Deadline Approaching! IQSA Call for Papers (London 2024)

Deadline Approaching! IQSA Call for Papers (London 2024)

There is only one week left to submit your proposals for the International Qur’anic Studies Association’s Annual Meeting to be held in person from July 15-18, 2024, hosted by the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London!

We are accepting proposals for individual papers, panels, and roundtable discussions. Proposals will be considered on any aspect of the academic study of the Qur’an or its reception history. Proposals are due on January 31, 2024.

Individual papers: Individual paper proposals should be no more than 400 words long and should include the title of the paper, the name and affiliation of the presenter, and a 100-150-word biography.

Panel papers: Papers belonging to pre-arranged panels should indicate the name of the panel in the appropriate field in addition to providing a 400-word abstract and title for the individual paper. Only panel organizers should include a panel abstract in the submission. There is a dedicated field for submitting the panel abstract.

Roundtables: We will accept a limited number of proposals for lightning roundtable discussions. These are roundtables of up to seven participants, where two to three questions are given and each participant has no more than three minutes to address each question. Ample opportunity should be given for audience participation. Only roundtable organizers should submit an abstract which would include the rationale and the questions to be asked.

Please only submit one paper proposal (either individual or as a part of a panel); roundtable discussants may also give a paper.

Proposals for single and panel papers must include:

  • Author name and affiliation.
  • 100-150-word short bio (written in English).
  • Paper title.
  • 400-word paper abstract (written in English).

Proposals can be submitted here by January 31, 2024. For your proposal to be accepted and to attend the conference you must be an active IQSA memberYou can join IQSA here. If you are a graduate student, contingent faculty, or are from the global south and are unable to pay, please contact us (contactus@iqsaweb.org).

Registration for the conference is now open at https://event.fourwaves.com/iqsa2024/pages. Information about discounts and travel grants is available at the same link.

Questions? Email contactus@iqsaweb.org. We look forward to receiving your submissions!

Copyright © 2024 International Qur’anic Studies Association, All rights reserved.

Call for Papers: IQSA Annual Meeting [SBL/AAR] 2022

The International Qur’anic Studies Association has opened its call for papers for its Annual Meeting to be held in Denver, Colorado from November 18–21, 2021 in conjunction with the Society of Biblical Literature and the American Academy of Religion. Paper proposals should be submitted through the SBL’s automated online submission system under the corresponding “Affiliates” link by March 15, 2022 though 11:59 PM (23:59) Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) (note: IQSA membership is required for proposal submission; see below).

For the 2022 meeting in Denver, IQSA invites proposals for papers that engage any aspect of the Qur’anic text. These may explore particular themes in a given surah or aspects of the Qur’an’s conversation with the religious traditions of Late Antiquity, or even discuss methodological concerns when studying the text or highlight features of physical manuscripts. All topics are welcome.

Please note that all proposals must include:

  • Author name and affiliation
  • Paper title
  • 400 word paper abstract (written in English)

Eligibility for proposal submissions is contingent upon the following:

  • Active IQSA membership is required at the time of proposal submission for the IQSA Program, and the membership status of all applicants will be checked prior to acceptance
  • Participants must maintain current IQSA Membership through their participation in the Annual Meeting

Please also note that:

  • To ensure equity and diversity amongst participants, participants should submit only one paper presentation per IQSA Annual Meeting
  • All participants must adhere to IQSA’s Professional Conduct Policy
  • Participants will be required to register for the conference by submitting payment through SBL’s online submission system (users are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the “Super Saver” rates which end mid-May)

Questions? Email contactus@iqsaweb.org. We hope to see you in Denver!

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2022. All rights reserved.

Reminder: Final Deadline for Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize

A friendly reminder that the deadline for Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize submissions has been extended to Monday, January 31, 2022, meaning you still have one week left before the call closes!

In honor of Andrew Rippin, the International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) will award a prize to the best paper delivered at the 2021 hybrid Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX by a graduate student or early career scholar (Ph.D. awarded 2016 or later). The prize winner will receive $250. In addition, the award committee will provide him/her with detailed feedback and guidance enabling him/her to expand the paper into a scholarly article that qualifies for publication in the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA), subject to peer review. Interested scholars should submit a draft of the paper which they read at the most current Annual Meeting; this draft should be no longer than fifteen double-spaced pages (or 3750 words).

Submissions should be sent to contactus@iqsaweb.org by January 31, 2022. The winner should then be prepared to submit a fully revised version of the winning article by April 1, 2022. Publication of the final version is contingent upon review by the award committee and editorial staff of JIQSA.

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2022. All rights reserved.

Deadline Extended: Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize 2021-22

Miss the cutoff for Andrew Rippin Best Paper Prize submissions? Now worries! The deadline has now been extended to Monday, January 31, 2022. In honor of Andrew Rippin, the International Qur’anic Studies Association (IQSA) will award a prize to the best paper delivered at the 2021 hybrid Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX by a graduate student or early career scholar (Ph.D. awarded 2016 or later). The prize winner will receive $250. In addition, the award committee will provide him/her with detailed feedback and guidance enabling him/her to expand the paper into a scholarly article that qualifies for publication in the Journal of the International Qur’anic Studies Association (JIQSA), subject to peer review. Interested scholars should submit a draft of the paper which they read at the most current Annual Meeting; this draft should be no longer than fifteen double-spaced pages (or 3750 words). Submissions should be sent to contactus@iqsaweb.org by January 31, 2022. The winner should then be prepared to submit a fully revised version of the winning article by April 1, 2022. Publication of the final version is contingent upon review by the award committee and editorial staff of JIQSA. © International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2022. All rights reserved.

IQSA International Meeting: Format Updates & Reminders

Due to circumstances surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic and travel restrictions, the International Qur’anic Studies Association’s fourth international conference from July 4-11, 2021 hosted by the “Giorgio La Pira” Library will be fully virtual for IQSA members. The Programming Committee extends a thanks to all participants for their understanding and flexibility during these uncertain times.

The deadline for submitting abstracts and panel proposals is today, May 7, 2021! The Palermo IQSA Conference Committee welcomes proposals of single papers as well as panels that gather selected speakers invited by the proponent to present on a specific topic.

Please note that all proposals for single papers must include:

  • Author name and affiliation
  • Paper title
  • 200-word paper abstract (in English)

while proposals for panels must include:

  • Chair name and affiliation
  • Panel title
  • 200-words panel abstract (in English)
  • speakers contacted and selected by the proponent and title of each paper.

Applicants are kindly asked to submit their abstracts to the attention of Dr. Alba Fedeli at iqsa2021@fscire.it, by May 7, 2021. The organizing committee will send a notification of acceptance for abstracts on May 23, 2021.

Should you have any questions regarding the submission of proposals, please contact the conference director, Dr Alba Fedeli, at iqsa2021@fscire.it.

Find more information about registration and the conference theme at this link.

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.

New Periodical: Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies (JLAIBS)

Edinburgh University Press recently launched a new periodical, the Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies (JLAIBS). The JLAIBS as a hotspot for interdisciplinary dialogue aims to disseminate new approaches and methodologies that intend to transform our understanding of broader Late Antique and Medieval phenomena, such as knowledge transfer and cultural exchanges, by looking beyond single linguistic traditions or political boundaries. It provides a forum for high-quality articles on the interactions and cross-cultural exchange between different traditions and of the so-called Byzantine Empire and the Islamic world. Thematically, the journal also welcomes submissions dealing individually with Late Antique, Byzantine and Islamic literature, history, archaeology, and material culture from the fourth to the fifteenth century. 

Articles should be written in English and can be up to 15,000 words in total length (i.e. including all footnotes, bibliography and any appendices). Submissions to Journal of Late Antique, Islamic and Byzantine Studies should be formatted in accordance with the full JLAIBS style guidelines and sent as Word and PDF files to jlaibs@ed.ac.uk.

Editors:
Dr Petros Bouras-Vallianatos (University of Edinburgh)
Dr Marie Legendre (University of Edinburgh) 
Dr Yannis Stouraitis (University of Edinburgh)

 Editorial board:
Prof. Peter Adamson (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) 
Prof. Gianfranco Agosti (Sapienza Università di Roma) 
Assoc. Prof. Corisande Fenwick (University College London)  
Prof. Robert Hoyland (New York University)  
Prof. Marc Lauxtermann (University of Oxford)  
Prof. Maria Mavroudi (University of California, Berkeley)
Prof. Annliese Nef (Université Paris 1 Panthéon)  
Prof. Dr Johannes Pahlitzsch (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) 
Assoc. Prof. Arietta Papaconstantinou (University of Reading) 
Assoc. Prof. Maria Parani (University of Cyprus) 
Prof. Samuel Rubenson (Lund University)  
Assoc. Prof. Kostis Smyrlis (National Hellenic Research Foundation/Athens)  
Assoc. Prof. Jack Tannous (Princeton University)  
Assoc. Prof. Alicia Walker (Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania) 

 

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.

 

Deadline Approaching: IQSA 2021 Annual Meeting Call for Papers

CFP_IQSA21The Call for Papers deadline for the IQSA Annual Meeting to be held in San Antonio, TX from November 18–21, 2021 is quickly approaching! Paper proposals should be submitted through the SBL’s automated online submission system under the corresponding “Affiliates” link by March 23, 2021 though 11:59 PM (23:59) Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) (note: IQSA membership is required for proposal submission; see below). Submission links can be found below under the respective program units. If you require further information or experience difficulties with the submission process, please contact the chairs of the program unit to which you would like to apply.

Please note that all proposals must include:

  • Author name and affiliation
  • Paper title
  • 400 word paper abstract (written in English)

Eligibility for proposal submissions is contingent upon the following:

  • Active IQSA membership is required at the time of proposal submission for the IQSA Program, and the membership status of all applicants will be checked prior to acceptance
  • Participants must maintain current IQSA Membership through their participation in the Annual Meeting

Please also note that:

  • To ensure equity and diversity amongst participants, participants should submit only one paper presentation per IQSA Annual Meeting
  • All participants must adhere to IQSA’s Professional Conduct Policy
  • Participants will be required to register for the conference by submitting payment through SBL’s online registration system (users are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the “Super Saver” rates which end mid-May)

The Annual Meeting includes panels for each of IQSA’s seven program units:

Linguistic, Literary, and Thematic Perspectives on the Qur’anic Corpus
The Qur’an: Surah Studies
Qur’anic Studies: Methodology and Hermeneutics
The Qur’an: Manuscripts and Textual Criticism
The Qur’an and the Biblical Tradition
The Qur’an and Late Antiquity
The Societal Qur’an

 

PROGRAM UNIT 1
Linguistic, Literary, and Thematic Perspectives on the Qur’anic Corpus

Program Unit Chairs
Anne-Sylvie Boisliveau
Mohsen Goudarzi

The Linguistic, Literary, and Thematic Perspectives on the Qur’anic Corpus unit invites proposals for papers that engage with the techniques utilized in the Qur’an for crafting imagery, characters, and narratives. Proposals may attend to artistic and literary strategies as well as to the broader social, religious, and political ends towards which these strategies are deployed

PROGRAM UNIT 2
The Qur’an: Surah Studies

Program Unit Chairs
Nevin Reda
Shawkat Toorawa

The Surah Studies Unit invites proposals for individual papers on any aspect of Surat al-Naml (27, “The Ants”). Much of the attention directed at the surah has focused on the story of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Proposals about any aspect of that narrative are welcome—in particular ones that explore power and gender dynamics—but proposals that can take our thinking about the surah in new directions are especially encouraged. These might broach such topics as: the deployment of animals as characters; the nature of the Arabian prophets’ missions; the role of the surahs’s inaugurators (fawati?), ?a Sin, both in the surah and within the Qur’an as a whole; the rhetorical relationship between the various prophets and prophet-stories; miracles; and much else besides. The Surah Studies Unit welcomes diverse methods and new approaches. The raison d’être of the Unit is to bring different perspectives on a given surah into dialogue with one another.

PROGRAM UNIT 3
Qur’anic Studies: Methodology and Hermeneutics

Program Unit Chairs
Khalil Andani
Celene Ibrahim

This unit aims to understand and contextualize the methods and hermeneutics applied to the Qur’anic text, both historical and contemporary. The Methodology and Hermeneutics unit addresses questions that might implicitly govern other units, such as: What is Qur’anic Studies, and how does the study of the Qur’an differ from the study of its interpretation? What are the methodological differences between descriptive and normative approaches to the text? How does context (intellectual, social, ethical, historical) affect hermeneutical approaches to the text? The unit welcomes papers addressed to the hermeneutics and methods of particular schools of interpretation or thought, and also on hermeneutics as applied to specific subjects or concepts such as social justice and gender. This year the Methodology and Hermeneutics Unit invites submissions for two panels on any aspect of Qur’anic interpretation, hermeneutics, and methodology. Proposals can focus on, among other topics, the following areas:

• The overlaps and distinctions between tafsir and ta’wil in exoteric and esoteric Qur’an commentary literature as they have evolved historically;
• The distinctive hermeneutical features of Qur’anic exegesis performed by minority Muslim communities including Sufi and Shi‘i (Twelver, Ismaili, Nusayri) commentators;
• How the Muslim Peripatetics (falasifa), such as Avicenna, have engaged with the Qur’an through Aristotelian and Neoplatonic lenses;
• The unique hermeneutical approaches of Muslim modernist thinkers in the 19th and 20th centuries;
• Interpretative engagements with the Qur’an from thinkers in South Asia and Southeastern Asia.

Any other topic that deals with Qur’anic hermeneutics is welcome.

PROGRAM UNIT 4
The Qur’an: Manuscripts and Textual Criticism

Program Unit Chairs
Alba Fedeli
Shady Hekmat Nasser

The aim of the Manuscripts and Textual Criticism unit is to provide a cross-disciplinary setting for the exploration of the various interconnected issues that arise when questions concerning the Qur’an’s text are investigated through the prism of its manuscript tradition. This latter term encompasses the field of Qur’an manuscripts per se, but also alludes to such information regarding the history of the text that can be gleaned from the citations, marginal notes, and detailed analysis provided in other branches of the Islamic sciences, for example Qur’an commentaries and the qira’at literature. It is hoped that bringing together scholars from a variety of disciplines will serve to enrich and strengthen each of these fields. The Manuscripts and Textual Criticism unit seeks to create a forum for the application of textual criticism to the Qur’anic text attested both in physical manuscripts and within the wider Islamic tradition. It also aims to investigate palaeographic, codicological, and art historical features in the Qur’an’s manuscript tradition.

The unit welcomes papers on any topic within the range of the interests of the Manuscripts and Textual Criticism program unit. In addition, the unit proposes a special thematic session for 2019: “Life of Qur’an manuscripts.” We invite proposals that touch upon issues related to the modification of manuscripts after they have been produced. Papers dealing with all eras and regions of the manuscript tradition are welcome. Submissions might focus on the insertion of marginalia notes, colophons, waqf statements, annotations, additions, amendments, the recycling of writing surfaces, etc., or on references to such practices in the traditional literature.

PROGRAM UNIT 5
The Qur’an and the Biblical Tradition

Program Unit Chairs
Nora K. Schmid
Holger Zellentin

The focus of this unit is the Qur’an’s relationship to the Biblical tradition in the broadest sense: the books of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament in the various languages of their original composition and later translations (regardless of a particular book’s status of canonization within specific Jewish or Christian groups), as well as the exegetical, homiletic, and narrative traditions of the Bible in written or oral form. For the 2021 meeting in San Antonio, the Qur’an and the Biblical Tradition unit welcomes proposals that engage any aspect of the relationship between the Bible and the Qur’an.

PROGRAM UNIT 6
The Qur’an and Late Antiquity

Program Unit Chairs
Johanne Christiansen
Michael Pregill

For the 2021 IQSA Annual Meeting in San Antonio, the Qur’an and Late Antiquity program unit invites proposals that utilize various types of material or evidence—be that literary, documentary, or epigraphic—to illuminate the historical context in which the Qur’an was revealed and the early Islamic polity emerged. This year, we are especially interested in papers that present and discuss the historical Muhammad, including new and comparative methodologies to approach this figure, the relationship between Muhammad and the Qur’an, and Muhammad’s role and function in the cultural, political, social, and religious environment of Late Antiquity.

PROGRAM UNIT 7
The Societal Qur’an

Panel Chairs:
Johanna Pink
Lauren Osborne

The Societal Qur’an unit invites proposals for papers that investigate the Qur’an in its lived and societal contexts throughout history, from Late Antiquity to contemporary Late Modernity. Proposals are encouraged that engage with sociological, anthropological, and political science theories and methods in their pursuit of the societal and lived Qur’an. Papers might, for instance, discuss topics such as ritual and artistic uses of the Qur’an, practices of teaching the Qur’an, talismanic and medical uses of the Qur’an, the production of manuscript, print, and new media versions of the Qur’an, or the deployment of the Qur’an in terms of social identity and political organization.

Questions? Email IQSA at contactus@iqsaweb.org!

© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2021. All rights reserved.

Call for Papers: MESA’s 55th Annual Meeting, October 28-31, 2021

MESAThe Middle East Studies Association of North America invites and encourages submissions for its 55th Annual Meeting to be held in the fall of 2021. Submissions by students are more than welcome. 

MESA is a leading international forum for scholarship, intellectual exchange, and pedagogical innovation. Since its founding in 1966, it has been the hub for academic collaboration within the field of Middle East studies. The meeting features panels and roundtables on a wide variety of topics related to the broader Middle East and North Africa from the 600s until the present. Presentations and discussions are complemented by an exciting film festival of documentaries, features, and shorts related to the region, as well as a comprehensive book exhibit featuring the latest publications in the field, in addition to a variety of other events and opportunities related to academic and professional careers in Middle East studies.

Submissions may be in the form of pre-organized panels, pre-organized roundtables, or individual papers (to be formed into panels by the program committee). 

MESA’s purview is primarily the area encompassing Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, and the countries of the Arab World (and their diasporas) from the seventh century to modern times. Other regions, including Spain, Southeastern Europe, China and the former Soviet Union, also are included for the periods in which their territories were parts of the Middle Eastern empires or were under the influence of Middle Eastern civilization. Comparative work is encouraged.

All submissions must be made through the myMESA electronic submission system (https://mesana.org/mymesa/login.php) which opens on Friday, January 8, 2021 and closes on Thursday, February 18, 2021 at midnight Eastern Standard Time. Late submissions will not be considered.

Important Links
* Call for Papers & Submission Instructions: https://mesana.org/annual-meeting/call-for-papers

 Membership is a requirement to submit a proposal. To renew your 2021 membership, login to your myMESA account. To join you will need to create an account in myMESA, complete a profile, and pay the annual dues. Contact Sara Palmer at sara@mesana.org with questions about membership. Preregistration payment is not required until May 15, after the program committee decisions are released. 

Please direct questions about submissions to Kat Teghizadeh at kat@mesana.org

Copyright © 2021 International Qur’anic Studies Association, All rights reserved.