Shii News – Academic Items
1. Arab Media and Society: Issue 39 & New Call for Papers
https://mailchi.mp/1186645f16d7/now-available-issue-39-new-call-for-papers?e=f1106c9666
2. April 2026 ONLINE WORKSHOP Collectively Situated Knowledge: A Decolonial Research Method for Constructing Collective Auto-Narratives and Positionalities
upcoming opportunities to engage in collective, decolonial, and non-capitalist research practice offered by El Cambalache’s Department of Decolonial Economics.
This workshop is an invitation to unlearn extractive research, re-center care and reciprocity, and create knowledge collectively.
Dates: April 13th – May 5th, 2026
Time: All sessions are Mondays and Tuesdays:
- 8hrs to 10hrs, Mexico City Time,
- 15hrs to 17hrs, UK British Summer Time
- 16hrs-18hrs Central European Time,
- 20:30hrs-22:30hrs India Standard Time
Where? Online (Global Participation)
Language: ENGLISH
Apply Now! Limited spaces available
About the workshop:
This workshop explores collective auto-narrative, situated knowledges, and relational research methods.
Participants will co-create tools to reimagine research as care, relationship, and collective praxis.
This workshop addresses research methods for the creation of scholar/activist knowledge with indigenous, rural and organized urban communities that seek to create decolonial research methodologies. Through participatory practices of knowledge exchange:
(1) we will explore different auto-narrative types, review sample texts followed by writing practice
(2) we will then work to incorporate collective forms of knowledge creation
drawing on the decision-making structures of community assemblies
present in many rural and indigenous communities around the world,
(3) we will explore collective auto-narrative as a research method.
In this process we will dismantle the construction and practice of situating knowledge in order to create collective positionalities that reflect the construction of the self within the collective contexts that we inhabit. By exploring collective forms of agency in knowledge creation, we will delve into the multiplicitous protaganisms that conglomerate in creating praxis and have the potential to resist epistemicide.
This workshop will cover:
– Different auto-narrative types with a specific focus on autoethnography
– Methods and analyses for creating decolonial economic projects.
– Understanding ourselves as situated knowers and how to position ourselves collectively.
– Unlearning colonial paradigms of research and knowledge production.
– Rethinking value, exchange, and labor in research.
– El Cambalache as an example of an anti-capitalist and non-hierarchical research
For more information including a full description and how to apply click here to download a pdf: https://cambalache.noblogs.org/files/2026/02/collective-methods-online-2026.pdf
3. CfP: The International Symposium on Piri Reis and Maritime History – November 2024, Istanbul
In commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Kitāb-ı Bahriye, the International Piri Reis and Maritime History Symposium will be held at Piri Reis University from November 18 to 21, 2026.
The symposium aims to address the life and works of Piri Reis within their historical context through a multilayered perspective. The symposium will address, through an interdisciplinary approach, topics such as the reflections of Mediterranean-centered maritime experience in the Kitāb-ı Bahriye, Ottoman cartography, the circulation of knowledge during the Age of Geographical Discoveries, maritime strategies in the Mediterranean, and global maritime activities in the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean.
In this respect, the symposium seeks to explore the Ottoman maritime heritage within the framework of Piri Reis and the Kitāb-ı Bahriye, and to reassess the stages of development and transformation that maritime practices have undergone from the past to the present within an international academic setting.
For the symposium program, application requirements, and current announcements, please visit the symposium website: https://denizciliktarihi.pirireis.edu.tr/en/
Contact Information
Contact Persons:
Nilay Bahadır
nbahadir@pirireis.edu.tr
Orkun Burak Tafralı
obtafrali@pirireis.edu.tr
Contact Email
URL
https://denizciliktarihi.pirireis.edu.tr/en/
4. New Release: Maria-Vittoria Fontana (ed), Hodeida the Coastal Tehama (Yemen), published by Istituto per l’Oriente C.A. Nallino (Rome, 2025), 3 vols.
These three volumes are devoted to the Yemeni city of Hodeida, the main subject of two targeted survey campaigns
carried out in 1997 and 1999 by the Mission of the (then) Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli (IUO Mission to
Hodeida) under the direction of Maria-Vittoria Fontana; it also covered two other port cities on the Yemeni Tehama
Coast, namely Mocha and Loheia.
Dedicated to the memory of Eugenio Galdieri, this three-volume book discusses these three coastal spaces in
Yemen, though the city of Hodeida takes the lion’s share in the discussion. It contains 43 chapters, which are the
result of a collaborative work of seventeen specialists.
Volume 1:
Foreword by Claudio Lo Jacono,
Note on transliteration,
Maps,
Tribute to Eugenio Galdieri,
Preface and Acknowledgments,
Introduction,
Chapters 1-12 (Hodeida: its geo-morphological context, its history from antiquity to the present, its trade and
inhabitants, its urban planning, its city walls and gates, the city plan of its intra-mœnia city)
Volume 2:
Chapters 13-23 (Hodeida, the intra-mœnia city: the catalogue of the 151 historical buildings and their inscriptions
dating from the late 18th century to the 20th century, the catalogue of the wooden artefacts and the stuccowork,
brickwork, and stained glass of the catalogued buildings, the catalogue of the mosques, the so-called samsara, the
public weigh station, the construction techniques and materials; Hodeida, the extra-mœnia city: the sample buildings
and their inscriptions, their wooden artefacts, stuccowork, brickwork, and stained glass)
Volume 3:
Chapters 24-43 (Hodeida, the extra-mœnia city: the sample mosques, the governors' residences, the cisterns and
forts; Hodeida: the intra- and extra-mœnia cities: insights, comments and comparisons, including two chapters on
the Red Sea Style, the port and shipping lines; Mocha and Loheia: their historical buildings and their inscriptions),
Bibliographical references,
Index of names and places
5. The Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & Collections is pleased to announce the third online calligraphy workshop with international artist and designer Hatem Arafa, taking place 28 Feb – 17 March 2026.
Hatem Arafa is an international designer and calligrapher trained at the Traditional Islamic Arts Faculty at FSMV University in Istanbul. His notable projects include the logo and interior calligraphy artworks for Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage (2023), commemorative coins for Djibouti (2023) and Qatar’s World Cup (2022), and interior calligraphy for the Cary Mosque, USA (2022).
- Duration: 3 weeks, with two 2-hour lessons per week (total of 6 lessons)
- Each 2-hour session will be held Saturdays & Tuesdays 1:30 pm – 3:30 pm EST / 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm UK
- Format: Live online on Zoom
- Focus: Teaching Diwani calligraphy, starting from individual letters to forming words and sentences
- Places are limited
Contact Information
Dr. Glaire Anderson
Senior Lecturer in Islamic Art, University of Edinburgh
Founding Director, DLIVCC
Contact Email
URL
https://www.digitallabivcc.com/calligraphy
6. Astrology and History in Early Islam
Aligning Heaven and Earth
EUP, 2026
Antoine Borrut
7. Cultural Brokerage in Premodern Islamic Societies
Edited by Uriel Simonsohn, Luke Yarbrough
EUP, 2026
8. Open Access – Afghanistan
8.2 (Oct, 2025)
9. Artificial Intelligence in EFL and Academic Writing: Pedagogical, Ethical, and Critical Perspectives from Global Higher Education
We have the pleasure to share with you our full issue on “ Artificial Intelligence in EFL and Academic Writing: Pedagogical, Ethical, and Critical Perspectives from Global Higher Education.”
For the full issue, click here
For the individual paper, click here
Call for papers for the 12th Special Issue on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL), July 2026
Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) welcomes the submission of papers for the July 11th special issue on Computer-Assisted Language Learning (July 2026). The issue publication date is July 2026. The deadline for manuscript submission is April 15, 2026. We ask you kindly to submit your paper according to the Manuscript Guidelines for AWEJ at our website www.awej.orgor go to this particular link http://awej.org/index.php/ps
Please send your paper and a brief bio (four lines for each author) by e-mail to: editor@awej.org
For more details, please click here
Kind Regards,
Editor: Arab World English Journal
https://awej.org/
10. Keynote Speakers Announced for 2026 BRISMES Annual Conference
We are delighted to announce that Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian and Dr Munira Khayyat will be joining us as keynote speakers at this year’s annual conference. Conference registration for presenting delegates is now open and registration for non-presenting delegates will open in April. We recommend booking your accommodation early if you are planning to attend the conference and have put together a list of accommodation options near SOAS University of London to help with this. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing conference@brismes.org.
11. Watch Recording of BRISMES Webinar “What’s in an Archive?”
We are pleased to share a recording of the BRISMES webinar “What’s in an Archive? The Colonial and Anticolonial Afterlives of MENA Archives” which was hosted by our Outreach & Pedagogy Committee on 27 January 2026.
12. BRISMES – Deadline Approaching for 2026 Early Career Development Scholarship
If you are an early career scholar who would benefit from funding to help support activities geared towards strengthening your academic profile and CV, then please consider submitting an application for the 2026 BRISMES Early Career Development Scholarship. Two awards of £3,000 each are available.
More information about eligibility criteria and how to apply is available on the BRISMES website. The deadline for submissions is 20 March 2026.
https://www.brismes.ac.uk/awards/ecds
13. Lecturer (Modern Middle East after 1800)
University of York
The Department of History is seeking to appoint a Lecturer in the History of the Modern Middle East (after 1800), possessing knowledge of Middle Eastern sources, peoples, communities, and languages. The post is offered on an open contract from September 2026.
Deadline | 19 March 2026
More information
14. Call for Applications | The Gibb Memorial Trust Scholarships
Funding
The Gibb Memorial Trust is offering three annual scholarships to students undertaking doctoral research at a British university in the field of the Trust’s activities. The scholarships support doctoral research in any area of Middle Eastern Studies (7th century to 1918) or in Classical Persian Studies.
Deadline | 30 March 2026
More information
15. Call for Papers | The 2026 International Conference of the Syrian Academics and Researchers’ Network in the UK (SARN UK)
Conference, University of Cambridge, 17-18 September 2026
The Syrian Academics and Researchers’ Network in the UK (SARN UK) is pleased to announce the Call for Papers for its 2026 international conference, co-hosted with the Margaret Anstee Centre for Global Studies (MAC) at Newnham College, University of Cambridge. This year’s theme, “Syria in Transition: Knowledge, Memory, and the Everyday Aftermath,” invites Syrian and Syria-focused scholars to reflect on the evolving role of academic, cultural, and intellectual work in shaping Syria’s futures.
Deadline | 15 May 2026
More information
16. Forced Migration, Masculinities, and Vulnerabilities in the Mediterranean
Book launch (hybrid) | LSE | 10 March
Join the LSE Department of Social Policy for the launch of Forced Migration, Masculinities, and Vulnerabilities in the Mediterranean, a new book examining forced migrant men’s vulnerabilities along the Central Mediterranean Route (CMR), which connects sub-Saharan Africa to Sicily via Libya.
More information
17. Iran, “Reverse savages, victims, saviours” politics, and the human rights moral maze
Online seminar | BISA | 12 March
In this seminar, Shadi Mokhtari will present select themes from her current book project examining the human rights politics surrounding Iran’s 2022 ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement. This event is convened by the Critical Alternatives for World Politics Working Group.
More information
18. UCLA – God’s Law, Man’s Rule: Debating Women’s Right to Health from Sacred Texts to the Taliban
MESA Global Academy
A lecture by Lutforahman Saeed (Visiting Scholar and Islamic Law Lecturer, Birgham Young University Law School, Provo)
Monday, March 2, 2026
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM PST
Online
https://www.international.ucla.edu/cnes/event/17566
19. “14th Western Ottomanists` Workshop (WOW)”, Portland State University, Oregon, 15-16 May 2026
The workshop invites proposals on topics related to Ottoman history, culture, literature, art history, religion, and all other relevant fields.
Deadline for abstracts: 31 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/4dzw5w9t
20. ONLINE Seminar: “Along the Borders of the Film Archive: Views of the Ottoman Empire” by Elif Rongen-Kaynakçi (Eye Filmmuseum, Amsterdam), REDMIX Seminar Series, 31 March 2026, 17:00 CET
Information and registration: https://redmix.eu/news-and-events/
21. 4th Annual Conference of the Research Group Empires on “Responding to Empire (Fo-cus MENA Region)”, University of Freiburg, Germany, 11-13 November 2026
We aim to explore a wide spectrum of responses to empires, moving from the binary of supporters and opposers, through shifting allegiances and unresolved positions, to more nuanced and often contradictory stances. Hence, considering both material practices and epistemological positions, the goal of this conference is to create a multifaceted picture of how these responses shaped the empire through time.
Deadline for abstracts: 13 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yb985ekf
22. “Intensive Summer Program for Ottoman Turkish”, Research Center for Anatolian Civ-ilizations (ANAMED), Koç University, Istanbul, 29 June – 31 July 2026
The program aims to develop students’ reading and comprehension skills and earn them exper-tise in a variety of Ottoman Turkish sources, including archival documents, manuscripts, and ep-igraphic material. The program is designed to accommodate participants with varying levels of Ottoman Turkish literacy. Persian, Arabic, and modern Turkish classes complement Ottoman Turkish classes. The languages of the program are Turkish and English.
Deadline for applications: 21 March 2026. Information: https://tinyurl.com/yck8pykc
23. École d’été en islamologie IFI-Idéo « Sciences islamiques en dialogue : tradition azhar-ienne et islamologie critique », Le Caire, 13-26 juillet 2026
Condition pour candidater : être francophone (une connaissance en français niveau B1 est souhaitable), être inscrit en thèse de doctorat en islamologie ou dans une discipline affiliée, justi-fier d’un niveau linguistique en arabe équivalent à B1.
Les candidatures doivent être adressées avant le 1er avril 2026.
Information : https://tinyurl.com/2p9kfvs5
24. Mystique et solidarité dans le monde iranien
de Sylvie le Pelletier-Beaufond
Cerf, 2026.
Au coeur des cités iraniennes médiévales s’est développée une chevalerie sans équivalent ail-leurs dans le monde. Ni militaire ni aristocratique, mais urbaine, fraternelle et spirituelle, elle unissait artisans, commerçants et maîtres de métiers autour d’un idéal exigeant de noblesse intérieure. Bonté, générosité, pardon et solidarité n’y relevaient pas du discours moral, mais d’une manière concrète de vivre et d’agir au sein de la cité.
Information : https://tinyurl.com/5fj8eejb
Posted in: Academic items- February 28, 2026
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