Shii News – Academic Items

1.Al-Mahdi Institute (Birmingham, UK) is delighted to announce the launch of its new advanced-level online course ‘Islam and International Law,’ taught by Professor Seyed Mohammad Fatemi.

This 7-week course critically examines the dynamic relationship between Sharīʿa and contemporary international legal frameworks, exploring key issues such as sovereignty, human rights, war and peace, migration, and legal reform. Designed for students, researchers, and professionals within the field of Islamic studies and law, the course offers a rigorous, comparative exploration of foundational theories and current debates on some of the most pressing legal and ethical questions of our time. Sessions begin on 13th May 2025 and will be held online every Tuesday from 2:00–3:30PM (BST). For further details and registration, please visit: https://ami.is/iil

 

 

 

 

2. The Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Chicago, jointly present the inaugural Webinar on AI-Driven Language Pedagogy for Less Commonly Taught Languages.

The Webinar on AI-Driven Language Pedagogy for Less Commonly Taught Languages will be held beginning in January 2026, and it will assemble scholars from various disciplines teaching less commonly taught languages using innovations in AI. Panels and speakers are invited to present original research on topics related to the AI-Driven Language Pedagogy, including (but not limited to):

• AI and its use for supporting learning, administration, and assessment
• Approaches to course design and assignments that limit the use of AI
• Assessing student use of AI
• Adopting and testing new AI programs, AI agents, or bots
• Expanding and/or assessing existing AI efforts related to teaching and learning
• Fostering AI literacy for instructors and faculty
• Building out an AI module for a course
• Discipline-focused research on AI and pedagogy
• Establish guidelines or policies around AI

The webinar organizers, Azita H. Taleghani and Pouneh Shabani-Jadidi, will invite a select number of proposals to present their papers in a monthly webinar co-hosted by the University of Toronto and the University of Chicago. After the webinars, the papers presented will be published in an edited volume by the organizers.

Abstracts are due May 30, 2025. Please send your proposed title, a 250–300-word abstract, a 100-word bio, and your contact information to: azita.taleghani@utoronto.ca and pshabanijadidi@uchicago.edu

Please include “Webinar on AI-Driven Language Pedagogy for Less Commonly Taught Languages” in the subject line of the email. Notification of acceptance will be sent by September 30, 2025.

 

 

 

 

3. Alwaleed Centre, Edinburgh – Digital British Islam: Research Findings, Insights and Implications | Tues 29th April | 18:00 – 20:00

Committee Room 3, Fleming Room, The Scottish Parliament

We would like to invite you to an event organised by The Alwaleed Centre, to present key findings from the Digital British Islam (DBI) research project for the first time, led by colleagues at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Coventry University, and the University of Edinburgh, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

The project explores the use of online spaces by Muslim individuals and communities seeking online advice and expressing their views about practicing Islam in Britain, examining how online platforms shape religious practice, community engagement, and cultural expression.

The evening will feature presentations from Prof. Gary Bunt and Prof. Sariya Cheruvallil-Contractor, who will discuss their findings on emerging trends in key Muslim-focused websites, the gender dynamics that are developing online as the result of the interactions between content producers and consumers, and insights from their survey of online practices.

Please RSVP by emailing Zainab Hussnain at zhussnai@ed.ac.uk by 27th April and kindly let us know how many tickets you would like, and if you have any accessibility and dietary requirements.

 

 

 

 

4. Reading the Destiny in Your Face

Avicenna on Signed-Based Inferences

Silvia di Vincenzo

06 May 2025 – 5 PM (CET)

Is it possible to discern what is concealed within the human soul through what is outwardly manifest? This question has been a subject of inquiry across logical and medical traditions from antiquity to modern times.

Reflection on this issue forms the foundation of a discipline with a long and complex history spanning the Greek, Arabic, Hebrew and Latin traditions: physiognomy.

Physiognomy is of dual significance, encompassing both theoretical and practical dimensions. On a theoretical level, it examines the causal relationship between external symptoms and their underlying causes.

On a practical level, it seeks to apply this understanding to develop a framework that enables one to infer the invisible (character traits) from the visible (external features) and, to some extent, predict human actions and reactions.

Adopting a theoretical, particularly logical, perspective, this lecture will explore attempts to contextualise the reasoning characteristic of physiognomic practices as sign-based inference within the medieval Arabic tradition.

Special attention will be given to the contribution of one of the most prominent figures of this tradition, the philosopher and polymath Avicenna (Ibn Sīnā, 980–1037).

To register for this event please follow the link:

https://csmbr.fondazionecomel.org/events/online-lectures/avicenna-signes/

 

 

 

 

 

5. MERIP-CAIS Keynote Address: Making Space for the Gulf with Arang Keshavarzian,

Professor of Middle East and Islamic Studies, NYU

April 28 @ 4:00 pm – 5:30 pm

Join MERIP and Villanova’s Center for Arab and Islamic Studies for a Keynote lecture as part of the MERIP-CAIS Writing Workshop. Making Space for the Gulf, Arang Keshavarzian’s latest book from Stanford University Press, reveals how capitalism, empire-building, geopolitics, and urbanism have each shaped understandings of the Gulf region over the last two centuries.

This event is in-person ONLY.
Villanova University

Villanova, Pennsylvania
Garey Hall 31
4-5:30PM

 

 

 

 

 

6. The Department of Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Chicago is honored to have Prof.Fatemeh Keshavarzas speaker in the Franklin Lewis Lecture Series 2025. The lecture will be in person and on zoom on Wednesday, May 14 at 5:00 PM US Central Time in The Tea Room, The Social Science Research Building.

Title: Once you have Matured, these Words will Shake you to the Core

Abstract: This presentation explores a selection of Jalal al-Din Rumi’s (1207-1273) invocations of human speech in his orally delivered discourses, the Fihe ma fih. These references, allusive or extensive, display attention to the varieties, capacities, impacts, and ultimately significance of speech. A sacred tool in God hand, and also available to seekers of spiritual attainment. Born on the intersection of speculative thought (as in the Masnavi), and poetic fervor and freedom (as in the Divan), the Discourses are often spontaneous, interactive, at times accidental, and always instructive. In all these variations, the orality of the text sharpens the edge of expression. Rumi, the poet, remains aware of the cerebral, as well as affective, complexity of speaking.

Register for Zoom Here.

 

 

 

 

 

7. ONLINE Symposium: “Scholarship Beyond Borders – Resilience and Reform in Syrian Academia”, University of Sussex, 28 April 2025, 11:00 – 14:00 CET

The symposium aims to explore the unique challenges and opportunities faced by Syrian academics at home and in exile, fostering dialogue and collaboration. The event will bring together scholars in Syria, Syrian researchers in the UK, and key external stakeholders.

Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/2n3n78jk

 

 

 

 

 

8. Conference „Key Concepts in Interreligious Discourses: The Concept of Matter and the Concept of Spirit in Judaism, Christianity and Islam”, University of Erlangen, 25-27 June 2025

Deadline for registration: 18 June 2025.

Information and program: https://www.bafid.fau.de/files/2025/04/KCID_06.2025.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

9. PhD in Civilization Studies (4 Years), Alliance of Civilizations Institute, Ibn Haldun University, Istanbul

Fully funded doctoral program, with an additional funded year of Turkish language training. Research areas span Islamic Civilization in the Contemporary World, argumentation theory, comparative history, urban studies, and migra-tion. The program adopts an interdisciplinary framework that engages global challenges through multilayered, comparative, and complementary perspectives.

Deadline for applications: 16 May 2025. Information: https://medit.ihu.edu.tr/en/ph-d-applications

Posted in: Academic items