On the 8th of October, the Aga Khan University Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations (AKU-ISMC) in association with the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) London Middle East Institute (LMEI) held a unique interactive session combining brief presentations and instructive training sessions.
It was an opportunity for scholars and graduate students to discover the Muslim Civilisations Abstract project (MCA) and learn new strategies in promoting Asian and African scholarship.
The programme commenced with a ten-minute introduction to the MCA project by Magnus Marsden, Lecturer in Social Anthropology at SOAS. This was followed by three presentations on Muslim civilisations by: Sarah Bowen Savant, Assistant Professor at AKU-ISMC; Arif Jamal, Senior Instructor at AKU-ISMC ; and Farid Panjwani, Senior Instructor at AKU-ISMC.
The second part of the programme was an open session on writing abstracts and learning about publications in the Muslim world, India, Russia and China. During these sessions, participants learned how to leverage their language skills in order to undertake research and acquire expertise in translation.
The instructive training sessions aimed to enhance the participants’ academic competence and provide them a concrete insight into the world of publications and book reviewing.
The session was attended by a scholars and students from a range of institutions and disciplines.
The Muslim Civilisations Abstracts (MCA) project is recording and abstracting a large body of published work relating to various aspects of Muslim civilisations. These abstracts will be made available in an unprecedented original reference catalogue that will be open-access to anyone using the internet.
The MCA is continuously looking for well qualified abstractors/translators to contribute to the project. Ideally, candidates should have PhD and research experience in Middle Eastern, Indian, Oriental or Islamic Studies. PhD candidates who have completed an MA/MPhil and who are well advanced in their doctoral research will be considered.
Excellent proficiency in English and at least one of the following languages is required: Arabic, Malay/Indonesian, Persian, Turkish, Urdu. Knowledge of additional European and Asian languages, particularly Central Asian languages and Russian, will be an asset.
For further information, please contact the MCA team.
Coordinator, Planning & Academic Development
Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations