Dr Maria De Cillis

Conferences, Colloquia and Talks

• Guest Speaker at the International Conference for the Association for Iranian Studies, Mexico City (August 12-16 2024). Paper to be presented: “The Concepts of Aether and Quinta Essentia from the Greek Heritage to the Islamic Context: The Shiʿi Cosmological Views of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ, Abu Yaqub al-Sijistānī and Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī”.
• Co-Organiser of the International Colloquium: Ismaili Studies: History and Future Directions, with Prof. A. Straface (UniOr – IIS), Naples (23 May 2024). Paper presented “The Concept of Sympatheya: An Introductory Survey between Fatimid Ismailism and Italian Renaissance”.
• Co-Organiser of the International Colloquium: Shi’i Encounters with the Mu'tazila with Prof D. De Smet and Dr G. Miskinzoda. Aga Khan Centre, London (27-28 November 2023).
• Guest Speaker at the Ninth Biennial Convention of the Association for the Study of Persianate Societies, Russian Armenian University and the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan, Armenia (29 May-03 June 2023). Paper presented: "The Debate on qaḍāʾ wa’l-qadar in the Iranian School of Ismaili Philosophical Theology: Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmāni's Perspective”.
• Invited Speaker at the IIS International Ismaili Studies Conference: The State of the Field. Paper presented: “Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī and the Muʿtazila”, Aga Khan Centre, London (21-23 November 2022).
• Invited Presentation of Research Paper to the Central Eurasian Studies Society (CESS). Paper presented: “Intellectual Import of the Ismaili dāʿīs in Central Asia: Al-Kirmānī, al-Sijistānī and al-Rāzī on Nature and the Significance of their Discussions in the Fatimid Context”. The Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (20-23 October 2022).
• Co-organiser for the Book Launch for Janis Esots’ Patterns of Wisdom in Safavid Iran. The Philosophical School of Isfahan and the Gnostic of Shiraz, Aga Khan Centre, London (26 May 2022).
• Keynote Talk at The Second International Symposium on Diversity and Unity in Transnational Shi’a Islam organised by Harvard University in collaboration with the IIS; Talk: “Shiʿi Islam, Philosophy and the Greek Intellectual Legacy” (9-13 May 2022).
• Guest Speaker at the International Conference Fatimid Cosmopolitanism: History, Material Culture, Politics, and Religion, organised by the Institute of Ismaili Studies. Paper presented: “Al-Kirmānī’s Contribution to Intellectual Cosmopolitanism in the Fatimid Age", Aga Khan Centre, London (6-9 December 2021).
• Chairing of Panel at the Philosophical and Theological Debates related to Ismaili Doctrines for the IIS International Conference Islamic Traditions in ‘Greater Khurāsān’: Ismailis, Sufis and Sunnis, Aga Khan Centre, London (24-27 February 2021).
• Guest Speaker at the 10th International Colloquium for the Societé Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences et de la Philosophie Arabes et Islamiques SIHSPAI (Science, Philosophy and Kalām in Islamic Civilization: The Old and the New). Paper presented: “Kalām and Falsafa in al-Kirmānī’s Discourse: An Ismaili Insight on the Intellect, Soul and the Human Acquisition of Salvation”, Naples, Italy (9-11 September 2019).
• Guest Speaker at the Muhiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society (MIAS LATINA): Paper presented: “Immutabilità e Perfezione nell’Unicità dell'Esistenza: Un’Analisi Comparativa tra Sufismo e Neoplatonismo con Accenni alla Teoria Ismailita”. Turin, Italy (22-23 September 2018).
• Guest Speaker at the 34th International Symposium for the Muhiddin Ibn ʿArabi Society: Presented paper: “Free Will and Predestination in Ibn ʿArabī's Thought. Between Philosophy and Mysticism”, SOAS, London (6 May 2017).
• Guest Speaker at BRAIS (British Association for Islamic Studies): Paper presented: ‘Al-Kirmānī’s Perspective on Spiritual Assistance and the Accomplishment of Prophethood in the Story of Moses and Shuʿayb’, University of Chester, Chester (11-13 April 2017).
• Chair of the panel on Sufi-Ismaili Relationships for the Conference ‘Intellectual Interactions in the Islamic World: The Ismaili Tread’ (Convenor. O. Mir-Kasimov), The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, (19-21 October 2016).
• Participation to the Workshop 'Introduction to Arabic Manuscript Studies' (Convened by Prof Adam Gacek), The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London (4-8 April 2016).
• Presentation of Paper: ‘Discussions on Love and Providence in Avicenna and al-Kirmani’, International Conference of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Venice, Italy, (13-14 June 2016).