Research Projects

Joint BRISMES/BIPS Workshop - Clerical Authority in Shiite Islam

Culture and Learning in the Seminaries of Iraq and Iran

Dedicated project website

Introduction

This project is collaborative grant, awarded by the British Academy, and administered by BRISMES. The total award is circa £142k over three years, 2009-2012. It is informally referred to as the “Hawza project” as it aims to encourage research, particularly from doctoral, post-doctoral and emerging scholars on the system of clerical seminary education known as the Hawza. One additional aim of the project is to increase scholarly traffic between the Hawza and western academic research on the Hawza.

The project’s activities include:

(1) a series of workshops (some large and more formal, and some small and more intimate). The most recent workshop was held on 9^th December at the University of Exeter. Details can be seen online at: http://people.exeter.ac.uk/rmg205/hawzaprojectworkshop2.htm

The final workshop of year 1 will be at Royal Holloway, University of London on 30^th March 2010 – details to be announced in early 2010

(2) annual research programme grants (4 each year, totalling £5000 each)

(3) visiting scholarships (one month visits from scholars based outside of the UK to be stay at a UK institution, work with a UK-based academic on an agreed programme of research work).

(4) Publication of proceedings (projected as three collections of papers, relating to the research sponsored in each year of the project).

Liberation, Domination & Expression in the Middle East

Workshop on the Micro-political processes of Civility production
MECACS, University of St Andrews 8-9 February 2009

Introduction

Dr. Frederic Volpi (University of St Andrews)

Session 1:

Prof. Armando Salvatore (University of Naples)
The Grass Roots of Secular Politics
Dr. Frederic Volpi (University of St Andrews)
Civility and the political: online considerations from Morocco and France
Dr. Salwa Ismail (SOAS)
Discussant

Session 1

Dr. Andrea Teti (Aberdeen University)
Egypt: Democratization beyond elections
Dr. Omar Ashour (Exeter University)
Hesitant Moderates, Half-Hearted Radicals? The Muslim Brothers between Violence and Democracy
Mr. Angus Mckee (Foreign and Commonwealth Office)
Discussant

Roundtable 1

Comparative perspective: similarities and divergences with Europe
Dr. Salman Sayyid (Leeds University)
Dr. Salwa Ismail (SOAS)
Dr. Gurch Sanghera (University of St Andrews)
Dr. Jeffrey Murer (University of St Andrews)

Session 3

Dr. Adham Saouli (University College Dublin)
Hizbullah in the ‘Civilising Process'
Dr. Francesco Cavatorta (Dublin City University)
The civility & un-civility of the relations between secular and religious NGOs in North Africa
Dr. Tim Jacoby (Manchester University)
Political Violence, the ‘War on Terror' and the Turkish State

Session 4

Dr. Michelle Burgis (University of St Andrews)
The civility of targeted assassinations in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Dr. Pascal Venier (Salford University)
Towards a Geopolitics of Complexity? The Cynefin framework and the politics ‘from below'
Mr. Farid Boussai (Oxford University)
The place of the business sector in the Moroccan democratic opening
Dr. Fiona McCalllum (University of St Andrews)
Discussant

Roundtable 2

Theoretical comparisons: ‘high' and ‘low' politics in the MENA
Dr. Salman Sayyid (Leeds University)
Dr. Armando Salvatore (University of Naples - L'Orientale)
Prof. Ray Hinnebusch (University of St Andrews)
Dr. Frederic Volpi (University of St Andrews)

Faith, Politics and Society

Last year's Faith, Politics and Society workshop was dealing with 'Alternative Muslim Voices'. The idea stems from the fact that with the focus on radical Islam and their extremist political ideologies, moderate and liberal voices are marginalised.

Resistance, Representations and Identity

This research network has recently been taken over by Dr Ewan Stein. For further information, please see the dedicated website:

Forthcoming workshop - book a place

For further information, including timetables and panels

Contact Us

Administrative Office

Telephone: 0191 33 45179

Events

WOCMES 2010

The Third World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies will be held in Barcelona between 19th and 24th July 2010.