Categories : Academic items
Shii News – Academic Items
1. International Workshop: “The Fiqhī Heritage in the Ottoman Empire and India”, Istanbul University, 27-28 February 2016
The aim of the workshop is to study Indian and Ottoman scholars and institutions in light of the works produced during the Ottoman period. The workshop will be held in Turkish, Arabic, and English.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 September 2015. Information: http://ilahiyat.istanbul.edu.tr/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/The-Fiqhi-Heritage-in-the-Ottoman-Empire-and-India.pdf
2. 19th Annual International Mediterranean Studies Association Congress, University of Palermo, 25-28 May 2016
150-200 scholarly papers will be delivered before an international audience of scholars, academics, and experts in a wide range of fields. A number of special events are being planned for Congress participants that will highlight the unique cultural aspects of Sicily.
Deadline for submissions: 1 February 2016. Information: www.mediterraneanstudies.org/
3. Assistant Professor in Comparative Politics and Middle East, Loyola University Chicago
The tenure-track position is beginning fall 2016. The successful candidate is expected to have a Ph.D. in Political Science at the time of the appointment. The Jesuit Catholic institution seeks candidates who will contribute to deliver a Transformative Education in the Jesuit tradition.
Deadline for applications: 30 September 2015. Information: pschrae@luc.edu
4. Assistant Professor of Islam and Modernity, University of Toronto
The successful candidate must have a Ph.D. in Religion, Middle Eastern Studies, or an appropriate disciplinary area, by the time of appointment, or shortly thereafter, must have a high level of scholarly achievement in Islamic Studies, must be competent in Arabic and in classical sources, and must have competence in the academic study of religion.
Deadline for applications: 1 November 2015. Information: https://utoronto.taleo.net/careersection/10050/jobdetail.ftl?job=1501073
5. Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director, Middle East Institute, National University of Singapore
The successful candidate should have a sound understanding of the contemporary Middle East, and be familiar with current scholarship on the region. Desirable qualifications include, among others, a Ph.D. involving work related to the Middle East and knowledge of at least one Middle Eastern language, preferably Arabic.
Deadline for applications: 1 October 2015. Information: https://mei.nus.edu.sg/index.php/web/new-job-opening
6. New Doctoral Program on „State Politics and Islamic Orthodoxy”, Institute of Social Justice, Australian Catholic University, North Sydney
The four-year program begins with an intense year of coursework and training, combined with serious theoretical and conceptual work. The demanding and rigorous year of coursework, comprised of four North American style doctoral seminars, provides students with a deeper understanding of the great debates in social and political thought, and better prepares them for the task of undertaking original investigations of their own.
Deadline for expression of interest: 16 September 2015. Information: http://isj.acu.edu.au/research/doctoral-program-in-social-political-thought/
7. Doctoral Fellowships, Study of Conversion and Inter-Religious Encounters, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
The scholarships will be for four years (starting 1st October 2015) and the value will be around 50,000 NIS per academic year. The candidate will be expected to carry out research in areas relevant to the study of conversion and inter-religious encounters in the Medieval and Early Modern periods and to contribute materials to the database on conversion.
Information: http://in.bgu.ac.il/en/csoc/Pages/news/Scholarships2016.aspx
8. Islamic Painted Page website – Upgrade
We are pleased to report an upgrade to The Islamic Painted Page database at www.islamicpaintedpage.com .
This database enables users to locate reproductions, commentaries and online images of thousands of Persian, Ottoman, Arab, Mughal, Sultanate and other paintings, illuminations and bindings up to c.1750 CE.
Following the addition of a full search by picture description facility in 2014, the new upgrade resolves issues about transliteration and MS references, besides enlarging the database from 17,500 to almost 21,500 references.
Accordingly the data has now been improved to provide consistent, fully-transliterated (Library of Congress) listings of MS authors and titles, as well Anglicised IJMES versions, plus entries in Arabic script. The site also now gives direct links into the relevant pages of the VIAF website, so that users can check other transliterations with confidence, and into relevant pages of the FIHRIST catalogue, for more definitive information about specific manuscripts.
Links to online images have also been extended, a print facility added, and there is a new Resources page where users can download listings of collections with their websites, publications with WORLDCAT links, and a 666-line listing of MS authors and titles in LC, Anglicised IJMES and arabic script with VIAF links.
Access remains free and users can create their own areas within the site to record search results, access additional features and communicate direct with the site admin. We are continuing to update the site and all feedback is welcome.
This upgrade has been made possible with support from The Islamic Manuscripts Association, whose assistance is gratefully acknowledged.
Stephen Serpell
stephen.serpell@btinternet.com
9. CALL FOR PAPERS: Sacred Spaces and Political Places: Fostering Regional Identities
through Historical and Literary Medieval Pilgrimage I and II
The 51st International Congress on Medieval Studies
Kalamazoo, Michigan
May 12 – 15, 2016
Among the many factors impelling medieval pilgrimage, these sessions seek to examine those elements which fostered regional identity. The dedication of pilgrims traveling varying distances to experience the divine at sacred destinations was simultaneously enhanced by patrons who promoted traffic to and maintained pilgrimage sites. Saints’ shrines, tombs, and holy relics reinforced cultural and social identities relevant to the geographical and religious characteristics of a given locale and they helped shape and strengthen the prevailing political landscapes.
These two panels call for papers which closely examine Muslim and/or Christian medieval texts, both literary and historical, which foster regional identity through their promotive character as they call attention to medieval sites of pilgrimage, relics, and/or the history of saints. By engaging in this dialogue through a cross-cultural lens, we not only aim to evaluate the common characteristics of shrine visitation and rituals in the Middle Ages but also their disparities in both Islamic and Christian literary and historical disciplines. We welcome papers which analyze several genres of medieval texts such as romances, chronicles, hagiographies, guidebooks, and travelogues to explore this topic. We urge papers to consider how textual accounts of pilgrimage and pilgrimage sites relate to practical experience, how the translation and distribution of relics affected centers of power in a region, or how legends associated with specific saints contribute to the understanding of a particular locale.
Please send in your abstract of no more than 300 words to Laura Clark (l_clark@baylor.edu) and Ali Alibhai (alibhai@fas.harvard.edu) by September 15th 2015. Panelists will be informed in early October 2015 regarding their acceptance in the panels.
10. University of California – San Diego – Assistant Professor, Islamic
Middle East
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51378
University of Wisconsin-Madison – Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral
Fellowship in the Humanities and Humanistic Social Sciences
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51404
11. Fellowships Prince Dr Sabbar Farman-Farmaian Research Project
With the generous support of Farman-Farmaian Family, the IISH launches a new fellowship programme named the Prince Dr Sabbar Farman-Farmaian Fellowships for scholars who wish to use its collections for the study of social and cultural history of 18-20 century of Iran, whether from a regional, national, or comparative and transnational perspective.
Fellowships are awarded for six months each year. This is a call for applications for fellowships for the year 2016.
Until 15 October 2015 applications can be made.
Fellows receive a monthly stipend of €1,500. The fellowship also includes an economy return flight to the Netherlands, visa support, as well as arrangements for accommodation and health insurance in Amsterdam.
Minimum requirements/selection criteria
– An MA degree or equivalent academic track record,
– An update CV,
– A Research proposal in not more than 500 words.
The fellow’s research plan should fit the Institute’s focus on social history.
Fellows are expected:
– To write a report on their research activities at the end of the fellowship period,
– To be present at the institute customarily,
– To take part in the activities of the Institute’s Research Department,
– To interact with other fellows and the IISH’s research staff in the English language,
– To give at least one public lecture.
Selection will be made based on the quality and novelty of the proposed research project, its affinity to social history research conducted at the International Institute of Social History, and the applicant’s qualifications.
Outcome
Fellows are expected to present the results of their work both orally to the other members of the Research Department, and in writing with a paper of min. 5000 and max. 8000 words (including notes). It is envisaged that the PDF version of the paper will be published as an occasional paper on the website of the IISH.
Applications
Applications should be submitted before 15 October 2015 to:
General information about the IISH can be obtained via
https://socialhistory.org/en/jobs/fellowships-prince-dr-sabbar-farman-farmaian-research-project
More information about the fellowship can be obtained from Professor Touraj Atabaki, e-mail:
Department: Research Fellows
Deadline: 15 October 2015
12. California State University – Dominguez Hills – Assistant Professor of African History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51406
University of California – San Diego – Assistant Professor, Islamic Middle East
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51378
Columbia University – Assistant Professor, Modern Arabic Literature
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51395
Pennsylvania State University – Assistant Professor of Comparative
Literature & Arabic literatures and cultures
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51409
Washington State University – Instructor, Pre-1500 European and World
History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51394
13. DĀNESH INSTITUTE 2015 Annual Conference
Hosted by the Indiana University Department of Central Eurasian Studies
RESEARCH IN IRAN AND IRANIAN DIASPORAS:
FINDINGS, EXPERIENCES, AND CHALLENGES
Saturday, October 24, 2014; 8:15 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Indiana University Global and International Studies Building
355 North Jordan Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana
Preliminary Program
Mitra Fallhi, Lewis University. A Comparison of the Patterns of the Immigration of Iranians to the United States Before and After the Revolution of 1979, and Unique Characteristics of Iranians in American Society.
Seema Golestaneh, Indiana University. Of Mirrors and Mirroring: Discovering Mimetic Relationships in “the Field” in Iran.
Bahar Karimi, King’s College London, Great Britain. Second Generation of Iranians in Britain: The Question of Dual Culture.
Annahita Mahdavi, Long Beach City College. Same Event, Different Experience: What Makes Immigration a Different Experience for Each Individual?
Mozhgan Malekan, University of Cincinnati. Who Is the Ideal Woman? A Phenomenological Study of Feminist Identities among Iranian Muslem Immigrant Women in Columbus, Ohio.
Alice Miggiano, University of Naples, Italy. The Iranian Diaspora in Italy.
Niloofar Shariat, Independent Scholar and Ali Akbar Mahdi, California State University-Northridge. Does a Dispersed Family Make for a Better Life? The Case of Iranian Transnational Families.
Bita Zakeri, Indiana University. Who Is the Researcher? A Multifaceted Self in a Transnational Realm.
FOR REGISTRATION, PLEASE SEE THE ATTACHED FORM
The conference is co-sponsored by the Indiana University School of Social Work, the Inner Asian and Uralic National Resource Center, and Society for Promotion of Persian Culture.
For information regarding DĀNESH Institute, please see:
http://www.daneshinstitute.org.
For information about the CEUS Department, please visit:
http://www.indiana.edu/~ceus/.
For a map of the Indiana University campus, visit: http://map.iu.edu/iub/
14. ‘Sovereignty and Imperialism: Non-European Powers in the Age of Empire’
10 September 2015 – 11 September 2015
Sponsored by: The Centre for Research in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CRASSH), the Trevelyan Fund and the Iran Heritage Foundation
Convened by : Dr David Motadel (Gonville and Caius College, Faculty of History, University of Cambridge)
Venue
CRASSH, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, CB3 9DT – SG1&2
Introduction
In the heyday of empire, most of the world was ruled, directly or indirectly, by the European powers. On the eve of the First World War, only a few non-European states had maintained their formal sovereignty: Abyssinia (Ethiopia), China, Japan, the Ottoman Empire, Persia (Iran), and Siam (Thailand). Some others kept their independence for a while, but then succumbed to imperial powers, such as Hawaii, Korea, Madagascar, and Morocco. Facing imperialist incursion, the political elites of these countries sought to overcome their political vulnerability by engaging with the European powers and seeking recognition as equals.
The conference ‘Sovereignty and Imperialism: Non-European Powers in the Age of Empire’ will explore how diplomats, military officials, statesmen, and monarchs of the independent non-European states struggled to keep European imperialism at bay. It will address four major aspects of the relations of these countries with the Western imperial powers: armed conflict and military reform (Panel 1); capitulations, unequal treaties, and subsequent engagement with European legal codes (Panel 2); royalty and courts (Panel 3); and diplomatic encounters (Panel 4). Bringing together scholars from across the world, the conference will be the first attempt to provide comparative perspectives on the non-European powers’ engagement with the European empires in the era of high imperialism.
Programme & Abstracts
Please click here
Registration
Registration fee is £50 (full) and £25 (students). It includes lunch and tea/coffee
Deadline for registration is Sunday 6 September 2015
For any inquiries please contact: conferences@crassh.cam.ac.uk
Accommodation
The following websites will be able to help with accommodation:
Visit Cambridge
Cambridge Rooms
University of Cambridge accommodation webpage
15. The Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (AMES) Program at the College of William and Mary seeks applications for a tenure-track position at the Assistant Professor level. The successful applicant will be jointly appointed in a home department and AMES. AMES is a concentration within the interdisciplinary major of Global Studies, and is supported by 32 faculty affiliates from eleven departments.
We are interested in individuals with research and teaching expertise in Middle Eastern, East Asian, and/or South Asian studies. We welcome applicants in the humanities or humanistic social sciences including, but not limited to Anthropology, Art and Art History, Cultural Studies, Government, Literature, Religious Studies, and other areas of scholarly expertise pending departmental approval. Teaching expectation is two courses per semester, and the successful candidate will be responsible for teaching the interdisciplinary core course in AMES as well as upper-level courses in AMES and his/her home department.
Candidate must apply online at https://jobs.wm.edu. (https://jobs.wm.edu/postings/22241)
Submit a curriculum vitae, and a cover letter including statement of research and teaching interests. You will be prompted to submit online the names and email addresses of three references who will be contacted by us with instructions for how to submit a letter of reference.
The College of William & Mary values diversity and invites applications from underrepresented groups who will enrich the research, teaching and service missions of the university. The College is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and conducts background checks on applicants for employment.
Information on the AMES Program may be found at http://www.wm.edu/as/globalstudies/ames/
and job information at:
https://jobs.wm.edu/postings/22241
16. Sheikh Hamad Awards for Translation and International Understanding
(Doha, Qatar, 2015)
Nominations are now open for SHATIU in the following categories:
1. Translation from Arabic into English ($200.000)
2. Translation from English into Arabic ($200.000)
3. Translation from Arabic into Turkish ($200.000)
4. Translation from Turkish into Arabic ($200.000)
5. Achievement award ($200.000)
Please visit our website ([http://]www.hta.qa/en ) for details and rules of submission.
- September 02, 2015
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1.Florin Curta (University of Florida) and Andrew Holt (Florida State College in Jacksonville) are the editors of a three-volume encyclopedia entitled Great Events in Religion: An Encyclopedia of Pivotal Events in Religious History (under contract with ABC-Clio). We are seeking contributors to write entries considering key events in worldwide religious history from prehistoric times to the present. Current entries consider topics that range from the first Neanderthal burial to the ordination of the first woman in a mainline Protestant denomination. The roughly 470 proposed entries range in size from 750 to 3000 words.
We desperately need contributors to cover a number of entries pertaining, or at least related to Islam. Here is the list:
Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah and the establishment of the Shi’ia Ismaili Fatimid dynasty (909)
Building of the al-Hakim Mosque in Cairo (928)
Cairo is established as capital of the Fatimid state in Egypt (969)
Destruction and razing of the Husayn Mosque in Karbala by Caliph al-Mutawakkil (850)
Fatimid Dynasty (Founding of)
Khan Tarmashirin’s conversion to Islam (1330s)
Khan Uzbek’s conversion to Islam (1313)
Rise of the Mamluks
Şêx Adî and the establishment of Yazidism
University of al-Azhar in Cairo (founding of)
Abolition of the Ottoman Caliphate (1924)
Establishment of the Secular Republic of Turkey
Fall of the Ottoman Empire
Partition of India and the beginnings of the Hindu-Muslim conflict (1947)
Qajar implementation of Shi’ia Islam in Iran
Safavid dynasty and the proclamation of the first Shi’ia empire
Shah Ismail I and the founding of the Safavid dynasty (1501)
Usman dan Fodio and the establishment of the Sokoto Caliphate in Western Africa (1810s)
We need those contributions by mid-November. The intended audience of the encyclopedia consists primarily of first-year college students. We are therefore seeking contributors who can write meaningfully about a number of scholarly issues, but in a manner appropriate for college students. At a minimum, potential contributors should be at the level of an advanced graduate student. This project obviously provides them with the opportunity to add some minor publications to their c.v.
If interested, please contact any of the two editors at fcurta@ufl.edu or Andrew.Holt@fscj.edu
__________________
2. Assistant Professor of Islamic Law and Society, New York University
The tenure-track position is to begin September 1, 2016. It is not limited as to historical period or to the Middle East as conventionally defined.
Review of applications will begin on October 1, 2015. Information: http://meis.as.nyu.edu/
Assistant Professor of Middle East Politics, Hamilton College, Clinton, NY
Appointment of the tenure track position begins July 1, 2016. ABD or Ph.D. required. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/30161 and govsrch@hamilton.edu
Assistant Professor of Middle East Politics, Tenure-Track, Elon University, NC
Appointment is beginning in August 2016. Deadline for application: 15 September 2015. Information: www.elon.edu/facultyemployment/openings
Indiana University – Bloomington – Contemporary Central Asia, Open
Rank Search
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51352
School of the Art Institute of Chicago – FULL-TIME FACULTY POSITION:
HISTORIAN OF ART, DESIGN, OR ARCHITECTURE BEFORE 1800, WITH AN
EMPHASIS ON GLOBAL AND TRANSNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES (OPEN RANK)
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51334
University of Pennsylvania – Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship
in the Digital Humanities
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51342
Missouri State University – Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern
History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51353
Daemen College – Assisstant Professor of History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51361
The position requires a primary emphasis in world history with any regional focus except Russia/Europe and expertise in environmental history and/or the digital humanities.
3. Forty more Arabic scientific manuscripts go live in Qatar Digital Library
In November 2014 we announced the first forty Arabic scientific manuscripts to go live in the Qatar Digital Library. We are now pleased to let you know that a further forty Arabic manuscripts have been uploaded.
4. The travels of a manuscript: Rashid al-Din’s Compendium of Chronicles (Add.7628)
The Jāmiʿ al-tavārīkh or ‘Compendium of Chronicles’ is a monumental universal history composed by Rashīd al-Dīn (d. 1317) in Persian at the beginning of the 14th century. It was originally written for the Mongol Ilkhan of Iran Ghazan Khan (d. 1304) but was finally presented to his brother and successor Oljaytu Khan (d. 1317) possibly in 1307. The work acquired enormous popularity both in medieval and modern times especially for its unique description of the rise of Chinggis Khan and the Mongol Empire. There are copies of this work in all the major libraries in Europe and the Middle East, including several masterpieces of 14th century manuscript illustration.
5. The Third Perso-Indica Conference
The Sultanate Period and the Early Mughal Empire
September 3rd – 4th, 2015
University of Delhi
Department of Persian
Conference Center (opp. Botany Dept.)
September 3rd
Opening session (Venue: Main Hall)
9.30-10.00: Dinesh Singh, Chander Shekhar, Fabrizio Speziale
Political analysis, identity and historiography
10.00-10.30: Satoshi Ogura – Linguistic Cosmopolitanism, Political Legitimacies and Religious Identities in Šāhmīrid
10.30-11.00: Mayank Kumar – Tʼari ḫ-i Qal’ah-i Ranthanbore: Historical Investigation of Persian Rendering of a Sanskrit/Brajbhasa/Rajasthani Text
Chair: Radha Vallabh Tripathi
Coffee break
Natural and occult sciences (Venue: Room 5)
11.30-12.00: Kazuyo Sakaki – Changing Ourselves – the Textual Transmission of the Sivasvarodaya
12.00-12.30: S. M. Razaullah Ansari – Persian Translations of Kitāb-i Barāḥī Sang’hitā
12:30-13.00: Eva Orthmann – Religion and Astrology in the Kitāb-i Barāḥī, Aspects of Translation
Chair: Kashif Ghani
Lunch break
Medical knowledge
14.30-15.00: Fabrizio Speziale – A 14th-Century Revision of the Greco-Arabic and Indian Theories of the Humours: The Hybrid Model by Šihāb al-Dīn Nāgawrī
15.00-15.30: Azarmi Dukht – Persian Writings of the Sultanate Period – Valuable Sources of Indic Knowledge. Case Study: Ṭibb-i Sikandar Šāhī: Persian Translation and Compilation of Medicinal Information from Sanskrit Sources
15.30-16.00: Sonia Vij – Rahasya to Laḏḏat: Translating Secrets of Sexuality
Chair: Ramesh Bhardwaj
Coffee break
September 4th
Sufism and Yoga
9.30-10.00: Carl Ernst – Enigmas of Translation in the Kamaru Pancasika, an Early Persian Work on Yoga
10.00-10.30: Soraya Khodamoradi – Rušd-Nāma and the Idea of Immortality
Chair: IH. Siddique
Coffee break
Literature
11.00- 11.30: Chander Shekhar- Indian Elements in Persian Narrative (Pre-Mughal Period): a Survey
11.30-12.00: Muzaffar Alam and Thibaut d’Hubert – Mufarriḥ al-Qulūb: A Fifteenth-Century Persian Translation of the Hitopadeśa
12.00-12.30: Pegah Shahbaz – Jawāhir al-Asmār: an Early Fourteenth-Century Persian Translation of Sukasaptati
Chair: SH. Qasemi
Lunch break
14.00-14.30: Balram Shukla – Kathakautukam: a Sanskrit Rendering of Yūsuf and Zulaikha
14.30- 15.00: Syed Akhtar Hussain – Ṭūṭī Nāmah: Persian Tapestry Woven by Indian Threads
Chair: Corinne Lefèvre
Coffee break
Aesthetic and musicology
16.30-16.00: F. ‘Nalini‘ Delvoye – Translating Aesthetic Concepts and Qualities Prescribed for Artists and Connoisseur-Patrons in Two Sultanate Period Indo-Persian Texts on Performing Arts
16.00-16.30: Chandragupta Bhartiya and Ali Akbar Shah – Sangeetratnakara and Lahajāt-i Sikandar Šāhi va Latāif-i Nāmutanāhī, A Persian Translation (A Comparative Study)
Chair: Raza Ullah Ansari
Coffee break
17.00-19.00: General discussion
Scientific coordination: Chander Shekhar (University of Delhi) – Eva Orthmann (University of Bonn) – Fabrizio Speziale (University Sorbonne Nouvelle – CNRS).
Contact for information: Soraya Khodamoradi: skhodamo@uni-bonn.de.
6. The Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies at Columbia University seeks to fill a position in Modern Arabic Literature at the rank of assistant professor. The successful candidate will have broad intellectual interests, a commitment to both undergraduate and graduate education, and a willingness to contribute to new departmental initiatives. Participation in the Columbia College Core Curriculum will be expected.
Applicants should submit a c.v., cover letter, a representative sample of scholarship, and upload their dissertation abstract and a sample course syllabus. They should also arrange to have recommendations sent by three referees. The search committee will begin reviewing applications on September 25, and will continue until an appointment is made.
For more information and to apply, please visit our online site:
academicjobs.columbia.edu/applicants/Central?quickFind=61316
Columbia University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer.
7. The Program in Arabic Language and Culture in the Department of Classics at the University of Notre Dame invites applications for a tenure-track position. The field of specialization is open, although we welcome especially applications from scholars of either modern Arabic literature and culture or Islamic Studies (classical and modern). The appointment will commence in July 2016. The successful candidate will be prepared to teach undergraduate courses in Arabic language as well as a broad range of undergraduate courses in the literature, culture, and history of the Arabic speaking world. Completion of the Ph.D. is required. Please apply through Interfolio.com using the following link: http://apply.interfolio.com/31050.
Complete dossiers will include a letter of application, a curriculum vitae, three letters of reference, and evidence of teaching experience and research, if available. Review of complete applications will begin on November 20, 2015. The University of Notre Dame seeks to attract, develop, and retain the highest quality faculty, staff and administration. The University is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and is committed to building a culturally diverse workplace. We strongly encourage applications from female and minority candidates and others that will enhance our community. Moreover, Notre Dame prohibits discrimination against veterans or disabled qualified individuals, and requires affirmative action by covered contractors to employ and advance veterans and qualified individuals with disabilities in compliance with 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-300.5(a).
Information about the Program in Arabic can be found at http://arabic.nd.edu
- August 28, 2015
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Co-IRIS Workshop: “Worlding beyond the Clash of Civilizations: An Agenda for an International Relations-Islam Discourse”, University of Tübingen, Germany, 6-8 April 2016
This workshop is held during the “3rd European Workshops in International Studies” of the European International Studies Association. Deadline for abstracts: 2 October 2015. Information: www.coiris.org/co-iris-workshop-at-the-3rd-european-workshops-in-international-studies-ewis/
2. Assistant Professor in International or Comparative Politics, American University of Beirut
Preferably for applicants with a focus on conflict resolution, critical analysis of intervention, and/or humanitarian issues (including refugees and law), and with a research agenda in, or relevant to, the contemporary Arab world to begin August 15, 2016.
Deadline for application 15 October 2015. Information: www.aub.edu.lb/fas/pages/academic-employment.aspx
3. Tenure-track Assistant Professor of History of Religions – Religions in Historical Time, University of Copenhagen
The Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark, invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professorship in History of Religions to be filled by 1 August 2016 or as soon as possible thereafter.
Deadline for application: 1 October 2015. Information: http://jobportal.ku.dk/videnskabelige-stillinger/?show=751804
4. Call for Papers
The Heritage of Al-Andalus, Persia-Iberia
Allameh Tabatabai University
Tehran, Iran
17-18 November 2015
It is our pleasure to invite you to the international conference on The Heritage of Al-Andalus, Persia-Iberia to be hosted on November 17 -18, 2015, by the Department of Spanish Language, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran.
The conference addresses the issue of mutual Iranian-Iberian influences during the centuries. Relying on a rich heritage, both cultures are inheritors of two of the oldest legacies of humankind.
The international conference on The Heritage of Al-Andalus, Persia-Iberia encourages interdisciplinary intercultural research approaches aimed at finding out how, when and where the encounter between these two cultures has provided more fertile ground.
Prominent scholars in different fields of the humanities can contribute to this effort by presenting articles and participating in debates, dialogue among representatives of diversecultures being a necessary and un avoidable toll to achieving mutual understanding and cooperation.
We call on scholars and researchers in various academic fields around the world to participate in this collective effort. As the Planning Committee, we look forward to welcoming you to the conference.
Deadlines and Submission Procedure
Individuals willing to participate in the conference are invited to send their abstracts (maximum 300 words) along with CVs to the conference Secretariat via the conference email address: paper@alandalus2015.ir
Abstracts should clearly state the purpose and results of the work to be detailed in the final paper.
Abstracts and papers will be reviewed by members of an International Scientific Advisory Committee.
A selection of the best papers presented during the conference will be published in a collected volume. Only papers presented during the conference will be accepted for publication.
We encourage early submission of abstracts and papers to facilitate registration and travel arrangements.
Deadline for submission of abstracts: October 2, 2015.
Acceptance of the abstracts will be notified by: October 7, 2015.
Deadline for final paper submission: November 1, 2015.
5. I would like to post the following announcement which may be of interest to many: Sheikh Hamad Awards for Translation and International Understanding (Doha, Qatar, 2015) Nominations are now open for SHATIU in the following categories:
- Translation from Arabic into English ($200.000)
- Translation from English into Arabic ($200.000)
- Translation from Arabic into Turkish ($200.000)
- Translation from Turkish into Arabic ($200.000)
- Achievement award ($200.000)
Please visit our website ( www.hta.qa/en ) for details and rules of submission. Best and thanks, Walid Walid Hamarneh
Associate Professor
Dept. of Modern Literatures and Cultures
University of Richmond
6. Tel Aviv University – Senior Academic Position in Middle Eastern
History of the 20th Century
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51165
Princeton University – Assistant Professor [History of Medieval Iran]
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51300
Rutgers University – New Brunswick – Assistant Professor, South Asian
History (post-1600)
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51299
New York University Abu Dhabi – Research Fellowships in the Humanities
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51294
Dartmouth College – Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Society of Fellows
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51214
7. The Digital Archive of Brief Notes & Iran Review (DABIR) is an open access, peer-reviewed online journal published by the Dr. Samuel M. Jordan Center for Persian Studies and Culture at the University of California, Irvine.
DABIR aims to quickly and efficiently publish brief notes and reviews relating to the pre-modern world in contact with Iran and Persianate cultures. The journal accepts submissions on art history, archaeology, history, linguistics, literature, manuscript studies, numismatics, philology and religion, from Jaxartes to the Mediterranean and from the Sumerian period through to the Safavid era (3500 BCE-1500 CE). Work dealing with later periods can be considered on request.
volume 1
http://www.dabirjournal.org/issues/issue-01/
8. Librarian, American University in Cairo
About The American University in Cairo:
Founded in 1919, AUC moved to a new 270-acre state-of-the-art campus in New Cairo in 2008. The University also operates in its historic downtown facilities, offering cultural events, graduate classes, and continuing education. Student housing is available in both downtown Zamalek and New Cairo. Among the premier universities in the region, AUC is Middle States accredited; its Engineering programs are accredited by ABET, its Chemistry program is accredited by the Canadian Society for Chemistry, and the School of Business is accredited by AACSB, AMBA and EQUIS. The AUC Libraries contain the largest English-language research collection in the region and are an active and integral part of the University’s pursuit of excellence in all academic and scholarly programs. AUC is an English-medium institution; eighty-five percent of the students are Egyptian and the rest include students from nearly ninety countries, principally from the Middle East, Africa and North America. Faculty salary and rank are based on qualifications and professional experience. According to AUC policies and procedures, all faculty are entitled to generous benefits.
Job Description:
Under the direction of the Head of Research and Information Services, the successful candidate will be responsible for the development and delivery of library services and resources that facilitate research and learning at the university. Specifically, he/she will participate as a member of the research services team in the provision of electronic and print research services for AUC Library patrons through the Learning Commons and other service points. Other major areas of responsibility include collection development, instruction, outreach in a targeted discipline as a library liaison, and teaching in the Information Literacy program.
Requirements:
The successful candidate must have an ALA accredited MLS degree, excellent oral and written skills in English, skilled in current information retrieval technologies, demonstrated skills and experience in delivering high quality research service using both traditional print and digital resources, broad subject expertise appropriate to a liberal arts educational institution, experience in instruction (one-on-one and classroom) in an academic library environment, ability to work effectively independently and in a team, ability to sustain a strong service oriented attitude to provide a positive and constructive experience for all library users. HIGHLY DESIRABLE: Library subject area experience or academic background. A second masters degree, proficiency in a second language and experience in a multicultural environment desirable but not mandatory.
Additional Information:
This is a Faculty appointment at the rank of Instructor.
The position will remain open until filled. Preferred starting date is September 1, 2015.
Application Instructions:
All applicants must submit the following documents online:
a) a current CV;? b) a letter of interest;? c) a statement of teaching philosophy;? d) a completed Personnel Information Form;? e) at least three reference letters from referees familiar with your professional background sent directly to lltjob@aucegypt.edu.
Note: Please remember that your account login enables you to respond to AUC additional questions (if required).
URL: www.aucegypt.edu/OFFICES/HR/Pages/default.aspx
9. Quranic Studies Job Posting
The University of Chicago Divinity School seeks to make an appointment in Quranic Studies, effective July 1, 2016, at the assistant professor level. The successful candidate will be expected to develop a robust curriculum in the study of the Qur’an within the wider framework of religious studies and in conversation with other programs and disciplines across the university, based on a strong disciplinary grounding in major subareas of Qur’anic studies. Such subareas might include early Arabic language and literature and the literary neighborhood in which they developed, with proficiency in relevant languages such as Aramaic, Hebrew, Coptic, Greek, or Middle Persian; early Arabic poetry; exegesis (including tafsir, sira, as well as exegetical strands of other literary genres); Qur’anic rhetoric (balagha); and/or paleography and the development of diacritics in Arabic as well as Hebrew and Syriac; issues of oral and written textuality ; and the role of Qur’anic performance in society. The Divinity School is one of the eleven academic units of the University of Chicago, and includes (in order of size of enrollment) Ph.D., M.A., M.Div., and B.A. degree programs. Divinity School faculty teach students in all programs; opportunities for collaboration, in both research and teaching, are limited only by the interest and initiative of the faculty member.
Applicants should submit a letter of interest, CV, names of three references, a research statement, and a writing sample of 25-50 pages. Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Review of candidates will commence on October 1, 2015. Application should be made online, at
For questions please contact Dean Richard A. Rosengarten at raroseng@uchicago.edu
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran status or status as an individual with disability.
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity / Disabled / Veterans Employer.
Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5671 or email ACOppAdministrator@uchicago.edu with their request.
10. Books and Print between Cultures, 1500-1900
Amherst College, Massachusetts, September 18-19, 2015
Keynote speaker: Sanjay Subrahmanyam (Distinguished Professor & Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Social Sciences, UCLA)
Organized by Yael Rice (Amherst College, History of Art & Asian Languages and Civilizations)
This interdisciplinary symposium will investigate the role that books (codices, rolls, scrolls, and other related media), prints, and their associated technologies played in mediating and instantiating cultural difference in the early modern period. By framing the history of books and prints as meandering and material, this symposium aims to contribute new dialogues to the study of the global early modern.
The symposium will begin at 4pm on Friday, September 18, with an open house at Amherst College’s Archives & Special Collections, with Sanjay Subrahmanyam’s keynote lecture following at 5:30pm. A full day of talks (8:45 am – 5:45 pm) is scheduled for Saturday, September 19. The topics are diverse and cover early modern book / material cultures and practices from the Safavid, Mughal, and Ottoman Empires and from East Asia to Latin America.
For more information, including the full program and paper abstracts, please see the symposium website: http://booksandprint.sites.amherst.edu/
The symposium is free and open to the public; however, we do ask that those wishing to attend register through the symposium website.
Please also note that a similarly themed symposium (“Agents of Contact: Books and Print between Cultures in the Early Modern Period”), organized by András Kiséry (City College of New York), is scheduled to take place in New York City on September 25: https://agentsofcontact.wordpress.com/
*This event has been generously supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the Dean of Faculty, the Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations (the Tagliabue and Hall Funds), the Department of Art and the History of Art, and the Program in European Studies at Amherst College; and the Book Studies Concentration at Smith College.
11. Professur für Islamwissenschaft mit dem Schwerpunkt Mittelasien, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
An der Philosophischen Fakultät im Orientalischen Seminar ist eine
W3-Professur für Islamwissenschaft mit dem Schwerpunkt Mittelasien
Fulltime position, start date: immediately
zu besetzen.
Diese Professur eignet sich insbesondere als Einstiegsposition für hochqualifizierte Nachwuchswissenschaftlerinnen und -wissenschaftler.
Die Stelleninhaberin/ der Stelleninhaber soll sich in Forschung und Lehre aus islamwissenschaftlicher Perspektive mit den gegenwärtigen muslimisch geprägten Staaten und Gesellschaften des persischsprachigen Mittelasien beschäftigen und trägt maßgeblich zur Profilierung dieses Bereichs am Orientalischen Seminar bei. Erwartet wird der Nachweis von Forschungs- und Lehrerfahrung zum modernen Iran. Im Hinblick auf die angestrebte Einbindung der Professur in das Zentrum für transkulturelle Asienstudien (CETRAS) sind darüber hinaus Forschungsaktivitäten im Bereich des persischsprachigen Zentralasien erwünscht. Die hervorragende Beherrschung des Persischen sowie einer weiteren gegenwärtig gesprochenen iranischen Sprache wird vorausgesetzt. Bereitschaft zu interdisziplinärer Zusammenarbeit sowie zur Mitwirkung in der akademischen Selbstverwaltung ist unabdingbar.
Einstellungsvoraussetzungen für Professorinnen bzw. Professoren sind neben den allgemeinen dienstrechtlichen Voraussetzungen ein abgeschlossenes Hochschulstudium, pädagogische Eignung und eine herausragende Promotion. Über die Promotion hinausgehende wissenschaftliche Leistungen, die in der Regel durch eine Habilitation nachgewiesen werden, werden erwartet (§ 47 Landeshochschulgesetz (LHG)).
Die Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg fördert Frauen und fordert sie deshalb ausdrücklich zur Bewerbung auf. Die Universität bekennt sich nachdrücklich zu dem Ziel einer familiengerechten Hochschule.
Schwerbehinderte werden bei gleicher Eignung bevorzugt berücksichtigt.
Folgende Bewerbungsunterlagen werden erbeten:
• Lebenslauf
• Zeugnisse und Urkunden
• Vollständiges Schriften- und Vortragsverzeichnis unter Nennung der fünf wichtigsten Publikationen
• Lehrkompetenzportfolio (Die hierfür zu verwendende Vorlage finden Sie unter http://www.zuv.uni-freiburg.de/formulare/lehrkompetenzportfolio-formblatt.doc.)
Weitere Informationen zum Berufungsverfahren finden Sie im Berufungsleitfaden, abrufbar unter http://www.zuv.uni-freiburg.de/formulare/berufungsleitfaden.pdf.
This is as permanent position. The salary will be determined in accordance with W 3.
Please send applications including a printout of the application form and the usual documentation to the following address by 04.09.2015.
Applications should be marked with the reference number 9342
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg
Dekan Prof. Dr. Hans-Helmuth Gander
Dekanat der Philosophischen Fakultät
Werthmannstraße 8
79098 Freiburg
und die email-Adresse: philosfak@dekanate.uni-freiburg.de
For further information, please contact das Dekanat der Philosophischen Fakultät at Tel. +49 (0)761 203 3371 or E-mail philosfak@dekanate.uni-freiburg.de.
12. History of Medieval Iran
Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies invites applications for a tenure track position in the history of medieval Iran. Research expertise may be in any period of the history of Iran and the Persian-speaking world between 1000 and 1800. The successful candidate will be expected to teach undergraduate and graduate courses in this field and to provide training to graduate students reading primary sources in the original Persian.
To apply, please complete an online application at https://jobs.princeton.edu. Applications must include a cover letter, curriculum vitae (including language proficiencies and teaching experience), statement of research interests, and a paper or chapter of published writing or work-in-progress.
Applicants must supply the names of three referees and their contact information in their online application. For any questions, please contact Karen Chirik (kchirik@princeton.edu).
The expected start date of the appointment is September 1, 2016. We will begin reviewing applications on November 2, 2015. Princeton University is an equal opportunity employer and complies with applicable EEO and affirmative action regulations. This position is subject to the University’s background check policy.
13. Call for Submissions – Folklore
The journal Folklore invites submissions of original work not being considered elsewhere. We publish articles by scholars from a wide range of adjacent disciplines (e.g. anthropology, history, human geography, linguistics, literature, psychology, and religion), as long as the topic and approach are of interest and relevance to folklorists. Recent publications that may be of interest to members include the following:
- Richard Johan Natvig, ‘Umm al-Ghulam: Zār Spirit or Half-forgotten Saint? Making Sense of an Egyptian Zār Song’, Vol. 124, Issue 3 (2013), pp. 289-306
- Rella Kushelevsky, ‘Medieval and Oral Variants of “The Tree Demon” Tale Type (ATU 1168B): Literacy and Orality in the Study of Folklore’, Vol. 124, Issue 2 (2013), pp. 200-13
- Niall Christie, ‘Noble Betrayers of their Faith, Families and Folk: Some Non-Muslim Women in Mediaeval Arabic Popular Literature’, Vol. 123, Issue 1 (2012), pp. 84-98
Folklore publishes full-length articles (max. 12,000 words); shorter, accessibly written ‘Topics, Notes, & Comments’ pieces (max. 5,000 words); and annotated ‘Text Editions’ (max. 12,000 words). More information at: www.folklore-society.com/publications/folklore, or email the Assistant Editor, Niall Christie, at articles@folklore-society.com
- August 21, 2015
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
The Aga Khan Documentation Center has received the Isfahan Urban History Project archive from the Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Canada). The project documents the development of Isfahan, Iran, from the time of the Buyid dynasty (ca. 9th c. AD/4th c. AH).
Undertaken by Dr. Lisa Golombek (Curator Emeritus [Islamic Art] Retired, ROM) and Dr. Renata Holod (Professor, and Curator in the Near East Section, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania), the project spanned the 1970s and investigated the early urban nodes of Isfahan — a city perhaps more known for its monumental architecture and urban planning of the Safavid dynasty (16th-17th c. AD/10th-11th c. AH).
The gift includes slides, negatives, field notes, original drawings, plans, maps, photos, notes, and drafts for the unpublished material. The donation will be inventoried, housed in AKDC@MIT, and selections digitized for Archnet. Students, scholars, and researchers are welcome to visit the Center to use the original material.
http://libraries.mit.edu/news/isfahan-iran-urban/19565/
2. Announcement – Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT donates library to university in Morocco
As a result of the sudden and tragic death of Melanie Michaildis (Ph.D., AKPIA MIT 2007) in 2013, Aga Khan Documentation Center at MIT became the home for her research archive and personal library.
Dr. Michaildis was an Islamic art specialist and was serving as the Korff Postdoctoral Fellow in Islamic Art at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, at the time of her death. She had conducted fieldwork in Iran, Uzbekistan and Western Europe, was praised as a gifted and passionate scholar and teacher on the subject of Islamic art. Dr. Michaildis had published numerous scholarly articles on Islamic ceramics as well as on mosques, shrines, castles, and tomb towers in Iran and Central Asia.
Almost immediately upon receipt of her archive and library, it was decided that the latter should be kept intact and sent to a deserving research institution. After many months of searching for the right home, Michael Toler’s (Archnet Content Manager) Peace Corp connections led us to the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Université Ibn Zohr-Agadir in Morocco; on 28 July, AKDC’s donation — 17 boxes of books in total — were shipped out, en route to their new home.
http://libraries.mit.edu/news/donates-books-university/19553/
3. CFP – Third Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies (Chicago, June 23–25, 2016)
Third Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies, Chicago, June 23–June 25, 2016
Call for papers
We are pleased to announce the Third Conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies, which will be held at the University of Chicago from June 23 to June 25, 2016.
The conference will be divided into two parts and will be preceded by a three-day intensive course on numismatics (June 20–22):
1) The first day of the conference (June 23) will be themed. The theme of this part of the conference will be: “Exchange in the Mamluk Sultanate: Economic & Cultural.” The act of exchanging one thing for another is ubiquitous in the history of all societies. It is found at all levels of commerce, from the local market to international trade, but it is not limited to economic matters. In the diplomatics and court practice of the Mamluk sultanate, the giving of gifts or the granting of rights, titles, or responsibilities are all forms of exchange in which the currency that facilitates the exchange is frequently something other than money. In societal relationships, ties could be strengthened by the exchange of family members via marriage, and in power relations non-tangible goods such as loyalty could be exchanged for wealth, titles, or other rewards. These are but a few examples of what exchange entails. The aim of this themed day is to focus on acts of exchange across these and other aspects of Mamluk society.
A maximum of 12 to 15 paper proposals will be selected. A proposal should represent an original work, not one for which publication is planned elsewhere, so that it may be published in the conference proceedings. Should a greater number of proposals be received, the authors of those which are not selected for the conference may be offered the possibility to publish their contribution in the proceedings. Time allotted to each paper will be twenty minutes, followed by a discussant’s comments and general discussion. In order to allow the discussants to prepare their comments, papers will need to be received by them at least two weeks prior to the conference.
2) The following two days of the conference (June 24–25) will be structured in panels, which may focus on any aspect of the intellectual, political, social, economic, and artistic life of the Mamlūk period. Panels will consist of three to four papers. The panel proposal must be made by a representative, who will be responsible for the panel’s organization. Please note that in case of cancellation of two papers out of the three (or three out of the four) composing the panel, the panel will have to be withdrawn from the program. Time allotted to each paper will be twenty minutes, and discussion will take place at the end of each panel. If more worthwhile panel proposals are received than can be accommodated, the organizing committee will make a selection among them which will provide the greatest possible variety of subject areas.
Language: The official language of the conference will be English.
Fees: The conference registration fee will be $40 for participants and attendees. A farewell dinner will take place on the last day (June 25) at a cost to be determined. Payment of the fees (registration and farewell dinner) must be received by April 30, 2016 (information on the method of payment to be used will be provided in the first circular, which will be sent in January 2016; onsite registration will not be possible). Participants must make their own travel arrangements; information and suggestions for accommodations will be provided in the first circular.
Proposals: Paper proposals for the themed day must be submitted electronically through the conference webpage (http://mamluk.uchicago.edu/school-of-mamluk-studies.html) by October 31, 2015. Panel proposals must be submitted in the same manner by November 30, 2015. Paper proposals require the name and a one-page CV of the speaker, a provisional title, and an abstract of a maximum of 300 words per paper. Panels must be proposed as such, not as individual papers. The panel organizer must provide the relevant information for each panel member and each paper, as well as the name of the panel’s chair (the chair can be one of the panelists). See the conference website for more information.
Acceptance: Paper and panel proposals will be peer-reviewed. A first circular will be sent by January 2016 to those whose proposals have been accepted, and to those who have expressed interest in attending the conference as listeners.
Publication:
- a) Themed day: the papers will be published in a volume of proceedings.
- b) Panels: papers may be submitted for peer review, and selected papers will be published in Mamlūk Studies Review.
Intensive course: Mamlūk Numismatics
A three-day intensive course in Mamlūk numismatics intended for advanced graduate students and other qualified participants will be offered by Professor Warren Schultz (DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois) and will be held immediately before the third conference of the School of Mamlūk Studies held at the University of Chicago (June 20–22, 2016). A reading knowledge of Arabic is required. The course will be demanding and hands-on in its format, but no previous numismatic experience is required.
Since the number of participants will be limited (a maximum of 15), those who desire to take part in the course are requested to submit a CV, a statement of purpose, and a letter of recommendation by someone familiar with their work to [sms2016chicago@gmail.com] by the end of January, 2016. Those who are selected for the course will be notified by the end of February, 2016, at which time information about the method of payment for the course fees will be provided.
The course fee is $300.00, which also includes the registration fee for the subsequent conference (June 23–25) as well the cost of the annual SMS social dinner. The fees must be paid by April 30, 2016. Registration and participation are not confirmed until payment is received. Participants must make their own travel arrangements. The local organizer will provide suggestions for lodging at an affordable price. A certificate of attendance will be awarded.
We look forward to meeting you in Chicago.
Marlis J. Saleh, University of Chicago (local organizer)
Frédéric Bauden, Université de Liège
Antonella Ghersetti, Ca’ Foscari University, Venice
4. Journal of Islamic Archeology
Issue 2.1 (2015)
Articles
A First Ceramic Chronology for the Late Islamic Arabian Gulf
Timothy Power
http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JIA/article/view/27011
JIA 2.1 (2015) pp1-34 issn 2051-9729
Analysis of Archaeobotanical Material from the Tupras Field project of the Kinet Höyük Excavations, Turkey
Jennifer Hope Ramsay, A. Asa Eger
http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JIA/article/view/26939
JIA 2.1 (2015) pp35-50 issn 2051-9729
Comments on Muslim, Jewish and Christian burial practices in medieval Toledo (Spain)
Arturo Ruiz-Taboada
http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JIA/article/view/26043
JIA 2.1 (2015) pp51-72 issn 2051-9729
Mīrzā Muḥammad Naṣīr Furṣat al-Dawla and the Archaeology of Iranian Archaeology
Ivan Szanto
http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JIA/article/view/20287
JIA 2.1 (2015) pp73-92 issn 2051-9729
Book Reviews- open access
The Byzantine–Islamic Transition in Palestine: An Archaeological Approach by Gideon Avni
Reviewed by Denis Genequand
http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JIA/article/view/27919
JIA 2.1 (2015) pp127-129 issn 2051-9729
Les etablissements des elites omeyyades en Palmyrene et au Proche-orient, Bibliotheque archéologique et historique, by D. Gennequand
Reviewed by Philip Wood
http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JIA/article/view/25663
JIA 2.1 (2015) pp130 issn 2051-9729
5. Eighth Annual ASMEA Conference: “For Better or Worse? Historical Trends in the Middle East and Africa”, Washington, D.C. 29-31 October 2015
Organised by the Association for the Study of the Middle East and Africa. Early bird registration until 30 September 2015.
Information: https://asmea.nonprofitcms.org/c/conferences/3/pages/overview
6. Conference: “The Past in the Present of the Middle East”, Council for British Research in the Levant (CBRL), London, 15-16 April 2016
The conference will present sessions on a number of themes linking the past to the present day in the Middle East such as: cultural heritage in conflict; the past in the political present: the legacy of colonialism and intervention; the politics of dissent: challenges to Orientalism and Zionism etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 7 September 2015. Information: http://cbrl.org.uk/event/the-past-in-the-present-of-the-middle-east
7. Post-doc Position 2015-2016: “The Formation of Epistemic Networks and Centers of Knowledge in the Mediterranean, 5th to 16th Centuries”, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science (MPIWG), Berlin
This position is part of the larger project “Convivencia: Iberia to Global Dynamics, 500-1750”. We invite proposals for one out of three research topics. Preference is given to approaches that aim to explore the factors that determined possibilities and constraints for the codification and modification of knowledge.
Deadline for applications: 30 August 2015. Information: http://humweb.ucsc.edu/mediterraneanseminar/news/index.php?id=494
8. Tenure-track Assistant Professor of Political Science, Politics of the Islamic World, Davidson College, NC
Experience in the region, including field research and research proficiency in a regional language, is required. We welcome applications from scholars who have conducted research in any part of the Islamic World. Applications from Ph.D.-holders and very advanced ABDs will be considered. Candidates demonstrating an ability to offer other needed courses in the sub-fields of comparative or international politics are welcome. Scholars with an interest in identity politics are strongly encouraged to apply.
Deadline for applications: 20 September 2015. Information: https://jobs.davidson.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/frameset/Frameset.jsp?time=1438886018086
9. Associate/Full Professor in Islamic Peace, School of International Service (SIS), American University, Washington, DC
Applicants should possess a Ph.D. or the highest equivalent degree in a relevant discipline. Candidates should be expert in the study of Islam, with knowledge of the study of peace and conflict resolution, without respect to a particular discipline. Scholars specializing in the Middle East and North Africa as well as any other region or country with a substantial Muslim population are encouraged to apply.
Review of applications will continue until position is filled. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/30418
10. Global Inequalities Tenure-Track Position with Specialization in the Middle East, University of San Francisco
This is a position in Sociology at the Assistant Professor level to begin in fall 2016. We encourage candidates with expertise in or across areas of particular interest such as urban sociology, development, labor, social movements, stratification, and demography.
Deadline for applications: 2 October 2015. Information: www.usfjobs.com
11. Senior Program Manager at the Arab Council for the Social Sciences, Beirut
The position is responsible for developing, establishing and overseeing one or more programs of the ACSS. Requirements: PhD in Social Sciences; at least 5 years management of similar activities; perfect knowledge of Arabic and English. Knowledge of French is an asset.
Information: www.theacss.org/pages/fora-and-debates/319/job-opportunity_senior-program-manager-acss
12. Post-doctoral Fellowships in the Humanities at Universities and Research Institutes in the U.S. and Germany
The fellowships address postdocs based in the U.S.A. and Germany who wish to spend some time in Germany or in the U.S. and Canada working on a research project.
Deadline for applications: 1 October 2015. Information: www.volkswagenstiftung.de/en/funding/international-focus/post-doctoral-fellowships-in-the-humanities.html
13. Post-Doctoral Fellowships Program for Junior Arab Scholars from the Arab Council for the Social Sciences
This 9-month fellowship program aims at enabling young researchers, up to three years out of the PhD, to pursue their research and publishing plans, become part of Arab research networks and plan a research career in the Arab region.
Deadline for applications: 15 October 2015. Information: www.theacss.org/pages/post-doc-fellowships
14. CFP: Early Maritime Cultures on the East African Coast
A conference organized by the African Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. October 23-24, 2015.
Call for papers
The Indian Ocean has long influenced cultures along the East African coast. This inter-disciplinary conference on maritime history will allow scholars from multiple disciplines to present work connected with seafaring in East Africa in any era. The organizers will particularly favor paper proposals focused on maritime developments before about 1500 CE.
Themes of particular interest include:
- Early instances of maritime activity in East Africa.
- Lines of evidence available for the study of early seafaring along the East African coast.
- East African maritime cultures and their connections by sea with other lands.
- The engagement of non-maritime East African peoples, including foragers, farmers, herders, with the Indian Ocean.
- Indian Ocean migrations to and from East Africa.
- Indian Ocean trading systems.
- The Indian Ocean and the contours of East African cosmopolitanism.
- Maritime technologies, innovation, and change.
Papers on other themes will be considered, especially those that deal in some way with maritime technologies and practices in East Africa before about 1500.
One of our ambitions is to produce an edited volume, but we cannot guarantee publication.
Lodging and support for presenters
The conference organizers expect to be able to provide lodging for presenters in Madison for one or two nights as well as some sociability (a meal or two). Potential presenters planning to come from locations outside the United States, especially Africa, may request additional support, such as help with air fare, but it is very unlikely that we will be able to provide more than $1,000 of such support for anyone, nor can we guarantee it at this time.
How to participate
Submit an abstract of 200-300 words (pdf or .doc preferred) to events@africa.wisc.edu
Use subject line “East Africa Maritime Abstract”
EXTENDED deadline to submit abstract: August 15, 2015.
By September 1, 2015, we hope to notify submitters whether or not their paper has been accepted.
Conference organizer
Akshay Sarathi, doctoral candidate in Archaeology
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Conference sponsor
African Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison
http://africa.wisc.edu/?page_id=8761
15. Persianate Cultures of Documentation: An International Symposium
Vienna, June 2016
Conveners: James Pickett and Paolo Sartori
States enact themselves through paper, leveraging the written word to project coercive authority outward – or the illusion of control. Producing, collecting, and cataloguing are simultaneously administrative acts and performative ones, shaping both the nature of the state and the historian’s perception of it. Over the past decade scholars of the Muslim world, and the Middle East in particular, have conferred greater epistemological significance on textual genres that conventionally go under the rubric of “documents.” However, the burgeoning field of Persianate studies remains overwhelmingly oriented toward literature – despite the existence of vast, largely untapped, repositories of documents. Can we speak of a common Persianate culture of documentation stretching from the Kazakh steppe to the Deccan, from Sarajevo to Kashgar?
Studies of Islamicate documentation outside the Ottoman Empire have been few and far between until very recently. The result is that most of the available studies on archives and documents in the Muslim world are based on legal sources, i.e. texts the documentary attributes of which reflect either a probative or a precedential value alone. The problem with this approach is that it predicates on a reified meaning of document thereby misidentifying other possible uses of the written word and overlooking other principles behind the preservation of texts. A number of recent studies begun to revise this status quo by historicising the production and preservation of certain texts in an effort to complicate a dominant (yet untenable) narrative predicated upon the purported absence of archives and the ostensibly limited patterns of textual consumption prior to the early modern period – illuminating, for instance, the existence of chancery practices and dynastic archives under the Abbasids and the Mamluks. While a great effort has been made to prove that in the early Islamic and medieval period Muslim states did in fact rely on central administrative apparatuses, little has been done to reflect on what we may term coeval cultures of documentation, by which we mean the assumptions that informed the functionality of writing and governed the preservation of texts in a certain period. By ignoring such questions, historians of the Islamicate world have risked their superimposing a commonsensical understanding of the documentary attributes of texts onto historical material that may well require a different hermeneutical approach.
We contend that a solution to this problem demands that we expand our informational basis and take a larger number of compositional genres into our purview. To achieve this goal, we propose to reflect on the meanings of documentation across a larger historical area of the Muslim world, which is termed “the Persianate”. With this symposium we thus bring together scholars who work on material either in Persian or in languages directly influenced by Persian such as Urdu, Chaghatay, Marathi, Ottoman, Tatar, and Uyghur across the early-modern and modern period.
By addressing the following questions, the symposium sets for itself the task of outlining a comparative history of documentation early modern and colonial periods across the Middle East, Central and South Asia:
What makes an archive in the Persianate world, and what are the practices of documentation therein?
Should we distinguish between archives and private collections?
Why did dynasts preserve certain texts and how did they use them?
Was the creation and the preservation of archives reflective of a certain historical consciousness?
Did the preservation of texts alter their original meaning? How do we take stock of the aspirational aspect of recordkeeping?
What was the relationship between archival practices and public knowledge?
How did the culture of the spoken affect archival practices?
What was the nature of interaction between manuscripts and practical documents – in terms of authorship, worldview, functionality and genre conventions?
Proposals should include paper abstracts of up to 500 words and a short CV (no more than 2 pages) of each speaker. Please send your proposal to paolo.sartori@oeaw.ac.at by 1 December 2015 at the latest. Travel and accommodation costs for invited speakers will be covered by the Institute of Iranian Studies within the framework of the Seeing Like an Archive Project https://seeinglikeanarchive.wordpress.com/. As a publication on the basis of the workshop is envisaged, please be prepared to circulate paper drafts in advance.
16. Duke University – History of the Islamic World/Muslim World
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51253
University of Wisconsin – Madison – Rank open, TransAsia /
transdisciplinary scholar
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51243
University of Hamburg – W2 Universitatsprofessur fur Kunstgeschichte
des Mittelalters / W2 Professorship in Medieval Art History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51258
The Department of Modern and Classical Languages at the University of
Houston announces a part-time opening in Arabic language instruction to be
filled starting Fall 2015. The part-time lecturer will teach beginning and
intermediate level Arabic language courses.
https://jobs.uh.edu/postings/26411
Arabic: The Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at Duke University invites applications for a full-time position as an Arabic language lecturer, beginning Fall 2016. The initial contract for the position is three years and renewable every five years based on a demonstration of quality and rigor of teaching, curricular innovation, professional development and service to the field. The successful candidate will join the growing Arabic program at Duke. The primary responsibilities consist of teaching and developing intermediate and advanced courses, creating teaching materials, designing assessment tools, and organizing and participating in extra-curricular activities related to service learning and refugee issues. The teaching load is maximum 5 courses per year or 12 contact hours per week, and the starting salary is negotiable based on experience and qualifications.
Candidates should have an M.A. or higher degree in Arabic language and literature, applied linguistics, or a related field, and must have fluency in both Arabic and English. Experience in teaching Arabic at the university level in North America is required, and the demonstrated ability to develop and implement service learning and outreach programs is preferred. Knowledge and experience with study abroad programs and instructional technologies, and desire to further pedagogical/professional development are desirable.
Applications received by September 30, 2015 will be guaranteed full consideration. Send: 1) a letter of application with a statement of teaching philosophy, 2) curriculum vitae, 3) a teaching portfolio including syllabi, a sample of teaching materials and student evaluations, and 4) three letters of reference, addressed to the Chair of Arabic Lecturer Search Committee, Dept. of AMES, Duke University. The application materials should be sent to Arabic Search Committee, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Duke University, 2204 Erwin Road, Box 90414, Durham, NC 27708. For additional information please email amesdept@duke.edu
Duke University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer committed to providing employment opportunity without regard to an individual’s age, color, disability, genetic information, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status.
17. Weatherhead Initiative on Global History Fellowship
The Weatherhead Initiative on Global History (WIGH) at Harvard University identifies and supports outstanding scholars whose work responds to the growing interest in the encompassing study of global history. We seek to organize a community of scholars interested in the systematic scrutiny of developments that have unfolded across national, regional, and continental boundaries and who propose to analyze the interconnections—cultural, economic, ecological, political and demographic—among world societies. We encourage applicants from all over the world, and especially from outside Europe and North America, hoping to create a global conversation on global history.
WIGH Fellows are appointed for one year and are provided time, guidance, office space, and access to Harvard University facilities. They should be prepared to devote their entire time to productive scholarship and may undertake sustained projects of research or other original work. They will join a vibrant community of global history scholars at Harvard.
This fellowship is funded by a grant from the Volkswagen Foundation.
Terms
The competition for these awards is open only to scholars with a PhD (or comparable professional school degree). If still pursuing the PhD, WIGH Fellows must receive their degree no later than May 2016. There is no limit on time since submission of the candidate’s degree; we are open to candidates at various stages of their careers. We expect that candidates will be able to submit samples of independent work (articles, papers, dissertation chapters) in support of their candidacies on request. The WIGH Fellowship is residential and Fellows are expected to live in the Cambridge/Boston area for the duration of their appointments unless traveling for pre-approved research purposes, and they are expected to participate in WIGH activities, including a bi-weekly seminar.
Fellows will receive an annual stipend of up to $50,000, according to fellows’ needs. Because we cannot always offer the amount requested, we urge applicants to apply for funding from other sources as well. Applications are welcome from qualified persons without regard to nationality, gender, or race.
How to Apply
Applications are due December 15, 2015. Letters of reference are due by January 8th, 2016.
Please visit our website (http://wigh.wcfia.harvard.edu/content/wigh-fellowships-2016-2017) to apply.
Contact:
Jessica Barnard, Program Coordinator
jbarnard@wcfia.harvard.edu
Phone: +011 (617) 495-8923
18. Iran Heritage Foundation: Job Vacancy: Administrator (London)
IHF is looking for an enthusiastic person to join their office, preferably full-time.
Responsibilities will include: bookkeeping; maintaining the website and social media; responding to enquiries; and general administrative work.
The successful applicant must be fluent in English and have good IT skills, including Excel and Access. Persian speaking desirable.
Full-time salary: £19,000-22,000, depending on qualifications and experience.
Send your CV and a covering letter, with the names of two referees, one of whom should be your previous employer, to info@iranheritage.org by 4th September.
19. Metadata Librarian, Arabic Specialty
Princeton University Library
Princeton, New Jersey
Requisition #1500640
The Princeton University Library is one of the world’s leading research libraries, serving a diverse community of 5,200 undergraduates, 2,700 graduate students, 1,200 faculty members, and many visiting scholars. Its holdings include more than 7 million printed volumes, 5 million manuscripts, 2 million non-print items, and extensive collections of digital text, data, and images. The Library employs a dedicated and knowledgeable staff of more than 300 professional and support staff working in a large central library, 9 specialized branches, and 3 storage facilities.
Major Responsibilities:
Princeton University Library seeks a flexible and innovative Metadata Librarian with a specialization in the language, history and culture of the Arab World to become part of a team responsible for creating, converting and managing metadata to promote and enhance control of and access to the Library’s digital and print collections in Arabic.
The Princeton University Near East Collections constitute one of the major assemblages of Near Eastern research materials in the United States, representing all areas of classical Islamic civilization, with an emphasis on literary, historical, legal, and religious texts.
The position is a member of the Middle East Languages Team and reports to the Director of Cataloging and Metadata Services. The incumbent will provide metadata for new acquisitions in Arabic and for digital initiatives. S/he will collaborate with colleagues within Technical Services and in other Library departments on digital and cataloging projects to enhance access to the collections. The librarian will work with multiple library systems, traditional and modern metadata encoding, and employ tools for cross-walking, storing and re-purposing data. This position will require a firm and broad conceptual understanding of cataloging principles and the ability to apply and adapt them to existing and emerging media in a variety of encoding formats. Success in this position will require a commitment to achieving priority throughput of new acquisitions, a dedication to content quality assurance to foster discovery, and the imagination to arrive at new solutions to both new and traditional challenges, especially through capitalizing on the advantages offered by new technologies.
Essential Qualifications:
– MLS combined with an academic background in Middle Eastern studies; or an advanced degree in Middle Eastern studies with an emphasis on Arabic language, literature, culture, and history.
– Strong reading knowledge of Arabic.
– Ability to Romanize Arabic according to the ALA/LC Romanization table.
– Demonstrated proficiency and familiarity with library-relevant information technology and standards, especially those related to linked data, data visualization, XML and tools for data manipulation.
Strongly Preferred Qualifications:
– One year of comparable cataloging experience.
– Reading knowledge of other Middle Eastern languages, especially Persian, Hebrew, Turkish, and/or Ottoman Turkish.
– RDA cataloging experience and/or NACO experience.
– Experience providing cataloging and metadata for digital formats, and in creating and editing non-MARC metadata using standards and schema such as Dublin Core, MODS, etc.
Applications will be accepted only from the Jobs at Princeton website: http://www.princeton.edu/jobs and must include a resume, cover letter, and a list of three references with full contact information. Princeton University is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. This position is subject to the University’s background
20. “Slavery in the Medieval World”:
A Call for Papers and Sessions for participation in the 2016 Leeds International Medieval Congress
The study of slavery in the Medieval World has been largely marginalized in the past. Despite large amounts of evidence, medievalists have traditionally opted to focus their attentions elsewhere or to have seen slavery as being of only marginal importance in the societies and economies of the world from late antiquity until the opening of the Atlantic trade. While some important studies have been done in the past, a new interest in the subject has been growing with research looking more and more at the subject and its ramifications.
While it seems that the International Medieval Congress at Leeds this summer has barely ended, it is already time to begin thinking about next year. This summer, of course, there were more papers and sessions devoted to the subject of slavery (and related topics) in the medieval world than ever before. As a result, some were even scheduled to run against each other. In order to avoid this next summer and to better promote understanding of the topic, it is hoped to organize a strand of sessions to be held next year at the IMC Leeds 2016 (4 to 7 July 2016, at the University of Leeds).
The overall topic will be ‘Slavery in the Medieval World’ with separate sessions focusing on various eras and topics under the overall theme.
The individual sessions will be numbered and will have sub-titles relevant to what their particular focus is (as well as individual session organizers). Possible topics might include such areas as “Slavery in Medieval Arabia”, “Manumission”, “Children in Slavery”, “Slavery and the End of the Western Empire” and so on and so forth.
The total number of sessions will, of course, be determined by the number of participants; ideally, we will have a mix of early career and more senior scholars as well as of people working on a range of geographic and temporal areas.
By bringing together scholars working on different areas and periods of the history of medieval Europe, Asia, and Africa, we hope to address the question of whether there is a single subject of slavery in the medieval world, whether some practices and activities can be seen as being of global importance, and how the earlier modes of slavery found in antiquity shaped later practice. Whether the teachings of the monotheistic religions served to ameliorate slave-systems inherited from the past or whether they served to make them stronger could be discussed while the role of slavery itself in the systems of exchange and of personal relationship might also be usefully addressed.
All proposals addressing the topic, whether of single papers or of organized sessions, are welcome and will be examined.
Practical issues
If you are interested in giving a paper or organizing a session, please send an email by 23 August 2015 to
While we look forward to proposals for individual papers, we also encourage potential collaboration, respondents, and moderators. Of course, please feel free to forward this call for papers to any student or colleague who might be interested in participating in our strand!
When you write, include the following information:
1) paper title
2) a short abstract/brief description indicating what the paper will be about (max. 200 words)
3) your contact details and affiliation
4) Equipment needed? (Laptop, Beamer, etc.)
We will determine how papers of 20 minutes each best fit togther in the sessions and well will let you know the results as soon as possible (no later than mid-September). We will not be able to cover travel, registration and accommodation expenses for our speakers. We encourage PhD students and independent scholars to consider the bursary application offered by the IMC (deadline 17 October) which you can find following this link: https://imc.leeds.ac.uk/dbsql02/AQueryServlet?*context=IMC&*id=0&*formId=83&conference=201…
For general information on the IMC, see http://www.leeds.ac.uk/arts/info/125137/international_medieval_congress
- August 14, 2015
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Two PhD positions within the junior research group “Arabic Philology and Textual Practices in the Early Modern Period”.
Fachbereich Geschichts- und Kulturwissenschaften
Ostasien und Vorderer Orient
Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies
Junior Research Group: “Arabic Philology and Textual Practices in the Early Modern Period”
2 Research Associates (PhD Positions)
1/2-part-time job
Limited to 3 years
Pay grade 13 TV-L FU
Reference code: JRG ArabPhil
Freie Universität Berlin is one of only a few German Universities which have been awarded and maintained the status of excellence. The Dahlem International Network Junior Research Group investigates the history of language-based sciences and textual practices in the early modern Arab-Islamic world (1500-1900). The project is directed by Prof. Dr. Islam Dayeh, Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies, Freie Universität Berlin.
Job description: Two PhD positions are available in the frame of the Junior Research Group “Arabic Philology and Textual Practices in the Early Modern Period”. The successful candidate is expected to carry out original research leading to a doctoral thesis in the field of early modern Arabic philology and the intellectual and literary history of the post-classical period. The research topic may treat any of the fields of the post-classical period (linguistic sciences, logic, literature, rhetoric, exegesis, hadith criticism, usul al-fiqh, kalam, and sufi literature, including their commentary traditions). Research projects that explore the philological interaction between Arabic, Ottoman Turkish and Persian are also welcome, as are projects that examine the Arabic philological encounter with European philology in the 19th and 20th centuries. Members of the junior research group are expected to participate in the activities of the Seminar for Semitic and Arabic Studies and the research program “Zukunftsphilologie: Revisiting the Canons of Textual Scholarship” (Forum Transregionale Studien).
Requirements:
Applicants must have a university degree (Master, Magister, Diploma) in Arabic and Islamic studies or a related field
Desirable:
Applicants must have excellent reading skills in Arabic (and Ottoman Turkish and/or Persian, if required for research), and advanced proficiency in English
Prior experience in working with manuscripts and archives is especially welcome. For non-German speakers, working knowledge of the language is desirable.
Applications quoting the reference code should include a CV, a cover letter, a 3-page research proposal, copies of all certificates of academic qualification and a list of publications (as far as extant) should arrive no later than August 17th, 2015 via email to islamdayeh@zedat.fu-berlin.de
All documents must be combined into a single PDF-document. We do not accept applications sent via post. Applications must be sent in English or German. Questions about the position and the application process should be directed to islamdayeh@zedat.fu-berlin.de .
2. The Meaning of the word. Lexicography and Qur’anic exegesis
This is the edited result of a set of papers presented in London at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, in 2011
Burge (Stephen R.) (ed.), The Meaning of the word. Lexicography and Qur’anic exegesis, Oxford and London, OUP in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies (Qurʾanic Studies Series), 23 July 2015, 510 p., ISBN : 978-0-19-872413-1, 70 £,
Contents : 1. Introduction: Words, Hermeneutics, and the Construction of Meaning, S. R. Burge. Section I: Lexicology and the Formative Period of Qur’anic Exegesis. 2. In Search of Meaning: Lexical Explanation in Early Qur’anic Commentaries, Kees Versteegh. 3. Lexicological Hadith and the ‘School’ of Ibn ʿAbbās, Herbert Berg. 4. The Interpretation of Three Qur’anic Terms (Siyaha, Hikma and Siddiq) of Special Interest to the Early Renunciants, Christopher Melchert.
Section II: Lexical Methodologies in Action: Four Case Studies. 5. The Use of Lexicography in the Great Qur’anic commentary of al-Wahidi (d. 468/1076) Claude Gilliot (pp. 119-156). 6. Authority and the Defence of Readings in Medieval Qur’anic Exegesis: Lexicology and the Case of Falaq (Q. 113:1), S. R. Burge. 7.Poetic License and the Qur’anic Names of Hell: The Treatment of Cognate Substitution in al-Raghib al-Isfahani’s Qur’anic Lexicon, Devin Stewart. 8. Paradoxes in Shahrastani’s Lexicological Methodology. Toby Mayer.
Section III: Words, Interpretation and Legal Disputes. 9. From Qur’an to Fiqh: Sunni and Shi’i Tafsir on the Inheritance Verses and the ‘Named’ Cases’ (al-Masa’il al-Mulaqqaba), Agostino Cilardo.10. Marital Discord in Qur’anic Exegesis: A Lexical Analysis of Husbandly and Wifely Nushuz in Q. 4:34 and Q. 4:128. Ayesha S. Chaudhry. 11. The Optional Ramadan Fast: Debating Q. 2:184 in the Early Turkish Republic, M. Brett Wilson.
Section IV: The Word in Translation: Medieval and Modern Disputes. 12. The Persian Fatiha of Salman al-Farisi and the Debates Modern Controversy over Translating the Qur’an, Travis Zadeh. 13. The Qur’an Today: Translating the Translatable, Stefan Wild. Bibliography. Index of Qur’anic Citations. General Index.
3. Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies (tenure-track), Trinity College Hartford, Connecticut
The position is commencing with the 2016-2017 academic year. Applicants must have a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies with language competency in Arabic and, ideally, another Islamicate language, e.g., Persian, Urdu, Turkish, and Malay, and must demonstrate a strong record of teaching and a clear research program.
Deadline for application: 15 October 2015. Information: ellison.findly@trincoll.edu
4. Professor Working on the Sociology of the Middle East (Tenured, Senior Appointment), Brown University, Providence
The position in commencing 1 July 2016. We are seeking applicants whose research focuses on aspects of governance, development, and/or security broadly defined. The successful candidate must have an outstanding record of national and international scholarly achievement, a proven record of successful research funding.
Deadline for application: 15 September 2015. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/30497
4. Professorship in the Islamic Studies with focus on Persianate World at the University of Freiburg, Germany.
Closing date: 4.9.2015
5. Stanford University – CURATOR OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN AND NORTH AFRICAN
COLLECTION
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51184
Stanford University – South Asian Studies – Assistant / Associate
Professor in Humanities
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51183
6. Residential Fellowship at the International Institute of Islamic Thought, Hemdon VA (near Washington DC)
Fellowship for three months during September-December 2015. Monthly stipend $4,000 etc. Deadline for application: 17 August 2015. For information contact Saulat Pervez at saulat@iiit.org
7. Articles on “Negotiating Gender Relations – Arab Women and the Transformation of Arab Societies” for Special Issue of “GENDER. Journal for Gender, Culture and Society”
This journal is well-established and provides a forum for academic debate and discourse between academics and practitioners. Given the journal’s multi-disciplinary setting, we welcome analyses from, for instance, sociology, educational science, political science, cultural science and history which correspond to the interdisciplinary nature of gender studies.
Deadline for abstracts: 7 December 2015. For information contact heidemarie.winkel@uni-bielefeld.de
8. University of Durham
Teaching Fellow in Arabic
Salary: £31342 to £37394
Fixed Term for 12 months
The School of Modern Languages and Cultures (MLAC) of the University of
Durham seeks to appoint a full-time, fixed-term (12 months) Teaching Fellow
in Arabic who is expected to be able to teach core Modern Standard Arabic in
Arabic language modules at all undergraduate levels, and contribute to
translation and interpreting modules in the MA in Arabic-English Translation
and Interpreting. The post is offered at grade 7 (the entry point for
lecturers). In addition, the teaching fellow will engage in administrative
duties involving at least some of the following activities: year abroad
coordination, examinations and assessment, course documentation and
curriculum development, module leadership and quality assurance, academic
guidance, and outreach.
You will have an MA or equivalent degree in language teaching or
translation, native proficiency in spoken and written Arabic and near-native
proficiency in spoken and written English, as well as experience in Arabic
language teaching at Undergraduate level at a UK University.
Informal enquiries may be made to Prof. Daniel Newman
(daniel.newman@durham.ac.uk ).
9. ACLA (American Comparative Literature Association) conference will be at
Harvard University on March 17-20 2016, and I plan to organize a seminar,
“Comparative Middle Eastern Literatures: Forging a Discipline.” Please click
the link below to learn more about the panel:
http://www.acla.org/seminar/comparative-middle-eastern-literatures-forging-discipline
ACLA will open an online portal for paper submissions on September 1st. Please
submit an abstract by September 23rd if you are interested in presenting.
Should you have any questions, please send an e-mail to
10. Call for Papers: Political Parties in the Middle East : Past, Present and Future Perspectives
A conference to be held at the University of Manchester, 25-27 January 2016 [Dates to be confirmed]
Convened by the Subject Areas of History and Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Manchester, in Association with the Centre for Advanced Study of the Arab World
Co-organised by Dr Siavush Randjbar-Daemi and Dr Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi
Political parties have long been considered the staple of any modern political system. In the Western political tradition, parties have featured as the locus of organised activity by elites and politically conscious sectors of society, coalescing around the defining issues of the day, as well as shared socio-economic interests, demanding representation and a stake in the political order. Over time, political parties came to be seen as the sine qua non of assuming government and the exercise of power in any self-avowed parliamentary democracy.
In the aftermath of World War I the states comprising the MENA region began to increasingly witness the emergence political forms that resembled those found in the metropole, and the imperial powers which had overseen its incorporation into the world economy and subjugation to Europe’s competing global empires. Where people and social groups had previously pursued political activity by means of secret societies, or redress through traditional associations such as guilds, village elders, town notables, and the clergy, with the advent of the modern era, the political party came to be seen as an ever-more appropriate and efficacious means of organising and directing political action and expressing political demands. By the end of the British and French mandate a whole host of political parties had emerged, with some acting as the voice of traditional landed elites and urban notables, while others were born in response to the arrival of the new class of urban intellectuals, salaried professionals and civil servants under the sway of modern ideologies such as liberalism, fascism and communism.
Following WWII, with the onset of the Cold War this trend gathered pace and radical projects such as Nasserism and Baʿathism, whose chief concern was Arab unity and the overturning of the old sources of social power and elite rule, the region was transformed irrevocably in what became an epoch of decolonization and calls for non-alignment. Authoritarian presidencies forged off the back of military coups in Egypt, Syria and Iraq, had at their inception sought popular mandates and thereby attempted to build a single-party state order to mobilize a host of groups including recent urban migrants, the intelligentsia, members of the new professional classes and state bureaucracies and the peasantry. New genres of political literature were created and consumed, and novel ways of engaging an increasingly literate public, receptive to the ideas and discourses of the newly-minted anti-colonial elites, came into being.
In the aftermath of the defeat of the leading Arab nationalist states in June 1967 the Palestinian cause for national liberation assumed a more independent line as evident in the early politics of Fatah, while Israel’s party system found itself increasingly forced to come to terms with a rapidly shifting demography and a fragile PR system under the shadow of military occupation. One of the main features of Iranian politics, post-1941, has been the dichotomy between the Marxist, pro-Moscow Tudeh Party, widely considered to be Iran’s only mass political party of the 20th century, and its adversaries’ scorn and indirect emulation. In 1975, Iran would become what was possibly the only one-party monarchy in modern world history. Many of these political parties which endeavoured to fundamentally challenge the status quo in their societies were also often vehicles for social mobility, progressive gender norms and the promise of wealth redistributions, changing the nature of their societies in an unprecedented fashion.
Political parties also partook in the construction of new constitutional configurations, where until 2011 the prospect of dynastic presidencies in Libya, Iraq, Syria and Egypt backed by the one-party state held the promise of becoming a generalizable regional trend. By contrast, Iran following the Revolution of 1979 witnessed the birth of a factional order labouring under the imprimatur of theocratic rule, and has subsequently struggled to institute a stable party political system. Meanwhile, elsewhere in MENA Islamist parties such as the Muslim Brotherhood, despite their longevity, sought to persevere in debilitating authoritarian contexts through the cultivation of welfare regimes and networks so as to reach the wider population.
The wave of upheavals and euphoria which swept the Middle East following January 2011, has led to serious queries regarding the role and importance of political parties. A question remains as to whether the repression of organised political activity in several parts of the Middle East has led to their irrelevance, as social movements, both informal and highly integrated, take centre stage in this highly networked, information age. While the post-2011 Arab Uprisings may well have spoken to the bankruptcy of the traditional political party form, the counter-revolutions which almost invariably followed reaffirmed the importance of highly organized, hierarchical and more often than not, militarised, organizations to political outcomes in evolving social conflicts. The Green Movement of Iran and the Tahrir Square revolt were commonly seen as shunning structured political organisation, which made them all the more unpredictable, while sceptics pointed to their inherent limitations and ultimate unsustainability going forward. Moreover, the apparent sectarianization of several conflicts in the region has also been strongly linked to political groupings and mobilizations along sectarian lines, posing the question whether the “sectarian party” is with us to stay?
This international conference aims to make sense of past, present and future perspectives on political party organisation in the Middle East and North Africa. It will seek to understand whether political parties in MENA should still be considered an integral part to the creation of resilient democratic states or the enactment of radical social transformation, as well as chart the evolution of the single party system and the challenges it has faced over the past decade. It will aim to bring together a wide range of scholars studying topics ranging from the social bases of marginalized political organizations to mainstream parties which have held power for decades. It is the conference’s intention to contribute to extant international scholarship on political parties in the fields of history, political science, international relations, sociology and anthropology and the literature concerned with political parties in the post-colonial world.
Proposals might choose to focus on the following themes:
Nationalism and Political Parties
Ethnicity and Political Parties
Imperialism and Political Parties in the Middle East
State formation and Political Parties in the Middle East
Political Parties and Democratization in the Middle East
Political Parties and Class Politics
Modernization Theory and the Legacy of Political Parties
Political Parties in the Arab Spring
Does Political Pluralism in the MENA Require a Multi-Party System?
Political Parties in the Age of Social Media
Political Parties and the Legacy of the Left in the Middle East
Official Co-opted Political Parties in the Middle East
Loyal Oppositions in the Middle East
Political Parties and Welfare Networks
Political Parties and Sectarianism
Factionalism or Multi-Party System?
Political Parties and Revolutionary Elites
Political Parties and Arab Armies
Political Parties in the Middle East: A Spent Force?
The validity of the Western political party theory and conceptualisation in the modern Middle East.
Limited funding is available to cover select travel and accommodation expenses of accepted panellists.
Please complete the paper submission form on the conference website by no later than 5 October 2015. Selected participants will be contacted towards the publication of an edited volume.
https://politicalpartiesmiddleeast.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/hello-world/
11. The Islamic Manuscript Association, in collaboration with the Department of Classics at King’s College London and the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation, is pleased to announce a symposium on the palaeography of Arabic-script languages at King’s College London’s Great Hall on the Strand, London, on Monday, 24 August.
Compared with the well-established Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Coptic palaeographic traditions, the study of Arabic scripts is still in its infancy. However, as the increasing number of studies published by scholars such as François Déroche, Adam Gacek, and Yusuf Raghib shows, interest in the field is growing.
In this symposium, five distinguished speakers will critically appraise the state of the field and explore new directions for study. The keynote address by Adam Gacek, author of multiple books and articles on the codicology and palaeography of Arabic manuscripts, including Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers (Brill 2011), and retired faculty lecturer and research associate at the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, will assess the last quarter-century of palaeographic scholarship and suggest areas of future research. Additional presentations will explore current research and lacunae in scholarship on Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Jawi palaeography in more detail.
Admission is free of charge, but registration is essential. Presentations will be in English, and simultaneous Arabic interpretation will be available.
For further information and to register, see our website [as below].
Best wishes,
Armin
——
Armin Yavari
Assistant Director
The Islamic Manuscript Association
c/o 33 Trumpington Street
Cambridge CB2 1QY
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)1223 303 177
F: +44 (0)1223 302 218
E: armin@islamicmanuscript.org
W: www.islamicmanuscript.org
12. “Kufic Inscriptions of the Historic Grand Mosque of Shoushtar”.
The authors of this book have taken a rare opportunity to bring together the many factors crucial to an adequate understanding of architectural inscriptions, and they have done so in relation to those in an important but sadly under-published historic mosque. The grand mosque of Shoushtar contains many historic inscriptions installed over time for documentary purposes, but the four monumental Kufic texts are integral parts of its design and meaning. They are here studied calligraphically, hermeneutically and phenomenologically, and in relation to the structure of the mosque itself, the whole being set against an outline of Shoushtar’s history and the features of the mosque.
Begun in the ninth century CE, the grand mosque of Shoushtar is one of the earliest hypostyle mosques in Iran. It was built in “the city of scholars” when its residents included two great Sufis, Sahl Ibn Abdullah Tostari and Mansur Hallaj. This scholarly, mystical emphasis is reflected in the mosque itself and it is tempting to wonder whether the eleventh Shiite Imam, Hassan al-Askari, under house arrest at the time of building, had anything to do with its design. This mosque is idiosyncratic and much modified and now presents a complex interpretational challenge.
This book is an important and long overdue contribution to our knowledge of Shoushtar and the historic application of monumental Kufic inscriptions. Its high quality illustrations allow personal study of all four Kufic inscriptions of the city’s grand mosque: Surat Ya-Sin which was once encircling the entire prayer hall, the dedicatory inscription above the secondary internal mihrab, its fascia inscription containing the last two verses of Surat al-Isra’ whose content parallels the fourth inscription of Surat al-Ikhlas (al-Tawhid) on the external mihrab.
Details: http://kuficpedia.org/publications/inscriptions-historic-shoushtar/
13. Bard Graduate Center – Bard Graduate Center Research Fellowship
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51212
University of Rochester – Spring 2016 Post-doctoral or Junior Faculty
Fellowship
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51216
14. ‘ISLAMIC STUDIES IN SCOTLAND: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT’
In October IMES, in conjunction with the Alwaleed Centre, will be marking the 50th anniversary of W. Montgomery Watt’s inaugural address
as the first Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Scotland with an evening and day of events.
This promises to be a most memorable occasion and will provide an opportunity not only to assess the state of the field
since Professor Watt’s pioneering work but will also emphasise the continuing strength of Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh.
Both events will be held in the Playfair Library at the University of Edinburgh and are open to the public.
Further details will be advised in due course.
The programme:
Friday, 23 October, 6-8pm
On Friday evening, we will feature two celebrated scholars of early Islam.
Professor Carole Hillenbrand of the University of Edinburgh will begin proceedings with a presentation on ‘Montgomery Watt, the man and the scholar’.
Professor Fred Donner of the University of Chicago will follow with a lecture on ‘The Study of Islam’s Origins since W. Montgomery Watt’s Publications.
To conclude the evening’s programme, Dr Richard Holloway, former Bishop of Edinburgh, will offer a short talk on Professor Watt’s religious life.
Saturday, 24 October,
The following day, Saturday, 24 October, we will be holding an academic colloquium titled, ‘Representations of Muhammad’. This will bring together scholars from both Edinburgh and abroad.
Chaired by Dr Andrew Marsham, the speakers will be the following:
Dr Andreas Goerke, University of Edinburgh, Muhammad and the Biblical Tradition, The case of Zaynab bint Jahsh
Dr Christiane Gruber, University of Michigan, Muhammad among the Great Men of the World: Enlightenment, Nationhood, and Early 20th-Century Iranian Carpets
Prof. Wilferd Madelung, Institute of Ismaili Studies, Muhammad, Khadija and ‘Umar
Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz, University of Edinburgh, Representing Muhammad on Screen
Dr Nicolai Sinai, University of Oxford, Muhammad and the Prophetology of the Medinan Qur’an
Dr John Tolan, University of Nantes, The Ecumenical Turn: Massignon, Watt, and 20th-century European scholarship on Muhammad
- August 07, 2015
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment
Shii News – Academic Items
1. Publication – The City in the Muslim World: Depictions by Western Travel Writers
The City in the Muslim World: Depictions by Western Travel Writers (Routledge, 2015).
Presenting a critical perspective on the cultural interactions between the “East” and the “West”, this book questions the role of travel in the production of knowledge and in the construction of the idea of the Islamic city. This volume brings together authors from various disciplines, questioning the role of Western travel writing in the production of knowledge about the East, particularly focusing on the cities of the Muslim world.
Title: The City in the Muslim World: Depictions by Western Travel Writers
Editors: Mohammad Gharipour and Nilay Ozlu
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN13: 9781138842625
Number of pages: 312
Introduction 1 Mobile Urbanism: Tent Cities in Medieval Travel Writing Mohammad Gharipour and Manu Sobti 2 Understanding the City Through Traveller’s Tales: Cairo as Seen and Experienced by Two Fourteenth-Century Italians Felicity Ratte 3 Where Is the Greatest City in the East? The Mughal City of Lahore in European Travel Accounts (1556–1648) Mehreen Chida-Razvi 4 The Image of the City: Public Baths and Urban Space in Western Travellers’ Descriptions of Ottoman Sofia Stefan Peychev 5 Cultural Encounters between Europeans and Arabs: Carsten Niebuhr’s Reflections on Cities of the Islamic World (1761–1767) Jørgen Mikkelsen 6 Western Eyes on Jannina: Foreign Narratives of a City Recorded in Texts and Images (1788–1822) Renia Paxinou 7 Single P(a)lace, Multiple Narratives: The Topkapi Palace in Western Travel Accounts from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century Nilay Özlü 8 Tensions and Interactions: Muslim, Christian and Jewish Towns in Palestine Through European Travellers’ Accounts (Eighteenth–Twentieth Century) Valérie Géonet 9 In and Out of the Frame: Finnish Painters Discovering Tunisia Marie-Sophie Lundström 10 “The Orient Veneered in the Occident”: Naserid Tehran in the Eyes of European Travellers Mohammad R. Shirazi 11 No Place for a Tourist: Imagining Fez in the Burton Holmes Travelogue Michelle Craig 12 Turkey’s Challenge to the Occident: British Views of Republican Ankara Davide Deriu
2. French Travel Writing in the Ottoman Empire
Marseilles to Constantinople, 1650-1700
By Michele Longino
Routledge – 2015 – 180 pages
978-1-13-882265-8
Examining the history of the French experience of the Ottoman world and Turkey, this comparative study visits the accounts of early modern travelers for the insights they bring to the field of travel writing. The journals of contemporaries Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, Jean Thévenot, Laurent D’Arvieux, Guillaume-Joseph Grelot, Jean Chardin, and Antoine Galland reveal a rich corpus of political, social, and cultural elements relating to the Ottoman Empire at the time, enabling an appreciation of the diverse shapes that travel narratives can take at a distinct historical juncture. Longino examines how these writers construct themselves as authors, characters, and individuals in keeping with the central human project of individuation in the early modern era, also marking the differences that define each of these travelers – the shopper, the envoy, the voyeur, the arriviste, the ethnographer, the merchant. She shows how these narratives complicate and alter political and cultural paradigms in the fields of Mediterranean studies, 17th-century French studies, and cultural studies, arguing for their importance in the canon of early modern narrative forms, and specifically travel writing. The first study to examine these travel journals and writers together, this book will be of interest to a range of scholars covering travel writing, French literature, and history.
Introduction 1. The Jeweler / Voyeur. Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (1605-1689) 2. The Tourist / Ethnographer. Jean Thévenot (1633-1667) 3. The Arriviste / Envoy. Laurent D’Arvieux (1635-1702) 4. The Conquering Artist. Guillaume-Joseph Grelot (1638 – ?) 5. The English Frenchman.. Jean Chardin (1643-1712) 6. The Reluctant Diarist. Antoine Galland (1646-1715) Conclusion
3. Seoul National University – Assistant Professor, West Asian Studies
(Modern Iran)
- April 14, 2015
- by Andrew Newman
- 0 Comment