Human Rights, Migration, and Global Governance

For Secretary-General António Guterres, who was the High Commissioner for Refugees for a decade (2005–2015) before being elected to lead the UN, one of the most pressing issues currently facing the world body is the large-scale voluntary and involuntary (forced) movement of people across borders. While 2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, political, economic, and environmental dysfunction and collapse in their own countries has driven a record high number of people to seek a safer or better life elsewhere. Equally present especially in the West, have been counter-reactions to immigration based on political, social, economic, and security concerns. One reason the United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, with Prime Minister Theresa May triggering “Brexit”, is because of voters’ concerns over the perceived threat of uncontrollable migration. President Trump likewise won office in the US election in part by appealing to many American voters’ fears of immigrants – whether from Mexico (the ‘wall’) or from conflict zones such as Syria.

The global governance and human rights issues in this contemporary era are manifest and complex. The Sustainable Development Goals will be impossible to achieve in the context of state failure, political conflicts, major climate disruptions, and mass population displacements. The rights of citizens also must be balanced against the rights of those fleeing persecution and desperation; more often, the latter are disregarded as populist movements refocus national discourses away from cosmopolitan ideals. These complex ‘wicked problems’ present severe contemporary challenges for the institutions, as well as the idea (and ideals), of global governance.

We welcome proposals for individual workshop papers and full workshop panels addressing the following themes related to these dynamics, as well as other proposals related to topics of the United Nations, global governance and human rights:

>  Is support for global governance institutions, and for global human rights norms, declining as a result of resurgent populist movements?

>  Has support for the international refugee regime declined?….. Read more

Alchemy was a widespread practice in the Islamicate world that was taught from early on to the 19th/20th century. In spite of its popularity attested to by historical references as well as the wealth of alchemical manuscripts that have come down to us, the study of Arabo-Islamic alchemy has been neglected for the last decades. Only recently have we seen a renewed interest in the field, giving rise to a number of publications.

Among its extensive collection of Oriental manuscripts, Gotha Research Library also houses a significant number of alchemical manuscripts (for the Gotha alchemical manuscripts in Arabic see Siggel, Katalog der arabischen alchemistischen Handschriften Deutschlands, vol. 2, Berlin 1950). The workshop aims at bringing together established and younger scholars working on alchemy and providing them with the opportunity to engage directly with the alchemical manuscripts of the Gotha collection. The exploratory character of the workshop refers not only to the direct engagement with the Gotha collection, but also extends to the field of Arabo-Islamic alchemy more generally. Possible questions to be discussed are: Which aspects of alchemy have received significant attention, what aspects deserve to be addressed more in the future? Which theoretical assumptions and methods have guided the research on alchemy, what theories and methods are relevant for future research? What are the current challenges in studying the alchemy of the Islamicate world and how could they be overcome?

We invite papers from a variety of disciplines (for ex. philology, philosophy, history of science, history of religion, art history, paleography), on all aspects of alchemy, for example….. Read more

The Thousand Year School of Shīa: Kūfa, Ḥilla, Najaf, Al-Aḥsā, Baḥrain, Jabal āmil , Aleppo, Esfahan and Qum

“Shīa studies” nowadays is in the focus of interdisciplinary studies of many academic centers, research institutes and scholars. For this reason, and considering the importance of the exchange of ideas and approaches in Shi’a Studies, the Iran-House in Germany is calling for a two-day seminar on Shia studies entitled “The Thousand Year School of Shīa: Kūfa, Ḥilla, Najaf, Al-Aḥsā, Baḥrain, Jabal āmil , Aleppo, Esfahan and Qum.” With the aim of fostering the exchange between researchers and experts, the organizer would like to present the latest discussions and research outcomes on the following topics by experts:
۱. Historical Shia studies: •  From Shaykh Tūsī to Allāma ḥillī •  From Allāma ḥillī to Ākhund Khurāsānī (Author of Al-Kifaya  From Ākhund Khurāsānī up to date.
۲. Development of Shī’ite jurisprudence (Fiqh) by the founding of the Uṣūlī School by Allāma Waḥīd Bihbihānī in Karbala.
۳. The Science of Uṣūl of the Shiites
۴. Ethics (اخلاق) in the thinking and the spiritual attitude of the Shia
۵. The Shi’ite Seminaries (حوزه) and their teaching methods; Developments and diversities.
۶. Shi’ite Quran interpretation
۷. Permanent legacy of the Shia (manuscripts and their reach)
۸. Societal and political developments of Shia from the Tobacco boycott (Mīrzā Shīrāzī and Seyed Jamāl al-Dīn) to this day.
The conference will take place from October 6 – 8, 2017 in Berlin, after that you would have the opportunity to visit Frankfurt Book Fair. The conference languages are English, Arabic, and Persian.

E-mail: iranhaus@irankultur.com

Deadline: October 6, 2017