Shii News – Academic Items
1.Call for Abstracts – Neglected Voices in Premodern Sciences
from Persia to Iceland
(Routledge, “Global Perspectives on the History of Natural Philosophy”)
Most of the studies about Pre-modern European sciences have been dedicated to the role
played by a relatively small number of primary characters (Avicenna, Albert the Great,
Roger Bacon, Nicole Oresme, Nicholas of Cusa, to name but a few) who had a significant
impact on knowledge, culture and modi pensandi of the Latin West throughout and
beyond the Middle Ages. However, this presentation has led to two closely related
consequences. The first consequence is that while the works of the “main” authors tend to
be thoroughly studied and thus their ideas continuously observed and reinforced, those of
other, less known characters, have received little, if any, attention, or have simply been
forgotten, primarily when they evolved on the fringe of the mainstream. The second
consequence is that Pre-modern and Medieval science is often perceived as a monolith,
one composed, and shaped, only by a few inspired authors.
In response to this observation, this book aims to shed light on these neglected voices in
Pre-modern sciences and to give a voice even to those ‘underrated’ actors (authors,
scribes, compilers, copyists, readers, users…) who nevertheless have somehow
contributed to the formation of Medieval science. Within this perspective, the volume
addresses these issues from the point of view of both ideas and practices, which are
particularly delicate to interrogate when dealing mainly with textual material.
For this purpose, several axes (not exhaustive) have been defined:
1) Authors against the tide: This section is particularly interested in authors who, in
various ways, went against the major scientific tendencies of their time and developed
their science as “free electrons” by contrast to their contemporaries. Several cases are to
be considered: (1) authors whose scientific involvement goes against the traditional ways
of thinking by exploring original and even daring theories and practices in opposition to
what was in vogue at their time; (2) authors who evolved outside the main intellectual
centers and networks of the time. This can be due either to their geographical situation on
the periphery of the traditional radiating places in the development of sciences or because
they did not belong to any organization, institutional group or religious order promoting
the diffusion and assimilation of knowledge.
2) Actors in the “physical” margins: This point focuses on those who added scientific
contents into the “broader margins” of a Late Medieval work, i.e. in the actual margins, at
the beginning or end of a manuscript or of a codicological unit. The contributions can
analyze the authors’ identities, if they can be reconstructed, as well as the new contents
which were added (ideas, sources, relationships with the main texts, reasons for which
they were inserted, circulation…). Moreover, the texts considered can be both paratextual
additions (comments, glosses, scholia…) or actual “guest texts”.
3) Unknown actors: This point questions the role of discrete authors, almost invisible and
unknown, in the development and diffusion of Medieval knowledge. It aims to bring to
light unpreserved authors who are known only through other posterior works. Within this
perspective, one could consider both characters who left no written traces and authors
whose works have been lost and are only known by later quotes. Papers focusing on
figures evolving in an “oral culture” (for instance in the pre-Islamic context), who
provided a basis for further scientific developments, will be particularly welcome.
Similarly, the scientific contribution of teachers, whose ideas and practices were kept
through the writings of their students, deserves to be taken into account. Finally, papers
highlighting the role of oral witnesses, practitioners and merchants, who might contribute
to the transmission of knowledge by bringing empirical data taken from their daily
practice, will be highly appreciated.
4) Authors between traditions: Another line of research will be dedicated to the study of
the dissemination and use of scientific knowledge in areas outside the scientific field (art,
literature…). In the first case, this volume is interested as much in the depictions of the
figure of the experimenter or the scholar as in the artistic exploitation of the scientific
disciplines. In the second case, a particular attention will also be paid to the integration of
scientific knowledge into the literary domain. The sciences, as well as some scientific
figures, become motifs and themes with specific narrative functions. Conversely, one
might also consider the way in which scientific discourse is fed and expressed through a
literary medium.
5) Authors on the fringes of historiography: Finally, this book also wants to give a voice
to authors who received less attention despite their actual importance and significant
contribution to premodern sciences. In particular, the historiographical readings and the
appreciation of an author’s significance have been oriented, among other criteria, by their
impact on European thought. Nevertheless, this attitude tends to exclude certain
important characters from our usual research horizons. This is notably the case of authors
who were not translated into Latin during the Middle Ages and who hardly reached
European Latin scholars at that time. From this point of view, this book gives the
opportunity to reassess the original contribution of such authorities and even to reevaluate
their possible influence on later works in more indirect ways, outside the scope of the
translations.
Abstracts (250/300 words) should be sent to:
Meyssa Ben Saad (mbs.bsaad@gmail.com ), Mattia Cipriani
(mattia.cipriani80@gmail.com), Grégory Clesse (gregory.clesse@uclouvain.be ), or
Florence Ninitte (Florence.Ninitte@univ-nantes.fr ).
Contributions will be written in English.
Abstracts submission deadline: on the 30th of September 2022.
Submission deadline for the completed articles: on the 30th of April 2023.
2. Brown University – The Adrienne Minassian Professor of Islamic Art and Architecture
https://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=63639
Closing date: Oct 19, 2022
3. HYBRID Journée d’étude du CCMO « Être chercheur.e sur le Moyen-Orient : mission impossible ? », Collège de France, Paris, 15 septembre 2022, 9h-18h
Le CCMO réunit des enseignant.e.s-chercheur.e.s issu.e.s de différentes générations et appartenant à diverses disciplines (anthropologie, histoire, géographie, sociologie et science politique), qui ont tou.tes en commun la pratique de l’enquête de terrain comme mode principal de recueil des données et de production d’informations inédites sur et dans les sociétés du Moyen-Orient.
Information, programme et inscription: https://cerclechercheursmoyenorient.wordpress.com/2022/07/13/etre-chercheur-e-sur-le-moyen-orient-mission-impossible/
4. Panels on “Death in the Mediterranean” during the 58th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Western Michigan University, Kalamzoo MI, 11-13 May 2023
Papers are sought that explore how people of various classes, genders, and religious traditions grappled with death, memorialized it, sanctified it or vilified it across the Mediterranean world, and to see how Christians, Muslims, and Jews from Europe, North Africa and West Asia commemorated, avenged, feared or forestalled death, and how they imagined it in art, literature and song.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 September 2022. Information: https://mailchi.mp/mediterraneanseminar/cfp-death-in-the-mediterranean-i-ii-1113-may-kalamazoo?e=82aeb6c61d
5. International Conference “Sociohistorical and Cultural Relations in Premodern Mediterranean Societies through Literature and Folklore between the 11th and 17th Centuries”, University of Dublin, 15-16 June 2023
Themes: Relationships between Jews, Christians, and Muslims through literature (especially poetry), culture, and languages; prominent myths and prophecies of the relationships and communications between Jews, Christians, Muslims and other Mediterranean communities; popular images of interactions between minority and majority communities, particularly through literature, fragments, travels and folklore; etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 September 2022.
6. Syrian Nationals in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan as External Collaborators for Research on Wartime and Post-Conflict Syria, Syria Initiative of the European University Institute, Florence
Desired qualifications: • Experience in field-based research on Syria. • A track record of publications, with a focus on themes at the sub-national level. • Strong analytical skills. • Proficiency in English and Arabic.
7. Two Tenure-Track Positions “Islam in South Asia” and “Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies – The Late Medieval and Early Modern Islamicate World (ca. 1000-1700)”, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The position is open to all candidates who have attained a Ph.D. degree; and to advanced doctoral students who expect to be granted their Ph.D. no later than 30 June 2023. Candidates whose Hebrew proficiency is such that they would not be comfortable teaching in Hebrew will be encouraged to sufficiently master the language during the initial years following their appointment.
Deadline for applications: 11 September 2022. Information: https://en-hum.huji.ac.il/tenure-track-positions# and https://en-hum.huji.ac.il/tenure-track-positions#
8. Chapters for Edited Book on “Art and Politics between the Arab World and Latin America, 1920s – 1970s”
Three issues should be addressed: 1. Art and nationalist narratives between Latin America and the Arab World. – 2. Rethinking transnational solidarity between Latin America and the Arab World. –
- Artistic practices and the formation of alternative political communities?
Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2022. Information: https://iismm.hypotheses.org/files/2022/06/Call-for-contributions-%E2%80%93-Art-and-politics-Arab-World-%E2%80%93-Latin-America.pdf
9. Articles on “The Future of Islamic Liberation Theology” for Special Issue of the Open-Access Journal “Religions”
This Issue is to chart out new directions in ILT. What is the current state of the field? Hitherto, what are the key contexts, problems, and thematic areas that ILT has focused on and why? How has ILT challenged dominant hermeneutical approaches and offered more inclusive reading methods? Which areas of human experience (class? race and ethnicity? disabilities? ecology?) have received less attention in ILT? Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 September 2022.
Information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/religions/special_issues/354W74T405
Posted in: Academic items
- July 26, 2022
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