Call For Papers: Ibadi Manuscripts and Manuscript Cultures

Workshop Description:

The study of Ibadi communities has grown rapidly over the past two decades, as demonstrated by a stream of new publications in Arabic, English, and French on different aspects of Ibadi history, law, hadith scholarship, and theology. Underlying most of these studies is a rich body of manuscript material and many Ibadi manuscript texts have recently been edited and published.

Rather than focus on the content of manuscripts, this workshop aims to highlight the importance of the cultures of producing, using, buying, selling, endowing, and transmitting Ibadi manuscripts from the earliest history of the community to the 20th century. The intention is to bring those interested in Ibadi manuscripts together in order to workshop drafts of short research articles on different aspects of this topic, which will later be proposed for publication in a special issue of the Journal of Islamic Manuscripts.

Potential participants are invited to submit proposals on themes relating to Ibadi manuscripts and manuscript cultures in Northern Africa, Oman, Zanzibar, or elsewhere, including but not limited to the following themes:

• Paper production and acquisition for Ibadi manuscripts
• Marginalia and other paratexts in Ibadi manuscripts (colophons, ownership or loan statements, birth announcements, statements of sale, glosses, etc.)
• Book markets (suqs), book prices, book sellers and buyers
• Copyists and copy techniques and materials
• Manuscript bindings and binding techniques and materials
• The relationship between Ibadi manuscript and print culture
• Comparative studies between Ibadis and other communities
• Endowments (waqf, habus)
• Transportation of manuscripts
• Libraries and collections (private or public)
• Challenges and projects relating to manuscript preservation

Proposal Format and Instructions Submitting Proposals:

Proposals can be in Arabic, English, or French and should include the following information in MS Word or PDF format:
Author Name, Affiliation, and Contact Information
Proposed Topic Title
Proposed Topic Summary (500 words or less)

Please send proposals to one of the workshop organizers before 1 December 2018: Paul Love (Al Akhawayn University, p.love@aui.ma) or Soufien Mestaoui (Ibadica, smestaoui@ibadica.org).

Workshop Dates: 5-6 April 2019

Please note that these are not meant to be conference-style presentations and that participants will be asked to submit working drafts of their articles (in Arabic, English, or French) one month in advance of our conference (by 1 March 2019). At the workshop, each contribution will have an assigned discussant, who will lead the group in a discussion in which participants can offer suggestions and criticisms for improving the article. Each discussion will take place primarily in the language of the contribution, but comments, suggestions, and questions can be offered in Arabic, English, or French.

Proposal Decisions & Funding:

We anticipate accepting 8-10 participants and regret that all those who apply may not be able to participate.  Applicants will be notified whether their proposal has been chosen for inclusion in the workshop by early January 2019. All participants will be provided with accommodation and meals at the workshop site (Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco).

We will offer reimbursement for air travel on site at the workshop up to a limit of 400 Euro per participant. Those participants with academic affiliations whose universities or institutes can cover their airfare will be provided with a letter of invitation to facilitate requests for travel funds from their own institutions.