2008-2009 News
Alumni Chapter Group Meetings and Elections December 2009
The annual meetings of all three Chapter Groups of the IIS Alumni Association were held during the past few months. Almost one hundred alumni attended the meetings, travelling from nine countries. More
IIS Alumnus Presents Paper at Chester University June 2009
Yahia Baiza (Class of 2002) presented a paper in a conference on ‘Muslim Youth: Challenges, Opportunities and Expectations’, which was held from 20-22 March 2009 and was organized jointly by the Association of Muslim Social Scientists (AMSS UK), based in London, and the Department of Theology and Religious Studies of the University of Chester. More
New Publication by an IIS Alumnus March 2009
In this study, Karim, who is also an Associate Professor, examines the way in which Western Muslims understand Islamic authority, and provides insight into Muslim views on immigrant integration by examining how perceptions of religious authority shape engagement with broader society. Its findings are primarily drawn from a series of focus group discussions with lay Muslims that took place in Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. More
IIS Alumni Academic seminar in Cairo December 2008
Over the course of three days, scholars from AKTC, AKU-ISMC and the American University in Cairo shared with the alumni their perspectives on historic and modern Cairo. In addition, there were several opportunities for the alumni to experience the city itself. More
Majida Thobani’s work is recognised by the Teacher Learning Academy August 2008
Majida Thobani (Class of 1987) has received recognition for her development work at the national level in Key Stage 3 Science from the Teacher Learning Academy, which is part of the General Teaching Council in the United Kingdom. More
IIS Alumnus Co-authors and Co-edits new IIS publication August 2008
The IIS has just launched The Ismailis: An Illustrated History which was authored and edited by Dr Farhad Daftary and Dr Zulfikar Hirji (Class of 1997). Dr Hirji is currently Assistant Professor of Anthropology at York University, Toronto. Other IIS alumni who were involved with the book were Dr Fahmida Suleman (Class of 1997), Dr Miriam Ali-de-Unzaga (Class of 2000) and Alnoor Merchant (Class of 1987). More
Jhoom Jhoom: Celebration of a Lifetime August 2008
Karim Gillani (Class of 2003) has released an album last February entitled ‘Jhoom Jhoom: Celebration of a Lifetime’ to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of His Highness the Aga Khan’s accession to the Imamat. This collection of music comes from musicians of diverse backgrounds and cultures, including Romanians, Algerians, East Africans, Indians, Pakistanis, Americans and Canadians. Despite the differing backgrounds of all those who contributed, Karim maintains that because all of the songs were performed and recorded in Canada it gives Jhoom Jhoom a truly Canadian sound. More
Tajik alumni meet ITREC Tajikistan Representatives July 2008
On 16th June 2008 Professor Mamadsho Ilolov and Mr. Gulhasan Mirhasan, Chairman and Executive Officer, respectively, of ITREC Tajikistan met with some of the Tajik alumni who are based in London. Also in attendance were Mr Shiraz Kabani, Head of Operations, Finance & Development, Mr. Hadi Mirshahi, Project Manager for Project Tajikistan, and Nazneen Sachedina, Alumni Relations Officer at the IIS. More
New Publication by one of the IIS Alumni June 2008
Abdulmamad Iloliev (Class of 2002) has recently published a book entitled The Isma’ili-Sufi Sage of Parmir: Mubarark-i Wakhani and the Esoteric Tradition of the Pamiri Muslims. Mubarak-i Wakhani was a nineteenth Century Persian mystic poet, musician, astronomer and Ismaili religious scholar from Badakhshan. More
Chapter Group Leadership Elections 2008 June 2008
The elections for the leadership of the Chapter Groups for Asia, Europe and North America were completed in May 2008 via an online voting mechanism. Run off elections were held for both Asia and North America as no one from the original slate of candidates received a majority of the votes. The Asian Chapter Group held a run off election for the post of Secretary and the North American Chapter Group held run off elections for the posts of President and Secretary. More
Mir Baiz Khan presents paper at Central & Inner Asia Studies Annual Conference June 2008
Mir Baiz Khan (Class of 1983) presented a paper entitled ‘Survival of Spiritual Life: Religious Poetry in the Central Asian Ismaili Muslim Tradition’. His paper explored the historical circumstances that necessitated the use of taqiyya (precautionary dissimulation) by the Ismailis and, in that context, the role of poetry in the community’s practice of faith and education in its basic principles and values. More
Fahmida Suleman’s Painting Exhibition at the British Museum May 2008
Dr Fahmida Suleman (Class of 1997), who is currently on a secondment at the British Museum as Research Assistant to Dr. Sheila Canby, the Curator of Islamic Art and Antiquities at the Department of the Middle East, has organised an exhibition of paintings at the British Museum. More
Farouk Mitha completes his PhD May 2008
Farouk Mitha (Class of 1988) has successfully completed his PhD studies at the University of Victoria, Canada. His thesis entitled ‘Culture Wars and Language Arts Education: Readings of Othello as a School Text’ looks at the use of the term ‘culture’ in educational research. This researchopens up new ways of understandingeducational debates generated by the term 'culture' and offers methodological frameworks that can be productively applied to thestudy of educational issues inMuslim cultures, as well as in addressingchallenges of developing curriculaon Muslim cultures. More
European Chapter Group of the IIS Alumni Association meets in London
April 2008 May 2008
The European Chapter Group held a two day annual meeting at the University of Westminster in London over the weekend of 5th and 6th April 2008. Guest speakers included Karen Armstrong and Nimet Rener. More
Farouk Mitha and Karim H. Karim present at International Conference on ‘The Muslim World and the West: Emerging Avenues for Convergence’ May 2008
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,’ the conference papers encompassed a wide range of disciplines, from political science, anthropology, social work, film studies, economics, art history, to Islamic studies. More
Arif Amlani appointed as Head of Curriculum Studies at the IIS
April 2008 May 2008
Arif Amlani (Class of 1983) has recently been appointed as Head of Curriculum Studies at the Institute. Arif has spent almost 20 years working for the University of California in different capacities and comes to the Institute with a background in philosophy and education. Most recently, he has been working as a Teaching Fellow in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles. More
Anis Siddique appointed Emergency Human Resource Specialist for UNICEF
April 2008 May 2008
Anis Siddique (Class of 2006) has recently been appointed as Emergency Human Resources Specialist for UNICEF in Africa. He will be leading the Regional Emergency Human Resources unit for the Southern and Eastern Africa Regional Office (ESARO) for 21 countries in the region. More
Nuha Al-Sha’ar Presents Paper at Annual American Oriental Society Meeting April 2008
Nuha Al-Sha’ar (Class of 2003) presented a paper entitled ‘Love as Social Aspiration: The Influence of Sufi and Greek Concepts of Love on the Socio-political Thought of the Ikhwan al-Safa’, Miskawayh and al-Tawhidi’ at the 218th meeting of the American Oriental Society on 13th – 17th March 2008 in Chicago. More
Fahmida Suleman’s Secondment to the British Museum January 2008
Dr Fahmida Suleman is taking up an 11-month secondment at the British Museum (BM) from 1st February 2008 to 31st December 2008. More
Gateways