THE IIS ACTIVITIES

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kmaherali
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Bringing the World of Wladimir Ivanow to Life for AKC Gallery Exhibition
13th January 2022

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"Wladimir Ivanow and Modern Ismaili Studies” is currently running at the Aga Khan Centre Gallery. In this personal piece, Russell Harris, who helped to plan the exhibition, reflects on the challenges and joys of bringing the scholar (1886-1970) and his work back to life.

Planning an exhibition of images related to a book is tantamount to preparing a truncated version of a Shakespeare play in a West End theatre. Every book is rich in nuance. A book dealing with historical events and intellectual history has the difficult task of applying emphasis, or even mentioning a select group of facts, in order to form a narrative. Where this narrative takes us and how gripped we are by it depend upon the skill of the author. Fortunately, when this task falls into the hands of Dr Farhad Daftary, Co-Director of the IIS and the editor of Fifty Years in the East: The Memoirs of Wladimir Ivanow, the reader is gifted with a text that provides an expert narrative based on extensively researched references, great historical insight, appreciation and respect for the subject’s life-long endeavours and a use of English that is both academic and clear.

Although I was brought into this project at a relatively early stage in this book’s process, this was to create potted biographies of the numerous orientalists named by Ivanow. Stage two was the request to find illustrations for the printed book—but here I wish to speak briefly of the process of creating an exhibition on the life and work of Ivanow with very little material to go on. Firstly, the whereabouts of any existing personal effects of Ivanow are known to no one—hence there are neither photograph albums for a curator to plunder nor possessions around which to build a story. What we are left with is the printed output of Ivanow, a small number of photographs of Alamut and the regions on which he published, one carte-de-visite style photographic portrait of him as a young man from a fashionable studio in Tsarkoe Selo, Russia, and two casual ”snaps” where a young Ivanow appears to be relaxing somewhere in India. All in all, very little.

In finding images for an exhibition, one must always look for those with a high degree of relevance to the subject, particularly as this is a documentary exhibition. The ramifications of this are that in looking for illustrative visual material we are limited to the sites mentioned by Ivanow and his time, with a generous allowance for material a few years either side. The exhibition is not a reflection of my preferences for showing remarkable images, or throwing side-lights on great historical photographs such as the amazing colour images made by Sergei Mikhailovich Prokudin-Gorskii (1863-1944), but fortunately I managed to find two images and am going to rhapsodise over one of them in the next sentence! The beauty of this very early colour photograph of “Men posing on the steps of the Registan, Samarkand” (pictured above) overturns all our preconceptions of the dusty, sepia-toned hues of much of the usual imagery of Central Asian scenes. Prokudin-Gorskii’s images required some patience, as the camera had to take three shots using different colour filters, and we can see in the bottom right that some of the seated younger boys fidgeted, resulting in slightly blurred faces—whereas the adults all seem to have been able to stand stock-still!

To collate material for the exhibition, I researched works cited by Ivanow, those cited by Dr Daftary, my own digital collection of images of Central Asia, Russian archives and the Library of Congress digital archives, among others. Collecting images for an exhibition, one has to throw a wide net and carefully sift the results. And the great enjoyment of a project like this is having the time, and reason, to look through acres of photographs of Tehran, Bombay, Cairo and Damascus, to trawl through travelogues in the hope that they might contain illustrations, and to consider that watercolourists or architectural artists might have captured the right moments in time. Most of the small portraits of the eminent orientalists seen in the exhibition have been provided by the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts, Russian Academy of Sciences, St Petersburg.

Having assembled a mass of visual material, there then begins a process of whittling down until we are left with an illustrated narrative that neither disrespects the subject, nor the viewer for their time. During the week-long process of installing the exhibition, which was designed by Esen Kaya, the Aga Khan Centre’s brilliantly talented curator, I offered a sneak peak to a few of the exhibition’s stakeholders. This was essentially an act of market research, as the lead curators Esen Kaya, Dr Taushif Kara and I wanted to benefit from the acute vision of Dr Daftary, Dr Shainool Jiwa and Dr Daryoush Poor. We listened to their comments, discussed them and made a few final tweaks to the exhibition.

To those who have not yet visited the exhibition, please do. Ivanow’s pioneering work on uncovering the lost treasures of Ismaili history and intellectual heritage played a foundational role in the establishment of The Institute of Ismaili Studies. The images on display, as well as the coins and manuscripts from the Ismaili Special Collections Unit, and the printed works kindly loaned by Dr Daftary, all bring to life Wladimir Ivanow and his work. We find ourselves walking in his footsteps throughout his life-long endeavour of uncovering the history of the Ismaili community and its rich intellectual heritage.

Russell Harris

Find out more about “Wladimir Ivanow and Modern Ismaili Studies” at the Aga Khan Centre Gallery https://www.agakhancentre.org.uk/galler ... i-studies/ .

https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/bringing-wor ... exhibition
kmaherali
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IIS Academic News - February Update

IIS Academic News

Dear friends and colleagues,

A warm welcome to new subscribers, and good wishes to all scholars, students, and friends of IIS. To those who may be unfamiliar, this monthly digest aims to bring you a flavour of the varied and rich academic life of the Institute, with news of upcoming events, publications and projects of particular interest to the scholarly community. We were pleased to meet many of you at our recent online conference, Fatimid Cosmopolitanism: History, Material Culture, Politics and Religion, and look forward to now gradually welcoming audiences back in-person (as well as continuing to do so online) for a new programme of events, in line with government guidance.

More information...

https://mailchi.mp/135b0ca56dce/iis-aca ... 7656dfeead
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Applications for IIS Doctoral Scholarship Now Open
3rd February 2022

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The IIS is pleased to announce that applications for the Doctoral Scholarship are now open. The deadline for applications is 31 March 2022.

The IIS awards Doctoral Scholarships each year to suitable candidates who are interested in pursuing research at PhD level on a topic related to any of the Institute’s core research areas. The most relevant to the Institute’s research needs are:

- Ismaili studies
- Wider Shi'i studies
- Quranic studies
- Islamic law
- Education
- Manuscript studies

The scholarship is also open to any areas in which Islam can be analysed in one of its various manifestations (historical, theological, philosophical, legal, educational, political, ritual, cultural, etc.).

The Institute’s Doctoral Scholarships programme was established in 1997. Since then, more than 52 scholarships have been awarded. The Doctoral Scholarships are a vehicle for intellectual advancement, career progression and human resources development.

To apply, please download and complete the application form and submit it together with the required documents to scholarships@iis.ac.uk by 31 March. All documents must be submitted in PDF format.

The application form must be accompanied by:

- Cover letter
- Updated CV
- Personal Statement of Commitment
- Copies of graduate-level academic transcripts, including a copy of your Master’s diploma
- Copy of letter of acceptance to doctoral programme
- Three letters of recommendation
- Writing sample
- Doctoral research proposal

Find out more about the Doctoral Scholarship Programme https://www.iis.ac.uk/graduate-studies/ ... holarships and how to apply https://www.iis.ac.uk/research/scholars ... /how-apply.

For any other information, please email us on scholarships@iis.ac.uk.

https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/applications ... p-now-open
kmaherali
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Re: THE IIS ACTIVITIES

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STUDENT VOICES: on Living my STEP Dream and Personal Growth
14th February 2022

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Mizhgona Okhonniyozova is a second-year Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP) student. Here she reflects on what’s she’s learned from her IIS experience and the reality of living her dream.

“It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.”

The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

STEP is far beyond what I was expecting before starting the programme. For me, it is not simply a master's, it is my dream that I am currently living. My fellow students and I are each on our own journeys and, together, we are exploring new and fascinating things. That’s why I call STEP “a journey inside a journey”.

Coming here during the COVID-19 pandemic was very challenging for all of us but we learned how to cope all together. Studying from our rooms without any possibility of going to the Institute and not being able to attend lectures and courses face to face together with peers, tutors, and teachers caused stress and anxiety for most of us. However, one magical sentence was the solution to all these obstacles: “We are here for you.” This was repeatedly said by my cohort mates and brilliant seniors, which kept me calm and helped me to go through this trial. It is not easy to build a relationship during challenging times, but we created a family. Now, we have coloured each other’s lives. Politics, race, gender aside, we were called here to love and to be loved. Here, people need other people; the little conversations, the friendly smile are the most valuable things for us. We cry together, laugh together, value simplicity, and discuss our dreams and ambitions.

What have I learned?

STEP has taught me to follow my dreams no matter if they seem impossible to achieve. I have learned to appreciate the little things and to make meaning out of them. The most important life-long lesson has been to allow myself to feel what I am feeling and practise being kind to myself. I have entered the stage of my life where I am a part of my own universe; I am experiencing myself, my thoughts, my feelings, and my dreams. I came with my identities as a young Ismaili girl from Tajikistan, but here I have made meaning of every single belief that I’ve carried throughout my whole life, shaped them, and taken them to other levels through reflection, questioning, understanding, and practising. I believe that there could be no better place for me than STEP to grow both personally and academically. A year and a half ago I was in a different phase of my life, dreaming of becoming a STEP teacher, but now I have almost finished the programme and become a thoroughly different person. I feel honoured and grateful to be one of the members of the STEP family.

Find out more about STEP https://www.iis.ac.uk/graduate-studies/step

Read more Student Voices. https://www.iis.ac.uk/search?query=student%20voices

https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/student-voic ... nal-growth
kmaherali
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Keynote: "The Proper Name" by Professor Faisal Devji
25th March 2022

Aga Khan Centre
10 Handyside Street
London
N1C 4DN
United Kingdom

About the event:

This event is the closing keynote address of the IIS-Cambridge workshop on the study of Islam at the end of empire. The workshop brings together scholars of Muslim thought in order to reassess and reconsider a critical moment in the making of modern Islam: the transition from orientalism to “Islamic Studies”. It foregrounds the possibility that the academic study of Islam emerged not as some orphan of empire but as an entirely distinct intellectual enterprise intimately linked with the arrival of post-colonial sovereignty. Workshop papers will consider how Islam was and is approached as a field of study, but also how formerly colonised actors imagined new worlds and modes of political subjectivity for themselves through the container of “Islam” and its histories.

The keynote address, building on these broad workshop themes, will explore the question: when and why did Islam come to be conceived of as a proper name?

Date: 25 March 2022

Time: 4.00pm – 5.30pm (UK)

Location: Aga Khan Centre, London and Online (Zoom)

Q&A: At any time during the conversation, online attendees can submit questions to the speakers through the Q&A option at the bottom of the control panel. As time allows, the moderator will pose as many questions as they can to the speakers during the Q&A session at the end of the presentation from audience members present both in-person and joining online.

Recording: Please note that the session will be recorded and published on the CIS YouTube channel.

Moderator: Dr Taushif Kara (Postdoctoral Research Associate, Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Cambridge, UK)

Speaker: Professor Faisal Devji (Professor of Indian History, and Director of the Asian Studies Centre, University of Oxford, UK)

Register to attend in person https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/keynote- ... 7540199207

Register to attend online: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/registe ... l6_fWP6aJw

Speaker(s)
Professor Faisal Devji
Faisal Devji is Professor of Indian History and Director of the Asian Studies Centre at St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford. He has held faculty positions at the New School in New York, Yale University and the University of Chicago, from where he also received his PhD in Intellectual History. He is a Fellow at New York University’s Institute of Public Knowledge and Yves Otramane Chair at the Graduate Institute in Geneva. Recent publications include Islam After Liberalism, The Impossible Indian: Gandhi and the Temptation of Violence, and Muslim Zion: Pakistan as a Political Idea.

https://www.iis.ac.uk/events/keynote-pr ... isal-devji
kmaherali
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Re: THE IIS ACTIVITIES

Post by kmaherali »

IIS Academic News - March 2022 Update

https://mailchi.mp/67582a8f9a24/iis-aca ... 7656dfeead
kmaherali
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Re: THE IIS ACTIVITIES

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International Women’s Day: IIS Women on Working at the Institute

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For International Women’s Day, seven women from across the IIS spoke to us about the joys and challenges of their jobs, their paths to the Institute, and the women who inspired them along the way.

Interviewees:

Remi Adebiyi (Human Resources Advisor);
Shola Ajilore (Project Manager, Department of Curriculum Studies);
Rosa Barugh (Academic Support Programmes Manager, Department of Graduate Studies);
Dr Laila Halani (Head of Department of Graduate Studies);
Farah Manji (Teaching and Learning Tutor, STEP);
Qudsia Shah (Research Officer, Constituency Studies Unit);
Naushin Shariff (Projects and Events Coordinator, Department of Academic Research and Publications).

Interviews at:

https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/internationa ... -institute
kmaherali
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Re: THE IIS ACTIVITIES

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The Metaphysical Dimension of the Prophet in Avicenna’s Thought

3rd February 2022

Islamic History and Thought Lecture Series

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Image: "Prophet Muhammad Preaching", Folio from a Maqtal-i Al-i Rasul of Lami'i Chelebi, late 16th c. Image credit: Met Museum.

The prophet has a major metaphysical function. This is a fundamental thesis of Avicenna’s prophetology, and one of the main theses that will be explored in this lecture. The Metaphysics of the Kitāb al-Šifā’ closes with a treatise on prophetology, and one must give a reason for that. The prophet is not only the one who transmits the revealed Law to mankind, nor merely the one who ensures the best possible government of the city: he is also a model of perfection for men. This exemplarity of the prophet has its foundation in the very structure of Avicenna’s metaphysics. The intellect, soul and body of the prophet – in their mutual relationship – present a perfect correspondence with the intellect, soul and body of the ten celestial entities that structure the cosmos according to Avicenna.

The mediation of the prophet – who is explicitly designated by Avicenna in accordance with the Qur’anic revelation as a man, a mere mortal – fully manifests the unbroken continuity that links the sensible world to the celestial world. The sensible world, which is the very last emanation of the ultimate flow from the First Principle, is not a world of exile, cut off from its source. The presence of the prophet – the noetic, psychic and ethical perfection that he embodies – indicates to humankind that the Return is possible, that the way back to the ultimate source is not closed. It is also in Book X of the Metaphysics of the Šifā’ that Avicenna establishes the link between the doctrine of prophecy and that of providence. This connection is also fundamental to understand the metaphysical dimension of the prophet.

Video:

https://www.iis.ac.uk/video/metaphysica ... -s-thought
kmaherali
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Re: THE IIS ACTIVITIES

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STUDENT VOICES: My Transformative STEP Journey

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Fariza Sheralieva is a second-year student on the Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP). Here she talks about learning what it means to be a teacher and discovering her full potential through the programme.

Being part of the IIS family and STEP programme for the second year has helped me to discover myself not only as a teacher but as an individual, a human being. One of the unique sides of the STEP programme is that it gives you the opportunity to listen to yourself, to your inner voice, which helps you to discover the hidden potential and diverse capacities within you. For me, each day in this programme has included time for self-reflection and improvement.

When you are a student in the programme and are simultaneously given the responsibility of educating adolescents, you and your students become mirrors that reflect each other. You become a person who thinks and reflects both as a student and as a teacher. Although I loved to be engrossed in teaching and learning before STEP, I probably focused more on the process of knowledge acquisition rather than on reflection and application. It was only in the STEP programme that I could see the full potential of being a teacher, an educator, a person who can touch young people’s lives and be accountable for it.

Despite every challenge faced because of the intensity of the programme, being far from my family members, who live in a remote region of Tajikistan (Khorog, Badakhshan—where I was born and grew up), and dealing with the pandemic, the programme has helped me first to connect with myself, with colleagues from around the world, with the Ismaili adolescents I taught and with the best sources of education. With all my confidence I can say that this programme offers the chance of rebirth, rejuvenation, and self-realisation, if you fully embrace all the opportunities it offers. My biggest achievement while being part of STEP is discovering who I am and where I go next.

Of course, the STEP journey does not end after completing the programme. It has a longer, more fruitful continuation. I am extremely excited about the start of the next chapter in my life. I will be going back to my context, Khorog, Tajikistan, in a few months and will join our STEP community as a teacher. There I will have an opportunity to share the knowledge and experience learned on the programme with the youth of Badakhshan, Tajikistan. I genuinely hope that my subsequent involvement with the programme as a professional teacher will allow me to inspire the youth of my community to aspire for knowledge, to explore their identity as Ismailis and Muslims, and to believe in themselves, as I have. One may think that STEP is all about preparing professional teachers for the Ismaili communities, but it is far broader than that. It is transformative.

https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/student-voic ... ep-journey
kmaherali
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IIS Academic News - April Update

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IIS Academic News - April 2022 Update

IIS Academic News
Dear friends and colleagues,

Discover a wide range of new articles, conference and lecture videos, as well as upcoming events this month, as well as the newly launched Aga Khan Library website.

Don't forget to subscribe to other IIS newsletters in your interest area via this sign-up form.

https://mailchi.mp/3b0e2dbfb1a9/iis-aca ... 7656dfeead
kmaherali
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Interview with Dr Dagikhudo Dagiev on Central Asian Ismailis

Post by kmaherali »

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The Panj River (Amu Darya) which divides Tajik Badakhshan from Afghan Badakhshan as a result of Anglo-Russian rivalry in Central Asia in the late 13th/19th century.

Dr Dagikhudo Dagiev is the author of the IIS’s most recent book—and first Open Access title—Central Asian Ismailis: An Annotated Bibliography of Russian, Tajik and Other Sources. In this interview, he reveals how he hopes the book will open up new ground in the study of the Ismailis of Central Asia.

What can readers expect from the book?

The book is one of the first comprehensive studies of the history of the Ismailis of Central Asia in the English language and covers Ismaili daʿwa and daʿi activities in the region. The most significant aspect of the book is that it not only deals with the study of the history of the Ismailis of Central Asia but it is also a bibliographical study, which focuses primarily on Ismaili literature produced by Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholars in the region. The bibliographic study focuses primarily on written materials produced by Russian scholars from the era of the expansion of Russian imperial rule in Central Asia (then known as Turkestan) in the mid-nineteenth century to the period after 1917, and the work of Soviet and post-Soviet scholars. It also includes other studies on Nasir-i Khusraw and the Ismailis of Central Asia. The book aims to show the trajectory of the development of Ismaili studies in the regions under Russian influence.

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Map of Badakhshan.

Please can you tell us about the book’s origins? What led you to write on this topic?

The book project was born as a result of a few discussions that I had with a very dear colleague, Kutub Kassam, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. During these discussions we talked about the distinguishing role played by Nasir-i Khusraw in the spread of the Ismaili daʿwa in what is now known as Central Asia, and later Russian occupation of the region and the life of the Ismailis under Soviet/Communist rule. His suggestion was that most of these studies, including recorded materials, reports, published and unpublished scholarly works, were produced in two phases: under the Russian imperial and then the Soviet Communist rules. These were mainly written in Russian and Tajik Cyrillic alphabet, hence not accessible to a wider audience, and particularly to Western scholarship. So, the book originated with the intention of making them accessible to scholars, students and those who are interested to know and learn about Russian and Soviet studies on the Ismailis of Central Asia. The project was then discussed and elaborated on with Dr Farhad Daftary, Co-Director of the IIS. The idea of a book project about Central Asian Ismailis and an annotated bibliography of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholars, which included other studies as well, was very well received by Dr Daftary, who provided his full support.

Please can you tell us about the compilation of the annotated bibliography and its significance?

Understandably, the most challenging aspect of this project was the identification and accessing of all the material, including published books and articles, recorded materials, unpublished manuscripts, theses, and documents mainly by Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholars on the Ismailis of Central Asia, a field on which relatively little has been published in the West. I conducted two field studies in Tajikistan and also obtained some of the materials through the assistance of friends and colleagues from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russian libraries and archives, as well as the large collection of many of these materials in the library at the Aga Khan Centre. In total, over 700 entries have been identified and annotated in the study.

In what way is the book significant for Ismaili studies and broader scholarship on Islam?

This is one of the first ever comprehensive studies about the Ismailis of Central Asia. The annotated bibliography includes almost every study regarding the Ismailis of Central Asia and Nasir-i Khusraw that has been produced by Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholars. It will help scholars and students and those who have an interest in the subject to instantly identify relevant materials relating to various aspects of the life of the Ismailis of Central Asia. In addition, the comprehensive survey and rich bibliography aim to illuminate the history and historiography of the Ismailis in Central Asia in particular, but Muslims of Central Asia in general, and facilitate and advance further study on the subject by experts around the world.

Why is this book significant for Central Asian Ismailis in particular?

Even though there have been some smaller studies about the Ismailis of Central Asia and Nasir-i Khusraw, no comprehensive study dealing with the history of the Ismailis of Central Asia and the particular role played by Nasir-i Khusraw has been produced. In particular, this volume for the first time deals specifically with the three phases of the development of Ismaili studies: the period of expansion of Russian imperial rule; later development under Soviet/Communist rule; and post-Soviet studies. Moreover, an analysis of the poetry and religious literature demonstrates that, despite living in a hostile environment, surrounded by a Sunni majority, and governed by autocratic rulers—and being generally isolated from the outside world in the remote high Pamir mountains—the Ismaili community were still well aware of the Persian literature tradition and its main themes such as love, beauty, ethics, religion and philosophy. They were also able to maintain their religious traditions and beliefs, passing them down through the generations over centuries.

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Hājat va Munājāt-i Mubārak-i Wakhānī.

How would you like to see your book used?

I would like to see the book used by scholars and students alike; Ismaili community members might also benefit from it. Experts on the religious history of the region in connection to the Ismailis of Central Asia and their neighbouring constituencies might find it a useful basis for their research. In general, the book might appeal to individuals interested in Central Asian history, including Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet scholarship on Islam.

Read Central Asian Ismailis https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/b ... r-sources/

https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/interview-au ... n-ismailis
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IIS Digital Curriculum Subscriptions Now Available

Post by kmaherali »

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April 18, 2022 | Canada

The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) is pleased to announce that the Pre-school, Ta'lim, and Secondary curriculum materials are now available in digital format to the [Jamat. These materials can be accessed through the IIS Digital Curriculum e-book platform. Please visit your local Literature Centre to purchase a subscription.

https://iicanada.org/news/faith-traditi ... -available
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IIS launches new website

Post by kmaherali »

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The IIS invites readers to explore the new website and its improved user experience.

The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) is delighted to announce the launch of the new IIS website, which benefits from a complete redesign and the addition of several exciting new features.

The new site’s development has been shaped by feedback collected from hundreds of IIS staff, students, and other website users in an initial evaluation stage, with the goal of creating a digital presence that serves the needs of all the Institute’s diverse audiences more effectively and intuitively.

Two core improvements are at the heart of the new website. First, visitors will enjoy faster and more intelligent search functionality, meaning that they can find relevant content quicker. They will be able to search and filter listings on news, events, publications and course pages, so they can more easily find the content they want.

Second, the display of content has been upgraded to make it easier to scan and find information more quickly, including new horizontal menus and a related items section on each page.

Other key new features include:

- Redesigned IIS publications pages https://iis.ac.uk/publications-listing/ , which make it easier to scan and discover related titles by author or series;
- Redesigned graduate studies https://iis.ac.uk/study-at-the-iis/graduate-studies/ and short course pages https://iis.ac.uk/study-at-the-iis/short-courses/ , including a new eligibility survey form;
- Redesigned research pages https://iis.ac.uk/research-publications/research/ , with a stronger link to related IIS publications and series;
- New and improved IIS researcher profiles https://iis.ac.uk/our-people/ ;
- Redesigned homepage https://iis.ac.uk/ with clearer connections to different areas of the Institute’s work.

“The launch of the new IIS website is an important step towards enhancing and expanding the Institute’s digital presence and offerings,” said Dr Farhad Daftary, Co-Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications.

“I am delighted that the redesign better serves the needs of our diverse audiences, from members of the Jamat to academics and students. We hope it will also encourage new users to engage with and explore the IIS’s range of activities promoting better understandings of Muslim cultures and societies.”

The IIS invites readers to explore the new website and its improved user experience. The communications department is still making adjustments and encourages users to continue submitting feedback and suggestions to keep shaping the new site via the feedback survey form that appears upon exit.

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Explore the new IIS website, and keep up to date with IIS news by signing up to the Institute’s newsletters.

https://the.ismaili/global/news/institu ... -173435533
kmaherali
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IIS Academic News - May 2022 Update

Post by kmaherali »

Dear friends and colleagues,

We're thrilled to share with you this month a number of exciting developments, not least the launch of our brand-new website, as well as details of a very special event celebrating Dr Janis Esots (1966-2021) taking place next week. We very much hope you're able to join us, either in-person or online.

More...

https://mailchi.mp/e49b94647f1c/iis-aca ... 7656dfeead
kmaherali
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IIS Academic News - July 2022 Update

Post by kmaherali »

Dear friends and colleagues,

We're thrilled to launch a new interactive timeline this month tracing the history of the IIS - discover some of our milestones leading up to the present day. Look out too for details of upcoming lectures, conferences, and a landmark new Open Access publication from Dr Wafi Momin, Head of the Ismaili Special Collections Unit at IIS. We look forward to seeing you in person or online at our next events (and do subscribe to the IIS YouTube channel to catch up on any you may have missed).

More....

https://mailchi.mp/7c31840434e4/iis-aca ... 7656dfeead
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Dr Farhad Daftary Set to Step Down from Management Role and IIS Appoints New Director

Post by kmaherali »

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Incoming Director of IIS Professor Zayn Kassam.

After having served for 34 years in leadership positions at The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS), including the past 12 years as Co-Director, Dr Farhad Daftary has decided to step down from his management roles in early January 2023. Dr Daftary will not be retiring from IIS, but will continue his scholarly research, writing and teaching activities indefinitely.

Dr Daftary has had a very significant impact on the field of Ismaili studies during his career and has led by example with his many groundbreaking publications relating to Ismaili history. Once he has passed on his management responsibilities to his successor, he will have more time to focus on his research and writing.

As appropriate recognition of his contributions to IIS and his long service, Dr Daftary has been conferred the lifetime title Director Emeritus to take effect when he relinquishes his current role, and will be appointed to the IIS Board of Governors. In this way, IIS staff, students and other stakeholders will continue to benefit directly from his knowledge, wisdom and guidance.

Following a thorough and extensive international search process undertaken by the Board of Governors, which considered internal and external candidates, Professor Zayn Kassam has been appointed as the next Director of IIS to succeed Dr Daftary with effect from January 2023.

Professor Kassam is a highly accomplished scholar and academic leader and has spent the last 27 years in a variety of positions at Pomona College in California. She is currently the Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and serves as the John Knox McLean Professor of Religious Studies. She has served as Chair of the Religious Studies Department twice, the Director of the Pacific Basin Institute, Co-Chair of the Climate Study Group, Co-ordinator for Gender and Women’s Studies, Co-ordinator for Middle Eastern Studies, as well as holding numerous other senior committee roles at Pomona. Professor Kassam has undertaken many activities outside of Pomona College, including serving on the Board of the American Academy of Religion and has won many prestigious prizes and awards for her scholarship and teaching. Prior to joining Pomona College, Professor Kassam’s undergraduate, graduate and doctoral studies were undertaken at McGill University in Montréal, Canada. Professor Kassam spent a year as a visiting fellow at IIS in the late 1990s.

The Board thanks Dr Daftary for his many years of service to IIS, congratulates him on his appointment to the Board of Governors and wishes him continued success in his new role as well as welcoming Professor Kassam as the incoming Director of IIS.

https://www.iis.ac.uk/news/2022/septemb ... -director/
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