Jörg Matthias Determann's Blog, page 12

Stephan Reiner defends thesis on Qatar

Meinen herzlichen Glückwunsch (my heartfelt congratulations) to Stephan Reiner on successfully defending his excellent doctoral dissertation at the University of Vienna yesterday, April 25, 2024. His thesis is entitled “Die religiöse Ausrichtung des Emirates Katar und die damit verbundenen Implikationen auf seine wirtschaftliche Strategie“ (The religious orientation of the Emirate of Qatar and the associated implications for its economic strategy). I’d like to thank again the chair of our examination board, Yavuz Köse, Reiner’s dedicated advisor Rüdiger Lohlker as well as my fellow external examiner Abbas Poya of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg for the vital roles they played. Jitka Kloudová performed essential work in the background. Finally, I thank Sibylle Determann again for her generous help. Reiner’s thesis is available here: https://phaidra.univie.ac.at/detail/o...

Vatican Observatory recommends Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life

Thank you, grazie and gratias vobis ago to the Vatican Observatory for recommending Shoaib Ahmed Malik’s and my edited volume Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life: New Frontiers in Science and Religion (I.B. Tauris). Special thanks go to Christopher Graney, the editor of the observatory’s Faith and Science resources, for his continued attention to my work. He wrote: “The person wanting some interesting insight into thinking on Islam and extraterrestrial intelligence will find interesting material in this 2024 collection of essays.” Read more here: https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/re...

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Astronomy reviewed in Nature Astronomy

My sincerest thanks to May Chiao for discussing my Springer book Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Astronomy: A Modern History! Her review appeared in the “Books & Arts” section of Nature Astronomy 8, no. 4 (April 2024), 403. Chiao, the journal’s founding Chief Editor, called my volume “an important book that sets out the context of a movement that is being increasingly dragged into the ‘culture wars’ raging in various nations right now.” You can get access to her article “On our bookshelf” here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s4155...

Study on migration wins Northwestern University award

I sincerely congratulate Ishmael Bonsu Nyame on his winning paper at the Media & Research Awards of Northwestern University in Qatar. His outstanding study is entitled “Brokers in Migration from Ghana to Qatar.” At a gala dinner on April 17, 2024, I had the great honor of presenting the prize to him. With us on stage was Willie the Wildcat, the mascot of Northwestern University. João Queiroga and Claudia Kozman did a superb job as masters of ceremonies. I also thank Hasan Mahmud as well as my fellow judges in the category “Research & Analysis,” Marc Owen Jones and Uday Chandra, for their essential work. You can browse magnificent pictures from the festivities on the website of Khalid Photography: https://www.photowithkhalid.com/NUQ-U...

Career profile on Women In Astronomy blog

For the second time, I thank Nicolle Zellner of Albion College very much for interviewing me in relation to my Springer book Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Astronomy: A Modern History! This time, the product of our written exchange is a career profile on the Women In Astronomy blog. This site belongs to the American Astronomical Society’s Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy (CSWA). Once again, I say thank you to Jeanne Vaz for proofreading my draft responses to Nicolle’s excellent questions. Michael Determann kindly provided me with information about the astronomical work of my late grandfather Fritz Determann. Kateryna Reshetova skilfully took one of the photographs in the blog post. Read the entry here: https://womeninastronomy.blogspot.com...

Media & Research Awards at Northwestern University in Qatar

Thank you and ধন্যবাদ to Hasan Mahmud of Northwestern University in Qatar for inviting me to serve on the jury for the Media & Research Awards in the category “Research & Analysis”! It was a unique honor for me to join Marc Owen Jones of Hamad Bin Khalifa University and Uday Chandra of Georgetown University in Qatar in assessing and ranking student papers submitted to this annual competition. I greatly look forward to celebrating the achievements of the Northwestern students at a gala dinner on April 17, 2024. Big thanks and muito obrigado to Hasan’s colleague João Queiroga, the Chair of the Media & Research Awards, for extending a personal invitation to me to participate in this celebration! Samson Mbogo designed a beautiful portfolio for the event, which you can browse here: https://awardsnuq.com/

Examination of thesis on Qatar at the University of Vienna

Besten Dank (thank you very much) to Rüdiger Lohlker for asking me to examine the doctoral dissertation of his student Stephan Georg Reiner at the University of Vienna! I was greatly honored to read and evaluate Reiner’s thesis entitled “Die religiöse Ausrichtung des Emirates Katar und die damit verbundenen Implikationen auf seine wirtschaftliche Strategie“ (The religious orientation of the Emirate of Qatar and the associated implications for its economic strategy). The public defense will take place in-person and online on April 25, 2024. I thank the chair of the examination board, Yavuz Köse, as well as my fellow examiner Abbas Poya of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg for their very important work. Jitka Kloudová provided crucial administrative support. Finally, I highly appreciate the valuable help by Sibylle Determann. Reiner’s defense and that of others are announced here: https://ssc-philkultur.univie.ac.at/s...

Interview about Islam and aliens on Geeska

Thank you, شكراً and mahadsanid to Faisal Ali for interviewing me about the book Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life, which Shoaib Ahmed Malik and I edited and published with I.B. Tauris. Faisal, a journalist who also writes for The Guardian, spoke to me on Google Meet. A transcript of our conversation, which was edited for brevity and clarity, was published on the website Geeska (meaning “The Horn”). This recently relaunched media platform, which is trilingual in Somali, Arabic and English, covers cultural, political and economic developments in the Horn of Africa region. I thank the whole Geeska team for their generous interest and support and wish them the best of luck. You can read the interview with the headline “Islam isn’t hostile to the idea of aliens beyond earth” here: https://www.geeska.com/en/islam-isnt-...

Podcast interview hosted by Roberto Mazza

Thank you very much and molte grazie to Roberto Mazza for interviewing Shoaib Ahmed Malik and me about our edited volume Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life: New Frontiers in Science and Religion (I.B. Tauris)! Our interview was released on the New Books Network (NBN). My thanks go to the entire NBN team for their invaluable work. Roberto, Shoaib and I recorded our conversation on Microsoft Teams from our respective homes in Chicago, Dubai and Doha. In creating this podcast, I was reminded of Roberto’s and my common connection with SOAS University of London. As research students in the Department of History, we both benefited from some of the same teachers, including Nelida Fuccaro. Listen here: https://newbooksnetwork.com/islamic-t...

Qatar Faculty Forum roundtable about diversity in research

A sincere thank you to Byrad Yyelland and his inventive colleagues at the Qatar Faculty Forum (QFF) for allowing me to shape the theme of a roundtable about diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in research. Our conversation, which is moderated by Byrad and Esmat Zaidan, will be held on April 17, 2024. The location of our session is the Smart Classroom of the Minaretein Building at Hamad Bin Khalifa University. This stunning structure, whose name means “Two Minarets,” also hosts the Education City Mosque. Lunch will be provided at 12pm just before the start of our discussions (and right after the noon or zuhr prayer). You can view our full event poster on Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu/115825934/Wh...