries contributed some 3,600 works, including valuable carpets, ceramics, metalwork pieces and Persian miniatures. The exhibition marked a turning point not only for the academic studies of the time, but also in terms of the reception of Islamic arts. Matisse, Albert Marquet and Hans Purrmann travelled from Paris especially to see it, and it was also visited by Kandinsky, Franz Marc and Le Corbusier.
In the Western fine and decorative arts of the 19th century, the “Orient” conjured up motivic imagery heavily influenced by the colonialist perspective, whereas the artists of early Modernism investigated Islam’s stylistic devices in depth, transposing them to their own environment through a process of artistic internalisation. In combination with their own traditions and their respective times, it was this very internalisation that instilled motivating creative processes, out of which artists developed countless new forms of expression.
The international conference, which is being held in conjunction with the planned exhibitions at the Vitrocentre Romont (2020) and Kunsthaus Zurich (2022), aims to cast new light on the effort by Western artists to study a foreign but inspiring culture. The main points of discussion will be as follows:
- Colour and geometry in Islamic arts and architectural ornamentation
- Western studies on the principles of Islamic ornamentation
- Bringing Islamic arts to the West: exhibitions and international art fairs
- Translations and reinterpretations of Islamic colour and geometry in Western arts
- The Islamic contribution to the renewal of Western decorative and fine arts, and architecture
Papers will have a duration of 20 min. Conference languages will be English, French and German. Abstracts of no more than 300 words, together with a short CV, should be sent to: conference@transculturalstudies.ch
7. The City in the Islamic World: Synthesis and Perspective
Special Isuue of Hésperis-Tamuda
Guest edited by: Abbey Stockstill and Mohamed Mezzine
The journal Hésperis-Tamuda is seeking English-language contributors for a special issue revisiting the idea of the Islamic city from an interdisciplinary perspective. Though the concept of the “Islamic city” is one weighed down with associations of Orientalist discourse, the past two decades of research on urbanism have opened up new avenues for readdressing the topic. Characterized by an interweaving of various disciplines, urban studies takes the city—not only in historical dimensions, but in its architectural, social, and economic ones as well—as a research subject that naturally appeals to other sources and methods outside the humanities. Possible themes may include (but are not limited to):
- The city as an organizer of space, requiring decision-making and management
- Lived experiences within urban spaces
- The history (or histories) of the city in the longue durée
- The relationship between Islam and public power
This special issue invites scholars from diverse fields to share their contributions on the conceptualization of the city across the Islamic world in an effort to collect and begin to synthesize the many approaches to the topic. Contributions are sought on any geographic region of the Islamic world, and the editors will consider both historical and contemporary subjects.
If interested in contributing, please send a CV and a 300-word abstract to Dr. Abbey Stockstill (astockstill@smu.edu) by May 7, 2019.
8. University of Kent at Canterbury – Postdoctoral Researchers on ERC Synergy Project “The European Qur’an”
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=58451
Brown University – Visiting Lecturer in Turkish, Center for Language Studies, Brown University
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=58416
9. PhD position ‘The Muslim Individual in Imperial and Soviet Russia’
Faculty of Humanities – Amsterdam School for Regional and Transnational and European Studies
Project description:
For European historiography, it is self-evident that diaries, correspondences, and other personal documents provide crucial insights not only into how individuals thought about certain issues, but also in how the authors expressed their individuality, and how they saw their active role in history. This holds true both for prominent and ordinary persons, and for a whole variety of genres. In the historiography of Muslim societies, expressions of individuality are rarely ever problematized; the individual is often seen merely as part of a faith community, and the writings of individuals are more often than not just treated as a source for factual information on Islam, politics, or broader social phenomena, not as an effort of personal self-reflection. By analyzing practices of individualization in the personal archives of Muslims in Russia, this program places the Muslim subject at the center. How does a person engage with the Islamic tradition, with the demands of the state and the non-Muslim majority society, but also with other individuals, to design his or her conception of the self (Ar., shakhsiyya)?
For more info, see: https://www.uva.nl/en/content/vacancies/2019/03/19-149-phd-position-the-muslim-individual-in-imperial-and-soviet-russia.html?origin=dxuSI3bDRY2CW7N9J3yPlw&1555271019338
10. 6th International Conference of the International Iranian Economic Association, University of Naples “L’Orientale”, 16-17 May 2019
The purpose of this conference is to showcase the best current research on Iran’s economy and to generate information and encouragement for future high-quality research in this area.
See program at
11. Conference: “Global Religious Translation in the Early Modern Period”, Gotha Research Centre, University of Erfurt, 6-8 June 2019
We are especially interested in papers dealing with interactions involving non-European or non-Christian actors: What negotiations and compromises did translators make? What did they translate and what did they omit? How did they transform meaning through interventions, abridgements, or amplifications? Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 May 2019. Information: https://networks.h-net.org/node/73374/announcements/4001296/global-religious-translation-early-modern-period
12. Workshop on “Mosques, Families and Islamic Law”, Göteborg, 21-23 August 2019
We invite scholars in the Nordic countries (and beyond) working in the intersection of mosques, family and Islamic law. How are Muslims in mosques (and beyond) articulating their legal, ethical and normative identities? What kind of institutions are being build? How do the courts and the legal systems in general approach and address these issues?
Deadline for abstracts: 1 May 2019.
Information: https://mosques.ku.dk/activities/mosques-families-and-islamic-law/
13. Conference: “Words Laying Down the Law: Translating Arabic Legal Discourse,” Aga Khan University, London, 7-8 October 2019
The Governance Programme at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) invites papers in the disciplines of legal anthropology, law and comparative law, legal pragmatics, sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, politics and translation studies for a two-day conference on translations of legal discourse in Arabic-speaking contexts.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 May 2019.
Information: https://www.aku.edu/govprogramme/conferences/Pages/home.aspx
14. Prize for Best Article, Council for British Research in the Levant
The award recognizes excellent research and scholarship that engages with current and emerging issues in the Levant that advances our understanding of the region. We are looking for original unpublished articles from scholars in different stages of their careers and from different disciplines: anthropology, sociology, politics, religion and theology, language and linguistics cultural studies, etc.
Deadline for full articles: 1 July 2019. Information: http://cbrl.ac.uk/news/item/name/call-for-papers-2019-prize-for-best-article
15. International ILEM Summer School: “Transnational Islam and Challenges of Being Muslim Ummah”, Istanbul, 29 July – 4 August 2019
The ideal of being an Ummah, and the challenges faced by this ideal in the light of contemporary developments, will be discussed with special emphasis on “Theoretical Frameworks, Contemporary Debates and Future Projections”. We invite graduate students and junior scholars from the fields of philosophy, law, theology, political science, history, sociology, and other related disciplines.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 May 2019. Information: http://iiss.ilem.org.tr/
16. New Series “Edinburgh Studies of the Globalised Muslim World”
This is a new series (editor: Frédéric Volpi, Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh) that provides a platform for innovative books exploring the dynamics of contemporary Muslim societies. It considers the boundaries of the contemporary Muslim world and critically addresses the construction of Islamic and non-Islamic categories. It analyses the discourses and practices of individuals, communities, states and transnational actors, while offering multidisciplinary scholarly perspectives on what it means to be part of the Muslim world today.
Information: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/series-edinburgh-studies-of-the-globalised-muslim-world-html.html
17. The Islamic Art Circle at SOAS is delighted to announce that our April lecture will be given by Professor Lorenz Korn (Islamic Art and Archaeology, University of Bamberg, Germany) on Wednesday, 24th April at 7.00 pm in the Khalili Lecture Theatre, L/G Phillips Building, SOAS, London University, WC1H 0XG – all welcome. Enquiries to Rosalind Wade Haddon: rw51@soas.ac.uk.
Professor Korn’s topic is: Islamic Architecture of Khurasan during the pre-Mongol period (10th-13th cent.) and will cover the following:
Khurasan, the eastern province of the caliphate was more than once a region from which political movements and cultural currents originated that shaped the Islamic world at large. Similarly, for the field of Islamic art and architecture, monuments of Khurasan have been viewed as important evidence of innovation, even if they are very unevenly preserved and the urban centres of Nishapur, Marv, Balkh and Herat offer diverging pictures with regard to material from the pre-Mongol period. Looking at mosques, madrasas, minarets and mausolea, the paper characterizes the religious architecture of Khurasan, asking how architectural forms were related to functions. With glances at neighbouring regions, it attempts to determine the position of Khurasan between traditions of Central Asia and developments in Iraq and Western Iran, and to highlight elements that are indicative of artistic exchange between these regions.
18. Lecturer of Arabic
(AFL and Academic Arabic for Graduate Studies)
The Language Center (LC) at the Doha Institute (DI) seeks to appoint a highly qualified lecturer of Arabic with experience in teaching (1) all levels of Arabic as a foreign language and (2) Academic Arabic for graduate students. Minimum qualifications include educated mastery of MSA, a B.A. in Arabic, an M.A. in teaching Arabic or related field, a proven record of accomplishment in teaching AFL and Academic Arabic. Additional qualifications include experience in content-based advanced language instruction, testing, or experiential, blended and independent learning.
The position begins in August 2019. The successful candidate will join a vibrant team in delivering courses in Arabic for Academic purposes and AFL courses at all levels, and participate in the development of other LC research and outreach initiatives. The DI offers internationally competitive salaries and benefits based on rank and experience.
Applicants should submit a CV with the names of three referees and a cover letter in which to expound the relevance of their experiences to the above requirements. Review of applications will begin on May 3, 2019 and the position will remain open until filled. Only short listed candidates will be contacted.
Inquiries and applications (detailed CVs and cover letters) should be sent to careers@dohainstitute.edu.qa
- April 16, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.CALL FOR PAPERS:
Narrating the pilgrimage to Mecca: experiences, emotions, and meanings
Conveners: Prof. Dr. Marjo Buitelaar (University of Groningen) & Dr. Richard van Leeuwen (University of Amsterdam).
Date: 12 & 13 December 2019.
Venue: University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Key note speakers:
- Professor Seán McLoughlin (University of Leeds)
- To be announced
Respondent:
Professor Simon Coleman (University of Toronto)
For more information: https://www.rug.nl/ggw/news/events/2019/190401callforpapers-conference-hajj
2. The Marie Curie ITN proposal ‘Mediating Islam in the Digital Age’ (MIDA) has been launched end of March 2019.
The MIDA-project rests on the premise that digitisation and technological innovation do have a tremendous impact on Islam, the effects of which are diverse and ubiquitous, and they are reminiscent of technical revolutions in the past such as print technology. The rapid changes that are already occurring are generating a sense of loss of control and instability among the general public, politicians, journalists, academics, and, not least, among Muslims themselves. The spread of modern digital media and new technologies of communication, production and dissemination, prompts researchers and social actors, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, to make sense of and understand these developments.
An international consortium of research institutes, universities and non-academic partners in six European countries will conduct research in the next four years and address a broad spectrum of issues related to the general theme. MIDA is coordinated by the ‘Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique’ (CNRS) in Paris.
We are now searching for young researchers for all 15 research positions within the lager project. For more information about the positions and the conditions, please check the following websites:
https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/395508.
https://www.itn-mida.org/callforposition
https://www.itn-mida.org/applicationform.
3. The VI ARABIC CODICOLOGY Intensive Summer Course is in El Escorial in June 2019. You can apply until the 15th of April.
More info: mss.arabicscript@gmail.com and https://arabiccodicologycourse.weebly.com/programme.html
The VI edition of the course Arabic Codicology: the Islamic manuscript heritage in the El Escorial Collection will provide the students with the basic codicological knowledge and the research procedures needed to study and analyze Arabic manuscripts. Moreover, it will familiarize them with the libraries of the Arabic-Islamic world in Medieval and Modern times, particularly with the library that belonged to the Moroccan sultan Muley Zaydān.
The course is designed on an eminently practical dynamic. In the evenings, the students will be able to apply the theoretical knowledge previously acquired in the mornings to the actual manuscripts hosted at the Royal Library of the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial (RBME). This is the most important Arabic Manuscript Collection of Spain and one of the most relevant in Europe.
The venues of the summer courses are a privileged location due to the proximity to the Library. The course will be taught entirely in English by leading experts in Arabic Codicology Prof. Nuria de Castilla (EPHE, PSL, Paris) and Prof. François Déroche (CdF, PSL, Paris). It is sponsored by the European project SICLE (“Saadian Intellectual and Cultural Life”, ERC 670628) and is designed for historians, art historians, philologists, documentalists, antiquarians, curators, bibliophiles, conservation specialists, etc., preferably with a Master’s degree.
4. United States – Washington, DC – George Washington University – Middle East Metadata Specialist
GW Libraries seeks a temporary, part-time Middle East metadata specialist for a six month term.
Position Description:
The metadata specialist will:
– Create descriptive, technical, and administrative metadata for digital resources in Arabic, Persian, and other Middle Eastern languages
– Romanize non-Latin scripts following ALA-LC Romanization Table
– Work with Resource Description Coordinator to improve metadata schema and quality
– Establish and analyze metadata description workflow
Required Qualifications:
– Strong reading knowledge of Arabic script languages, especially Arabic and Persian
– Experience in metadata creation of digital formats using standards and schema, such as RDA, AACR2, CCO, Dublin Core, and MARC 21 Standards
– Ability to romanize following ALA/LC Romanization Tables
– Familiarity with applying subject thesauri, including Art & Architecture Thesaurus and FAST Subject Headings
– High proficiency with using PC-based applications, such as Microsoft Office Suite, and conducting internet searching
– Excellent problem solving and effective oral and written communication skills
– Ability to work under pressure, pay attention to details, and meet deadlines
Desired Qualifications:
– Master’s degree in library science or similar areas
– Experience of working in an academic library environment
Application package should include a current resume, and a brief letter addressing your qualifications for the position.Review of applications will begin upon receipt. Please email the application package to: TJ Kao (tkao@gwu.edu)
The position is based at GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus in Washington, DC. The incumbent may perform other related duties as assigned. The omission of specific duties does not preclude the supervisor from assigning duties that are logically related to the position.
5. The Department of Near Eastern Studies of the University of Vienna has now established the Andreas Tietze Memorial Fellowship in Turkish Studies.
Applicants may write their applications in English or German. We recommend using the language in which you are most proficient. Please send your application as a single PDF file via e-mail to Dr. Onur İnal (onur.inal@univie.ac.at) by 1 May 2019. Applicants will be notified about the outcome approximately one month after the deadline. If you have any questions about the application procedure or the fellowship programme in general, please contact Dr. Onur İnal (onur.inal@univie.ac.at).
For full details, see: https://tietzefellowship.univie.ac.at/
6. The University of Pennsylvania Libraries is accepting applications for the 2019-2020 Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies (SIMS) Visiting Research Fellowship program.
Guided by the vision of its founders, Lawrence J. Schoenberg and Barbara Brizdle Schoenberg, SIMS aims to bring manuscript culture, modern technology, and people together to provide access to and understanding of our shared intellectual heritage. Part of the Penn Libraries, SIMS oversees an extensive collection of premodern manuscripts from around the world (https://dla.library.upenn.edu/dla/medren), with a special focus on the history of philosophy and science, and creates open-access digital content to support the study of its collections. SIMS also hosts the Schoenberg Database of Manuscripts (https://sdbm.library.upenn.edu/) and the annual Schoenberg Symposium on Manuscript Studies in the Digital Age (http://www.library.upenn.edu/about/exhibits-events/ljs-symposium).
The SIMS Visiting Research Fellowships have been established to encourage research relating to the premodern manuscript collections at the University of Pennsylvania Libraries, including the Schoenberg Collection. Affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania, located near other manuscript-rich research collections (the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, the Free Library of Philadelphia, the Science History Institute, and the Rosenbach Museum and Library, among many others), and linked to the local and international scholarly communities, SIMS offers fellows a network of resources and opportunities for collaboration. Fellows will be encouraged to interact with SIMS staff, Penn faculty, and other medieval and early modern scholars in the Philadelphia area. Fellows will also be expected to present their research at Penn Libraries either during the term of the fellowship or on a selected date following the completion of the term.
Applicants can apply to spend 1 month (minimum of 4 work weeks) at SIMS between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2020. To be considered, applications are due May 15, 2019. For more information and to apply, please visit: https://schoenberginstitute.org/visiting-research-fellowships-2/
7. Entangled Literatures and Histories in the Pre-Modern Ottoman World
Call for Papers for Short Articles:
This special issue of The Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association (JOTSA) invites short think-pieces (5,000 words including footnotes) that provoke reevaluations of the ways in which we understand the relationship between ‘literature’ and ‘history’ during the pre-modern Ottoman Empire. In particular, we invite contributions that seek to raise theoretical questions that might resonate in broad ways with scholars in both history and literary studies. We also welcome case studies from the diverse literary and historiographic traditions of the Ottoman Empire (Turkish, Armenian, Greek, Persian, Arabic, Syriac, Hebrew, etc.) which might unsettle the binary between the literary and the historical in different ways.
For instance, how might literature be used in fresh ways to shed light on how Ottoman subjects lived, worked, or conceptualized their world? In what ways do ‘historical’ sources utilize literary techniques, if not draw on actual literary texts as their models, and what might this tell us about pre-modern practices of reading and composition? How did pre-modern subjects implicitly or explicitly understand the difference between the ‘literary’ and the ‘historical,’ and to what extent does this in turn provoke less prescriptive understandings of genre? And how might ‘literary’ and ‘historical’ sources be juxtaposed, and fruitfully compared, in a manner that prompts different ways of reading both?
Or, more simply: in what ways does literature inform, and historiography entertain?
Deadlines:
We ask interested contributors to submit an initial abstract (approximately 350 words) to entangledliteratures@gmail.com by April 26, highlighting the critical questions the article will raise. Selected contributors will have until August 15, 2019 to submit a first draft for the initial review of the editors.
Please email the editors of the special issue, N. İpek Hüner-Cora and Michael Pifer, at entangledliteratures@gmail.com with any questions.
Aims of the volume:
-To prompt new methodologies, and fresh theoretical approaches, to reading literature and history from the Ottoman world
-To mark, and call for, a shift in how Ottoman and Turkish studies conceptualizes the boundaries between the literary and the historical
-To challenge previous models of reading ‘literature’ and ‘history’ as fundamentally separate and incongruent
-To shed new light on literary and historiographic production as part of the same cultural ecosystem
-To showcase and promote new comparative grounds between ‘literary’ and ‘historical’ texts
-To engage with broader scholarly debates on the relationship between literature and history, but from the unique perspective of Ottoman and Turkish studies
8. Second Conference on the Mamluk-Ottoman Transition: “Continuity and Change in Egypt and Bilād al-Shām in the Sixteenth Century”, University of Bonn, 12-14 April 2019
While the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1516-17 doubtlessly changed the balance of political power in Egypt and Greater Syria, we will study the extent of continuity and change in various fields over time. We aim to examine a multitude of situations during the 15th and 16th centuries and determine how the reconfiguration of political power affected both Egypt and Greater Syria.
See program at https://www.mamluk.uni-bonn.de/mamluk-events/1ask-flyer-the-2nd-conference-on-the-mamluk.pdf
9. 48th Annual Conference of the North American Association of Islamic and Muslim Studies on “Muslim Communities in Europe and North America: Contemporary Developments and Challenges”, Boston, 27 September 2019
We invite papers from professors and advanced Ph.D. candidates in the humanities and social sciences. Questions the papers might address include the following: Consequences of Post-war European Labour Shortage of the 50s & 60s: Guest-workers from Pakistan, the Maghreb, and Turkey; Muslim Immigration, Populism, and Popularization in Europe and North America; etc.
Extended deadline for abstracts: 15 April 2019. Information: http://www.bu.edu/cura/48th-annual-conference-of-the-north-american-association-of-islamic-and-muslim-studies/
10. Workshop: “Acts of Rebellions and Revolts in the Early Islamic Empire (600-1000)”, Leiden University, 7-8 November 2019
This workshop aims to examine the act of rebellion and its related categories (revolts, resistance, armed negotiation, contention) as moments of breakdown of social expectations and dependency that were embedded in society. As such, we are mainly interested in the dynamics between social, political, and religious groups and institutions, how rebellions influenced the social and political structures of the caliphate, as well as its everyday life.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 May 2019.
11. First Biennial Conference on “Contemporary Iranian Studies”, Faculty of World Studies, University of Tehran, 10-11 November 2019
The themes include contemporary history, sociology, political science, religions and theology, art, international relations, new media and communication studies, diaspora studies, etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 June 2019. Information: https://iranianstudies.ut.ac.ir
12. Five Postdoctoral Fellowships in the Program “Europe in the Middle East – The Middle East in Europe”, Forum Transregionale Studien, Berlin
The fellowships are intended primarily for scholars in the humanities and social sciences who want to carry out their research projects in connection with the Berlin program, which seeks to rethink key concepts and premises that link and divide Europe and the Middle East. Applicants should be at the postdoctoral level and should have obtained their doctorate within the last seven years.
Deadline for applications: 22 April 2019. Information: https://www.eume-berlin.de/call-for-application-ausschreibung.html
13. Assistant Professor or Associate Professor for the History of the Ottoman Empire, University of Virginia
This is a one-year salaried part-time appointment (renewable for up to one additional year), starting 25 August 2019, through 24 May 2021.
The position will remain open until filled. Information: Karen Parshall (khp3k@virginia.edu).
14. GTOT Prize 2020: Awards for Outstanding M.A. Theses and Dissertations in the Field of Turkic, Ottoman and Turkish Studies
Anyone who completed a thesis/dissertation in this fields of studies between 1 September 2018 and 1 May 2020 is eligible to apply. Papers in German, English and French are accepted. The authors of the top three M.A. theses will receive 500 Euros each; the best dissertation will be awarded 1,000 Euros. Abstracts of the awarded works will be published in “Diyâr – Journal for Ottoman, Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies.
Deadline for applications: 1 May 2020. Information: http://www.gtot.org/award/2020_en/?lang=en
15. Articles on “Religions and Acts of Violence” for Special Issue of “Violence. An International Journal”
This issue will examine different religious traditions and geographical and historical contexts (including the Arab-Muslim world) and analyze phenomena of violence and the exiting from violence that involve religious elements (actors, discourses, imaginaries, etc.).
Deadline for abstracts: 30 June 2019. Information: http://www.fmsh.fr/en/research/30104
16. Proposals for the “Classical Islamic Texts Series” as First Part of the “Library of Arabic and Islamic Heritage”
Gorgias Press and The King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies invite proposals for single-volume translations of renowned classical Arabic works, showcasing texts that are of central importance to the fields of Qurʾānic studies, Islamic law, Ḥadīth, Theology, History, and Philosophy. Each proposal should be for a text that is or will be used as an important reference work. The Arabic text will sit side-by-side with the English translation.
Information: https://www.gorgiaspress.com/library-of-arabic-and-islamic-heritage
17. “Journal of Law & Islam / Zeitschrift Recht & Islam” is Now Accessible Online
The complete text of Issue 9 (2017) is now accessible at http://ul.qucosa.de/api/qucosa%3A33661/attachment/ATT-0/
18. Course announcement- Islamic Codicology at MUST, Cairo 15-18 April
The Islamic Manuscript Association—in partnership with the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation and the Archaeology and Conservation Research Centre and College for Archaeology and Tourism Guidance at Misr University for Science and Technology (MUST)—is pleased to announce that it will hold a short course titled Introduction to Islamic Codicology at MUST’s campus in 6th of October City in Cairo, Egypt from 15 to 18 April 2019.
This four-day course will introduce participants to the study of Islamic manuscript codices as physical objects, or the archaeology of the Islamic book; and will appeal to art historians, bookbinders, codicologists, conservators, curators, and anyone else researching or working with Islamic manuscripts.
All instruction will be in Arabic.
Registration form at: http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/coursesar/201904_cod_cai.aspx
- April 09, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Two Doctoral and Six Postdoctoral Fellowships, the Museums of Islamic Art and Byzantine Art, Berlin, etc.
Applications from all regions and from Art History, Aesthetics, Archaeology, Anthropology/Ethnology, History and neighbouring fields dealing with artefacts, artistic production, material culture, and aesthetic practices relating to objects, images, languages and architectures are welcome.
Deadline for applications: 15 April 2019.
Information: https://www.khi.fi.it/en/aktuelles/call-for-papers.php
2. Lecturer in History of the Gulf and the Arabian Peninsula, University of Exeter
Requirements: a PhD or equivalent in Middle East Studies, History, Politics, Sociology, Anthropology, Gender Studies, Critical Studies or related fields; a strong record in attracting funding for research. Highly desirable are experience of field work in the Gulf and/or the Arabian Peninsula and linguistic proficiency and/or other relevant languages.
Deadline for applications: 3 April 2019.Information: https://jobs.exeter.ac.uk/hrpr_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC107GF.open?VACANCY_ID=536337OBXo&WVID=3817591jNg&LANG=USA
3. Two Fully-Funded MA Fellowships, Syrian Oral History Project, Stockton University, New Jersey
The Arab-speaking MA students will enroll in graduate courses and independent studies at Stockton University, and they will travel to Europe during breaks and in the summer to conduct interviews and collect oral histories from Syrian refugees. The MA fellowship consists of a two-year package, including full tuition and fees remission, a stipend of $1,000 each month, and $3,000 for travel each year.
Information: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/27/ugur-umit-ungor-syria-oral-history-project/
Contact: Dr. Raz Segal (Raz.Segal@Stockton.edu)
4. Grant for Academic Study Related to Yemen, British-Yemeni Society
Applications for this £500 grant are invited from anyone carrying out research in, or on Yemen, at a British or Yemeni University. Applicants’ nationality is irrelevant. Applications may be made to assist with study in any subject or field, so long as it is concerned with Yemen, and is for a specific qualification (e.g. BA, MA, PhD etc.).
Deadline for applications: 31 May 2019. Information:
http://b-ys.org.uk/activities/bys-academic-grant
5. 2019 Prize for Best Article, Contemporary Levant
The award recognises excellent research and scholarship that engages with current and emerging issues in the Levant. We are looking for original unpublished articles from scholars in different stages of their careers and from different disciplines: anthropology, sociology, politics, religion and theology, language and linguistics cultural studies, modern history, social geography, media, film studies and literature.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 July 2019.
Information: http://cbrl.ac.uk/news/item/name/call-for-papers-2019-prize-for-best-article
6. Two Postdocs at the Alwaleed Centre, University of Edinburgh
a) Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Mediterranean Islamisms
The Alwaleed Centre at the University of Edinburgh seeks to appoint a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow to implement its research activities and contribute to its teaching and outreach programme.
The successful candidate will be expected to conduct research in the field of Islamist parties and movements’ role in political governance in the contemporary Mediterranean region. Applications would be particularly welcome from candidates who demonstrate expertise in conducting comparative research on different aspects of contemporary politics and Islamism in the countries of the Mediterranean region.
The successful appointee will commence on 1st September 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter.
This is a full-time (35 hours per week) fixed term position.
Salary: £33,199 to £39,609per annum.
The closing date for receipt of applications is no later than 5 pm (GMT) 29th April 2019. We anticipate interviews will be held in June 2019, date to be determined.
Informal queries are welcome and should be sent via email for the attention of Professor Frederic Volpi, Alwaleed Director, Personal Chair of the Politics of the Muslim World, to llc@ed.ac.uk.
The School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award, in recognition of our commitment to addressing an equalities, diversity and inclusion agenda.
Further information and details on how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=0475043
b) Postdoctoral Research Fellow: Grant Writing & Project Development (Globalized Muslim World)
The Alwaleed Centre at the University of Edinburgh seeks to appoint a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to develop its research activities to commence on 1st September 2019 or as soon as possible thereafter.
The research focus of the position is on the contemporary politics and society of a globalized Muslim World.
This is a full-time (35 hours per week) fixed term position.
Salary: £33,199 to £39,609 per annum.
The closing date for receipt of applications is no later than 5pm (GMT) 29th April 2019. We anticipate interviews will be held in June 2019, date to be determined.
Informal queries are welcome and should be sent via email for the attention of Professor Frederic Volpi, Alwaleed Director, Personal Chair of the Politics of the Muslim World, to llc@ed.ac.uk.
The School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures holds an Athena SWAN Bronze award, in recognition of our commitment to addressing an equalities, diversity and inclusion agenda.
Further information and details on how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=047504
7. The Islam-UK Centre at Cardiff University is pleased to invite applications for this year’s Jameel Scholarships, starting September 2019.
Three fully-funded scholarships are available for the MA course ‘Islam in Contemporary Britain’. Each scholarship will cover full UK/EU tuition fees and provide students with a £15,000 stipend as well as a £1,000 research allowance. For more information, refer to the attached poster and here: http://sites.cardiff.ac.uk/islamukcentre/jameel-scholarships/
Closing date for scholarship applications: 24th May 2019.
Please circulate among your networks and encourage interested final year undergraduate students to apply!
For all enquiries, please contact: jameelscholarships@cardiff.ac.uk
- April 02, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.First Biennial International Conference of the Society of Iranian Archaeology: “Cultural Interactions, Continuity and Disruption”, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, 4-5 December 2019
The conference is dedicated to gather archaeologists focusing on Iran as their major field of research and to discuss their most recent findings and interpretations of past Iranian societies. Recent changes of socio-political perspectives especially in the Near East, encouraged the organizers to dedicate the conference specifically to past cultural interactions within Iran and between Iran and surrounding regions.
Deadline for abstracts: 21 May 2019. Information: http://congress.soia.org.ir/en/
2. Research Scholar on the History of the Pre-Modern Arabic World, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin
Junior and senior scholars with excellent knowledge of classical Arabic, and with suitable experience in the history of science, history of philosophy, history of medicine, or other relevant fields are invited to apply. Candidates should hold a doctorate in one of the above-mentioned fields and have at least two years of postdoctoral experience at the time the position begins (PhD awarded in 2017 or earlier).
Deadline for applications: 31 March 2019.
Information: https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=58265
3. Summer Course: “Art Treasures of Konya: Medieval Islamic Art and Architecture II”, Necmettin Erbakan University, Konya, 1-26 July 2019
The course will combine lectures and many field trips to monuments and museums in and around Konya, taking full advantage of the opportunity to study art in context. By the end of the course, students will have obtained an understanding of the stylistic, historical, and social importance of the medieval Islamic art and architecture of Konya and of its place in the broader framework of Islamic art history.
Deadline for application: 7 June 2019
Information: http://sempozyum.erbakan.edu.tr/arthistory/en/anasayfa
4. Two Summer Courses: “Intensive Arabic Language”, Noor Majan Arabic Institute in Ibri and Muscat, Oman, 9 June – 1 August or 18 August – 12 September 2019
Both locations represent a unique experience of the Sultanate and are equally rigorous in nature.
Information http://noormajan-institute.com/our-programs/program-dates/
5. The 26th I.R. Iran World Award for Book of the Year
On Tuesday February 5, 2019 an Award Ceremony was held in Tehran Iran, in which all the selected distinguished works and their authors were honored. This year, after the primary selection of more than 2,700 books in different fields of Islamic and Iranian Studies, 244 books were assessed, from which 9 books were selected as winners. The evaluated books have been written in English, French, German, Italian, Arabic, Georgian, Chinese, Greek, Turkish, Bengali and Finnish languages. The winners are from Germany, Russia, Lebanon, Italy, Ireland, Turkey and the USA.
The “World Book Award of the Year” winners are:
Gülru Necipoğlu. The Arts of Ornamental Geometry: A Persian Compendium on Similar and Complementary Interlocking Figures. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2017
Allessandra Lazzari, Masasimo Vidale. Lapis Lazuli Bead Making at Shahr-I Sokhta: Interpreting Craft Production in the Urban Community of the 3rd Millennium BC. Rome: ISMEO (Italian Institute for Middle and Far East), 2017
Alexander Knysh. Sufism: A New History of Islamic Mysticism. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2017
Maurice A. Pomerantz. Licit Magic: The Life and Letters of al-Sahib b. Abbad (d. 385/995). Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2017
Moya Carey. Persian Art: Collecting the Arts of Iran for the V&A. London: V&A Publishing (Victoria and Albert Museum), 2018
George Archer. A Place Between Two Places: The Quranic Barzakh. Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2017
Hussein Ali Abdulsater. Shi’i Doctrine, Mu’tazili Theology: al-Sharif al-Murtaa and Imami Discourse. Edinburgh University Press, 2017
Yousef Casewit. The Mystics of al-Andalus: Ibn Barrajan and Islamic Thought in the Twelfth Century. Cambridge University Press, 2017
Juliane Müller. Nahrungsmittel in der arabischen Medizin: Das Kitab al-Aiya wa-l-asriba des Naib ad-Din as-Samarqandi. Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2017
See: http://bookaward.ir/Home-En
6. DEADLINE EXTENDED: CFP Vol. on theme Slavery in the Middle East and North Africa in the 19th and 20th Centuries
We are pleased to invite contributions to an edited volume on the theme of Slavery in the Middle East and North Africa in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The volume will be edited by Janet Afary and Eric Massie and will be published by I.B. Tauris as part of its series on Sex, Marriage, and the Family in the Middle East (Series Editors: Janet Afary and Claudia Yaghoobi).
Articles addressing the following themes are particularly encouraged, but all articles related to slavery in the Middle East and North Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries will be considered:
- The social construction of mastery and slavery in slaveholding-enslaved relationships
- The social construction of freedom and dependency in the process of manumission
- The gendered experience of slavery and use and abuse of the enslaved’s sexuality
- The familial and social lives of enslaved and manumitted persons.
- Legal and customary practices regulating the familial and social lives of the enslaved
- Theorizations about the enslaved’s vulnerability in Middle Eastern contexts
Please notify us of your intention to contribute by April 15th. The article itself should be received by August 30th, 2019. It should be in English and not exceed 10,000-12,000 words. Additional information about formatting will be sent after we receive your notification.
Please direct any inquiries to:
Eric Massie
7. Call for Papers: Cambridge Graduate Middle East Conference: Languages of Legitimation in the Middle East
Conference Date: 6 – 7 June 2019
Conference Venue: Woolf Institute, Westminster College, Cambridge
Submission Deadline: 17:00 (GMT) 12th April 2019
This graduate conference is an opportunity for PhD students to share and discuss their original research employing primary sources in Middle Eastern languages on the question of legitimacy and legitimation in the Middle East across different disciplines, periods and localities. We are delighted to announce that Dr Yossef Rapoport will be delivering the conference’s keynote address on the topic of Tribalisation, Conversion and Tribal Genealogy as a ‘Language of Legitimation’ in the Egyptian Countryside.
Throughout history, communities in the Middle East have negotiated various networks of legitimation. A Weberian analysis maintains that political legitimacy may be categorised into traditional, legal-rational and charismatic legitimacies. The use of tradition to explain how various societal formations, from tribes to merchant guilds, sought to legitimise their practices has come under increasing criticism from scholars of the Middle East such as Roy Mottahedeh and Aziz al-Azmeh who emphasise the performative and prosaic nature of legitimation.
Paper proposals that consider legitimation as articulated through a plurality of everyday practices, beyond the formal political arena where discussions of legitimacy conventionally reside, are particularly encouraged. The conference aims to discuss these phenomena across time, place and through a wide variety of source materials. Beyond linguistics, we are open to the ways in which legitimacy is communicated through different modes of expression from poetry, liturgy, and laughter, to rhetoric, architecture and fashion.
To be considered for participation in this conference please submit the following in single PDF document to languageslegitimation@gmail.com by 17:00 (GMT) Friday 12th April 2019:
- A summary of the paper (max 300 words) including a provisional title, the research topic, the primary sources, theoretical framework, methodological approach, any preliminary results and further directions.
- A brief biography (max 100 words) detailing academic affiliation and research interests.
Please direct any enquiries to the aforementioned conference email address. Participation at the conference is free and open to all, but prior registration is required at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/languages-of-legitimation-in-the-middle-east-university-of-cambridge-conference-2019-tickets-58530042934 .
The organisers are grateful for the support of the School of Arts and Humanities, Cambridge, The Woolf Institute and the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Cambridge.
Conference Organisers: Calum Humphreys, Cora Kyler, William Ryle-Hodges, and Christopher Cooper-Davies.
8. The Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Chair of Armenian Art at Tufts University and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, are pleased to announce the final East of Byzantium events for 2018–2019.
Thursday, April 11, 2019, 6:15–7:45 pm
Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Armenian Merchant Patronage of Early Modern Iran
A lecture by Amy Landau, Freer|Sackler, Smithsonian Institution, discussing the patronage of New Julfa’s Armenian merchant community.
Friday, April 12, 2019, 10:00 am–12:00 pm
Harvard Faculty Club, 20 Quincy Street, Cambridge, MA
Image-making and Anxiety among New Julfa’s Armenian Artists, Theologians & Merchants
A workshop for students exploring how Armenian artists, theologians, merchants, among others, thought about images and image-making in early modern Iran. Led by Amy Landau, Freer|Sackler, Smithsonian Institution.
Advance registration is required for the workshop. Registration closes April 9. Additional information and registration at https://eastofbyzantium.org/upcoming-events/image-making-and-anxiety/
East of Byzantium is a partnership between the Arthur H. Dadian and Ara Oztemel Chair of Armenian Art at Tufts University and the Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture at Hellenic College Holy Cross in Brookline, MA, that explores the cultures of the eastern frontier of the Byzantine empire in the late antique and medieval periods.
For questions, contact Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture (mjcbac@hchc.edu).
9. CfP: Call for Papers: “Words Laying Down the Law: Translating Arabic Legal Discourse”
7-8 October 2019, Aga Khan Centre, London
The Governance Programme at the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) invites papers in the disciplines of legal anthropology, law and comparative law, legal pragmatics, sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, politics and translation studies for a two-day conference on translations of legal discourse in Arabic-speaking contexts.
Please send abstracts of 500 words (excluding bibliography) to ismc.governance@aku.edu by 31 May 2019. Notifications of acceptance decisions will be sent out by 30 June 2019.
A limited fund to support scholars who do not have access to institutional funding will be available to cover travel and accommodation costs. Please indicate if you need this financial support when applying.
For further information, see: https://www.aku.edu/govprogramme/conferences/Pages/home.aspx
10. PRIX MICHEL SEURAT
APPEL À CANDIDATURES 2019
Sociétés contemporaines du Proche-Orient
et du Maghreb
Le Prix Michel Seurat a été institué par le CNRS en juin 1988 pour « honorer la mémoire de ce chercheur du CNRS, spécialiste des questions islamiques, disparu dans des conditions tragiques.
Ce programme vise à aider financièrement chaque année un jeune chercheur, ressortissant d’un pays européen ou d’un pays du Proche-Orient ou du Maghreb, contribuant ainsi à promouvoir connaissance réciproque et compréhension entre la société française et le monde arabe ».
Depuis 2017, l’organisation du Prix a été déléguée au GIS « Moyen-Orient et mondes musulmans », en partenariat avec l’IISMM-EHESS et Orient XXI.
D’un montant de 15 000 € en 2019, le Prix est ouvert aux titulaires d’un master 2 ou d’un diplôme équivalent, âgés de moins de 35 ans révolus et sans condition de nationalité, de toutes disciplines, travaillant sur les sociétés contemporaines du Proche-Orient et/ou du Maghreb.
Il a pour vocation d’aider un (ou une) jeune chercheur (ou chercheuse) à multiplier les enquêtes sur le terrain, dans le cadre de la préparation de sa thèse.
Les enquêtes doivent avoir lieu sur le terrain. La maîtrise de la langue du pays concerné est une condition impérative.
Date limite de dépôt des candidatures :
Lundi 15 avril 2019 (minuit, heure de Paris)
Constitution du dossier impérativement en langue française :
- un plan et un projet de recherche détaillés précisant de manière claire les enquêtes qui seront menées sur le terrain (10 pages maximum) ;
- un curriculum vitae ;
- une copie des diplômes obtenus, assortie le cas échéant de leur traduction en français ;
- une ou plusieurs attestations de personnalités scientifiques : attestations récentes et en rapport avec la candidature au Prix.
Adresser votre dossier uniquement par voie électronique impérativement aux deux adresses suivantes :
Règlement du 30 janvier 2018 à consulter, en annexe.
Conformément au Règlement européen général sur la protection des données (RGPD/GRPD) qui est entré en vigueur le 25 mai 2018, nous vous confirmons que vos données personnelles ne seront en aucun cas délivrées à des tiers et que la gestion se fait uniquement en interne.
Nous vous rappelons qu’il vous est possible de vous désabonner en nous envoyant un simple courriel à cyrielle.michineau@ehess.fr
11. Blogs You Should Be Adding to Your Bookmarks
See: http://hazine.info/blogs-you-should-be-adding-to-your-bookmarks/
- March 30, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.For progress on the Islamic Painted Page (IPP) database, see www.islamicpaintedpage.com.
IPP is a freely available database of Islamicate Arts of the Book which exists to help users locate paintings, illuminations and bindings, and to signpost them onward with links to authoritative online and print publications.
The database now exceeds 38,000 references, spanning 27,000 works in over 270 collections, all searchable by picture description as well as by place, date, accession number and other metadata. There is now better coverage of works all the way up to about 1900 CE; and the site is now able to present images for over 30% of all its entries.
IPP recently began a relationship with the University of Hamburg’s Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures that will enrich the database’s features and aims to extend the coverage of works published online as well as in print, especially including collections where Creative Commons, Public Domain or special permissions make it possible to display actual images. By the end of 2018, this already included digitised works from the British Library, Cambridge University Library, New York Public Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum fur Islamische Kunst, New York Public Library, Paris Bibliotheque Nationale, Royal Asiatic Society, Staatsbibliothek Preussischer Kulturbesitz, and the Baltimore Walters Art Museum (with grateful acknowledgements).
2. The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture is pleased to invite applications for self-supported (unfunded) Associateships and for Harvard-funded Fellowships, to conduct advanced historical research in Islamic art, architecture, and archaeology at Harvard University.
AKPIA Associateships and Fellowships are intended principally for overseas scholars–preferably, but not exclusively, from Muslim countries–to support research in art and architectural history and archaeology. Our program’s Associateship and Fellowship positions are not intended to sponsor professional design, conservation, or urban development projects, nor are they intended to support research travel.
Recipients are expected to be in residence, except for one or two short research-related trips. Please note—we offer unfunded Associate positions, and a limited number of funded (or partially funded) Fellowships. We will consider applications of scholars who can provide partial funding, or who have no other outside funding. Application proposals may be for up to an entire academic year in duration.
DEADLINE All application materials must be received by April 1, 2019. Results will be announced by late May.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Please direct any inquiries about the AKPIA Associateships and Fellowships at Harvard University to agakhan@fas.harvard.edu.
For the AKPIA Associate/Fellowship Application form and further information, visit the AKPIA website: https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/fellowships-associateships
3. POS: Library of Congress, Chief of the African and Middle Eastern Division
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/527677600
Open & closing dates
03/18/2019 to 04/18/2019
4. The international conference Le lingue islamiche will take place July 2-3, 2019 at Roma Tre University. The event is co-organized by Roma Tre University, The University of Naples “L’Orientale” and the Seminar für Semitistik und Arabistik – Freie Universität Berlin.
Abstracts for presentation (max 250 words, bibliography excluded) are welcome, and shall be sent to lingue.islamiche@uniroma3.it. The deadline for the submission is April 19, 2019. Notifications on accepted contributions shall be sent by May 5, 2019. Contributions in either English or French, official languages of the conference together with Italian, are strongly encouraged.
Conference topics are inspired by Bausani’s ideas on ‘Islamic languages’ as presented in his paper “Le lingue islamiche: interazioni e acculturazioni” (in Bausani A., Scarcia Amoretti B., (eds.), Il mondo islamico tra interazione e acculturazione, Roma, Istituto di Studi Islamici, 1981, pp. 3-19). Bausani presents the category of ‘Islamic languages’, defined as the functional system(s) arising in a number of Islamicate societies through simultaneous—often specialized—use of genetically distinct languages by the same speakers and authors.
In Bausani’s own words: “a typological system to which the concept of ‘Islamic languages’ can meaningfully be applied is based on cultural superstrata or ethnolinguistic substrata, where cultural, rather than linguistic, considerations hold. […] the concept of Islamic languages is close (although by no means identical) to what justify talking about ‘Balkanic languages’ notwithstanding the diverse genealogy of languages in the Balkan area. The issue of the importance of a cultivated linguistic superstratum, and therefore of the non-ethnic unity of all Islamic languages […] is doubtless present, at least potentially, in the conscience of Muslim peoples.”
Read more at http://host.uniroma3.it/docenti/lancioni/lli/ or contact us at lingue.islamiche@uniroma3.it
5. XXIème Journée Monde Iranien
22 mars 2019
Auditorium du Pôle Langues et Civilisations
Inalco, 65 rue des Grands Moulins 75013, Paris
Organisation
Oliver Bast (Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3 / Mondes iranien et indien)
Full programme at:
6. Call for Papers: “The Efficacy of Financial Structures for Islamic Taxes and Dues”
The 7th Annual Contemporary Fiqhī Issues Workshop
4th – 5th July 2019, at Al-Mahdi Institute, Birmingham, UK
Islam has institutionalised, endorsed, and at times even enforced different forms of paying dues with the objective of providing for different categories of social or individual needs and requirements. Both mandatory and recommended categories of taxes and dues that Islam promotes are classified under the generic title of ṣadaqāt, which include zakāt, khums, fidya, kaffāra, fiṭra, waqf etc.
In the contemporary age, Muslims reside in an array of governing models (from Islamic government models to secular states) and this raises important questions relating to the efficacy and the potential for the evolution of financial institutions for Islamic taxes and dues. These questions are pertinent for Muslims living in the West, wherein they are already subject to mandatory dues or state taxation structures, which are levied irrespective of a person’s religious identity.
The 7th annual Fiqhī workshop at the Al-Mahdi Institute seeks to facilitate scholarship by directly addressing questions that analyse the origins, current structures and further development of financial institutions for Islamic dues. The workshop encourages, and invites, paper proposals that survey at least one of the following areas:
- Historical and contextual studies regarding financial institutions for taxes and dues that were institutionalised and endorsed by Islam, and their efficacy for past and present Muslim societies.
- Critical analysis of textual and theological foundations used to derive rulings about financial institutions for Islamic taxes and dues.
- (Re)assessing potential developments in jurisprudential and theological approaches, affecting prospective efficacy of Islamic taxes and dues.
- Empirical research analysing grassroot performances and acceptance of financial institutions for Islamic taxes and dues. In particular, examining how taxes, dues and charity (ṣadaqa) are channelled through religious authority structures and their impact upon the ultimate beneficiaries.
The workshop is pleased to host presenters from both traditional seminary and academic backgrounds, presenting from a range of disciplines. As has become an effective format in our previous annual workshops, the Fiqhī debates will be positioned alongside contributions from broader theological, historical and anthropological approaches – thereby enriching a multidisciplinary understanding of contemporary outlooks dealing with theefficacy of financial structures for Islamic taxes and dues. Details of previous workshops held at AMI can be viewed here.. https://www.almahdi.edu/contemporary-fiqhi-issues-workshops/
Proposals for a single presenter should include the following:
- Contact information, and a brief bio of presenter
- Tentative title
- Abstract(s) (400-word limit)
The deadline for submission of proposals is 15th May 2019. Successful applicants will be notified by 22nd May 2019.
Accepted applicants from within the E.U. will be supported for their travel and hospitality during the workshop, with a further limited number of travel bursaries available for those applying from outside the E.U.
Proposals and queries should be sent by e-mail to: Muhammed Reza Tajri at tajrim@almahdi.edu
7. The Council For British Research in the Levant (CBRL) is pleased to announce our undergraduate dissertation* prizes for dissertations on topics relating to the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Israel, Palestine and Jordan), ancient or modern, for the academic year 2019:
- Levantine archaeology or history: the CBRL Prize for a final-year undergraduate dissertation, or major research paper
- Contemporary Levantine studies: the CBRL Prize for a final-year undergraduate dissertation, or major research paper
(*major final-year research papers are acceptable from departments where there is no dissertation.)
Please find more information on the prizes, including how to nominate dissertations from your department at this site: http://cbrl.ac.uk/news/item/name/2019-undergraduate-dissertations-prizes-in-levantine-studies
We would be very grateful if you would bring this to the attention of undergraduate degree exam boards this summer and to staff who are examining undergraduate dissertations on topics relating to the Levant.
With thanks and very best wishes,
The team at CBRL
8. 2019 Symposium: Death and Dying in Medieval Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Friday & Saturday
April 5-6
Great Room, International House (1623 Melrose Ave.)
The University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Click here to view a PDF version of the full 2019 Symposium program:
https://marco.utk.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/DeathDyingProgram2019.pdf
9. Call for Papers
Arabic Pasts: Histories and Historiographies
18-19 October 2019
This annual exploratory and informal workshop offers the opportunity to reflect on methodologies, research agendas, and case studies for investigating history writing in Arabic in the Middle East and North Africa in any period from the seventh century to the present
We are interested in papers that consider the practical and conceptual challenges of working on history writing in the region. Papers might elucidate the following sorts of questions:
- Through what practices of writing or otherwise encoding the past and of remembering and forgetting, have different groups in the Middle East and North Africa viewed their pasts?
- At different times and places, how have the significant contours, events and actors in their histories been seen? Was the significant past the same for court historians as for literary historians; for bureaucrats as for the military; for Sufis as for Muslim lawyers and Traditionists?
- How did non-Muslims and Muslims, men and women, adherents of different sectarian or juristic traditions, or speakers of different languages, within societies that became “Islamic” imagine the shape and meaning of their specific societies’ own pasts, and their relation to the universal history of the Islamic community?
- How have urban and rural people, workers and peasants, the religiously educated and the technocratic elite, developed different ways of writing, remembering, or commemorating particular events in, or the broad sweep of, local, national, or “Islamic” history?
- In what ways do educational institutions, museums, media organisations and proponents of heritage use history writing in Arabic to shape loyalties and senses of belonging in the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe?
Contributions are invited from scholars at all career levels, addressing any period and any part of the Middle East and North Africa, broadly defined.
Arabic Pasts is co-organised by Sarah Bowen Savant (AKU-ISMC), Hugh Kennedy (SOAS) and James McDougall (Oxford).
Please send by 3 April an abstract of 300 words or less to sarah.savant@aku.edu. There is a small budget to provide some travel assistance for scholars outside of London.
Time and Venue
18-19 October 2019
Atrium Conference Room,
Aga Khan Centre,
10 Handyside Street,
London N1C 4DN
Booking
This event is free but booking is essential. Book your place soon.
10. I am very pleased to announce the online release of our digital edition of the ʿAyn al-Naẓar, a short Arabic treatise by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Ashraf al-Ḥusaynī al-Samarqandī (d. 722/1322) on three logical relationships essential to dialectical disputation. Collated from two manuscript witnesses held by the British Library, the edition is accompanied by an Introduction, Glossary, and Guide; and its features, accessed by hovering over the Arabic text or clicking on buttons, include line-by-line English translations, with glossary-linked Arabic terms; full critical apparatus for variants, scribal additions, substitutions, corrections, etc.; short glosses from the manuscript margins; and magnifiable folio images of one of the original manuscripts.
As co-creator Dr. Frederik Elwert explains: “A digital edition is not only an edition that is available online, it represents also a different approach to the very act of scholarly editing. As such, the edition consists of two parts: An XML file following the guidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative which captures scholarly statements about the text, and a rule set that converts these abstract statements into a navigable web page.”
The online edition is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, and is hosted by the Digital Humanities at the Center for Religious Studies (DH@CERES), Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Links to the project description and the digital edition itself are below. Feedback is welcomed, and we ask that you kindly disseminate this announcement to any who might find it of interest.
Digital Edition:
https://pages.ceres.rub.de/ayn-al-nazar/
Project Description:
https://dh.ceres.rub.de/en/projects/project/ayn-al-nazar/
—————————————-
Dr. Walter Edward Young
MA, PhD Islamic Studies
https://mcgill.academia.edu/WalterEdwardYoung
Society for the Study of Islamicate Dialectical Disputation
https://ssidd.org/
11. The Alwaleed Centre at the University of Edinburgh is pleased to announce the launch of a free 5-week online course entitled “The Sharia and Islamic Law: An Introduction”.
The course begins on 6th May, but prospective students can now sign-up via the course homepage: www.futurelearn.com/courses/an-introduction-to-the-sharia-and-islamic-law
Delivered via the FutureLearn platform, this groundbreaking course will explore some of the diverse roles that the Sharia and Islamic law have played in Muslim life, both historically and today, encouraging students to think critically about the nature of religious law and its many manifestations.
12. Call for Paper Proposals: The 3rd Great Lakes Adiban Workshop at IU Bloomington
The Great Lakes Adiban Society (GLAS) invites submissions for its third annual workshop, scheduled to take place at Indiana University Bloomington, on September 28–29, 2019. We welcome papers that are works in progress and would benefit from extensive discussion and feedback, and especially encourage graduate students to participate.
The Society aims to provide a regional forum for scholars of Islamicate adab, particularly of the medieval and early modern periods, to meet and share their work. We leave our parameters of language and genre intentionally open in order to invite as wide a collaboration as can be useful, but as a group we are generally interested in the literary production of the broad complex of premodern Muslim societies across the Eastern Hemisphere. This naturally includes the major Islamicate languages of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and Urdu, as well as many others (Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, Spanish, etc.) that participate in similar literary conventions.
Those who wish to participate can apply by filling out our online application at tinyurl.com/GLAS2019 by June 21, 2019. Please note that each accepted participant will be given 45 minutes to present and discuss their work; because of this, we have limited space and may have to turn down some submissions if we get too many. In such an event, preference will generally be given to scholars in the Great Lakes region, per the mission of this organization. While all participants are asked to cover the costs of travel and lodging, we will provide breakfasts, lunches, and at least one dinner over the course of the workshop. In addition, we hope to be able to offer small grants ($250) to offset graduate student travel expenses.
If you have any questions, please feel free to write Cameron Cross at kchalipa [at] umich.edu. We look forward to hearing from you!
- March 23, 2019
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment