Shii News – Academic Items
1.Séminaire ‘Sociétés, politiques et cultures du monde iranien’
Séance du 1 décembre 2016, 17h-19h
Satoshi Ogura, University of Kyoto – University of Halle
The making of Persian Sufi-Rishi narratives: the cases of ‘Alī Hamadānī and Nūr al-Dīn Rīshī
It is commonly believed not only in academic discoursebut also in today’s Muslim society in Kashmir that a Kubrawi Sufi Sayyid ‘Alī Hamadānī (1314-1385) and a Kashmiri mystic Nūr al-Dīn Rīshī (d. 1438) made a significant contribution to the making of Muslim society in Kashmir in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. With regard to the degree of their historical roles and impacts on Kashmiri society, two scholars of Kashmir native, Abdul Qayyum Rafiqi and Mohammad Ishaq Khan had aroused controversy. The point of issue is the reliability of the sources which record their activities in Kashmir. The contemporary Sanskrit sources keep silent on ‘Alī Hamadānī and Nūr al-Dīn Rīshī; they are referred to in the Persian sources composed after the late sixteenth century. Some scholars, as well as Khan, claim that they were handed down in folkloric style, and the later Persian sources are reliable since they recorded the oral traditions faithfully. However, a careful analysis of their narratives reveals that they are often contradictory with other contemporary sources and less reliable than Khan evaluated. Moreover, even if the later Persian sources actually record the Sufi-Rishi folklores made in the fourteenth and fifteenth century, we need to investigate the reason why the oral traditions were transmitted to the written texts in the late sixteenth century. In this presentation, I describe a different story on the making of the Sufi-Rishi narratives in the sixteenth century Kashmir, paying attention to the political and sectarian factionalisms in that period which seem to stimulate the textual crystallization. In particular, I explore the possibility that the spread of the Nūrbakhshiyya and Mīrzā Ḥaydar (1499/1500-1551)’s ten-years-occupation of Kashmir caused the recording of the Sufi-Rishi narratives.
Naveen Kanalu, University of California, Los Angeles
The Images of Aurangzeb ‘Ālamgīr: Epistolary Discourse and the Practices of Sovereignty in Early Modern Persian Political Culture
The nature of Mughal political sovereignty has been widely analysed in the symbolic practices and rituals elaborated by the Mughal emperors Akbar and Jahangir and the discourses of Adab or “political ethics” that were foundational to the intellectual training of princes. However, the discourses and expressions of sovereignty remain relatively little explored in the way epistolary, that is, the writing of letters played a formidable role in literary transmission of sovereignty as a structure of a hierarchical relation. In the proposed paper, I will examine the manner in which the epistles of the Mughal Sultan, Aurangzeb ‘Ālamgīr’s (r. 1658–1707), collected and known as the Ādāb-i ‘ālamgīrī represent instances and articulations of the inherited Chenghizid and Timurid customs of the Mughals, namely, yāsā. More often, the reign and the methods of governance under Aurangzeb have been understood in the historiography as one of Islamic conservatism and thereby leading to a decline in the use and practice of Timurid customs such as yāsā. Rather than privilege the nature of sovereignty as a performance of ritual, I examine epistolary discourse as a site that animates Aurangzeb’s position within the imperial household. What forms of rhetorical and allegorical devices are deployed by Aurangzeb in his obedience to his father and Sultan, Shāh Jahān, and how does he later transmit values of sovereign dispositions to his princes from his royal position? By a critical philological approach, I hope to reassess the importance of epistolarity in practicing and conveying meanings of hierarchical sovereignty in the early modern political culture of South Asia.
Lieu : Université Sorbonne nouvelle – Paris 3, centre Censier, 13 rue de Santeuil, salle 410 (4e étage), 75005, Paris.
Organisateurs :
Matteo De Chiara (INaLCO), Denis Hermann (CNRS), Fabrizio Speziale (Paris 3), Julien Thorez (CNRS).
2. In conjunction with The Art of the Qur’an exhibition, Freer and Sackler is organizing a symposium, The Word Illuminated: Form and Function of Qur’anic Manuscripts, on December 1, 2 and 3, 2016 in Washington, DC.
The symposium focuses on luxury copies of the Qur’an made between the eighth and the seventeenth centuries from Herat to Istanbul and investigates their materiality, from the use of costly paper, special scripts, intricate illumination, to finely tooled bindings. These characteristics lend the Qur’ans their unique visual characteristics and set them apart from other copies. The speakers will examine the volumes in their historical, cultural, and artistic contexts and discuss their use as potent symbols of piety, political, and religious authority. As Qur’ans changed ownership, they also acquired a complex and layered after-life, which has further enriched their identity well into the present.
For the symposium program, abstracts and speaker bios, please visit: http://www.asia.si.edu/research/symposia/art-of-the-quran/default.php
For more information on the exhibition, please visit: http://www.asia.si.edu/exhibitions/current/art-of-the-quran/default.php
3. Al-Qasimi Chair (Professor/Associate Professor) in Gulf Studies and
Director of the Centre for Gulf Studies, IAIS, University of Exeter, UK
The University of Exeter is seeking to recruit a Chair
(Professor/Associate Professor) in Gulf Studies.The post holder will be
a leading international figure in Gulf studies,especially in the areas
of social sciences and contemporary history and cultural studies.S/he is
also expected to assume the directorship of the Centre for Gulf Studies,
which gathers the world’s largest concentration of researchers in
humanities and social sciences interested in the Gulf region.
Salary:Competitive salary reflecting qualification and experience (for
appointment at Professor level). If appointment is made at Associate
Professor level, salary will be in the range £54,637-£68,836.
Application deadline: *5January2017*.
All information and details are available here:
<http://bit.ly/1rU1fTJ>http://bit.ly/2gdooP9
Al-Qasimi Chair (Professor/Associate Professor) in Islamic Studies, IAIS, University of Exeter, UK
The post holder will be a leading international figure with the ability to attract high quality researchers at doctoral and postdoctoral level to the Islamic Studies research group. Any area of Islamic Studies is an appropriate specialism including (but not limited to) history, theology, philosophy, literature, mysticism, law, jurisprudence, art and architecture, art history, anthropology and sociology, digital humanities, and any period of the study of Islam.
Deadline for application: 5 January 2017. Information: http://bit.ly/2gcr802
4. THE GENIUS LOCI IN ISLAMIC ART: HISTORICAL EXPLORATIONS IN TOPOLOGICAL AESTHETICS
Workshop at the University of Vienna’s Department of Art History, Nov. 25/26, 2016.
Convened by Maximilian Hartmuth in the context of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) project P 26406: “Centre and Periphery? Islamic Architecture in Ottoman Macedonia, 1383-1520.” For more information about this project and the workshop’s concept, see https://kunstgeschichte.univie.ac.at/forschungsprojekte. Contact: maximilian.hartmuth@univie.ac.at. The workshop will take place in seminar room 3.
5. CFP – Asia Minor: An international and multidisciplinary Journal of ancient and medieval Anatolia
For more information, see: https://networks.h-net.org/node/7636/discussions/152904/cfp-asia-minor-international-and-multidisciplinary-journal-ancient
6. MANUSCRIPTS in the MAKING: Art and Science
An International Conference organised by the Fitzwilliam Museum in association with the Departments of Chemistry and History of Art, University of Cambridge, with support from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the Association for Manuscripts and Archives in Research Collections
8th-10th December 2016
VENUE: Department of Chemistry, Lensfield Rd, Cambridge CB2 1EW
Session 3, on Islamic Manuscripts:
8 December, 4.15-6.00pm. SESSION 3, Bristol Myers Squibb Lecture Theatre
4.15-4.50 Marcus Fraser, independent scholar
Origins and Modifications in the Blue Qur’an and other early Islamic
manuscripts
4.50-5.25 Prof. Robert Hillenbrand, Edinburgh University
The many uses of colour in the Great Mongol Shahnama
5.25-6.00 Dr Sonya Quintanilla, Cleveland Museum of Art
Drama in Repetition: Narrative Strategies in Serial Paintings from Sultanate
and Early Mughal Manuscripts of India
Conference details, registration, programme:
Conference programme:
http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/sites/default/files/events/MANUSCRIPTS%20IN%20THE%20MAKING…
7. The fourth Perso-Indica Conference
Translation and the languages of Islam:
Indo-Persian tarjuma in a comparative perspective
Convenors:
Corinne Lefèvre (CNRS) & Fabrizio Speziale (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3)
Venue: December 8-9, 2016
CEIAS (190 avenue de France, 75013 Paris)
Rooms 638-641
http://www.perso-indica.net/events-news/28
8. https://history.ceu.edu/junior-research-fellowship
Job opportunity: Junior Research Fellowship in Early Modern History
Application deadline: 2 December 2016
Starting date: September 2017
Duration of the Fellowship: 2 years
The new platform for Early Modern Studies (EMS) at the Departments of Medieval Studies and History at Central European University Budapest is offering a twenty-four months Junior Research Fellowship for research on a subject related to the historical period between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries. This postdoctoral position forms part of CEU’s Humanities Initiative and is an exciting opportunity to join a collegial and vibrant environment for the study of early modernity, with the freedom and facilities to develop your research and strengthen your position in the academic job market. The specific disciplinary and thematic focus on the early modern period is open, but preference will be given to candidates whose projects speak to the broader research foci of the two Departments, and their related research centers, and complement the existing expertise of the resident faculty (for more information, please visit history.ceu.edu and medievalstudies.ceu.edu).
9. The Ottoman Turkish Zenanname (ʻBook of Womenʼ)
British Library Or.7094 is an illustrated copy of the late Ottoman Turkish poetic work, Fazıl Enderunlu’s Zenanname (ʻBook of Womenʼ), which describes the positive and negative qualities of the women of the world along with satirical and moralistic parts at the end. The text is a poem in mesnevi form that was completed in 1793. I became interested in this work because typologies of women began to appear in Mughal and Safavid poetry and painting in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and there was the possibility of doing comparative scholarship across Persianate cultures.
Read more at:
10. Following the highly successful Historians of Islamic Art Association biennial symposium, Regionality: looking for the local in the arts of Islam, held at the Courtauld Institute, London on October 20-22, the organizers would like to draw your attention to two keynote addresses that are now available online.
They are: Jeremy Johns, University of Oxford: ‘Fings ain’t wot they oughto be’: making things & the art history of early & medieval Islamic societies, and Talinn Grigor, University of California Davis: Modernism as (a)politics: religious minorities and the discourse on architecture in Pahlavi Iran.
The links on YouTube are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ5nfS9nH_M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpsXGqCMdhA&feature=youtu.be
11. The Department of Arabic at Middlebury College announces an opening for a three-year position in Arabic at the Visiting Assistant Professor rank beginning the Fall semester of 2017. Superior language proficiency in both Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) and English is required, as is native or native-like proficiency in at least one Arabic dialect. The area of specialization for the position is open, with preference given to candidates doing research on the Arab world in the field of linguistics or the social sciences.
Review of applications will begin immediately, and will continue until the position is filled.
To apply, please see the following link for the full job posting and position details: https://apply.interfolio.com/39172
12. Lecturer of Arabic Studies #F0451W
The Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the College of William and Mary invites applications for a non-tenure track position in the Arabic Studies program that will begin August 10, 2017. We seek a professional, skilled instructor who can teach at all levels of the curriculum, both Arabic language and Arabic/Middle-Eastern cultures courses. The former require implementation of innovative pedagogical techniques. The latter require a strong theoretical background to teach cultural studies courses. This instructor should also be able to function well in the WM classroom environment where students expect a high level of give and take, and interactive, organized learning. Applicants should have native or near native fluency in MSA, one Arabic dialect and clearly speak and understand English. The successful candidate will be expected to be an effective teacher and will have a 3-3 teaching load. Salary is commensurate with qualifications and teaching experience.
Required: A Master’s degree in Arabic language, literature or culture is required, in addition to a successful proficiency-based teaching record.
Preferred: Ph.D. or ABD is preferred at the time of appointment August 10, 2017 in addition to having a successful teaching record in an American University.
Candidate must apply online at http://jobs.wm.edu/postings/26323. Submit curriculum vitae, a cover letter that includes a statement of research and teaching interests, a sample syllabus for a course you would like to teach, and three letters of reference electronically via the College of William and Mary job web site. You will be prompted to submit online the names and email addresses of three references who will be contacted by us with instructions on how to submit a letter of reference (at least one of which must speak directly to teaching ability).
For full consideration, submit application materials by the review date, January 6, 2017. Applications received after the review date will be considered only if needed.
Information on the Arabic Studies program in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at the College of William & Mary may be found at http://www.wm.edu/as/modernlanguages/arabic/index.php.
13, Conference: “Gender and Generation in the Aftermath of the Uprisings. Political Visions, Desires, Movements in the Middle East and North Africa Today”, SOAS, University of London, 9-10 December 2016
The conference will explore the predicament of young women and men in and from the MENA region in contemporary times. It brings together scholars and activists with the aim to analyse the visions, desires and projects emerging in the post-uprisings contexts among youth individuals, affective communities, social and political movements and social non-movements. Admission free. Pre-registration required.
14. Full-time Faculty Position in “Islamic Thought and Culture”, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore
The position will begin 1 August 2017. The emphasis is on the lived complexities of Islam. Disciplinary approach and geographic specialization are open.
Deadline for application: 20 December 2016. Information: www.micahr.slideroom.com
Posted in: Academic items- November 21, 2016
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