Shii News – Academic Items

1. Open Access – Byzantine Ideas of Persia, 650–1461

Rustam Shukurov

Routledge, 2024

https://www.routledge.com/Byzantine-Ideas-of-Persia-6501461/Shukurov/p/book/9781032070674

2. Journal of Islamic Art and Architecture

Edinburgh University Press is proud to announce the launch of a major new journal that will build upon EUP’s long-established reputation in the field of Islamic studies.

It will take its place as the only European journal devoted exclusively to topics related to the art and architecture of the Islamic world, and will therefore complement existing journals covering Islamic material culture and Islamic archaeology. The field it covers has grown exponentially in the last twenty years, with increasing numbers of active scholars, permanent academic positions, and far more PhD programmes. Yet the number of dedicated journals has not increased, making it more and more difficult for scholars at all levels to publish outstanding research in a leading subject-specific journal. This increasingly wide gap between demand and supply highlights the need for a new top-flight journal in the field.

The Journal of Islamic Art and Architecture embraces a broad chronological scope from the 7^th to the 19^th century but not generally thereafter; modern Islamic art is a separate and highly specialised field with its own outlets for publication. This peer-reviewed journal, with its two issues per year, aims to encourage and promote the study of art and architecture from across the Islamic world in its widest sense. Published papers will reflect a wide range of scholarly perspectives, a diversity of approaches, and the full chronological and geographical scope of the field. It will be dedicated to publishing in English the most intellectually rigorous and original papers by scholars from across the world.

Issues will appear in hardback form (244x172mm) in April and October and contain a range of articles up to 8,000 words per article, with up to 20 colour images each, with a typical total of some 64,000 words and 128 pages. Following standard EUP practice, there will be no transliteration apart from distinguishing ‘ain from hamza. The individual price for each volume will be around £50 for a print and online subscription. The aim is to create a leading journal, with articles of major significance which together demonstrate a wide diversity of material and approaches. In addition to studies of traditional media and regions, innovative and ground-breaking research that addresses new or unusual material, areas and approaches will be included in the journal.

The Editorial Board will consist of the founder editor (Robert Hillenbrand) and three lead editors: a managing editor (Richard McClary) and two associate editors (Francesca Leoni and Yusen Yu). This editorial board will decide on journal strategy and act as executive decision-makers. An international advisory board will aid commissioning and perform peer-review tasks. The journal will have a designated permanent copy/desk editor.

Considering the large volume of submissions expected, all potential authors will be required to submit abstracts of up to 250 words. That length will enable them to set out the core content of their proposed article, and will also demonstrate their capacity to write clearly and to structure their material. Our emphasis on initial abstracts is intended to speed up the winnowing process and to save editorial time and energy. But it will leave the editors room, via a comments box on a carefully designed assessment form, for commentary and feedback. This will ensure that authors will receive feedback, including reasons for rejection, for both abstracts and full text submissions.

The three lead editors will act as gatekeepers to select articles which will constitute the primary peer review process, with support as required from the advisory board. The lead editors will issue a call for abstracts every six months and usually work at least one issue in advance. The three lead editors, having considered the abstracts submitted, will then select a number of articles to be submitted in full for peer review, considering carefully the number of articles required per issue.

Peer review for each short-listed article will be anonymous, allowing the journal to be indexed as an academic journal and listed on key Indexing sites such as Web of Science. The peer review process will be managed by the managing editor and the two associate editors, with input from members of the advisory board as required, and anonymity will be retained by submissions first going to the journal administrator, who will anonymise them and add them to a drive that the editors can access. A rubric form will be supplied to all peer reviewers, in order to streamline the process and avoid delays in peer-reviewing.

This announcement doubles as the first call for abstracts. We invite these to be sent to jiaa.submissions@gmail.com by the closing date of March 1^st 2024. The intention is that the first issue will appear in August 2025.

3. The Eleventh Annual Symposium on Medieval and Renaissance Studies (SMRS), June 10-12, 2024, is a convenient summer venue in North America for scholars to present papers, organize sessions, participate in roundtables, and engage in interdisciplinary discussion. The goal of the Symposium is to promote serious scholarly investigation into all topics and in all disciplines of medieval and Renaissance studies.

The plenary speakers for this year will be Cynthia J. Hahn, of Hunter College and the City University of New York, and John Witte, Jr., of the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University.

We invite proposals for papers, complete sessions, and roundtables. Any topics regarding the scholarly investigation of the medieval and early modern world are welcome. Papers are normally twenty minutes each and sessions are scheduled for ninety minutes. Scholarly organizations are especially encouraged to sponsor proposals for complete sessions, and organizing at least two sessions in coordination with each other is highly recommended. All sessions are in-person.

Mini-conferences hosted by societies or organized around a theme occur in the context of the SMRS. Paper submitters are welcome to submit their paper for general consideration at the Symposium or for one of the mini-conferences. This year’s mini-conferences are the 49th Annual St. Louis Conference on Manuscript Studies, Boethius 2024: The 1500-Year Memorial Conference, and The 2024 Conference on John Milton.

For more information or to submit your proposal online go to: https://www.smrs-slu.org/. The website has separate submission portals for the SMRS Conference and each of the mini-conferences. The deadline for all submissions is December 31, 2023. Decisions will be made by the end of January and the final program will be published in March.

Contact Information

Courtney Knight – Graduate Assistant for the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies

Saint Louis University

Contact Email

smrs@slu.edu

URL

https://www.smrs-slu.org/

4. The Mary Jaharis Center for Byzantine Art and Culture is pleased to announce its 2024–2025 grant competition.

Mary Jaharis Center Co-Funding Grants promote Byzantine studies in North America. These grants provide co-funding to organize scholarly gatherings (e.g., workshops, seminars, small conferences) in North America that advance scholarship in Byzantine studies broadly conceived. We are particularly interested in supporting convenings that build diverse professional networks that cross the boundaries of traditional academic disciplines, propose creative approaches to fundamental topics in Byzantine studies, or explore new areas of research or methodologies.

Mary Jaharis Center Dissertation Grants are awarded to advanced graduate students working on Ph.D. dissertations in the field of Byzantine studies broadly conceived. These grants are meant to help defray the costs of research-related expenses, e.g., travel, photography/digital images, microfilm.

Mary Jaharis Center Publication Grants support book-length publications or major articles in the field of Byzantine studies broadly conceived. Grants are aimed at early career academics. Preference will be given to postdocs and assistant professors, though applications from non-tenure track faculty and associate and full professors will be considered. We encourage the submission of first-book projects.

Mary Jaharis Center Project Grants support discrete and highly focused professional projects aimed at the conservation, preservation, and documentation of Byzantine archaeological sites and monuments dated from 300 CE to 1500 CE primarily in Greece and Turkey. Projects may be small stand-alone projects or discrete components of larger projects. Eligible projects might include archeological investigation, excavation, or survey; documentation, recovery, and analysis of at risk materials (e.g., architecture, mosaics, paintings in situ); and preservation (i.e., preventive measures, e.g., shelters, fences, walkways, water management) or conservation (i.e., physical hands-on treatments) of sites, buildings, or objects.

The application deadline for all grants is February 1, 2024. For further information, please visit the Mary Jaharis Center website: https://maryjahariscenter.org/grants.

Contact Brandie Ratliff (mjcbac@hchc.edu), Director, Mary Jaharis Center, with any questions.

Contact Information

Brandie Ratliff, Director, Mary Jaharis Center

Contact Email

mjcbac@hchc.edu

URL

https://maryjahariscenter.org/grants

5. Virtual Book Launch & Discussion: Designing & Developing an Arabic Lexicon for Teachers & Translators, CoronaVirus Lexicon (2023)

To Celebrate the UN World Arabic Language Day on 18th Dec 2023, Mosaic Tree Press (@mosaictreepress) and BATA (British Association of Teachers of Arabic) would like to invite you to join us on a virtual book launch and discussion of the newly published title “CoronaVirus Lexicon: A Practical Guide for Arabic Learners & Translators” written by Dr. Mariam Aboelezz and Mourad Diouri. To book your place, go to: https://bit.ly/3tbjtp5 . To find out more about the publication, go to: bit.ly/3Nb7Nt7

Date: 4-6pm, Monday 18th Dec 2023 (World Arabic Language Day)
Chair: Prof. Mustapha Lahlali (BATA), University of Leeds
Authors/Speakers:Dr. Mariam Abolezz (University of Liverpool) & Mourad Diouri (University of Edinburgh)
Discussant:Dr. Muntasir Al-Hamad (University of Qatar)
Platform:TEAMS (Further details will be sent following your registration)
Organisers:MOSAIC TREE PRESS & BATA

6. Editor for the British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) Publication:
Studies in the History and Culture of the Persianate World

The British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS) is one of the British International Research Institutes (BIRIs) of the British Academy. In addition to its journal, IRAN, published twice-yearly by Taylor & Francis, it has two other publications: the Archaeological Monograph Series, published by Oxbow, and the Studies in the History and Culture of the Persianate World, published by I.B. Tauris, an imprint of Bloomsbury.

BIPS is looking for a scholar with an established reputation in the field of Iranian Studies and prior editorial experience as well as extensive knowledge of Persian and Iranian studies, broadly defined, to take responsibility for editing the Studies in the History and Culture of the Persianate World. The aim is to publish two volumes a year. Details of the series can be found on the BIPS website at this link. The editor will receive an honorarium of £1,000 per annum subject to review by the Council.

The editor will encourage intime submission of manuscripts; manage the first communications with authors; liaise with Bloomsbury over reviewers, publicity, and costing (for colour plates, if necessary); report to BIPS trustees and the Honorary Treasurer as required; work with and attend meetings of the Research and Publications Committee (four times per year); and coordinate with other BIPS editors. An important requirement is the review of volumes submitted for publication for consistency in transliteration. The editor must therefore have a thorough knowledge of Persian and its transliteration conventions. The editor will be expected to review thoroughly all manuscripts accepted for publication and to ensure they are commensurate with the scholarly standards BIPS expects. Copyediting will be provided by Bloomsbury. The editor should be a member of BIPS. It is expected that the editor will currently be based at a UK higher education institution.

Interested applicants should send a CV, with a covering letter detailing their experience and interest in the role, together with details of two referees.

There are two volumes currently in production; the new editor would be responsible for starting work on future publications.

Deadline: 31 January 2024, 5PM. Please send applications to bips@thebritishacademy.ac.uk.
For formal inquiries, please contact Research Director and Chair of the Research and Publications Committee, Dr Shabnam Holliday.

7. Social Media and Impact Officer

17064BR

Cardiff School of History, Archaeology and Religion

Managerial, Professional and Specialist Staff – MPSS

Advert

Social Media and Impact Officer
School of History, Archaeology & Religion
The Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK, based in the School of History, Archaeology and Religion, wishes to appoint a Social Media and Impact Officer. The postholder will lead on the design, delivery, and evaluation of communications about Islam-UK Centre activities and research via social media and other communications channels. They will also lead on supporting the evaluation and promotion of research impact within the Centre and the broad field of British Muslim Studies. They will also work closely with Centre colleagues and other relevant University staff.
This post is part-time (17.5 hours per week), fixed-term and available for an immediate start.
Salary: £39,347 – £44,263 per annum, pro-rata for hours worked (Grade 6). New appointments are usually made at the bottom of the salary scale.
Interested applicants are invited to contact Professor Sophie Gilliat-Ray Gilliat-RayS@cardiff.ac.uk for further information.
Date advert posted: Tuesday, 12 December 2023
Closing date: Tuesday, 23 January 2024

8. 2024 BRISMES Annual Conference

Lancaster University, Lancashire • 1-3 July 2024

Submission deadline extended to 21 December, at 11.59 PM (UK time)

https://www.brismes.ac.uk/conference/for-delegates/instructions-for-submissions

9. We invite you to join us in London on Saturday, 9th March 2024 for the 8th annual Islamic Archaeology Day jointly organized by SOAS and UCL and announce the call for papers.

There are increasing numbers of us working in Islamic archaeology in the UK. We are, however, scattered through a number of different institutions and we rarely have an opportunity to come together and discuss our work and other matters of mutual interest. The purpose of this in-person day is to provide such an opportunity and to encourage collaboration across regional and period boundaries.

As in previous years, the 2024 meeting will feature around 12 papers of 20 minutes on recent work on the archaeology and heritage of the Islamic world (broadly construed) by established and early career scholars. We are particularly keen to have papers that share the results of new research or fieldwork. If you would like to propose a paper, please send the title to Corisande Fenwick (c.fenwick@ucl.ac.uk) as soon as possible.

The meeting will take place in the ground-floor lecture theatre at the Institute of Archaeology, UCL in central London between 11-6pm on Saturday, March 9th 2024 followed by a reception and an optional dinner at a local restaurant. There will be a small charge to cover food, tea and coffee and the reception. Registration details will be sent out when the programme is announced. All are welcome!

Finally, please do forward this invitation to others who may be interested in attending and offering a paper, especially early career scholars.

Corisande Fenwick (UCL) (c.fenwick@ucl.ac.uk)

Hugh Kennedy (SOAS/UCL)

Veronica Occari (UCL)

Scott Redford (SOAS)

Viva Sacco (UCL)

Paul Wordsworth (UCL)

Contact Information

Prof. Corisande Fenwick, UCL Institute of Archaeology

Contact Email

c.fenwick@ucl.ac.uk

10. The Islamic College Interfaith Series: The Birth of Jesus in the Gospel and Qur’an: An Exercise in Intertextuality?