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

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.

a blue-pink background with Islamic-style tile patterns and IMES Research Seminar Series overlaid

DateTitle(s)Speaker(s)
25 March 2026From Palestine to Palestine: Songs and Stories of Existence, Expulsion, and EmigrationReem Kelani (Palestinian singer, composer, and musicologist)
23 March 2026

Rik Janssen - Sultan Selim III ‘Pulling a Long Bow’: Foreign Observations of Ottoman Archery at the Turn of the 19th Century

Reem Al-Sada - Proliferation of the Printing of Salafī Theological Treatises in the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq and the Levant in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries through Transnational Trade Networks

Rik Janssen and Reem Al-Sada (IMES PhD candidates)
9 March 2026

Anastasia Valassopoulos - The Peace Process and Popular Culture

Ruth Abou Rached - Hi/stories of Palestine as future memory: الصبار  / צבר / Wild Thorns by Sahar Khalifeh

Professor Anastasia Valassopoulos (University of Manchester) and Dr Ruth Abou Rached (University of Manchester)
9 February 2026Diasporic Imaginaries: How Palestinian Women Rebuild Nationhood through Art, Literature, and Digital SpaceDr Raad Khair Allah (University of Edinburgh)
2 February 2026Making Colonisation Humanitarian: A Genealogy of Settler Humanitarianism in Palestine/IsraelDr Pietro Stefanini (University of Edinburgh)
26 January 2026The Afterlife of Palestinian Images: Visual Remains and the Archive of DisappearanceProfessor Azza El Hassan (Doha Institute for Graduate Studies - Qatar)
12 January 2026Discussion of speakers' recent edited volume, 'Ghassan Kanafani: Selected Political Writings' (2024)Professor Tahrir Hamdi (Arab Open University, Jordan), and Louis Brehony (writer and musician)
24 November 2025

Denizcan Dede - Borderlands and Kurdology: From Imperial to Post-Soviet Perspectives

Tahsin Yurttas - The Science of Balāga in the Ottoman Madrasa System and the Influence of Abu Yaqub Al-Sakkāki's Miftāḥ Al-Ulūm (Ottoman Bosnia-Herzegovina)

Denizcan Dede (PhD student in IMES) and Tahsin Yurttas (Visiting Scholar, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University)
10 November 2025The Integration of Knowledge: An Islamic WorldviewProfessor Mohd Radhi Ibrahim (Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia)
3 November 2025Staging Masculinity: Hegemony, and Patriarchy in 1990s Iranian Popular CinemaProfessor Nacim Pak-Shiraz (University of Edinburgh)
27 October 2025The Armenian Woman, Minoritarian Agency, and the Making of Iranian Modernity 1860-1979Professors Houri Berberian and Talinn Grigor (University of California)
13 October 2025For God and Empire: Teaching the Middle East at Edinburgh before IMESDr Anthony Gorman (University of Edinburgh)
29 September 2025The beginnings of Qur'anic exegesis or, Can we know how the companions of the Prophet understood the Qur'an?Dr Andreas Görke (University of Edinburgh)
15 September 2025Arabic Literary Prizes and the Sociology of LiteratureProfessor Yasir Suleiman (University of Cambridge)
25 March 2025The Port of al-Iskandarīyya: The physical infrastructures and administrative roles of the Mamluk Dīwān and the Genoese funduq in shaping Egyptian-Genoese commerce and interactions (twelfth-fifteenth centuries)Stefano Nicastro (PhD candidate in History)
10 March 2025Accounting practices in the multilingual administration of the Abbasid eraThe Caliphal Finances Team
25 February 2025People and Money: The agents of Abbasid taxation from the village to the caliphThe Caliphal Finances Team
10 February 2025Crisis of accumulation in the Chinggisid world order: Land, capital and fiscal administration in Ilkhanid Ani, 1256-1335Dr Nik Matheou (University of Edinburgh)
28 January 2025From esoteric communication to verbatim revelation: The conspicuous absence of the root w-ḥ-y in the schematics of revelation in medieval tafsīrDr Simon Loynes (University of Edinburgh)
13 January 2025‘They have come to a place where there is no one who can read them.’ The Many Lives of the Aberdeen Papyri from Egypt to PythonThe Caliphal Finances Team
25 November 2024Turning over old stones: Palestine Mandate Papers 1914-1939 reappraisedDr Peter Shambrook (Balfour Project)
11 November 2024Ambivalent Subjects: The Ottoman State and Its Non-Sunni Muslim PopulationDr Benjamin Weineck (University of Heidelberg)
4 November 2024Turkic languages and ideology in the Safavid, Ottoman and Mughal empires, and the Uzbek Khanates of Central AsiaDr Ferenc Péter Csirkés (University of Birmingham)
28 October 2024Disturbance of Thoughts: Doubt, Impiety, and Unbelief in the Arab-Ottoman World, 17th-19th CenturiesDr Peter Hill (Northumbria University)
14 October 2024Milk and Honey: Technologies of Plenty in the Making of a Holy LandDr Tamar Novick (Humboldt University, Berlin)
30 September 2024Empire of Refugees: North Caucasian Muslims and the Late Ottoman StateDr Vladimir Hamed-Troyansky (University of California, Santa Barbara)
17 September 2024Trade and Diplomacy between Christians and Muslims in the Later Medieval Mediterranean: Perspectives from the Papal ArchivesDr Mike Carr (University of Edinburgh)
16 September 2024Ottoman Syria in the 19th centuryDr Ula Zeir (The British Library)
19 March 2024Disasters, Disciplinarity and Decolonisation: thinking with the 1927 Jericho earthquakeDr Sarah Irving (Staffordshire University)
11 March 2024The Lives of Paper: Homes, Archives, and the Production of History in Twentieth Century BeirutDr Hana Sleiman (University of Edinburgh)
26 February 2024The Function of the Library and Librarian in the Decolonising of the CurriculumWaseem Farooq (Aga Khan University)
13 February 2024Colonial Logic and Capitalist aims: Interrogating Saudi Arabia’s ‘progress’ narrativeDr Nora Jaber (University of Exeter)
5 February 2024

Moh Zaimil Alivin: 'Muslims in the Periphery: Representation of Muslim Gender and Sexual Minorities in Contemporary Anglophone Middle Eastern Novels'

Felícia Marchi Beltrao Campos: 'Palestinian Futurities: rap, hip hop and future-making of Palestine'

PhD students Moh Zaimil Alivin and Felícia Marchi Beltrao Campos (University of Edinburgh)
30 January 2024Political Cartography and the Dynamic ArchiveDr Luisa Gandolfo (University of Aberdeen)
15 January 2024Decolonising Arabic Language TeachingDr Alessandro Columbu (University of Westminster)
4 December 2023Saving Tradition: Archiving Islam in the Western SahelDr Jeremy Dell (University of Edinburgh)
13 November 2023Testimonial Knowledge in Kalam and FiqhDr Fedor Benevich (University of Edinburgh)
3 October 2023The Revolutionary Trait and Solutions to the Problem of Legitimation: a reading of Ali al-WardiDr Nida Alahmad (University of Edinburgh)
18 September 2023Video Games for Public Impact: the Digital Lab for Islamic Visual Culture & CollectionsDr Glaire Anderson (University of Edinburgh)

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

DateTitleSpeaker(s)
4 April 2023Islam on the Move: Transnational Connections in Arab and African Anglophone LiteraturesDr Nadia Butt (University of Giessen)
3 April 2023Shī‛īs, Christians, and the Uses of Artifice: Approaches to Arabic Poetry in the Ottoman EraDr Hilary Kilpatrick
27 March 2023Writing as resistance: everyday resistance of Afghan women in Iran (Bahar Fayeghi) and Religion and Mysticism in the Poetry of Adonis (Erin Robbins)PhD students Bahar Fayeghi and Erin Robbins (University of Edinburgh)
13 March 2023What Do Iranians Want? An overview of GAMAAN’s surveys conducted between 2019 and 2023Dr Pooyan Tamimi Arab (Utrecht University)
27 February 2023From Rural Pitched Battle to Grand Royal Spectacle: The Story of the Iranian Ta'ziyeh TraditionDr Lucy Deacon (University of Edinburgh)
13 February 2023A short review of novels written by female Iranian authors with a special focus on Parinush Sani’i’s Sahm-e manDr Claus Valling Pedersen (University of Copenhagen)
30 January 2023Ethics of Happiness: Zhāle Qāʾem-Maqāmi on Being a WomanProfessor Asghar Seyed-Gohrab (Utrecht University)
16 January 2023Narratives from the dark age: Persian tales from early Islamic timesProfessor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh)
21 November 2022Islamic Twitter in Salman’s Saudi Arabia (Adam Ferron) and Exhibiting Artists from MENA in Western Museums (Farah Taleb)Adam Ferron and Farah Taleb (PhD students, IMES, University of Edinburgh)
8 November 2022On the Centenary of the British Mandate Era in Palestine (1922-1948)Dr Salman Abu Sitta
24 October 2022“We must not reduce reform to the penal measures taken by other peoples…”:  Towards a Middle Eastern Penology (1900-1953)Dr Anthony Gorman (University of Edinburgh)
10 October 2022The Umayyad Women ProjectDr Marie Legendre, Abdullah Haidar, and Leone Pecorini Goodall (University of Edinburgh)
26 September 2022A View from the Periphery: The ijāza as Polemic in Early 10th/16th Twelver Shī`ismProfessor Andrew Newman Professor Andrew Newman (University of Edinburgh)
4 April 2022Transnational Lives and Transnational Politics: The Alevis in GermanyDr Songül Mecit (University of Edinburgh)
28 March 2022

Lucy Deacon's seminar is entitled: Karbala from Canvas to Stage: The Influence of Traditional Storytelling on the Iranian 'Taʿziyeh'

Carlos Mendez' seminar is entitled: Exploring the Intra-Shiʿi Moral Panic behind the Controversial Film “The Lady of Heaven”

Lucy Deacon (University of Edinburgh) and Carlos Mendez (University of Edinburgh)
7 March 2022Carving an Inclusive Online Learning Space Under Constraints: A Study of Minority Shiʿi Women’s Digital Da’wa in Indonesia Dr Siti Sarah Muwahidah (University of Edinburgh)
7 February 2022Decentring the Imamate: Did the Imams Create Shiʿism, or Did the Shiʿa Create the Imams?Dr Edmund Hayes
17 January 2022The Unorthodox as Orthodox? Uncovering Subaltern Voices in the Later Safavid PeriodProfessor Andrew Newman (University of Edinburgh)
22 November 2021‘We call you to the Book of God!’ - Studying Rebellion in the Early Islamic Period (692-816 CE)Dr Hannah-Lena Hagemann (University of Hamburg)
8 November 2021Valuing water: religious, social, cultural perspectives from a water-scarce region Dr Kholoud Al-Ajarma (University of Edinburgh)
25 October 2021Knowledge in Mu'tazilite KalāmDr Fedor Benevich (University of Edinburgh)
11 October 2021The power of the land: New perspectives on the social and political history of Lower-Iraq in the second century AHDr Noëmie Lucas (University of Edinburgh)
27 September 2021From Kitab to Risala: The long shadow of Yaqut’s version of Ibn Fadlan’s accountDr Luke Treadwell (University of Oxford)
10 May 2021Dreams/Cinema/PalestineDr Greg Burris (University of Beirut)
10 February 2020The role of family in the lives of Istanbul janissaries in the 18th century Gemma Masson (ASTENE)
3 February 2020Interactions between Byzantines and ArabMuslims in 9th-10th century SicilyAnnliese Nef (Université Paris I)
27 January 2020Diagrams in Byzantine Medical ManuscriptsPetros Bouras-Vallianatos (University of Edinburgh)
20 January 2020Islamisation in Mongol AnatoliaAndrew Peacock (University of St Andrews)
13 January 2020Greek translations into Middle Persian and Byzantine Greek translations into Arabic and PersianJaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh)
25 November 2019Byzantine Sardinia and the Arab ConquestsAlex Metcalfe (University of Lancaster)
18 November 2019'Marginalised opinions, uncensored voices, and unabashed attitudes': LGBT Pop-Activism in JordanDr Ebtihal Mahadeen (University of Edinburgh)
11 November 2019The Art of Social Realism in Rakhshan Banietemad’s Films Maryam Ghorbankarimi (University of Lancaster)
4 November 2019Negotiating Constitutionalism and Conflict in the Qajar Era: A Close Reading of the “bast” at the British LegationMira Xenia Schwerda (Harvard University)
28 October 2019Criteria for dating early Islamic exegetical TraditionsDr Andreas Görke (University of Edinburgh)
21 October 2019A Crisis of Marriage, A Crisis of Legitimacy: Kinship, Islam, and Institution-Building in JordanDr Geoffrey Hughes (University of Exeter)
14 October 2019Zarathustra through Muslim EyesProfessor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh)
7 October 2019Iran vs US: War or Peace? Or if not, what?Jim Muir (independent scholar)
30 September 2019From mistrust to understanding? Making constitution and reaching agreement in Tunisia after the Revolution for DignityTereza Jermanova (Charles University)
23 September 2019'Visualizing a Medieval ‘Scientist’: ʿAbbās b. Firnās in the Contemporary ImaginationDr Glaire Anderson (University of Edinburgh)
16 September 2019Researching Islamic pop musicDr Jonas Otterbeck (Aga Khan University's Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations, London)
1 April 2019Gulf History: from the Annals of the British Library to the Digital UniverseUla Zeir (The British Library)
25 March 2019The Future of Islamic Studies in the UKProfessor Hugh Goddard (University of Edinburgh)
18 March 2019Between Affect and Scepticism: Nonverbal Lyricism and the Essay FilmProfessor Laura Rascaroli (University College Cork)
11 March 2019Search and Research: Library Resources on Islamic and Middle Eastern StudiesDr Shenxiao Tong (University of Edinburgh)
4 March 2019Differentiation in the Arabic as a Foreign Language ClassroomDr Giorgia Ferrari (University of Exeter)
25 February 2019The Acquisition of Knowledge is Equivalent to the Fear of God: Educational Thought in Classical IslamProfessor 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 2019Culinary Culture of the Middle EastJennifer Scarce (University of Dundee)
4 February 2019Islamic Studies – Scientific or Confessional? A Contested University SubjectProfessor Jørgen Nielsen (University of Birmingham)
28 January 2019Arabic Diglossia as Language Ideology: Implications for Teaching'Jona Fras (University of Edinburgh)
21 January 2019Broadening Horizons: Teaching Socio-Cultural Anthropology of the Middle EastDr Janet Starkey (Durham University)
14 January 2019Arabic at Edinburgh before IMESDr Anthony Gorman (University of Edinburgh)
26 November 2018Engendering and Gendering Memory in Palestinian FolktalesDr Farah Aboubakr (University of Edinburgh)
19 November 2018Building Prophetic Communities: A New Generation of Female Islamic Scholars in BritainDr Giulia Liberatore (University of Edinburgh)
12 November 2018Religious Authority in London's Shi' Triangle: The Dynamics of a Transnational CompetitionDr Elvire Corboz (University of Edinburgh)
5 November 2018Literary Analysis of the Iranian Ta'ziyeh Repertoire: Foregrounding the Mother in the Martyrdom of QasemLucy 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 2018Legal and Linguistic Continuity in Coptic Documents from Post-Conquest EgyptSamuel Cook (Macquarie University)
15 October 2018Book 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 2018Female Mourning in Islam: Historical Precedents and Contemporary Diasporic PerspectivesDr Alistair Hunter (University of Edinburgh/University of Glasgow)
1 October 2018The Democratic Grotesque: Masquerade and Dissensus in Post-Revolutionary TunisiaDr Charis Boutieri (King's College London)
24 September 2018The Finances of the Caliphate: Abbasid Fiscal Practice in Islamic Late AntiquityDr Marie Legendre (University of Edinburgh)
17 September 2018Turkish Modernity from a Literary Perspective: Ahmet Hamdi TanpinarDr Hilal Kaya (University of Edinburgh)
19 March 2018Militarist Masculinity, Militarist Femininity: Gendering Jordan’s War on the Islamic StateDr Ebtihal Mahadeen (University of Edinburgh)
12 March 2018Reporting Lebanon: Orientalism as News PracticeDr 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 2018Refugees, Embodied Memories, and Intimate Politics: Palestinian TalesDr Ruba Salih (SOAS University of London)
12 February 2018The Good, the Bad and the Ugly?: Unveiling American Muslim Women in Rolla Selbak’s Three VeilsDr Alberto Carbajal (Roehampton University)
5 February 2018Problematising Migrant Domestic Work in the Middle East: A Philosopher's PerspectiveDr Arianne Shahvisi (University of Sussex)
29 January 2018Playing Chess Inside the Lion’s Mouth: LGBT Activism in LebanonDr John Nagle (University of Aberdeen)
22 January 2018Toward 'The Good Life': Feminist Reflections on Normalcy and Hope in Israeli Settler ColonialismDr Katie Natanel (University of Exeter)
15 January 2018Tcharmil: The Birth Of a Moroccan Gangsta Culture. Masculinity, Femininity and Gender Relations Within the Working-ClassesDr Meriam Cheikh (University of Edinburgh)
27 November 2017Ruling Families and Business in the Gulf Monarchies: The Re-Definition of the Oligarchic PactDr Marc Valeri (University of Exeter)
20 November 2017Friends, Colleagues and Grand Vezirs: The Ottoman Art of Letter-writing (c. 1600)Dr Christine Woodhead (Durham University)
17 November 2017Syria: 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 2017Egypt and the 2013 rupture and beyond: reflections on unruly politicsProfessor Mariz Tadros (University of Sussex)
30 October 2017Marriage and the Origins of MeccaDr Majied Robinson (University of Edinburgh)
23 October 2017Mary the mother of Jesus in IslamProfessor Carole Hillenbrand (University of Edinburgh)
16 October 2017New Directions in Iranian CinemaDr Nacim Pak-Shiraz (University of Edinburgh)
9 October 2017Picturing the Later Mughals - Shah Alam II and Bazgasht Imagery in British DelhiDr Yuthika Sharma (University of Edinburgh)
2 October 2017Behind Bars - Reflections on a History of the Middle Eastern PrisonDr Anthony Gorman (University of Edinburgh)
25 September 2017The Evolution of Islamic Chivalry (futuwwa) from the ʿAbbasids to the Ottomans'Dr Ines Aščerić-Todd (University of Edinburgh)
18 September 2017Types of Connotation, and their Implications for Arabic/English translationProfessor James Dickins (University of Leeds)
3 April 2017Early Iranian and Arab Shi`i Discussions of Leadership Between Late Antiquity and Early IslamProfessor Andrew Newman (University of Edinburgh)
27 March 2017An 8th-century Turkic rebel against Islamic proselytising: Gülnar HatunProfessor Ayşe Çalık Ross (University of Kocaeli)
20 March 2017Motifs in the legends of the pre-Islamic kings and tribesProfessor Julia Bray (University of Oxford)
13 March 2017Holy cities and regime change in the 8th-century Islamic worldDr Harry Munt (University of York)
6 March 2017Captivity, Concubinage, and ConsentProfessor Kecia Ali (University of Boston)
27 February 2017Adi ibn Zayd al-‘Ibadi and the origin of the Arabic wine songDr Kirill Dmitriev (University of St Andrews)
20 February 2017Society and housing in Late Antique and early Islamic PalmyraDr 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 2017Mosaics from the late Byzantine to early Islamic periodDr Richard McClary (University of Edinburgh)
30 January 2017The Great Mosque of Damascus in Umayyad TimesDr Alain George (University of Edinburgh)
23 January 2017From dietary antinomianism to dietary prohibitionsDr Nicolai Sinai (University of Oxford)
16 January 2017Alexander the Great in Early Persian and Arabic HistoriographyProfessor Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila (University of Edinburgh)
28 November 2016Arabic Cross-dialectal Conversations with Implications for the Teaching of Arabic as a Second LanguageDr Rasha Soliman (University of Leeds)
21 November 2016Ethnographying sex work, analysing intimate livesDr Mériam Cheikh (University of Edinburgh)
14 November 2016Solomon on Screen: The Qur’an and CinemaDr Nacim Pak-Shiraz (University of Edinburgh)
7 November 2016"That Hideous Schizophrenia": A Genealogy of Islamic Polemics against Christianity and SecularismDr 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 2016International Relations in the Middle East: Social Movements and Regional OrderDr Ewan Stein (University of Edinburgh)
17 October 2016Arab Varieties of CapitalismDr Steffen Hertog (London School of Economic)
10 October 2016Untold Stories: Arab Media Provision for ChildrenProfessor Naomi Sakr (University of Westminster)
3 October 2016Is Torture Allowed in the Shariah or Not?Dr Jonathan Brown (Georgetown University)
26 September 2016Liberty and Coloniality in the early modern Arabic comparative criticism of Rūḥī al-KhālidīHaifa Saud Alfaisal (King Saud University)
19 September 2016Body and Spirit in Early Islamic ThoughtDr 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 2016Yemen at war: a political and strategic assessmentLaurent Bonnefoy (CNRS-CERI Paris)
7 March 2016Revolt, rebellion and civil war in the Umayyad periodDr Andrew Marsham (University of Edinburgh)
29 February 2016Libya from revolution to chaos, from chaos to dialogueVirginie Collombier (European University Institute)
22 February 2016Syria: destructions, displacements, and territorial changesLeila Vignal (Université Rennes 2)
8 February 2016Refugees, war, and state-making in the Middle EastDr Benjamin White (University of Glasgow)
1 February 2016Investigating civil war in Syria from YouTubeCécile Boëx (The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Paris)
25 January 2016The different stages of the Kurdish liberation struggle in IraqDr Yaniv Voller (University of Edinburgh)
18 January 2016Jihad in Syria as self-accomplishment: Diaries of a female member of the Islamic StateDr 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 2015Sectarianism in International Relations: The Saudi-Iranian Rivalry since 1979.Dr Toby Matthiesen (St. Antony's College, University of Oxford)
24 November 2015The Archaeology of Everyday Life in Early IslamFanny 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 2015Afghanistan’s Shia minorities: Politics and sectarian tensions during the second Afghan war (1878-1881)Dr Francesca Fuoli (SOAS University of London)
9 November 2015Polite Conversation and its Consequences in the Ottoman EmpireDr Helen Pfeifer (University of Cambridge)
2 November 2015Transnational Shīʿism and the Endangered Promise of Pakistan: Rethinking Sunnī-Shī`ī Sectarianism in South AsiaDr Simon W Fuchs (Princeton University)
26 October 2015The Origins of the Conflict between Sunni and Shi‘i IslamProfessor Wilferd Madelung (University of Oxford)
19 October 2015The ‘Hadith Literature’: What is it? And where is it?Dr Stephen Burge (Institute of Ismaili Studies)
12 October 2015One of a Kind: The Cinematic Style of the poetry of Ahmed MatarDr Ahmed Khaleel (University of York)
5 October 2015Documenting 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 2015Farewell to the vanguard: Syria's Ahrar al-Sham Islamic Movement and wartime de-radicalisationDr 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.

Middle Eastern items and food at a table for a Meet, Greet and Eat event

DateVenue
31 October 202350 George Square
14 March 202350 George Square
5 December 202250 George Square
15 November 202250 George Square
27 March 202040 George Square
28 February 202040 George Square
17 January 202040 George Square
15 November 201919 George Square
6 October 2017 
4 November 2016 
4 March 2016 - part of the Edinburgh Arab Festival 2016Informatics Forum
8 January 2016 - part of the Edinburgh Arab Festival 2016Informatics 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.

SpeakerDateVenueTheme
Professor Emily Selove (University of Exeter)2 March 202640 George SquareMedieval Arabic Magic between Historical Cartoons and Philological Inquiry
Professor Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi (École Pratique des Hautes Études/PSL - Sorbonne)27 May 202450 George SquareShi'i Islam: Doctrinal Foundations and Historical Developments
Professor Paul Starkey (Durham University)30 October 2019David Hume TowerIn Search of Identity: Faris al-Shidyaq and the 19th-Century Arabic Revival
Dr Linda Komaroff (Los Angeles County Museum of Art)28 November 201850 George SquareDining with the Sultan: Reflections on the Fine Art of Feasting at the Islamic Courts
Professor Nur Masalha (SOAS University of London)2 November 2017Playfair LibraryPowerful Symbols and the British-Zionist Alliance: From Balfour to the Nakba
Professor Maribel Fierro (Spanish National Research Council, Spain)4 November 2016Old Medical SchoolCharisma 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 2015Playfair 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

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.

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

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.

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)

Headshot of Professor Jaakko Hameen-Anttila

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

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).


Date: 3 March 2017

Venue: 19 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Dr Jokha Alharthi (Sultan Qaboos University)


Date: 15 February 2017

Venue: 19 George Square, University of Edinburgh

Speaker: Professor Josef Wiesehöfer (University of Kiel) 


Conferences and symposia

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.


=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.


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

DateFestivalVenueTitleIMES rep
16 August 2023Edinburgh International Book FestivalSpark TheatreJokha Alharthi: The James Tait Black EventJokha Alharthi (PhD graduate in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies); Marilyn Booth (former Iraq Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies)
18 June 2018Edinburgh International Film Festival Women in Iranian Cinema: Fatemeh Motamed-AryaProfessor Nacim Pak-Shiraz (Personal Chair of Cinema and Iran)

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

DateFestivalVenueTitleIMES rep
16 August 2023Edinburgh International Book FestivalSpark TheatreJokha Alharthi: The James Tait Black EventJokha Alharthi (PhD graduate in Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies); Marilyn Booth (former Iraq Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies)
18 June 2018Edinburgh International Film Festival Women in Iranian Cinema: Fatemeh Motamed-AryaProfessor Nacim Pak-Shiraz (Personal Chair of Cinema and Iran)

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. 


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).


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.

Edinburgh Arab Festival 2015 poster
Browse our photo gallery of the festival on Flickr

Dates: 23 to 24 June 2014

Venue: Filmhouse, Edinburgh

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

The Crown Jewels of Iran

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

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.

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).


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