March 2026

Islamic Law Speakers Series: Ihsan Yilmaz (Deakin University), “Sharia as Informal Law: Lived Experiences of Young Muslims in Western Societies,” March 10, 2026 @ 12:30pm

March 10 @ 12:30 - 13:30

On Tuesday, March 10, 2026, at 12:30-1:30PM US EST, Professor Yilmaz will be speaking on his book Sharia as Informal Law: Lived Experiences of Young Muslims in Western Societies. This book takes a comprehensive approach to investigate how Sharia influences and manifests in the everyday lives of young Muslims, aiming to unravel the meaning and …

Conference: Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, Amherst, MA, March 19–21, 2026

March 19 - March 21

Registration is now open for the 101st Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America. The Meeting will take place on March 19–21, 2026 on the campuses of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Amherst College, and will also include events at Mt. Holyoke College and Smith College. Hosted by the Five College Consortium, the …

Workshop: Middle East Beyond Borders—Cem Turkoz, “An Edifice of Super-Glosses: The Making of an Ottoman Tradition of Natural Philosophy, 1650–1800,” March 23, 2026 @ 6:15pm

March 23 @ 18:15 - 19:30

Cem Turkoz (NELC), “An Edifice of Super-Glosses: The Making of an Ottoman Tradition of Natural Philosophy, 1650–1800.” Carina Dreyer (NELC) will respond. We will be meeting from 6:15-7:30pm in the …

April 2026

Call for Papers: Kathryn T. Preyer Scholars Program, American Society for Legal History, April 1, 2026

April 1

From the organizers: Criteria: Early-career scholars who wish to present a paper on any topic in legal, institutional and/or constitutional history, at the annual ASLH conference. Amount: $500 cash + $750 reimbursement Deadline: April 1, 2026 Named after the late Kathryn T. Preyer, a distinguished historian of the law of early America known for her …

Fellowship: 2026 ARIT Fellowships for Research in Turkey, American Research Institute in Turkey, April 1, 2026

April 1

ARIT FELLOWSHIPS for 2026 The American Research Institute in Turkey (ARIT) announces 2026 ARIT Fellowships for Research in Turkey. Awards are offered for research in ancient, medieval, or modern times, …

Workshop: Arabic TEI (Textual Encoding Initiative), April 2–3, 2026

April 2 - April 3

Join us for a two-day Arabic digital humanities workshop to learn TEI (Textual Encoding Initiative) mark-up of Arabic-script texts for critical digital editions. Hugh Cayless (TEI treasurer, senior programmer Duke University Libraries) and Adam Mestyan (Professor of Middle Eastern Studies, NELC) will teach the sessions. The workshop will feature an evening talk by Sabine Schmidtke (IAS …

Workshop: Middle East Beyond Borders—Amadu Kunateh, “Footnote to Ghazali: Philosophy Without Falsafa in West African Intellectual Archive,” April 6, 2026 @ 6:15pm

April 6 @ 18:15 - 19:30

Amadu Kunateh (CSR), “Footnote to Ghazali: Philosophy Without Falsafa in West African Intellectual Archive.” Nicholas Judt (CSR) will respond. We will be meeting from 6:15-7:30pm in the Finnegan Room (Barker 403) and dinner will be provided. See event flyer for more info and to RSVP. The Middle East Beyond Borders (MEBB) workshop aims to foster …

Islamic Law Speaker Series: Sherman Jackson (University of Southern California), “The Islamic Secular,” April 7, 2026 @ 12:30pm

April 7 @ 12:30 - 13:30

On Tuesday, April 7, 2026, at 12:30-1:30PM US EST, Professor Sherman Jackson will be speaking on his book, The Islamic Secular. The basic point of the secular in the modern West is to “liberate” certain pursuits—the state, the economy, science—from the authority of religion. This is also assumed to be the goal and meaning of …

Roundtable: Knowledge in the Islamic Court, Program in Islamic Law, Harvard Law School, April 16, 2026

April 16 @ 12:00 - 13:30

What counts as proof in an Islamic court? How does a judge rule between competing claims to truth? How does technological advancement impact notions of evidence? How can our understanding of Islamic law writ large change if we center its rules of adjudication? And what constitutes an “Islamic” court or judge in the first place? …

Workshop: Middle East Beyond Borders—Djelemory Diabate, “Closing the Sufi Age: Authority, Finality, and Political Theology in Umar al-Futi Tal’s Kitab Rimah,” April 20, 2026 @ 6:15pm

April 20 @ 18:15 - 19:30

Djelemory Diabate (CSR), “Closing the Sufi Age: Authority, Finality, and Political Theology in Umar al-Futi Tal’s Kitab Rimah.” Amadu Kunateh (CSR) will respond. We will be meeting from 6:15-7:30pm in the Finnegan Room (Barker 403) and dinner will be provided. See event flyer for more info and to RSVP. The Middle East Beyond Borders (MEBB) …