Past events

Selected seminars, conferences, lectures, film screenings, exhibitions, and workshops in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (2015 -).

Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies Seminar Series

Photo of Islamic building with mosaic detailing

Each semester, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (IMES) welcomes a fantastic range of guest speakers and colleagues to present an evening seminar on their research.

The topics span fields as diverse as film and media, literature, religion, society and politics in the Middle East and the wider Islamic world.

Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.

Earlier events in the series

Please note that speaker titles and universities, as listed, date from the time of the event and may have changed.

Date	Title	Speaker(s)
10 May 2021	Dreams/Cinema/Palestine	Dr Greg Burris (University of Beirut)
10 February 2020	The role of family in the lives of Istanbul janissaries in the 18th century	Gemma Masson (ASTENE)
3 February 2020	Interactions between Byzantines and ArabMuslims in 9th-10th century Sicily	Annliese Nef (Université Paris I)
27 January 2020	Diagrams in Byzantine Medical Manuscripts	Petros Bouras-Vallianatos (University of Edinburgh)
20 January 2020	Islamisation in Mongol Anatolia	Andrew Peacock (University of St Andrews)
13 January 2020	Greek translations into Middle Persian and Byzantine Greek translations into Arabic and Persian	Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh)
25 November 2019	Byzantine Sardinia and the Arab Conquests	Alex Metcalfe (University of Lancaster)
18 November 2019	'Marginalised opinions, uncensored voices, and unabashed attitudes': LGBT Pop-Activism in Jordan	Dr Ebtihal Mahadeen (University of Edinburgh)
11 November 2019	The Art of Social Realism in Rakhshan Banietemad’s Films	Maryam Ghorbankarimi (University of Lancaster)
4 November 2019	Negotiating Constitutionalism and Conflict in the Qajar Era: A Close Reading of the “bast” at the British Legation	Mira Xenia Schwerda (Harvard University)
28 October 2019	Criteria for dating early Islamic exegetical Traditions	Dr Andreas Görke (University of Edinburgh)
21 October 2019	A Crisis of Marriage, A Crisis of Legitimacy: Kinship, Islam, and Institution-Building in Jordan	Dr Geoffrey Hughes (University of Exeter)
14 October 2019	Zarathustra through Muslim Eyes	Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh)
7 October 2019	Iran vs US: War or Peace? Or if not, what?	Jim Muir (independent scholar)
30 September 2019	From mistrust to understanding? Making constitution and reaching agreement in Tunisia after the Revolution for Dignity	Tereza Jermanova (Charles University)
23 September 2019	'Visualizing a Medieval ‘Scientist’: ʿAbbās b. Firnās in the Contemporary Imagination	Dr Glaire Anderson (University of Edinburgh)
16 September 2019	Researching Islamic pop music	Dr Jonas Otterbeck (Aga Khan University's Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London)
1 April 2019	Gulf History: from the Annals of the British Library to the Digital Universe	Ula Zeir (The British Library)
25 March 2019	The Future of Islamic Studies in the UK	Professor Hugh Goddard (University of Edinburgh)
18 March 2019	Between Affect and Scepticism: Nonverbal Lyricism and the Essay Film	Professor Laura Rascaroli (University College Cork)
11 March 2019	Search and Research: Library Resources on Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies	Dr Shenxiao Tong (University of Edinburgh)
4 March 2019	Differentiation in the Arabic as a Foreign Language Classroom	Dr Giorgia Ferrari (University of Exeter)
25 February 2019	The Acquisition of Knowledge is Equivalent to the Fear of God: Educational Thought in Classical Islam	Professor Sebastian Günther (University of Göttingen)
18 February 2019	From Ba'athization to Sectarianization: The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of the Iraqi Army (2003-2005) – a Case Study Archaeological approaches to Islamic Crete (820s-961): Initial remarks on administration and settlement patterns	Omaima Al-Jubouri (University of Edinburgh); Matteo Randazzo (University of Edinburgh)
11 February 2019	Culinary Culture of the Middle East	Jennifer Scarce (University of Dundee)
4 February 2019	Islamic Studies – Scientific or Confessional? A Contested University Subject	Professor Jørgen Nielsen (University of Birmingham)
28 January 2019	Arabic Diglossia as Language Ideology: Implications for Teaching'	Jona Fras (University of Edinburgh)
21 January 2019	Broadening Horizons: Teaching Socio-Cultural Anthropology of the Middle East	Dr Janet Starkey (Durham University)
14 January 2019	Arabic at Edinburgh before IMES	Dr Anthony Gorman (University of Edinburgh)
26 November 2018	Engendering and Gendering Memory in Palestinian Folktales	Dr Farah Aboubakr (University of Edinburgh)
19 November 2018	Building Prophetic Communities: A New Generation of Female Islamic Scholars in Britain	Dr Giulia Liberatore (University of Edinburgh)
12 November 2018	Religious Authority in London's Shi' Triangle: The Dynamics of a Transnational Competition	Dr Elvire Corboz (University of Edinburgh)
5 November 2018	Literary Analysis of the Iranian Ta'ziyeh Repertoire: Foregrounding the Mother in the Martyrdom of Qasem	Lucy Deacon (University of Edinburgh); Marjan Asi (University of Edinburgh)
29 October 2018	Haunting and the Post-War Generation in Lebanese Cinema + Waves '98 by Ely Dagher Transforming the Representation of Masculinities in the Cinema of Turkey: Revisiting the 1980 Military Coup	Ely Dagher (University of Edinburgh); Erden Goktepe (University of Edinburgh)
22 October 2018	Legal and Linguistic Continuity in Coptic Documents from Post-Conquest Egypt	Samuel Cook (Macquarie University)
15 October 2018	Book launch: 'The Fatimid Caliphate: Diversity of Traditions'	Dr Farhad Daftary (The Institute of Ismaili Studies); Dr Shainool Jiwa (The Institute of Ismaili Studies)
8 October 2018	Female Mourning in Islam: Historical Precedents and Contemporary Diasporic Perspectives	Dr Alistair Hunter (University of Edinburgh/University of Glasgow)
1 October 2018	The Democratic Grotesque: Masquerade and Dissensus in Post-Revolutionary Tunisia	Dr Charis Boutieri (King's College London)
24 September 2018	The Finances of the Caliphate: Abbasid Fiscal Practice in Islamic Late Antiquity	Dr Marie Legendre (University of Edinburgh)
17 September 2018	Turkish Modernity from a Literary Perspective: Ahmet Hamdi Tanpinar	Dr Hilal Kaya (University of Edinburgh)
19 March 2018	Militarist Masculinity, Militarist Femininity: Gendering Jordan’s War on the Islamic State	Dr Ebtihal Mahadeen (University of Edinburgh)
12 March 2018	Reporting Lebanon: Orientalism as News Practice	Dr Zahera Harb (City, University of London)
5 March 2018	The Project of New Iraq and Dismantling the Iraqi Military Institution - 2003-2006 The Use of Ideology in the Thought of Yusuf al-Qaradawi	Omaima Al Jubouri (University of Edinburgh); Asif Khanan (University of Edinburgh)
19 February 2018	Refugees, Embodied Memories, and Intimate Politics: Palestinian Tales	Dr Ruba Salih (SOAS University of London)
12 February 2018	The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?: Unveiling American Muslim Women in Rolla Selbak’s Three Veils	Dr Alberto Carbajal (Roehampton University)
5 February 2018	Problematising Migrant Domestic Work in the Middle East: A Philosopher's Perspective	Dr Arianne Shahvisi (University of Sussex)
29 January 2018	Playing Chess Inside the Lion’s Mouth: LGBT Activism in Lebanon	Dr John Nagle (University of Aberdeen)
22 January 2018	Toward 'The Good Life': Feminist Reflections on Normalcy and Hope in Israeli Settler Colonialism	Dr Katie Natanel (University of Exeter)
15 January 2018	Tcharmil: The Birth Of a Moroccan Gangsta Culture. Masculinity, Femininity and Gender Relations Within the Working-Classes	Dr Meriam Cheikh (University of Edinburgh)
27 November 2017	Ruling Families and Business in the Gulf Monarchies: The Re-Definition of the Oligarchic Pact	Dr Marc Valeri (University of Exeter)
20 November 2017	Friends, Colleagues and Grand Vezirs: The Ottoman Art of Letter-writing (c. 1600)	Dr Christine Woodhead (Durham University)
17 November 2017	Syria: What Went Wrong?	Professor Raymond Hinnebusch (University of St Andrews)
13 November 2017	The Object-Voice: The Acousmatic Voice in the New Iranian Cinema The Tafsir of Sufyan al-Thawri (d. 778)	Farshid Kazemi (University of Edinburgh); Aurangzeb Haneef (University of Edinburgh)
6 November 2017	Egypt and the 2013 rupture and beyond: reflections on unruly politics	Professor Mariz Tadros (University of Sussex)
30 October 2017	Marriage and the Origins of Mecca	Dr Majied Robinson (University of Edinburgh)
23 October 2017	Mary the mother of Jesus in Islam	Professor Carole Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh)
16 October 2017	New Directions in Iranian Cinema	Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz (University of Edinburgh)
9 October 2017	Picturing the Later Mughals - Shah Alam II and Bazgasht Imagery in British Delhi	Dr Yuthika Sharma (University of Edinburgh)
2 October 2017	Behind Bars - Reflections on a History of the Middle Eastern Prison	Dr Anthony Gorman (University of Edinburgh)
25 September 2017	The Evolution of Islamic Chivalry (futuwwa) from the ʿAbbasids to the Ottomans'	Dr Ines Aščerić-Todd (University of Edinburgh)
18 September 2017	Types of Connotation, and their Implications for Arabic/English translation	Professor James Dickins (University of Leeds)
3 April 2017	Early Iranian and Arab Shi`i Discussions of Leadership Between Late Antiquity and Early Islam	Professor Andrew Newman (University of Edinburgh)
27 March 2017	An 8th-century Turkic rebel against Islamic proselytising: Gülnar Hatun	Professor Ayşe Çalık Ross (University of Kocaeli)
20 March 2017	Motifs in the legends of the pre-Islamic kings and tribes	Professor Julia Bray (University of Oxford)
13 March 2017	Holy cities and regime change in the 8th-century Islamic world	Dr Harry Munt (University of York)
6 March 2017	Captivity, Concubinage, and Consent	Professor Kecia Ali (University of Boston)
27 February 2017	Adi ibn Zayd al-‘Ibadi and the origin of the Arabic wine song	Dr Kirill Dmitriev (University of St Andrews)
20 February 2017	Society and housing in Late Antique and early Islamic Palmyra	Dr Emanuele Intagliata (University of Edinburgh)
13 February 2017	Did Zechariah ‘signal’ to his people? The case of the term waḥy in Q 19:11 Fatimid relations with the Yemeni Sulayhids: examining the Egyptian perspective	Simon Loynes (University of Edinburgh); Matthew Barber (University of Edinburgh)
6 February 2017	Mosaics from the late Byzantine to early Islamic period	Dr Richard McClary (University of Edinburgh)
30 January 2017	The Great Mosque of Damascus in Umayyad Times	Dr Alain George (University of Edinburgh)
23 January 2017	From dietary antinomianism to dietary prohibitions	Dr Nicolai Sinai (University of Oxford)
16 January 2017	Alexander the Great in Early Persian and Arabic Historiography	Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh)
28 November 2016	Arabic Cross-dialectal Conversations with Implications for the Teaching of Arabic as a Second Language	Dr Rasha Soliman (University of Leeds)
21 November 2016	Ethnographying sex work, analysing intimate lives	Dr Mériam Cheikh (University of Edinburgh)
14 November 2016	Solomon on Screen: The Qur’an and Cinema	Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz (University of Edinburgh)
7 November 2016	"That Hideous Schizophrenia": A Genealogy of Islamic Polemics against Christianity and Secularism	Dr Joshua Ralston (University of Edinburgh)
31 October 2016	Bringing the State Back in? Private Islamic institutions and official religious bureaucracy in Sisi's Egypt Iraq's Reform Protest Movement: Explaining secular-Sadrist cooperation	Neil Russell (University of Edinburgh); Ben Robin (University of Edinburgh)
24 October 2016	International Relations in the Middle East: Social Movements and Regional Order	Dr Ewan Stein (University of Edinburgh)
17 October 2016	Arab Varieties of Capitalism	Dr Steffen Hertog (London School of Economic)
10 October 2016	Untold Stories: Arab Media Provision for Children	Professor Naomi Sakr (University of Westminster)
3 October 2016	Is Torture Allowed in the Shariah or Not?	Dr Jonathan Brown (Georgetown University)
26 September 2016	Liberty and Coloniality in the early modern Arabic comparative criticism of Rūḥī al-Khālidī	Haifa Saud Alfaisal (King Saud University)
19 September 2016	Body and Spirit in Early Islamic Thought	Dr Ayman Shihadeh (SOAS University of London)
28 March 2016	Islamic NGOs and Turkey’s ‘new’ diplomacy - Expansion and engagement in Turkey’s regional relations Sufyan al-Thawri and the development of early Islamic intellectual tradition	Harriet Fildes (University of Edinburgh); Aurangzeb Haneef (University of Edinburgh)
21 March 2016	Salamiyya: a city of the Ismailis in the nineteenth and early twentieth century Ottoman Syria (1839-1918) he making and imagining of space among veiled women in contemporary turkey: the case of segregated women beaches	Ula Zeir (University of Edinburgh); Zeynep Merve Uygun (University of Edinburgh)
14 March 2016	Yemen at war: a political and strategic assessment	Laurent Bonnefoy (CNRS-CERI Paris)
7 March 2016	Revolt, rebellion and civil war in the Umayyad period	Dr Andrew Marsham (University of Edinburgh)
29 February 2016	Libya from revolution to chaos, from chaos to dialogue	Virginie Collombier (European University Institute)
22 February 2016	Syria: destructions, displacements, and territorial changes	Leila Vignal (Université Rennes 2)
8 February 2016	Refugees, war, and state-making in the Middle East	Dr Benjamin White (University of Glasgow)
1 February 2016	Investigating civil war in Syria from YouTube	Cécile Boëx (The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris)
25 January 2016	The different stages of the Kurdish liberation struggle in Iraq	Dr Yaniv Voller (University of Edinburgh)
18 January 2016	Jihad in Syria as self-accomplishment: Diaries of a female member of the Islamic State	Dr Thomas Pierret (University of Edinburgh)
11 January 2016	From revolution to expatriation: the decision-making of relocation and resettlement among the Syrian business diaspora The PFLP and the Palestinian civil wars: History of a decline	Ching-An Chang (University of Edinburgh); Saverio Leopardi (University of Edinburgh)
7 December 2015	Neo-patriarchy and sexuality in the stories of Zakariyya Tamir The Changing Representation of Masculinity in Syrian Female Authored Novels	Alessandro Columbu (University of Edinburgh); Lovisa Berg (University of Edinburgh)
30 November 2015	Sectarianism in International Relations: The Saudi-Iranian Rivalry since 1979.	Dr Toby Matthiesen (St. Antony's College, University of Oxford)
24 November 2015	The Archaeology of Everyday Life in Early Islam	Fanny Bessard (University of St Andrews)
23 November 2015	Commanding Right and Forbidding Wrong? Al-Tabari’s Presentation of al-Walid b. ‘Uqba as criticism of Hanbalites' Ali Ahmed Bakathir's Tragedy of Oedipus: On Disowning the Muslim Brotherhood under Nasser	Su I-Wen (University of Edinburgh); Raphael Cormack (University of Edinburgh)
16 November 2015	Afghanistan’s Shia minorities: Politics and sectarian tensions during the second Afghan war (1878-1881)	Dr Francesca Fuoli (SOAS University of London)
9 November 2015	Polite Conversation and its Consequences in the Ottoman Empire	Dr Helen Pfeifer (University of Cambridge)
2 November 2015	Transnational Shīʿism and the Endangered Promise of Pakistan: Rethinking Sunnī-Shī`ī Sectarianism in South Asia	Dr Simon W Fuchs (Princeton University)
26 October 2015	The Origins of the Conflict between Sunni and Shi‘i Islam	Professor Wilferd Madelung (University of Oxford)
19 October 2015	The ‘Hadith Literature’: What is it? And where is it?	Dr Stephen Burge (Institute of Ismaili Studies)
12 October 2015	One of a Kind: The Cinematic Style of the poetry of Ahmed Matar	Dr Ahmed Khaleel (University of York)
5 October 2015	Documenting endangered languages: The case of Modern South Arabian with focus on Mehri and Shahri (Jibbali)	Professor Janet Watson (University of Leeds)
28 September 2015	Nathan al-Hakim: Elias Haddad and ‘German Enlightenment values’ in Mandate Palestine Facebook Counts and Mourning the Martyr: Remediation and Media Ideologies on Jordanian Radio	Sarah Irving (University of Edinburgh); Jona Fras (University of Edinburgh)
21 September 2015	Farewell to the vanguard: Syria's Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement and wartime de-radicalisation	Dr Thomas Pierret (University of Edinburgh)

Meet, Greet and Eat

IMES regularly hosts free language exchange and socialising events.

Our Meet, Greet and Eat events give students, native speakers of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish, and anyone interested in the Arab world and the Middle East a chance to get to know each other and practice their language skills in a relaxed setting.

Browse the full listing for the 2022 to 2023 academic year

Earlier events in the series

Date	Venue
27 March 2020	David Hume Tower
28 February 2020	David Hume Tower
17 January 2020	David Hume Tower
15 November 2019	19 George Square
6 October 2017
4 November 2016
4 March 2016 - part of the Edinburgh Arab Festival 2016	Informatics Forum
8 January 2016 - part of the Edinburgh Arab Festival 2016	Informatics Forum
10 February 2015 - part of the Edinburgh Arab Festival 2015

Lectures, talks, discussions and readings

W.M. Watt Lecture

Arabic has been taught at the University of Edinburgh for over 260 years, and today our department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies is globally recognised as a leading centre in the field.

From his appointment as Lecturer in Arabic in 1947, until his retirement as Professor in 1979, William Montgomery Watt made an outstanding contribution both to Islamic scholarship and to the development of IMES.

The inaugural Watt Lecture was launched in November 2015 to mark the 50th anniversary of Watt's Inaugural Lecture as the first Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Scotland.

Speaker	Date	Venue	Theme
Professor Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (École Pratique des Hautes Études/PSL - Sorbonne)	27 May 2024	50 George Square	Shi'i Islam: Doctrinal Foundations and Historical Developments
Professor Paul Starkey (Durham University)	30 October 2019	David Hume Tower	In Search of Identity: Faris al-Shidyaq and the 19th-Century Arabic Revival
Dr Linda Komaroff (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)	28 November 2018	50 George Square	Dining with the Sultan: Reflections on the Fine Art of Feasting at the Islamic Courts
Professor Nur Masalha (SOAS University of London)	2 November 2017	Playfair Library	Powerful Symbols and the British-Zionist Alliance: From Balfour to the Nakba
Professor Maribel Fierro (Spanish National Research Council, Spain)	4 November 2016	Old Medical School	Charisma and Anti-Charisma in al-Andalus
Professor Carole Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh) Professor Fred M. Donner (University of Chicago) Dr Richard Holloway FRSE	23 October 2015	Playfair Library	Montgomery Watt: The Man and The Scholar The Study of Islam’s Origins since W. Montgomery Watt's Publications Committed Openness: a Glance at William Montgomery Watt’s Religious Life

Other lectures and talks

Islam and the Spice Trade: Towards a New History of Global Commerce

a blue background with a geometric pattern and globe with Arabic lettering on the continents and event title overlaid

Date: 28 February 2023

Venue: 50 George Square

Guest speaker: Professor Joel Belcher (George Washington University)

In brief: A lecture by Professor Belcher on lesser-known ports and practices of the 15th century spice trade given at the University. It was organised collaboratively by the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, the Edinburgh Centre for Global History, and the Alwaleed Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World.

Women and the Media in Jordan

Event title with the book cover to the right

Date: 29 November 2022

Venue: Chrystal Macmillan Building

Guest speakers: Dr Ebtihal Mahadeen (University of Edinburgh); Professor Mary Holmes (University of Edinburgh); Dr Sara Ababneh (University of Sheffield)

In brief: A book launch and discussion of 'Women and the Media in Jordan: Gender, Power, Resistance', written by Dr Ebtihal Mahadeen. The discussion was followed by a Q&A and reception.

Find out more about this event

Hijab: Three Modern Iranian Seminarian Perspectives

Date: 18 November 2021

Venue: Online (Zoom)

Speakers: Dr Lloyd Ridgeon (University of Glasgow); Professor Nacim Pak Shiraz (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: An online Q&A with Dr Lloyd Ridgeon to launch his new book 'Hijab: Three Modern Iranian Seminarian Perspectives' addressing the differences of opinion among seminarians on the hijab in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In this special event, Professor Nacim Pak Shiraz joined Dr Ridgeon to discuss the book and its themes.

When East meets West - cultural contacts around the Mediterranean

Date: 16 November 2019

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Events series: Inaugural Lectures at the University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A free public lecture marking Professor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila becoming Iraq Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the University of Edinburgh. The lecture focused on cultural transmission between Arab-Islamic and western cultures, exploring how this mutual influence has been beneficial to both cultures in attaining new heights of human culture.

Browse all recent Inaugural Lectures in LLC

A Stinky Fairytale: the concept of liminality in Latife Tekin's Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills

Date: 26 April 2019

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Dr Hilal Kaya (University of Edinburgh/Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University)

In brief: A lecture on the concept of liminality and its various dimensions in Latife Tekin's 'Berji Kristin: Tales from the Garbage Hills' (1984).

The Evolution of the Love Story in Classical Arabic Literature: Creating a Model

Date: 3 March 2017

Venue: 19 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Dr Jokha Alharthi (Sultan Qaboos University)

Images of the good ruler in Sasanian Iran

Date: 15 February 2017

Venue: 19 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Josef Wiesehöfer (University of Kiel)

How intolerant is the Shari'a?

Date: 30 September 2016

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Dr Jonathan A. C. Brown (Georgetown University)

In brief: In this special public lecture, Dr Brown discussed the subject of Islamic Law (Shari'a) and the extent to which the Shari'a is able to accommodate the beliefs and practices of others through the use of some unexpected case studies.

Watch the full lecture on Media Hopper

Conferences and symposia

Syria: From Severus to Saladin

Date: 17 September 2016

Venue: William Robertson Wing, The University of Edinburgh

Speakers: Professor Ted Kaizer (University of Durham); Professor Robert Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh/University of St Andrews); Koray Durak (Bogazici University); Simon Gundelfinger (University of Hamburg); Professor Carole Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh/University of St Andrews); Dr Mike Bishop (University of Oxford)

Organisers: Dr Lucy Grig (Classics, University of Edinburgh) and Dr Andrew Marsham (IMES, University of Edinburgh)

In brief: A one-day conference co-organised by the School of History, Classics and Archaeology and the School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures. The conference comprised six public lectures and a panel discussion, broadly focusing on diverse aspects of the history, material and visual culture of Roman, Byzantine and Islamic Syria, as well as the current challenges to the preservation of Syria's archaeological heritage.

Constructing Masculinities in the Middle East

Dates: 9 to 11 July 2016

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

In brief: A three-day symposium comprising four panels of three speakers as well as two film screenings (Parviz (2012); Atomic Heart (2014)). The symposium brought together researchers from across a range of disciplines to discuss the constructions of masculinities in the Middle East. Organised by the Research Network on Male Bodies and Masculinities in the Middle East, part of Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World.

Islamic Studies in Scotland: Retrospect and Prospect

Dates: 23 and 24 October 2015

Venue: Playfair Library

In brief: A two-day event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Inaugural Lecture of William Montgomery Watt as the first Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Scotland in October 1965. On 23 October, three lectures were given in the Playfair Library by Professor Carole Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh), Professor Fred M. Donner (University of Chicago) and Dr Richard Holloway FRSE. The following day, a symposium entitled ‘Representations of Muhammad’ brought together scholars from both Edinburgh and abroad and comprised six presentations and a round-table discussion.

Film screenings and festivals

IMES at the summer festivals

Every year, IMES staff and alumni get involved in events across the summer festivals in Edinburgh. Their events were open to the public, and they feature a multitude of themes relevant to the contemporary culture and society.

Please note that this is as close to a complete list as possible, and that speaker titles and institutions may have changed from time of the event

Date	Festival	Venue	Title	IMES rep
16 August 2023	Edinburgh International Book Festival	Spark Theatre	Jokha Alharthi: The James Tait Black Event	Jokha Alharthi (PhD graduate in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies); Marilyn Booth (former Iraq Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies)
18 June 2018	Edinburgh International Film Festival		Women in Iranian Cinema: Fatemeh Motamed-Arya	Professor Nacim Pak-Shiraz (Personal Chair of Cinema and Iran)

Women in Iranian Cinema: Fatemeh Motamed Arya in conversation

Photo of Iranian actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya — Fatemeh Motamed-Arya

Date: 18 June 2018

Venue: Filmhouse Cinema, Edinburgh

Speakers: Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz (University of Edinburgh); Fatemeh Motamed-Arya

In brief: An in-conversation event with multi-award winning actress, and iconic face of Iranian cinema, Fatemeh Motamed-Arya in the build up to the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2018.

Pop-up Iranian cinema

Date: 11 February 2016

Venue: Filmhouse Cinema, Edinburgh

Speakers: Dr Nacim Pak-Shiraz (University of Edinburgh); Farshid Kazemi (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: This informal and interactive event included a walking tour of the Iranian film posters on display at the Filmhouse Café followed by a discussion on some of the general themes within Iranian cinema, including the poetics and politics of Iranian cinema.

The Arab Documentary Film Week (Edinburgh Arab Festival 2016)

Dates: 11 to 15 January 2016

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

In brief: The Arab Documentary Film Week was organised by Edinburgh Arab Festival 2016 in partnership with Al-Jazeera Documentary channel. The festival featured Meet, Greet and Eat language exchange events and screenings of five Arabic documentary films: The Storyteller (الحكواتية); Rebellious Spirits: The Revolution of Gibran Khalil Gibran (أرواح متمردة.. ثورة جبران خليل جبران); Beirut Buenos Aires Beirut (بيروت بوينوس ايرس); Fear, Anger & Politics ( خوف وغضب وسياسة); Wooden Rifle (بارودة خشب).

Edinburgh Arab Festival 2015

Dates: 28 and 29 August 2015

Venue: 50 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Organiser: Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies

In brief: The Edinburgh Arab Festival was a two-day cultural festival providing visitors with a unique opportunity to gain an insight into Arab culture through a wide array of open events. The programme included over 30 individual events, including workshops, speeches and seminars in poetry, storytelling, fashion, film screenings, photography, calligraphy, art exhibitions, language taster classes, music, live entertainment, and food tasting.

Browse our photo gallery of the festival on Flickr

With the Filmmakers: Continuities and Discontinuities in Iranian Cinema

Dates: 23 to 24 June 2014

Venue: Filmhouse, Edinburgh

Speakers: Nacim Pak-Shiraz (University of Edinburgh); Hamid Naficy (Northwestern University), Chris Fujiwara (EIFF)

In brief: A two-day panel event as part of the Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) 2014 providing audiences with a rare opportunity to hear Iranian filmmakers discuss their work. Discussions with Ebrahim Golestan, Parviz Kimiavi, Dariush Mehrjui, Sara Rastegar, Ali Karim, Mehran Tamaddon, Mania Akbari and Shahram Mokri focused on the consistencies, breaks and gaps within Iranian cinema, from pre-Revolutionary times to the present.

Exhibitions, workshops and performances

Islamic Mosaic Colouring Workshop

A colourful mosaic pattern with the event title overlaid

Date: 12 December 2022

Venue: The University Chaplaincy

Organiser: The Chaplaincy and the Islamic & Middle Eastern Studies department

In brief: A session delivered and facilitated by Mourad Diouri (IMES) and Rev Geoffrey Baines (The Chaplaincy). It was a hands-on workshop of Islamic Mosaic colouring, journaling and doodling to celebrate the UN’s International Day of Islamic Art on the 18 November 2022.

Moroccan Studies in the UK

Date: 1 March 2019

Venue: Appleton Tower, University of Edinburgh

Keynote speaker: Dr Michael Willis (St Antony's College, University of Oxford)

Organiser: Dr Mériam Cheikh (University of Edinburgh)

In brief: This one-day workshop comprised three themed panel sessions and a keynote lecture. Held in partnership with Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions - European Commission, Laboratoire Méditerranéen de Sociologie (LAMES - CNRS) and Maison méditerranéenne des sciences de l’homme (MMSH).

This article was published on 2024-08-13