Shii News – Academic Items
1. The Islamic College
Monthly Talk: Modern Readings of the Quran
through a Gendered Lens
Speaker: Professor Asma Afsaruddin
Date: 27 February 2026
Time: 6:00-7:30 pm (London time)
Location: Online
https://islamic-college.ac.uk/afsaruddin-registration/
2. Enroll: Medieval & Early Modern Cartography: An Introduction (June 22-25: Remote)
The Summer Skills Seminar, “Medieval & Early Modern Cartography: An Introduction” will be held via Zoom from Monday, 22 June to Thursday, 25 June 2026 from 10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm MDT.
Regular Registration until April 26
This Summer Skills seminar addresses the importance of maps in medieval and early modern society in terms of their production, function, display, and their contribution to a mapping mentality. Over four days we will study different types of maps from Islamic and Christian territories in relation to their form, content, use, and context. This course will not be addressing the geographic accuracy or scientific basis of cartographic works; rather they will be assessed as material, visual, and aesthetic products and as repositories of a newly formulated system of signs that promoted novel ways of seeing. We will work here to integrate maps more fully into art historical discourses while analyzing them as ideological objects.
Course overview
Over the course of the Middle Ages, cartographic works came to play a significant role in Mediterranean visual culture. This Summer Skills course addresses the importance of maps in medieval and early modern society in terms of their production, function, display, and their contribution to a mapping mentality. Over four days we will study different types of maps from Islamic and Christian territories in relation to their form, content, function, and context. This course will not be addressing cartographic works in terms of their geographical accuracy or contribution to scientific knowledge; rather they will be assessed as material, visual, and aesthetic products and as repositories of a newly formulated system of signs that promoted novel ways of seeing. We will work here to integrate maps more fully into art historical discourses while analyzing them as ideological objects. Art historians have long acknowledged the non-transparent nature of visual imagery and the inquiry of cartographic works undertaken in this course will illuminate the great power that maps had for their producers and consumers.
Course sessions:
Day One will set the stage for an in-depth analysis of cartographic works by asking the question “What does it mean to make a map in the medieval and early modern Mediterranean?” The second topic of the day will be mappaemundi or world maps. These maps constitute some of the earliest cartographic works created in the Mediterranean in both Christian and Muslim traditions. Their close connection to religious communities (as both producers and consumers), spatio-temporal qualities, rich visual imagery, and their melding of religious content and geographical information made them powerful storytelling tools. We will conduct contextual analyses of several world maps to assess the cultural work that maps could perform for an array of patrons and audiences. The availability of digital reproductions of these complex maps will allow course participants to analyze the detailed textual and visual content presented in these cartographic works. We will study a number of world maps, including the Hereford Mappamundi, Fra Mauro’s Mappamundi, and al-Idrisi’s map made for Roger II.
Day Two will focus on a revolutionary new form of mapmaking created during a pivotal moment in the history of cartography: portolan charts and texts from the late twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Previously mapping had existed almost exclusively in the religious domain but this time period saw the formulation of new cartographic representations that were completely secular in nature and practical in function, created to gauge distances and identify ports and landmarks, while elucidating social customs in foreign locales. We will assess the relationship between navigational charts and traditional world maps while exploring how portolans forged a distinctive visuality for a new audience of mariners and merchants. Some monuments addressed in this class session will include the Carte pisane, navigational charts made by Pietro Vesconte, Abraham Cresques, etc., portolan texts such as the Liber de existencia riverarium, and the Compasso da navegare, and maps from the Fatimid Book of Curiosities.
Day Three will introduce cartographic works that served novel functions in medieval and early modern society. By the fifteenth century, secular mapmaking traditions had become so embedded into cultural practices that they were designed for a broader clientele to serve cultural and political purposes: luxury gifts, political statements, expressions of sovereignty, and displays of wealth and sophistication. We will highlight the transformation of maps into aesthetic objects of prestige that were displayed prominently in public settings. We will also look at highly politicized contexts for maps in which they lay claim to territory and visualize sovereignty in a competitive Mediterranean environment. Some works to be addressed on Day Three include Vesconte’s maps for Marin Sanudo’s Liber secretorum, maps by Opicinus de Canistris, atlases and luxury presentation maps, and painted wall maps for homes and palaces.
The second half of Day Three will comprise theoretical considerations of maps and mapmaking. We will approach the cartographic content addressed in the first three days in relation to various methodologies and new approaches to the study of cartography. How does the visual system of a map create a mapping mentality that defines how people perceive spaces, places, and things? How do maps create communities of inclusion and exclusion? How do maps mean differently depending upon one’s gender, ethnicity, occupation, and/or religious affiliation? What new approaches can scholars and students apply to the study of maps to tap their extraordinary cultural potential? We will end the course with a discussion of new directions in the study of cartography.
On Day Four we will summarize and catalyze the content presented in the first three days of the seminar. How can we characterize the field of Mediterranean cartography and what new questions might we ask of this material? What did the participants learn from the seminar and how might this content and methodology be incorporated into their own research agendas. This will be a day of dialogue and discussion concerning new directions in the study of medieval and early modern cartography.
Faculty
The course will be conducted by Prof. Karen Rose Mathews (Department of Art and Art History, University of Miami). She received her B.A. in Art History from UCLA and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Art History from the University of Chicago. She has received grants from the Graham Foundation, Kress Foundation, Program for Cultural Cooperation, and the American Research Center in Egypt in support of her research. She published Conflict, Commerce, and an Aesthetic of Appropriation in the Italian Maritime Cities, 1000-1150 (Brill) in 2017 and was lead editor for the volume A Companion to Medieval Pisa (Brill, 2022). Her numerous articles focus on various aspects of medieval Mediterranean visual culture, with a particular emphasis on artistic production in Spain, Italy, and Egypt, including a comparative assessment of civic ceremonial and its architectural framing published in 2025. She has been conducting research on Mediterranean cartography since 2015. An article published in 2022, “Mapping, Materiality, and Merchant Culture in Medieval Italy, 1150-1400,” studies the relationship between cartography, architectural decoration, and new visual systems in the Italian maritime republics. Two more articles in preparation assess Islamic and Christian cartographic traditions in terms of their use in navigation, the perspective they provide on the Mediterranean, and their creation of a new visual vocabulary of signs.
Prerequisites & preparation
Recommended prerequisites: AP Art History courses or introductory surveys. Some upper division or graduate art history coursework is ideal but not required
Please note: sessions will not be recorded; synchronous attendance is required.
Application & Information
The regular application period is until April 26.
There is an [///s/Summer-Skills-Application-Deposit.pdf ]application deposit of $100USD or €100. This will be refunded when course payment is made.
Late applications will be accepted if there is availability and will be subject to a late fee.
If you are not accepted your application deposit will be refunded.
Applicants will be advised of acceptance by May 1. Payment is due on 15 May. Applicants waiting on a grant or subvention should contact us without delay to make arrangements.
Late applicants may be accommodated if space remains. For late applicants full payment will be due within three days of acceptance, including a $75 surcharge for late applications, or be subject to an additional fee.
All payments are final and non-refundable. A letter of confirmation/ receipt will be provided by the Mediterranean Seminar, together with a certificate of completion once the course has concluded.
Apply via this form
NOTE: Numbers are limited; participants are encouraged to apply early.
Fees
There has been no increase in fees for 2026
• $1100 for Full Professors, Librarians & Professionals
• $825 for tenured Associates, Emerita/us, Retired Faculty, Independent Scholars & Non-Academics;
• $575 for non-tenured Associates and Assistants, Postdoctoral Fellows & Graduate and Undergraduate students;
• $400 for Adjuncts, Lecturers & Contingent faculty.
Limited reductions are offered to applicants who are (1) nationals; (2) current residents; (3) AND faculty or students in low-per-capita GDP countries may apply for a reduction (the Low-GDP Bursary program).
Payment information will be provided at the time of acceptance. Posted fees do not include a 5% processing fee.
[///s/How-do-we-determine-our-fees.pdf ]How do we determine our fees?
[///s/Can-I-get-a-reduction-in-fees.pdf ]Can I get a reduction in fees?
[///s/Why-are-there-sometimes-supplementary-charges.pdf ] Why are there sometimes supplementary charges?
[///s/Why-have-our-fees-gone-up.pdf ]Why have our fees gone up?
[///s/What-is-the-low-GDP-Bursary-program.pdf ]What is the low-GDP Bursary program?
Proposed Program
Monday, 22 June 2026: Introduction and Mappaemundi
10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm
1. Introduction to cartographic visuality
2. Mappaemundi—Patrons, audiences, and storytelling potential
Tuesday, 23 June 2026: Portolan Charts and Text
10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm
1. Secular mapmaking traditions—function and audience
2. Relationship of portolans to traditional world maps
Wednesday, 24 June 2026: Novel Uses for Maps and Theoretical Approaches to Cartography
10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm
1. Novel uses for navigational charts and world maps
2. Theoretical Approaches: Maps and/as Representations
Thursday, 25 June 2026: Conclusions and Participant Presentations
10am to noon and 1pm to 3pm
1. Conclusions
2. Participant Presentations
Important dates:
Application period: 26 April 2026
Acceptance/stand by notifications: 5 May 2026
Full payment: 12 May 2026 (subject to extension for late applicants/ or pending grants)
NOTE: Numbers are limited; participants are encouraged to apply early.
Information
For general information regarding fees, enrollment, and administrative matters, contact the Mediterranean Seminar; for questions regarding seminar content and materials, contact the instructor directly.
3. Workshop: Genealogies in Motion: Recording, Visualizing, and Mobilizing Lineage across the Islamicate World.
The Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo, in collaboration with the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of Bonn and the Japan Office of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies, is organizing a workshop entitled “Genealogies in Motion: Recording, Visualizing, and Mobilizing Lineage across the Islamicate World.”
Dates: 26 March (Thu), 12:00–19:00, and 27 March (Fri), 10:00–15:45 (–17:30) (JST)
Venue: Room 303, 3rd Floor, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, University of Tokyo, and online via Zoom.
For further information, please visit: https://www.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/news/news_en20260218115213/
4. ONLINE Webinar: ‘Material Networks: The Chehel Sotun Carpet Between Iran and the Deccan’
With Margaret Squires
British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 25 February 2026; 5:00 pm UK Time
This talk traces the little-known history of a massive carpet woven in the Deccan for the Chehel Sotun palace in seventeenth-century Isfahan. Dismantled and dispersed in the late nineteenth century, the carpet, said to have measured a staggering 9 by 18 meters, now survives as fragments scattered across at least eleven collections worldwide.
By digitally reconstructing the complete carpet through technical analysis of the fragments, archival sources, and architectural evidence, this research reveals an object shaped by transcultural networks connecting Safavid Iran and the Deccan sultanates. Attention to the distinct material and technical qualities of the fragments is key for understanding the dialogue that took place not only between those who ordered and oversaw the carpet’s production, but the network of designers and weavers who conceived and executed this extraordinarily ambitious project.
This talk will also touch on the carpet’s nineteenth and twentieth century afterlives, during which it was transformed from an integral lining of the palace to a collectible object of fascination
Information and registration:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_K5oi7TiBSiOvny4PMCdjfw#/registration
5. The Virtual Islamic Art History Seminar Series (VIAHSS) is pleased to announce our Spring 2026 program. Please note that all talks will take place on Tuesdays at 12 noon EST/5PM UK/7PM Turkey (unless otherwise noted). Registration links for individual events will be sent out approximately one week before the program. To receive these links, please sign up for our mailing list at viahss.org .
Spring 2026 Lectures
Tuesday, March 10, 2026
12:00 New York / 16:00 London / 19:00
Istanbul
Hallie Swanson (NYU London)
“Unity and Multiplicity: Deccani Workshop Painting and the Sufi Romance”
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
09:00 Los Angeles / 12:00 New York / 16:00 London / 19:00 Istanbul
Keelan Overton (Independent Scholar)
“The Emamzadeh Yahya at Varamin: An Online Exhibition of an Iranian Shrine”
Tuesday, April 7, 2026
12:00 New York / 17:00 London / 19:00 Istanbul
Nancy Micklewright (Independent Scholar)
“Finding the Elusive Fashion Stories of Enslaved Women in Late Ottoman Istanbul”
Tuesday, April 21, 2026
12:00 New York / 17:00 London / 19:00 Istanbul
Claire Dillon (Columbia University)
“Sampling the Sacred: Khaled Sabsabi’s Hip Hop Praxis”
Tuesday, May 5, 2026
12:00 New York / 17:00 London / 19:00 Istanbul
Ryan Mitchell (Temple University)
“Ambition and Spectacle: The Architectural Patronage of Mehmed Ali Pasha of Egypt”
As always, you can find a full schedule of upcoming talks and register for our list-serv on our website at viahss.org. Although not every talk is recorded, we also have recordings of several recent talks available on the VIAHSS Vimeo page at vimeo.com/viahss. Lastly, you can follow us on Instagram at @theviahss to stay up to date on upcoming events!
Contact Information
Drs. Alexander Brey, Jaimee Comstock-Skipp, and Rachel Winter
Contact Email
URL
6. ONLINE Webinar: ‘Persia’s Greek Campaigns: Kingship, War, & Spectacle
With John O. Hyland
British Institute of Persian Studies (BIPS), 18 March 2026; 5:00 pm UK Time
The wars between the Achaemenid Persian empire and the Greek city-states are among the most famous conflicts in world history – above all Xerxes’ expedition of 480-479 BCE, which captured Athens but lost the battles of Salamis and Plataia. In the absence of Achaemenid accounts, this “Persian War” is remembered from the Greek perspective as a disastrous failure,
which ended Persian expansion and empowered Athens’ Classical empire. The full story, though, is more complex. Achaemenid and Near Eastern evidence shows that campaigns led by kings served as political spectacles, designed to project images of royal heroism, imperial cohesion, and logistical mastery through warfare on distant frontiers. Xerxes’ Greek campaign accomplished these objectives, and its initial victories at Thermopylai and Athens permitted a royal claim of overall success, despite the problematic conclusion. The campaign’s mixed legacy set the stage for an evolution of Persia’s frontier imperialism from military to diplomatic methods of power display
Information and registration:
https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_yaUTsEQlRNSmKI8OVvYL3A#/registration
7. Doha Residence Program
in Advanced Arabic & Social Studies
Fall Semester 2026
A number of merit-based tuition waiver and housing support
Master Arabic & Advance Your Studies in the Arab World!
The Language Center at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI) is delighted to invite applications for the Fall 2026-2027 Doha Residence Program in Advanced Arabic Language and Social Studies. This immersive, semester-long program offers a unique opportunity for international non-native and heritage Arabic-speaking graduate students to deepen their linguistic, cultural, and academic proficiency while engaging in a vibrant intellectual exchange.
Why Choose the DI Residence Program?
This one-of-a-kind program fosters rich academic and cultural interactions between the DI’s predominantly native Arabic-speaking graduate students and faculty, representing diverse backgrounds across the Arab world, and their international peers.
Program Highlights:
vFull immersion in Arabic: The program is delivered entirely in Arabic, ensuring maximum language exposure and practice.
vTailored for academic and professional success: Designed to meet the needs of advanced non-native and heritage speakers looking to refine their Arabic language skills for academic and research purposes.
vComprehensive learning experience: A combination of advanced language training and graduate-level coursework, offering students an academically enriching and culturally immersive semester.
What the Program Offers
- Language-Training Component:
- Intensive courses in advanced Arabic and content-based instruction.
- A focus on productive skills, including speaking, writing, and presentations.
- Development of professional proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
- Engagement with a language partner for developing oral fluency in authentic communicative context.
- Academic Component:
- Opportunity to audit graduate courses taught in Arabic at DI’s School of Social Sciences and Humanities and School of Economics, Administration and Public Policy.
- Engagement with an academic partner for enhanced learning.
- Access to DI’s extensive network of conferences, symposia, and guest lectures at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies.
Program Features
- Earn 6 credits of Intensive Arabic
- One-on-one language partner for personalized practice
- Option to audit graduate-level courses taught in Arabic
- One-on-one academic partner
- Access to a rich cultural program
- Participation in exclusive academic events and networking opportunities
Admissions & Fees
- Eligibility: Applicants must have an advanced level of Arabic proficiency.
- Tuition Fees: 9,000 QAR (approximately 2,250€ or 2,465$).
- Housing Costs: 11,000 QAR per semester (approximately 2,650€ or 3,000$).
Apply Now!
Don’t miss this unparalleled opportunity to refine your Arabic language skills, expand your academic and professional horizons, and experience life in one of the most dynamic intellectual hubs of the Arab world.
Submit your application today: Apply Here
Learn more about the DI: Doha Institute
Be part of a transformative academic journey where language, culture, and scholarship converge!
Program Dates:
- Application Deadline: March 15, 2026
- Start of Classes: August 23, 2026
- End of Program: December 03, 2026
* Reading Week Holiday: 25-29 October, 2026
Connect!
language.center@dohainstitute.edu.qa
8. 2026 Ramadan Sale – 20% discount on all Fons Vitae titles
The Fons Vitae 2026 Ramadan Sale
20% DISCOUNT on all Fons Vitae titles!
Ramadan Mubarak! Please enjoy 20% off until ‘Eid March 21st, 2026 with the discount code: “fonsvitae20” GO NOW..
Note: Applies only to books published by Fons Vitae. Cannot be combined with other coupons or discounts. Use the coupon code at checkout.
9. PhD studentship (Classics and Ancient History) at the University of Exeter (UK): ‘Pustules, Palaeogenetics and Pandemics from Galen to Rhazes: How to do the Early History of Smallpox and Measles’
This is a Wellcome funded project (Discovery Award 322103/Z/24/Z), PI: Prof. Rebecca Flemming. This post is available from September 15 2026 to March 15 2030 (42 months), funding covers salary and UK home or international level PhD fees for that period.
The successful applicant will contribute to the work of the project through (1) supporting the research and publication activities of the academic team as they focus around the works of Galen; and (2) undertaking their own PhD research project exploring pandemics, disease and medicine in the ancient/late ancient Mediterranean World.).
Application: For more details of the position, the job requirements, and the application process see the University of Exeter Job Board: ‘Graduate Research Assistant in CAHRT with option to undertake a PhD’. You will need to provide: cv, cover letter, writing sample and PhD project proposal with your application.
The closing date for completed application is 26th March 2026. Interviews are expected to take place in the week beginning April 20th 2026.
10. Generous scholarships available – MA Iranian Studies (SOAS University of London)
An excellent opportunity for talented applicants with a good undergraduate degree (or equivalent) to pursue the MA Iranian Studies in the heart of London at SOAS University of London.
Competitive and generous scholarships are available:
Programme information:
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.soas.ac.uk%2Fstudy%2Ffind-course%2Fma-iranian-studies&data=05%7C02%7C%7Ceea755a24b924a8a02aa08de6fcb3631%7C2e9f06b016694589878910a06934dc61%7C0%7C0%7C639071115748972750%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=fxF4Zyc4%2Bw0OkS5l6ZG9uksCGTAzauokVD8JCFuUmNg%3D&reserved=0
Kamran Djam Scholarships (deadline 28 March 2026)
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.soas.ac.uk%2Fstudy%2Fstudent-life%2Ffinance%2Fscholarships%2Fkamran-djam-scholarships&data=05%7C02%7C%7Ceea755a24b924a8a02aa08de6fcb3631%7C2e9f06b016694589878910a06934dc61%7C0%7C0%7C639071115748998931%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=GVpHjUVDsVp7S0bMI%2FiBl3Zp4EoO3ag6TGY92ek9OFQ%3D&reserved=0
Shapoorji Pallonji Scholarships (deadline 21 March 2026):
https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.soas.ac.uk%2Fstudy%2Fstudent-life%2Ffinance%2Fscholarships%2Fshapoorji-pallonji-scholarships&data=05%7C02%7C%7Ceea755a24b924a8a02aa08de6fcb3631%7C2e9f06b016694589878910a06934dc61%7C0%7C0%7C639071115749017645%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=sXCpaWgis4PtWMXIkSicC6fXVAzHPW3x%2FqKd%2FxneAG4%3D&reserved=0
11. ENTANGLED HISTORIES: BORDERS AND CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS FROM THE MEDIEVAL TO THE CONTEMPORARY ERA
Online Seminar Series
Borders have shaped societies, identities, and histories across centuries. This seminar series, promoted by the Faculty of Communication and the Master’s Programme in Media and Cultural Studies at Üsküdar University, invites academics, students, and anyone interested in understanding how boundaries—political, cultural, social, and symbolic, among others—impact our world. Whether your background is in history, literature, anthropology, philosophy, or simply curiosity, you are invited to join a vibrant and interdisciplinary community.
Through a rich programme of talks and discussions, you will:
- Explore how borders have defined and transformed communities, beliefs, and identities.
- Examine boundaries as both barriers and bridges, fostering encounters, conflicts, and creative exchanges.
- Investigate historical and contemporary examples of negotiation, crossing, and reimagining of borders.
- Engage with scholars presenting original research on migration, exile, religious frontiers, literary representations, and the politics of belonging.
Seminars take place every Wednesday at 5 pm (Central European Time) on Zoom.
Zoom link for all meetings:
https://tinyurl.com/aumv88jz
PROGRAMME (FIRST PART OF THE SERIES)
25 February 2026
Elisa Ramazzina (University of Insubria)
Margins, Maps, and Monsters: Negotiating Borders in the “Wonders of the East”
4 March 2026
Muhammet Enes Akdağ (Üsküdar University)
Transnational Film Networks and Moviegoing Culture in the Jerusalem Mutasarrifate (1874–1917)
11 March 2026
Karen Pinto (University of Colorado Boulder)
Through the Eye of the Cartographer: The KMMS Islamicate Vision of the Bilad al-Rum Byzantine Frontier with Syria
18 March 2026
Sonja Brentjes (Independent Scholar)
Formal and Informal Borders: How Much Did They Matter in the Mathematical Sciences in Premodern Islamicate Societies?
25 March 2026
Eleonora Matarrese (University of Bari)
Edible Wild Plants: Widespread and Futuristic Knowledge in the Middle Ages
1 April 2026
(TBA)
8 April 2026
Marusca Francini (University of Pavia)
Beyond Poetry. The Style of the Norwegian ‘Tristrams Saga’
12. The British Association for Islamic Studies is delighted to announce the publication of its 2026 Annual Conference programme.
This year’s conference will be hosted by the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and the Institute for Ismaili Studies, London, on Monday 18 and Tuesday 19 May 2026.
The provisional programme can be viewed online HERE.
You can now register as a delegate online HERE.
We are excited by the depth and breadth of this year’s programme and we hope that you will consider joining us for what promises to be a dynamic and stimulating two days of academic exchange and conversation.
We look forward to seeing many of you in May, and please do not hesitate to contact us is you have any questions at all.
With very best wishes,
The BRAIS 2026 Conference Team
13. Islamic Studies Summer School in Leiden 13-17 July 2026
Registration is now open! Please apply or encourage PhD students to apply!
Graduate School of Islamic Humanities:
Approaches to the Study of Islam
Dear colleagues and PhD students,
Our Islamic Studies Summer School is now open and accepting registrations. The theme is Approaches to the Study of Islam.
This annual program aims to foster intellectual exchange and build a global network of early career scholars in Islamic Studies. Designed for PhD candidates and early career researchers, the program will provide an immersive experience combining rigorous academic lectures, workshops, and discussions with opportunities for candid intellectual conversations, networking, and visits to historical sites.
Program Structure
Lecturers will conduct morning sessions (3 hours each), featuring comprehensive lectures and discussions on topics within their areas of expertise. These sessions will be supplemented by interactive afternoon workshops and group discussions to deepen participants’ engagement. Please note that participants are expected to have a working knowledge of the Arabic language and Islamic texts.
Special activities include visits to cultural and historical sites offering participants a unique opportunity to explore Islamic manuscripts and classical texts at Leiden University.
For more information, please visit the Leiden University Centre for Islamic Thought and History page
14. Alwaleed Centre Edinburgh
Hybrid – Book Launch: Islamophobia and Translations of Securitization in the UK, France, and Italy
1:30pm to 3pm GMT on 3 March
Venue: G.03, Doorway 6, Old Medical School, Teviot Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9AG.
Join us on 3 March when Dr Ugo Gaudino, ESRC Research Fellow (International Relations) at the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex, presents and discusses his new book ‘Islamophobia and Translations of Securitization in the UK, France, and Italy’. Gaudino integrates cross-disciplinary resources to investigate how and why European Muslims are often portrayed as a security threat by both right and left-wing political parties, exploring research on Islamophobia in the West, critical studies on security and terrorism, and scholarship on the normalization of far-right racism across the political spectrum.
This book launch is hybrid. Please register below if you wish to join online.
15. International Review of Social History
‘The World of Sugar’, 70/3, December 2025
16. HYBRID Lecture “Urban Property in Galata: Merchant Companies, Commercial Build-ngs, and the Development of Ownership Patterns in the Late Ottoman Empire” by Prof Ayşe Ozil (Sabancı University), British Institute at Ankara (BIAA), 5 March 2026, 15:30 CET
This talk traces the transformation in urban property in one of the major global commercial centers of the empire, the port of Galata. Focusing on the rise of modern business buildings, it explores the ways in which commercial actors engaged with land and property and contributed to changing patterns of ownership against the background of global business in the late Ottoman period.
Information and registration: https://tinyurl.com/54285sky
17. 4th Colloquium des jeunes chercheurs en archéologie soudanaise: “Sensory Worlds of the Nile Valley – Past and Present”, INHA, Paris, 10 June 2026, 9:00 CET
This study day explores the multiple dimensions of the history of the senses and of perception in the Nile Valley, from ancient to contemporary periods. This theme invites us to move beyond traditional approaches through a refined reading of material, architectural, iconographic and tex-tual sources. It opens up new avenues of reflection on daily, craft, social, cultural and ritual prac-tices.
Deadline for abstracts: 30 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4vk4f5ew
18. Research Assistant Predoc (m/f/d) third party funding DFG, 75% part-time, limited to 3 years
The research project examines conceptions of sociology as well as sociological perspectives in Arabic periodicals between 1885 and 1952. The research assistant will contribute to the activities of the overall project, whilst mainly completing a doctoral dissertation (monograph) on conceptions of sociology in Arabic journals during the above-mentioned period.
Deadline for applications: 2 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4bubdpj8
19. PhD Position (3 Years) in the Project “Governing Health, Family and Religion: The Bio-politics of Genetic Counselling and Religious Family Formations (RELI GENE)”, SOAS, London
The project examines how state led genetic healthcare policies intersect with religious and cultural practices in close-knit religious minority communities across Europe and the Middle East. The PhD student will focus on the governmentality of genetic counselling with a primary focus on Germany. Required are a Master’s degree in Social Policy, Political Science, Law, Anthropology or a related discipline, and strong proficiency in German and excellent academic writing skills in English.
Deadline for applications: 27 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3ry46ecf
20. Wissenschaftl. Mitarbeiter:in in Islamwissenschaft, Orient-Institut Beirut
Anforderungen: Promotion in einem islamwissenschaftlichen Themenbereich. – Ausgezeichnete Arabisch-, Englisch- und Deutschkenntnisse sowie Forschung mit arabischsprachigen Quellen. – Hervorragende Veröffentlichungen (der Karrierestufe angemessen). – Kenntnisse und Interesse an arabischer Editionsarbeit sind von Vorteil.
Ende der Bewerbungsfrist: 1. März 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/2wef5f72
21. Senior Academic Position in Islamic Studies, Tel Aviv University
The position is open to outstanding researchers specializing in Early, Classical, or Post-Classical Islam, with particular emphasis on Qurʾānic Studies, including Qurʾānic exegesis, Muslim tradi-tion, and related fields in Islamic thought, such as theology, jurisprudence, and mysticism. Re-quirements: Full command of literary Arabic. – Demonstrated research excellence. – Ability to teach courses in Hebrew. – Ability to teach in Arabic and/or English will be considered an ad-vantage.
Deadline for applications: 15 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mry68au6
22. Intensive Course: “The Crusades and Islamic History”, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 20-22 July 2026
This three-day intensive course will focus on reading medieval primary sources for the social, economic and religious history of Egypt and Greater Syria, including Palestine during the period of the Crusades, roughly 1050-1500. It is intended for advanced graduate students and other qualified participants and will be offered by Prof. Paul M. Cobb (University of Pennsylvania) in collaboration with Prof. Ann Zimo (University of New Hampshire) and Prof. Reuven Amitai (He-brew University of Jerusalem).
Deadline for applications extended to 6 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/3rjsfwpj
23. Research Articles for the “Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (JSAMES)”, University of Pennsylvania Press
The JSAMES is interested in interdisciplinary scholarship that explores the unique political, social, and economic formations and their historical antecedents that contribute to region-making in our contemporary age. We are particularly interested in scholarship that takes the South Asian and Middle Eastern macro-region as the starting point for thinking through the world and across various geographies, languages, identities, exchanges, flows, and networks that shape the life-worlds of people in the macro-region and beyond.
Information: https://tinyurl.com/bdzcrvjr
24. Articles for the Journal “Turkish German Studies (TSG)”, Published by Istanbul University Press
The journal aims to offer an international, interdisciplinary platform for the exchange of academic research on all aspects of Turkish German Studies. We seek to publish scholarly articles in Eng-lish, German, and Turkish from various fields, including literary and cultural studies, linguistics, media and communication studies, sociology, political science, history, and education.
Deadline for manuscripts: 31 May 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/mr5by9w3
25. Nouveau livre : “La Fermeté des faibles” de Sufi Allahyar, Les éditions du cerf, fevr. 2026, 288 pages
Texte majeur de la spiritualité d’Asie centrale rédigé à la fin du XVIIe siècle par le maître Sûfî Allâhyâr, La Fermeté des faibles, traduit ici pour la première fois en français par Alexandre Papas et Marc Toutant, propose une vision intransigeante du soufisme. Loin d’une mystique édulcorée, ce traité composé en vers turks prône un retour radical à la piété et à la Loi. Son style, vif et souvent tranchant, en fait un véritable sermon qui résonne avec une urgence spirituelle flamboy-ante.
Information : https://tinyurl.com/36n8m5yb
Posted in: Academic items- February 21, 2026
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