Shii News – Academic Items

1.American Councils for International Education (American Councils) is seeking Foreign Language Specialists in 10 critical languages (Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu) to assist in the development of online proficiency-based reading and listening comprehension tests in the ten target languages, across a variety of levels. We are currently looking for Passage Selectors and target language Reviewers for the project.

Foreign language specialist qualifications include:

Advanced High / ILR level 2+ or a native speaker of one of the following target languages: Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Swahili, Turkish, and Urdu;
Good knowledge of English;
Familiarity with either ACTFL or ILR proficiency scales;
Experience in language proficiency testing or teaching;
Knowledge of proficiency considerations in teaching or research (desirable but not obligatory);
Demonstrates strong attention to details and thorough reviews;
Ability to complete assignments on time.

Please note that in order to participate in this project, language specialists will need to have authorization to work in the U.S. The work is part-time, contractual, and can be completed from your home computer.

Interested candidates should send an email message with a current resume or CV to Camelot Marshall, Ph.D. (itemwriting@americancouncils.org). All submissions will receive further information about the project, possible assignments, compensation and schedules.

Thank you in advance for your attention.

Holly Gerrity

Program Assistant, Assessment and Curriculum Development

American Councils for International Education

1828 L Street N.W., Suite 1200

Washington, D.C. 20036

T 202 833 7522

F 202 833 7523

www.americancouncils.org

2. The French website http://www.menestrel.froffers free academic on-line resources for the study of the Middle-Age. The section on Medieval Islam (http://www.menestrel.fr/spip.php?rubrique960&lang=fr) will soon host a page on the history of medieval Sufism and hagiographic literature. I am actually collecting all the academic (or-semi-academic) on-line projects related to Medieval Sufism. A first first draft of my contribution can be consulted here: https://www.academia.edu/s/77d16e452d. All your feedbacks are welcome, I am especially interested in project in non-european languages.

Dr. Francesco Chiabotti

University of Tübingen – Zentrum für islamische Theologie

Research Assistant

University of Aix-Marseille – IREMAM

Associate Researcher

https://univ-amu.academia.edu/FrancescoChiabotti

francesco.chiabotti@gmail.com

3. 22nd International Congress of German Middle East Studies Association (DAVO) combined with the 1st Section Conference of the Islamic Studies Section of the German Oriental Society (DMG), Ruhr University, Bochum, 24-26 September 2015

The conference will provide a forum for methodological exchange between the different disciplines of the humanities and the social sciences in their research on the historical and contemporary Middle East and the Islamic World. The PhD Conference offers PhD students the possibility to present and discuss their specific PhD projects with a regionally open and interdisciplinary audience.

Information: http://davo-iswidmg2015.de/en. Registration is still possible until 26 September 2015.

4. Conference: “Arabic Pasts: Histories and Historiography 2015”, ISMC, Aga Khan University/SOAS, University of London, 25-26 September 2015

Information on the programme: www.academia.edu/15509430/Arabic_Pasts_Histories_and_Historiography_2015_programme

5. Conference: “Islam on the Prairies”, University of Saskatchewan and St. Thomas More College, Saskatoon, 13-14 May 2016

The conference aims to explore the growing presence of Islam on the prairies and in other Canadian provinces, implications of this process, and to provide a dynamic space for the presentations and discussions on issues related to Muslims in Canada.

Deadline for abstracts: 30 October 2015. Information: islam.prairies@usask.ca

6. Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Islamic Studies, Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina, Charlotte

The position is to begin August 2016. Applicants are required to have a Ph.D. in Religious Studies or a related field at the time of appointment, show evidence of a strong potential for professional development as a scholar and teacher, and demonstrate a commitment to promoting diversity as a value in the department and college.

Deadline for applications: 1 October 2015. Information: https://jobs.uncc.edu/postings/5111

Tenure-track Assistant Professor in Arabic Language and Literature, Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Languages and Literatures, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

The appointment will become effective July 1, 2016, with teaching duties beginning in September 2016. Candidates should have native or near-native proficiency in Modern Standard Arabic and English as well as a Ph.D in hand by the time of appointment. Area of specialty is open.

Review of applications will begin on 15 October 2015. Information: http://apply.interfolio.com/31166

Tenure-stream Position in Ottoman and Turkish Studies, Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University, Canada

Applications are welcome from scholars in all disciplines, who work on any aspect of the Ottoman Empire, modern Turkey, or Turkic Central Asia. Applicants whose research focuses on women, gender, and sexuality are especially encouraged to apply. Starting date: 1 August 2016.

Application deadline: 15 November 2015. Information: https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/5975.

Tenure-track Position in Medieval History of the Mediterranean, Université du Québec, Montréal

Applications from Byzantinists or Arabists whose research concerns the Mediterranean ambit are welcome. The position is to start on 1 June 2016.

Deadline for application: 2 October 2015. Information: http://humweb.ucsc.edu/mediterraneanseminar/news/index.php?id=507

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7. Summer School: “Reading Pleasure – Pleasure Reading: Medieval Approaches to Reading”, Swedish Research Institute, Istanbul, 23-28 May 2016

The aim is to engage with and develop specific approaches that will enable us to discuss medieval developments. Some possible themes include Persian, Arabic, Byzantine and Western literature; Middle Ages; reading and storytelling; translations; romance; drama; poetry; letters; chronography; court culture; book history; illuminations; gender studies. There is no cost for attending the Summer School.

Deadline for applications: 1 December 2015. Information: http://humweb.ucsc.edu/mediterraneanseminar/news/index.php?id=504
8. University of Toronto – Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral fellowship in

the humanities

http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51298

The Meyerhoff Program and Center for Jewish Studies and the Gildenhorn
Institute for Israel Studies at the University of Maryland, College
Park, seek to appoint a tenure-track assistant professor who specializes
in the Jews of Muslim Lands/Mizrahi Jews in Israel. The position is open
to scholars trained either in History, the Social Sciences, Religious
Studies, or Cultural Studies, and it is part of a larger initiative to
strengthen Middle Eastern Studies on campus. The successful candidate
will have the opportunity to affiliate with other departments at the
University of Maryland, which values interdisciplinary research and
teaching. Position start date: August 16, 2016.

[more info: https://ejobs.umd.edu/postings/36553 ]

Columbia University – Richard Bulliet Professorship of Islamic History
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51487

Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature and modern Arabic Literature

The Department of Comparative Literature at Brown University seeks a scholar of Comparative Literature and modern Arabic literature at the rank of assistant professor (tenure track). The Ph.D. must be completed by the time of employment, and native or near-native fluency in Arabic and English is required. The field of specialization within the modern period is open. Candidates will outline their future research in Comparative Literature and modern Arabic literature, and they will also make suggestions for courses. Demonstrated excellence in both scholarship and teaching is esssential; an interest in translation theory and practice is also welcome. Please submit complete dossier, including cover letter, curriculum vitae, dissertation abstract, sample of scholarly writing, and three letters of recommendation, online at the link above by November 1, 2015. Please also indicate whether you will attend the MESA convention in November 2015 and/or the MLA in January 2016.

Application Instructions http://apply.interfolio.com/30218

Please submit complete dossier, including cover letter, curriculum vitae, dissertation abstract, sample of scholarly writing, and three letters of recommendation, online at the link above by November 1, 2015.

Yale University – Full Professor in Near Eastern Languages and
Civilizations (NELC)
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51493

Christopher Newport University – Assistant Professor of History
(Middle East and North Africa)
http://www.h-net.org/jobs/job_display.php?id=51494

9. CFP: Current Iran: Art and Culture, Harvard University (17-20 March 2016)

An organized seminar at the Annual Meeting of the American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) held at Harvard University [Abstracts by Sept.

23, 2015; Conference March 17-20, 2016].

Scholars need to type “Iran” in http://www.acla.org/seminars http://www.acla.org/seminars

to find the name of the seminar: “Iran Is Not As It Is Told: Contemporary Persian Art and Culture”

After “register”, they can “propose a paper” for this seminar.

This seminar seeks to explore the complexities of Iranian contemporary art and

culture, discuss the religious, artistic, and sociopolitical dimension, and

trace the emergence of discourses, previously neglected by academia.

Advocating a comparative cultural approach, it aims to reflect the