Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies IAIS
University of Exeter
Exeter (UK)

December 9th, 2009

09.45 Welcome and Introduction – Robert Gleave

10.00 Alessandro Cancian "Shadow of Qom or lesser Najaf: knowledge and authority in Sayyida Zaynab's hawzas"

1045 Zackery Heern (University of Utah) Three Sources of Shi'i Knowledge ('ilm): Revelatory Texts (naql), Rational Interpretation ('aql), and Intuitive Revelation (kashf)"

11.30 Tea/coffee

12.00 PhD Briefing: Mohamed Aboutalebi: “Great transformations in hawza: the case of studying other religions”

12.20 Robert Riggs (Franklin & Marshal College), “"Khums collection and re-distribution: The legitimization factor in Shi‘i religious leadership structures"

13.05 PhD Briefing: Bashir Damji, “The Competing Routes to Shi’a Clerical Authority. (The School of Najaf and The School of Qum)”

13.25 Lunch

14.30 Roja Fazaeli (Trinity College, Dublin) and Mirjam Kunkler (Princeton University), “Training female ulama in Jama’at al-Zahra – New Opportunities for Old Role Models?”

15.15 PhD Briefing: Fouad Kadhim, “The relationship of Najaf clergy to the Baghdad government in historical perspective”

15.40 Tea/Coffee

16.10 Mohammed Samiei (ICAS), “A Critical Appraisal of Two Important Channels for Disseminating Modern Knowledge in the Hawza (Qum and Mashhad): Hybrid Students and Research Institutes”

16.55 Alexander Hainy (ICAS) “Philosophy in the “state-funded” Hawzas of Qom post-1979”

17.40 Close