Shii News – Academic Items

1.Lecturer in Contemporary Islam & the Middle East

The University of Edinburgh seeks to appoint a Lecturer in Contemporary Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, based in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) (http://www.ed.ac.uk/literatures-languages-cultures/islamic-middle-eastern) and teaching within IMES. The lecturer will provide teaching and dissertation supervision at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and will commence on 3rd January 2018 or as soon as possible thereafter. The successful candidate will have expertise in the study of the Islamic world and political Islam in the Middle East.

The role is open ended, grade UE08 and attracts an annual salary of £39,992 to £47,722 which is full time (35 hours, each week).

The closing date is 5pm (GMT) on Monday 13^th November 2017. Interviews are expected to be held on Tuesday 12^th December 2017.

Informal queries can be emailed for the attention of Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz, Head of Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies, to llc@ed.ac.uk.

Further information and details on how to apply can be found at the following link: https://www.vacancies.ed.ac.uk/pls/corehrrecruit/erq_jobspec_version_4.jobspec?p_id=041653

 

 

2. New Books:

Consorts of the Caliphs

Women and the Court of Baghdad

• By Ibn al-Sa’i
• Translated by Shawkat M. Toorawa
•  and The Editors of the Library of Arabic Literature
• Introduction by Julia Bray
• Foreword by Marina Warner

176 pages

September, 2017

ISBN: 9781479866793

http://www.libraryofarabicliterature.org/books/?book=14354

 

 

Disagreements of the Jurists

A Manual of Islamic Legal Theory

• By al-Qadi al-Numan
• Translated by Devin Stewart
• Foreword by John Coughlin
•  and John Sexton

256 pages

October, 2017

ISBN: 9781479808076

http://www.libraryofarabicliterature.org/books/?book=14412

 

 

3. On Jewish Archives from Afghanistan

Afghani Treasure

By Yoel Finkelman and Ofir Haim

A few weeks before Rosh Hashanah sometime in the 11th century, a distraught, young Jewish Afghani young man named Yair sent a painful letter to his brother-in-law, Abu-al-Hasan Siman Tov. Life had dealt Yair a tough hand, or maybe it was just his own bad choices. Having failed in business in his hometown of Bamiyan, rumors were now spreading that he had “broken promises . . . regarding property” and that he did not truly “observe the Sabbath.” Leaving these problems behind him, he had left his young wife to move some 150 miles to Ghazni and begin anew.

Read more at: https://jewishreviewofbooks.com/articles/2786/afghani-treasure/

 

 

 

4. “Visualizing Sufism”

International Workshop and Collective Volume

Place: University of Bonn, Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg for Islamicate Intellectual History (1200‒1600)

Date: 14 May 2018

Topic and Aim

From the Late Medieval Period onward many Sufi treatises began to display an increasing amount of visual elements, mainly in the form of diagrams, which can either have an auxiliary function, i.e. to help explain the contents of specific written passages, or be themselves at the very core of the text.

A comprehensive study aiming to understand the significance and diffusion of such visual devices in Sufi literature—involving such disparate disciplines as Philology, History of the Book and Codicology on the one hand, and Intellectual History and the History of Ideas on the other—has never been systematically undertaken. With special regard to the development of Islamicate Intellectual History, it would seem that the qualitative and quantitative leap in the diffusion of diagrams in Sufi literature was paralleled by the spread and reception of Ibn ‘Arabī’s (d. 638/1240) works in which diagrams are often employed.

This workshop aims at investigating to which extent the diffusion of visual elements was one of the chief novelties and specific features of Sufi literature to develop in the Late Medieval and Early Modern period. Acquiring a clear and detailed understanding of this phenomenon will also help us investigate the dialogical interactions between Sufism and philosophical, alchemical and magical literatures in which analogous diagrams are often employed. Obtaining a better knowledge of the phenomenon I suggested labelling “Visual Sufism” will also permit us to address the question of possible intellectual osmosis, in particular with the Jewish Kabbalah, in which similar visual tools started to flourish at almost exactly the same time in works by authors who in many cases acted in an Islamicate environment, knew Arabic and were acquainted with Islamic philosophical literature (see Giulio Busi, Qabbalah Visiva, Turin 2005).

This invitation aims at bringing together for the first time a group of specialists in the field to contribute to a workshop and collected volume on the theme of Visual Sufism. Visual Sufism will be investigated from different angles through the lens of multiple authors who employed images and diagrams within their Sufi works. Preliminary questions for the workshop include the following: which hypotheses can be suggested about the use of diagrams in Sufi literature? Was this trend linked to specific historical contexts, to the rise of new disciplines, or the appearance of new styles, ideas, or theories in Sufism? Do the authors provide any theory (even embryonic) for the utilisation of diagrams in their texts? To which extent do the texts refer to the social environment in order to justify the use of diagrams? Was the use of diagrams related to specific topics and, if so, which are they? What can be said about the specific use each author made of diagrams? Are there various typologies of diagrams? Is the use of diagrams consistent in different works of an author? Is it possible to individuate interdependences between diagrams found in different works written by one or more authors (i.e. can we actually discern a shared visual language here)? Did the presence of diagrams play any role in the reception of the texts at issue? Can we asses an evolution and development of the use of diagrams in time and space?

Contributions on key authors such as Aḥmad al-Būnī (d. 622 or 630/1225 or 1232), Saʿd al-Dīn Ḥammūʾī (d. 650/1253), Faḍl Allāh Astarābādī (d. 796/1394) and Shīrīn Maghribī (d. 809‒10/1406‒8), have already been secured.

Contributions on Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 638/1240), Ḥaydar Āmulī (d. after 787/1385), Bayezit Halife (d. 922/1512) or on any other Sufi author from the period 1200‒1600 who made use of diagrams and visual elements in their works are warmly welcome.

Workshop Organization

• The workshop will involve a maximum of 8 presenters.
• Each talk should be between 30 and 40 minutes long and will be followed by a 20-minute Q&A session.
• The language of the workshop will be English.
• Taking into account the topic of the workshop the use of PowerPoint is strongly encouraged.
• Accommodation and travel costs will be covered by the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg for Islamicate Intellectual History (1200‒1600).
• After the workshop, the papers will be published in the form of a peer-reviewed volume, edited by Dr. Giovanni Maria Martini, to be published in the series Islamicate Intellectual History (Brill, eds. Shahzad Bashir, Heidrun Eichner and Judith Pfeiffer).

Time Frame

• Please submit your proposal by October 31, 2017, including the title of the contribution, an abstract of about 500 words and a brief CV to giovannimaria.martini@uni-bonn.de.
• The revision process will start immediately after the deadline and the results are expected to be communicated to the applicants by November 15, 2017.
• The workshop will take place on Monday 14 May 2018 at the Alexander von Humboldt Kolleg for Islamicate Intellectual History (1200‒1600) at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.
• The first draft of the full article will be due by August 20, 2018 (12,000‒18,000 words exclusive of the bibliography).

 

For any further information, please contact Dr. Giovanni Maria Martini at giovannimaria.martini@uni-bonn.de.

 

 

 

5. 2017 – 2018 AKPIA Lecture Series, A Forum for Islamic Art & Architecture

The Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture at Harvard University presents

Thursday, October 19, 2017

“Architecture on the Edge of the Muslim World:

The Deccan during the 14th and 15th centuries”

Helen Philon

Independent Scholar

 

Real Colegio Complutense, 26 Trowbridge Street, Cambridge, MA

(corner of Trowbridge and Harvard Streets)

5:30 – 6:30 p.m.

Lecture is free and open to the public.

For further information, call 617-495-2355, email agakhan@fas.harvard.edu or visit: https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/news-events

View our previous lectures:

https://agakhan.fas.harvard.edu/podcasts-0

 

 

 

6. “Annual Congress of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA)”, Washington DC, 18-21 November 2017

Pre-Registration Deadline: 24 October 2017: Save up to $50. Information: www.mesana.org. Preliminary program: www.mesana.org/annual-meeting/program.html

 

 

 

7. Jobs:

 

Lecturer in Arabic Language, Department of Arabic Studies/Language Center, University of Bayreuth

The position is to begin 1 April 2018. Candidate profile: Native or near-native proficiency in Arabic; Knowledge of German or English/French; A. degree or higher in Arabic language and/or linguistics.

 

Please submit applications within 20 November 2018 to Dr Valentina Serreli (valentina.serreli@uni-bayreuth.de). Information: www.uni-bayreuth.de/de/universitaet/arbeiten-an-der-universitaet/stellenangebote/wiss-personal/SZ-1/index.html

 

 

60 Max Weber Post-Doctoral Fellowships in the Historical and Social Sciences, European University Institute, Florence, 2018/2019

 

Applicants must be within 5 years of the award of their PhD. Preference is given to those who have recently completed a doctorate, not had a postdoctoral position before and/or are on the job market.

 

Deadline for application: 25 October 2017. Information: https://www.eui.eu/ProgrammesAndFellowships/MaxWeberProgramme/ApplytotheMWP/Why-Apply

 

 

20 Jean Monnet Fellowships at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Florence, 2018/2019

 

The Fellowship programme is open to post-docs, tenure track academics and those wishing to spend their sabbatical at the Robert Schuman Centre. Main areas of research: Integration, Governance and Democracy; Regulating Markets and Governing Money; 21st Century World Politics and Europe.

 

Deadline for application: 25 October 2017. Information: www.eui.eu/ServicesAndAdmin/AcademicService/Fellowships/JeanMonnetFellowships

 

 

Fully Funded PhD Position to Study Turkey, Institute for Turkish Studies, Stockholm University

 

Supervisors Jenny White and Paul Levin. The students‘ interests can be in any field as long as the subject is contemporary Turkey and loosely fits the interests of the supervisors: culture, politics, religion, ethnicity, foreign policy, EU, migration, nationalism, etc. MA required.

 

Deadline for application: 16 October 2017. Information: www.su.se/english/about/working-at-su/jobs?rmlang=UK&rmpage=job&rmjob=3878

 

 

 

Senior Scholar of Ancient Iranian Studies, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago

 

The candidate should focus on the pre-Islamic cultures of Iran and may concentrate on the archaeology, languages, religion, art, or history of ancient Iran, or a combination of these.

 

Review will begin on 1 December 2017. Information: https://academiccareers.uchicago.edu/applicants/jsp/shared/position/JobDetails_css.jsp

 

 

 

Assistant Professor of Classical Islamic Studies, Columbia University

 

We seek a scholar with firm grounding in classical Arabic, but whose work may also engage with other languages and cover across regions. Discipline and focus are open, including but not restricted to history (social, intellectual, cultural), science, Sufism, theology or philosophy.

 

Deadline for application: 11 November 2017. Information: http://mideast.unc.edu/columbia-university-assistant-professor-of-classical-islamic-studies/

 

 

 

Assistant Professor in Middle Eastern History, University of Arkansas, Little Rock

 

Teaching responsibilities include World Civilization history survey courses, upper level and graduate courses, and MA thesis supervision. Qualifications: PhD. in history or related field.

 

Deadline for application: 15 November 2017. Information: https://ualr.peopleadmin.com/postings/6697

 

 

One-year Sabbatical Fellowship, Crown Center for Middle East Studies, Brandeis University

 

The 2018-2019 sabbatical fellowship is open to all faculty members in the ranks of assistant, associate, full, and emeritus professor who work on the modern Middle East and North Africa.

 

Deadline for application: 1 December 2017. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/10001

 

 

 

8. Grants for Academic Research and Activities Connected with Iranian Cultural Heritage in 2018

The London-based Iran Heritage Foundation gives grants for research connected with the history, language and culture of Iran and the Persianate world from early times to the present day.

Deadline for application:  31 October 2017. Information: www.iranheritage.org/grants.html.

 

 

Posted in: Academic items