Jörg Matthias Determann's Blog, page 7

Maria Determann wins public speaking competition at Doha English Speaking School

Herzlichsten Glückwunsch (most heartfelt congratulations) to my daughter Maria on winning the inaugural Public Speaking Competition at Doha English Speaking School (DESS) in her age category. I express my sincere gratitude to DESS Principal Mr. Sibley as well as English Coordinators Mrs. Richards and Mrs. Eden for awarding her a certificate. My further appreciation goes to the judges, including Mr. Sibley, DESS Board Member Tanya Kane and Sherborne Qatar’s Gail Williams, for their service. Maria spoke about her favorite subject in school, Arabic, which is taught by Amany Housiny. Her class teacher Miss Harper, my wife Jeanne Vaz, our nanny Marilou Magsayo Semetara and I helped Maria prepare for her performance. Andualem Worku provided her with transportation. You can read about this event in the weekly update put together by Alison Soltanifar: https://secure.smore.com/n/tanm1

Visuals from presentation at Medical and Health Humanities conference

All thanks must go to Alan Weber, Byrad Yyelland, Fella Benabed and Mohamud Verjee for organizing the Medical and Health Humanities: Global Perspectives 2025 Conference at Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar. I was incredibly privileged to give a presentation entitled “The Science Fiction Writer in the Medical School: Isaac Asimov and Interdisciplinary Education.” Alan Husseyin provided me with essential technology support. Oliver Hodge helped me with timekeeping, while my wife Jeanne Vaz cared for our daughter Maria at home. Alan Weber generously shared photographs of the event with me, which were taken in lecture hall 4 on February 7, 2025. You can play the visuals that I showed on Prezi: https://prezi.com/view/pAAC6HN7FbllQE...

Interview for Ignition Sequence podcast

I will always be profoundly grateful to Rick Coyle of Accelerator Media for inviting me as guest on the podcast Ignition Sequence. Our host John Murphy asked me thoughtful questions about Islam, science fiction and the search for life beyond Earth. We also spoke about Qatar’s Education City and the Arab world’s space ambitions. We recorded our conversation on Riverside.fm, with me speaking from my home in Doha. I thank my wife Jeanne Vaz for attending to our daughter Maria while I was in front of the camera in our living room. This episode of Ignition Sequence was released on YouTube, X and Spotify on February 13, 2025. The YouTube address is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f51S...

Qatar Teaching and Learning Forum Spring 2025 Book Club

I’d like to thank everyone who participated in our event Badir: Starting New Conversations on Teaching and Learning on February 10, 2025. Particular thanks must go to Peter Martin for his leadership of our Qatar Teaching and Learning Forum (QTLF) and to his graphic design students at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Qatar Foundation generously sponsored this event at the Multaqa (Student Centre) in Education City. Raviv Cohen created lasting memories through his photographs. Are you interested in more QTLF gatherings? If so, please consider joining our Spring 2025 Book Club, which is organized by Anne Schmalstig and Kelly Wilson. We will be reading Peter Felten and Leo M. Lambert’s book Relationship-Rich Education: How Human Connections Drive Success in College (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020). Please register for our club here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...

Second edition of Badir in Education City

This year again, my fellow members of the Qatar Teaching and Learning Forum (QLTF) and I express our immense gratitude to Francisco Marmolejo, Samah Gamar and Dina Mutassem at Qatar Foundation for supporting our event Badir. This second edition of Badir, which means “Initiate,” will take place in Education City’s Multaqa (Student Centre) on February 10, 2025. It includes a presentation of mine entitled “How to Teach Anything with Speculative Fiction.” I will also facilitate a workshop on “Learning Through Speculative Fiction.” Our gathering would be impossible without the creative leadership of Peter Martin and the outstanding work of his graphic design students at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. The registration form is here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...

Presentation at Medical and Health Humanities: Global Perspectives 2025 conference

A galaxy of gratitude to the Organizing Committee of the conference Medical and Health Humanities: Global Perspectives 2025 for accepting an abstract of mine! My paper is entitled “The Science Fiction Writer in the Medical School: Isaac Asimov and Interdisciplinary Education.” I thank Alan Weber and Byrad Yyelland for encouraging me to submit an abstract. They inspired my contribution through a chat in the “GUQ friends” WhatsApp group that was created by Karl Widerquist. I am further indebted to Jeanne Vaz for commenting on an earlier version of my proposal. Naila Aliyeva, Rizwanul Islam and Shugyla Karshygakyzy are my main collaborators on the larger project of which this presentation is part. I am scheduled to present in room A152-154 at Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar on February 7 between 9:30 and 10:30am. My abstract is here: https://qatar-weill.cornell.edu/event...

Interview for Astronomy for Equity

An enormous thank you to Mike Simmons for interviewing me about my Springer book Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Astronomy: A Modern History! Astronomy for Equity (A4E) published our conversation under the title “Access to the Universe: DEI in Astronomy” as part of its Big Impact Astronomy Podcast on January 29, 2025. In thank the entire A4E team, including Cassondra Holmes, Yumna Majeed and Mike himself, for making this possible. We recorded our discussion online on StreamYard, but Samar Mohamed and DHL ensured that a physical copy of my volume reached Mike in California. You can listen to us on the A4E website, which also offers links to Apple Podcasts and YouTube: https://astro4equity.org/podcast/acce...

Amina Inloes reviews Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life

Alhamdulillah (praise be to God) and thank you to Amina Inloes for a very generous and detailed discussion of my book Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life (I.B. Tauris). Her review appeared in the Journal of the Contemporary Study of Islam 5, no. 1 (2025), 195–99. Amina writes: “this is an enormously comprehensive book on Muslim science fiction, UFO literature, and the space imagination.” She adds: “It succeeds not only in presenting a broad survey of Muslim science fiction and speculative writing, but also in challenging outdated stereotypes about Islam and the Muslim world.” Open access to this content is provided here: https://doi.org/10.37264/jcsi.v5i1.06

Keynote speech at ENIS Spring School ’25

Hartelijk dank and thank you very much to Joas Wagemakers of the Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS) for inviting me to be a keynote speaker at the ENIS Spring School ’25. This event will take place at the Université de Tunis between May 27 and 30, 2025. It is co-organized by the European Network for Islamic Studies (ENIS) and the Merian Centre for Advanced Studies in the Maghreb (MECAM). The theme is “Imagining Futures: Dealing with Disparity.” Sara Muller is generously supporting me in various ways, including by arranging my travel and accommodation. Byrad Yyelland kindly commented on the abstract of my keynote speech. You can find more information about the event here: https://nisis.sites.uu.nl/2024/09/12/...

Column by Junichi Watanabe in Hoshinavi magazine

Thank you very much and 有難う御座いますto Junichi Watanabe of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan for writing about my late grandfather Fritz Determann and me. Junichi’s column 三鷹の森 appeared on page 67 in volume 26, issue 2 (292), of the magazine Hoshinavi (星ナビ), dated February 2025. I met Junichi at the General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union in Cape Town, South Africa, in 2024. I thank my extended family, and especially Regina Kienecker, Michael Determann and Robin Kienecker, for providing me with information and photographs of my grandfather. The picture of me printed in the story was taken by Kateryna Reshetova. I am grateful to Wolfgang Wimmer of the archive of Fritz’s former employer, ZEISS, for sharing additional material with me. Harumi Fujita sent me a copy of the published article, and Erika Tsuchiya helped me understand the Japanese text. You can find the contents of this issue of Hoshinavi listed on the website of its publisher AstroArts: https://www.astroarts.co.jp/hoshinavi...