Hawzah News Agency –The Al-Mahdi Institute is pleased to announce the launch of the 1st AMI Graduate Islamic Studies Conference. The conference is aimed at graduate students at the masters level working in the field of Islamic studies with the aim of providing those intending to pursue a career in research and academia with an opportunity to gain experience presenting at a conference and to network with likeminded peers.

Students enrolled on a masters programme (taught or research) in any discipline at the time of the conference at any university or institution in the United Kingdom are invited to submit abstracts on any topic in Islamic studies, broadly conceived as the study of Islam and Muslim societies.

The conference will be held in-person at the Al-Mahdi Institute between Saturday the 28th May and Sunday the 29th May 2022. Provisions are in place should the conference be required to move online due to changes in public health guidance.

The conference will also feature a keynote lecture by Dr Fozia Bora. Dr Bora is an Associate Professor of Islamic History at the University of Leeds and the incoming Chair of the British Association of Islamic Studies.

Outline of the conference

Papers will be organised into panels of two or three presenters presenting on a similar theme. Each presenter will be allocated 15 minutes to present their paper followed by 10 minutes for questions from the audience.

It is expected that those presenting at the conference will attend the entirety of both days of the conference.

Submitting your abstract

Abstracts should include a title, be written in English, and should not exceed 200 words.

The abstract should be accompanied by your full name, university or institution you are studying at, and a brief biography of no more than 50 words detailing one’s educational background and research interests. This will be used for the conference booklet.

Both the abstract and the biographical information should be submitted as a single PDF document.

Abstracts should be submitted by email to Adam Ramadhan (ramadhana@almahdi.edu).

Submission deadline

The deadline for submissions is 23.59 GMT on the 4th March 2022. Abstracts sent after this date will not be considered.

Paper selection

Papers will be selected by a panel made up of the conference convenor and members of the faculty at the Al-Mahdi Institute.

Preference will be given to those papers utilising primary sources and original data and which demonstrate originality.

Travel, accommodation, and food

There are arrangements in place for accommodation. Further information on this will be provided when the abstracts have been selected.

The cost and arrangement of travel is the responsibility of each person attending.

Participants are encouraged to speak to their respective universities who often offer financial support for attending conferences. For those selected to speak but who will face financial difficulties attending, please email the conference convenor.

Lunch and dinner will be provided for each conference participant thanks to the hospitality of the Al-Mahdi Institute.

Information for those not presenting

For those not presenting but still interested in attending, a limited number of spaces are available for other students and supervisors of presenters whose presence would be welcome to provide encouragement and constructive feedback.

Further details on this will be advertised once the presenters have been selected.

Contact information

To submit your abstract and for any questions, please email Adam Ramadhan, the convenor of the conference, at ramadhana@almahdi.edu.