Call for applications

International Summer School

“Official Religion in the Middle East: Political Opportunities and Constraints”

Orient-Institut Beirut, Lebanon, 13-19 September 2010

The Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB) organizes an international summer school for doctoral and post-doctoral students, held from 13-19 September 2010 under the topic “Official Religion in the Middle East: Political Opportunities and Constraints”.

The event is funded by a generous grant of the Volkswagen Foundation.

Outline

The summer school will explore the political behaviour of official religious actors in different political systems of the Middle East. Official religious actors in the contemporary Middle East have not yet received the scholarly attention they deserve. Although the literature on religious actors in the region has grown almost exponentially during the last decades, large parts of it have been focusing on militant underground groups whose violent activities were easily perceived as an immediate threat to Western security.

By “official” religion we refer to Muslim and Christian religious actors whose activities are explicitly or implicitly authorised, encouraged, or at least tolerated by the governments of their respective countries. By religious “actors” we refer to individuals, institutions, and organizations that are officially attached to one of the religious communities in their country and are ex officio working for the latter’s interest. The summer school aims at studying the political activities of these actors. For the purposes of the summer school, the term “political” is meant to cover all domains in which interaction between religious bodies and government authorities may occur. In this respect, four levels of interaction are particularly important: (i) day-to-day juridical interaction, most notably in the domains of civil status law, taxation, and the establishment of religious organizations; (ii) religious moral propaganda in the public sphere; (iii) public legislation; (iv) “big issues” of national and international politics.

As political regimes in the Middle East vary widely in terms of “state-society” and “state-church” relations, we suggest a comparative approach that analyzes (a) the specific configuration of opportunities and constraints that each regime imposes on its religious communities and studies and (b) the ways in which religious actors adapt to these configurations in order to advance their own agendas. Our comparison will focus on three countries – Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.

The summer school aims at reaching three main scientific goals: (1) a stock-taking and analysis of the political repertoires of religious actors that operate from within the legal and semi-legal framework of their respective countries; (2) a comparative assessment of the impact of regime structures and government policies on the political behaviour of these actors, and (3) an assessment of the contribution of official religious actors to issues negotiated in the political arenas of their respective societies. On the level of academic cooperation, the summer school aims at helping to establish an international and interdisciplinary network of researchers working on this important, but hitherto rather neglected topic.

Teaching

The summer school will bring together 15 postgraduate students (5 from Germany, 5 from other European countries, 5 from Middle Eastern countries) to be taught during seven working days in Beirut by a faculty of, all in all, 15 university professors and religious practitioners from four countries (Germany, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey).

Teaching in Beirut will take place via a daily combination of four types of classes: reading seminars (devoted to important source texts and theoretical issues); lectures (devoted to a longer presentation of a faculty member, followed by a questions-and-answers block); round-table talks with religious practitioners; and student workshops (devoted to the presentation and discussion of the students’ individual research projects).

For the preparation of the participants, a collection of important research and source texts will be sent around well in advance of the summer school. In addition, successful applicants will be asked to provide a ca. 10-15 pages outline of their research projects which will be circulated among the participants.

Financial regulations

Effective travel costs (only economy class tariffs!) of successful applicants will be reimbursed up to a maximum of 1.000 EUR per person. In addition, the program will provide accommodation (7 nights) and meals in Beirut for the duration of the summer school.

Application procedure

The Summer School is open to applications from postgraduate students (PhD students as well as Post-Doc students) from European and Middle Eastern countries with research projects from all fields of the humanities and the social sciences that are related to Middle Eastern Studies and have a special focus on religion and politics. Good acquaintance with regional languages will be considered as an asset.

Applicants should be fluent in English and have at least a passive knowledge of French. Applicants should present:

(1) A letter of motivation

(2) A curriculum vitae

(3) A recommendation letter by the supervisor of their research project

(4) A short description of their research project (500-1.000 words).

(5) A copy of their MA or Ph.D. certificate (or equivalent certificates).

Applications should be sent to the following email address: oibsummerschool@oidmg.org.

Deadline for applications is June 20, 2010 (later applications may be considered until all 15 places are filled). Candidates selected will be notified by early July 2010.

Contact

If you have questions about the program or the application procedure, please contact the OIB’s coordinator of academic programs:

Dr. Thomas Scheffler
Orient-Institut Beirut
Phone: +961-1-359 240
Email: scheffler@oidmg.org

Further details and updates concerning the Summer School will be continuously posted on the webpage of the OIB under: http://www.orient-institut.org.

Faculty

International Summer School

“Official Religion in the Middle East: Political Opportunities and Constraints”

Orient-Institut Beirut, Lebanon, 13-19 September 2010

H.E. Ambassador Hasan Abu Nimah, Jordan, former director of the Royal Institute for Inter-Faith Studies (RIIFS), Amman (2004-2009); permanent representative of Jordan to the United Nations (1995-2000); member of the joint Jordanian-Palestinian delegation to the Washington Peace talks (1991-1992); lecturer at the Jordan Institute of Diplomacy, Amman.

Prof. Dr. Dr. Manfred Brocker, Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Professor of Political Theory, co-founder and spokesperson of the study group „Politics and Religion“ of the German Association for Political Science (DVPW) (2000 - 2006), Visiting Fellow at Princeton University (2009/2010) with a project on “Religious Parties in Democratic Consolidation Processes—Revisiting the Inclusion-Moderation Thesis”.

H.E. Ibrahim Chamseddine, former Minister of State for Administrative Reform (2008-2009); son of the late Shiite Imam Mohamed Mehdi Chamseddine, president of the Higher Shiite Council of Lebanon (1994-2001); president of the Imam M.M. Shamsuddin Foundation for Dialogue.

Rev. Dr. Charles Yousef Costa, ecclesiastic judge of the Protestant Community of Lebanon; Pastor of the Ras Beirut Baptist Church; Vice-president of the Baptist Union of Lebanon.

Rev. Dr. Fadi Daou, Maronite priest, Professor of Theology and Political Philosophy at Université Saint-Joseph; President of ADYAN – Lebanese Foundation for Interfaith Studies and Spiritual Solidarity; Associate General Secretary of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), responsible for Christian-Muslim relations.

Rev. Ekonomos Fr. Nabil D. Haddad, Jordan, Greek-Catholic Priest, founder and CEO of the Jordanian Interfaith Coexistence Research Center (JICRC); 1994-2004 ecclesiastic Judge, Tribunal of Appeal, Greek-Catholic Church; since 2004 Chairman of the Greek-Catholic Welfare Society.

Dr. Abbas El Halabi, Former Judge, Representative of the Druze Community at the Vatican Synod for Lebanon (1995), Druze representative at the National Committee for Muslim-Christian Dialogue; co-founder and President of the Arab Group for Muslim-Christian Dialogue; Vice-President of the Bank of Beirut and the Arab Countries (BBAC).

Prof. Dr. Hans-Gerhard Kippenberg, Jacobs University Bremen, Professor of Comparative Religious Studies; former chair professor for Theory and History of Religions at Bremen University (1989-2004), Fellow of the Max Weber-Kolleg, Erfurt (1998-2009), Chairman of the German Association for the History of Religion (DVRG) (1993-2001).

Rev. Dr. Georges Massouh, Greek-Orthodox Priest, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at Balamand University, Director of the Center of Christian-Muslim Studies (CCMS) at Balamand University.

Prof. Dr. Saoud Mawla, Professor of Sociology of Religion at the Université Libanaise; Shiite representative at the Vatican Synod for Lebanon (1995); former Shiite representative at the National Committee for Muslim-Christian Dialogue.

Shaykh Mohammed al-Nokkari, former Director General of Dar al-Fatwa and head of the office of the Sunni Mufti of the Republic; Sunni judge; Law Professor at the Université Saint-Joseph, Beirut.

Prof. Dr. Ridwan as-Sayyid, Professor of Islamic Studies at the Université Libanaise; editor of “al-Ijtihad” magazine; advisor to former Sunni Prime Minister Fuad Siniora.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Schumann, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Professor of Politics and Contemporary History of the Modern Middle East; head of the research unit “State, Religion, and Political Normativity in the Middle East” at Erlangen University; publications on the history of Liberalism and Nationalism in the Middle East.

Dr. Günter Seufert, Sociologist, Istanbul. Former Senior Researcher (1996-1998) and acting director (1998-2001) of the Orient Institute in Istanbul; Visiting Associate Professor, University of Cyprus, Nicosia (2004-2007). Frequent contributions to leading German newspapers and magazines on current Turkish affairs; research management for German research centers and think tanks in Turkey.