At the Deutscher Orientalistentag (DOT) in September

From 18 to 22 September 2017, the 33rd Deutscher Orientalistentag (DOT) is taking place in Jena/Germany. The DOT is the largest professional meeting of Oriental Studies in Germany, and generally takes place every four years. The OIB is participating at the DOT with a range of panels.

OIB research associate Torsten Wollina organised a panel together with Christopher Bahl (SOAS). Entitled “Reading the social world of medieval manuscripts: Cultural practices of transmission and their sociabilities”, this panel focuses on the social contexts and preconditions of manuscript use and production, exploring connections between reading and writing practices and their sociabilities across the medieval and early modern Islamicate world. Our deputy director Astrid Meier is also participating in this panel, as is former research associate Stefan Knost. You can find out more about this panel and its participants on Torsten’s blog entry here. The panel will take place on Tuesday, 19 September, from 9am to 5pm.

On Tuesday, 19 September at 4pm, Astrid Meier has organised a roundtable together with former OIB research associate Johann Büssow (Universität Tübingen) and Michaela Hoffmann-Ruf (Universität Bonn). “Between ‘close reading’ and ‘big data’: Archival and editorial practices in a digital age” explores digital techniques for the humanities by exchanging ideas about digital humanities projects in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies and discussing strategies and methods to analyse large data collections. Participants include Ade Mafalda, Michaela Hoffmann-Ruf, Boris Liebrenz, Astrid Meier, Christian Müller, Agnes Weiske and Johann Büssow.

Our Postdoctoral Fellow Fouad Gehad Marei is taking part in two sessions. On Tuesday afternoon he is participating in the panel “(Trans-) Regionalising Shia Islam”, and on Thursday afternoon he will present his paper on “The Greater Jihad: Social change and mobilization strategies in Hizbullah’s Resistance Society”.

Research associates Monique Bellan and Nadia von Maltzahn are organising a panel within their research cluster Culture, Art and the Public Sphere. The panel, entitled “Circulations of Exhibition Practices between Asia and Europe and Mechanisms of Canon Building” examines circulations of artistic practices between Asia and Europe by focusing on the role of institutions in shaping practices of modern and contemporary art. Particular attention will be paid to exhibitions and canons of art, and interactions and networks of artists within Asia and with Europe. The panel will take place on Wednesday, 20 September, from 9am to 12.30pm. Participants include Wendy Shaw, Nadia von Maltzahn, Franziska Koch, Combiz Moussavi-Aghdam, Sonja Mejcher-Atassi and Monique Bellan.

On Wednesday afternoon between 2 and 3pm, our publication department will present the publication series of the OIB, Bibliotheca Islamica, Beiruter Texte und Studien, and Orient-Institut Studies. We will answer questions about how to publish your work in one of our series!