Institute Students Sarah Elobaid and Eman Elawad's Radio Interview on Sudan
On Feb. 1, 2025, radio and podcast host Stefan Christoff interviewed two Institute of Islamic Studies undergraduate students regarding the current violence in Sudan. Along with seasoned activists Duha Elmardi and Yaser Essa, Eman Elawad and WIMESSA President Sarah Elobaid spoke before a live audience at Casa Del Popolo in Montreal about the historical context of the violence in Sudan, the role of the Sudanese diaspora, and the role of art and poetry in Sudan activism. The program was broadcast on CKUT Radio's , where you can download the episode. Photos by Amru Salahuddien.
Congratulations to Khadijatu-Dimalya Ibrahim!
91社区's African Studies Program and the Institute of Islamic Studies salute Ms. Khadijatu-Dimalya Ibrahim, recipient of the 91社区's Centre Culturel Islamique de Qu茅bec Memorial Award for her contribution to the Muslim community in 91社区, Quebec and Canada. Ms. Ibrahim has demonstrated the central role of Africa to the tradition of Islam. For details, please consult the article in 听and the article in听.
鈥淜hadijatu-Dimalya Ibrahim, who co-founded 91社区鈥檚 Black Muslim Association in 2023, was recognized with the University鈥檚 Centre Culturel Islamique de Qu茅bec Memorial Award.
Established in 2018, the $3,000 award recognizes students who demonstrate a commitment to fostering the inclusion of Muslims within Quebec and Canadian society.鈥� (91社区 Reporter)
Persian Program鈥檚 鈥楩ield Trip鈥� to Cinema du Parc
As part of the Persian program, we organized a field trip to Cinema du Parc to watch 丌賵丕夭 亘賵賯賱賲賵賳 (Universal Language / Une langue Universelle) on January 29th. 听This unique Canadian film blends Persian, English, and French in a surreal and thought-provoking story set between 1980s Tehran and Winnipeg.
A huge thank you to Dr. Behzad Borhan for the great recommendation! It鈥檚 exciting to see a film like this, showcasing linguistic and cultural diversity while gaining international recognition鈥攕hortlisted for Best International Feature Film at the 97th Academy Awards and featured at Cannes 2024.
Even more exciting, we had the incredible opportunity to meet and talk with the film鈥檚 director, producer, and actors, gaining insight into the creative process and multilingual storytelling behind the film.
In the Persian program, learning extends beyond the classroom with cultural events, conversation sessions, and trips like this. Looking forward to more experiences like this in the future and thanks to all our students who came!
Talk by Marie Rask Bjerre Odgaard: "When She Arrives: On friendship, singular encounters, and being an anthropologist like a friend." - February 12, 2025.
The Old Women of Nishapur Initiative: gender, knowledge, religion. Department of Anthropology and Institute of Islamic Studies 91社区.
An SSHRC sponsored event with support from Critical Media Lab 91社区
Wed. Feb 12, 2025 鈥� 12:30 pm
Peterson Hall - 116
The Beautiful friend shows up unexpectedly and a worlding can begin. In this talk, we move from making friends on a quiet street in Denmark to friendships in Jordan and finally to friendship and the possibility of transformative solidarity in anthropology. When invisible, affective gestures are captured ethnographically in all their singularity, can we be an anthropologist like a friend? One primary ethical demand in friendship is that you do not tell your friends鈥� secrets, no matter what. When this demand is translated into being an anthropologist like a friend, it often leads to seemingly endless discussions about how to tell the story of what emerges in-between鈥攈ow to make that story both an expression of a relationship and a more general view of the world, without becoming a tell-tale, and how to best honor your friend鈥檚 desires against powers that may seek to eradicate those desires altogether. Through the lens of anthropology, this talk examines how friendships鈥攐ften full of personal secrets and intimacies鈥攊nform and complicate our positionalities and the purpose of the work we do. As illuminated by Leela Gandhi's work on radical possibility and the politics of friendship (2006), the talk considers the productive and at times frustrating tension between relational ethics of trust and intimacy, professional responsibility, and the potential for a radical politics of friendship that resists colonial narratives and embraces unfinished relations and transformative solidarity.
Marie Rask Bjerre Odgaard听will also offer a discussion seminar on her research on family and queerness in Jordan, we will read one of her chapters and discuss it with her. Write to setrag.manoukian [at] mcgill.ca to receive the pdf.
Tue. Feb 11, 2025 鈥� 2:30 pm-4:30 pm
Morrice Hall - 328
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Professor Michelle Hartman鈥檚 work featured at talks in Cairo
Professor Michelle Hartman presented her work at several talks in Cairo, Egypt in January. AT KMT House she was in conversation with Professor Magda Hasabelnaby of Ain Shams University about women鈥檚 literature, war stories, and translation.
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At Diwan Bookshop in Zamalek Michelle presented her recent co-translation (with Caline Nasrallah) of Asmaa Alatawna鈥檚 A Long Walk from Gaza in conversation with Cairo University Professor, Hoda Elsadda.
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"Lyrical Language Learning," Behzad Borhan - February 1, 2025
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IIS PhD Student, Behzad Borhan, will give a lecture at University of Toronto, on Saturday, February 1.
"Lyrical Language Learning: A Multisensory Approach to Teaching Persian Language through Literature and Music"
For more information, please听.
Congratulations to Arteen Khachekyan!
Congratulations to MA student Arteen Khachekyan on receiving a 2025 SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship, for his project entitled, 鈥滼ewish Philosophy in Medieval Baghdad: A Study of Ibn Kammuna's Ethics in an Interfaith Context". His supervisor is Professor Robert Wisnovsky.
What the War Left Behind featured in Jadaliyya
Professors Malek Abisaab and Michelle Hartman's latest book, "Women's War Stories: Women's Stories of Resistance and Struggle in Lebanon"听has been featured in Jadaliyya.
Please see their interview听.
Congratulations to Megan Martucci!
Congratulations to MA student Megan Martucci on successfully completing her MA thesis entitled: "When language abandons us: translating Adania Shibli鈥檚 Minor Detail into English, French, and Portuguese".听 Her supervisor was Professor Michelle Hartman.
Talk by Mahdi Tourage - January 23, 2025
"Misogyny, Racism and the Limits of Mystical Knowledge in Rumi's Poetry"
We are pleased to invite you to the forthcoming Institute of Islamic Studies Lecture Series event for Winter 2025, which will maintain its emphasis on Sufi Studies.
Like all of our events, it is free and open to the public. All are welcome.
Thursday, January 23
Morrice Hall 017
2:30 - 4:00
Congratulations to Prof Prashant Keshavmurthy!
Professor Prashant Keshavmurthy has received an Internal Social Sciences and Humanities Development (SSHD) Grant for his project, forthcoming as a bilingual facing page translation with Brill, "Producing the first critical edition of Amir Khusraw's The Nine Skies."听
Prashant Keshavmurthy's Recent Interview
Professor Prashant Keshavmurthy was interviewed by the Iranian magazine Kh膩ne-yi ket膩b va adabiy膩t-e Ir膩n (The House of Books and Literature of Iran) on .
ion and violence that have been generated by neoliberal capitalism?