Author: Nassef Manabilang Adiong

1st Panel: “Islam and Democracy”
The two terms in the title of this section are contentious and therefore the first thing the abstracts and papers have to do is define what they mean. The papers could address: Democratic practice in any historical context, comparative Nation-state practices, or theoretical arguments. The call for papers will focus on new and innovative presentations of Islam and democracy, since the topic has a legacy of numerous contributions.

2nd Panel: “Diplomacy in Islam: Past and Present”
The intellectual history and practice of international relations in Islam has long been understudied within both the field of International Relations and of Middle Eastern Studies. In this framework, the issue of diplomacy in Islam has almost gone unnoticed and unaddressed in mainstream academia. However, on the one hand the evolving interaction between Islam and politics in recent years has brought to fore the necessity of rethinking the nature and goals of diplomacy and international relations in Islam and how they contribute or challenge mainstream paradigms and practices of world affairs and, on the other hand, Muslim religious scholars have long argued that the diplomatic and international realms are incorporated in the overall worldview of Islam and, therefore, there exist analogues to the concepts of diplomacy (what we can call “Islamic diplomacy”) and international relations in Islamic sources and intellectual history which deserve serious attention by both academicians and political practitioners. This panel focuses on diplomacy, addressing both how Muslim scholars have conceptualized diplomacy and Muslim countries practiced it throughout history, from the time of the Prophet Muhammad up until current days, both in terms of intra-community diplomatic relations, i.e. relations of Muslim countries within the community of Islam, and trans-community, i.e. relations of Muslim countries with non-Muslim countries. The overall aim of the panel is to draw a first overall picture of diplomacy in Islam as a basis for future research.

3rd Panel: “Islamic Law and International Law”
Explores interdisciplinary approaches of Islamic Studies to law especially how Islamic law (loosely understood as shari’ah) engages with the internationality aspect of human laws including public and private international laws. It seeks to uncover the global and ethical dimensions of Islamic law and how it responds to international conventions, regional institutions, and transnational norms, in particular, the flexibility of shari’ah as it evolves over time and space so as to achieve its higher moral objectives.

Organiser: International Relations and Islamic Studies Research Cohort (Co-IRIS)
Paper proposals must include a title, a 300-400 word abstract, and 100-word bio note.
Proposals must be in English.
Deadline for submission: 30 November 2017
Submit your proposals to info@coiris.org and include carbon copies to deina_abdelkader@uml.edu, contact@nassef.info, and raffaele.mauriello@me.com.

Event: 5th World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies (WOCMES)
Place: Seville, the capital of Andalusia
Dates: 16-22 July 2018
Website: http://wocmes2018seville.org/web/index.php/en/

Below is an excerpt from Inside Higher Ed‘s piece written by Elizabeth Redden.

Another scholar from overseas had a difficult time entering the U.S. for the conference. Nassef Manabilang Adiong, the founder of the Philippine International Studies Organization, came from Manila to Baltimore via Tokyo and Detroit. He said he was about to board his flight for the Tokyo-Detroit leg when he was taken from the line and questioned by a U.S. official about his address in Manila, his family, his background and the foreign countries he had visited.

“I thought that after this situation had happened to me, I would not have any difficulty at the port of entry in Detroit,” Adiong said. But upon arrival in the U.S., Adiong said, he was brought into a room for secondary screening and questioned for two hours by two immigration officials whose questions kept circling around issues of Islam and terrorism. They let him go about five minutes before his connecting flight to Baltimore was scheduled to leave. “It was just a random check, that’s what they said,” Adiong said.

Adiong, whose research is about Islam and international relations in the pre-modern era, described the experience as exasperating, exhausting and embarrassing. “I’m having second thoughts of coming back for future ISA conferences under the current USA administration,” he said. “Probably after this administration I may attend.”

Full article is available here.

The section addresses the role of Islam in world affairs. It seeks to explore the empirical experiences and ideational perspectives of the Islamic civilisation on world affairs with regards to statecraft, governance, transnational movements, Islamic State (ISIS, ISIL, Daesh) phenomenon, and Islamic contributions to the field of International Relations.

The section offers analyses of concrete historical experiences and Islamic theoretical approaches to the field of International Relations. Most of the researches carried out by students of IR have fallen into two extremes: they have either overlooked Islamic contributions to world affairs and the field of International Relations — and the rich tradition of the Islamic civilisation with regards to international affairs and statecraft— or tried to ‘Islamise’ the Western tradition of IR. Going beyond these extremes, the aim of the section is to build bridges between IR and Islam by looking into various variables such as theories, empirical experiences and categorical levels of generalisation in international relations.

The overall objective is to both (1) develop a body of knowledge that addresses the theories and practices of the Islamic civilisation and of Muslim societies vis-à-vis international affairs and the discipline of International Relations and (2) set a model for the inclusion of Muslim contributions to the field of IR in order to enrich, diversify and strengthen it.

Section Chairs:

School Harvard Divinity School

Position Description

Harvard University’s Faculty of Divinity seeks to make a full-time, tenured appointment to the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Chair in Contemporary Islam. We seek a scholar whose work engages the social, intellectual, political, artistic, economic, or any other aspect of contemporary Islamic life with specialization in Southeast Asia. The candidate should demonstrate a deep understanding of the historical, social, and cultural contexts of Islamic institutions, movements, and ideas in Southeast Asia with emphasis on the 18th-century to the present. The candidate should be also conversant with the broader, global history of Islamic religion and culture.

Basic Qualifications

Applicants should be competent in the appropriate research languages and be able to teach and advise at the doctoral and master’s levels. Applicants should also be able to contribute to the Divinity School’s degree programs, including its multi-religious Master of Divinity program, and be familiar with forms of analysis that address race, gender, and social location. The successful candidate will be expected to engage in the intellectual life of the Divinity School. The candidate will also teach undergraduates and doctoral students in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Special Instructions

Letters of nomination should be sent to: Islamic Search Committee, c/o Matthew B. Turner, Harvard Divinity School, 45 Francis Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, or via email to:mturner@hds.harvard.edu. A letter of application and current curriculum vitae are required of all candidates. Preference is given to online applications made at:http://academicpositions.harvard.edu. Applications may also be submitted via postal or electronic mail to the addresses above. Review of applications will begin in December and continue throughout February 2015.

Contact Information

Islamic Search Committee
C/o Matthew B. Turner
Harvard Divinity School
45 Francis Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138

Contact Email mturner@hds.harvard.edu