‘3’

The 3rd session in the “Civil Society in Comparative Muslim Contexts” seminar series was hosted by the Institute on February 16th, 2001. Dr Olivier Roy, a renowned scholar who has also been involved in international peace-making initiatives in the region, spoke on the topic of “Civic Identity in the New Central Asia”. Dr Roy surveyed the interplay of tradition and modernity in the quest to root civic culture in the post-Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

During March 28th - 30th 2008 the University of Victoria hosted a remarkable conference sponsored by the International Centre for Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies (ICCMES), which brought together over 70 scholars from all over the globe, of whom nearly half were from Muslim societies. Organised around a general theme, ‘Muslim World and the West: Emerging Avenues for Convergence,’

Dr Reza Shah-Kazemi, Research Associate at the IIS, participated in the 7th Building Bridges Seminar, convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, and held in Rome between 5 and 8 May, 2008. This year’s seminar addressed the theme: ‘Communicating the Word: Revelation, Translation and Interpretation in Christianity and Islam’.

The Board of the Institute of Ismaili Studies has announced the appointment of two Co-Directors, Dr Farhad Daftary and Professor Karim H Karim. They have assumed overall joint responsibility for leadership and management of the IIS. Their combined scholarship, skills and experiences will ensure that the IIS will continue to develop upon the excellent record it has established as a centre of scholarship and learning on Islam and Muslim societies.

The Aga Khan University’s Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) co-located with the IIS at 210 Euston Road in July 2009. This followed the IIS’ move in January 2009 to these premises. AKF (UK) also took up residence in the building in early September 2009.

Dr Nader El-Bizri presented a paper titled: ‘Renewing the Impetus of Philosophical Thinking in Islam?’, at the international conference, Islamic Philosophy and the Challenges of the Present-Day World. The conference was held in Tehran and Hamedan, Iran, between 10th and 13th November 2009.

The IIS launched one of its new publications, Arabic, Persian and Gujarati Manuscripts, at the Ismaili Centre in London.The publication is a catalogue of rare and unique manuscripts generously donated by the late Professor Abbas Hamdani to the Library of the IIS.

The Institute of Ismaili Studies sponsored a workshop entitled Approaches to the Qur’an in sub-Saharan Africa which took place in Toronto, Canada in May.