Categories : Field-specific (academic)

Precarious Belongings: Being Shiʿi in Non-Shiʿi Worlds (2017)
Edited by Charles Tripp and Gabriele vom Bruck

What is it that makes members of Shi`i communities distinct from other communities? This is the question that lies at the heart of the contributions to this volume. They range across a number of diverse settings precisely to bring out those features of the social and political life of the Shi`a that may be recognisably Shi`i, but are also the outcome of their interactions with specific social contexts.

Read more here.

Safavid Tile Project I: The Technology

Some of the most noticeable objects in the ROM’s Wirth Gallery of The Middle East are two friezes of tiles that would have been in the spandrels of arches. These were made in Iran in the last third of the 17th century under the Safavid dynasty, probably for a palatial building in Isfahan.

Safavid cuerda seca tile arch spandrels from Isfahan

We invite you to read our blogs about a new exciting project related to the two Safavid tile arches in the Royal Ontario Museum.
https://www.rom.on.ca/en/blog/safavid-tile-project-i-the-technology
https://www.rom.on.ca/en/blog/safavid-tile-project-ii-rebuilding-the-friezes
A dozen or so such arches sold from the Kevorkian collection were made known through the publications of the late Dr. I. Luschey-Schmeisser. Our hypothesis is that these and many more, done in the same technique and style (c. 1670), came from a single palatial building in Isfahan. We are currently assembling panels from the hundreds of “orphaned tiles” that were collected from the ruins of the site, probably c. 1900, and now exist in museums and private collections. Our new project will deal with the technique of cuerda seca and the creation of these spandrels as well as attempting to reconstruct as much of the original cycle of themes. We are hoping that colleagues who may know of the existence of such tiles in small museums and collections will tell us about them. We welcome feedback to our blogs.
Dr. Robert B. Mason, Materials Scientist, Royal Ontario Museum
(robm@rom.on.ca)
Dr. Lisa Golombek, Curator Emeritus, Royal Ontario Museum
(lisag@rom.on.ca)

Sectarian Non-Entrepreneurs: The Experience of Everyday Sectarianism in Bahrain and Kuwait
Thomas Fibiger
Middle East Critique, Volume 27, Issue 3, September 2018

Shi’i Studies | The University of Chicago

The University of Chicago Shiʿi Studies Symposium is an endeavor of the Shiʿi Studies Group, established in 2010, to provide an interdisciplinary, non-area-specific forum for the discussion of research on Shiʿism by faculty and graduate students at the University and beyond.

The Making of a Marjaʿ: Sīstānī and Shiʿi Religious Authority in the Contemporary Age ” Brill Online

Anyone considering the question of religious authority among the contemporary Shiʿa not least in Iraq will recognize the paramount significance of Ayatollah Sīstānī, described as the most important marjaʿ in the world.

Al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā’s Responses to Theological Questions posed by Abū Yaʿlā Sallār [Sālār] b. ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz al-Daylamī (d. 448/1057): A Critical Edition ” Brill Online

Among the responsa collections by al-Sharīf al-Murtaḍā that still remain to be edited are the Jawābāt al-masāʾil al-Sallāriyya, which consist of responsa to eight questions most of which revolve around issues related to the subtleties of kalām. On the basis of the two earliest witnesses of this text, MS Berlin, Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, Petermann II [Pm.]

For the table of contents of Volume 2, Issue 1-2, 2018, click here.

Two courses are offered in Iran:

1. Shi’a Course in Qom (23-31 August): http://shiacourse.urd.ac.ir/
2. Women’s and Gender Studies (24-30 August): http://shortcourse.wrc.ir/

and an ‘Intensive Course on Shi’a Studies’ in Vienna (1-5 August):
http://shiacourse.urd.ac.ir/

Muslim Cultures in the Indian Ocean

Explore the diversity of Muslim cultures prevalent in the Indian Ocean region where, historically, Muslims have interacted for centuries.

Qajar Shiite Material Culture: From the Court of Naser Al-Din Shah to Popular Religious Paintings

This catalogue is one of the first visual representations of the material religion and art objects of Naser al-Din Shah’s court, vis à vis popular Shiite beliefs during the Naseri period (1848-1896). In this work, Pedram Khosronejad has paid special attention to the role of Naser al-Din Shah’s po…

For a video introduction to the work, click here.

Myth, Ritual, and the Early Development of Shiite Identity ” Brill Online

The developing myth about the events at Karbala, as well as the image of al-Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī and the cult connected with him, were important factors in the shaping of early Shiite identity.