Shii News – Academic Items
1.Whither Global Antiquity? Retrospection and Future Directions
Global Antiquity is convening its second annual symposium that will be held at UCLA, and live-streamed on Zoom, on April 10–11, 2025. Whither Global Antiquity? Retrospection and Future Directions aims to assess the state of ancient studies, its relevance to the Humanities today, and its future directions.
Over the span of two days, the fields of Classics, ancient Near East, ancient East Asia, and ancient Americas will be explored critically and new approaches presented. These include the experience of ancient worlds with race and ethnicity, the entangled relationships between ancient history and modern states, the expansion and re-centering of areas of inquiry, and indigenous ontologies and histories.
In providing a forum for interdisciplinary conversations, the goal of the symposium is to identify a shared vocabulary for the study of the ancient worlds that extends across traditional fields of inquiry to encompass the achievements of the whole of antiquity as humanity’s common patrimony.
Register for the Event in Person and on Zoom
2. THE TABLE IS SET: Food Traditions and Legacies in the Islamic World
https://exhibitions.museumwnf.org/the_table_is_set/en/
This exhibition explores the rich culinary traditions of the Islamic world, offering a deeper understanding of Islamic culture and fostering cross-cultural dialogue. Visitors will discover six thematic areas: The Food System at Islamic Courts, Social Life, Religion, Environment, Gendered Roles and Coexistence, featuring artefacts from our Partners across the globe. On display objects and monuments from 76 Partners in 33 countries.
What sets this exhibition apart is its uniquely international approach, with a curatorial team from diverse cultural, professional, and academic backgrounds.
URL
https://exhibitions.museumwnf.org/the_table_is_set/en/
3. Humour in Iran
Eleven-hundred Years of Satire and Humour in Persian Literature
H Katouzian,
Bloomsbury, 2025
4. Three upcoming spring courses in Middle and Classical Persian languages and literatures, specially designed for lovers of Persian literature.
All three courses are organized by the Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature, and are conducted online, making them accessible to anyone interested in deepening their understanding of Persian literary traditions. In line with the school’s mission to make Classical Persian more accessible, I would gratly appreciate it if you could share this announcement with anyone who might be interested.
Below are the courses along with their schedules. For more details, please click on the course titles:
- The Shahname: An Introduction to the Iranian Epic
(April 16 – July 30) - Introduction to Early Judeo-Persian: Jewish Letters from Xinjiang to Cairo
(April 28 – May 9, 2025) - Introduction to Pahlavi: Online Spring School of Zoroastrian Middle Persian
(May 12 – May 30, 2025)
You are warmly invited to register for one or more of these courses as soon as possible, to secure your place. Discounts may be available for students and for those who enroll in multiple courses.
Should you have any questions, please feel free to email me. I will be happy to respond as soon as possible.
Best regards,
Ruben S. Nikoghosyan
Ferdowsi School of Persian Literature
Yerevan, Armenia
Website: www.ferdowsi.org
5. WEBINAR | Can Inshāʾ Literature Compensate for the Lack of Archives in Medieval Iran?
The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies and Invisible East present a series of monthly online seminars about archives and documents.
Convened by Arezou Azad and Mohamad Tavakoli, the seminars are held monthly on Zoom.
Please join us this month to hear from David Durand-Guédy on ‘Can Inshāʾ Literature Compensate for the Lack of Archives in Medieval Iran?’ Wednesday 9 April at 12PM EST / 5PM GMT. Pre-registration is essential.
https://utoronto.zoom.us/meeting/register/WIQppj7tRMGqiqueSdLg0A#/registration
6. Webinar: Pandemics in Late Modern Iran – A UCSB Talk by Dr. Amir A. Afkhami
Organised by the Iranian Studies Initiative at UC Santa Barbara.
Dr. Amir A. Afkhami from George Washington University will speak this Saturday, April 5th, on ” Pandemics in Late Modern Iran. ”
To attend, please register using this link.
7. Islam and Self-Development Programme (Cert.) by Al-Mahdi Institute:
Al-Mahdi Institute is proud to present a new course designed to challenge your perspective on Islam, yourself, and the world! The ‘Islam and Self-Development Programme’ running from 15th – 24th September 2025 at Al-Mahdi Institute, is a 10-day residential course designed for those eager to deepen their understanding of Islam while engaging in both intellectual and spiritual growth. The programme provides a unique opportunity to critically explore faith, reason, and self-discovery while tackling some of the most profound questions in Islamic thought. No prior knowledge of Islamic studies or Arabic is required to join this programme and all are welcome to join!
Find out more about the Programme here: https://ami.is/isdp
AMI is also offering an early bird offer of 40% OFF the course fees until the 31st June 2025. This offer covers all learning materials, along with lunch, dinner, and refreshments throughout the course. Spaces are limited, so register now to secure your place on the course! For those travelling from outside the area, accommodation can be arranged at an additional cost. Please contact education@almahdi.edu for more details or questions.
8. The first cycle of the Iran Heritage Foundation’s 2025 grant programme, with the deadline of 30th April 2025, is now open for receipt of application. With the overall aim of fostering knowledge and appreciation of Iran’s rich cultural heritage research grants in various academic disciplines are awarded.
Preference will be given to applications on (in alphabetical order) archaeology, architecture, art, history, linguistics and literature, as well as subjects of contemporary interest, such as cinema, music, sociology and so on; applications from other disciplines will also be considered.
Projects to be supported may include the most varied academic initiatives, from fieldwork to workshops, conferences, building databases and digitising images. The Committee privileges ground-breaking research, which may include editions and translations of key texts. In order to support multiple initiatives grants of up to a maximum of £3,000 will be considered.
The application process and conditions for the grants can be viewed on our website.
To apply please click here
For Terms and Conditions please click here
9. Edinburgh University Press – New Series
Critiquing Gender & Islam
10. Launching rumi roaming multi-platform, multi-lingual project- Sunday 4/6
Please join us virtually this Sunday for a project launch event, rumi roaming: a multi-platform and multi-lingual anthology. rumi roaming juxtaposes new translations of some of Rumi’s ghazals with contemporary creative non-fiction, poetry, scholarly essays, photo essays, and performance and art videos. Join editors Gita Hashemi and Elena Basile, along with contributors Raul Moarquech, Ferrera-Balanquet, Hajar Hussaini, Öykü Tekten, Mahdi Tourage, and Fatemeh Keshavarz, for a virtual presentation and discussion.
Date: Sunday, April 6, 2025
Time: 2 PM EDT
Zoom Link: https://go.umd.edu/rumiroaming
11. Iran and Persianate Culture in the Indian Ocean World
A Peacock, ed.
Bloomsbury, 2025
12. CFP – Edited volume: Islamization and Arabization of the Arabian Peninsula in light of material evidence
According to the conventional narrative, the Arabian Peninsula became fully Muslim very soon after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, during the reign of the second caliph ‘Umar (d. 644) if not before. Moreover, a natural link has been assumed between the Arabian Peninsula, the Arabic language, and an Arab identity. In recent years, however, important scholarship has questioned these notions. The new scholarship employs mainly contemporary or possibly contemporary sources, e.g., archaeological, epigraphic and poetical evidence. The evidence suggests that the Arabian Peninsula was not exclusively Muslim in the first centuries of hijra: Jews and Christians were living in the region (even in the Hijaz) as late as around 1000 CE. In addition, the spread of Arabic language in the whole Peninsula – along with Arab identity, possibly a separate phenomenon – appears to have taken place in early Islamic times and not before. The spread of Muslim faith, as well perhaps to the distribution of the caliphate administration, are assumed to be the main engines to Arabization, even in the Arabian Peninsula.
This edited volume would contribute to the question of Islamization and Arabization of Arabia during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Some source sets are still underused, and new archaeological and epigraphic continues come to light; the edited volume aims at putting forward new sources and insights on these issues. Moreover, researchers who employ material evidence as their main source (e.g. epigraphers, archaeologists, numismatics) rarely communicate with each other. Bringing them together under one umbrella will thus be beneficial.
We invite contributions that are based on and deal with Arabian epigraphic evidence, numismatics, and other types of archaeological evidence. The volume is expected to be published by late 2027. Authors should submit their papers after proofreading by a native speaker of English.
Book series: Brill’s Arabian Heritage
Editors of the volume: Ilkka Lindstedt (Helsinki) and Hagit Nol (Frankfurt)
Deadlines for submissions
Abstracts (max. 500 words): June 1st 2025
Articles: August 1st 2026
Contact Email
13. Events at The Institute of Ismaili Studies
All are welcome to join us at the following upcoming events in London and online from The Institute of Ismaili Studies (and with our partners). Please note registration is required:
TALK: “Reconsidering verses on women in the Qur’an” (Dr Karen Bauer and Dr Feras Hamza)
SOAS, London | 10 April 2025
TALK: “Conceptual Photography and the Craft of Reading Islamic Historical Texts” (Dr Shahzad Bashir)
Aga Khan Centre, London and Online | 24 April 2025
CONFERENCE: “Devotion to the Prophet’s Family in Islamic Thought and Practice” (The Institute of Ismaili Studies)
Aga Khan Centre, London and Online | 20-22 May 2025
Further events are listed here: https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/
14. HYBRID Workshop “Christian Arabic Literature: Figures, Thought and Challenges”, Beirut – Tübingen – Venice, 7 April 2025, 9:45-19:00 CET
Papers: Pilar GONZÁLEZ CASADO (Madrid): The concept of law in the secular legal regulations in Ibn aṭ-Ṭayyib’s Fiqh al-Naṣrāniyya. – Martino DIEZ (Milan): Al-Makīn Ibn al-‘Amīd and his Universal history. – Alice CROQ (Montpellier): Not so Christian after all? On the different versions of the Dialogue between the caliph and a Chinese monk. – Alexander TREIGER (Dalhousie): Major themes in Christian Arabic literature. – Etc.
Information and programme : https://www.unive.it/data/33113/4/100547
15. Articles for the “Journal of Religious Minorities under Muslim Rule” and Edited Volume on “Studies on Religious Minorities in Islam” (Edinburgh UP)
Topics: • Historical evolution of religious minority rights in Muslim societies • Re-examining dhimmitude and similar legal concepts in Islamic law • Impacts of colonialism on religious minority status in Muslim lands • Critical methods in understanding “minorityhood” in Muslim societies • Roles of religious minorities in shaping Islamic art and cultural heritage • Gender dynamics within religious minority communities under Muslim rule. Etc.
Deadline for abstracts: 21 April 2025. Information: Abbas Aghdassi, Ed., aghdassi@um.ac.ir
Posted in: Academic items- April 05, 2025
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