Shii News – Academic Items
1.Spaces of Exchange: Human–Environment Interactions from the Mediterranean to the Indus (Antiquity to the Early Islamic Period)
In recent decades, transcultural history has received increasing scholarly attention, revealing the complex processes through which ideas, practices, and objects moved, adapted, and transformed across regions, religions, societies, and historical periods. This workshop brings together scholars from Assyriology, archaeology, architectural history, and cultural studies to
examine the various methodological approaches used to trace these dynamics. By focusing on the interactions between people and environments, the workshop highlights how spaces such as gardens, palaces, and agricultural landscapes became sites of cultural negotiation, where circulating practices, forms, techniques, and aesthetic tastes intersected with
local geographies, ecological conditions, and social frameworks – crossing cultural and political zones and acquiring new meanings in the process. It will also consider how the translation and circulation of knowledge, especially in scientific and medical texts, functioned as tools for reinterpretation, adaptation, and integration into new intellectual landscapes.
By drawing on a range of case studies and methodologies – from textual and material analysis to landscape archaeology as well as economic and social networks – the workshop encourages interdisciplinary dialogue on how movement, adaptation, and reinterpretation shape cultural and material landscapes.
Convenor: Dr. Safa Mahmoudian
2–3 October 2025
Venue: Department of Near Eastern Studies, Hörsaal, Campus of the University of Vienna, Courtyard 4.1
Free admission – pre-registration required (safa.mahmoudian@univie.ac.at )
URL
2. Virtual and In-Person Lecture – Indonesia’s Islamic Heritage and the Aftermath of Colonialism – Mirjam Shatanawi
Advance registration is required
Thursday, September 25 at 6:30 PM
The Institute of Fine Arts
1 East 78th Street, New York, NY 10075
and Online
To register, please use the link at:
https://ifa.nyu.edu/events/southeast-asia.html
This event, part of the series South-East Asian Connections: Art, History and Archipelagos, is supported by the Institute’s Gulnar Bosch Fund.
3. Between Two Arabic Translators
https://arablit.org/between-two-translators/
In this new monthly interview series, translator Yasmeen Hanoosh talks with talented and celebrated Arabic translators about their work, about making a living as a translator, about the politics and art of translation, about what informs their choices—on a large and small scale—and more.
4. Invisible East
The hybrid series Rethinking History: Returning Archives and Documents kicks off. Registration is essential:
- Wednesday, 15 October 2025, 5PM UK Time: ‘Persian Archives for Histories of Colonial-State Formation in South Asia in the Eighteenth Century’, with Robert Travers, Cornell University.
- Wednesday, 12 November 2025, 5PM UK Time: ‘Framing the Past: Exploring the Godard Photographic Archives of Iran and Afghanistan’, with Martina Massulo, Department of Islamic Art at the Louvre museum.
- Wednesday, 10 December 2025, 5PM UK Time: ‘SAVAK Calling: Exploring the Diaries of Telephone Directives to the Editor of Diplomat’, with Mohamad Tavakoli, University of Toronto.
5. The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia (IASA), University of Tokyo, together with the Kakenhi Grant-in-Aid “Sunnis” and “Shiʿis”: Historical Inquiries into Confessional Identities and Mutual Perceptions” and the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (ASPS), is pleased to co-host a lecture by Professor David Lelyveld (William Paterson University, retired) entitled “A Reflection on Muslim Identities in South Asia.”
The lecture is open to the public. Please note that advance registration is required for online participation. The co-organizers look forward to your participation.
Lecture Title:
A Reflection on Muslim Identities in South Asia
Speaker:
Professor David Lelyveld (William Paterson University, retired)
Chair:
Professor Kazuo Morimoto (IASA / Japan Office, ASPS)
Date and Time:
24 October (Fri) 2025, at 18:00-19:30 (JST)
Venue:
Room 304, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo (東京大学東洋文化研究所3階、第一会議室304), and online via Zoom
Abstract:
To what extent are the sectarian, regional, ethnic, “caste” and language identities of South Asian Muslims characteristic of historic India as opposed to other parts of the Islamic world? This discussion will concentrate on how such identity categories have been foregrounded or obscured over time with respect to the Aligarh movement, the emergence of Urdu, British social analysis, and nationalist projects. The presentation seeks to stimulate comparisons and ideas for further research.
Speaker’s Bio:
David Lelyveld is the author of Aligarh’s First Generation: Muslim Solidarity in British India (1978, reprinted 2003). His publications also deal with the social and political history of Urdu and its differentiation from Hindi. A graduate of Harvard University, he did his Ph. D at the University of Chicago. He has held faculty and administrative positions at the University of Minnesota, Columbia, and Cornell. He retired as Professor of History at William Paterson University. He lives in New York City and is presently exploring aspects of the cultural relationship between India and Japan in the early twentieth century.
How to Participate:
Pre-registration is required for online participation. Please fill in the form at https://forms.gle/Mn2z2HJ4rG78baq17 by 23 October, at 24:00 JST.
In-person attendance does not require advance registration.
Contact Person: Naoki Nishiyama (nishiyama@ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp)
This event is co-organized by the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo (organized by the Regular Research Project W-1: Approaches to the “Persianate World” as a Tobunken Seminar), Kakenhi Grant-in-Aid “Sunnis” and “Shiʿis”: Historical Inquiries into Confessional Identities and Mutual Perceptions” (23K25371) and the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies (as a Gilas Lecture).
6. Lecture – “Berlin – Toronto – Rome: Mughal Medallion Genealogies Revisited,” Franziska Kabelitz, Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series, September 23
Please join the Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series for our next talk on Tuesday, September 23, 2025, at 12:00 New York / 17:00 London / 18:00 Berlin / 19:00 Istanbul.
Franziska Kabelitz (Museum für Islamische Kunst) will present “Berlin – Toronto – Rome: Mughal Medallion Genealogies Revisited.”
To attend, please register in advance here:
https://wellesley.zoom.us/meeting/register/JgE8_c2xQTuA2tKtGsoYzQ
Upon registration, you’ll receive the link to access the lecture.
The full schedule of talks for the semester is available on our website at
https://viahss.org/. Although not every talk is recorded, recordings of several recent talks are available on the VIAHSS Vimeo page at https://vimeo.com/viahss/videos.
Contact Information
Drs. Rachel Winter, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Alexander Brey
Contact Email
URL
7. HYBRID Keynote “Rebellions, Mandates, and Margins: Placing Druze Studies in the Historiography of the Modern Middle East” by Prof. Michael Provence, “2025 Druze Studies Conference”, University of Kansas, 16 October 2025, 19:15 – _20:45 CET
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/59zjzmhm
8. HYBRID International Conference “Islamic Feminism and Decolonial Futures: Epistemology, Ethics and Praxis”, Sarojini Naidu Centre for Women’s Studies, New Delhi, 1-2 November 2025
This conference invites contributions that critically engage with feminist hermeneutics, ethical reinterpretations of Islamic texts, the politics of knowledge production, legal reform, literary and lived practices of Muslim women across diverse contexts. Submissions are encouraged from scholars, researchers and practitioners who seek to explore the intersections of theory, faith, activism and justice within the framework of Islamic feminism.
Deadline for abstracts: 1 October 2025.
Information: https://networks.h-net.org/system/files/attachments/concept-notepdf.pdf
9. 59th Annual Meeting of MESA, Westin Washington, DC, 22-25 November 2025
There are over 300 sessions of panels, roundtables, workshops, and special sessions.
Deadline for registration at discount price: 24 October 2025.
Program preview: https://mesana.org/pdf/MESA2025_preview.pdf
10. HYBRID “Seventh Annual Islamic Philosophy Conference”, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 5-7 December 2025
We invite academic studies of scholars, methods, institutions, texts, and topics typically considered within the domain of philosophy, as well as those that treat kalam-theology, Islamic legal philosophy (usul al-fiqh), or other intellectual trends that at times may be seen as distinct from philosophy. Papers may be within specific disciplines (Philosophy, Islamic Theology, Religious Studies, etc.) or may be interdisciplinary.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 October 2025. Information: https://asipt.org/conferences/#current-conference
11. Conference “Public History in the Middle East”, Qatar National Library, 19-20 October 2026
This conference seeks to map the current state of public history in the Middle East and foster dialogue on its challen-ges, opportunities and intersections with broader social, political and cultural processes.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 January 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/27mr5xdr
12. Senior Lecturer in Arabic, Gothenburg University
A university lecturer in Arabic must also have demonstrated educational skills and hold a doctoral degree in Arabic. Knowledge and ability to teach in Swedish (or other Scandinavian language), English and Arabic are a requirement from the start of employment.
Deadline for applications: 22 September 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4z2vdnnf
13. Associate or Full Professor in Islamic Studies, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, Hartford, CT
A successful candidate should demonstrate expertise in a particular area of Islamic Studies, though the research specialization is open. The person must be grounded in the Islamic tradition and able to teach in broad areas related to contemporary issues and themes. The successful candidate will teach at the graduate master’s level and should have the intellectual depth required to direct doctoral level students.
Deadline for applications: 1 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2xaedr9s
14. Faculty Member in Islamic Chaplaincy, Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, Hartford, CT
HIU seeks an engaged, dedicated practitioner-scholar to join our esteemed faculty. We invite applications for a full-time or half-time faculty position in Islamic Chaplaincy (open rank). The ideal candidate would be classically trained in the Islamic tradition, experienced as a chaplain, inter-culturally sensitive, and actively involved with local and broader Muslim chaplaincy communities.
Deadline for applications: 1 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/tuc4fhjt
15. Bourses de recherche en islamologie Master 2 (1 à 3 mois) et Doctorants/Jeunes docteurs (6 mois), IRMC & UMIFRE
L’octroi d’une bourse de mobilité devra permettre aux étudiant/es et chercheur/ses d’accomplir un travail de terrain de recherche en islamologie en étant accueilli/es dans une UMIFRE (ou instituts partenaires du programme).
Les dossiers de candidatures sont à envoyer avant le 30 septembre 2025. Information : https://tinyurl.com/53dk3k6v
16. Call for Articles on “Protracted Warfare in West Asia and North Africa: Global Questions for Marxist Approaches to War” for a Special Issue of the “Journal of Labor and Society”
We are interested in contributions that engage with this question of warfare in West Asia and North Africa through the lens of Marxist theoretical struggles and praxis.
Deadline for abstracts: 25 October 2025. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3sp2wznh
17. New Book “Songs of the Arabian Red Sea: A Cultural History” by Dionisius A. Agius, Muhammad Zafer Alhazmi, and Hasan Hujairi, I.B.Tauris-Bloomsbury, 264 pages
Using fieldwork conducted along the Hijaz and Upper Tihama coasts, the book documents examples of different musical forms and styles. Presenting the songs and their lyrics in the context of the geography, culture, oral history and musicology of the region, the book reveals the complex and connected network that influenced their development and the vital place of song and music for diverse communities of the region.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/yncyb6nr
Posted in: Academic items- September 20, 2025
- 0 Comment
