Call for Papers:
McGill Institute of Islamic Studies Graduate Student Symposium
Symposium Dates: April 26th and 27th, 2017 Main McGill Campus
Within recent years, Islam has been a potent subject for televised and radio debates, heated dinner table discussions, legal and judicial hearings, rhetorical publications, official statements from religious leaders, and funding applications that capitalize on the political expediency of its study. These modern forums are the inheritors of a long tradition of conversations about Islam from both outside and inside of its borders. What have conversations in Islam, from its earliest days until now, looked like, sounded like? What might they sound like in the future? What conversations about Islam have taken place, and how are modern conversations in continuity with or breaking from these earlier modes?
In the spirit of scholarly conversation, McGill University`s Institute of Islamic Studies Student Council (MIISSC) invites abstracts for papers to be presented at its seventh annual graduate
symposium. This year`s theme reflects Islam as both subject and context
for many types of conversation, including
- Intellectualdebates
- Literary salons
- The commentarial tradition
- Philosophical, theological, and legal debates
- (Inter)Religious encounters and dialogue
- Islam and other traditions, especially on trade routes
- Intergenerational discussions; master/disciple relationships
- Secularism, Islamophobia, and reasonable accommodation/transculturalism
- Hermeneutics and semiotics
- Symbols and meaning
- Intertextual study
- Translation practices
- Materials and methodologies
- Book/manuscript culture(s); digital humanities/use of new media
- Critical perspectives: gender and sexuality; Orientalism and post-colonialism
- Scientific religion/religious science
These exchanges are not limited in their scope, and can take place across temporal (pre-modern, modern, post-modern) and physical boundaries. Quite often, they can also occur between communities. Sub-fields of inquiry include but are not limited to anthropology, fine arts and music, gender studies, history, language and linguistics, law, literature, philosophy, political science, sociology, theology/religious studies, sciences, and Sufism.
DEADLINE: Please submit a formal abstract (250-300 words) and your CV no later than Monday, January 30th, 2017, by email to miisscsymposium@gmail.com. Submissions should also include the following information in the body of the email: name, program (MA/PhD), year of study, research focus, university/department, email address, title of paper, and any anticipated audio-visual requirements. Presentations, which can be made in either English or French, should be around 15-20 minutes in length. Presenters will be informed of their acceptance by Friday, February 17th, 2017. Proposals for panels are also welcome.