Jörg Matthias Determann's Blog, page 9

Book talk by Sara Raza on Punk Orientalism

A huge thanks to Sara Raza for giving a book talk at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. She will present her exciting work Punk Orientalism: The Art of Rebellion (Black Dog Press) in the conference room (106i) of our library on Tuesday, October 29, 2024, at 12:30pm. This event will serve as a prelude to the exhibition “Seeing Is Believing: The Art and Influence of Gérôme,” which Sara co-curated at Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art. I also thank Patty Paine and Aissa Deebi for their generous support of this lecture. You can view the poster here: https://www.academia.edu/124936435/Pu...

Presentation at MESA Annual Meeting

I thank Jeffrey Reger and his colleagues from the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) very much for accepting a submission of mine for their Annual Meeting. On Thursday, November 14, 2024, I am thrilled to present about “Middle Eastern Cultures, Islam and Extraterrestrial Life.” My presentation will be part of session VII-16 “Nature and the Non-human in Muslim Thought.” I thank Richard McGregor of Vanderbilt University for chairing our panel. It is my honor to speak after the following great scholars: Munia Hweidi of Sophia University, Jens Schmitt of the University of Würzburg, Aysenur Cam of Princeton University and Mustafa Diwan of Harvard Divinity School. All our abstracts are here: https://my-mesa.org/program/sessions/...

Joining Commission C5 Cultural Astronomy of the International Astronomical Union

I am so grateful to Steven R. Gullberg for inviting me to join the new Commission C5 Cultural Astronomy of the International Astronomical Union. I was delighted to see Steve, who serves as the President of the Commission, again at the General Assembly of the IAU in Cape Town in August 2024. Cultural astronomy includes archaeoastronomy, ethnoastronomy, and astronomy that appears in certain aspects of contemporary culture. Commission C5 serves as a focal point for researching and educating the public about how astronomy is part of human cultures now and how it has been throughout world history. I also thank Susanne M. Hoffmann who first approached me about an IAU affiliation. My application was processed by the European Southern Observatory. You can find my page on the union’s website here: https://www.iau.org/administration/me...

Interview about Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life on Diwan

Thank you, شكرا and grazzi to Rayyan Al-Shawaf for interviewing Shoaib Ahmed Malik about the book he and I coedited on Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life (I.B. Tauris)! The interview, entitled “Religion and Science … Fiction?,” was published on Diwan on October 9, 2024. Diwan is a blog from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Middle East Program and the Malcolm H. Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center. Follow the conversation here: https://carnegieendowment.org/middle-...

Scientia Pakistan Webinar on Writing about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Astronomy

Thanks a lot and آپ کا بہت شکریہ to Saadeqa Khan for inviting me to contribute to Scientia Pakistan’s webinar series Science Writing Internship Cohort Three! On October 13, 2024, at 3pm (Pakistan time), I am very thrilled to discuss “Writing about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Astronomy.” I extend my appreciation to Fouz Siddiqui for coordinating this session. You can join with Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/jyy-qzrr-xgh

MESA Panel on the Monstrous and the Gothic in Middle East Literature

A triple thank-you to Emily TahaBurt, Calliandra Hermanson and Sara Palmer for allowing me to chair a panel at the 58th Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA)! On Monday, November 11, 2024, I will be privileged to preside over session I-12 “The Monstrous and the Gothic in Middle East Literature.” The distinguished speakers include Fatima-zohra Kettaf of the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco), Elham Vatankhahan Esfahani of Tarbiat Modares University and Sara Madandar Arani of the University of Arizona. You can read the abstracts of their presentations here: https://my-mesa.org/program/sessions/...

Presentation about space at Doha English Speaking School

Very big thanks to Sarah Harper for inviting me to talk to the pupils of year 1, including my daughter Maria, at Doha English Speaking School (DESS) this week! On September 29, 2024, in preparation for World Space Week, I had the great pleasure of giving a presentation entitled “Space is for Everyone.” I am deeply grateful to Jeanne Vaz for proposing this session. I further thank Miss Harper’s colleagues, including Mrs. Abdulle and Maria’s previous instructor Mrs. Shahzad, for enabling the entire year group to come together for this occasion. They certainly proved that there is space for everyone in the classroom of 1c. The event earned a mention by Sean Sibley, the principal, in the school’s weekly newsletter managed by Alison Soltanifar: https://secure.smore.com/n/bk37y

Gulf Times covers discussion of AI in higher education

Thanks very much to the Gulf Times for picking up the story about our panel at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar on generative artificial intelligence in teaching and learning! This article appeared in the newspaper’s online edition on September 22, 2024. The print version was published the following day, September 23 (volume XXXXV, no. 13142, main section, page 12). The title is “VCUarts hosts QF partners to discuss AI in higher education.” The uniform resource locator (URL) is: https://www.gulf-times.com/article/69...

Story about AI panel on VCU website

Thank you once more to the communications team of Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, led by Kathryn London-Penny, for all they have done for our panel discussion on artificial intelligence in teaching and learning! Mary Joseph crafted a detailed story about the event for our university’s website, incorporating quotes by Amir Berbić and Jacqulyn Williams as well as photographs by Raviv Cohen. Mary’s piece is entitled “VCUarts Qatar Organizes Panel Discussion on the Impact of Generative AI in University Education.” Read it here: https://qatar.vcu.edu/news/vcuarts-qa...

Presentation at VCUarts Qatar Research Week

Happy start of the week! At Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar, we are marking not just the return of autumn (astronomically, at least), but also that of our Research Week. Our Institute for Creative Research and our Office of Research and Development have my gratefulness for organizing this event. I very much look forward to speaking about “Islamic Cultures and Alien Life” in our atrium on Tuesday, September 24, at 10:30am. As I am preparing my presentation, I also feel a deep sense of obligation toward the many other people who support my scholarship. At VCU, this includes not only my colleagues in the Department of Liberal Arts & Sciences, but also my research assistants hired through our Student Employment Program. Three of them joined this month: Naila Aliyeva, Rizwanul Islam and Shugyla Karshygakyzy. See what other creative activity is in process on our campus by going to FlippingBook: https://online.flippingbook.com/view/...