Call for Applications

Date: August 19 – 30, 2024

Venue: Leiden University, Rapenburg 70, 2311 EZ Leiden, Netherlands

Application Deadline: May 1, 2024

This summer the Leiden department of Middle East Studies together with the University Library has organized a summer school in “Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World” from August 19 to August 30.

This summer school is for graduate (MA and PhD) students and researchers who have an interest in handwritten materials, editing, and the tradition of editing in the Muslim world. It offers theoretical lectures as well as hands-on practice with samples from the world-famous collections of the Leiden University Library.

Over the course of two weeks, specialists from Leiden University and beyond will provide instruction on issues of editing, paleography, conservation and other material aspects of oriental manuscripts. They will also speak about philology, literacy and orality and the transmission of knowledge in the Islamic manuscript culture, presenting case-studies from various parts of the Muslim world. Participants can use this information to practice their skills in producing a sample critical edition of a manuscript of their choice, under the supervision of experts.

Since the first contributions of scholars such as Scaliger, Golius and Warner, the Leiden University Library has housed one of the most important collections of oriental manuscripts in Europe. It includes thousands of Arabic, Persian and Ottoman manuscripts, not only from the historic heartlands of Islam but also from Asia, al-Andalus and Africa. Each participant will have full access to this collection as well as other library services.

Application

Graduate (MA and PhD) students and researchers who have an interest in handwritten materials and text editing are encouraged to apply for participation in the summer school. Applications should include:

• A letter of motivation specifying what research language(s) the applicant masters;
• A curriculum vitae;
• If you are a non-native speaker of English: a certificate testifying command of the English language (TOEFL 550 or equivalent).

The deadline for applications is Wednesday May 1, 2024. Participants will be informed about the selection by Friday May 3, 2024.

Costs: Tuition cost will be 600 euros.

Scholarships: There are two scholarships covering the tuition cost for participants not from Leiden University.

For more information and registration please visit: Leiden University

Call for Papers

Date: June 4-7, 2024

Venue: University of Lausanne, Quartier Centre, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

Registration Deadline: May 1, 2024

This Spring School focusses on results of Muslims living, working and writing in the periphery and welcomes papers that show how, where and why peripheral Muslims – varying from marginalized areas and controversial scholars to ostracized politicians and heterodox sects – have shaped this periphery and have been shaped by this periphery.

Call for Papers

When picturing the mainstream of Islam, many people will think of Arabs from the Middle East. While the latter area is clearly the first region in which Islam spread, seeing it as central is somewhat problematic since the overwhelming majority of Muslims do not actually live in the Middle East, but in “peripheral” Africa, Europe, Central or East Asia or the Americas. The same applies to Arabs: although the Arabic language is undoubtedly central to Islam, most Muslims speak Persian, Urdu, Pashtu, Turkish, Malay, Indonesian or a host of other languages “on the margins”. Seen in this light, it is doubtful whether the Arab world should actually be seen as central to Muslims worldwide. One could easily make the case that the periphery – in all its diversity – is actually more important from a geographical point of view.

The same dichotomy regarding mainstream and periphery can be discerned with respect to the normativity of Islam. Given the importance of the Arabic language, the presence of holy places in Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem and the long history of centers of religious learning in Arab countries – e.g., al-Azhar in Egypt and al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco – the Arab world also seems to set the tone for and to decide the norms of Islam. Yet this obscures the fact that influential events, thinkers and trends – e.g., the Iranian Revolution in 1979, the Swiss intellectual Tariq Ramadan and the rise of the AK Party in Turkey – often emerge on the margins of the Arab world. This is particularly the case since Muslim communities in the West enjoy much more freedom than in the Arab world (and often elsewhere) and, as such, are freer to express their views than in the Middle East.

The latter aspect is related to another peripheral dimension, namely that of politics. Islamic movements – perhaps particularly those in the Arab world – often move in the political margins. Sometimes this is related to their revolutionary views on the state and their open support for violence – think of al-Qa‘ida and the Islamic State (IS), for example – but in other contexts, more mainstream groups like the Muslim Brotherhood are forced to lead a politically peripheral existence because of their opposition to the regime. Given that Islamist groups may sometimes be the most prominent supporters of reform or the most active opponents of government corruption, their life on the margins actively prevents important voices from being heard in the politics of their countries.

Finally, the juxtaposition between mainstream and periphery can be seen in the differences between religious communities. Although the vast majority of Muslims are Sunnis, this is not always the case: there are clear Shiite majorities in countries like Azerbaijan, Bahrein and Iran, for instance. Moreover, the fact that peripheral Muslim communities like the Ahmadis, the Alevis, the Druze and the Zaydis are numerically small does not make them any less dynamic or interesting. Furthermore, in Muslim-minority countries, such as those in the West, even Sunni Muslims can be in a peripheral position. Not only are they religious minorities in their societies, but issues like discrimination and Islamophobia further marginalize them.

All of these peripheral communities – as well as more general forms of marginality, such as social exclusion, poverty and the North-South gap – throw an interesting light on the development of Islam as a whole. Discussions among Muslims on the margins focus on universal issues such as globalization, relations with the state and society and technological development. The latter also allows the center and the periphery – in whatever shape or form – to connect with each other. It goes without saying that the specific local contexts in which these discussions take place play an important role. These can vary from societies in which Muslims are a majority to countries that are overwhelmingly Christian and from states that have long enjoyed their independence to those that have gained their post-colonial freedom only fairly recently, to name just two variables.

In such diverse contexts, identity, belonging and awareness can (and often will) be re-evaluated. Peripheral Muslims in these situations sometimes strive for a type of Islam ostensibly divorced from any local roots – what Olivier Roy calls “de-territorialized Islam” – while other Muslims in the margin seek to create (or re-create) a very local form of Islam, or something in between. Although Muslim communities have been in touch with each other for centuries, of course, processes of globalization have accelerated this in an unprecedented way, resulting in new discussions, new concepts, new themes, new priorities and new outcomes in the lives of peripheral Muslims.

Confirmed Keynote Speakers

• Prof. Monica Colominas Aparicio, University of Groningen
• Dr. Marie-Paul Hille, L’École des hautes études en sciences sociales, EHESS
• Prof. Gary Bunt, University of Wales
• Prof. Wissam Halawi, Université de Lausanne, Switzerland
• Prof. Thijl Sunier, VU Amsterdam, Netherlands

The European Network for Islamic Studies (ENIS) is a collaboration between the following institutions:

• The Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS), Netherlands;
• Institut d’études de l’Islam et des sociétés du monde musulman (IISMM), France;
• The Center for Near and Middle Eastern Studies (CNMS) at the University of Marburg, Germany;
• El Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) – the Spanish National Research Council, Spain;
• Societa Per Gli Studi Sul Medio Oriente (SeSaMO), Italy.

NISIS has funding available to cover travel- and accommodation costs for a limited number of students.

Registration and more information: Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS)

IRIC Academy: How to Introduce Divine Leadership (Imamate) to the Western Audience?

Winter and Spring 2024

Duration: 14 Weeks

Date: Thursdays, February 15 to March 7, 2024 and April 18 to May 20, 2024

Time: 9:00 AM – 12:15 AM

Preregistration Deadline: February 12, 2024

Islamic Research and Information Center (IRIC) plans to hold a new training course entitled “How to Introduce Divine Leadership (Imamate) to the Western Audience?” in the winter and spring of 2024. This course will last for 14 weeks and will consist of the following units:

• Divine Leadership (Imamate) in the Holy Quran
  • Dr Mir Masoud Fatemi
  • 14 Sessions in Persian
    
• Unveiling the Intellectual Tapestry of Western Culture
  • Dr Fatemeh Taromi Rad
  • 4 Sessions in English
• English for Islamic Studies: Divine Leadership
  • Dr Seyed Mostafa Safavi
  • 5 Sessions in English
• Presenting Islam to the Westerners
  • Dr Mohammad Nahavandian
  • 5 Sessions in English

Registration Fee: 21.000.000 Rials*
* Limited scholarships are available for those who meet the requirements.

Essential Requirements: Basic Islamic Knowledge; Sufficient English speaking skills

For more information and pre-registration please visit iric.org/academy

In collaboration with the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter (UK), and Hanif Center for Religious Studies (Iran)

24 presentations, 17 in English and 7 in Persian, in 7 days

August 24th, 25th, 31st, and September 1st, 6th, 7th, and 8th From 11:30 to 18:00 BST (6:30 to 13:00 EDT)

A glimpse into recent scholarship on:

– Pre-Islamic and Early Islamic Arabian Peninsula and Medina

– Muhammad’s Biography and Sira

– Muhammad’s Family

– Muhammad’s Cultural Legacy in the Muslim Societies

– Muhammad in Non-Muslim Sources

Deadline for Early-Bird Registration: August 8th 

 Deadline for Registration: August 21st

for more information and registration, visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/690128281267

“Understanding Muslim Societies in Past and Present”

Date: June 27 – 30, 2023 @ 9:30 AM – 8:00 PM (Lisbon time)

Venue: Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, Avenida Berna 26 C, 1069-061 Lisbon, Portugal

Organizer: NOVA Faculty of Social and Human Sciences (FCSH) in Lisbon and AKU’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC)

This four-day face-to-face summer school aims to reconsider how Islam, Muslims and their contexts are studied today. It will give participants in-depth knowledge about recent developments in the study of Islam, Muslims and their societies.

Aims of the course

– Understand recent developments in the study of Islam, Muslims, and their societies.
– Examine recent developments in scholarship that study Muslim societies in both past and present.
– Situate the study of Islam and Muslims in relation to broader discussions on the construction of identity.
– Critically evaluate the dichotomy of ‘Islam and the West’.

The summer school will address the study of Islam and Muslims in both historical and contemporary times and will include these topics, among others:

– History of Islam and Muslims through Digital Humanities
– Historiography
– Sufism
– Gender in social science and in religious studies
– Political Configurations and Islam
– Popular Culture

Apart from lectures, the summer course will include film screenings with discussions, panel discussions and study visits.

Faculty for the Summer School

The course will be taught collaboratively by the faculty of the NOVA Faculty of Social and Human Sciences (FCSH) in Lisbon and the Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in London. The course will be taught in English

The course will be led by Professor Maria Cardeira Silva from NOVA-FCSH and the Dean, AKU-ISMC, Professor Leif Stenberg.

Course faculty

• Faculty from NOVA FCSH
Raquel Carvalheira, Pedro Soares, Maria Cardeira da Silva, Franscisco Freire, Santiago Matias, Ana Santos Pinto

• Faculty from AKU-ISMC
Jonas Otterbeck, Aslisho Qurboniev, Leif Stenberg, Philip Wood

• Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Corina Lozovan

• Guest speakers
Umut Özkirimli

More information on: Eventbrite.co.uk

Venue: Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford, UK

The Oxford Muslim-Christian Summer School is a residential week of shared study between Muslims and Christians, in which we explore our differences with integrity and respect.

Our Summer School is a unique residential program designed for men and women who are currently, or have recently finished, studying at Christian or Islamic theological colleges training for vocational, faith-based careers in the UK, and who hope one day to be leaders within their local communities.

The week-long course brings together practicing Christians and Muslims to share academic study on topics of common interest that breaks down barriers, enhances the student’s own studies, and equips them for their future careers. Students attend lectures, workshops and tutorials led by Christian and Muslim academics exploring sacred texts, shared history, contemporary issues and difficult questions.

The focus is on shared study and understanding of both the similarities and the differences between Christians and Muslims of diverse traditions. Participants discuss difficult topics, disagreements and social problems in a spirit of respect and empathy—not just towards people of other faiths but towards those from other traditions within their own faith community with whom they might have theological differences.

More information on: The Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies

Date: August 23 – September 2, 2022

Venue: Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands

Application Deadline: June 17, 2022

Apply now for the fourth LUCIS Summer School on Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim world, which will take place from Tuesday 23 August until Friday 2 September 2022 in Leiden. The deadline for applications is Friday 17 June 2022.

The Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (LUCIS) will offer its fourth Summer School on Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World with lectures by experts, practical classes, and hands-on experience with manuscripts from Leiden University’s famous collection of oriental manuscripts.

This Summer School is for graduate (MA and PhD) students and researchers with an interest in handwritten sources, text editing, and the manuscript tradition in the Muslim world. Over the course of two weeks, specialists from Leiden University and beyond will provide theoretical instruction on issues of editing, paleography, conservation, and other material aspects of oriental manuscripts. They will also discuss philology, literacy and orality, and the transmission of knowledge in the Islamic manuscript culture, presenting case studies from various parts of the Muslim world. Participants can apply this training and, under the supervision of experts, practice their skills in producing a sample critical edition of a manuscript of their choice.

Language of instruction is English. Non-native speakers are required to have a command of English equivalent to at least TOEFL 550.

More information on: Leiden University

Date: June 13-17, 2022

Venue: Nantes, France

Organized by ERC project “The European Qur’an”

Proposal Submission Deadline: December 15, 2021

How have Christian authors in Europe used and appropriated the Qur’an? We are interested in how the Qur’an was used as a historical and linguistic archive, as a mine of heretical ideas and as a tool used in confessional rivalries. Our focus will not be restricted to the main confessional camps, Roman Catholic and Protestant, but will also include the many ways in which groups of the so called radical Reformation (Socianians and other anti-Trinitarian movements), different groups inside the Roman Catholic world, as well as Deist, Muslim and Jewish authors in Europe, used the Qur’an in their polemical writings.

We will also study how translations of the Qur’an were deployed as argumentative weapons for preaching the superiority of Christianity to Mudejars and Moriscos in Spain. Additionally, the question of nationalist motivations in the collecting and translating of the Qur’an will also be taken into consideration: beginning in the late 17th century, various European countries vied with one another to produce the best translation of the Qur’an made directly from the Arabic.  We will further investigate if and how polemical and historical uses of the Qur’an changed in the late 17th and 18th century and early 19th century. The Qur’an continues to play an important role in polemical writings, in political as well as religious domains.

Format:

A series of roundtables with presentations of research by PhD students and postdocs. Each roundtable will be hosted by two colleagues.

Presentations may be made in English or in French. Proposals for a 20-minute paper may be submitted, by December 15, 2021, to euqu@univ-nantes.fr. Proposals may be in English or in French.

More information on: https://euqu.eu/

ENIS/NISIS-MIDA Spring School Indonesia 2022:

“Mobility and Mobilisation in Muslim Societies”

Date: March 21-27, 2022

Venue: Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Registration Deadline: November 1, 2021

The international Spring School “Mobility and mobilisation in Islamic societies” is co-organised by the European Network for Islamic Studies (ENIS), formed by the European Research Program “Mediating Islam in the Digital Age” (MIDA) and the Netherlands Interuniversity School of Islamic Studies (NISIS), Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University, Yokyakarta, and International Islamic University of Indonesia.

The Spring School addresses the topic of mobility and mobilisation in Muslim societies, past and present. Mobility and mobilisation are two interrelated dimensions in the fabric of Muslim societies that have played an important role in shaping these societies’ religious, intellectual and political developments throughout the centuries.

Taking movement as a mediating practice, the objective of the Spring School is to study how mobility of people – both in the past and in the present, be they Muslims or non-Muslims, inside and outside the Islamic world, in the ‘real world’ and in cyberspace – has affected the relationship of Muslim societies with their own past, their understanding of their present environment, the formation or deconstruction of entrenched or new stereotypes, and their local dynamics of political and/or intellectual mobilisation.

Speakers

Confirmed keynote speakers for the school: Azyumardi Azra (Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University, Jakarta), Ismail Fajri Alatas (New York University), Claudia Derichs (Humboldt University Berlin), Edith Franke (Marburg University), Syamsul Rijal (UIN Jakarta), and Martin van Bruinessen (Utrecht University).

More information on: Netherlands Interuniversity School of Islamic Studies (NISIS)

NISIS Autumn School 2021:

“Islamic(ate) Classics: From Manuscript to the Digital Age”

Date: November 8-12, 2021

Venue: University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

Registration Deadline: October 10, 2021

Organized by: Arabic and Islamic Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Leuven

Inspired by Ahmed El Shamsy’s recent book, Rediscovering the Islamic Classics: How Editors and Print Culture Transformed an Intellectual Tradition (Princeton University Press, 2020), the autumn school will highlight the impact of technological changes on Islamic(ate) primary sources and scholarship not only during the printing age, but up until the current digital era as well.  By ‘classics’ we roughly refer to the most significant pre-modern primary sources, which affected and continue to affect Muslim beliefs, religious duties and practices as well as ways of life in different regions.

Invited speakers will be asked to reflect on the concept of “Islamic classics,” and how primary texts were produced, shaped, transmitted and transformed throughout Islamic(ate) book history. How did the written culture affect the circulation and interpretation of Islamic(ate) classics through the centuries of Islam? In what ways did the process and implementation of various technologies in the last two centuries transform this written culture in Muslim societies? To what extent did the physical means of printing and digital tools affect the reception and influence of these primary sources in both the Muslim world and Europe?

Confirmed Keynote Speakers

• Beatrice Gründler (Seminar für Semitistik und Arabistik, Free University Berlin)
• Brinkley M. Messick (The Middle East Institute, Columbia University)
• Ahmed El Shamsy (Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago)
• Peter Verkinderen (KITAB project, The Agha Khan University London)

During the research school a master class on “Digital Humanities in Arabic and Islamic Studies” will be given by Emad Mohamed (Research Institute of Information & Language Processing, University of Wolverhampton).

More information on: NISIS