December, 05 to December 06, 2013
From 5-6 December 2013 the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB) and the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies (CAMES) at the American University of Beirut (AUB) are jointly hosting an international conference on “The Occult Sciences in Pre-modern Islamic Culture”.
In pre-modern Islamic culture, a number of “occult” sciences that deal with non-observable realities and are marked by ritual references were acknowledged part of the canon of knowledge and practiced also by natural scientists. The “occult” sciences, al-‘ulum al-khafiya, include sciences such as ‘ilm al-firasa (phsysiognomy), qiyafa (tracking), ‘iyafa (myomancy), kimiya (alchemy), ‘ilm ahkam al-nujum (astrology), ruqya; ta‘widh (spells and incantations), ta‘bir al-ru’ya (oneiromancy), and various forms of sihr (magic). To investigate these and similar sciences and to place them in the context of the other sciences in Islam, and of Islamic culture in general, this conference presents contributions that can be placed under two main topics: The first will examine particular “occult” sciences and their context within the body of the sciences. The second explores how the relationship between the natural and the supernatural was perceived in Islamic culture and how the “occult” in these sciences was defined.
Speakers: Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad (American University in Cairo), Nader El-Bizri (American University of Beirut), Christopher Braun (Warburg Institute, London), Kristine Chalyan-Daffner (Heidelberg University), Emma Gannagé (Georgetown University, Washington, DC), Antonella Ghersetti (Ca’ Foscari University, Venice), Dahlia Gubara (Orient-Institut Beirut), Muhammad Khalidi (York University, Toronto), Tarif Khalidi (American University of Beirut), Matthew Melvin-Koushki (Princeton University), Eva Orthmann (Bonn University), Liana Saif (British Museum, London), George Saliba (Columbia University, New York), Isabel Toral-Niehoff (Aga Khan University, London).
Venue: American University of Beirut, College Hall, Auditorium B 1.
Contact OIB: phone +961-1-359240; email: Scheffler[at]orient-institut.org
Contact CAMES: phone: +961-1-350000 ext. 3845; email: cames[at]aub.edu.lb