• Applicants will have a relevant university degree demonstrating their suitability for entry to the Post Graduate Program. For example, this may be a master’s degree in Islamic or Religious Studies or in Islamic Theology. Applicants are required to submit a summary about their academic suitability, in particular, providing details about their academic background and research proposal.
• Since all Post Graduate Program courses are taught in German candidates must be fluent in written and spoken German.
• A basic level of fluency in English is also required, as visiting scholars from abroad will participate in the international program and an international conference will be held annually. Candidates must also demonstrate fluency in the relevant languages for interpreting primary texts and secondary literature.
• All candidates are expected to actively participate in the Post Graduate Program lectures and events

par Dr AS Boisliveau 

 

ENDS AND BEGINNINGS

Annual conference of the EASR (European Association of the Study of Religion)
Special conference of the IAHR 

Södertörn University, Stockholm. 23-26 August, 2012

 Date limite: 1er mai 2012!!

Religion, it has been claimed, is generated by our desire to escape from the tyranny of time. Through certain thoughts and practices, people have sought to evade the end that our temporal existence so inevitably seems to lead up to. Religion often circles around the promise of a new beginning - a prosperous life in this world or a renewed existence in the hereafter. In the Abrahamic traditions, humankind is placed at the heart of a cosmic drama that is framed by notions of an absolute beginning, an apocalyptic end, and, beyond that, an eternity that obliterates the boundaries of time. Ritualized activities, furthermore, are often performed as expressions or celebrations of ends and beginnings - of seasons, communities or of phases in an individual's life.

All these matters have attracted the attention of scholars of religion, as has the larger question of whether there can be said to be a beginning or an end of religion in general. Can we - in the darkness of prehistory or in the evolution of human cognition - localise a beginning of religion? And, is it - in a time when theories of secularisation, rationalisation and disenchantment are increasingly put into question - still possible to speak of the decline of religion or of its end?
We are pleased to invite scholars of different disciplines to take part in this conference, by which we hope to stimulate theoretical, methodological and empirical progress within the academic study of religion. Ends and beginnings is the 11th annual conference of EASR (European Association for the Study of Religion). It is a special conference of the IAHR (International Association for the History of Religions) and is organized in collaboration with SSRF (Swedish Association for the History of Religions).
Abstract submission deadline: May 1, 2012

It is now possible to register to the conference. In order to register, please use the link below.

Abstracts for individual papers can now also be submitted. You can either submit an abstract to one of the open paper sessions or register your abstract as "Other" (end of list). 

Conference fees until the 15th of June:

120€ Full registration fee
80€ PhD/Student
170€ Late registration fee (after 15th of June)
120€ Late registration fee for PhD/Students (after 15th of June)

Register and submit abstracts here

If you have any questions related to the academic content of the conference, please contact the organising commitee.

If you have questions about your registration or other administrative services, please contact Meetagain Konferens: easr2012@meetagain.se 

http://webappo.web.sh.se/EASR2012#!/p3/ext/content.nsf/aget?openagent&key=easr2012_1304345036643 

SESSIONS ON ISLAM

11. Traditional Islamic Education: Ends and Beginnings?
Discussed topic linked as it is (legitimately or otherwise) to concerns about identity, extremism and educational attainment. In this panel we seek to discuss the relation between traditional Islamic teaching/learning and challenges posed by globalization and modernization: What is the role and function and value of memorization and rote learning in the age of "google"? How do teachers of confessional/traditional Islamic subjects meet the challenges of modern pedagogy and society? How do they compete in the Islamic formation of young Muslims with the influence of other, electronic sources of knowledge about Islam? To what extent can traditional Islamic education form a respected part of a society's wider education system? In that education has often been in the centre of Islamic reform, what are the major pedagogical trends? How do young Muslim learners negotiate their position in relation to the different pedagogies they experience in Islamic and "mainstream" education? We would like to invite scholars who study Islamic teaching and learning and are interested in these questions to submit papers to our panel.
Jenny Berglund, Södertörn University, Sweden

12. The Validity of Shari'ah in the 21st Century
Abdallah Kheir, Kenyatta University, Kenya

13. Religions in Central Asia and Caucasus: either Tolerance or Threats
The Panel is devoted to the timely questions of historical and contemporary poly-confessional situation in Central Asia and Caucasus. Last decades the issue of religion and the potential threats poses to Central Asian and Caucuses countries – the cross-route of Civilizations and Religions. These historical specifics are the background for the contemporary traditions of tolerance and patience. At the same time, the real threats, every often connected to religion, faced in the Region. Panelists will show historical background and current situation taken part in the Region.
Prof. Dr. Gulnara Mendikulova, World Association of the Kazakhs, Kazakstan

14. Trends in Contemporary Salafi Discourse
Salafism has emerged as a strong and diversified current in contemporary Islam. We can distinguish different kinds of Salafism with varying views on how to implement dogma. Some advocate complete segregation. Some take part in elections. Yet others call for a global jihad to convert the world to their version of Islam. We invite papers on Salafism related to various themes, such as politics, faith, inter-religious communication, violence, utopian struggle, worldview, aqidah etc.
Susanne Olsson, Södertörn University, Sweden

16. "The Best of Epochs is Mine" - Returning to the Origins in Contemporary Islam
The panel invites papers on Muslims activists who joined movements that claim to go back to the origins of Islam. These include Salafis, modernists and postmodernists. The aim of the panel is to reflect on deep biographies of men and women who turn to such movements, with a desire to reach or realize a pure, unadulterated meaning and practice of Islam. Comparative cases will highlight meanings of Islam that have been ignored in the social and political implications of these movements.
Abdulkader Tayob, University of Cape Town, South Africa

17. Perspectives of the Dialogues between Christians and Muslims
Dialogues between Christians and Muslims at the court of Abbasid caliphs. -Second Vatican Council (Dignitatis Humanae, Lumen Gentium, Nostra Aetate) -Activity by John Paul II including the political alliance with Bhenazir Bhutto and other Muslim leaders. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, a prominent person in the recent Vatican administration, maybe the follower to Benedict XVI. Secular aspect e.g. peacemaking. 
Sandor Foldvari, Debrecen University, Hungary

18. Egypt and the Arab Spring
The popular revolution in Egypt has given rise to new and unexpected developments in terms of the political role of religion. The Muslim Brotherhood has emerged as a strong political power. At the same time, conservative Salafis formed political parties. Copts are torn between forming own parties or align with others. The rising role of religion in post-revolutionary Egypt raises several important questions dealt with in this session.

Susanne Olsson, Södertörn University, Sweden 

By Tunde Fatunde. Scholars from universities in and outside Africa gathered in the Nigerian city of Calabar recently to examine the role of Arab merchants in the trans-Saharan slave trade, which lasted for 17 centuries. For various reasons, the trans-Saharan slave trade – unlike trans-Atlantic slavery – is under-studied.
The international seminar was organised by UNESCO and the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation, or CBAAC, a Nigerian government agency.
Papers presented agreed that both slave trades were unprecedented in history and responsible for the deportation of millions of Africans to various parts of the world.
The participants also considered both slave trades to be crimes against humanity as defined by United Nations resolutions flowing from the 2001 Durban conference on racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia.
Nigerian representatives in UNESCO have for decades urged member countries to examine the Atlantic and trans-Saharan slave trades as a key reason for under-development in Africa.
It was major historical works on this issue by historians like Professor Ade Ajayi of the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, and Professor Joseph Ki-Zerbo of the University of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso, that finally convinced UNESCO leaders to wake up to the organisation's historical responsibilities to Africa.
As a response to ongoing pressure from Haiti, Nigeria and other Sub-Saharan countries, and Caribbean and South American representatives, UNESCO’s general conference at its 27th session in 1993 approved the Slave Routes Project.
This is a vast research project whose aim, among other things, is to break the silence over one of humanity’s greatest tragedies and also to promote pluralism and intercultural dialogue among nations on the subject.
Armed with the UNESCO mandate Tunde Babawale, a professor at the University of Lagos and director-general of CBAAC, last year organised an international conference, “Slavery, Slave Trade and its Consequences”, at Iloko-Ijesha in Nigeria.
“Many of the papers presented at that conference focused mainly on the trans-Atlantic slave trade,” Babawale said. “Many participants felt that there was need to also focus on the trans-Saharan slave trade. As a scholar I felt that we should also do justice to the other leg of slave routes."
The Nigerian delegation at UNESCO was able to convince the Paris-based UN organisation’s scientific committee on the Slave Route Project to host one of its international conferences in Nigeria. And Calabar, an ancient slave port, was chosen as the location for the event titled “Slave Trade and Slavery in the Arab Islamic World: Untold tragedy and shared heritage”.
In his opening address Toyin Falola, a professor of history at the University of Texas – Austin in the US and vice-chair of the UNESCO committee, affirmed that the seminar was not aimed at casting aspersions on any religion or culture.
“This gathering of researchers is to focus more on promoting research and initiatives on slave trade and slavery in regions insufficiently covered, within Africa and the Arab-Muslim world among others,” he declared.
Common strands
Despite the vast and complex nature of the various papers presented by scholars, there were common strands among them.
Slavery and slave trading are among the oldest economic modes of production in history. Domestic slavery existed in Africa before the advent of externally motivated slave trades by Arabs and Europeans.
The lifespan of slavery varied from one continent to the other.
Africa’s domestic slavery was fuelled by demands for slaves to work in plantations and mines in the Americas, North Africa, the Middle East, the Persian Gulf and South East Asia including China and Japan. Some African kings became active suppliers of Africans as slaves to international European and Arab slave merchants.
The trans-Saharan slave trade commenced late in the 7th century when Abdallah Ben Said, the King of Islamised Egypt, conquered via Jihad the Sudan – “the land of infidels” – and in 652 imposed on Sudanese King Khalidurat a treaty known as Bakht.
One of the clauses of the treaty was the compulsory annual supply by the Sudanese king of hundreds of African slaves to the Muslim king of Egypt. The European trans-Atlantic slave trade took off 10 centuries later, in 1693.
Some of the seminar participants affirmed that while the trans-Atlantic slave trade lasted for four centuries (1693-1884), the trans-Saharan slave trade continued for 17 centuries (652-1960).
There were similarities between the slave trades. Some Arab scholars, such as Ibn Khaldun, justified the trans-Saharan slave trade by interpreting some sections of the Koran that ‘authorised’ the enslavement of African ‘infidels’ by Arab slave merchants, the ‘chosen race’.
And some European scholars supported the trans-Atlantic slave trade by making copious references to the book of Genesis in the Bible. Consequently, slavery was not the product of racism. However, racism was one consequence of slavery.
The participants agreed that both slave routes were responsible for the migration of millions of Africans to other parts of the world. The statistics of deported Africans remain highly controversial among scholars.
One participant referred to the book Le Genocide Viole, written by the Senegalese historian and anthropologist Tidiane N’Diaye, who, using various sources, estimated that the trans-Atlantic slave trade deported some 20 million people while the trans-Saharan slave trade displaced around 10 million Africans.
Silences
Two issues were not given prominence by the participants: women slaves and male castration.
The perpetuation of African slaves was fundamentally assured by women slaves who were indiscriminately coupled to men without their consent.
Castration of numbers of male slaves by Arab merchants was a prominent feature of the trans-Saharan slave trade.
Castrated male slaves were purchased by rich Arab kings and princes and employed as security agents to protect harems where their wives and concubines were caged. The castration process described in Tidiane N’Diaye’s book is inhumane.
Slavery creates permanent violent conflicts between the slave and the master. Salah Trebelsi, a historian at the University of Lyon in France, gave a graphic description of revolts by African slaves in Iraq between the seventh and the ninth centuries.
A common feature across papers was the perpetuation and preservation of modified African cultures, religions, medicine and music by descendants of African slaves in Arab and Muslin countries.
An illustration of this cultural resistance by descendants of African slaves in Iran was captured in a paper by Behnaz Mirzai of Brock University in Canada, “Africans in Baluchistan: Acculturation and healing rituals”.
A major resolution adopted by conference participants was the need to create a network of researchers on the slave trade and slavery in the Arab and Islamic worlds. A similar network has already been created by UNESCO around the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Cycle de conférences sur les soulèvements arabes

 

Séance 5 - Jeudi 10 mai 2012 à 17h30
MMSH Aix, Salle Paul-Albert Février


"La question islamiste dans le printemps arabe"

 

Séance introduite et présentée par Alix Philippon (CHERPA)

Intervenants :

 

• François Burgat, directeur de recherches (CNRS), directeur de l’Institut Français du Proche Orient

• Jean-Pierre Filiu, professeur associé à Sciences Po Paris

• Patrick Haenni, chercheur à l’Institut Religioscope, Fribourg

 

 

Thawra - Affiche séance du 10 mai 2012

 

Présentation séance 10 mai 2012

Présentation du Cycle de Conférences CHERPA/IREMAM "Thawra" et calendrier des séances 2012

Jessica Shepherd, education correspondent, guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 April 2012. 'We need to be more cautious about sex too,' says vice-chancellor of London Metropolitan University.

Les Jeudis de l’Ima sont partenaires de "Plateformes", la webradio de France Culture, produite par François Carles-Gibergues. "Plateformes" a l’ambition de s’adresser à des auditeurs du monde entier, désireux d’écouter des programmes qui les informent dans les disciplines du savoir et de la création, et leur ouvrent de nouveaux horizons tant sur le plan intellectuel, scientifique qu’artistique.

Soucieuse de la forme autant que du fond, elle offre aux internautes l’accès aux cours les plus prestigieux des universités et des institutions culturelles de France et de la francophonie. Accéder au site de Plateformes.
PRINTEMPS DES POÈTES - DÉDIÉ AU PRINTEMPS ARABE. 15 mars 2012. salle du haut conseil - 18h30
Le poète est un révolté né. Mais sa révolte n’est pas animée par un programme politique trivial, elle s’attache plutôt à dénoncer par la magie des mots tous ceux qui rendent l’existence médiocre et sans horizons. Aussi leur parole est-elle salutaire dans nos temps de détresse et d’espérance.
Avec : Taha Adnan, poète, écrivain et journaliste marocain, dont le texte théâtral "Bye bye Gillo" a remporté le deuxième prix au Concours international du monodrame arabe des Emirats en 2011 ; Girgis Shukry est l’une des voix poétiques égyptiennes les plus importantes qui ont émergé ces deux dernières décennies, il publie, en 1996, Asqut tahta hiza'i (Je tombe sous ma chaussure) ; Mazen Maarouf, poète, écrivain et critique littéraire et artistique ; Nicole Gdalia, agrégée de lettres, docteur en Sciences de l’art et des religions, elle a enseigné à la Sorbonne nouvelle ainsi qu'à l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, son Alphabet de l’Eclat, une anthologie personnelle, est parue en 2005 ; Jean-Luc Despax, poète, prix Arthur Rimbaud en 1991 pour son recueil Grains de beauté, collabore chaque mois au journal d’information et d’actualité poétique Aujourd’hui poème, son dernier livre, Des raisons de chanter (poèmes, Le Temps des Cerises) est paru en 2007.