Sarajevo Spring School: "Islam, the body and the self"

Venue: Faculty of Islamic Studies, Sarajevo University, Ćemerlina 54, (Sarajevo)

The Sarajevo Spring School Organised by NISIS

Collaboration: IISMM/EHESS, Faculty of Islamic Studies (Sarajevo University), CNMS (Marburg University) and CSIC

Participants from the ILC:
- Dr. Araceli González Vázquez, ‘Troubled dead bodies: Anthropological reflections on some North African simultopic and heterotopic Sufi saints’
- Aurora González Artigao, ‘Women’s body and religious transgression in Al-Andalus’

Theme:
Religion is not exclusively about textuality. We cannot study religion without taking into account the multiple dimensions of the body as an object of research in its own right. This is also the case with Islam. The Body and the Self is the theme of the NISIS/IISMM Springschool, to be held in Sarajevo, Bosnia in March 2017. The body is the oldest and probably most essential religious medium. Oral transmission is considered the most appropriate way of transmitting the word of God. Just as in any religious tradition at the heart of Islam is the body as the carrier of that tradition.
There are many normative references in theological and juridical sources to various aspects and features of the body. There is an intriguing paradox with respect to the position of the body in Islamic tradition. Although it is considered as the central carrier of tradition, the centrality of the body may also easily open up to idolatry. Iconography is an important emerging field in Islamic studies because it explores among other things the dynamics of the imagination of the human body in Islam in relation to its central religious tenets dealing with its representation. The growth of the modern media replete with images adds new dimensions to the study of iconography and the body.

Speakers and programme:
The speakers of this year's Spring School are:
Dr. Araceli González Vázquez, ILC-CSIC
Dr. Nina ter Laan, Utrecht University
Prof. dr. Enes Karic, University of Sarajevo
Prof. dr. Christian Lange, Utrecht University
Dr. Michiel Leezenberg, University of Amsterdam
Dr. Maike Neufend, Philipps University Marburg

The organisation of the Sarajevo Spring School is a joint effort by:
- Centre for Near and Middle Eastern Studies / Centrum für nah- und mittelost-Studien (CNMS), University of  Marburg
- L’Institut d’études de l’Islam et des Sociétés du Monde Musulman / École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (IISMM/EHESS)
- Netherlands Interuniversity School for Islamic Studies (NISIS)
- Instituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo / The Spanish National Research Council (CCHS-CSIC)