Dennis Halft, OP, Director of MIDEO (2021-2024); Adrien Candiard, OP, Director from October 1ˢᵗ, 2024.
MIDEO 39, scheduled to be published this year and dedicated to the 1924 edition of the Qurʾān, is experiencing some delays. And for good reason… it’s a hefty volume, nearly 500 pages. Together with Antoinette Ferrand, our scientific secretary, we are meticulously reviewing the proofs, making sure to catch any lingering typos still hiding in the pages. At the same time, we are working to finalize MIDEO 40. Under the direction of Walid Saleh, Thomas Würtz, and Emmanuel Pisani, this edition will focus on the presence of other religions in tafsīr. All the articles are gathered, and time seems to be on our side to submit the manuscript to the publisher as we have committed to do. Concurrently, we must also finalize the Proceedings of the Abu Dhabi Conference on Human Fraternity, which will be published in the Cahiers du Midéo at the beginning of 2025! Fortunately, Simon Conrad and Amr Zakaria are providing invaluable support to Antoinette, both through their scientific expertise and their diligent proofreading. Thanks to this dedicated team, we should be able to stay on schedule, though it’s quite a pace to kick off the year!! Luckily, after the departure of Dennis Halft, OP who led the Review for three years with remarkable scientific seriousness, we can rely on a new director, Adrien Candiard, OP. We are already grateful for his willingness to take on this new mission, which he will undoubtedly approach with the same seriousness and dedication as his predecessor.
Lectures and talks
Dennis Halft, OP was appointed as a member of the European Union of Arabists and Islamicists (UEAI) during their 31ˢᵗ congress, held in Granada from September 9ᵗʰ to 12ᵗʰ. During this congress, he gave a lecture entitled “Imāmī Shīʿī-Jewish Encounters in Early Modern Iran: A Persian Translation of the Book of Psalms”.
On September 19ᵗʰ, Jean Jacques Pérennès, OP gave a lecture in Lille entitled “Christians in a Middle East in Crisis: Situation and Perspective”.
On September 24 and 25, Alberto Ambrosio, OP participated in the conference “Venerable Shores, Profane Struggles: Dialogues on Geopolitics and Religion in the Mediterranean”. This conference took place at the Collège des Bernardins in Paris, in collaboration with the Grenoble Institute of Political Studies.
September 20ᵗʰ, Emmanuel Pisani, OP gave the inaugural lecture at the Baghdad Academy of Social Sciences, entitled “Bayn al-manhaǧiyya wa-l-ibistimūlūǧiyyā: muqārabat al-adyān wafqan li-l-Ġazālī aw kayfiyyat maʿrifat al-āḫarīn? [Between Methodology and Epistemology, Approach to Religions according to al-Ghazali or How to Understand Others?]”.
Scientific Workshop
On September 28 and 29, Matthieu Palayret, OP participated in the two-day Workshop on Research Methods in Arabic Studies, held at the American University in Cairo (AUC).
50ᵗʰ Anniversary of the SNRM
On September 12ᵗʰ, Mr. Dominique Avon, Director of Studies at the EPHE, and Jean-François Bour, OP, Director of the SNRM, participated in a day of discussions celebrating the 50ᵗʰ anniversary of the Service National pour les Relations avec les Musulmans (SNRM), formerly known as the SRI. This event was held at the Conference of Bishops of France in Paris. Mr. Dominique Avon gave a talk entitled “Dialogue between Catholics and Muslims: A Historical Perspective”, while Jean-François Bour, OP moderated the round table “The Pastoral Commitment of the Church Today”.
Radio program
On September 22ⁿᵈ, Jean Jacques Pérennès, OP participated in a France Culture radio program entitled Question d’islam discussing the Islamic-Christian pilgrimage of Vieux-Marché, with Mr. Manöel Pénicaud and Mr. Ghaleb Bencheikh.
Call for applications
The French Institute for Islamic Studies (IFI), the Dominican Institute for Oriental Studies (IDEO) and the French Institute for Oriental Archeology (IFAO) have announced a call for applications for a research scholarship in the field of Islamic studies. For more information, please refer to the call for applications in French…
Scholars’ House
In September, we had the pleasure of welcoming at the Scholars’ House:
- Ms. Antoinette Ferrand, scientific member at the IFAO and editorial secretary of MIDEO;
- Ms. Tessa Larivière-Ammari, history student and beneficiary of the annual IFI-IDEO-IFAO Islamic studies scholarship;
- Mr. Wilhelmus Valkenberg, emeritus professor at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America, working on the reception of Anawati in the Anglo-Saxon world.
Publications
- Jean Jacques Pérennès, « La fondation de l’Institut dominicain d’études orientales : une histoire méditerranéenne », Chemins de dialogue 63, 2024, pp. 181-196.
- Catherine Mayeur-Jaouen, Le culte des saints musulmans. Des débuts de l’islam à nos jours, Paris, Gallimard, Bibliothèque des Histoires, 2024.