NMC News
Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations
University of Toronto • December 2014
in this issue • new graduates • faculty & community achievements •
endowing coptic studies • student life • recent events & activities
• opportunities to support research & teaching at NMC
Chair’s Message
NMC has enjoyed an eventful start to the academic year, and we are
pleased to present our fall issue of NMC News highlighting the many
events, research activities, and achievements of our faculty and students.
We have tried to capture some of this colour and energy in our newly
revamped newsletter. Our aim is to tell—and celebrate—our collective
story in all of its rich texture, diversity, and brilliance, but to do so we will
need your help. NMC seeks both to advance scholarship and learning,
and to cultivate an active engagement with the communities that share
the culture, history and languages we study. I trust you will agree that our
faculty and students are engaged in a truly remarkable array of research
and scholarly activity, and do so with distinction. We welcome your
feedback, and support, and we hope also to hear what you are doing.
I wish also to acknowledge the arrival of three new members of
the NMC community. This fall we welcomed Heather Baker, Assistant
Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History, Sandra Bremner, Undergraduate Administrator and Assistant to the Chair, and Eugenia Tsao, Communications Assistant (and editor of this newsletter). We are thrilled that
they have joined NMC, and I invite you to get to know them as well. I
hope you enjoy the issue!
— Timothy P. Harrison, Professor and Chair
Our Newest Graduates
The Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations warmly
congratulates Nermeen Mouftah, Arshavez Mozafari, and Golbarg
Rekabtalaei for defending their doctoral dissertations this year.
Dr. Mouftah’s dissertation was entitled, “Building Life: Faith,
Literacy Development, and Muslim Citizenry in Revolutionary Egypt,”
and was completed under the supervision of Professor Amira Mittermaier. Pictured at right, Nermeen is currently a Lecturer at the University of
Illinois at Chicago in the Departments of Anthropology and Religious
Studies. Photo by Rita Leistner.
Dr. Mozafari’s dissertation was entitled, “An Intellectual History
of Early Pahlavî Demonology, 1921-41/1299-1320 sh,” and was supervised by Professor Mohamad Tavakoli-Targhi. Also completed under the
supervision of Professor Tavakoli-Targhi was Dr. Rekabtalaei’s dissertation, “Cinematic Modernity: Cosmopolitan Imaginaries in Twentieth
Century Iran.”
Except where noted, all photography in this issue is © University of Toronto.
We thank Kenneth Jones (p. 1), Rita Leistner (pp. 2, 4), and Henry Feather
(p. 4) for the use of their photos. This publication is produced by staff at the
Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. Undeliverable copies
should be returned to Eugenia Tsao at 4 Bancroft Ave., 2nd floor, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada, M5S 1C1.
Please stay in touch! Do we have your correct name
and address? To correct your personal information,
simply email address.update@utoronto.ca. Help us to
reduce waste. If you prefer to receive this newsletter
electronically, notify our Communications Office at
eugenia.tsao@utoronto.ca.
“It is important for us to learn the Coptic language, if only the
basics, in order to preserve our heritage, since our heritage was
originally documented in Coptic. Right here in Toronto—at the
University of Toronto—you have a program for Coptic Studies.
This is very important.”
— His Holiness Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Church
Endowing Coptic Studies
at the University of Toronto
With roots in the Pharoanic period, Coptic Christianity was
the major religion in Egypt from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Today, it remains the faith of a vibrant minority community in Egypt and diasporic communities worldwide. North
America is home to the largest Coptic diaspora outside of
Africa, and the largest concentration of Canadian Copts
resides in and around Toronto, the site of the first Coptic
Orthodox Church established on the continent.
During his recent visit to St. Mark’s Cathedral in the
City of Markham, Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Church
endorsed NMC’s offerings in Coptic Studies. “It is important
for us to learn the Coptic language, if only the basics, in order
to preserve our heritage, since our heritage was originally
documented in Coptic,” he observed. “Right here in Toronto—at the University of Toronto—you have a program for
Coptic Studies,” he pointed out. “This is very important.”
The Pope additionally stressed the vital need to “establish
permanent teaching positions and a Chair” in Coptic Studies.
Since 2006, courses in Coptic literature, languages, culture,
history, monasticism, art, and archaeology have been integral
parts of our department’s curriculum, thanks to generous
donations from St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church, the
Coptic Churches of Southern Ontario, and private donors.
Diverse aspects of Coptic culture and religion are also covered
in our courses on Islamic Egypt. These classes complement
both our internationally renowned Egyptology program and
our course offerings in Syriac Christianity.
We are committed to building a flourishing program
in Coptic Studies and maintaining enduring partnerships
with our benefactors. We are seeking support to create a
permanent endowment that will fund regular core courses. In
the aftermath of the Arab Spring, a robust understanding of
Egypt and its history has never been more crucial. Please help
us to promote cultural dialogue within and beyond Canada’s
borders. — With files from Heather McLean, Joey Youssef, and
Helene Moussa. Photo © St. Mark’s Coptic Museum.
Professor Amira Mittermaier was recently elected to the Royal
Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists.
This prestigious distinction recognizes Professor Mittermaier’s
important contributions to research in the anthropology of Islam.
Mittermaier, who is cross-appointed to NMC, the Department for
the Study of Religion, and the Department of Anthropology, has
received four prestigious book prizes for her first monograph, Dreams
that Matter: Egyptian Landscapes of the Imagination (University of
California Press, 2010). Her fieldwork, which illuminates how Islam
is lived, embodied, and contested on the ground by going beyond the
visible realm and attending to dreams, visions, the afterlife, and
economies with God, was cited as ground-breaking by the RSC.
The College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists was
created to gather researchers, artists, and scientists at a highly productive stage of their careers into a single collegium where new advances
in understanding can emerge from the interaction of diverse intellectual, cultural and social perspectives. The College’s mandate is to
address issues of particular concern to new scholars, artists and scientists for the advancement of understanding and the benefit of society,
in ways that emphasize interdiscplinarity and scholarly collaboration.
— With files from Sarah McDonald, Office of Research & Innovation.
Photo by Henry Feather.
Leading the Global
Professor Walid Saleh, who is cross-appointed to NMC and the
Department for the Study of Religion, has received a major
award from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish a
year-long multidisciplinary research initiative. Along with three
colleagues—Professors Karen Rue, Ajay Rao, and Nhung Tuyet
Tran—Professor Saleh has been granted $175,000 to establish
the John E. Sawyer Seminar in the Comparative Study of
Cultures for 2015-2016. Entitled, “Religious Materiality in the
Indian Ocean World, 1300-1800,” the seminar will involve
meetings of researchers at Cornell and McGill Universities, as
well as eight additional meetings with guest speakers in Toronto,
a dissertation workshop, and a capstone conference.
Professor Saleh is also Director of the Institute of
Islamic Studies. Formally inaugurated earlier this year, the
Institute aims to facilitate university-wide collaborations among
faculty and students specializing in Islamic studies by establishing
reading groups, conferences, writing workshops, and other
opportunities for intellectual cross-pollination and enrichment.
Photo by Rita Leistner.
Professor Timothy P. Harrison was honoured at this year’s meeting
of the American Schools of Oriental Research with the Richard J.
Scheuer Medal for his “truly outstanding long-term support and
service” to ASOR and the global research community. Professor
Harrison is currently directing the Tayinat Archaeological Project,
an international initiative that offers a rich array of research opportunities to students and provides a vivid glimpse into the innovative
Iron Age cultures that emerged in the eastern Mediterranean following the collapse of the Bronze Age empires. As a crossroads between
the cultures and peoples of Turkey and the Middle East, Tell Tayinat
has much to teach us about sociopolitical challenges in the region,
both past and present.
NMC was well-represented at this year’s ASOR meeting.
Our students, postdoctoral fellows, research associates, and faculty
presented on a wide range of topics, including Neo-Assyrian burial
practices (Tracy Spurrier), bioarchaeological research in the ancient
Egyptian site of Abydos (Janet Khuu), pottery decoration technology
at Seh Gabi Tepe, Iran (Golnaz Hossein Mardi), Bayesian approaches
to the analysis of Late Neolithic Settlements (Philip Hitchings),
pre-conquest contacts between Late Chalcolithic cities (Clemens
Reichel), fabric use in Tell el-Yahudiyeh ware (Aleksandra Ksiezak),
pottery production in Middle to New Kingdom Egypt (Meredith
Brand), new findings in Tell Madaba (Jonathan Ferguson) and Tell
Tayinat (Brian Janeway), and the CRANE Project’s cutting-edge
work on archaeological data visualization (Darren Joblonkay, Steven
Edwards, Steve Batiuk, Timothy Harrison).
Conversation
Professor Amir Harrak’s efforts to document centuries-old Syriac
engravings were recently recounted in the Globe & Mail as part of its
coverage of the current crisis in the Middle East (“The Ancients’
Fragile Voice,” by Anqi Shen, August 26th, A6-A7). Professor
Harrak’s concerns about the precarious situation in the region
proved prescient in July, when Islamic State militants took control of
the Catholic monastery of Mar Behnam in northern Iraq and
destroyed cultural and archaeological sites of central importance to
Iraq’s Eastern Christian community. Despite these catastrophic
events, Professor Harrak hopes to salvage what he can of the area’s
rich heritage for future generations by partnering with researchers in
the area.
The Harrak Collection of Iraqi Syriac and Garshuni
Inscriptions, consisting of digital and analogue photographs of
inscriptions dating from the 7th to 20th century CE, is the largest of
its kind in the world. Last year, the Canadian Centre for Epigraphic
Documents unveiled an online database of Syriac inscriptions from
the Harrak Collection, accessible at www.epigraphy.ca/catalogue.
Photo © Amir Harrak.
The Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Undergraduate
Students’ Union serves as a liaison between NMC students and
faculty. This year, the NMCSU has coordinated several fun and
engaging events, including an “Afternoon Bazaar and Tea House,”
where students sampled Middle Eastern delicacies and learned
how to play backgammon and traditional card games. In association with the Women and Gender Studies Institute (WGSI), and
the Adult Education and Community Development program at
the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), we also
sponsored a roundtable discussion on “Women and Revolution in
the Middle East” led by five feminist scholars: Professor Manal
Hamze (New Mexico State University), Ghadeer Malek (Palestinian author, activist, and educator), Dr. Sharifa Sharif
(Afghani-Canadian educator and journalist), Dr. Linda Tabar
(Postdoctoral Fellow at WGSI), Afiya S. Zia (PhD student at
WGSI and pro-democracy activist from Pakistan), and Professor
Shahrzad Mojab, who teaches the course WGS340H1: Women
and Revolution in the Middle East.
Students can look forward to more fun and educational
events next term, including another seminar, a themed tea house,
and an undergraduate symposium. In addition, we will be hosting
a year-end social where students and faculty can unwind after a
rigorous school year. Finally, our union publishes a journal whose
scope and readership will soon be expanding internationally, as we
now accept submissions from undergraduate students worldwide.
We look forward to launching our eighth annual issue in March
2015. — By Sharon Mizbani, NMCSU President, with files from
Frances Maranger, fourth-year student in Women and Gender Studies
and German Language Studies. Photo © Sharon Mizbani.
Celebrating Student
Leadership & Achievement
Our students continue to excel in their studies and gain recognition for their achievements. We are delighted to announce that
Laura Hare, a second-year PhD student, has received the T.J.
Meek Prize in Hebrew Syntax for her paper “Muraba‘ât Papyrus
17.” Laura’s research interests include Hebrew linguistics and the
issue of violence against women in the biblical text. Daniel Shin
has received the E.G. Clarke Scholarship for his performance in
Introductory Biblical Hebrew. Daniel is double-majoring in
Classics and NMC, with a structured focus on Ancient Greek,
Latin, Akkadian, and Biblical and Modern Hebrew. He hopes to
use these languages to gain a richer understanding of the Bible,
with an eye to becoming a pastor one day.
Emily Hotton has received the Kathleen Beatty Adamson Scholarship for her outstanding performance in our Egyptology courses.
Emily’s research interests include women in religious and political
roles in the Second Intermediate Period and New Kingdom Egypt.
She is currently a volunteer in the Royal Ontario Museum’s
Discovery Gallery and plans to enroll in a Master’s program at
NMC, with a collaboration in Women and Gender Studies, here
at the University of Toronto.
Pictured from left to right : Daniel Shin, Laura Hare, Emily Hotton.
Photos are courtesy and copyright of the award-winners.
Community Events & Activities
Syriac Studies at NMC
Ancient Egypt Alive
The Canadian Society for Syriac Studies (CSSS), in
conjunction with the Department for the Study of Religion,
held its 14th annual symposium on November 15th at the
Jackman Humanities Building. This year’s theme was
“Hidden Treasures of the Eastern Church: Syriac Perspectives of Late Antiquity and Early Islam.”
Nine papers were presented, spanning a wide range
of subjects, including Christian Apocrypha, encounters with
Greek philosophy and Islam, Christology, and Sassanian and
early Islamic histories. The symposium was audio-visually
rich, informative, and enjoyable for all involved. Presentations on Christian themes in the Islamic scripture, the
Qur’an, including the Virgin Mary’s encounter with the
Angel, and Christian-Muslim theological polemics shed light
on relations between Christians and Muslims from the
formative period of Islam through the late Abbasid period.
More than sixty people—including academics, students, and
members of the general public—attended this very successful symposium.
Ancient Egypt Alive—an initiative of NMC graduate students
Laura Ranieri and Thomas H. Greiner—has had an exciting
fall and holiday season. In addition to hosting a successful
lecture with Dr. Andrew Bednarski and producing a new video
series, “Conversations with Egyptologists,” AEA launched a
new website (www.ancientegyptalive.com) and organized a
November excursion to the Kitchener Museum’s “Unwrapping
Egypt” exhibit. AEA concluded the semester with a sumptuous
Pharaoh’s Feast on December 10th, which featured ROM
Egyptologist Gayle Gibson in conversation with Maha
Barsoom, chef and proprietor of Toronto’s newest Egyptian
restaurant, Maha’s Fine Egyptian Cuisine. Tickets to this
delicious and educational event sold out almost immediately.
— By Professor Amir Harrak. Pictured above: a CSSS XIV
seminar session. Photo courtesy and copyright of the organizers.
For more on the wide range of activities organized by
our partners at the Foundation for Iranian Studies,
the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies,
the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities,
& the Archaeology Centre, we invite you to browse
our events calendar at nmc.utoronto.ca/events
Mailing label
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
FACULTY
OF
ARTS
SCIENCE
&
Yes, I would like to make a donation to the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations.
For more information, please contact Heather McLean, Senior Development Officer, at 416-978-4179
or heather.mclean@utoronto.ca. Thank you for your generous support!
1. YOUR INFORMATION:
Name __________________________________________________________________________________________
Email __________________________________________________________________________________________
Address ______________________________________ Phone ___________________________________________
May we recognize you in published donor listings?
□ Yes, please recognize me as ________________________________________________________ □ No
Legacy Giving:
□ I have named UofT as a beneficiary in my Will. □ Please send me information about leaving a bequest.
2. YOUR LEADERSHIP GIFT:
□ $___________
□ Mastercard □ Amex
a. Here is my single donation of
□ Visa
Card Number __________________________________________________ Expires ________ / __________
Name on card ____________________________________________________________________________
Signature _______________________________________________________________________________
□ Cheque, which is enclosed (payable to the University of Toronto)
b. Here is my monthly donation of □ $_________
□ Please charge my credit card on the 1 day of each month:
□ Visa □ Mastercard □ Amex
st
Card Number __________________________________________________ Expires ________ / _________
Name on card ___________________________________________________________________________
Signature _______________________________________________________________________________
□ A blank cheque marked VOID is enclosed. I authorize the University of Toronto to deduct the
amount I have specified from the account number on the cheque, on the 1st day of each month.
Signature ______________________________________________________ Date ____________________
To donate, mail this completed form to:
University of Toronto, Donations Management
21 King’s College Circle
Toronto ON M5S 3J3
Or donate online at:
www.donate.utoronto.ca/nmc
Your Privacy: The information on this form is collected and used solely for the administration of the University’s advancement activities, undertaken pursuant to the
University of Toronto Act, 1971. If you have any questions, please refer to www.utoronto.ca/privacy or contact the University’s Freedom of Information and Protection
of Privacy Coordinator at 416-946-7303, McMurrich Building, Room 201, 12 Queen’s Park Crescent West, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8. Monthly Donation: You have
certain recourse rights if any debit does not comply with this agreement. For example, you have the right to receive reimbursement for any debit that is not authorized
or is not consistent with this PAD Agreement. To obtain more information on your recourse rights, contact your financial institution or visit www.cdnpay.ca.
Charitable Registration # BN 1081 62330-RR0001
Project Code: 0560005635
Solicitation Code: 0570052707