Lecture of the Head of the Laboratory at the University of Virginia
On Thursday, April 13, at the Center for Contemplative Sciences (University of Virginia) Alexander D. Knysh, head of the Scientific Laboratory for Analysis and Modeling of Social Processes, Professor of Islamic Studies at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies gave a lecture “Quranic Exegesis and Mystical Experience: Sufis and Quran”.
Sufism is a mystic-ascetic movement in Islam, distinguished by the diversity and richness of ideas and their practical implementation, as well as a significant contribution to the development of the institutional environment and the arts, in particular architecture. The lecture was devoted to the consideration of the approach of adherents of this direction to the Quran and the achievement of certain states of consciousness through the recitation of the Sacred Text. The exoteric reading of Scripture sometimes led to a sharp transformation of the exegete itself, caused by the collision of the ideas of the Koran with the personal experience and beliefs of the Sufi. Such exoteric and empirical practices were considered in the report in a historical and comparative perspective.
The event was supported by the Virginia Center for the Study of Religion, the Medieval Studies Program and the Center for the Study of Russia, Eastern Europe and Eurasia of the University of Virginia.
Laboratory staff took part in the Moscow International Education Fair
From April 12 to April 15, 2017, the staff of the Laboratory for Analysis and Modeling of Social Processes took part in the annual the Moscow International Education Fair, the largest event in the field of education in Russia, organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation.
The theme of the Fair was a “New Ecosystem of Education”. In 2017, there was a special emphasis on the communication among all the participants of the education processes in Russia and abroad. Leading Russian and international educational and scientific organizations, representatives of federal and regional ministries and departments took part in the work of the Fair.
(more…)
Science really has no boundaries: a joint project on the Islamic Studies by St. Petersburg State University and the University of Michigan
In the spring semester, St. Petersburg State University, together with one of the leading universities in the United States – the University of Michigan – launched an international seminar on the study of Islamic intellectual and cultural heritage. The project was initiated by Alexander Knysh, a professor at the University of Michigan, the head of a scientific laboratory on the analysis and modeling of social processes at St. Petersburg State University.