Emerging from the global pandemic crisis with a new vigor, it’s been a dynamic year for the International Qur’anic Studies Association. The year of 2022 included new publications, partnerships, aleadership, and two annual meetings in and outside of the US!
Meetings
The 2022 Annual Meeting of IQSA was hosted by the La Pira Library and Research Institute in Palermo, Italy from September 5–7. For the first time, the Annual Meeting took place in Europe as an independent event, thanks to the support of the La Pira Library. Scholars and colleagues from La Pira and IQSA worked jointly to plan and convene this event, gathering scholars of the Qur’an to share current research and to explore new approaches to study of the Qur’an. Nearly one hundred scholars from at least nineteen countries— from Houston, Texas to Diyala, Iraq and Abu Dhabi, UAE—from various backgrounds and disciplines presented papers. Thanks to the contributions and enthusiasm of all speakers who submitted proposal for both panels and single papers, the conference covered a broad range of topics and approaches, from theology and philosophy to the study of visual and material culture, as well as philology, linguistics, literary studies, translation studies, and gender studies. In all, there were twelve panels of fifty-two papers, plus three lectures, two roundtable sessions, and one read-through session. The enthusiastic and generous support of the whole La Pira team in hosting the conference was fundamental in making the conference in Palermo possible.
Back state-side, the 2022 North American IQSA Annual Meeting was held in conjunction with the SBL/AAR Annual Meetings in Denver, Colorado from November 18-21, 2022. The Programming Committee led by Andrew O’Connor (St. Norbert College) orchestrated panels based on themes identified in paper submissions. These included The Qur’an and Late Antiquity, Law Beyond Israel, Slavery, Resistance and Freedom, and a final panel presided over by former IQSA Executive Director, Emran El-Badawi. IQSA members and affiliates also met on Saturday evening for it’s annual General Reception, accompanied this year by live music!
IQSA experienced a lot of change in 2022, with Nicolai Sinai (Oxford University) stepping down as Editor of JIQSA and Sean Anthony (Ohio State University) taking his place. We are extremely grateful to Nicolai for his immense contributions to the journal and organization, and we look forward to Sean’s vision for the journal. The ISIQ Monograph Series is currently edited by David S. Powers. As of January 1, 2023 it will be jointly edited by Karen Bauer, Joseph Lowry, and Shawkat Toorawa. We have also ended our publishing arrangement with Lockwood Press and are thankful to Billie Jean and the entire Lockwood Press team for their loyal support of a growing organization. We are extremely pleased to announce a new partnership with De Gruyter, and the availability of Open Access publications for both our journal and book series.
IQSAweb.org
The executive office has been working with a design agency throughout most of 2021-22 to rebuild the IQSA website from the ground up. The new website will be more modern and mobile-friendly. It will feature a new weekly blog, drawing on scholarship from our growing member base. It will also launch with new initiatives including master classes, conference recordings, and webinars—all hosted by leading scholars of qurʾanic studies. The new platform will serve to further IQSA’s mission of advocating for the field of qurʾanic studies in the public square. We hope that the new website will also increase member engagement and add value to an IQSA membership!
IQSAweb.org has all the information necessary for you to benefit from IQSA and for you to get involved. On this site, visitors can familiarize themselves with IQSA’s governance, resources, and programs, as well as learn about its policies, vision, and history.
Online Discussion Group:
Join the IQSA Google Discussion Group to share ideas, discuss, and collaborate with other scholars and members of IQSA. Join by logging in to Google Groups and searching “International Qur’anic Studies Association.” Then click “Apply to Join Group”!
Weekly Blog Updates:
The IQSA blog has attracted widespread international interest and participation of scholars, students, and the general public. The blog includes weekly updates about IQSA, information on its academic meetings (North American and International), schedules for other conferences and colloquia taking place around the world, and various stories and reports on new research. IQSA strongly encourages all those working on new and exciting Qur’anic Studies projects to contribute to the IQSA blog.
Become a Member of IQSA:
Become a member of IQSA – join from the IQSA website, located under “Membership & Governance.” Be sure to follow IQSAweb.org for updates about this and other matters. Through the website, members will receive access to our publications, including:
- Review of Qurʾanic Research
- Membership Directory
- Bilingual English-Arabic Journal of the International Qurʾanic Studies Association
If you are interested in getting involved, writing for the IQSA blog, or have advertising or other inquiries, please write to contactus@iqsaweb.org. Do not forget to find IQSA on Facebook and Twitter!
Donate:
Consider supporting Qur’anic scholarship with a donation to IQSA. We are a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. You can donate to IQSA online by clicking HERE.
You have all made IQSA what it is today—a community of scholars and friends. Please help our community during its time of need. If each of you makes a humble donation it will go a long way to supporting our publishing and programming activity for the coming year(s).
On behalf of IQSA, we wish you a very Happy New Year! كل عام وأنتم بخير
© International Qur’anic Studies Association, 2023. All rights reserved.
Juan R. I. Cole is the Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan and the director of the Arab and Muslim American Studies Program in the American Culture Department. He is past president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America. His first book was Roots of North Indian Shi`ism in Iran and Iraq: Religion and State in Awadh, 1722-1859 (Berkeley, 1988). In a long career he went on to write on Egypt, Iran, other regions of the Middle East. His recent books include Peace Movements in Islam (edited) (London, 2021), The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam: A New Translation from the Persian (London, 2020), and Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires (New York, 2018).
The International Qurʾanic Studies Association is delighted to announce that the fifth annual 
Adi Shiran is a Ph.D. student at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Shiran earned a B.A. and an M.A. in Arabic language and literature from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she studied in the Mandel Honors Program, and an M.A. from the Freie Universität Berlin. Shiran’s research interests include medieval Islamic, Christian, and Jewish exegesis, Judeo-Arabic literature, and Mu tazilite kalam. In her dissertation, she deals with the notion of the ‘sealing of the hearts’ in tenth-century Qur’an and Bible exegesis. IQSAweb.org 25 Other current research projects include Islamic and Jewish interpretations regarding the physical appearance of the serpent/Satan, and a translation of Saadia Gaon’s Judeo-Arabic discussion on the suffering of animals in his commentary on Genesis. Shiran earned a teaching certificate in Arabic from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She taught Qur’anic Arabic at the University of Chicago and taught Classical and Modern Arabic in high schools for several years.
(1) Student, Contingent Faculty, Global South or Income Below $30,000 $35
