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News "The Writing on the Wall: Calligraphy and Islamic Architecture" Book Project Dear Colleagues: We are in the process of launching a book project on the subject of Islamic calligraphy and rchitecture. This book will differ from most past publications on the subject in that it will focus not purely on epigraphic content but rather on the relationship between content and form. More specifically, the book will analyze textual content, calligraphic style, material, and architectural function in their mutual interactions. Please see the following for more details, including a tentative time table. The book will be in English, but contributions in other languages could be considered for translation. We currently have a significant number of pledged contributors planning to write on the Ottoman Empire, but other areas are not as well covered as of now. In particular, we would enthusiastically welcome contributions on the Persianate World, Central Asia, China and India. Whatever your specific interest, please let us know whether or not you would be interested in being part of this effort by 20 August 2010. The deadline for 300-word abstracts is September 10, 2010. If you have any questions about your potential topic or see any problems, including the time table, please let us know. Thanks and best regards, Mohammad Gharipour and Irvin Cemil Schick Emails: mohammad@gatech.edu The Writing on the Wall: Calligraphy and Islamic Architecture The advent of Islam in Arabia was a turning point in the development of architecture over large territories formerly belonging to the Byzantine and Sassanid empires. One dimension of this development was the enhanced role of writing on the built environment. To be sure, the Roman Empire had a long and distinguished history of monumental writing, but the centrality of the written text in Islamic faith and practice resulted in an innovative use of script in and on buildings. As calligraphy was established as a principal field of art in Muslim territories, it overflowed the confines of books and came to cover virtually every surface, whether of wood, metal, glass, textile, ivory, clay, or stone. The calligraphy on the interior and exterior of buildings was much more than a purely aesthetic or formal element. In specific zones of buildings, such as the entrance or the mihrab, the script often referred to issues related to construction and patronage. Carefully chosen texts contributed to establishing the sacrality of the space in which they were written, or to proclaiming or legitimating the power of the patrons who had commissioned the building. Different types of script transmitted messages about the nature of the political structure and the ruling establishment. Sometimes, albeit rarely, writing also functioned as an ornamental element that helped architects define spaces. By choosing diverse styles of calligraphy, which varied in size, density, and direction, and using different materials, architects and artists could stress centrality, verticality, or horizontality within spaces and even divide the interior into zones with different spatial qualities. Moreover, the level of abstraction and the type of material (e.g. tile, stucco, brick, and wood) determined the readability and visibility of the text and, consequently, affected the interaction between the users and the building. Above technical aspects was the spiritual role of calligraphy, which mostly captured eligious quotes from the Quran, the hadiths, and even mystical poetry. The employment of calligraphy in relation to the use of light and materials allowed architects, artists, and craftsmen to enhance the spirituality of spaces. The book chapters will explore the following topics, with special emphasis on the interrelations between form and textual content: - Typology of the calligraphy in terms of form and style (e.g. naskh, Kufi, thulth) The book chapters will focus on the use of inscriptions in buildings constructed from early Islamic age through the twentieth century in different Islamic regions from China to North Africa. Preference in the selection of papers will be given to the diversity of topics and geographical locations. The papers will be analytical and authors will be encouraged to avoid a purely descriptive language in their writings. Since there are numerous published catalogues on the architectural epigraphy of various cities or regions, authors are urged to focus not simply on the content of the inscriptions, but on their formal elements and on how their contents interact with those formal elements. Tentative Timeframe - July 2010: Personal invitations sent to selected scholars Estimated Length The book is expected to include an introduction and twelve to fourteen papers. Each paper will be 5500-6500 words (total: 75,000-95,000 words) and include 3e 3-8 images. The book will include a bibliography, contributors' biographies, and an appendix on terminology. Call for Papers for Special Issue of CyberOrient: Online Journal of the Virtual Middle East Call Description Islamic Heritage Project at Harvard Through the /Islamic Heritage Project/ (IHP), Harvard University has cataloged, conserved, and digitized hundreds of Islamic manuscripts, maps, and published texts from Harvard’s renowned library and museum collections. These rare—and frequently unique—materials are now freely available to Internet users worldwide. IHP is made possible with the generous support of *Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal* <http://islamicstudies.harvard.edu/overview/about_the_donor.php>.* For the IHP, Harvard’s Open Collections Program <http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu> (OCP) has produced digital copies of over 260 manuscripts, 270 printed texts, and 50 maps, totaling over 145,000 pages—with more items to be added in coming months. Users can search or browse online materials that date from the 13th to the 20th centuries CE and represent many regions, languages, and subjects. CFP: International Journal of Library and Information Sciences Introducing ‘‘International Journal of Library and Information Science” AAR Book Awards - 2009 http://www.aarweb.org/Programs/Awards/Book_Awards/default.asp Analytical-Descriptive Studies Constructive-Reflective Studies The Euro-Islam website (www.euro-islam.info), is currently looking for
doctoral students and researchers working on Muslims in Europe and the US
for its website research team. Special focus on Muslims in Spain, Italy,
Scandinavia, Russia, and/or Bosnia is preferred. Language capabilities in Each week the researcher will forward the webmaster news stories covering current events impacting Muslims in these countries, with a short summary for each story. The researcher can also develop profiles on Islam and Muslims in these countries and their capital cities. While the Euro-Islam website cannot offer compensation, the researcher
will benefit from weekly research opportunities, networking/collaboration
opportunities through Harvard's Islam in the West Program, and access to a
large audience of scholars, politicians, and media professionals via the Please contact the webmaster Lisa Baughn at lisa@euroislam.info if
interested. Call for Articles for a new journal - Islamic Africa Islamic Africa is a new peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary journal published online by Northwestern University Press in collaboration with the Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA) at the Program of African Studies of Northwestern University. Incorporating the journal Sudanic Africa and retaining its focus on historical sources, bibliographies, and methodology, Islamic Africa covers the field of Islam in Africa broadly understood to include the social sciences and humanities. The new journal seeks to promote the scholarly interaction among Africa-based scholars and those located institutionally outside the continent. The first issue will appear in Spring 2010. Islamic Africa invites scholars to submit essays, or short pieces, notices, and reports on research in progress to be considered for publication. Such submissions should make original contributions to knowledge. The material must not have been previously published, or be currently under review elsewhere. Submissions are welcome from any discipline in the social sciences and the humanities; the geographic focus includes the entire African continent, as well as the adjacent islands and the diaspora. Submissions should be sent electronically in both Microsoft Word and PDF formats to: Gianna Mosser, Managing Editor, Islamic Africa,islamicafrica@northwestern.edu. Gianna Mosser The Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (LUCIS) invites you to their opening conference 'Islam, Science and Policy' on 14 October in the Academy Building. Conference partially in English and Dutch. http://www.hum.leiden.edu/news-agenda/lucis.html What is LUCIS? LUCIS is established at the beginning of 2009 by Leiden University as a collaboration of Leiden scholars from different faculties that are studying Islam and muslim societies. LUCIS' expertise is focused on the Middle East and North Africa, Southeast Asia including Indonesia, as well as the Netherlands and the West. The goal of LUCIS is to advance interdisciplinary research and education in the field of Islam and muslim societies. Also, LUCIS strives to contribute to social debate and policy-making. Concept of the conference The opening conference will try to elaborate on the connection between public opinion, policy, and scientific knowledge. In the past ten years in the Netherlands, a dichotomy has grown between politics and public opinion about Islam and muslims. Between the different camps, scientific knowledge about Islam and muslims has only played a limited part. LUCIS, together with sister organizations, sets as a goal to bring about change in this area. During the opening conference we hope to make a good start with this. The full day programme (in Dutch) can be downloaded from: Would you be so kind as to confirm your presence by sending the
downloadable form below to lucis@hum.leidenuniv.nl? For further
information you can contact Hannah Mason or Soumia Middelburg on
071-5278885/8817 or through the above e-mail address. 10/09/2009 Dr. Kecia Ali of Boston University prepared a set of Guidelines for Writing Conference Proposals and it is posted to the website as a pdf documents. 10/04/2009 Call for Papers: Fall 2009 The Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies Newsletter Special Issue on Iran Contemporary Iran In light of the ongoing events in the aftermath of the tenth presidential election in Iran, we are exploring the idea of allocating our next issue of the Sociology of Islam and Muslim Societies Newsletter to examining the implications of this crucial development for the Islamic political thought. To that end, we are writing to solicit your reflection essays (about 1500 words or so) for this special issue. The title of this special issue is as follows: Thirty Years after the Iranian Revolution: Islam, Democracy, and the Crisis of Legitimacy. Those who would like to contribute can send us their short articles or book reviews by November 15th. Those who would like to contribute, can send their short articles or book review submissions (1500-2000 words) by November 15th to: Najm al-Din Yousefi: nyousefi@vt.edu and Tugrul Keskin: tugrulkeskin@pdx.edu 9/27/2009 CALL FOR PAPERS - “Religion, Finance & Ethics” Essays are being solicited for a special issue of the Bulletin for the Study of Religion on the timely theme of “religion, finance and ethics”. As the world recovers from the most significant financial crisis since the Great Depression, this special issue of the Bulletin will seek to explore issues of finance and economics as they relate to the academic study of the world’s religions. Of particular interest is the rise of Islamic finance, a topic much discussed by finance industry scholars and practitioners, as well as jurists, but comparatively under-analyzed in the field of religion studies. Aside from aspects of Islamic finance, topics may include, but are
certainly not limited to: religion in the age of financial capitalism;
economics and ethical debates within world religions; the ‘prosperity The CSSR Bulletin is one of the oldest North American publications in the study of religion and has one of the largest circulations of any periodical in the discipline. It has been published by the Council of Societies for the Study of Religion for 38 years. It will move to Equinox in 2010 (volume 39) – with a slight change of title to Bulletin for the Study of Religion. The Bulletin is committed to showcasing emerging scholarship and debates within the filed of religion studies and related disciplines. Essays are expected to be short and sharp, making critical contributions to the development of the academic study of religion. Articles should be 3,000 to 3,500 words long, with a minimum of endnotes and bibliographic references, and composed in Microsoft Word following The Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition (2003). SUBMISSIONS ARE DUE BY MARCH 31, 2010 Please e-mail and any inquiries or submissions to: Ibrahim Abraham,
University of Bristol, UK Bulletin for the Study of Religion 6/8/2009 CALL FOR PUBLICATION: Jihad in the 21st Century We would like to edit a book on the issue of the contemporary theories and practices of the Islamic tradition of jihad. The purpose is to gather a group of expertise from both the Muslim and Western Worlds who will approach this issue from various disciplines Approaches to jihad should be innovative. The aim is to discuss the issue of jihad and its relevance to the contemporary issues of: war – both domestic and international – peace, international law, international criminal law, international humanitarian law norms, domestic and international forms of terrorism. These discussions intend to explain the Islamic position on (1) the different form of the use of force in the post United Nations era by both state and non-state actors; (2) domestic and international acts of terrorism; and the international community position. Contributions can be made in any field (law, politics, social sciences, humanities and others) on the following non-exhaustive list: History of Jihad; Jihad in the Quran; Jihad in the Modern World; Jihad and International Law (self-defense for example); Jihad and Universal Human Rights; Islam and law of armed conflicts; Ethics; The Politics of Jihad; Fundamentalism; Terrorism. Any other topic not included in this list is welcome Please send an abstract (maximum 500 words) with title of the proposed chapter, affiliation and contact information as well as a resume/CV by July 1st, 2009 to Anicée Van Engeland anicee.vanengeland@mcgill.ca 1/15/09 The Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University in New Brunswick is pleased to announce "The Iranian Revolution: Thirty Years" event. Admission is free to this conference and its related art exhibitions and documentary screenings. Admission to the Conference Dinner (Persian cuisine) and concert by Haale is by ticket only (for further information, please contact Ms Shehnaz Abdeljaber at peaceingardens@comcast.net). 1/08/09 Groups at AAR related with Islam have been added. See their members' contact information and CFPs for 2009 Conference at Islam at AAR section. 1/07/09 Syllabi for "Introduction to Islam", "Islamic History", and "Islam in the Modern World" classes taught by Dr. Anna Bigelow at North Carolina State University have been added. See list of classes at syllabi section. 12/15/08 ISIM to be closed as per 1 January 2009 - The International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) will be closed as per 1 January 2009, due to the lack of adequate funding. ISIM was set up ten years ago by the universities of Leiden, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Nijmegen, and the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Science. more.. 12/10/08 Syllabus for "Modern Islamic Civilization" class, taught by Dr. Omid Safi at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been added. See it here.. 12/09/08 The Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, invites applications for an Assistant or Associate Professor of Religious Studies (tenure-track or tenure), with a specialization in Islam. more.. 12/08/08 Syllabus for "Islamic Heritage of Iran" class, taught by Dr. Omid Safi at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been added. See it here.. 12/07/08 Syllabus for "Islam and Reform" class, taught by Dr. Omid Safi at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has been added. See it here.. 12/04/08 Study of Islam website has been started in December 2008. Main goal of this website's is to provide a venue for scholars of Islamic Studies to share their ideas and experiences. Please send your syllabi and other teaching material that you wish to share. You can also post related news, grants, and job openings. |
Please send related news to us at studyofislam@gmail.com.
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