IIS Appoints Interim Head of the Department of Community Relations

Dr Jamal has a long-standing relationship with the IIS as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Graduate Studies and through her active involvement in the development of the IIS’ Secondary Curriculum. She brings to her new role a strong academic background and extensive experience with institutions of the Ismaili Community in Europe and North America.

Dr Jamal received her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Literature from New York University in 1996 and is a specialist in Persian history and culture in the period of Mongol rule, with a particular emphasis on the Ismaili communities of the time. Her linguistic repertoire includes Arabic, Farsi, French, Russian and German.

She is the author of Surviving the Mongols: Nizari Quhistani and the Continuity of Ismaili Tradition in Persia, which was the first study of its kind in the field of Ismaili studies. In addition to her new role as Interim Head, Dr Jamal is currently engaged in several projects including a translation and critical edition of Nizari Quhistani’s Safarnama and a critical edition and translation of Kitab Ta’wil al-Shari‘a, a work on Fatimid Ismaili thought as presented by Imam al-Mui‘zz li-Din Allah and Qadi al-Nu‘man.

We are very pleased to have Dr Jamal join the Department of Community Relations and wish her every success in her new position.