Shii News – Academic Items

1.Announcement – Course Registration Open: Introduction to Islamic Codicology, Cambridge University Library, 4-8 September 2017

Registration Open: Introduction to Islamic Codicology Course

4-8 September 2017

Cambridge University Library

The Islamic Manuscript Association—in partnership with the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation, Cambridge University Library, and the University of Cambridge’s HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies and Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies—announces its eleventh annual Cambridge-based Introduction to Islamic Codicology course, which will be held from 4 to 8 September 2017.

This intensive five-day course will introduce the study of Islamic manuscript codices as physical objects, or the archaeology of the Islamic book. Daily illustrated lectures will provide an overview of writing supports, the structure of quires, ruling and page layout, bookbinding, ornamentation, tools and materials used in book making, and the palaeography of book hands. Participants may choose to register for hands-on sessions during which they will examine Islamic manuscripts from Cambridge University Library and complete a series of practical exercises on manuscript description.

The course will be taught by Professor François Déroche, holder of the Chair of History of the Qur’an, Text and Transmission at the Collège de France, and Professor Nuria Martínez de Castilla Muñoz, Professor of the Codicology and History of the Manuscript Book in the Islamicate World, École Pratique des Hautes Études, both leading scholars of Islamic codicology and palaeography.

All instruction will be in English. The course does not require a knowledge of Arabic, Persian, Turkish, or other languages spoken in the Muslim World, and is suitable for art historians, bookbinders, codicologists, conservators, curators, and anyone else working with Islamic manuscripts.

The full course, including lectures and hands-on sessions, is limited to twelve persons for conservation and security reasons.

Further details, including the programme, fees, and registration form, can be found on the Association’s website, http://www.islamicmanuscript.org/courses/introduction-to-islamic-codicology,-cambridge,-2017.aspx

For more information, one may also contact Davidson MacLaren, executive director of The Islamic Manuscript Association, at davidson@islamicmanuscript.org.

 

 

 

2. Title:  Synagogues of the Islamic World: Architecture, Design and Identity
Edited by Mohammad Gharipour

Publisher:  Edinburgh University Press, 2017
ISBN13: 978-1474411714

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/synagogues-in-the-islamic-world-9781474411714?cc=us&lang=en&

 

 

 

3. CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg Fall School in

“Science and Technology in the Islamic Middle Periods”

Each fall the Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg offers, at no cost, an intensive, five-day course to Mamluk scholars (and those in related fields) at the doctoral and post-doctoral level on topics of mutual interest.

The traditional model for such courses has been group work on medieval Arabic texts. The past two years, however, the Kolleg has innovated with course delivery and themes, to cultivate interdisciplinarity and expand and enrich our methodological approaches. The theme of the Fall School 2017 is “Science and Technology in the Islamic Middle Periods”. The Islamic Middle Periods (roughly 12th-16th centuries) witnessed a shift to mass production and the development of new technologies and crafts. To evaluate the contributions of this period in the development of science and technology in general is one goal of this course.

This Fall School will be taught as a webinar, which allows students (and instructors) to log in from anywhere in the world and meet one another in a virtual classroom in real time.  The webinar format was chosen as an appropriate venue for technological experimentation and to create an environment fostering scientific exchange.

The course runs September 25-29, 2017. There will be generally two, two-hour seminars each day, each taught by a different instructor (or pair of instructors), who are leading scholars in their field.  The seminars combine powerpoint lectures, group discussion of secondary readings, group work with period manuscripts (on science), and hands-on (online) exercises to develop knowledge about a range of technologies and sciences developed during the Middle Islamic Period. Daily seminars will cover the following topics:

• engineering and technology of warfare
• industry, production, and transfer of trade knowledge
• pharmacology and medicine
• water technology and agrarian science
• astronomy and mapping

The language of instruction is English. Applicants will be scholars of medieval Islamic history (or related fields) at the doctoral or post-doctoral level. All participants need dependable internet access and a Skype account, and agree to be available the entire week during the times scheduled for the daily seminars. To apply, send a statement of interest and CV to Dr. Abdelkader Al Ghouz (aalghouz@uni-bonn.de) by August 15, 2017.

 

 

4. Ghent University – postdoctoral research fellows in Arabic
historiography
https://www.ugent.be/en/work/vacancies/scientific/post-doctoral-researcher-fellowship-in-arabic-vugno

 

5. Iranian Studies Summer School

11-17^th September, 2017

Sofia – Bulgaria

 

Contact for more information and registration:

Centre for Iran, Balkans and Central European Studies – IBCE

www.cibce.org

address: Bulgaria, Sofia, blv. Evlogi Georgiev № 101, fl.2

mob. tel. +359 8 77 55 45 62, +359 8 85 04 17 23

e-mail: office@cibce.org

IBCE – Executive Director: Alireza Pourmohammad

e-mail: alireza.purmohammad@cibce.org

 

 

 

6. The Hill Museum & Manuscript Library (HMML),  holds the world’s largest collection of resources for the study of manuscript cultures both East and West. Since 1965, HMML has been preserving and sharing the world’s manuscript heritage. Now, scholars have free, online access to manuscripts and research resources on vHMML, <http://www.vhmml.org/>.

As of today, vHMML Reading Room, the sophisticated catalog database component of vHMML, reached a benchmark of 20,000 records available for research – and more are added every day.

About half of the manuscripts on vHMML belong to collections from the Middle East and Africa. There are currently over 10,000 records in Arabic, Syriac, and Garshuni, dating from the fifth century CE to modern times. High-resolution digital images of these manuscripts are available for viewing on vHMML, and the catalog information is searchable.

Registration on vHMML is open to anybody who has a scholarly interest in the manuscripts. Go to <http://www.vhmml.org/> and click on “Register” at the top right.

HMML is located at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. While a modest collection of physical manuscripts and rare print books resides at HMML, most of our online offerings are from manuscripts that were photographed onsite in countries around the world. The photography is done by local teams outfitted and trained by HMML, and the manuscripts remain in the possession of their owning institutions. This work has preserved, in digital form, thousands of manuscripts that have since gone missing or been destroyed due to political upheaval.

David Calabro, PhD
Lead Cataloger, Eastern Christian and Islamic Manuscripts
Hill Museum & Manuscript Library
2835 Abbey Plaza
PO Box 7300
Saint John’s University
Collegeville, MN 56321-7300, USA
<dcalabro001@csbsju.edu>.

 

 

 

7. Stanford University, Art and Art History, Music, Theater and Performance
Studies, Comparative Literature

Islam and the Arts
Assistant Professor/Associate Professor,

Tenure Track Faculty

Stanford University invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant  Professor or a tenured Associate Professor faculty position in Islam and
the Arts. The search is open to scholars focused on Islamic religious
arts and performance; non-religious artistic and literary productions of
the diverse cultures of Islamic societies; and scholar/artist
practitioners. The applicant must have a conferred terminal degree in
his/her field by September 1, 2018. The appointment can be in one of the
following departments in the School of Humanities and Sciences: Art and
Art History, Music, Theater and Performance Studies, or Comparative
Literature.

The successful candidate will be based in a humanities department but is
also expected to contribute to the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies’
curricular and outreach efforts. Candidates should demonstrate interests
that afford effective interactions with a broad range of colleagues and
the ability to teach and mentor a diverse student body. Teaching
responsibilities will be determined by the home department.

Applicants should provide a cover letter including a brief statement of
research interests, a curriculum vitae including list of publications,
and one recent writing sample or, in the case of an arts practitioner, a
link to the applicant’s website. Assistant level and untenured
applicants should arrange to have three letters of reference submitted
to AcademicJobsOnline.org. Currently tenured applicants should submit
the names of three references. For full consideration, materials should
be received by October 2, 2017.

Please use the following link to apply:
https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/9281

Contact:
Zack Al-Witri, Ph.D.
Associate Director
The Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies
Stanford University
zalwitri@stanford.edu

 

Posted in: Academic items