[CFA] FOURTH ANNUAL GRADUATE STUDENT BOOK REVIEW COLLOQUIUM ON ISLAMIC AND MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES at GMU | OCTOBER 9, 2020 | Online
The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University and The Maydan, the Center’s public-facing scholarship platform, present the fourth annual Graduate Student Book Review Colloquium on Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies to be held on October 9, 2020, in collaboration with the Fall for the Book Festival. Please refer to the application procedures detailed below. The deadline for applications is June 17, 2020.
Objective
The Colloquium invites advanced graduate students in the social sciences and humanities to submit reviews on noteworthy books published between January 1, 2017-January 1, 2020 in the field of Islamic and Middle Eastern studies. The Colloquium is organized by The Maydan, the public-facing scholarship platform of the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies. The Maydan is dedicated to supporting Islamic Studies with the recognition that academic scholarship in this field of inquiry is currently in need of discussions and publications that are able to disseminate research to a larger audience. The Colloquium aims to foster a lasting conversation between academic and lay readership.
At the Colloquium, the accepted students will have the opportunity to present their book reviews in pre-organized panels lasting 20 minutes, and then discuss their reviews with leading scholars in the field. The Colloquium will take place on a virtual platform and will be live-streamed on the Maydan’s social media platforms. With such discussions, the colloquium will bring the reviewed books to the attention of the larger audience attending the Fall for the Book festival at George Mason University (http://fallforthebook.org).
In selecting their books, reviewers are expected to focus on a single monograph – edited volumes and reference works remain outside the scope of this Colloquium – and to demonstrate engagement with the existing literature, using references to at least two books on a similar theme. The reviewers are encouraged to construct their works with particular attention to the context, content and critique of the selected book.
Application Process and Important Dates
Interested candidates should submit the following:
1) A 500-word abstract that presents a justification for the selection of the work under examination (please refer to the list of possible books below).
2) A short writing sample (5 pages maximum) on the broader theme of the selected book.
3) A resume (2 pages maximum).
All three documents should be emailed to Ahmet Selim Tekelioglu at atekelio@gmu.edu as a single PDF file by June 17, 2020, 11:59 pm EST.
The subject line of the email should appear in the following format: [LASTNAME, BOOK REVIEW COLLOQUIUM 2019].
Acceptance notices and the books under review will be sent to the reviewers on June 30, 2020.
Reviewers will be asked to submit their reviews (1300 words maximum) by September 16, 2020.
List of Possible Books
Please refer to the list of books curated under The Maydan’s Book Display database (https://www.themaydan.com/tag/book-display/).
*Books previously presented in the 2017, 2018 & 2019 Colloquia are not eligible for reviews in the 2019 Colloquium.
Honorariums & Publishing with Maydan
Final products will be considered for publication on The Maydan. The Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University will offer a $200 honorarium to the eligible authors of reviews that are selected for publication.