This congress invites submissions on topics in the humanities and social sciences that deal with research on the Middle East, North Africa and other states influenced by Islam or their relations with other regions.
Proposals are particularly welcome for the following thematic sections:
Philosophy and History of Ideas
Theology and Religious Practice
Economics, Politics and Society
Education and Knowledge Transfer
All sections welcome contributions dealing with issues of gender research and diversity!
You are invited to submit abstracts on all topics. The program committee will take care of the classification.
You can register individual presentations as well as panels (with 3-4 contributions). As a separate category, the workshop talks provide space for the presentation of final theses and doctoral projects.
Individual presentations are organized thematically and grouped into panels. When registering for individual presentations and panels, please choose one of the above mentioned sections.
A maximum of two presentations per participant can be registered. Each presentation and panel must be accompanied by an abstract. The abstract will be crucial for determining the acceptance of the submission based on quality.
Registered participants will have the opportunity to listen to a number of presentations online. Presentations will however not be recorded or shared beyond the conference dates.
Registration and Deadlines
- Registration of papers (with abstract, max. 300 words) and panels (abstracts per paper and abstract for the panel max. 300 words) by June 15, 2024.
- Abstracts will be reviewed in order to ensure quality of contributions.
- Authors of presentations and panel leaders will be informed by June 15st 2024 upon the acceptation of their presentation or panel.
- Abstracts will be reviewed as soon as possible. Please submit your abstracts as early as possible.
Requirements for abstracts of proposed individual presentations and panels
Two reviewers will decide on the acceptance or rejection of presentations according to the following criteria:
- Does the paper have a clear research question?
- Does the paper develop an argument, test a hypothesis or answer the question using its own empirical, source-based, theory- or literature-based research?
- Does the article refer to the current state of research or literature on the topic?
- Is the contribution scientifically innovative?
The review of the proposed panels will take into account the following questions:
- Do all contributions meet academic standards?
- Does the panel promise a coherent contribution?
- Are the papers all well matched?
The panel coordinators are jointly responsible for the quality control of the contributions and may reject presentations due to poor quality of the abstracts.
When formulating your abstracts, please ensure that these requirements are met.
Law
In the area of law, the focus is on questions about law and (post)colonialism and the question of decolonization. This includes empirical research on the impact of colonialism in individual countries as well as methodological questions. A second focus is the topic of law and gender, whereby other legal areas are explored beyond the already well-researched family law.
Philosophy and History of Ideas
This section addresses developments in the history of ideas in the Islamic world from the 19th century to the present. On the one hand, the philosophical discussions with European ideas in the form of translations and reception are central. On the other hand, considerations about the connection to Islamic philosophy and the continuation of tradition in the context of modernity are of interest. The section is also open to panels and contributions that address the recently increasingly visible interest in European philosophy in opening up to impulses from Islamic contexts, for example in the context of canon research or philosophy didactics.
Theology and Religious Practice
This section offers space for lectures and panels that deal with questions of theology and doctrine in classical and modern times, in rational and traditional schools of thought or in mysticism. Contributions that address the diverse challenges of theology, for example in dealing with extremist ideologies, questioning traditional doctrines, or dealing with artificial intelligence, are particularly welcome.
Economics, Politics and Society
The Economics, Politics and Society section is particularly dedicated to the challenges of today and economic issues. There will be a separate panel on the Israel-Palestine conflict. The section is also open to a variety of other relevant topics, such as the consequences of the Ukraine conflict, the effects of the climate crisis on countries in the Middle East or gender-related issues.
Islam in Europe
Questions of religious policy, legal recognition, self-organization and self-positioning of Muslims in Germany, the development of a European Islam and an Islamic theology located in Europe, but also the perception of Islam and Muslims in media and political debates as well as extremism and radicalization are topics that shape current research on Islam and Muslims in Europe
Language and Culture
Literature, art, music and film, but also linguistic change are the focus of the contributions to this section. One focus will be on Iranian film, for which several lectures and a film screening are planned. Studies on language that analyze the influence of social media on the vocabulary and spelling of Arabic and Persian texts are also welcome.
Education and Knowledge Transfer
The lectures and panels in this section deal with the transfer of knowledge about Islam and the development of educational systems in the Middle East, Eurasia and Europe. Contributions are particularly invited on educational reforms and approaches to pedagogy, on areas of tension between different educational media and on the digitalization of educational processes, as well as on the effects of such changes on theological or political content and social conditions, for example in relation to access to education.
Workshop Talks
Young academics (doctoral students, possibly also MA students in the final phase of their work) are given the opportunity to present their research results as part of the "workshop talks", also in order to gain input and feedback for the (further) development of their work receive.