The Institute of Islamic Studies will be offering a workshop entitled Global and Regional Knowledge in the Study of Islamic Institutions and Arab Societies on April 27, 2016:
For more information, go to the McGill Institute of Islamic Studies website.
Through May 27th, 2016, the Islamic Studies Library is trialing the Middle East and North Africa: Global Perspectives, 1958-1994 database.
This fully searchable digital collection from the archive of the Central Intelligence Agency spans 19 countries and four decades, including both firsthand reporting and deep analysis on global and regional issues. It is currently about 90% complete and will continue to grow over the next several months as the documents are digitized. A full description of the database can be found here.
The trial can be accessing using the following URL: http://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/readex/welcome?p=TOPMENA.
And as usual, we thank you for sending any feedback you might have!
The Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library digital collections is now available to McGill users!
This full-text searchable digital library of early printed books in Arabic is divided in three subject modules:
This unique historical collection includes books published over a period of 400 years (1475-1899) and aims to “exemplify the long exchange of ideas and learning between Europe and the Arabic-speaking world”.
McGill Library is currently trialling the Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, 1971-1974 database. The trial will end on May 3rd, 2016.
This collection includes diplomatic correspondence, minutes, reports, political summaries and personality profiles covers events in the Middle East during the 1970s: conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli War, the Lebanese Civil War and the Iranian Revolution are examined in detail, as are the military interventions and peace negotiations carried out by regional and foreign powers like the United States and Russia. Commercial interests are also examined, with in-depth analyses of Middle East nations’ economic stability and reviews of international arm sales policies. The activities of oil producing nations such as Saudi Arabia are closely monitored, with particular reference to the Gulf States and members of OPEC.
To gain access, please click on this URL, and if necessary enter the log-in details listed (please note that details are case sensitive): Username: McG8973 / Password: AM1699a. You can also gain access via the ‘trial access login’, which is located on the homepage and throughout our website at www.amdigital.co.uk. Simply select the name of the resource from the drop-down list, enter your username and password, and click ‘login’. If you experience any access difficulties, please do not hesitate to contact us.
And as usual, your feedback is greatly appreciated!
CREATIVE DISSENT: ARTS OF THE ARAB WORLD UPRISINGS
Exhibition:
February 1 – February 26, 2016
School of Architecture
Exhibition Room
McGill University
Macdonald-Harrington Building
815 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal
Opening Reception:
Tuesday, February 2, 2016, 5 pm – 6 pm
Curators:
Christiane Gruber, Associate Professor of Islamic Art and Visual Culture at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Nama Khalil. Artist and cultural anthropologist, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
The exhibit is a collaboration between the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and the Arab American National Museum, Dearborn. Support for the McGill University, School of Architecture installation is provided by the Yan P. Lin Centre’s Research Group on Democracy, Space, and Technology, the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill Libraries, and Gilgamesh Society.
The ISL has a new exhibition on the History of Science in Islam. Materials on display range from the Islamic Studies Library, Rare Books and Special Collections and the Osler History of Medicine Library. The exhibition is free; come one, come all!
Hi friends, on Wednesday the 28th day of July 2015 the ISL hosted a workshop led by Persian calligrapher, Susan Sheikh. 20 participants were fortunate to attend this workshop which was divided into 3 sections.
Susan led a short lecture on the history of calligraphy from it’s beginning through to the present. This was followed by a hands-on experience in which the participants were guided through the basic steps of writing nastaʿlīq and shikaste.
Finally, a question and answer period in which participants were free to ask any and all questions.
If you’re interested in learning more about calligraphy and, especially seeing some examples McGill has many exquisite calligraphic panels, manuscripts and related materials. Further information is provided on the Islamic Manuscripts subject guide.
Many thanks to everyone for attending and a special thanks to Susan Sheikh.
Photos courtesy of Sean E. Swanick, 2015.
On Wednesday, 29th of July 2015 the Islamic Studies Library will host a workshop with Sussan Sheikh.
“Susan Sheikh was born in the city of Hamedan, Iran in 1961. She started practicing Iranian calligraphy in 1982 under Iranian calligraphy masters Abdollah Foradi and Yadollah Kaboli. In 1988, Ms. Sheikh obtained the rank of “excellent calligrapher” from the Iran’s Association of Calligraphers and started her career as an art instructor. In years, she has trained several calligraphy apprentices who are in turn disseminating this revered form of Iranian art throughout the country. Ms. Sheikh has participated in more than twenty solo and group exhibitions and her artworks have been published in multiple calligraphy collections. She received an honorary excellence art award in 2007.”
The workshop is free and open to the public. If you are interested in joining us, please contact me (sean.swanick [at] mcgill . ca) to reserve a spot for space is limited.
In recent news, the Canadian Tri-Agencies granting programs have introduced a new policy for researchers: Open Access. What does this mean for you? McGill Library has created a FAQ section to help with the details of the implementation and meaning of this change in policy. The policy, it should be noted is effective 15 May 2015. Below is the official announcement.
“On February 27, 2015, Canada’s three major research funding agencies – the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) – announced a new harmonized “Open Access Policy on Publications” that requires research publications supported by public funds to be made openly available for the benefit of the community at large.”
The policy requires that “any peer-reviewed journal publications arising from Agency-supported research are freely accessible within 12 months of publication.” It applies to NSERC and SSHRC grants awarded May 1, 2015 and onward, and continues the pre-existing open access requirement for CIHR grants awarded January 1, 2008 and later. Researchers holding grants awarded before May 1, 2015 are also encouraged to follow the policy. NSERC, SSHRC and CIHR grant recipients must ensure that any peer-reviewed journal articles be freely accessible within 12 months of publication through one of the following options:
Through services and resources like the eScholarship@McGill repository and research consultations, McGill Library & Archives will continue to support researchers as the open access movement evolves. For more information regarding the Tri-Agency Open Access Policy, compliance information, and how the Library & Archives can help to make your work open access please visit: https://www.mcgill.ca/library/services/open-access.”
On McGill Library’s Open Access page. there is an array of further information for quick answers. Perhaps the most burning question for this new policy is: How to comply with the OA policy? In the section from the above link entitled “How to make your research open access” one particular paragraph will prove extremely useful:
“Standard publishing agreements for many journals already allow repository deposit of the publisher’s PDF or of the final manuscript after peer review. However, not all do. Carefully review your publishing agreement or learn about a given publisher’s standard policies in the SHERPA/RoMEO database to determine what rights you are signing over to the publisher and how these affect your ability to deposit your work in a repository. If you would like to deposit your published work in a disciplinary or institutional repository, and the standard agreement from your preferred publisher does not allow this, you can negotiate the details of your publishing agreement.”
For the fields of Islamic and Middle East Studies there are many different OA journals already available whose publishing agreements comply with this new Tri-agencies policy. One source, in particular for OA journals pertaining to Islamic and Middle East Studies is AMIR (Access to Mideast and Islamic Resources). It provides a complete list of all Open Access journals pertaining to these fields of inquiry.
Remember also to be aware of predatory OA journals. These journals can be quite convincing and aggressive in striving to obtain your manuscript. If you have any doubt, Jeffrey Beall of the University of Colorado maintains an impressive blog on known predatory journals. On the same blog, he also lists questionable publishers.
Should you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.
The ISL has acquired the Oxford language dictionaries online. Arabic : Arabic-English. This dictionary, akin to an online version of the great Hans Wehr dictionary of modern Arabic has a total of 330, 000 words and more than 70, 000 examples of sentences.
A comprehensive dictionary that also offers grammar tips, it will surely be of great benefit to learners of Arabic.
The Oxford English-Arabic dictionary is accessible here as well as via the Islamic Studies and Middle East Studies Subject Guide.