5^th World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES)

Venue: Seville, The Capital of Andalusia

Date: July 16-22, 2018

Organizer: International Relations and Islamic Studies Research Cohort (Co-IRIS)

Subject Fields: Arabic History / Studies, Diplomacy and International Relations, Islamic History / Studies, Law and Legal History, Middle East History / Studies

Conference Panels

• 1^st Panel: “Islam and Democracy”

This panel includes: Democratic practice in any historical context, comparative Nation-state practices, or theoretical arguments. This panel will focus on new and innovative presentations of Islam and democracy.

• 2^nd Panel: “Diplomacy in Islam: Past and Present”

The intellectual history and practice of international relations in Islam have long been understudied within both the field of International Relations and of Middle Eastern Studies. In this framework, the issue of diplomacy in Islam has almost gone unnoticed and unaddressed in mainstream academia. This panel focuses on diplomacy, addressing both how Muslim scholars have conceptualized diplomacy and Muslim countries practiced it throughout history, from the time of the Prophet Muhammad up until current days, both in terms of intra-community diplomatic relations, i.e. relations of Muslim countries within the community of Islam, and trans-community, i.e. relations of Muslim countries with non-Muslim countries. The overall aim of the panel is to draw a first overall picture of diplomacy in Islam as a basis for future research

• 3^rd Panel: “Islamic Law and International Law”

Explores interdisciplinary approaches of Islamic Studies to law especially how Islamic law (loosely understood as shari’ah) engages with the internationality aspect of human laws including public and private international laws. It seeks to uncover the global and ethical dimensions of Islamic law and how it responds to international conventions, regional institutions, and transnational norms, in particular, the flexibility of shari’ah as it evolves over time and space so as to achieve its higher moral objectives.

Source: International Relations and Islamic Studies Research Cohort