The Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Workshop is pleased to announce its next session:

Disentangling Voice in the Qur’an: Discursive Constellation or Narrative Continuity

Cathy Bronson

Ph.D., Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Discussant: Jeremy Vecchi, Ph.D. student, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Date/Time: Thursday, May 17th, 4:30 PM

Location: Pick 218, 5828 S University Ave 

In order to facilitate a productive conversation of Cathy’s work, please make every effort to read the paper in advance of the workshop. If you need assistance or a copy of the paper, please email mehat2012@gmail.com.

Please join us for our next MEHAT workshop session this Thursday. The workshop will start at 4:45 PM this week and not its usual time of 4:30.

Emin Lelić
Ph.D. student, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

‘İlm-i firâset: A ‘Window into the Soul’ of an ‘Ottoman Mentality’

Discussant: Ahmet Tunç Şen, Ph.D. student, Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
Date/Time: Thursday, May 10, 4:45
Location: Pick 218, 5828 S University Ave, Chicago, IL

In order to facilitate a productive conversation of Emin’s work, please make every effort to read the paper in advance of the workshop. If you need assistance or a copy of the paper, please email mehat2012@gmail.com.

Please join us for our next MEHAT workshop session of the quarter:

“Recognizing Arab Jewish Refugees”

Shayna Zamkanei
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Political Science

Discussant: Christopher Markiewicz, Ph.D. Candidate, NELC
Date/Time: Thursday, April 19, 4:30 PM
Location: Pick 218, 5828 S University Ave

If you would like a copy of Shayna’s paper in advance of the workshop, please contact her at shaynaz@uchicago.edu.

Please join us for our first MEHAT workshop session of the spring quarter. In conjunction with the Early Modern History Workshop, MEHAT is happy to welcome:

Professor Snjezana Buzov
Dept. of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures
Ohio State University

Wall-less Walls: The Calligraphy at the Hacı Sinan Tekke in Sarajevo

Discussant: Sheila Wille

Time: Monday, March 26, 5 PM
Location: John Hope Franklin Room (Social Sciences 224)

In order to facilitate a productive conversation of Professor Buzov’s work, please make every effort to read the paper in advance of the workshop. If you need assistance or a copy of the paper, please send an e-mail to Christopher Markiewicz, cmark@uchicago.edu.

The Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Workshop is pleased to announce its schedule for the Winter Quarter. Workshop details may change in the coming weeks, so please check for updates. Also, please note that our first workshop with Professor Monica Ringer will take place on the Friday of first week.

Friday, January 6th at 4:30 PM, Professor Monica Ringer, Associate Professor of History and Asian Languages and Civilizations at Amherst College,
“Pious Citizens: theological origins of modernity in India and Iran”

Thursday, January 19th at 4:30 PM, Joe Yackley, PhD candidate in NELC,
“Visible Hands: Bankruptcy Negotiations in Egypt (1875-1879)”

Thursday, January 26th at 4:30 PM, Dominic Garzonio, MA student at Illinois State University,
“Hollywood’s Other Nazis: The Representation of Arabs in Film, 1939-1967″

Thursday, February 2nd at 4:30 PM, Jeff Bristol, MA student in CMES,
“Pashtunwali: Code of the Introverted Warrior”

Thursday, February 16th at 4:30 PM, Hani Khafipour, PhD candidate in NELC,
“Political Patronage and Clientelism in the Early Safavid State”

Thursday, February 23rd at 4:30 PM, Professor İlker Aytürk, Fulbright Fellow in NELC, Department of Political Science, Bilkent University,
“Samiha Ayverdi: Paradoxes of a Muslim-Turkish Woman”

Thursday, March 1st at 4:30 PM, Shayna Silverstein, PhD candidate in Music,
Title TBA

All workshops will take place in Pick 218. Papers will be circulated via the MEHAT list prior to each workshop. Please make every effort to read the papers before the workshop to ensure a productive discussion.

Thank you to those who joined us at Carlos’ presentation on Friday, September 30th! We look forward to seeing you at the following MEHAT workshops this quarter. We will pre-circulate papers on the MEHAT list and provide separate announcements for each event prior to the workshop.

Friday, September 30, 4:00 – 5:30, Pick 222: Carlos Grenier, Ph.D. student in History, University of Chicago, “Qāsim-i Anvār and Mystical Leadership in Timurid Iran.” Discussant: Austin O’Malley, Ph.D. student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations

Thursday, October 13, 4:30 – 6:00, Pick 218: Shatha Almutawa, Ph.D. candidate at the University of Chicago Divinity School, “Prophecy and Governance according to Al-Farabi and Ikhwan Al-Safa.” Discussant: Jessica Andruss

Thursday, November 3, 4:30 – 6:00, Pick 218: Cameron Cross, Ph.D. student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, “The City, Confounded: a discussion of the shahrashub in Persianate poetry.” Discussant: Jane Mikkelson.

Thursday, November 10, 4:30 – 6:00, Pick 218: Professor Maribel Fierro, Visiting Professor in Islamic Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, Research Professor at the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Center for Humanities and Social Sciences (CCHS) at the Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – CSIC, “The muwalladun in al-Andalus: the case of the Banu Qasi.” Discussant: Mohamad Ballan.

Thursday, November 17, 4:30 – 6:00, Pick 218: Ercüment Asıl, Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago, “Imagining Religion in Şemsettin Sami’s Popular Scientific Journal Hafta (1881-1882)”

Discussants will be posted in the coming weeks. Please email mehat2012@gmail.com if you have any questions, need assistance, or would like to present a paper.

The Middle East History and Theory Workshop is pleased to announce its first workshop of the 2011-2012 academic year:

Carlos Grenier
PhD Student in History, University of Chicago

The Caliph of the Unseen World: Qāsim-i Anvār and Mystical Leadership in Timurid Iran

Discussant: Austin O’Malley

Time: Friday, September 30, 4:00–5:30 pm
Location: Pick 222, 5828 S University Ave

In order to facilitate a productive conversation of Carlos’ work, please make every effort to read the paper before the workshop. You may request a copy of Carlos’ paper by emailing mehat2012@gmail.com.

the Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Workshop is pleased to announce its final meeting of the year:

Roy Fischel

PhD Candidate, History and South Asian Languages and Civilizations

Foreigners in the Deccan: Migration and Politics in South India, 1565-1636

Friday, May 27, 4:00-5:30, Pick 218

This paper is not pre-circulated. Light refreshments will be provided. Those who need special assistance are requested to contact Cameron Cross (mehat2011 [at] gmail.com) prior to the event. We look forward to seeing you there!