Shii News – Academic Items
1.William Morris & Art from the Islamic World
9 November 2024 to 9 March 2025
The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London presents the first exhibition on the influence of art from the Islamic world on William Morris (1834-1896), one of Britain’s most important 19th-century designers and thinkers. A principal founder of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Morris was responsible for producing hundreds of patterns for wallpapers, furnishing fabrics, carpets and embroideries, helping to introduce a new aesthetic into British interiors. While it has long been acknowledged that Morris was inspired by Islamic art, this will be the first exhibition to explore this important aspect of his artistic journey in depth.
https://www.wmgallery.org.uk/event/william-morris-art-from-the-islamic-world/
The exhibition is accompanied by a new publication, Tulips and Peacocks: William Morris and Art from the Islamic World (Yale University Press).
William Morris & Art from the Islamic World is curated by Rowan Bain, principal curator of the William Morris Gallery, and Qaisra M. Khan, Curator of Islamic Art, The Khalili Collections.
2. Events with Shahzoda Samarqandi
The major Uzbekistan-born Tajik novelist Shahzoda Nazarova Samarqandi is on a US tour for the release of the English translation of Zamini Modaron/Zamin-e Mādarān, previously published in Tajik, in Arabic-script Persian, and in Russian, as Mothersland (trans. Shelley Fairweather-Vega). It’s a postcolonial gothic novella in which a girl, cast as her Soviet labor hero mother in a Russian-directed film about the ecological violence of the Uzbek cotton crop, loses her mind in the hall of mirrors of historical representation and reenactment. Zamin-e Mādarān is a dense, formally original work, and I highly recommend it.
Samarqandi is in Seattle now, with a book launch with Fairweather-Vega and UW’s Professor Aria Fani scheduled for tomorrow 7pm at Thirdplace Books.
Next Monday 11/18 in Washington DC, Prof. Erica Marat and George Mason University will host an event at 7pm at Busboys and Poets.
Next come two events at Yale, both of which will be accessible on Zoom. Tuesday 11/19 at noon, our MacMillan Center Writer in Residence, the brilliant Homeira Qaderi, will host a webinar conversation in Persian with Samarqandi (register here), continuing her speaker series that has previously included talks by Aliyeh Ataei, Prof. Fatemeh Shams, Mujib Mehrdad, and Reza Mohammadi.
Wednesday 11/20 at noon, Samarqandi will read from the English translation of the book, and discuss it with me and my colleague, Prof. Claire Roosien (you can attend in person at 320 York St, rm. 131, New Haven, or register online here).
3. ASPIRANTUM’s Persian language summer school will start on June 22, 2025, in Yerevan, Armenia.
45% BLACK FRIDAY DISCOUNT if students apply till November 30, here: https://aspirantum.com/courses/persian-language-summer-school
4. Muslim Materialities Lecture Series
University of Toronto
Department of Historical Studies
Timur Hammond
November 21, 2024
3–5pm EST
Fluid Geographies: Water, Mediation and Infrastructure in an Istanbul Shrine
As scholars of Islam know, water occupies a key devotional position for Muslims. This includes everything from sacred wells to fountains established through pious endowments to the provision of water for one’s ablutions. This talk, drawing on my recently published book, focuses on the fluid geographies built into the Istanbul mosque-shrine complex of Eyüp Sultan. Following water’s overlapping infrastructures and the debates and desires that surround water’s use, I offer one way to consider the broader geographies of Islam.
https://utoronto.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3Y3AI0TmTnSslzcSjIyGcQ#/registration
5. Call for papers for the international conference Badr – Writing and remembering the battle of Badr (7th-21st century)
Conference dates: 13-14 November 2025
Venue: University of Strasbourg, France
Organisers: Nourane Ben Azzouna (Unistra, Faculty of History, ARCHIMEDE), Anne-Sylvie Boisliveau (Unistra, Faculty of History, ARCHIMEDE), Adrien de Jarmy (Unistra, Faculty of Languages, GEO), Clarck Junior Membourou Moiméchème (Unistra, Faculty of Languages, GEO), Renaud Soler (Unistra, Faculty of Languages, GEO), Moussa Abou Ramadan (Unistra, Faculty of History, DRES) et Éric Vallet (Unistra, Faculty of Languages, GEO)
Conference funded by the French Institute of Islamology (IFI)
Summary of the project
The Battle of Badr (2/624), the first major victory of the Muslims led by Muḥammad and the only battle explicitly named in the Qur’an, is a key event in early Islam. Mentioned in Sura 3, verse 123, and associated with the exegesis of Sura 7 al-Anfāl (The Booty), the Battle of Badr has been the subject of numerous memorial constructions over the centuries. Used in various historical conflicts, it serves as a repertoire of actions and discourses in different contexts of confrontation. The BADR project aims to study the evolution of accounts of this battle and their use in Islamic societies, from their earliest traces in texts to their contemporary reinterpretations.
This project has led to the organisation of the ‘Islamology and Digital Humanities’ research seminar at the University of Strasbourg during the academic year 2024-2025. Led by Adrien de Jarmy and Clarck Junior Membourou Moiméchème, the first sessions of the seminar will be devoted to presenting the development of a TEI-XML database of texts relating to the Battle of Badr, as well as the creation of an encoding standard for ancient Arabic texts. The second part of the seminar will welcome international researchers who will discuss the impact of digital humanities on their work in Islamology. The full seminar programme is available at https://islamologie.unistra.fr/actualites/seminaire-de-recherche-islamologie-et-humanites-numeriques/.
The aim of the colloquium is to broaden reflection beyond the strictly technical aspects addressed in the seminar and within the restricted project team, to focus on the reception of accounts of the Battle of Badr up to the 21st century.
We particularly encourage contributions from researchers working on regions outside the Arab world, notably in the Turkic, Persian, Asian and African worlds.
Themes of the conference
- Development and transmission of accounts of the Battle of Badr
The study of the Battle of Badr begins with a detailed exploration of the way in which its narratives have been elaborated, transmitted and reworked over the centuries. This battle, often regarded as the first military triumph of the Muslim community under the leadership of Muḥammad, has given rise to a multitude of oral and written traditions. Researchers are invited to examine the anecdotes, poems, lists of combatants and other traditions, which have been integrated to form a coherent narrative. Analysis will focus on how these narratives were compiled in historical works and biographies of the Prophet (sīra, maghāzī). Particular attention will be paid to the integration of these traditions into different genres of Islamic scholarship, such as Qur’anic commentaries (tafsīr), Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh), prophetic traditions (ḥadīth), theology (kalām) and genealogy, in order to show how these traditions reinforce each other to legitimise various religious authorities, associating the event of Badr with a divine intervention in favour of the Prophet. Contributors are also invited to explore how these narratives have circulated throughout the different eras and regions of the Islamic world. Contributions may address the reception of the Badr narratives in various cultural and political contexts and analyse how they have been adapted to meet the needs and expectations of different Muslim communities.
- Badr in contemporary political and religious contexts
The Battle of Badr continues to resonate strongly in modern and contemporary Islamic history. Researchers are encouraged to examine the mutual influences between the Badr narratives and the socio-political contexts in which they have been reproduced, particularly in periods of religious conflict or reform, in order to show how the Battle of Badr has been used to legitimise or challenge the powers that be. This theme will look at the political and religious uses of Badr in the Ottoman era, in modern and contemporary contexts, as well as during the Iran-Iraq war, in propaganda and in various inter-state conflicts. Researchers are invited to explore how the memory of Badr is mobilised in current political discourse and practice, and how it is used to legitimise contemporary politico-religious causes. This theme will also address the way in which the Badr narratives are reinterpreted in the light of the current challenges facing Muslim societies, through the analysis of continuities and breaks with traditional interpretations.
- Materiality and visual culture of the Battle of Badr
The aim of this theme is to study the Battle of Badr through the various archaeological materials, epigraphy and iconographic supports, in order to verify the existence of a possible gap between the written sources and the existing material traces. Researchers will be invited to examine the contribution of these sciences, which shed new light on this high-profile event. The study of illuminated Ottoman and Persian manuscripts, such as the Siyar-i Nabī (1595) commissioned by Sultan Murad III and preserved in the library of the Topkapı Palace Museum in Istanbul, also offers a possible field of investigation, which would enable us to renew our knowledge of this famous confrontation. Analysing the illustrations of the Battle of Badr not only provides an opportunity to analyse the differences in treatment between the written word and the image, but also to see how different artistic traditions treated the event. In addition to printed works, the study of manuscripts should finally make it possible to highlight the many interactions between the account of Badr and its readers, materialised by the various notes they left in the margins of the chapters devoted to the battle.
Submission of proposals
Proposals should include a title, a 300-500 word abstract, a short biography of the author (200 words maximum) and full contact details. Proposals should be sent by e-mail to the following address: projetbadr2025@gmail.com before 15th March 2025. Papers may be presented in French, English or Arabic. Applicants will be informed of the acceptance of their proposal at the beginning of June. The proceedings of the conference will be published as a collective volume in 2026.
If you have any questions or require further information, please contact the project managers at the same address: projetbadr2025@gmail.com.
Contact Email
URL
https://islamologie.unistra.fr/actualites/appel-a-contributions-pour-le-colloqu…
6. Kurdish Women Through History, Culture and Resistance
Shahrzad Mojab
Mazda, 2024
http://www.mazdapublishers.com/book/kurdish-womenthrough-history
7. Colloque international « Sur les routes d’Arabie : itinéraires terrestres et maritimes » — IMA Paris, 12-14 décembre 2024
Le colloque international se propose d’étudier les routes de la péninsule Arabique, qu’elles soient terrestres ou maritimes, et les échanges qu’elles ont favorisés via l’archéologie, les sciences historiques, philologiques et religieuses mais aussi les sciences de la vie.
Information : https://iismm.hypotheses.org/106050
8. “4th International Conference on the Military History of the Mediterranean Sea” (Focus Turkey and Greece), Ibn Haldun University & University of Ioannina, Greece, 9-11 June 2025
This conference aims to offer a vertical history of war in the Mediterranean from the early Middle Ages to the Early Modern period (c. AD 1700), putting the emphasis on the changing face of several of war’s aspects and contexts over time. This is a collaboration between academics from Turkey and Greece that aspires to bring together scholars of military history and stimulate academic discussion in different aspects of the military history of the Mediterranean Sea.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 December 2024.
Information: https://hist.ihu.edu.tr/en/4th-international-conference-on-the-military-history-of-the-mediterranean-sea
9. 3rd Kurdish Studies Conference, London School of Economics, 11-12 June 2025
The conference welcomes paper submissions with social sciences and humanities disciplinary approaches to any aspect of Kurdish studies. These might include but are not limited to: history; political movements; social movements; gender; political representation; governance; displacement; anthropology; nationalism; ethnography, ecology, politi-cal economy; international relations; cultural studies; diaspora; security; and religion.
Deadline for abstracts: 21 November 2024.
Information: https://www.lse.ac.uk/middle-east-centre/news/kurdish-studies-conference-2025
10. University Assistant Predoctoral in Turkish Studies (4 Years), University of Vienna
Qualification: MA or Diploma in Turkish Studies (Ottoman History and Culture) or a related discipline. – Interest in DH and Ottoman Studies, Armeno-Turkish Texts, Cultural Heritage, Environmental History. – Excellent knowledge of Turkish and knowledge of Ottoman Turkish. – Excellent command of written and spoken English (C1).
Deadline for application: 29 November 2024.
Information: https://jobs.univie.ac.at/job/University-assistant-predoctoral/1137021301/
11. Tenure-track Assistant Professor on the History of the Modern Middle East, University of Massachusetts Amherst
Requirements: A PhD in History, or a related field by the start date of the appointment. Candidates will be considered based on their scholarly research as well as strong potential for effective undergraduate and graduate teaching.
Deadline for applications: 25 November 2024. Information:
Posted in: Academic items- November 16, 2024
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