Categories : Academic items
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Séminaire L’Asie centrale dans tous ses états, lundi 17 novembre, 14 h 30, EHESS – Aubervilliers
La prochaine séance du séminaire “L’Asie centrale dans tous ses Etats : questions et méthodes” aura lieu lundi 17 novembre, à l’EHESS – Condorcet, salle A515, de 14 h 30 à 16 h 30.
Nous accueillerons Maria Szuppe (CNRS, CeRMI) pour une intervention intitulée : “Une madrasa princière disparue (1799-1800) : topographie historique et étude de documents au service de l’histoire culturelle de Khiva sous les Qungrats”
Si vous n’êtes pas encore inscrit-e et souhaitez y assister ou recevoir le lien de visioconférence, nous vous remercions de bien vouloir vous inscrire au plus tard 48h avant sur https://participations.ehess.fr
2. Post-Doctoral Fellowship – La3M-Aix-Marseille University, France
A new Research Program titled The Indo-Persian Continuum, c. 11th-17th Centuries, directed by Professor Alka Patel and housed at La3M (within Aix-Marseille University’s [AMU] archaeology institute, ARKAIA, MMSH), offers one 3-year (36-month) Junior Postdoctoral Fellowship beginning 1 July 2026. Applications are invited from junior scholars with PhDs conferred within the last three years (i.e. not before June 2023); current doctorands must have PhD in hand by June 2026. Preference will be given to projects on the “Sultanate” period (circa 12th c.-16th c.).
The Program includes two field trips (required), one to India and another to Central Asia. The successful applicant will be a full-time postdoctoral scholar (salaried with health benefits), expected to submit a book manuscript to a reputed academic press, and complete at least one journal article by 30 June 2029. Final works should be composed in English or French. No citizenship restrictions.
Direct queries to alka.patel@univ-amu.fr
Located in the region of Provence, southern France, AMU consists of 114 research units in all disciplines and is among the foremost European universities responding to current global challenges with new research programs. Prominent Humanities alumni hold positions throughout Europe (e.g. Sorbonne Université; Musée du Louvre; Università Napoli – L’Orientale), the US (e.g. UCLA; National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian), and elsewhere. La3M and AMU maintain MOUs with museums, universities, and institutes across Europe and Asia. The Aix-Marseille area offers specialized University libraries, additional resources such as the Archives Nationales d’Outre-Mer, and is nationally and internationally well connected by TGV and air.
To apply, send the following to indopersian.la3m@gmail.com:
1) a three-page Letter of Interest detailing professional history, relevant experience and publication plans;
2) complete CV;
3) entire dissertation if available, if not then dissertation chapter;
4) official graduate transcripts and PhD diploma (if available);
5) book project title and chapter outline (4000-5000 words);
6) supporting materials such as publications;
7) and the names and contact details of three recommenders.
Application deadline is 10 January 2026; finalist interviews in early February, offers by end February 2026.
Contact Email
3. Approaches to Christian-Muslim Encounter in the Modern Era Seminar Series
We are pleased to announce the programme for this year’s Theology & Society in Christianity and Islam Seminar series at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Oxford. This year’s series will focus on Approaches to Christian-Muslim Encounter in the Modern Era. Beginning on 20 November, lectures will take place on Thursdays at 4pm in Lecture Room 1 of the AMES Faculty building (1 Pusey Ln, OX1 2LE). They will also be streamed online via MS Teams. For more information, and to register your interest, please use this link:
https://forms.office.com/e/Y72qDJjK3b.
The first lecture, on Thursday 20 November, will be given by Msgr. Michael Nazir-Ali, who will be speaking on ‘Mission Seeking Understanding: The Work of W.H.T. Gairdner and Constance Padwick on Islam, Muslim Devotion and Mysticism’.
4. Al-Mahdi Institute invites paper submissions for its upcoming international conference, “Ways of Knowing in Sufism: Epistemology, Authority, and Contemporary Implications” (1–2 June 2026). This conference seeks to explore the epistemological dimensions of Sufism and how knowledge is understood, experienced, and validated through unveiling (kashf), inspiration (ilhām), tasting (dhawq), and dreams. Scholars are invited to examine how these experiential forms of knowing have shaped theology, law, and mysticism in Islam, as well as their modern implications for religious authority, psychology, gender, and reform. Selected papers will be published in an edited volume with Brill. Abstracts (max. 400 words) are due by 6th February 2026.
Full details: https://almahdi.edu/ims-cfp/
5. SOAS Events:
Ancientness, Myth, and Sonic Imagination: Making Persian Music Legible in Israel
5.30pm, Tuesday 25 November 2025
Speaker: Edoardo Marcarini (SOAS)
Research Seminar in Islamic Art (ReSIA)
The Subversive Feminine: Contemporary Iranian Women Artists Challenging Gender Paradigms
6.00pm, Thursday 04 December 2025
Speaker: Katayoun Shahandeh (SOAS)
6. Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Announces 2025 Awards and Prizes
The Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES) will present its annual award for Distinguished Contributions to Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies, along with ten book prizes, a graduate student essay prize, an article prize, and an award for distinguished service in library and information resources on Saturday, November 22, 2025, during its 57th Annual Convention at the Washington Hilton, Washington, DC.
Established in 1948, ASEEES is the leading international scholarly society dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about Eastern Europe, Russia, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.
The Distinguished Contributions to Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies Award honors eminent scholars who have made major contributions to the field through scholarship, service, and mentoring. The 2025 award will be presented to Dr. Edith W. Clowes, Brown-Forman Chair Emerita in the Humanities in the Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures (University of Virginia) A complete citation is available here.
The following scholars will also be recognized for their contributions to the field:
The Wayne S. Vucinich Book Prize for the most important contribution to Russian, East European, and Eurasian studies will be presented to two Winners: Benjamin Nathans (University of Pennsylvania) To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement (Princeton University Press) - read the citation here; and Masha Salazkina (Concordia University) Romancing Yesenia: How a Mexican Melodrama Shaped Global Popular Culture (University of California Press) – read the citation here.
An honorable mention will be given to Agnieszka Pasieka (University of Montreal)
Living Right: Far-Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe (Princeton University Press)
Read the citation here.
The USC Book Prize in Literary and Cultural Studies for outstanding monograph published on Russia, Eastern Europe, or Eurasia in the fields of literary and cultural studies will be awarded to Samuel Hodgkin (Yale University) Persianate Verse and the Poetics of Eastern Internationalism (Cambridge University Press) Read the citation here.
Honorable mention will also be awarded to: Xiaolu Ma (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) Transpatial Modernity: Chinese Cultural Encounters with Russia via Japan (1880–1930) (Harvard University Asia Center) - read the citations here.
The Reginald Zelnik Book Prize in History will be awarded to two winners: Winner: Simon Morrison (Princeton University) Tchaikovsky’s Empire: A New Life of Russia’s Greatest Composer (Yale University Press) - read the citation here; and Benjamin Nathans (University of Pennsylvania) To the Success of Our Hopeless Cause: The Many Lives of the Soviet Dissident Movement (Princeton University Press) - read the citation here.
An honorable mention will be awarded to Jeffrey S. Hardy (Brigham Young University)
Finding God in the Gulag: A History of Christianity in the Soviet Penal System (Oxford University Press) - read the citations here.
The Davis Center Book Prize in Political and Social Studies is awarded annually for an outstanding monograph published on Russia, Eurasia, or Eastern Europe in anthropology, political science, sociology, or geography in the previous calendar year. This year’s prize will be awarded to Henry Thomson (Arizona State University) Watching the Watchers: Communist Elites, the Secret Police and Social Order in Cold War Europe (Cambridge University Press). Read the citation here.
An honorable mention will also be awarded: Michele Rivkin-Fish (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Unmaking Russia’s Abortion Culture: Family Planning and the Struggle for a Liberal Biopolitics (Vanderbilt University Press) Read the citations here.
The Marshall Shulman Book Prize is awarded annually for an outstanding monograph dealing with the international relations, foreign policy, or foreign-policy decision-making of any of the states of the former Soviet Union or Eastern Europe. This year’s prize will go to: Samuel J. Hirst (Bilkent University) Against the Liberal Order: The Soviet Union, Turkey, and Statist Internationalism, 1919-1939 (Oxford University Press) - read the citation here.
Two honorable mentions will also be awarded to: Maria Cristina Galmarini (College of William & Mary) Ambassadors of Social Progress: A History of International Blind Activism in the Cold War (Northern Illinois University Press); and Radoslav Yordanov (Harvard University) Our Comrades in Havana: Cuba, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe, 1959–1991 (Stanford University Press). Read the citations here.
The Ed A Hewett Book Prize is awarded for an outstanding monograph on the political economy of Russia, Eurasia and/or Eastern Europe. This year’s winner is Anne O’Donnell (New York University) Power and Possession in the Russian Revolution (Princeton University Press). Read the citation here.
An honorable mention will also be awarded to Nataliya Kibita (University of Oxford)
The Institutional Foundations of Ukrainian Democracy: Power Sharing, Regionalism, and Authoritarianism (Oxford University Press). Read the citation here.
The Barbara Jelavich Book Prize for a distinguished monograph published on any aspect of Southeast European or Habsburg studies since 1600, or 19th- and 20th-century Ottoman or Russian diplomatic history will be awarded to two winners: Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky (University of California, Santa Barbara) Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State (Stanford University Press); and Katya Motyl (Temple University) Embodied Histories: New Womanhood in Vienna, 1894-1934 (University of Chicago Press). Read the citations here.
The Kulczycki Book Prize for Polish Studies will be awarded to Karen Underhill (University of Illinois Chicago) Bruno Schulz and Galician Jewish Modernity (Indiana University Press). Read the citation here.
An honorable mention is being awarded to Agnieszka Pasieka (University of Montreal)
Living Right: Far-Right Youth Activists in Contemporary Europe (Princeton University Press). Read the citation here.
The W. Bruce Lincoln Book Prize, which is awarded for an author’s first published monograph or scholarly synthesis that is of exceptional merit and lasting significance for the understanding of Russia’s past, will be awarded to two winners: Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky (University of California, Santa Barbara) Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman State (Stanford University Press); and Polly Zavadivker (University of Delaware) A Nation of Refugees: Russia’s Jews in World War I (Oxford University Press). Read the citations here.
The honorable mention goes to: Masha Kirasirova (New York University Abu Dhabi)
The Eastern International: Arabs, Central Asians, and Jews in the Soviet Union’s Anticolonial Empire (Oxford University Press). Read the citations here.
The Omeljan Pritsak Book Prize in Ukrainian Studies will be awarded to Waitman Wade Beorn (Northumbria University) Between the Wires: The Janowska Camp and the Holocaust in Lviv (University of Nebraska Press). Read the citation here.
An honorable mention will be awarded to Eugene Finkel (Johns Hopkins University)
Intent to Destroy: Russia’s Two-Hundred-Year Quest to Dominate Ukraine (Basic Books).
Read the citation here.
The Weiser Center for Europe and Eurasia Article Prize, established in 2024, is awarded annually for an outstanding research article in the social sciences by a junior scholar published in a peer-reviewed journal. The winner is Jessie Barton Hronešová (University College London), “The uses of victimhood as a hegemonic meta-narrative in eastern Europe,” Journal of Contemporary European Studies 32,2 (2024): 442-458.
Read the citation here.
An honorable mention will also be awarded to Monika Rice (Lafayette College), “Dr. Arnold Mostowicz: ‘Not alone in space.’ Moral Injury and the Quest for extraterrestrial Redemption,” Jewish Culture and History 25,4 (2024): 601-631. Read the citations here.
The Beth Holmgren Graduate Student Essay Prize will be awarded to Emma Larson (Princeton University), “Day of Abolition of Kalym in the Kazakh ASSR, 1924-1932″ Read the citations here.
The CLIR Distinguished Service Award honors ASEEES member librarians, archivists, or curators whose contributions to the field of Slavic, East European and Eurasian studies librarianship have been especially noteworthy or influential. The 2025 award goes to Robert H. Davis (Columbia University/Cornell University). Read the full citation here.
For additional information about ASEEES, the awards presentation, full text of the citations for the awards, or contact information for prize winners or publishers, please contact: Margaret Manges, Convention Manager, email: aseees-prizes@pitt.edu or visit: https://aseees.org/aseees-prizes/
7. CfP: The Ottoman Balkans as a Space for Multilingualism: Actors, Practices, and Sites of Translation
Bosnia & Herzegovina
From 4-6 June 2026, the international workshop “The Ottoman Balkans as a Space for Multilingualism: Actors, Practices, and Sites of Translation” will take place at the Gazi Husrev-beg Library in Sarajevo. Organised jointly by the University of Münster (Philip Bockholt, TRANSLAPT) and the University of Sarajevo (Munir Drkić), the event aims to address the Ottoman Balkans as a dynamic space for translation and cross-linguistic exchange between Arabic, Persian, (Ottoman) Turkish, and other regional languages between the 15th and 19th centuries. Please note that the event will be conducted solely in English. The deadline for the call for papers is 10 December 2025.
Contact Information
Prof. Dr. Philip Bockholt (University of Münster)
Prof. Dr. Munir Drkić (University of Sarajevo)
Contact Email
URL
https://www.uni-muenster.de/ArabistikIslam/translapt/events/ottomanbalkans.html
8. Entangled Histories: Borders and Cultural Encounters from the Medieval to the Contemporary Era Seminar Series
A Captivating Seminar Series Exploring the Many Faces of Borders and the Power of Cultural Exchange
We are thrilled to invite you to the launch of Entangled Histories, a dynamic interdisciplinary seminar series that delves deep into the rich and complex intersections of borders, mobility, and cultural encounters across history — from the medieval period right up to our contemporary world.
When: Starting Wednesday, November 26, 2025, and continuing every Wednesday at 5 PM (CET)
Where: Online via Zoom — Join us live or access anytime by scanning the QR code on the poster!
Zoom Link: https://tinyurl.com/aumv88jz
(The poster attached includes a convenient QR code for quick access)
Organized by Dr. Ester Cristaldi (Üsküdar University) and Dr. Elisa Ramazzina (University of Insubria), this series gathers scholars, students, and curious minds from diverse fields to explore how histories, peoples, and ideas have continuously intertwined — crossing and reshaping boundaries in surprising ways.
What You’ll Discover:
- Physical and Geographical Borders: Natural and artificial boundaries such as rivers, seas, mountains, and man-made frontiers shaping human experience.
- Political and Administrative Borders: Historical, geopolitical, administrative, and cadastral lines that define states, regions, and governance.
- Cultural, Social, and Symbolic Borders: Ethnic, religious, social, and spiritual boundaries that influence identity and community.
- Temporal and Epistemological Borders: Linguistic, scientific, textual, and knowledge-based divides that evolve over time.
- Structural and Functional Characteristics: Porous, permeable, impermeable, fluid, mutable, real, imaginary, symbolic, commercial, and economic borders that affect movement and interaction.
Under the patronage of Üsküdar University and the Master’s Program in Media and Cultural Studies, this seminar series aims to spark meaningful dialogue about shared pasts, global connections, and the transformative power of cultural encounters.
Provisional Programme — First Part of the Series
Join leading scholars as they present cutting-edge research and fresh perspectives on borders and cultural encounters:
26th November – Marjan Shokouhi Tajadini Sarvestani (University of Granada): Bordered Voices: Kavanagh, MacNeice, and the Poetics of Belonging in Ireland
3rd December – Ester Cristaldi (Üsküdar University): Perceiving the Divine from the Margins: Sensory Experience, Linguistic and Theological Boundaries in Byzantine and Islamic Medieval Riddles
10th December – Angela Puca (Leeds Trinity University): Borders of Healing: Transmission, Secrecy, and Syncretism in Italian Shamanism
17th December – Andrii Kepsha (University of Hradec Kralové): Nature and Boundaries: Water, Space, and the Sensory Experience of the Rus’-Steppe Frontier (1050s–1100s)
Christmas/New Year Break
14th January – Rafael Pascual (University of Granada): Crossing Epistemological Borders: New Ways of Studying Alliteration in Old English Verse
21st January – Sophie Wei Ling-chu (The Chinese University of Hong Kong): Title to be announced
28th January – Jasmine Bria (University of Bari Aldo Moro): Borderlands and Cultural Identities in Arthurian Narratives
4th February – Naoko Kato (Independent Scholar): Languages in Exile: The Lost Japanese Archives of War and Return
11th February – Dario Capelli (University of Urbino Carlo Bo): Echoes of the Struggles against the Beguines in a Poem by Thomas Hoccleve
Date TBC – Elisa Ramazzina (University of Insubria): Negotiating Borders through Margins, Maps, and Mythical Creatures in the “Wonders of the East”
This is only the first part of the series — stay tuned for more inspiring talks by distinguished scholars in the upcoming sessions!
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to embark on a fascinating journey through the entangled histories that continue to shape our world today. Whether you are a scholar, student, or passionate learner, your presence and participation will enrich the conversation.
Mark your calendar, spread the word, and join us every Wednesday at 5 PM CET!
For questions or more information, please contact Dr. Ester Cristaldi or Dr. Elisa Ramazzina.
URL
9. Foroutan, Yaghoob, (2025), ‘Social Demography of Contemporary Iran’, 1st Edition, Babolsar, Iran: University of Mazandaran Press (in English Language).
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
FOREWORD
Chapter 1: Demographic Swings in 65 Years from Social Approach
Chapter 2: Population Dynamics and Cultural Changes
Chapter 3: Gender Socialization and Educational Institution: Demographic Emphasis
Chapter 4: Gender Identity and Language Diversity: Socio-Demographic Perspectives
Chapter 5: Religious Socialization: Demographic Emphasis
Chapter 6: Religious Authorities and Representation of Dress Codes
Chapter 7: Social Attitudes towards Dress Codes: Demographic Determinants
REFERENCES
More information will be available soon on its link (in Persian/Farsi Language): https://press.umz.ac.ir/
10. HYBRIDE Colloque international : “Patrimoine matériel (archéologique et manuscrit) et immatériel en Libye et dans les pays voisins : situations contemporaines et perspectives”, IRMC, Tunis, 17-19 novembre 2025
Information et programme : https://tinyurl.com/24mzc6af
11. HYBRIDE Table-ronde sur la publication “La croisade. Une histoire partagée” avec le autour Abbès Zouache (IFAO), IISMM, Paris, 18 novembre 2025, 11:00 – 12:30 CET
Information et inscription: https://iismm.ehess.fr/evenement/table-ronde-avec-abbes-zouache
12. ONLINE Webinar of Empowering Muslim Women in Scientific Research: “Islamic Feminism: Hermeneutics and Activism” by Dr Mulki al-Sharmani (University of Helsinki), University of Manchester & University of Sharjah, 26 November 2025, 14:00 – 15:30 CET
Dr Mulki Al-Sharmani will explore what Islamic feminism contributes both as an academic field within Islamic studies and as a form of knowledge-based gender activism. She will also discuss the key critiques of Islamic feminism and what they can teach us about the Movement’s potential and limitations.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/dakukj6a
13. Assistant Professor in Political Science with Emphasis on the Middle East, American University in Cairo
We are inviting applications from individuals who demonstrate excellence in teaching and have an active research agenda. Candidates with experience in and familiarity with the North American higher educational system are preferred.
Deadline for applications: 20 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/y9hxuerb
14. Lecturer (Tenure-track) in Jewish History of Islamic Lands, Ariel University
Applicants should have a Ph.D. degree and international post-doctoral training. Mastery of the theory and metho-dology of current historical research and languages relevant to the fields is required, including proficiency in Arabic and/or Turkish and competence in European languages.
Deadline for applications: 10 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/wp8e6v9
15. Lecturer in Arabic Language and Literature, University of Cape Town
This is a permanent position after probation. Requisites include a Ph.D. in Arabic language and literature or a related field; strong command of Modern Standard Arabic; experience in teaching MSA; and evidence of active research.
Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025.
Information: https://jobs.uct.ac.za/job/Cape-Town-Lecturer/1266091101/
- November 15, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.The Well-Tempered Reader, The Legitimization of Adab in the Arabic Literary Tradition
S Tyeer
UC Press, 2025
https://www.ucpress.edu/books/the-well-tempered-reader/paper
2. ‘Love, Desire, and Death: Charms from Islamicate Southeast Asia’
Teren Sevea and Faizah Zakaria
Thursday, November 13, at 6:30 PM
The Institute of Fine Arts
1 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075
and Online
In-Person and Virtual Lecture
Advance registration is required
To register to join us in person or online, please use the link at:
https://ifa.nyu.edu/events/southeast-asia.html
This event, part of the series, South-East Asian Connections: Art, History and Archipelagos, is supported by the Institute’s Gulnar Bosch Fund.
Pondering on themes of love, desire, birth, and death, Faizah Zakaria and Teren Sevea explore a selection of Islamicate materials from Southeast Asian settlements, themselves fertile sites of the intersections of ‘globalized’ and ‘localized’ Islam. Drawing on their research into everyday religious practices, Zakaria and Sevea discuss how these performances negotiate boundaries between multiple religious traditions and shape Islamicate identities in ordinary spaces related to production and reproduction. Their discussion extends to Malay manuscript traditions from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, introducing charms and manuals that systematized knowledge about how bodies were marked in nature, offering signs and resources for human socio-sexual welfare while highlighting communities devoted to bodily pleasures, engagement, and discipline. The presentations consider how such Islamicate materials provide insight into communities conscious of their esoteric practices, communal boundaries, complex religio-sexual rituals and seemingly rigid gendered identities.
3. CFP – Stucco in the Borderlands: Crossroads of Art and Architecture in Eastern Türkiye and Northwest Iran
An International Conference on Islamic Art, Architecture, History, and Archaeology
Keynote Lecture by Professor Robert Hillenbrand
Submission Guidelines
All papers will be presented in either English or Turkish
Please submit an abstract of 250 words, along with a short CV to:
richard.mcclary@york.ac.uk
Deadline for submissions: 30 November 2025
Notification of acceptance: 31 December 2025
Selected papers will be considered for publication in English in an edited volume following the conference. We kindly ask authors to indicate whether the material has been previously published or presented elsewhere, and, if not, to confirm their interest in contributing to the planned publication.
Date: 30–31 March 2026
Venue: Van Museum, Van, Türkiye
From monumental mosque mihrabs and palace walls to domestic interiors and funerary structures, stucco has long served as both surface and structure, decoration and discourse. It offers rich insights into patterns of cultural exchange, technological innovation, and regional identity across the medieval Islamic world.
While stucco has been the subject of considerable research over the last century, many aspects of its regional expression, technical execution, and artistic transmission remain underexplored. This international conference seeks to bring together scholars and specialists in art history, archaeology, architectural conservation, and material studies to examine the forms, functions, and meanings of stucco across time and space.
With a special focus on the frontier regions of eastern Anatolia and northwest Iran, the conference aims to highlight how these areas operated as interconnected cultural zones, transcending modern political boundaries.
Stucco fragments from the ruined congregational mosque of Van, preserved today in the Van Museum, demonstrate both the high level of local craftsmanship and shared visual vocabularies with contemporaneous Iranian sites. In northwest Iran, numerous examples of stucco work survive in situ or through archaeological documentation, from elaborately decorated mihrabs to funerary structures. Together, these materials reveal a dynamic interplay of continuity and innovation during the medieval time.
Key Topics
We invite papers addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:
Techniques and technologies of stucco production
Decorative programmes and iconographic themes
Epigraphy and textual elements in stucco
Regional styles and transregional influences
Conservation challenges and museum practices
New archaeological discoveries and documentation
Contact Email
4. We’re pleased to announce the International Intensive Academic Course on Interreligious Dialogue, hosted by Hikmat International Institute.
This unique program brings together distinguished scholars and faith leaders from around the world to explore the foundations, challenges, and opportunities of dialogue between religions — in theory and in practice.
About the Course:
Format: Fully Online (Zoom)
Global Access: Open to participants worldwide
Limited Scholarships
Dates: January 5 – 23, 2026
Featuring: Distinguished professors from top universities
Explore full course details and submit your application (free):
https://hikmat-ins.com/interfaith-dialogue/
Spaces and scholarships are limited. We encourage you to apply as soon as possible to secure your place.
5. Keyan Emami, Music on the Borderland: Remembering and Chronicling the 1979 Revolution’s Shadow on Iranian Music
(Toronto: Asemana Books, 2024),
ISBN 9781738285556.
https://asemanabooks.ca/music-on-the-borderland/
6. Hybrid British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), AGM Lecture Webinar:
‘The Idea of Persia’
With Ramin Jahanbegloo
20 November, 2025, 6.45 pm UK Time
Location:
The British Academy, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AH & Online on Zoom
The event will take place in person at the British Academy, London, and online on Zoom. The event is free to attend, but booking is necessary. In person bookings are currently open to members only through this link.
- November 11, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Acdemic Items
1.Hybrid Lecture – Navina Najat Haidar, “Ornament and Light in Mughal Architecture” – 13 November
In person, or if you are not in London join us on Zoom (for a link, please contact Matty: mb@royalasiaticsociety.org)
Follow us on YouTube: SOAS ReSIA playlist
Navina Najat Haidar
Nasser Sabah al Ahmad al Sabah Curator in Charge of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Ornament and Light in Mughal Architecture
Eventbrite link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/resia-presents-dr-navina-haidar-tickets-1828852309489?aff=oddtdtcreator
2. CFP – Arts and Crafts in the Late Ottoman Empire: Rethinking Practices and Concepts of Material Culture in Syria and Beyond (18th – early 20th c.) – May 22-23, 2026
Date: May 22-23, 2026
Venue: Lebanese American University (Beirut, Lebanon)
Convenors: May Farhat and Sarah Sabban
The conference Arts and Crafts in the Late Ottoman Empire aims to advance art historical and interdisciplinary research on practices and concepts of material culture in Ottoman lands between the 18th and the early 20th centuries. While inviting contributions on all geographies of the Empire, our call for papers foregrounds late Ottoman Syria as a case through which to expand the analytical and historical horizons of Islamic art and architecture studies and to contribute to broader debates in Ottoman and Arab historiographies of modernity. We encourage authors to consider the analytical frameworks—temporalities, epistemes, and materialities—that underpin the conference’s critical inquiry into the entangled modernities of Ottoman arts and crafts.
For the full call for papers, please visit this link.
We invite abstracts of up to 300 words, along with a short biography (max. 100 words), to be sent to MAIA.events@lau.edu.lb by January 15, 2026. Papers may be delivered in English or Arabic.
3. Nov 12 Talk on Classical Madrasa as a Liberal Arts Tradition
The next event in Zahra Institute’s online Fall Speaker Series, Wednesday, November 12.
“Forming the Mind: The Classical Madrasa as a Liberal Arts Tradition”
Date: Wednesday, November 12
Time: 12 PM Central / 1 PM Eastern
Speaker: Mahsuk Yamac, Dean of Graduate Studies, Zaytuna College
Register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/jTAYbk7KRH-QPsIPDq_5aQ#
For details on this and other upcoming events, visit our website: www.zahrainstitute.org.
4. Open Access: Article on Mamluk Maqamas on Black Death
Muhammed Omar, Nahyan Fancy
Special issue of the Journal of Arab and Islamic Studies on Environmental Challenges in Premodern Eurasian and Mediterranean Narratives.
The article can be accessed here: https://journals.uio.no/JAIS/article/view/12790
5. Call for Applications – “The Futures of Islamic Art: Remapping the Field” – Traveling seminar organized by Khamseen
Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online is pleased to announce its new project “The Futures of Islamic Art: Remapping the Field,” supported by a Connecting Art Histories grant by the Getty Foundation. Co-directed by Dr. Christiane Gruber and Dr. Mira Xenia Schwerda, the project will include three traveling seminars to Istanbul (2027), Kuwait (2028), and Kuala Lumpur (2029).
The project is situated within the context of growing and democratizing the field of Islamic art history, which includes an expansion of geographies, a stretching of chronological brackets, a diversification of artistic and creative expression, and an unrestricted experimentation with various theoretical approaches, intellectual models, and technological tools to disseminate knowledge in a free and open manner. It places the engagement with previously overlooked materials–such as women’s embroideries, amulets and gems of various tribes and nomadic groups, photographs, posters, and prints, and diminutive coins and other ephemera–at its center.
We invite applications from graduate students and early- to mid-career scholars of Islamic art—including curators, conservators, and practicing artists—to participate in all three seminars in Istanbul, Kuwait City, and Kuala Lumpur. We especially welcome applications from students and scholars based in the region. The project will cover travel costs, including airfare, ground transportation, and accommodation.
Interested candidates should send a letter of interest explaining why these traveling seminars are important for their intellectual development and how their own areas of expertise will contribute to the group effort as well as a CV and a writing sample (of up to 25 pages) to FuturesofIslamicArt@umich.edu no later than February 1, 2026. Applicants will be contacted by March 15, 2026.
Contact Email
6. CfS: 2026 British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS) Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World
In the 2026 British Association for Islamic Studies (BRAIS) Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is now open for submissions. The submission deadline is 5pm GMT on Friday 30 January 2026. Full details about the submission process, including all rules and regulations, can be found here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize
This international prize is awarded annually to an outstanding doctoral thesis. English-language submissions on any aspect of the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world, past and present, including Muslim-minority societies are accepted.
The award includes a cash prize of £1000 which will be officially presented at the Annual Conference of BRAIS.
Should you have any queries, please email brais.prize@ed.ac.uk .
7. Book Talk: ‘Building Local Support: Architectural Patronage for Multiconfessional Communities in Ottoman Greece and Albania’
Emily Neumeier (Temple University)
Thursday, November 13, 2025
10:00–11:20 AM
110 Warren, Room 312, Rutgers University–Newark
In the early nineteenth century, some of the most consequential developments in Ottoman architecture unfolded not in Istanbul but on the empire’s frontier. This talk explores the ambitious building program of Ali Pasha of Ioannina (r. 1788–1822), the renegade governor of Greece and Albania whose architectural patronage ranged from mosques to dervish lodges and even Orthodox Christian monasteries. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and archival sources, we will explore how Ali Pasha’s constructions redefined the sociopolitical order by challenging imperial norms of patronage and consolidating regional authority. His unprecedented support for multiple faith traditions reveals how architecture became a powerful tool of negotiation in a diverse, contested landscape.
Contact Information
Alex Dika Seggerman
Contact Email
URL
https://sites.rutgers.edu/islam-humanities/event/book-talk-building-local-suppo…
8. CFP: International Journal of Islamic Architecture (IJIA) Special Issue–“Reimagining Islamic Architecture in the 20th and 21st Centuries”
Thematic volume planned for July 2028)
Guest Editors: Emily Neumeier & Jennifer Pruitt
Proposal submission deadline: 15 December 2025
We invite submissions for this special issue of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture that investigates the modern reimagining of historical architecture from the Islamic world. Specifically, we are interested in the phenomenon of architects working in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries who refer to premodern Islamic monuments in their own practice. These ‘sites of citation’ can be understood to serve diverse functions and contexts, ranging from proclaiming connections to a perceived glorious imperial past, crafting new national identities through architectural revivals, recollecting a nostalgic homeland for diasporic communities, or even incorporating orientalist tropes to convey luxurious consumption or cosmopolitan sophistication.
Within the disciplines of Islamic art and architectural history, scholars have debated the logical terminus for the field’s timeline. Most of the major survey texts intended for undergraduate courses have ended around 1800, prior to the rise of European colonialism in the nineteenth century. This creates the distinct impression that the diverse regions of the Islamic world took up modernization efforts that were, at best, mimetic of western Europe, and therefore not worthy of investigation. As a corrective to these temporal restrictions and the resulting lacunae in the scholarship, a resounding call to extend the chronological framework of the field into the modern period has emerged in the past two decades (Flood 2007; Flood & Necipoğlu 2017). Yet scholars are only beginning to investigate how the forms and narratives of precolonial Islamic art history inform postcolonial architectural practice. In this special issue, we seek to build on the work of historians such as Nasser Rabbat and Mercedes Volait, who have demonstrated the importance of investigating revival architecture beyond a western European context to the Islamic world. We also take as a point of inspiration the scholarship of Kishwar Rizvi, whose examination of the transnational mosque open up discussion on a variety of state-sponsored religious constructions built in the postmodern and present neoliberal eras, all of which consciously adopt historicizing elements in their design.
We invite papers that will expand the investigation of Islamic architectures to include a diversity of architectural typologies. This special issue seeks case studies ranging from the late nineteenth century until the present, drawn from a wide geographical range inclusive of the Middle East, North and West Africa, the Americas, Europe, and South and Southeast Asia. We particularly welcome papers that address cross-cultural exchange and the transnational networks of architects, designers, and patrons. Case studies might address extant sites as well as ephemeral examples, like the pavilions from international expositions and theatre scenery. We envisage submissions that will investigate the reimagining of imperial Ottoman forms in twenty-first-century Turkey; the orientalizing anachronism of Shriner architecture in the United States; representations of Islamic spaces in theme parks and video games; or the adaptation of historical forms for restoration and cultural heritage projects in the Middle East. We are especially interested in examining how scholarly narratives of precolonial Islamic art history have shaped architectural projects, and thus also invite abstracts that explore how the built form references or translates the visual representations of historic monuments (i.e., etchings, photographs, ground plans, satellite views, 3D mapping) found in academic publications and mass media. In so doing, we seek to offer new insights that emerge specifically from the connection between modern and contemporary architecture and the historiography of Islamic art.
Additional questions may be addressed by contributors to this special issue:
- To what extent has the reinvention of historical Islamic architecture prompted a revival, reactivation, or appropriation of traditional craft practices and building technologies? Who are the agents, institutions, and sources key to this transmission of knowledge?
- Do modern and contemporary case studies reflect present-day conceptions about the ‘quintessential’ elements or forms of Islamic architecture? Is it possible to identify a canon of historical monuments?
- How might our understanding of a single site shift when taking into account both top-down perspectives (i.e., architects, designers, patrons and donors, cultural organizations, and government institutions) and the everyday experiences of users and visitors? How can these meanings persist or change over a long period of time, in the course of subsequent mediations or renovations during the life of a particular monument or site?
- Are specific practices of citation in architecture embedded within historical legacies, or an opportunity to think beyond colonialism, orientalism, and modernism? To what extent does architectural revival create a sense of anachronism, authenticity, and/or nostalgia for the past?
- What negotiations or translations can take place when forms that were originally developed for Islamic sacred spaces are reinterpreted for non-religious purposes? Can such reimagining of Islamic architecture open up possibilities to revisit deep-seated assumptions about the separation of the sacred and secular?
- In an age of consumption and neoliberalism, how do the demands for tourism, entertainment, and spectacle impact the designs of built environments that are marketed as looking to the historical architecture of the Islamic world?
Articles offering historical and theoretical analysis (DiT papers) should be between 6000 and 8000 words, and those on design and practice (DiP papers) between 3000 and 4000 words (notes are included in the word count). Practitioners are welcome to contribute insofar as they address the critical framework of the journal. Urbanists, art historians, anthropologists, geographers, political scientists, sociologists, and historians are also welcome. Please send a title and a 400-word abstract to the guest editors, Emily Neumeier (neumeier@temple.edu) and Jennifer Pruitt (jpruitt@wisc.edu), by 15 December 2025. Authors of accepted proposals will be contacted soon thereafter and will be requested to submit full papers by 1 July 2026. All papers will be subject to blind peer review and a rigorous editing process. For author instructions, please consult: www.intellectbooks.com/ijia
Contact Email
URL
https://www.intellectbooks.com/international-journal-of-islamic-architecture
9. New Program: Master of Professional Studies in Persian at UMD
Starting Fall 2026, the Capstone Year of the Persian Flagship Program will become the Master of Professional Studies (MPS) in Persian. University of Maryland Persian Flagship Students complete this program toward their Flagship Certification. The Language Flagship Program is an initiative of the Defense Language and National Security Education Office, within the U.S. Department of Defense.
For more information:
https://sllc.umd.edu/special-programs/arabic-persian/persian-flagship/capstone
10. Modernists and Muslims: E. J. Pace and His Islam-Inspired Cartoons
STEVEN BEMBRIDGE
Journal of American Studies, Volume 58 / Issue 5, December 2024, pp 661 – 688
doi: 10.1017/S0021875824000641
11. South Asia, the British Empire, and the Rise of Classical Legal Thought: Toward a Historical Ontology of the Law
Faisal Chaudhry. 529 pp.
Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2024.
https://academic.oup.com/book/57374?login=true
12. Genealogical History in the Persianate World
Jo-Ann Gross (Anthology Editor) , Daniel Beben (Anthology Editor)
Bloomsbury, 2025
https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/genealogical-history-in-the-persianate-world-9780755649808/
13. HYBRID Lecture “Digital Citizen Science and the Co-construction of Omani National and Cultural Identity: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis” by Dr. Najma Al Zidjaly (Sultan Qaboos University), Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 11 Novembre 2025, 17:00 – 19:00 CET
This presentation forms part of a larger longitudinal, ethnographic project spanning over two decades that examines the evolving relationship between human agency and emerging forms of creative media in the Arab world, with a particular focus on Oman. The study conceptualizes Omani social media users as active contributors to collective knowledge production and cultural meaning-making.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/cemweem9
14. Conference “Forms of (Un)Freedom: Emancipation and Post-Slavery in the Red Sea Region”, Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Berlin, 13-14 November 2025
This conference aims to further consolidate the subfield of Red Sea slavery studies by expanding the scope of inquiry beyond the processes that enslaved people and held them in bondage. The conference will focus on what happens “afterwards” – i.e. when human bondage ends. In the Red Sea Region, abolition and emancipation have been incompletely implemented. This has had complex ramifications that continue to reverberate at the individual, communal, and societal level.
Information and programme: https://tinyurl.com/484zmjhd
15. Symposium “The Translation Movement Between East and West, with a Special Focus on the Late Translation Movement”, Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, London, 19-20 November 2024
During the medieval period, as a result of the famous Graeco-Arabic translation movement, Arabic emerged as a ‘lingua franca’ of scientific exchange. For most of the medieval and early modern periods, Latin was the ‘lingua franca’ of scientific exchange. Then, we started to see the reverse translation movement from different European languages into Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman.
Information and detailed programme: https://tinyurl.com/2m9kfmch
16. Five Residential Fellowships (12 Months) in Germany for Scholars at Risk at Universities in Dortmund and Essen, Academy in Exile
Eligible are scholars from any country who have a PhD in the humanities, social sciences, or law, and who are at risk because of their academic work and/or civic engagement in human rights, democracy, and the pursuit of academic freedom. “Academy in Exile” fellowships give scholars the opportunity to continue their careers in Germany and to work on a research project of their own choosing in a multidisciplinary environment.
Deadline for applications: 15 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/y6anapuj
17. Assistant or Associate or Full Professor in Comparative Literature (Focus Arabic Literature), Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI), Qatar
Preference will be given to candidates with specializations in literary theory, approaches to World Literature and the new comparative literature, and with demonstrable expertise in Arabic literature and an Asian, African or Latin Ameri-can literature. The candidate must be able to teach in Arabic. High proficiency in English is required.
Deadline for applications: 15 January 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yc4udv3f
18. Omar Khayyam Postdoctoral Research Associate (1 Year) in Iranian Studies, Brown University
The position is open to candidates whose work explores topics related to modern or contemporary Iran, with a preference for work in the humanities or the humanistic social sciences (e.g., anthropology, sociology, history). We especially welcome candidates who thrive in an interdisciplinary environment and whose work is informed by comparative and global perspectives.
Deadline for applications: 6 December 2025. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/175851
19. University of Notre Dame Postdoctoral Fellowship (9 Months) in Byzantine Studies, University of Notre Dame, Indiana
This Fellowship is open to qualified applicants in all fields and sub-disciplines of Byzantine Studies, such as history (including its auxiliary disciplines), archaeology, art history, literature, theology, and liturgical studies, as well as the study of Byzantium’s interactions with neighboring cultures. The fellowship holder will pursue research in residence at the University of Notre Dame’s famed Medieval Institute during the academic year.
Deadline for applications: 1 February 2026. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/176059
20. Research Fellowships in Islamic Law and Civilization (2026-2027), Yale Law School
The fellowships are meant to a promising scholars time to make significant progress on their writing and research agenda in subjects related, however loosely, to Islamic law and civilization while contributing to the intellectual life of the Law School and Yale University more broadly.
Deadline for applications: 30 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4yzzh97y
- November 08, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. In person: Durham University/ British Institute of Persian Studies Event:
2025 Ann Lambton Memorial Lecture
12 November 2024, 15.30 UK time
with Mr. Nicholas Hopton
“A British Diplomatic Perspective on Iran’s Position & Policies in the Middle East Since 7 October 2023”
Wed, 12 Nov 2025 15:30 – 18:00 GMT
MHL452, Mill Hill Lane, Durham University
Durham DH1
Use this link for free registration:
2. Assistant Professor or Higher (Tenure-track) in Ottoman History, American University in Bulgaria, Sofia
Candidates should be specializing in Southeast Europe, the Middle East, or the Eastern Mediterranean, with a preference for Ottoman studies or Ottoman history, religious studies, environmental history, institutional history, transnational history, or the history of science, broadly defined.
Deadline for applications: 21 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yc2z4ss2c
3. Research Fellowship of the Emirates Leadership Initiative 2026-2027, Havard Kennedy School
Deadline for applications: 1 December 2025.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/56km857n
4. Columbia University’s Sakıp Sabancı Center for Turkish Studies invites applications for a postdoctoral fellowshipfor a one-year appointment running from September 1, 2026 to August 31, 2027.
The fellowship is open to scholars in the humanities and social sciences, focusing on any period within the field of Turkish Studies.The fellowship competition is open to candidates who have received their Ph.D. degree in the humanities or social sciences after May 2023 and have written a dissertation on a topic related to Turkish Studies. Fellows cannot hold another scholarship, visiting position, or employment during the term of the fellowship.
Deadline for applications: 15 December 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4z636mcf
5. Toronto Persian Book Fair 2025
1001 Books Fair and Cyrus Film Festival in collaboration with Global Link present:
The Toronto Persian Book Fair: The Toronto Persian Book Fair is a major cultural event celebrating Persian-language and diaspora publishing, with participation from several Canada- and Europe-based publishers. Alongside book exhibits, the fair offers a vibrant schedule of readings, workshops, and film-related sessions, making it a gathering place for writers, readers, cinema enthusiasts and creatives across generations. The diasporic and Persian publishers participating in the book fair include Asemana Books, Azadegan, Baran, Forough, Gardoon, Iran Namag, Kabul Books, Noghteh, Noogam, Saray-i Bamdad, Zagros, and others.
For the full schedule, please follow the fair’s official channels, including the 1001 Books Fair Instagram page and the participating publishers.
📍Venue: Global Link, Toronto
📅Dates: November 14–15, 2025
Program Highlights
Friday, November 14
6:00–7:00 PM — 🎭 Workshop: Commedia dell’Arte
Presenter: Dr. Duman Riyazi (دکتر دومان ریاضی)
A dynamic, hands-on introduction to the Italian theatrical tradition that influenced modern acting and improvisation.
7:00–8:00 PM — 📖 Book Launch: من و هشتاد سالگی (Me and My Eighties)
Author: Dr. Ezzat Mossallenezad (دکتر عزت مصلینژاد) — Published by Zagros Press
Join us for an intimate discussion and book signing with the author, reflecting on life, memory, and resilience.
Saturday, November 15
10:30–11:30 AM — 🎥 Workshop: Frame and Frame
Presenter: SADAF
A visual storytelling session exploring rhythm, perspective, and narrative framing in film and photography.
12:00–1:15 PM — 📚 Book Launch: Colour and Mystery (رنگ و راز)
Author: Irene Monique Salehi (ایرن مونیک صالحی) — Published by Asemana Books
Launch of Colour and Mystery: A Life in Seven Panels — a biographical and artistic journey through colour and imagination.
1:30–2:30 PM — ✍️ Workshop: From Story to Screenplay (تبدیل داستان به فیلمنامه)
Presenter: Bita Malakouti (بیتا ملکوتی)
Learn how to translate fiction into cinematic language through structure, character, and visual storytelling.
3:00–4:15 PM — 📘 Book Launch: From Northwest (از شمال غرب)
Author: Amir Hossein Bakhtiari (امیر حسین بختیاری) — Published by Asemana Books
A presentation and discussion of short stories exploring identity, migration, and belonging.
4:30–5:30 PM — 💼 Workshop: Film Production and Financing
Presenter: Asa Kazerani
6. UCLA: Pourdavoud Institute for the Study of the Iranian World
The Bible in Its Ancient Iranian Context Conference Videos Available
https://pourdavoud.ucla.edu/events/the-bible-in-its-ancient-iranian-context/
7. The members of ISHMap Prize Committee 2025 and Trustees for the International Society for the History of the Map (ISHMap) are pleased to announce the recipients of the Best Paper Awards for presentations delivered at the Society’s biennial Symposium, held in Paris, France, 9–11 July 2025.
The Best Paper Award for a participant with a terminal degree:
Zeinab Azarbadegan, “The Domain of Two Sovereigns: Ottoman Mapping of Iraq”
The Best Paper Award for a participant without a terminal degree:
Dominic Keyßner, “Cartographies of Anti-Imperialism? Mapping a (Post-)Colonial World in the Socialist East (1960s–1970s)”
An Honorable Mention for a poster delivered by a participant without a terminal degree:
Milena Natividade da Cruz, “Historical Cartography and Processes of Racialization: The Case of the Mural Maps by Longchamps and Janvier (1754)”
Congratulations to all award winners! The Committee thanks all participants for their great contributions and looks forward to hearing more from the awardees in upcoming ISHMap events.
Contact Information
Anne-Rieke van Schaik,
Chair of Awards Committee 2025
Trustee of ISHMap
Contact Email
- November 04, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Warburg Institute Short Courses – Autumn 2025
THE WARBURG INSTITUTE
School of Advanced Study | University of London
The Warburg Institute is one of the world’s leading centres for studying the interaction of ideas, images and society. It is dedicated to the survival and transmission of culture across time and space, with special emphasis on the afterlife of antiquity. Throughout the year we offer a wide range of Short Courses and Research Training in key areas of knowledge and skills. Courses are generally open to students at all levels, researchers, and the public. NB: some pre-requisites may apply.
Our short courses for the Autumn Term 2025 are currently open for booking:
Crossing the world without an interpreter: Arabic studies in England 1550-1640
3 – 7 November 2025, 11.00am – 1.00pm GMT | Warburg Institute
Examining the origins and manifestations of the great flourishing of interest in England in the study of Arabic from the mid-16th to mid-17th centuries.
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/arabic-studies-england-in-1550-1640-2025
The Representation of African People in Early Modern European Art & Culture
13 November – 11 December 2025, 2.00pm – 3.30pm GMT | Online via Zoom
An introduction to the representation of African people in the art and culture of early modern Europe. Drawing on the resources of the Image of the Black archive.
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/representation-of-african-people-2025
Black Atlas in the Warburg Archives
25 – 27 November 2025, 5.00pm – 7.00pm GMT | Warburg Institute
Examining resources for studying Africa and the Americas and their diasporas at the Warburg Institute, with focus on the Image of the Black archive and creative responses to controversial collections material and marginalised histories by artists associated with the Warburg.
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/black-atlas-warburg-archives
Visual History of European Alchemy
15 – 19 December 2025, 2.00pm – 4.00pm GMT | Online via Zoom
This course opens a window onto the development of European visual culture and the history of science by tracing the evolution of alchemy and its artefacts. Alongside historical developments, we will examine how alchemy shaped art, intellectual traditions, and symbolic thinking.
Booking: https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/visual-history-of-european-alchemy-2025
2. Textile History Symposium at CUNY Graduate Center, NYC (9 am-5 pm, Nov. 13, 2025)
Textile as Object: Centering Cloth in Interdisciplinary Approaches to Textile History
This full day symposium showcases research that takes materially focused methodologies to textile history, investigating new approaches to explore what engagement with the material enables, and to demonstrate what the close looking of the textile historian can reveal. Studies include Byzantium, Asia and the Islamic World, and Spain; as well as the role of textiles in museums today. Livestreamed and in-person at CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. Registration and Event page: https://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/textile-object-centering-cloth-interdisciplinary-approaches-textile-history
Symposium co-organizers: Nazanin Hedayat Munroe, Amanda Phillips, Eiren Shea, Rachel Silberstein, and Elizabeth Dospěl Williams
Hosted by the CUNY Academy for Humanities and Sciences
Contact Email
URL
https://www.gc.cuny.edu/events/textile-object-centering-cloth-interdisciplinary…
3. Hybrid Seminar:
Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Edinburgh,
Our next (IMES) Research Seminar will be held on Monday, 3 November at 5:15 in room LG.08, 40 George Square Lower.
Our speaker will be Prof Nacim Pak-Shiraz (IMES), University of Edinburgh, who will speak on
Staging Masculinity: Hegemony, and Patriarchy in 1990s Iranian Popular Cinema
This talk examines the varied constructions of masculinity through the lens of popular commercial cinema in the 1990s Iran. It focuses on two of the decade’s highest-grossing films, released in 1991 and 1999, respectively. By analyzing them, this study examines how dominant and contested models of masculinity were constructed and circulated through mainstream cinema during a decade marked by cultural and political transformation.
The sessions will be hybrid. For those who wish to join us online, please email Anthony.Gorman@ed.ac.uk, who will send you a link on the day of the seminar.For further details see https://llc.ed.ac.uk/islamic-and-middle-eastern-studies/imes-seminar-series-251103
4. Séminaire “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges” – 2e séance mercredi 5 novembre 18h-19h30
Chères et chers collègues,
Chères étudiantes, chers étudiants,
Nous avons le plaisir de vous convier à la deuxième séance du séminaire “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges”, qui se tiendra mercredi 5 novembre 2025, 18h-19h30, en salle 4.21 à l’INaLCO (65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 4e étage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir Mme. Alya Karame, Orient-Institut Beirut, pour une conférence intitulée : The Qur’ans of the Ghaznavids and Ghurids: New Genres (en anglais).
Résumé:
The understudied corpus of the Ghaznavid and Ghurid Qur’ans (c. eleventh–twelfth centuries CE) illustrates the shaping of regional visual trends in medieval eastern Iran (at the centre of which is present-day Afghanistan) out of diachronic and synchronic multidirectional movement within a medieval landscape that was continuously in flux. These manuscripts were innovatively designed presenting us with new genres of Qur’ans, employing new scripts on the newly adopted material, paper. Many elements in them tell us stories about the people who commissioned them, made them, and used them. They also inform of the ways in which they were used and their roles, up until our day. Deemed “peripheral” (the lands of provincial rule), they were, in fact, models that challenged the artistic agency of t raditional political capitals (the lands of dominant dynastic rule) from which artistic excellency and a pure visual language is said to have spread.
Orientations bibliographiques:
- Flood, Finbarr Barry. ‘Islamic Identities and Islamic Art: Inscribing the Qur’an in Twelfth-century Afghanistan’ in Elizabeth Cropper (ed.). Dialogues in Art History, from Mesopotamian to Modern: Readings for a New Century. Washington DC: National Gallery of Art, 2009, p. 91–118.
- Karame, Alya. ‘Ghaznavid Imperial Qur’an Manuscripts: The Shaping of a Local Style’ in Simon Rettig, Sana Mirza (eds.). The Word Illuminated: Form and Function of Qur’anic Manuscripts from the Seventh to Seventeenth Centuries. Washington DC: Smithsonian Scholarly Press, 2023, p. 27–53.
Vous trouverez l’intégralité du programme 2025-2026 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “L’Afghanistan à travers les âges” en ligne sur le site du CeRMI: L’Afghanistan à travers les âges – Centre de recherche sur le monde iranien
5. Grabar Travel Grant – Deadline: December 15, 2025
This competition is open to graduate students (doctoral candidates) who have been invited or accepted as participants in a scholarly conference or other professional meeting for the purpose of presenting papers, chairing sessions, or moderating discussions.
The maximum amount of the award is $1,000 USD.
Applicants must be HIAA members in good standing at the time of application. Grabar Travel Grants must be used within 12 months of the award date.
Applications must include the following five components and be submitted in a single PDF to the Grabar Travel Committee Chair (grabar.hiaa@gmail.com) by December 15:
- Application cover sheet, available here
- A cover letter explaining the applicant’s purpose in participating in the conference, the expected benefits of participation, and an itemized travel budget
- Curriculum vitae
- Letter of acceptance from the conference/session organizer(s)
- Abstract of the paper to be presented
In addition, a letter of recommendation from the applicant’s primary supervisor should be sent directly to the Grabar Travel Committee Chair (grabar.hiaa@gmail.com) by the deadline.
Applicants from outside the United States are responsible for meeting the requirements for and obtaining any visas necessary for visits to or residence and research in the United States. Upon request, HIAA will supply documentation of the grant and/or fellowship award, the dates of the award, and financial support.
For further details and to apply, please visit: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/grabar-grants-and-fellowships
6. Grabar Post-doctoral Fellowship – Deadline: December 15, 202
The Grabar Post-doctoral Fellowship is intended to support post-doctoral scholars at an early stage of their careers in advancing their research. Fellowship funds may be used in one of two ways:
- To spend up to two months in residence as a visiting professor or fellow/research scholar at a university, museum, research institute, or similar institution outside their usual country of residence or employment.
- To support additional research to aid in preparing the dissertation for publication.
Applicants should have completed their Ph.D. within the last five years or have submitted their dissertations by the start of the fellowship.
The Grabar Post-doctoral Fellowship will provide up to $2000 US per month, for a maximum of two months. An additional $1000 may be requested for travel or supplies.
All materials should be submitted by email to the chair of the Grabar post-doctoral fellowship committee chair (grabar.hiaa@gmail.com) by December 15, 2025. Files exceeding 25 Mb should be sent via WeTransfer.
For further details and to apply, please visit: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/grabar-grants-and-fellowships
7. The Margaret B. Ševčenko Prize in Islamic Art and Culture – Deadline: December 15, 2025
Every year, the Historians of Islamic Art Association (HIAA) sponsors a competition and awards the Margaret B. Ševčenko Prize for the best unpublished essay written by a junior scholar (pre-dissertation graduate student to three years after the Ph.D. degree) on any aspect of Islamic visual culture. This competition is open to HIAA members only. The Ševčenko Prize recipient receives an award of $500 and a citation, generally presented at HIAA’s annual business meeting. The Prize is named in memory of Margaret Bentley Ševčenko, the first and long-serving Managing Editor of Muqarnas, a journal devoted to the visual culture of the Islamic world sponsored by the Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard and MIT. The winning essay will be considered for publication by the Muqarnas Editorial Board.
Submissions must include the paper in both Word and PDF format, and a separate sheet with the author’s contact information (address, telephone number, and email address). Papers should not exceed 10,000 words in length (including footnotes) and can be accompanied by up to 15 low-res illustrations.
Please note that submissions cannot be in press or under review with any publisher.
A letter of recommendation for the paper should be sent separately by the author’s adviser or referee.
All materials should be submitted by email to the Ševčenko committee chair (sevcenko.hiaa@gmail.com) by December 15, 2025. Files exceeding 25 Mb should be sent via WeTransfer.
For further details, please visit: https://www.historiansofislamicart.org/opportunities/hiaa-prizes/the-margaret-evenko-prize-in-islamic-art-and-culture/
8. Fellowships – National Museum of Asian Art, Ebrahimi Fellowship for Persian Art, Apply by February 2, 2026
The Ebrahimi Fellowship for Persian Art promotes excellence in research and publication on Persian art from the ancient to the contemporary period. Fellowships support research at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, DC. Research proposals are evaluated in terms of merit, originality, methodology, and potential for significant publication that will advance scholarly and public understanding of Persian visual arts. Interdisciplinary proposals with a primary focus on Iranian visual arts will be considered.
The Ebrahimi Fellowship is intended to provide an environment conducive to research, writing, and collegial discourse. Fellows are expected to devote themselves full-time to the proposed project and to participate in the museum’s scholarly community and programs.
Scholars of all nationalities are welcome to apply. Meeting the requirements and obtaining the required visas for residence and research in the United States are the responsibilities of the applicant. If necessary, the Smithsonian will review the individual for participation in an Exchange Visitor Program and will support the individual, if eligible, in their application for a J-1 visa.
Doctoral candidates, early career scholars, and senior scholars are all encouraged to apply.
For more information, visit https://asia.si.edu/about/jobs-opportunities/ebrahimi-fellowship-for-persian-art/.
URL
https://asia.si.edu/about/jobs-opportunities/ebrahimi-fellowship-for-persian-ar…
9. The UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize
The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions of doctoral dissertations for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Art & Architecture Dissertation Prize. The prize will be awarded to an outstanding doctoral dissertation on the art, architecture, or visual cultures of South Asia and its diasporas from any discipline in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. The dissertation may focus on any time period from the prehistoric to the contemporary. The prize comes with a $1,500 award. Ph.D. dissertations submitted for consideration must have been filed between September 2, 2024 and September 1, 2025 at an accredited university in North America or Europe. The submission package must include the following:
- A pdf abstract (< 1000 words)
- A pdf curriculum vitae (please include your contact information)
- A pdf copy of the dissertation
- A nomination letter from the chair of the department or the chair of the dissertation committee must accompany the application package. This letter should confirm that the application fulfills all eligibility requirements, and include the official dissertation submission date.
The 2025 Prize Committee: Sugata Ray (Chair, University of California, Berkeley), Rebecca M. Brown (Johns Hopkins University), Yuthika Sharma (Northwestern University), and Nachiket Chanchani (University of Michigan).
The UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize
The South Asia Art Initiative at UC Berkeley invites submissions from Master of Fine Arts (MFA) students for the annual UC Berkeley South Asia Artist Prize. The prize will be awarded for an outstanding body of work by an artist of the South Asian diaspora or by those whose work addresses the politics and cultures of South Asia. Applicants must have filed their Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree between September 2, 2023 and September 1, 2024 at an accredited school in North America or Europe. The submission package must include the following, and with each file size a maximum of 15MB:
- A pdf Artist Statement (< 1000 words)
- A pdf curriculum vitae (please include your contact information)
- 20 images in a single pdf file and/or
- Links (and password) to Vimeo for up to 15 minutes of time-based work
- A confidential letter of support from a faculty member
The 2025 Prize Committee: Asma Kazmi (Chair, University of California, Berkeley), Shiben Banerji (University of California, Berkeley), Al-An deSouza (University of California, Berkeley), Nidhi Gandhi (San José Museum of Art), and Padma Maitland (Asian Art Museum).
DEADLINE: The submission package must be in English and submitted via email to Puneeta Kala <pkala@berkeley.edu> by January 10, 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted. The result for the 2025 prize recipient will be announced on the South Asia Art Initiative website on March 14, 2026. The winner will give a talk via Zoom on Wed, April 16, 2026 at 9 am PST.
All inquiries regarding the prizes should be directed to Puneeta Kala <pkala@berkeley.edu> at the Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Contact Information
Puneeta Kala, Institute for South Asia Studies, University of California, Berkeley
Contact Email
URL
https://southasia.berkeley.edu/art-awards
10. Call for Contributions – Digital Humanities in Middle East Studies for RoMES Special Issue
TheReview of Middle East Studies(RoMES) invites contributions to an upcoming special issue on Digital Humanities in Middle East Studies. In light of the growing impact of technology on the study of language, history, and culture, this special issue aims to chart the current and emerging contours of digital humanities in Middle East Studies. We are delighted to have Laila Shereen Sakr (University of California, Santa Barbara) as guest editor for this issue.
We welcome submissions from across the diverse landscape of digital humanities work in Middle East studies, including but not limited to: computational and AI methods (such as text mining, data visualization, natural language processing (NLP), LLMs and generative models applied to regional sources); algorithmic empire and digital colonialism, militarized AI and the political economy of tech, Middle Eastern futures and futurity, social media and digital public spheres; critical approaches to data ethics, privacy, and algorithmic accountability; feminist and decolonial perspectives; digital archives and libraries; mapping and spatial humanities; as well as media, arts, and cultural digital humanities.
This issue will focus on contributions demonstrating the unique opportunities and distinct challenges that emerge when the linguistic, cultural, and archival work of Middle East Studies meets digital technology. This issue aims to provide theoretical grounding and guidance for scholars interested in developing digital humanities projects for their research or teaching while fostering broader conversations about the future of Middle Eastern studies in the digital age.
Contributions may take several forms:
- DH Interventions- Explorations of how digital humanities reshapes our understanding of key questions in Middle East Studies – what new intellectual terrain does DH open up, and what are the stakes of these shifts for the field?
- State of the Field Reflections- Analytical pieces that survey current trends, assess methodological approaches, or provide frameworks for understanding digital humanities within Middle East studies. These pieces may trace key conversations, collaborations, and areas of innovation across languages, regions, or disciplines.
- Pedagogical Applications- Articles focusing on the use of digital humanities projects in Middle East studies classrooms and/or course design, and getting started guides.
- Project Showcases- Examinations of how digital humanities projects generate new historical, cultural, or linguistic insights, emphasizing their broader implications for the field.
We recognize digital humanities work’s innovative and collaborative nature and welcome co-authored submissions and interdisciplinary approaches.
Timeline
- Abstract Deadline: Jan 12, 2026
- Full Manuscript Submission for Invited Contributions: May 15, 2026
- Peer-Review Process: Summer through early fall of 2026
- Final Revised Manuscripts Due: November 2026
- Target Publication Date: Spring 2027
Submission Guidelines
Please email abstracts to romes@mesana.org by January 12, 2026. Abstracts should be 350-500 words and include:
- Proposed title
- Author name(s) and affiliation(s)
- Brief description of the proposed contribution
- How it fits within the special issue themes
If you have questions about the scope of the issue, potential contributions, or the submission process, please contact: Review of Middle East Studies Editorial Team romes@mesana.org.
Hoda Yousef, Editor of Review of Middle East Studies
Laila Shereen Sakr, Guest Editor of Review of Middle East Studies
Laila Hussein Moustafa, Associate Editor of Review of Middle East Studies
11. Events at SOAS:
SOAS Shapoorji Pallonji Institute of Zoroastrian Studies
Oral Literature, Adaptation, and Resistance in the Zoroastrian Community
6.00pm, Monday 10 November 2025
Research Seminar in Islamic Art (ReSIA)
The Subversive Feminine: Contemporary Iranian Women Artists Challenging Gender Paradigms
6.00pm, Thursday 04 December 2025
Sadler’s Well
14 – 15 November 2025
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) in association with the National Film and Television School
6.30pm, Sunday 16 November 2015
12. Persia Educational Foundation
Abdolreza Ansari Scholarship Fund
The scholarship is designed to support the education of students of Iranian descent, of any age or citizenship, enrolled in a Master or Doctorate programme in human rights or public service at an internationally accredited university in the UK or beyond.
Deadline: Friday 21 November 2025
13. Lecturer in the Study of Islam (fixed term, 0.5FTE), University of Glasgow
Fixed term until May 2027:
https://www.jobs.gla.ac.uk/job/lecturer-in-the-study-of-islam-lts
The closing date is Thursday, 13 November.
14. Oxford: Call for Applications for Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections
Full details of opportunities, and instructions on how to apply, at:
Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections | Bodleian Libraries
The call closes on 28 November 2025.
15. University of Toronto: Persian Lithographic Printing Seminar:
“Attitudes towards Lithography in 19th-Century India: The East India Company and Christian Missionaries”
Graham Shaw
University of London
Thursday, November 6, 2025, 12:00 p.m. EST
Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/LzX8QvxMR6y0yTkB7ESWqA
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
16. Of Piety and Heresy: Abū Ḥāmid Muḥammad Ghazzālī’s Persian Treatises on Antinomians
A Seyed-Gohrab,
De Gruyter, 2024
17. IQP20th meeting: European Qur’an ERC Project
By: Prof. Dr. Roberto Tottoli , The president of the University of Naples, L’Orientale
Wednesday Nov.5 2025, 15:00-16:30 (Mecca Zone)
For participation: send email to: info@zabanshenasitarikhi.ir
http://zabanshenasitarikhi.ir/p/73/IQP20th-meeting:-European-Quran/
18. Lecture – “Carpeting Safavid Shrines,” Sarah Molina, Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, November 4
The next lecture in the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series will take place on Tuesday, November 4, 2025, at 12:00 Boston and New York / 17:00 London / 20:00 Istanbul.
Sarah Molina (Harvard University) will present “Carpeting Safavid Shrines.”
To attend, please register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/Zz_b0jGdRuK8EPDTIxgy4Q
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.
As always, you can find a full schedule of upcoming talks and register for our list-serv on our website at viahss.org. Although not every talk is recorded, we also have recordings of several recent talks available on the VIAHSS Vimeo page at vimeo.com/viahss. Lastly, you can follow us on Instagram at @theviahss to stay up to date on upcoming events!
A reminder that our 2026 CFP is open until November 14. To learn more and submit a proposal, please visit: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSft18j9ZomsQ58XNp7QU4z-6aGDrkMFyKmmqaXzt7bVBm9wyQ/viewform__;!!HXCxUKc!yI1L9AAKLn5JlU1wX1Sya3GKLWLHC5GTMw0WFLMqg-bjHMW9ce0fJvcfNdtbclLQbm9uN0-U9Es_o8D-$.
Contact Information
Drs. Alexander Brey, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Rachel Winter
Contact Email
URL
19. The Islamic College
The Story of Leili o Majnun
As an Allegory of the Sufi Path of Love in Persian Poetry
Dr Leili Anvar
Friday, 28 November 2025
6:00-7:30 pm (London time)
Online (register for link)
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/monthly-talk-the-story-of-leyli-o-majnun/
20. Call for Papers | 2026 BRISMES Annual Conference: War, Empire and Sabotage in an Age of Genocide
In these profoundly challenging times, our commitment to fostering knowledge exchange and building a vibrant scholarly community remains at the heart of the BRISMES Annual Conference. With this in mind, we are pleased to announce that submissions for the 2026 BRISMES Conference, co-hosted by the SOAS Middle East Institute on 23-25 June 2026, are now open. We warmly invite you to review the call for papers and submit your abstracts for individual presentations, panels, roundtables or creative interventions.
As always, we encourage submissions that sit outside the conference theme and are more broadly related to Middle East Studies. Relevant disciplines include – but are not limited to – politics, culture and society, language, literature, anthropology, economics, history, linguistics and translation studies, in or related to the MENA region.
Deadline: 14 December 2025
https://www.brismes.ac.uk/news/call-for-papers-2026-brismes-annual-conference
21. Early Career Research Fellowship – Arts
University of Cambridge
Applications are invited for a Research Fellowship in the following Arts subjects – Archaeology, Asian & Middle Eastern Studies, Geography (Social Science), History, History and Philosophy of Science, History of Art, Social Anthropology – which will normally be tenable for three years from 1 October 2026.
Deadline | 10 November 2025
22. Call for Papers | Kurdish Studies Conference
Conference | LSE | 29 April – 1 May 2026
The conference organisers warmly invite the submission of papers for the fourth Kurdish Studies Conference organised by the Kurdish Studies Series at the LSE Middle East Centre and the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield. The organisers welcome paper submissions with social sciences and humanities disciplinary approaches to any aspect of Kurdish studies.
Deadline | 28 November 2025
23. Traversing Spaces of Exception: Exploring New Methodologies in Research Practice and Publication
Seminar | AKU-ISMC | 4 November 2025
This seminar addresses the explosion of interest within Academia in alternative methods for both doing and publishing research. Using his own research project ‘The Native and Refugee’ as a case study, Malek Rasamny will explore a whole host of non-paper associated media from blogs to websites to documentary film.
More information
24. 4 novembre 2025 : 1ère séance du séminaire de l’IISMM : Autorité et culture politique en Iran qajar et dans l’Empire ottoman (ca. 1780-1920)
La première séance (2025-2026) du séminaire Autorité et culture politique en Iran qajar et dans l’Empire ottoman (ca. 1780-1920) aura lieu le mardi 4 novembre de 10h à 12h, à l’IISMM (EHESS, 54 bd Raspail 75006 Paris), Salle B3-18.
Il est également possible d’y assister à distance par le lien zoom suivant :
https://ehess-fr.zoom.us/j/98558979025?pwd=1EOFoBWcE9No6JJTZb9fixfu9VamZe.1
Intervenante : Sara Zanotta (Università di Torino)
Titre de l’intervention : Entre constitutionnalisme et anti-impérialisme : l’activisme international des Iraniens à l’étranger pendant la révolution constitutionnelle iranienne (1906-1911)
Résumé de l’intervention
Cette séance traitera de la façon dont les Iraniens à l’étranger ont interprété et participé à la révolution constitutionnelle iranienne, en mettant l’accent sur leurs efforts pour obtenir un soutien international. Après le bombardement de l’Assemblée Nationale en juin 1908, d’éminents députés et constitutionnalistes ont fui vers le Caucase du Sud, l’Empire ottoman et l’Europe pour échapper à l’arrestation ou à la mort et ils ont alors rejoint les communautés iraniennes déjà établies à l’étranger. Cet exil a renforcé l’activisme politique des communautés iraniennes en dehors de l’Iran qajar, tandis que la résistance à l’autocratie et à l’impérialisme s’intensifiait dans l’empire. Leur action ne se limitait pas à un soutien direct aux révolutionnaires en Iran à travers des financements, mais prenait également la forme d’un « activisme international » visant à rallier le soutien d’activistes et de gouvernements étrangers. Ce séminaire discutera les pratiques et les stratégies discursives grâce auxquelles ils ont recueilli du soutien en Asie, en Europe et en Afrique, depuis des dizaines de pétitions envoyées des pays aussi lointains que la Grande-Bretagne, l’Égypte et l’Inde jusqu’aux réunions publiques et aux manifestations en France et dans l’Empire ottoman, et montrera comment, de cette manière, les débats issus de l’Iran qajar ont trouvé un écho international.
Contacts
Denis Hermann : dnshermann@gmail.com
25. 11th International Conference of the Society for the Study of the Crusades and the Latin East (SSCLE) “Crossing Seas – Crossing Cultures”, University of Porto, 29 June – 3 July 2026
Themes: Politics, Religion and Culture. – Women and Gender. – The Muslim World and the Crusades. – New Sources, New Interpretations. – Art, Archaeology and Material Culture. – Military History.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mrxwu7wm
- November 01, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Call for Application: SoFCB Junior Fellows Program, November 19, 2025
We are inviting applications for the 2026 cohort of Junior Fellows. The SoFCB is a community of scholars working across disciplines to advance the study of texts, images, and artifacts as material objects. Ten Junior Fellows will be selected to join the SoFCB in 2026; they may become Senior Fellows after completing two years of the fellowship’s required activities in good standing. The application deadline for the SoFCB Junior Fellows Program is Wednesday, 19 November 2025, at 11:50 pm ET. To learn more about the fellowship program and application, please visit: www.tinyurl.com/Apply-SoFCB-2025. For any questions about the SoFCB Junior Fellows Program, please email sofcb_staff@virginia.edu.
We would very much appreciate it if you could share our call for applications and welcome letter with interested students and colleagues at the Association of Print Scholars.
With warm wishes,
Pranav
Contact Information
Contact Email
URL
https://rarebookschool.org/admissions-awards/fellowships/sofcb/
2. ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE AMERICAN CENTER OF RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS
2026–2027
Deadline for the following fellowships is February 15, 2026.
The Amman Prize, Postgraduate:The Amman Prize supports four months of research and residence in Jordan. Prize winners are provided with a monthly stipend, room/board and a private workspace at ACOR. One award of $25,000 is expected in 2026, including $5,000 for travel and research expenses (including language training, if applicable). This award will support someone who has completed their formal course of study (holding an advanced degree[s] is not required). The recipient may be at any stage of their career. Research may be in any field of scientific, social scientific, or humanistic research whose principal concern is Jordan. Selection criteria are the merits, impact, and likelihood of completing a major work (e.g., book) during the term of the award. The successful applicant may be of any nationality; preference may be given to Jordanians, Americans, Canadians, Syrians, and Australians. A prior record of completing significant scholarly or creative work(s) is expected. Individuals who have been awarded a fellowship from ACOR in the past two years are not eligible. Undergraduate students are not eligible. Priority may be given to individuals who can complete the term of the award in calendar 2026.
The Amman Prize, ABD doctoral students: The Amman Prize supports four months of research and residence in Jordan. Prize winners are provided with a monthly stipend, room/board and a private workspace at ACOR. Two awards of $25,000 are expected in 2026, including $5,000 for travel and research expenses (including language training, if applicable). These awards will support Prizes to graduate students pursuing their dissertation research. Research may be in any field of scientific, social scientific, or humanistic research whose principal concern is Jordan, ancient, modern, or contemporary. Selection criteria are the merits, impact, and feasibility of the proposed research. The successful applicants must be a United States citizen enrolled in an institution of higher education located in the United States and will have completed all requirements for the PhD except for the dissertation by the start of the fellowship period. Individuals who have been awarded a fellowship from ACOR in the past two years are not eligible. Priority may be given to individuals who can complete the term of the award in calendar 2026.
Bert and Sally de Vries Fellowship: One award of $2,500 to support a student for participation on an archaeological project or research in Jordan. Senior project staff members whose expenses are being borne largely by the project are ineligible. Open to enrolled undergraduate or graduate students of any nationality except Jordanian citizens.
Burton MacDonald and Rosemarie Sampson Fellowship: One award either for a four-week residency at the American Center of Research for research in the fields of ancient Near Eastern languages and history, archaeology, biblical studies, or comparative religion, or for a travel grant to assist with participation in an archaeological field project in Jordan. The residency fellowship option includes room and board at the American Center of Research in Amman and a stipend of $1,500. The travel-grant option provides a single stipend of $2,500 to help with any project-related expenses. Both options are open to enrolled undergraduate or graduate students of Canadian citizenship or landed immigrant status.
Donald O. Henry Fellowship: One award of $500 for a field project, publication, or related event in support of archaeological research in or about Jordan. The fellowship has a preference for the support of archaeological efforts related to prehistory and/or work in southern Jordan, but proposals involving all periods and locations are eligible, welcome, and encouraged. The most compelling proposal will receive the award. Undergraduate students, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers of all nationalities are eligible to apply.
Frederick-Wenger Memorial Endowment: Two awards of $2,000 to assist a Jordanian student with the cost of their education. Eligibility is not limited to a specific field of study, but preference will be given to study related to Jordan’s cultural heritage. Candidates must be Jordanian citizens and currently enrolled as undergraduate or graduate students in a Jordanian university.
Harrell Family Fellowship: One award of $2,500 to support a graduate student for participation on an archaeological project or for research in Jordan. Senior project staff members whose expenses are being borne largely by the project are ineligible. Open to enrolled graduate students of any nationality except Jordanian citizens.
James A. Sauer Fellowship: One award of $1,500 for educational assistance to support a graduate student participating in an ACOR-approved archaeological fieldwork or research project in Jordan. For the 2026–2027 cycle, the Sauer Fellowship is open to enrolled graduate students of any nationality except Jordanian.
Jennifer C. Groot Memorial Fellowship: Two awards of $3,000 each to support beginners in archaeological fieldwork who have been accepted as team members on archaeological projects in Jordan. The fellowship is intended to help defray the costs of participation in excavations. Open to undergraduate or graduate students of U.S. or Canadian citizenship, with a preference for individuals who graduated in the past 12 months (i.e., January to December 2025) and/or have been accepted to a graduate program for fall 2026.
Jennifer C. Groot II Memorial Fellowship: This fellowship provides financial support to help improve the preparation and qualifications of Jordanians, or residents of Jordan, for future graduate-level study in Europe or the Americas. The fellowship must conclude with the submission of a qualified application for graduate study outside of Jordan or an application to a funding program that supports the same (e.g., a Fulbright scholarship). The scholarship will provide support for taking English-language courses and/or preparations for and taking required standardized tests (e.g., TOEFL, IELTS, GRE), as well as support from ACOR staff. Preference is given to those studying archaeology, history, or fields related to the cultural heritage of Jordan.
Jordanian Graduate Student Scholarship: One award of $3,000 to assist a Jordanian graduate student with the annual costs of their academic programs during the period June 1, 2026, through May 31, 2027. Candidates must be Jordanian citizens and currently enrolled in either a master’s or doctoral program in a Jordanian university. Eligibility is limited to students in programs related to Jordan’s cultural heritage (for example: archaeology, anthropology, linguistics/epigraphy, history, conservation, museum studies, and fields related to cultural resource management).
Kenneth W. Russell Fellowship: One award of $2,500 for educational assistance for a Jordanian graduate student enrolled in an archaeology or cultural heritage degree program in any country. For the 2026–2027 cycle, the Russell Fellowship is open only to enrolled graduate students of Jordanian nationality.
Lawrence T. Geraty Travel Scholarship: One award of $1,250 for an undergraduate or graduate student from an accredited institution to conduct in Jordan excavation and/or research approved by ASOR’s Committee on Archaeological Research and Policy (CAP). The award is intended to assist in travel costs and/or accommodation at the American Center of Research, based on need. Funding may be combined with other fellowships and must be spent within a calendar year.
Pierre and Patricia Bikai Fellowship: Two awards for one month each, or one two-month award, for residency at the American Center of Research in Amman. The fellowship is open to enrolled graduate students of any nationality, except Jordanian citizens, participating in an archaeological project or conducting archaeological work in Jordan. The fellowship includes room and board at the American Center of Research and a monthly stipend of $800.
Thomas Parker Memorial Fund:One award of $1,750 for an undergraduate student, graduate student, or postdoctoral researcher of any nationality. Proposals are accepted for support for fellowships, field projects, and events in Jordan. Preference is given to archaeological fieldwork or publication efforts, but proposals in all areas of academic inquiry are welcome and encouraged. The most compelling proposal will receive the award.
Conference Travel Award for Jordanians: This award is intended to assist Jordanians resident in Jordan participating in and delivering a scholarly paper at an international conference held in the United States or Canada. One award of $3,500 will be made for an in-person paper presentation and one award for a paper presentation in a virtual conference (i.e., conference registration, membership when required) will be available annually. Awards are eligible in any field of study related to ACOR’s mission. Poster presentations are not eligible.
Applications should be submitted online at orcfellowships.smapply.org/.
Inquiries should be directed to fellowships@acorjordan.org.
3. From Manga to Manifesto: Youth Culture, Protest, and the Global Circulations of ONE PIECE
1 Theme, 2 Days, 3 Departments
CALL FOR PAPERS
In 2025, the emblematic flag of the Japanese manga ONE PIECE has surfaced in youth-led protests from Nepal and Indonesia to Morocco and Madagascar, transforming a symbol of fictional pirate rebellion into a banner of real-world dissent. In this two-day interdisciplinary workshop scholars from Middle Eastern, Japanese and African studies explore together how popular culture travels across linguistic, cultural, and political boundaries to animate new forms of protest and solidarity among Generation Z.
We invite contributions that investigate the transnational lives of symbols, the appropriation of Japanese visual culture in African and Middle Eastern contexts, and the ways in which global media imaginaries shape local expressions of political agency. How does ONE PIECE’s narrative of freedom, friendship, and resistance against corrupt authority resonate with the lived experiences of young activists in postcolonial societies? What does the circulation of such symbols outside of the ‘Western’ imaginary reveal about the shifting landscapes of global cultural exchange, digital communication, and generational identity? And are there cases of protest centered in Asia, Africa or the Middle East that operate outside (or resist being absorbed into) global capitalist frameworks?
Written and illustrated by the Japanese author Oda Eiichirō (b. 1975) and published since 1997, the modern pirate story ONE PIECEcounts with more than 500 million copies in circulation worldwide as the best-selling manga series ever. By examining the ONE PIECEpirate flag with its characteristic straw hat as both a cultural artifact and a political signifier, the workshop seeks to map the intersections of popular culture, protest aesthetics, and transnational youth mobilization. We welcome papers from across the humanities and social sciences — including anthropology, cultural studies, political science, and regional studies — that contribute to understanding how Japanese pop culture (not limited to ONE PIECE) is reimagined in local acts of resistance.
Research Workshop at the Asia-Africa-Institute of the University of Hamburg, 26-27 March 2026, Asia-Africa-Institute, Hamburg, Germany; organized by Nora Derbal (Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies), Kerstin Fooken (Japanese Studies) and Hewan Semon Marye (African Studies)
Instructions:
Limited travel funding may be available for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and faculty from low-income countries and institutions. We aim to publish the revised papers as a special issue in a refereed journal.
Submissions: Individual proposals should include an abstract (300 words), email address, affiliation, and short biography of presenter(s). Please also indicate if you will need assistance with travel funding.
Email submissions to both Nora Derbal (nora.derbal@uni-hamburg.de) and Kerstin Fooken (kerstin.fooken@uni-hamburg.de).
Deadline for submission of proposals: December 1st, 2025
Notification of acceptance: December 15, 2025
Contact Information
Nora Derbal, University of Hamburg, Asia-Africa-Institute, Germany
Contact Email
URL
https://www.aai.uni-hamburg.de/voror/aktuelles/26-03-26-from-manga-to-manifesto…
4. Lambeaux de la nature
Fragments de sciences naturelles
de Avicenne
5. Rashwan, Hany. et al.(2025) ‘Balāgha is not rhetoric: The untranslatability of Arabo-Islamic literary terms’,Translation and Interpreting Studies: The Journal of the American Translation and Interpreting Studies Association. doi: 10.1075/tis.25037.ras.
https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/tis.25037.ras#html_fulltext
6. Mon. Nov. 3 12-1:30pm EST webinar: Atiq Rahimi and Homeira Qaderi in conversation
The Iran Colloquium at Yale will be hosting one of the most exciting events in the Afghan novelist Homeira Qaderi’s multi-year series of Persian-language public conversations with fellow writers. This time, she will be speaking with the Cannes award-winning Franco-Afghan writer and director Atiq Rahimi!
This will be a webinar in Persian, open to all, on Monday November 3, 12-1:30pm Eastern US time. Register here, and for more information on the event, see here.
This event is co-sponsored by the Yale Center for Middle East Studies and the Central Asia Initiative, supported by the Edward J. and Dorothy Clarke Kempf Memorial Fund. We hope to see you there.
7. Amir Khosrow Afshar Visiting Fellowship, 2026-27
The LSE Iranian History Initiative welcomes applications for the Amir Khosrow Afshar Visiting Fellowship for the 2026-27 academic year. The Afshar Fellowship provides an opportunity for an external post-doctoral scholar of modern Iranian history, including both early-career researchers and established scholars, to travel to London and be affiliated with LSE while conducting research on any aspect of the modern history of Iran between 1500 and 1979. This might include research at the UK National Archives, the British Library, the LSE Library and Archives, or other libraries and archives in London and the UK.
The Iranian History Initiative particularly welcomes applications from scholars based outside of the UK; from scholars whose research involves the use of Persian-language primary sources; and from scholars working on any aspect of the history of Pahlavi Iran (1921-1979).
The Afshar Fellowship is tenable for a period of one month during either the Autumn (28 September to 11 December 2026), Winter (11 January to 25 March 2027) or Spring (26 April to 11 June 2027) terms at LSE. Fellowships are not tenable outside of these dates of term. Afshar Fellows will be reimbursed up to £2,000 for the cost of return economy travel to London, up to £125 per night for accommodation for a maximum of 31 days stay in London, and up to £125 for UK visa expenses.
Fellows will be formally affiliated with the Iranian History Initiative and the Department of International History at LSE. Afshar Fellows will receive an LSE ID card, granting them access to campus buildings, including the LSE Library. An IT account, including LSE e-mail and access to the LSE Library’s online resources, will also be provided. Afshar Fellows are expected to attend IHI and departmental events during the period of their residency in London and to present their research in a departmental forum or public event.
Applications, consisting of a research proposal (no more than three pages) and CV, should be made by email to Dr Roham Alvandi (R.Alvandi@lse.ac.uk) by no later than 19 January 2026. Applications will be assessed by a selection committee, and the fellowship will be awarded by the Department of International History’s Research Committee.
- October 28, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.CONVOCATORIA Sexto encuentro sobre el Islam en América Latina
CALL Sixth meeting about Islam in Latin America
https://www.lacisa.org/convocatoria-sexto-encuentro-sobre-el-islam-en-america-latina
2. Call for Papers: Special Issue of MELA Notes in Honor of Jane Lewisohn and Nooshafarin Ansari
The editorial board of MELA Notes, the official journal of the Middle East Librarians Association (MELA), invites submissions for a special issue celebrating and critically examining the enduring legacies of two pioneering women in Iranian archives and library & information science: Jane Lewisohn and Nooshafarin Ansari. As foundational female leaders in the field, their scholarship, institution-building, and mentorship have profoundly shaped generations of librarians, archivists, and information professionals in Iran and beyond.
This pairing is intentional, as Lewisohn and Ansari belong to the same generation of Archivist/Librarians who served as bridges between local and global contexts. Both worked within Iran and contributed significantly to Iranian studies and cultural preservation in the diaspora. Their intertwined legacies highlight the connections between national and international perspectives, women’s leadership in knowledge institutions, and the transnational circulation of cultural heritage.
This issue aims not only to recognize their contributions but also to use their work as a lens for advancing scholarship in library and information science, archival studies, and Middle Eastern studies. We seek articles that situate their efforts within larger questions of knowledge production, gendered labor, cultural preservation, and the professionalization of LIS and archival practice in Iran, the Middle East, and diasporic contexts. In this way, the issue will extend beyond biography to generate new insights into the histories, challenges, and futures of the field.
The themes of the proposed articles may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Pathways, barriers, and breakthroughs for women in Iranian and Middle Eastern LIS/archives
- Gendered labor, recognition, and leadership models inspired by Lewisohn and Ansari
- The role of archives and oral history projects in documenting Iranian women’s history and contributions
Submission Guidelines:
- Abstracts: Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words by October 31, 2025. The abstract should clearly outline the article’s research question, methodology, key findings, and its relevance to the special issue’s theme.
- Please consult the Guidelines for Contributors on our website for citation and transliteration styles.
- https://escholarship.org/uc/melanotes/Guidelines
- Full Articles: Authors of selected abstracts will be invited to submit a full article of 5,000 to 10,000 words. The deadline for full article submission is January 1, 2026.
- Submission Method: Abstracts should be sent via email to fsonboldel@ucsd.edu.
3. Call for Applications: The Holocaust, World War II, and Iranian Studies Research Workshop
June 22–26, 2026
Toronto, Canada
Applications due January 12, 2026
The Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies and the William Levine Family Institute for Holocaust Education at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in cooperation with the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto invite applications for a research workshop on the connections between Iran, the Holocaust, and World War II. Arash Azizi, Yale Program for the Study of Antisemitism, Yale University; Jennifer L. Jenkins, Department of History, University of Toronto; and Lior B. Sternfeld, Department of History, Pennsylvania State University, will serve as co-convenors for the program, which will be held June 22–26, 2026, at the Mir-Djalali Institute at the University of Toronto.
This workshop will bring together scholars working at the intersection of Iranian history and Holocaust studies to share their research and to lay the groundwork for a collective publication featuring the participants’ papers.
We seek to contribute to the growing body of scholarship on Iran in the 1930s and ‘40s that highlights the country’s role as a site of refuge, transit, and multifaceted political, social, and cultural exchange. Iran served as the most important non-combatant theater of World War II, and the Anglo-Soviet occupation of the country in 1941 fundamentally altered the trajectory of both the war and Iranian history, creating what some have termed a “lost decade” in the country’s national development. During the war years, Iran became a haven for hundreds of thousands of European refugees, including thousands of European Jews, mostly from Poland, who fled Nazi persecution through the Soviet Union. As a result, the country emerged as an important center for global Jewish and Zionist institutions, which established extensive operations in Tehran after 1942, drawn in part by the proximity of the estimated five million Jews in the Soviet Union.
The global war profoundly reshaped Iran’s national politics, fostering the growth of civil society organizations while various nationalist, internationalist, fascist, and anti-fascist commitments animated the Iranian political scene. Iranian political actors found themselves advocating for both Allied and Axis forces. Some embraced the notion that Iranians belonged to a mythical “Aryan race,” an idea that would persist in certain intellectual and political circles in the years to come. This terminology served multiple purposes: Iranian diplomats in Europe deployed it strategically in relations with Nazi Germany, while domestic political actors invoked it to advance nationalist projects at home.
Iranian responses to the war itself were equally diverse. Many celebrated their country’s role as a “bridge to victory” for the Allied war effort, even as increasing numbers gravitated toward the emerging anti-colonial political movement led by Mohammad Mossadeq. These wartime transformations of Iran’s political landscape had lasting effects on political movements and remain an understudied dimension of this period.
While Iranian Jews in Europe were targeted by the Nazis and their collaborators and some Iranians were imprisoned and/or killed in concentration camps, the Iranian diplomatic apparatus in Europe worked to aid Iranian citizens in distress, including rescuing Iranian Jews from the Holocaust and facilitating their safe passage to Iran. The war years brought profound change for Iranian Jews at home, expanding their involvement in the political and cultural life of the country and bringing them into contact with Jewish populations beyond Iran and across the Middle East. Interactions with European Jewish refugees and transnational Jewish aid organizations proved pivotal in shaping Iranian-Jewish responses to Zionism.
In later years, the memory of the Holocaust and the war experience would become contested subjects. Iranian Jews and non-Jewish Iranians commemorated the Holocaust in media and art, while other Iranians denied it—a stance that the Islamic Republic, founded in 1979, adopted and institutionalized as state-sponsored Holocaust denial that continues today.
To deepen our understanding of this crucial period and its enduring impact, we invite applications that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Iranian survivors and victims of Nazi persecution and the Holocaust
- Iranian experiences in wartime Europe (as rescuers, witnesses, and bystanders)
- European refugee experiences in Iran during the 1930s and 1940s, with particular attention to Jewish refugees
- Nazi propaganda targeting Iranians
- Refugee transit through the Soviet interior to Iran
- The Anglo-Soviet invasion and occupation of Iran
- Relations among British, American, and Soviet occupiers in Iran
- The Soviet Union’s role in wartime Iran, especially based on Soviet archives
- German-Iranian diplomatic, political, and economic relations during the interwar period and World War II
- The activities of the Polish government-in-exile in Iran and its relationship with the Iranian and Allied governments
- The activities of Jewish and Zionist organizations in Iran during the war
- Pro-Nazi and fascist networks in Iran and their subsequent legacies
- Anti-fascist organizing and discourse in wartime Iran and its legacies
- “Aryan race” discourse in politics, arts, and culture, including conflicts with Nazi officials over Iranian nationalist appropriations of the concept
- Depictions of the Holocaust in Iranian film and television
- Holocaust commemoration and historiography in Iranian political and cultural discourse and media
- Iranian-Polish ties and postwar memorialization of Polish refugees in Iran, including the marginalization of Polish-Jewish experiences
- Holocaust denial by Iranian state and non-state actors
We particularly encourage contributions that adopt transnational perspectives or engage innovative methodological approaches. Scholars whose work draws on understudied sources, such as Persian-language material and Soviet archival sources, are particularly encouraged to apply.
Daily sessions of the workshop will consist of presentations of participants’ research as well as opportunities to consult with Museum staff about its educational outreach and academic programming. In Toronto participants will have access to the Tavakoli Archives, a unique repository of Persian-language rare books, manuscripts, lithographs, newspapers, and other written ephemera documenting the transnational Persian literary and print culture of the 19th and 20th centuries. Of particular interest is the archive’s extensive newspaper collection, which reflects the evolution of Iran’s press landscape from strict censorship in the 1930s to the flourishing of diverse political journalism in the 1940s and early 1950s, when publications across the ideological spectrum—from nationalist conservative to communist—served as organizational hubs for emerging political movements and fostered dynamic public discourse despite wartime censorship by the Allied occupiers. The wartime press coverage held by the archive runs to around 250,000 pages printed between 1938 and 1956 and includes unique material. Holdings include a number of daily and weekly publications from across the political spectrum, such as Iran-e Ma, Iran-e Bastan, Nasim-e Shomal, Mard-e Emruz, Parcham-e Eslam, and Setareh-e Islam; the satirical weekly Baba Shamal; literary and scientific journals such as Sokhan, Yaghma, and Mehr; the record of parliamentary proceedings Mozakerat-e Majles; and numerous other rare publications.
Participants will also have the opportunity to learn more about archival resources related to Iran in the Museum’s David M. Rubenstein National Institute for Holocaust Documentation, which houses an unparalleled repository of Holocaust evidence that documents the fate of victims, survivors, rescuers, liberators, and others. The Museum’s holdings chronicle the experiences of European Jewish refugees in Iran and Iranian citizens in Europe during World War II through oral histories, personal papers, and institutional records. Extensive collections from major Jewish aid organizations operating in Tehran, combined with personal collections of letters, memoirs, photographs, music, and artifacts from refugees, illuminate the complex networks of refuge, aid, and cultural life in Iran during the war and its aftermath.
To Apply
Applications are welcome from scholars and researchers affiliated with universities, research institutions, or memorial sites and in any relevant academic discipline whose research addresses Iran during the Holocaust and World War II and their aftermath.
The Mandel Center will reimburse the costs of round-trip economy-class air tickets to/from Toronto, and related incidental expenses, up to a maximum reimbursable amount calculated by home institution location, which will be distributed within 6–8 weeks of the workshop’s conclusion. The Mandel Center will also provide hotel accommodation for the duration of the workshop. Applicants should submit abstracts for papers that will be developed for publication in a special journal issue and/or edited volume. Participants are required to attend the full duration of the workshop and to circulate a draft paper in advance of the program.
The deadline for receipt of applications is January 12, 2026. Applications must include:
- A short biography
- A curriculum vitae
- A list of any related publications and/or on-going research projects
- An abstract of no more than 500 words for the paper the applicant is prepared to present during the program
All application materials must be submitted in English online at ushmm.org/iran-workshop.
Questions should be directed to researchworkshops@ushmm.org.
Co-Organizers
The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto offers a transdisciplinary hub for scholars, students and community partners to engage in conversation to celebrate, study and preserve Iranian history and culture. The Institute represents faculty and students working on Iranian history, literature, religion, languages and arts across the University of Toronto’s three campuses, and offers a meeting place to engage community in this discipline across Canada.
An international leader in the field of Holocaust scholarship, the Museum’s Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies provides for continued growth and vitality in the field of Holocaust studies, promotes networking and cooperative projects among Holocaust scholars around the world, and ensures the training of future generations of Holocaust scholars in the US and abroad.
The Initiative on Holocaust Denial and Antisemitism at the Museum’s Levine Institute, in collaboration with IranWire, has sought to educate Iranian audiences about the intersections between Iran and the history of the Holocaust, highlight its contemporary relevance, and counter the Islamic Republic’s state-sanctioned Holocaust denial through The Sardari Project: Iran and the Holocaust. Since launching in 2020, The Sardari Project has introduced Iranian audiences to Holocaust history through articles and videos on topics ranging from Nazi propaganda to Muslim rescuers, a Persian translation of a graphic biography about Anne Frank, fabricated texts like the “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion” and original research on Iranian victims of the Nazis, Persian newspapers from the Holocaust era, Iran as a refuge to those fleeing German occupation, and more. To date, Persian-language content produced through the project has received more than 15 million views across multiple social media platforms.
Contact Email
URL
https://www.ushmm.org/iran-workshop
4. Smarthistory’s new “syllabus” of Islamic art and architecture
a new Islamic Art and Architecture “syllabus” of Smarthistory content has just been published. This curated guide of Smarthistory content is organized into 13 units and, as of today, includes 137 essays and videos: https://smarthistory.org/curated-guide/islamic-art-and-architecture-syllabus/
Unit 1: Introduction and context
Unit 2: Art and architecture for a new Islamic world
Unit 3: The Umayyad Dynasty (661–750 C.E.)
Unit 4: The Abbasids (750–1258) and the Fatimids (909–1171)
Unit 5: The political mosaic of the 10th–13th centuries
Unit 6: In the wake of the Mongols (1256–1507)
Unit 7: A medieval world, connected (c. 13th–15th centuries)
Unit 8: Shifting landscapes in the Maghreb (before and after 1492)
Unit 9: The Mughal Empire (1526–1857)
Unit 10: The Safavid Empire (1501–1736)
Unit 11: The Ottoman Empire (1299–1922)
Unit 12: Islamic art in the 19th and 20th centuries
Unit 13: “Modern Islamic Art”? “Contemporary Islamic Art”?
The curation of this body of public scholarship was only possible because of the many authors who have already contributed essays to Smarthistory. Thank you all! More directly, my work on this syllabus is indebted to the editorial guidance of Marika Sardar and the encouraging support of Smarthistory leadership.
Over the next few months, we hope to augment this syllabus and fill in gaps where we can. If you would like to contribute an essay to this syllabus, or if you would like to share any questions or comments, please reach out to me at courtney@smarthistory.org with a short note.
I look forward to collaboratively expanding Smarthistory’s content on Islamic Art and Architecture over this academic year.
Autumnally,
Courtney
Contact Information
Courtney Lesoon
Macaulay Family Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Islamic Art History
Smarthistory
Contact Email
URL
https://smarthistory.org/curated-guide/islamic-art-and-architecture-syllabus/
5. CFP: Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, Spring/Fall 2026
We are pleased to announce the Call for Proposals for the 2026 Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series (VIAHSS). We invite proposals for individual papers and workshops for our Spring and Fall 2026 series. Please see full details below and submit proposals via our online form by Friday, November 14, 2025.
Founded at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series (VIAHSS) has brought together a diverse community of researchers from around the world interested in the history of art and visual culture in the Islamicate world. The series’ monthly virtual seminars and workshops have successfully filled a new niche in academic discourse. While travel has resumed and in-person events have begun again, the need for a forum which brings together international and intergenerational audiences in an inclusive and supportive fashion remains.
We are now inviting proposals for paper presentations on topics related to the history of art, architecture, and visual culture of any time period from the Islamic world for spring and fall of 2026. We welcome submissions from current graduate students, faculty, curators, and independent scholars.
The virtual seminar series will take place on Zoom from mid-January onwards. Each session will include a 20–30 minute presentation followed by a 20-minute discussion in a constructive and friendly manner. In addition to individual proposals we are also open to workshop proposals, which might include moderated discussions of pre-circulated papers, roundtables, discussions with practicing architects or artists, or other formats.
If you are interested in presenting, please upload an abstract detailing your topic (not more than 500 words) and your CV or resume by Friday, November 14, 2025, to this form.
If you have any questions, please contact co-organizers Dr. Alexander Brey (alexander.brey@wellesley.edu), Dr. Rachel Winter (winterr6@msu.edu), and Dr. Jaimee Comstock-Skipp (jaimee.comstock-skipp@ames.ox.ac.uk) with the phrase “VIAHSS 2026 proposal” in the subject line.
Contact Information
Drs. Alexander Brey, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Rachel Winter
Contact Email
6. Exhibition – The Bumiller Collection / University of Bamberg Museum of Islamic Art relaunched
After two years of refurbishing the private collection of founder M. Bumiller, the permanent exhibition is open again.
With a new educational concept, the museum presents topics related to art and craftsmanship in Iranian lands.
Covering an area of around 400 m² visitors experience the history of arts and crafts, production, science and medicine, and the history of the Central Asian Ghaznavid dynasty through the objects on display.
The collection focuses on metalwork from the 9th to 13th centuries from the Iranian region, Afghanistan and Central Asia.
Ceramics, glass and coins complete the collection.
Contact Information
Dr. Verena Daiber, curator
The Bumiller Collection
Bamberg University Museum of Islamic Art
Austraße 29
96047 Bamberg
Germany
+49 (0)951 25954
www.the-bumiller-collection.com
Contact Email
v.daiber@the-bumiller-collection.com
URL
http://the-bumiller-collection.com
7. Fall 2025 AKPIA Lecture Series: A Forum for Islamic Art & Architecture at Harvard University
October 16, 2025, 6:00pm
“A Technology of Femininity: The Imperial Camera in the Abdülhamid II Albums”
Erin Hyde Nolan
AKPIA Fellow; Visiting Assistant Professor, Bates College
485 Broadway, Lower Lecture Hall
This event will not be livestreamed.
October 30, 2025, 6:00pm
“Fictions of Capital: Inventing, Extracting, and Fabricating Islamic Ceramics for a Global Market”
Margaret Graves
Adrienne Minassian Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture in Honor of Marilyn Jenkins-Madina, Brown University
485 Broadway, Lower Lecture Hall
This event will not be livestreamed.
November 20, 2025, 6:00pm
“The Erotics of Empire: Mughal Albums and Visible Bodies, ca. 1720–1800”
Yael Rice
Associate Professor of the History of Art & Asian Languages and Civilizations, Amherst College
485 Broadway, Room 422
This event will be livestreamed. To register, visit
https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_TvIUvmEuTxmIua_Cbv-uhA
THE AGA KHAN PROGRAM FOR ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
Lectures are open to the public and held Thursdays, 6:00-7:30pm, at 485 Broadway
(HAA Lower Lecture Hall, or Room 422), Cambridge, MA 02138.
Registration is required to view lectures streamed via Zoom Webinar.
For further information, call 617-495-2355 or email agakhan@fas.harvard.edu.
For registration information, visit https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events.
Contact Information
THE AGA KHAN PROGRAM FOR ISLAMIC ARCHITECTURE AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY
485 Broadway, HAA Lower Lecture Hall, Cambridge, MA 02138
Phone: 617-495-2355
Contact Email
URL
https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events
8. Zoom: The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies and Invisible East
Please join us on Wednesday 12 November at 12PM EST / 5PM GMT to hear from Martina Massullo of the Louvre Museum on ‘Framing the Past: Exploring the Godard Photographic Archives of Iran and Afghanistan’. Pre-registration is essential.
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/azuvuYKIRh-yNsSYNoA_5A#/registration
9. “Re-Introducing the Classics: Teaching Classical Persian through the Works of Saʿdi”
Prof. Cameron Cross
University of Michigan
Prof. Matthew Thomas Miller
University of Maryland
Saturday, November 1, 2025, 1:00 p.m. EDT
Zoom Registration Link:
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/rJS6O8qgTkqDnOa-scg49A
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
10. The Arabic and Latin Science of Compound Medicaments
A New Reading of Book Ten of the «Practica Pantegni»
Anna Gili
11 November 2025 – 5 PM (CET)
The Royal Book (al-Kitāb al-Malakī), a medical encyclopaedia written by the Arabic physician al-Majūsī (930–994), includes an entire book devoted to the science of compound medicaments in its practical section. Rather than merely compiling lists of antidotes, it begins with a passionate defence of rationalist physicians’ views on the necessity of using compound antidotes, emphasising their effectiveness as an essential tool in the battle against disease.
Notably, the Latin translation by Constantine the African (1020–1087), preserved in a single manuscript from Toledo, goes beyond simply translating al-Majusi’s doctrines. It transforms them into a more philosophically informed discussion, substantiating the rationalist physicians’ claims by explaining how medicaments exert their virtues, while also incorporating fragments of earlier Latin learning.
This talk will present a selection of passages to highlight the main features of this neglected text and its Latin adaptation.
Centre for the Study of Medicine and the Body in the Renaissance (CSMBR) – Assistant Coordinator
Domus Comeliana, Via Cardinale Maffi 48, 56126 Pisa, Italy
Tel.: +39.02.006.20.51 – Mobile: +39.333.13.12.203
Email: ah@csmbr.fondazionecomel.org
To register for this event please follow the link:
The Arabic and Latin Science of Compound Medicaments
11. HYBRID Conference “Decolonizing Archaeological Epistemologies”, Leiden, 29-30 October 2025
The conference will critically examine archaeological histories and practices, proposing instead more expan-sive, democratic, and liberatory approaches to the past and material culture, challenging extant museological, academic, economic, and legal systems governing the ways that material culture is collected, studied, and traded.This conference proposes a counter-colonial approach that rethinks the status of the historical object in the public eye.
Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/133323.
Registration: https://www.decolonizingarchaeology.com/registration/
12. Journée d_’étude„Patrimoine_et mémoire du monde iranien. Autour des archives d_’André Godard (1881-1965) et Yedda Godard (1889-1976)“ – Musée du Louvre, Paris, 4 novembre 2025
Information et programme : https://tinyurl.com/4yvd3ncd
13. HYBRID International Conference “Poetry and Knowledge: The Production and Transmission of Knowledge in Arabic Verse (1100–1800)”, Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Münster, 20-22 November 2025
The conference will explore the intersection of literature and the history of knowledge by focusing on Arabic didactic poetry, a genre in which knowledge was composed, transmitted, and performed in verse rather than prose. This event will bring together scholars from various disciplines to discuss the poetic, linguistic, and epistemic dimensions of this tradition.
Information, program and online participation: https://tinyurl.com/3rt5rkdz
14. ONLINE Virtual Seminar Series “Islamic Art History (VIAHSS)”, Michigan, Spring/Fall 2026
We invite proposals for paper presentations on topics related to the history of art, architecture, and visual culture of any time period from the Islamic world for spring and fall of 2026. We welcome submissions from current graduate students, faculty, curators, and independent scholars.
Deadline for abstracts: 14 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3cpc973d
15. Yale`s “Central Asia Workshop” (Including Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey), University of Almaty, Kazakhstan, 25-26 May 2026
Participation is open to advanced graduate students and junior scholars in the humanities and social scien-ces. Advanced graduate students must be in the second or third year of a doctoral program. Scholars with PhDs and junior faculty must be no more than five years beyond the degree. Travel, accommodation, and meals will be provided to all selected candidates.
Deadline for applications: 9 January 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4u49n9nj
16. MA in “Critical Asian and Middle Eastern Humanities”, Duke University
The MA is training students in the written, visual, and performance cultures of East Asia and the Middle East. The program integrates approaches and methodologies from literary studies, film studies, and cultural studies, providing skills for either a doctoral or professional degree.
Deadline for applications: 17 February 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/muvy8psa
17. Call for Articles on “Non-Orientalist Approaches to Modern Uyghur Studies” for a Special Issue of a Journal TBA
Uyghur Studies has gained unprecedented global attention, yet much of the scholarship remains entangled in Orientalist assumptions, securitization discourses, and Eurocentric epistemologies. This special issue seeks to move beyond such paradigms by fostering non-Orientalist, decolonial, and critical perspectives on the modern Uyghur experience within China, Central Asia, and the broader transnational context.
Deadline for submissions: 1 January 2026. Information: Guest Editor immanuel.ness@brooklyn.cuny.edu
18. Call for Articles for the Journal “Global Discourse” (Focus Middle East)
The journal is welcoming contributions for a special edition critically assessing frame theory in the study of conflict. We invite contributions focused on current events from a wide range of backgrounds and disciplines, to explore how discourse can be examined using frame theory.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/mvm25w99
- October 25, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Oxford: Call for Applications Bahari Visiting Fellowship in the Persian Arts of the Book 2026-27
Call for Applications for Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections.
Of particular interest may be the Bahari Visiting Fellowship in the Persian Arts of the Book.
You can find the full details of opportunities, and instructions on how to apply, at:
Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections | Bodleian Libraries
The call closes on 28 November 2025.
2. Call for Expressions of Interest – Visual AnthropologyEditorial Assistant (2025-2028)
(This role is supported by an annual editorial honorarium of $1,400 USD)
Visual Anthropology is seeking a highly organized and motived Editorial Assistant to provide specified editorial and administrative support to the executive editors. This is a high profile position suitable for applicants who are committed to actively and creatively participating in the redevelopment of a pivotal journal for our discipline, and engaging with scholars and practitioners in the field.
The Editorial Assistant will assist with all stages of the editorial process from submission to publication. The Editorial Assistant will play a key position at VA and work in close collaboration with the Editor-in-Chief and editorial team to help manage manuscripts through the peer-review process. This is an exciting time to join VA as we re-launch and develop the journal to introduce new content types and formats.
The Editorial Assistant will provide editorial and administrative support to the executive editors in:
- Operating an online submission and peer review system (ScholarOne Manuscript (S1M)) to support scholarly manuscripts through the peer review process, working within defined workflows and timelines,
- Maintaining accurate records of submissions, peer review reports and related correspondence within the online submission and peer review site.
- Corresponding with authors, reviewers and editorial team members regarding manuscripts and workflows,
- Ensuring processes are followed by authors, reviewers and editorial team members in the use of the S1M online submission and peer review site to maintain compliance with best practice publishing standards.
To be considered you will need:
- Experience of anthropological research involving visual or multimodal theory, ethnographic study, methods or practice at doctoral level (e.g. as a doctoral candidate),
- Experience with working effectively as part of a team,
- The capacity to devote time each week to the role, and to attend Editorial Board meetings and training sessions as needed,
- The ability to ensure all submitted manuscripts are considered in a prompt, consistent and professional manner.
- The ability to confidently use an online peer review management system,
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills to supply timely and accurate information in a professional manner to internal and external stakeholders,
- Proficient computer skills across contemporary platforms and applications and willingness to learn and adapt to new technologies,
- Proven organizational skills and attention to detail in running processes,
- Demonstrated ability to use initiative in selecting appropriate solutions, remaining calm under pressure and knowing when to escalate an issue,
- A good understanding of the peer review process.
Applications should include professional C.V. (two pages), and a Cover Letter of no longer than one page, to include the following:
- Your motivation for applying for this role,
- How you would work in partnership with the Editor-in-Chief and wider editorial team
- The experience and skills you would bring to the role.
Please send your applications (should be sent as attached PDF file) to the Editor-in-Chief (P.Khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au ) by 21 November 2025 (end of day).
- October 21, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.ONLINE WORKSHOP: Collectively Situated Knowledge: A decolonial research method for constructing collective auto-narratives and positionalities
To Apply: Please fill out the form here- https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/forms/s/9sxrFz2ZiLbLttWb43oy9tnb
Application Deadline: Until all spaces are filled.
Payment Deadline: November 13th, 2025
Dates: Mondays and Tuesdays November 16th- December 1st, 2025
Time: All sessions are Mondays and Tuesdays:
– 9hrs to 11hrs, Mexico City Time,
– 16hrs-18hrs Central European Time,
– 20:30hrs-22:30hrs India Standard Time
Location: ONLINE
**SPACE IS LIMITED**
THIS COURSE FOCUSES ON CREATING RESEARCH METHODS THROUGH COLLECTIVE PRACTICE
IT IS TIME TO CENTER COLLECTIVE THOUGHT AND PRACTICE IN RESEARCH
This workshop addresses two principal discrepancies that arise in the creation of scholar/activist knowledge with indigenous, rural and organized urban communities that seek to create a decolonial research methodologies. Through participatory practices of knowledge exchange we will first work to incorporate collective forms of knowledge creation drawing on the decision-making structures of community assemblies present in many rural and indigenous communities around the world and then, we will explore collective auto-narrative as a research method. In this process we will dismantle the construction and practice of situating knowledge in order to create collective positionalities that reflect the construction of the self within the collective contexts that we inhabit. By exploring collective forms of agency in knowledge creation we will delve into the multiplicitous protaganisms that conglomerate in creating praxis and have the potential to resist epistemicide.
THIS COURSE WILL COVER
-Methods and analyses for creating decolonial economic projects.
-Understanding ourselves as situated knowers and how to position ourselves collectively.
-Unlearning colonial paradigms of research and knowledge production.
-Rethinking value, exchange, and labor in research.
-El Cambalache as an example of an anti-capitalist and non-hierarchical research project that practiced collective auto-narrative.
FOR WHOM?
The practice, research and theories of non-capitalist social power included in this course were developed by and for all of us in order to bring about social change. For this reason, it is designed for people interested in creating, practicing and collectively researching noncapitalist and anti- colonial social power to be carried out in their places of residence or research. Everyone is invited to participate – women, people with diasporic heritages, indigenous people and LBGTQ++ are especially invited.
CALENDAR
All sessions are Mondays and Tuesdays:
– 9hrs to 11hrs, Mexico City Time,
– 16hrs-18hrs Central European Time,
– 20:30hrs-22:30hrs India Standard Time
Monday November 16th-
Introductions, Remembering Knowledge Beyond Extraction
Tuesday November 17th-
Positionality, Power, and Partial Perspectives- Making them Collective
Monday November 23nd-
Collective Knowledge as Method
Tuesday November 24th-
Persistent Relationships: collectivity and communality: Non-Capitalist Ethics of Research through Collective Autonarrative
Monday November 30th-
Practicing Collective Auto-narrative and Story as Resistance
Tuesday December 1st-
Living the Method — Research as Relationship and Collective Creation
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Decolonial methodologies call for shifting the power relationships within the construction of knowledge. This involves not only recognizing the obfuscation of the persistence and value of the great multitude of epistemes present in the majority world but also the consequential urgency to shatter the hierarchy of intersectional structural violences that deny the inherent diversity, wealth and abundance of these ontologies. The disparate nature of epistemicide within academia simultaneously seeks to innovate in the creation and practice of institutionalized minority world forms of knowledge while silencing, devaluing and ultimately eliminating the epistemic polyphony present in the majority world. In order to shift this dynamic new forms of research methods are necessary. In order to create new methodologies we, as researchers, are pushed to transform ourselves and our systems of valuing.
In Capitalism social power is constructed through the acquisition of wealth through commodities and currency. Access to wealth is limited through intersectional structural violence across geographies which consequentially restrict access to social power and, as such, diverse epistemes are devalued. Many pre-hispanic empires and now, indigenous communities in the Americas have persistently functioned with moneyless economies that are sustained through collective work, exchange and thought. However, these forms of thought and practice have no value in a capitalist/colonial economy because they have no monetary value. These forms of indigenous praxis create non-capitalist social power which is the most available form of social power in the world.
Ethnography constructs knowledge through the investigation of ethnic expression, experience and is now recognized as intercultural research across epistemologies and ontologies. Ground-up approaches to ethnography such as photo-voice, community cinema, community radio, varied forms of artistic expression and podcasting seek to decenter the investigator while privileging the agency of research participants in the co-creation of knowledge. Meanwhile, beyond academia, social media around the world has created a platform for people from all walks of life to express themselves and their ontological experiences. Simultaneously, indigenous and rural communities in the Americas (and around the world) employ the structure of community assemblies to create knowledge about themselves, their context and resolve problems that they face.
The push towards collective knowledge creation amplifies the imperative to recognize the polyphonic nature of life on Earth. In order to audaciously create knowledge about resistance to coloniality and the expressions of flourishing in spite of all of the violence and chaos that greets us in 2025 academic practice would do well to incorporate and recognize the collective nature of our own experience, the interwoven immersion that accompanies us through our fields of research, our protagonism and that of others as we mutually influence and transform ourselves
and each other in the co-creation of knowledge. The community assembly as method for decision-making and knowledge creation simultaneously recognizes the incredible strength to persist in cultural maintenance and innovation inherent in those communities whose epistemes and territories are under constant attack through the mechanisms of capitalism/coloniality while also shifting away from the extractive nature of academic research. If we want to change the system it would do us well to let those that have always had different ways of knowing and being to take the lead in constructing the expression about their quotidian experience and its implications.
This is not to say that these practices are not fraught with contradiction and complexity. However, giving voice to those experiences creates the possibility to activelychange what we consider knowledge and who we understand to have access to it. Consequently, it is also necessary to piece apart the fraught nature of individualism, ethics and relationality within academic practice so that we may innovate towards a future that seeks liberation from capitalism/coloniality through a multiplicity of epistemologies and ontologies. Through this workshop we will practice collective work and thought through sharing our research experiences, challenges and steps towards developing futures that resist genocide and epistemicide.
HOW TO APPLY
Please fill out this online form:
https://share.mayfirst.org/apps/forms/s/9sxrFz2ZiLbLttWb43oy9tnb
In the form you will be asked to include a 1,000-word letter of motivation to explaining why you would like to participate in the workshop and what types of research or community projects that will benefit from your participation. It is recommended that you write the letter beforehand and then paste it into the form. If you have any questions please contact:
Dr. Erin Araujo, cambalach@autoproduzioni.net
IMPORTANT DATES
Sessions: November 16th to December 1st 2025
Application Deadline: until all seats are filled (limited capacity).
Course Payment: Due by November 13th, 2025
**SPACE IS LIMITED**
COSTS
Cost for participants from countries with a high access to money
(in US dollars)
$500 – $350 Solidarity price for well employed participants or collectives who want
to participate with a single contribution. This price is suggested for people who have
some kind of funding for their professional development or can afford it because of
their high salary level. This price contributes some support to other people, with less
economic possibilities of work, so that they can pay less.
$350 – $200 Students and participants who can afford it because they have access
to some type of financing or are collectives that want to participate through a single
contribution.
$200 – $80 Students, grassroots activists and participants who have little access to
money.
Cost for participants from countries with little access to money (in Mexican
pesos):
$5,000-$3,500 Solidarity price for well-employed participants or collectives who
want to participate with a single contribution. This price is suggested for people
who have some kind of funding for their professional development or can afford
it because of their high salary level. By paying this price, you will contribute in
supporting other people who lack economic resources or whose access is very
limited, and who want to participate in the workshop, so that they can pay less.
$3,500-$2,000 Students and participants who can afford it because they have
access to some type of financing or are collectives who want to participate
through a single contribution.
$2,000 – $800 Students, grassroots activists and participants who have little
access to money.
If for any reason you are unable to cover the fees, please ask for moneyless
exchange options to cover prices.
All proceeds from this workshop will go to support El Cambalache’s research,
community and decolonial work.
This workshop is provided by El Cambalache from its Department of Decolonial Economics.
El Cambalache is a project that works on decolonizing the economy. Located in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas
and made by and for women and all those we know. It focuses on the exchange of things, knowledge and mutual aid
through workshops, actions, publications and an emerging podcast. Cambalache was started in 2014 and has been
created on a foundation of anti-systemic, anti-colonial and anti-capitalist values from local social movements towards
a future of well-being for all.
For more information see:
FB LaCambalache – IG Elcambalachesancristobal – X LaCambalachera – TT cambalacheras –
YT https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCslgLGj8V0LFxSaDnL8iYQg
Our documentary: Inter-Change Value (2016) https://vimeo.com/159060233
Please contact Dr. Erin Araujo at cambalach@autoproduzioni.net with questions.
Workshop on De- / Anti-Colonial Methods for Creating Collectivity, Incorporating Multiple Forms of Valuing and Supporting the Persistence of Our Relationships
2. Workshop – Monastic Landscapes in Northern Mesopotamia in the 6th-10th centuries
The study of Christianity in northern Mesopotamia during the late Sasanian and early Islamic periods (6th-10th centuries), particularly within the context of monasticism, offers critical insights into how Christian communities were shaped by the intersection of religious, cultural, and political dynamics. This era was characterized by significant religious diversity, with Christian, Jewish, Zoroastrian, Manichaean, and Islamic communities coexisting in the region. Northern Mesopotamia, encompassing regions like the Tur Abdin plateau, the Jazira plain, and the upper and middle Tigris valley, was a significant center of Christianity and monasticism. The region was home to numerous monastic communities that functioned not only as religious centers but also as hubs of religious education and cultural interaction.
The workshop (organized by Mustafa Ahmad and Alexander Pruß) will explore the archaeological, architectural, social, and cultural dimensions of monasticism and investigate the role of monasteries in shaping the socio-religious landscapes of northern Mesopotamia. The presentations of case studies, along with the discussions that follow, will contribute to a deeper understanding of the spatial organization, communal life, and broader societal impact of these monastic communities. Additionally, the workshop aims to highlight the ways in which monasteries functioned as centers of religious practice, education, and cultural exchange, providing new insights into the dynamics of interfaith interaction and the region’s historical development.
Contact Information
Dr. Mustafa Ahmad
Contact Email
URL
https://www.uni-frankfurt.de/177344484/Poster_Programma.pdf
3. Book launch (hybrid) – Explorations in Islamic Archaeology
The book Explorations in Islamic Archaeology: Material Culture, Settlements, and Landscapes from the Mediterranean to Western Asia edited by Joanita Vroom & Hagit Nol is launched at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden (Leiden) and online.
The symposium includes a keynote by Neil Price (Uppsala University): “The Vikings and Asia” and a session focusing on Leiden junior research in Islamic archaeology with Kate Mokránová, Aila Santi, and Jonathan Ouellet.
Registration until November 18th. Please mention if you join the museum event or online.
Contact Information
Hagit Nol
Contact Email
URL
https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/events/2025/11/book-launch-explorations-in…
4. CFP – EHG Colloquium: The production of material culture in the Islamic world: centers, craftsmen and technique
The 21st Colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society is taking place on July 2-4, 2026, at the Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany). It aims to bring together scholars of various disciplines to discuss the Islamic world from a materiality perspective. Shifting the focus from consumers and patrons to craftsmen, their workshops and their ‘know how’ allows to foreground social and economic dynamics that often go unnoticed. The interdisciplinary discussion would enable a better understanding of such dynamics as well as establishing a fuller historical narrative for craftsmen. We invite researchers from the fields of Islamic archaeology, Islamic architecture, Islamic art history and the contemporary arts as well as manuscript studies, museology, history, ethno-archaeology and archaeometry to submit a paper proposal by November 25, 2025.
Contact Information
Dr. Mustafa Ahmad
Contact Email
URL
https://ernst-herzfeld-gesellschaft.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/EHG2026.Fran…
5. Conference – Central Asian Pottery Network (CAPN) – First Meetin
Upcoming Conference in Siena | 30–31 October 2025
Central Asian Pottery Network (CAPN) – First Meeting
Towards a New Agenda for Ceramic Studies and Related Fields in Central Asia
We are pleased to announce the first meeting of the Central Asian Pottery Network (CAPN), which will take place in Siena (Italy), 30–31 October 2025.
Central Asian ceramics represent a vast and diverse field of study, encompassing a wide range of materials, methods, and scholarly traditions. Following the successful EAA Session “Pots in Transition” (Rome 2024), this meeting aims to put into practice the ideas and collaborations discussed there, and to consolidate an active network of researchers working on pottery and related materials from Central Asia.
While ceramics remain at the core of the discussion, the meeting welcomes contributions addressing other categories of material culture — such as glass, metals, and ecofacts — as well as interdisciplinary and archaeometric studies that integrate technical, historical, and socio-economic perspectives.
Particular emphasis will be placed on fostering dialogue between young scholars and colleagues from Central Asia and neighbouring regions. By exploring themes such as urbanism, rurality, and exchange through the lens of ceramics, the CAPN meeting seeks to promote a more holistic understanding of how material culture shapes and reflects ancient societies.
We look forward to meeting in Siena and to building a collaborative, dynamic community for the study of Central Asian ceramics and beyond. You can also follow the meeting online: https://unistrasi-it.zoom.us/j/88332720771.
Contact Information
Agnese Fusaro – University for Foreigners of Siena – International University (Italy); agnese.fusaro@unistrasi.it
Gabriele Puschnigg – Institute of Iranian Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria); Gabriele.Puschnigg@oeaw.ac.at
Jacopo Bruno – Institute of Iranian Studies, Austrian Academy of Sciences (Austria); “A tale of pots and people” project (FWF – der Wissenschaftsfonds ESPRIT-Projekt ESP 422-G); jacopo.bruno@oeaw.ac.at
Contact Email
URL
https://www.unistrasi.it/1/798/1111953/Central_Asian_Pottery_Network.htm
6. The British Association for Islamic Studies is delighted to announce that the 2025 BRAIS Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World has been jointly awarded to:
Dr Razieh S. Mousavi (PhD awarded by the Humboldt University of Berlin) for her thesis entitled: ‘Al-Farghānī’s Elements of Astronomy (c. 860 CE): An Interplay of Meaning and Form at the Intersection of Astronomical and Medical Tradition
and
Dr Leone Pecorini Goodall (PhD awarded by the University of Edinburgh) for his thesis entitled: ‘Sons and Daughters of the Caliphate:
Succession Politics in the Marwanid and early Abbasid family (64-216/684-831)’
Both submissions were praised in the highest possible terms by our reviewers and our Prize Committee, and we offer our sincere congratulations to Dr Mousavi and Dr Pecorini Goodall who have both kindly provided abstracts of their superb theses which you can read here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize/brais-prize-winner-2025
BRAIS Prize 2026
We are also excited to announce that the 2026 BRAIS Prize in the Study of Islam and the Muslim World is now open for submissions. The submission deadline is 5pm GMT Friday 30 January 2026. Full details about the submission process, including all rules and regulations, can be found here: https://www.brais.ac.uk/prize/brais-prize-2026
This international prize is awarded annually to one outstanding doctoral thesis. English-language submissions on any aspect of the academic study of Islam and the Muslim world, past and present, including Muslim-minority societies are accepted.
BRAIS would like to offer its heartfelt thanks to everyone who gave so generously of their time to the BRAIS Prize this year, including the many reviewers across the world who read the manuscripts and our Prize Committee who had the very difficult task of selecting our winner. Particular thanks to the BRAIS Prize Chair, Dr Saeko Yazaki, and Prize Coordinator, Adam Ramadhan, for their tireless work in overseeing the process from start to finish
Congratulations again to Dr Mousavi and Dr Pecorini Goodall and very best wishes from us all at BRAIS,
The British Association for Islamic Studies
The Alwaleed Centre
University of Edinburgh
16 George Square
Edinburgh
EH8 9LD
7. CLAMS Presents: Disasters and Resilience in the Mediterranean 400-1000 CE: Friday October 31st, 12:00 to 2:00 pm; Zoom Link: https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/…/BLPWCRdeRo-DHlQrx8xM7A
The first program of CLAMS’ fourth year!
Registration Link:
https://gc-cuny-edu.zoom.us/meeting/register/BLPWCRdeRo-DHlQrx8xM7A
8. Full-time tenure track open rank position at Department of Arabic Language and Culture, National Chengchi University (ROC/Taiwan)
Job Description
The Department of Arabic Language and Culture at National Chengchi University invites applications for one full-time tenure track open rank position in Arabic/Arab/Middle East/Islamic studies, starting on 1 August 2026. The deadline for the application is 2025 December 15.
We are seeking a junior or senior scholar with an excellent track of research in one (or more) of the following fields:
Arabic linguistics
Arabic literature
Arabic language teaching
Islamic studies
Middle Eastern studies
The ideal candidate will have active research agendas and a remarkable record of publications in their field after the appointment. The candidate will contribute to Arabic teaching in accordance with the teaching guideline of the Department, or teach the courses on the Department’s curriculum. They will have to teach 6 hours per week in one semester, which usually comprises 16 weeks, and two semesters per year. In addition, the candidate is expected to share the administrative responsibilities, engage in the intellectual activities of the Department, and take part in students’ activities. The candidate must be able to communicate in English and/or Chinese with the faculty members and the administrative staff.
Employer: National Chengchi University
Location: Taipei, Taiwan (ROC)
Starting Date: 1 August, 2026
Deadline for Applications: December 15, 2025 (GMT +8). Review of applications will begin immediately after the deadline.
Qualification: Applicants must have a PhD in Arabic Studies, Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern studies, or a related discipline, preferably with a record of an active research agenda and teaching experience.
Application Instructions and Procedures
All applicants complete the application form and submit the required documents (listed below) via the link below https://forms.gle/JDvZdhwgtXWVfGMG8
Enquiries concerning the application and related matters may be directed to the Department’s secretary, Ms. Wei (arabic@nccu.edu.tw ), or the Head of the Department, Dr. Ching-An Chang (chingan@nccu.edu.tw ).
9. UCLA: Surveying the Nile: Scholarly Misaha Manuals in Late Ottoman Egypt
Thursday, October 23, 2025
3:30 PM PST
UCLA Bunche Hall, Rm 10383
Organized by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17317
10. UCLA: Book Talk – Female Religiosity in Central Asia: Sufi Leaders in the Persianate World
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
3:30 – 5:00 PM PST
UCLA Bunche Hall, Rm 6275
Organized by UCLA Program on Central Asia, co-sponsored by UCLA Center for Near Eastern Studies
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17274
11. Le CeRMI a le plaisir de vous convier à la première séance du séminaire “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien”, qui se tiendra jeudi 23 octobre 2025, 17h-19h, en salle 5.08 à l’INaLCO(65 rue des Grands Moulins, Paris XIII, 5eétage).
Nous sommes heureux d’accueillir Mme. Kristine Kostikyan, Historienne, Professeure à l’Université d’État d’Erevan et membre de l’Institut d’Études Orientales d’Arménie, pour une conférence intitulée : Persian Documents of the Matenadaran on Some Issues Referring to the Armenian Merchants of the Early Modern Period.
Résumé:
Matenadaran possesses a big collection of Persian historical documents: about 3000 units including decrees, letters and shari‘a notarial documents. The main core of the collection are the documents referring to the Armenian Church and its various issues, and only a small part of it refers to the Armenian merchants, who had any connection with the catholicoses of Holy Etchmiadzin and the Armenian monasteries in the regions. However, these documents contain interesting information and details concerning their activities in 17th till the beginning of 19th centuries. Some of them reveal the cooperation and co-assistance of the Armenian Church and the eminent merchants, the inclination of the Armenian merchants to acquire land and other property in the regions where they lived, the ties of some merchants of New Julfa in Isfahan with the merchants living in the provinces of Eastern Armenia, their participation in the local administration of the Safavid and Afsharid states of Iran, and some details referring to their network connecting them with their agents in different regions of the Middle East and the ways of money transfer accomplished by them. These issues considered with the involvement of the other sources help elucidate some realities of the social-economic history of the Middle East in the given period, the peculiarities of the activities of the Armenian merchants and the means of their adaptation to various changes happened in different phases of the period securing their consistent participation in the international trade accomplished through the transit routes crossing the territories of the Armenian highland, the Caucasus and Iran.
Orientations bibliographiques:
– Aslanian, S. D. 2011. From the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, Berkeley – New York – London, 2011.
– Avery, P. 2008. “Nādir Shāh and the Afsharid Legacy”, The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 7. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 3-63.
– Bournoutian, G. 1982. Eastern Armenia in the Last Decades of Persian Rule: 1807–1828; A Political and Socioeconomic Study of the Khanate of Erevan on the Eve of the Russian Conquest. Malibu, CA: Undena Publications (tr. 2004).
– Bournoutian, G. 2004. The Chronicle of Deacon Zak‘aria of K‘anak‘er, Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda Publishers Inc.
– Bournoutian, G. 2003. The Journal of Zakaria of Agulis. Annotated transl. with commentary by GA. Bournoutian. Costa Mesa, California: Mazda Publishers, Inc.
– Floor, W. M. 1998. A Fiscal History of Iran in the Safavid and Qajar Periods. New York: Bibliotheca Persica Press.
– Herzig, E. M. 2018. “The Commercial Law of the New Julfa Armenians”, in S. Chaudhury, K. Kevonian, eds., Les Arméniens dans le commerce asiatique au début de l’ère moderne, Paris, Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme (openedition.org), p. 63-81.
– Margaryan, G. A., Kostikyan, K. P., Tovmasyan, A. A. 2021. “Agulis on the Crossroads of International trade through Caucasus in XII-XVIII centuries”, History, Archaeology and ethnography of the Caucasus 18-4, p. 848-858 DOI https://doi.org/10.32653/CH174848-858
– Khach‘ikyan, Sh. L. 1988. Nor Jughayi hay vachaṛakanut‘yuně ev nra aṛevtra-tntesakan kaperě Ṛusastani het XVII-XVIII darerum, Yerevan.
– Khach‘ikyan, Sh. L. 1994. Shahvelu vordi Sarhadi hashvematyaně, Yerevan, Gitutyun.
– Khach‘ikyan, Sh. L. 2006. Lazaryan aṛevtrakan ěnkerut‘yan hashvemat‘yaně (1741-1759), Isfahan – Yerevan.
– Kostikyan, K. and G. Margaryan 2024. ‘Nādir Shāh’s Decree Issued at the Request of the Armenian Merchants of Agulis’, Iran and the Caucasus, 28 (2024), p. 166-178, DOI:10.1163/1573384X-02802004.
– Minorsky, V. F. 1943. Tadhkirat al-muluk, A manual of Safavid administration (circa 1137/1725), Persian text in facsimile, translated and explained, London: W. Heffer and sons LTD.
Vous trouverez prochainement l’intégralité du programme 2025-2026 du séminaire mensuel de recherche “Sociétés, politiques et cultures du Monde iranien” en ligne sur le site du CeRMI: https://cermi.cnrs.fr/seminaires-de-recherche/
12. University of Exeter:
RESCHEDULED Monday Majlis. GABRIEL SAID REYNOLDS, A Faithful Dog and a Clay Bird: The Qur’an in Its Christian World. Monday Majlis Online on the 19th of JANUARY, 17:00-18:30 (UK time)
13. ONLINE Book Panel: “Histories of Political Thought in the Ottoman World”
The book provides a survey of the history of political ideas in the Ottoman world from its dawn around 1300 to its downfall in the early 20th century. It features 14 original papers by some of the most prominent and innovative scholars of Ottoman history and sheds light on the complex role that ideas have played in all aspects of Ottoman social and political life throughout the history of the Ottoman world.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/42k7hzp3 . Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/mr2br2tv
14. HYBRID Vortrag “Werte und Rechtsnormen in Bibel und Koran – _Perspektiven aus der inter-religiösen Praxis” von Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Reinbold, Seminar für Arabistik/Islamwissenschaft II, Universität Göttingen, 13. November 2025, 16:15 – _17:45 CET
Der Vortrag ist Teil des Seminars “Vortragsreihe: Religiöse Rechtsordnung als Grundlage für ein interreligiöses Diskursfeld”.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/yc3a2ud4 . Registrierung: https://tinyurl.com/4k2zbjz5
15. Workshop “Beyond Conflict and Coexistence – Majority-Minority Relations in the Late Ottoman and Post-Ottoman Space”, Hochschule für Jüdische Studien & Heidelberg University, Heidelberg, 25-26 January 2026
This workshop explores majority–minority relations across the late Ottoman and post-Ottoman worlds, from Jewish-Arab dynamics in Israel and Kurdish-Turkish relations in Turkey to interethnic tensions in the Balkans. We invite interdisciplinary contributions that examine coexistence, exclusion, and transformation across imperial, national, and contemporary contexts.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2uchsavu
16. Workshop “Constitutionalism and Religious Identity in the Middle East: Historical and Transnational Perspectives”, University of Oxford, 11-12 June 2026
We invite proposals that highlight the dynamic historical nature of constitutionalism and religion in the region. With particular attention to the hybridities, entanglements, and messy overlaps that resist dichotomies, the workshop will focus on the dramatic transitional period between 1850 and 1950, when competing visions of constitutionalism, the secular, and religion were simultaneously being debated, contested, and reimagined.
Deadline for abstracts: 10 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3b3pktth
17. 26th Symposium of the “International Committee for Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Studies (CIÉPO), Varna, Bulgaria, 23-27 June 2026
Themes: The Black Sea Region and Crimea in Pre-Ottoman and Ottoman Times. – Europe, the Mediterranean World, and the Ottomans: War, Trade, and Diplomacy. – The Nomads and the State. – Ottoman Agriculture between Tradition and Transformation. – Demography and Migrations. – Governance and Corruption, Public Order and Justice. – Ottoman Studies and Digital Humanities. Languages are English, French, German, and Turkish.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 October 2025. Information: https://ciepo26varna.weebly.com/
18. “Academic Freedom and Knowledge Production in the Arab Region”
The followship supports individual researchers holding a PhD degree in the field of social sciences, humanities and/or allied and interdisciplinary fields with an established research record, to conduct research projects on and in the Arab region. A grant of up to USD10,000 is available for individual researchers to undertake research on the topic and explore potential areas of collaboration and joint outputs with other researchers.
Deadline for applications: 26 October 2025.
Information: https://theacss.org/about-grants-fellowships/scg-cycle-2-call-for-applications/
19. Two Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2 Years) on “Islamic Studies after Gaza” and “Interdisciplinarity and Experimental Methods in Islamic Studies”, University of Toronto
Qualifications: PhD in a field of Social Sciences or Humanities, with the degree completed no earlier than August 2021. – PhD candidates may apply if they complete their dissertation defence successfully no later than July 2026. – Demonstrated research expertise and publication record in Islamic studies or a closely related field. – All nationalities may apply.
Deadline for applications: 9 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4ejwpxh9
20. Fellowship (9 Months) in Druze and Arab Studies of the “American Druze Foundation”, Georgetown University
The purpose of the ADF Fellowship is to promote research on the Druze and Arab minorities with a concentration in the political, economic, and social history of the Druze. The ADF Fellowship supports academic research in the disciplines of history, political science, sociology, economics, anthropology, and archaeology. It cannot be used to support research that relates essentially to matters theological or religious in scope and nature.
Deadline for applications: 2 January 2026. Information: https://apply.interfolio.com/174867
21. Assistant Professor on the History Studies on Israel and/or the Middle East, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Qualifications: The successful candidate will have a research and teaching agenda that focuses on Israel, Israel Studies, and/or the Middle East. Applicants must have their dissertation and all other work for a Ph.D. in history or a closely related field completed and approved by August 2026.
Deadline for applications: 21 November 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/46d2c2jr
22. Award of the “Nordic Society for Middle Eastern Studies” for the Best MA Thesis on the Middle East or Islam Submitted at a Nordic Educational Institution during 2024/25
The thesis must be submitted at an educational institution in one of the Nordic countries (Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark) and written in English, Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.
Deadline for application extended to 31 October 2025. Information: https://www.nsmes.org/awards
- October 18, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.‘A “Social Constructionist” Approach to “Muslim Biomedical Ethics: Examining “Muslim” Opposition to Physical-Assisted Suicide‘
H Godazgar,
Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory
2025
https://www.jcrt.org/archives/24.1/
2. The last two Ferdowsi Online Classes of this year.
The first is the “Introduction to Pahlavi: Online Autumn School of Zoroastrian Middle Persian” (November 3 – November 20), generally open to everyone who is interested in getting a solid introduction to this language, with an overview of the academic literature, and an historical-linguistic contextualization.
The second course is the weekly “The Shahname: Introduction to the Iranian Epic” (November 7 – December 22), during which we will be reading the story of Rostam and Esfandyar. The main stress during this course falls on the understanding of the grammar of the Shahname (which means analyzing the morphology and syntax of Early Classical Persian), viewing the text from the historical and philological perspective.
If you share this with your students, that will always be appreciated!
In addition, in case you haven’t seen this before, on the website of Ferdowsi School there is a small section called Ferdowsi Blog, where I compile lists that might be of use to both students and researchers in the field. I wanted to share with you the list of the posts from there which you might find interesting (I am aiming at expanding the list in the future):
- Iranian & Silk Road Studies Book Series
- New Journals on Iranian Studies
- Journals on Silk Road and Central Asian Studies
- Festschrifts & Memorial Volumes on Iranian Studies
- 35 Persian Journals for Iranian Studies
- 15 Websites for Reading Persian Manuscripts Online
Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
Yerevan, Armenia
Website: www.ferdowsi.org
3. Zoom: Gennadeion Seminar: A Material History of an Athonite Monastery’s Ottoman Archive, Oct. 15
- 10/15/2025
- 4.00pm – 5.30pm (EEST)
Presented by
The Gennadius Library, American School of Classical Studies at Athens
Speakers (in order of presentation at seminar):
Vanessa R. de Obaldía, University of Cambridge (alumna)
Georgios Boudalis, Senior Book and Paper Conservator, Museum of Byzantine Culture, Thessaloniki
Nikolaos Vryzidis, Adjunct Instructor, University of West Attica
Maciej Pawlikowski, Head of Cambridge Heritage Imagining Laboratory (CHIL)
Location
Pia Zombanakis Seminar Room, Gennadius Library/Zoom
Register on Zoom
Description
This seminar presents the preliminary findings of an interdisciplinary project investigating a previously undocumented practice discovered at the Ottoman archive of the 13th-century Athonite monastery of Simonopetra: pasting of high-quality textile or paper linings onto the back of documents which are primarily of legal importance to the monastery. In line with contemporary trends in interdisciplinarity, the team comprises an Ottoman historian, a historian of material culture, a paper conservator, and an expert in advanced scientific imaging. While rooted in a microhistorical case study, this inquiry opens broader avenues for exploring the archive as both a physical entity and a medium of materiality. Additionally, it interrogates the significance of this practice – extending beyond its role in document preservation – within the broader context of the Ottoman Empire, with a particular focus on the experiences of Ottoman Christians. Essentially, this study introduces the concept of “material history” as a theoretical framework for examining two interconnected dynamics: first, the materiality of the linings highlights the perceived importance of specific documents; and second, the research uncovers materials that were not intended for widespread visibility, thus offering a new lens on the period’s material culture. As a pilot project with potential for broader expansion, Material History also addresses the inherent inaccessibility of these documents, given their continued significance to the monastery today. Specifically, it explores how this challenge can be partially solved through digitization, with the monastery providing digital copies of materials that are ordinarily not meant to be handled in-situ. Ultimately, this project engages with the interplay between materiality and intangibility, both rooted in a specific historical context, and explores novel, interdisciplinary avenues of research that could add value to the monastic archive itself.
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4. Call for Papers
Pre-arranged Panel at the 15th Biennial Conference of the Association for Iranian Studies
Utrecht University, the Netherlands | 5–8 August 2026
Panel Title: The Legacy of Dr. Hans Eberhard Wulff: Pioneer of Research on Traditional Crafts, Technology, Science, Material Culture, and Art of Persia
Convenor: Professor Pedram Khosronejad (Western Sydney University, Australia)
Background
Johannes Eberhard Wulff (1907–1967) was a German engineer and scholar whose groundbreaking work documented the traditional crafts, technology, science, material culture, and art of Iran. In 1936, at the request of Reza Shah Pahlavi (r. 1925–1941), Wulff was appointed to establish Iran’s first technical engineering schools as part of a German-Iranian educational cooperation initiative. He founded the first technical college in Shiraz in 1937, and at its opening ceremony, received a royal commission to compile a comprehensive encyclopedia of Persian traditional crafts and technology.
Between 1937 and 1941, while directing technical colleges in Shiraz, Isfahan, and Tabriz, Wulff conducted extensive fieldwork throughout Iran. He observed, interviewed, and photographed master craftsmen across numerous guilds, meticulously documenting their production techniques and tool-making practices. This research served both pedagogical purposes for his technical schools and as primary material for his royal commission.
The outbreak of World War II disrupted Wulff’s work. Following the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran in 1941, he and other German nationals were interned in Australian camps. Released in 1947, Wulff joined the University of New South Wales in 1950 as a lecturer. In 1953, he retrieved his research materials from Iran, including extensive notes, diaries, and photographs. In 1963, he enrolled as a doctoral candidate in the Department of Industrial Arts at UNSW, basing his thesis on his Iranian research. Wulff returned to Iran in 1964 and 1965 to complete his fieldwork and published The Traditional Crafts of Persia (MIT Press, 1966), presenting only a portion of his extensive documentation. Wulff passed away in 1967, leaving the bulk of his archive unpublished. This archive was retrieved from his family in Australia in 2019 and is currently held by Professor Pedram Khosronejad.
Panel Objectives
This panel seeks to illuminate the significance of Wulff’s scholarship from multiple disciplinary perspectives. We invite papers that examine:
This panel is part of a broader collaborative project to identify, digitize, and make Wulff’s archive accessible to scholars and the public, to publish his encyclopedia of Persian traditional arts and technology, and to produce a new edition of his 1966 monograph.
Submission Guidelines
We invite proposals from scholars working in:
Early career scholars and PhD candidates are particularly encouraged to apply.
Please submit:
Deadline: 15 October 2025
Submit materials to: pedram.khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au
Important Information
Accepted speakers are responsible for all costs, including conference registration, travel, and accommodation.
For conference details, visit: https://associationforiranianstudies.org/…/information
Contact Information
Pedram Khosronejad, Western Sydney University, Australia
Contact Email
pedram.khosronejad@westernsydney.edu.au
5. Research Awards – 2025 CFSACK – Deadline Extended until Oct. 20
Application Deadline Extended – 2025 CFSACK Research Awards
We are pleased to announce that, due to high interest, the application deadline for the 2025 CFSACK Research Awards has been extended. Applications will now be accepted until October 20, 2025 at 23:59 PST.Applicants who have already submitted may revise their materials by logging into the application portal until the new deadline. Please ensure your application is submitted before the deadline, as no late submissions will be accepted.
The Canadian Friends of Sufi Arts, Culture, and Knowledge (CFSACK) Research Awards support original research related to Sufi arts, culture, and knowledge across a wide range of disciplines. Eligibility has been expanded this year to include applicants affiliated with higher education or cultural institutions in both Canada and the United States, with support from the American Friends of Sufi Arts, Culture, and Knowledge (AFSACK).
Award Amounts
- Undergraduate & Master’s Students: up to $2,000 CAD
- PhD Candidates & Postdoctoral Fellows: up to $5,000 CAD
Supported Research Activities
Funding may support archival and manuscript research, fieldwork, conference participation, acquisition of specialized research materials, or scholarly programming. A complete list of eligible and ineligible expenses is available on the program website.
Eligibility
Applicants must be affiliated with a Canadian or U.S. higher educational or cultural institution for the duration of the award. Eligible applicants include:
- Undergraduate students
- Master’s students
- Doctoral students/candidates
- Postdoctoral fellows
Note: Eligibility for the CFSACK Research Awards spans a wide range of disciplines. Any research project related to Sufi art, culture, or knowledge is welcome, including but not limited to: art history, fine arts, anthropology, archaeology, architecture, classics, cultural studies, ethnomusicology, history, literature, musicology, philosophy, psychology, religious studies, sociology, and other related fields. This interdisciplinary scope reflects the program’s commitment to advancing a holistic and nuanced understanding of Sufi traditions across academic and creative domains.
Special Opportunity
Recipients may request exclusive scholarly access to the Musée d’Art et de Culture Soufis MTO™ (MACS MTO) in Chatou, France, including:
- Privileged access to collections
- Consultations with curators/research staff
- On-site research support
Important Dates
- Applications Opened: August 4, 2025
- New Deadline: October 20, 2025, 23:59 PST
- Awards Commence: January 2026
Full details and application portal: https://www.cfsack.org/research-awards
Inquiries: research.awards@cfsack.org
Contact Information
Nooshin Esmaeili, Chair, CFSACK Research Awards Committee
Shahed Ejadi, CFSACK Board of Directors
Contact Email
URL
https://www.cfsack.org/research-awards
6. International Conference: The Empire that Made India: 500 Years of the Mughals
3–4 June 2026
École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 54 Boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris
Organiser: Naveen Kanalu (EHESS-CRH)
The year 2026 marks half a millennium since the foundation of the Mughal Empire (1526-1857), the last precolonial imperial power that governed most parts of the Indian sub-continent. Though earnest in its beginnings following the Central Asian chieftain, Babur’s victory at the First Battle of Panipat on 22 April 1526, in its heyday, the Mughal dynasty ruled over a population of more than 100 million subjects. The Mughal Empire has remained at the centre of major debates in Indian historiography on issues as diverse as the nature of political and administrative institutions, fiscal and economic systems, literary and artistic cultures as well as inter-religious cohabitation prior to colonial rule. The international conference organised to mark the 500-year anniversary of the empire’s foundation provides an opportunity to critically engage with various historiographical approaches that have been proposed thus far, as well as explore potential avenues for future research.
Since its inception in nineteenth-century British colonial debates, Mughal historiography has undergone several mutations in the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries, including nationalist, Marxist and cultural interpretations among others, demonstrating the continued vitality of the field. Yet the vast archival and manuscript sources, available in Arabic, Persian, Sanskrit and regional languages, dispersed across repositories in South Asia and beyond, still await scholarly studies. Even a cursory glance at catalogues reveals that such a rich, unexplored corpus could infuse the field with new empirical and analytical approaches.
In recent decades, historians have rejected framing the construction of the Mughal Empire within the narrow scope of “methodological nationalism” and increasingly approached it through transregional connections and interactions. At the same time, professional history-writing can also find itself in a tense relation with trends in the public sphere. This is particularly acute today, given that the legacy, symbols and contribution of the Mughals are increasingly contested in India. In the current climate of political crisis, how can historians challenge popular stereotypes that depict the Mughal rulers as either paragons of harmonious syncretism or perpetrators of religious bigotry? How can we move beyond the study of representations, self-fashioning of the elites and courtly cultures that have dominated the field in the last few decades and explore other areas of research such as social, legal, economic and intellectual history? Are there other types of archival sources that would allow us to chart new directions in understanding how the Mughal Empire worked?
Themes
We welcome papers on the following topics and related themes:
Institutional, legal, military and political frameworks of governance
Administrative logistics, information circulation and forms of exercising authority
Documentary practices and archival cultures
Economic, financial and fiscal patterns
Social histories of religious communities, ethnic, clan and caste configurations
Borderlands, regions and frontiers in the construction of imperial space
Longue durée connections and interactions with the Islamic world
Keynote
Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Distinguished Professor of History and Irving & Jean Stone Chair in Social Sciences, UCLA, will deliver the keynote address.
Practical information
The organisers will cover economy class air/train tickets and hotel accommodation for 3 nights.
Please send an abstract of 300 words and a short biography of 200 words by 25 November 2025 to the following email address: mugurba@ehess.fr
Selected participants will be notified by mid-December.
The proceedings will be published as a special issue of a journal or an edited volume.
The conference is funded by the Agence national de la recherche (ANR) project, MugUrba: “The Bureaucratic Rhythms of Imperial Urbanity: Law, Property, and Public Life in Mughal South Asia, c. 1650–1750”.
Contact Information
Naveen Kanalu
EHESS – École des hautes études en sciences sociales
Centre de recherches historiques
Bureau B4-16, 54 Boulevard Raspail – 75006 PARIS
Contact Email
URL
https://mugurba.hypotheses.org/
- October 14, 2025
- by Andrew Newman
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