On Friday, May 19, at the GÖTTINGER ORIENT-SYMPOSIUM conference in Gottingen, Alexander Dmitrievich Knysh, head of the Scientific Laboratory for Analysis and Modeling of Social Processes, Professor of Islamic Studies at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Michigan, will present a report “Sufism and the Quran: The Vicissitudes of Sufi Exegesis”.
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Presentation by Alexander D. Knysh at GÖTTINGER ORIENT-SYMPOSIUM
St. Petersburg State University at the international exhibition of higher education in Riyadh
From 12 to 15 April 2017, in the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia – Riyadh, an international exhibition devoted to higher education issues was held. The exhibition was attended by several dozen leading universities in the world, including St. Petersburg State University. The University was represented at the exhibition by A.V. Tyushev and prof. Oleg I. Redkin.
Much attention is paid to education in Saudi Arabia: hundreds of thousands of Saudi students are studying abroad, and new universities are opening up inside the country. The participants of the exhibition were interested in the program for training specialists with an in-depth study of the history and culture of Islam that is being implemented at St. Petersburg State University. Saudi applicants were also attracted by other educational programs of St. Petersburg State University, which are taught in English.
Presentation by Olga A. Bernikova “Interdisciplinary approaches in training programs for specialists with an in-depth knowledge of the history and culture of Islam: the experience of St. Petersburg State University”
Presentation by O. Bernikova at the Moscow International Education Fair 2017
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.
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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.
Lecture by A.D.Knysh at the American University of Beirut
February 27, 2017 at the American University of Beirut (Faculty of Arts and Sciences) at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, a lecture was given by Alexander Dmitrievich Knysh, head of the Scientific Laboratory for Analysis and Modeling of Social Processes, Professor of Islamic Studies, Department of Middle Eastern Studies of the University of Michigan. The topic of the lecture: “Sufism as pedagogy: the relationship between the shaykh and his student in historical development” (Sufi Adab as Pedagogy: Shaykh-Murid Relationship across the ages).
The lecture was organized by the Department of Middle Eastern Languages (Department of Arabic and Near Eastern Languages) and the Center for Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies (Center for Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies) of the American University of Beirut.
You can watch the video of the lecture by following the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD1a_job8Sk&t=25s
Webinars with the University of Michigan
On Monday, February 20, 2017, at 18.00, the first international seminar in 2017 in the mode of videoconferencing between St. Petersburg State University and the University of Michigan (USA) was held.
It should be mantioned that the first seminar in this format, which also became the first experience of holding of this kind of events in the history of St. Petersburg State University, was held on April 18, 2016. Unlike last year, in 2017 a series of webinars is scheduled, which will make up the whole course devoted to the study of Islamic intellectual heritage. The course program includes topics such as speculative theology (Qalam), philosophy (falsafa), legal theory (fiqh), etc. The working language of all webinars will be English, and the moderators of the classes will be staff members of the Scientific Laboratory for Analysis and Modeling of Social Processes under the guidance of Professor of Islamic Studies of the Department Middle East Studies at the University of Michigan, Laboratory Director Alexander D. Knysh.
The Day of Islamic History and Culture at St. Petersburg State University
The day of Wednesday, December 7, 2016, can rightly be called “The day of the history and culture of Islam” for the Faculty of Asian and African Studies of St. Petersburg State University . The program of events was extremely rich: students and staff of St. Petersburg State University had the opportunity to attend lectures of leading Russian Islamic scholars and Muslim religious leaders in one day.
The first lecture was held by D. Mukhetdinov, Imam-muhtasib of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation. The lector presented his books “Russian Islam: Ummah Traditions in the Conditions of Eurasian Civilization”, “Islam in Europe” and “Islam in XXI century: renovation program (collection of reports) “. The presentation took the form of a lecture, during which the author, in his characteristic bright and fascinating manner, spoke about the most topical issues and trends addressed in recent publications. D. Mukhetdinov outlined his vision of such topical issues as the situation of Muslim communities in Russia and Europe, problems and prospects of Islamic education in the Russian Federation, the current significance of the works of Muslim enlighteners of the past, the relationship between religion and ethnicity in the identity of Muslim communities.
Ex Oriente Lux: First International Student Conference of Orientalists and Africanists
On November 11 and 12, 2016, Student scientific-practical conference “Ex Oriente Lux: First International Student Conference of Orientalists and Africanists” was organized on the basis of the Faculty of Oriental Studies of St. Petersburg State University.
Young researchers of the Laboratory for Analysis and Modeling of Social Processes, graduate students of the Department of Arabic Philology Vladimir Rozov and Oleg Sokolov took an active part in the conference. Beginning scholars made presentations at the plenary session “Analysis of the color elements of the manuscript relevant for its digital processing” and “Crusades in Arab historiography in the XX-XXI centuries”, respectively.