Announcements
Call for Applications: Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies (BGSMCS)
The Berlin Graduate School Muslim Cultures and Societies—a joint project of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, and the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO)—invites prospective doctoral researchers to submit their applications. Application Deadline: October 31, 2026 More Information & Guidelines: Visit the BGSMCS Application Portal for detailed guidelines and submission requirements.
Sep 01, 2026
Congratulations, Philip!
Philip Geisler has been selected as the recipient of the DAVO Dissertation Award 2026 ( https://davo1.de/davo-dissertation-award-2026/?lang=en ) for his thesis, "Dis-playing the Arts of Islam from the World’s Fairs to the 21st-Century Museum: Configurations of Objects, Performance, and Space."
Aug 21, 2026
Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Stefan Kirmse
Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Stefan Kirmse The BGSMS is pleased to announce that Prof. Dr. Stefan Kirmse has officially been awarded the title of Professor in recognition of his excellent scholarly achievements.
Aug 08, 2026
Histories Best PhD Thesis Award for Okcan Yildirimtürk!
Congratulations, Okcan! Okcan Yildirimtürk has been selected as the recipient of the Histories Best PhD Thesis Award for his thesis, 'Reviving a Ruined City between Communities and Empires: Competing Visions for Famagusta in Cyprus, 1840s-1870s'. The official announcement can be found on the following webpage: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/histories/awards/3624 .
Aug 03, 2026
Q&S Graduate School Applicants 2026
Jul 30, 2026
Lecture by Professor Abdelatif Fetheddine (in Arabic)
From Kant to Contemporary Arab Thought: The Appropriation of Critical Philosophy and the Reconfiguration of Knowledge
Jul 13, 2026
Podcasts
This podcast series documents a student-led lecture series held at BGSMCS during the summer semester of 2024. Audio 1: Historical Contextualisation and Complexity of German-Israeli Relation. Panelist: Daniel Marwecki; Moderator: Nagat Emara (30 April 2024) Audio 2: Research and Politics: Anti-Palestinian Racism in Germany. Panelists: Sophia Hoffinger, Udi Raz; Moderator: Schirin Amir-Moazami (7 May 2024) Audio 3: Scholar-Activism/Positionality: Intersection between Academia and Politics . Panelists: Rosa Cordillera A. Castillo, Hossam el-Hamalawy; Moderator: Samuli Schielke (13 May 2024) Audio 4: The Hundred Years' War on Palestine . Panelist: Rashid Khalidi; Moderator: Sophie Richter-DevroeBook Talk (16 May 2024) Audio 5: Defining Anti-Semitism in Academia. Panelists: Nahed Sammour, Hannah Tzuberi; Moderator: Gudrun Krämer (30 May 2024) Audio 6: Historical Contextualization of the Palestine-Israel Conflict. Panelists: Ilan Pappe, Sherene Seikaly; Moderator: Udi Raz (11 June 2024)
Jul 12, 2026
Lecture @ Boğaziçi University in Istanbul
Jun 17, 2026
Kai Kresse's book on Swahili Muslim Publics translated in Kiswahili
BGSMCS PI Kai Kresse launched a Kiswahili Edition of his book “Swahili Muslim Publics and Postcolonial Experience in Coastal Kenya”, translated by William Mkufya as “Haki na Mamlaka: Kadhia za Waislamu wa Kenya Baada ya Ukoloni, at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) on 14.4.2026. Congratulations! The book launch was organised by Prof. Hamza Njozi (MUM), Prof. Aldin Mutembei (UDSM), Prof. Issa Ziddy (SUZA) and Dr. Jackson Coy
Apr 22, 2026
FU President Ziegler visits Cairo
FU President Günter Ziegler and a FU-delegation, including three members of the BGSMCS: Beatrice Gründler, Cilja Harders and Florian Zemmin visited Cairo in April 2026
Apr 09, 2026
Lecture @ University of Ljubljana
Mar 25, 2026
Call for Appllications - ENIS Springschool 2026
Feb 16, 2026
Islamic Studies Scholar Gudrun Krämer Receives the 2025 Prize of the Historisches Kolleg
Nov 18, 2025
Rewriting the Fragments of Palestine
Nov 10, 2025
Call for Applications - Fellowships 2026
Sep 15, 2025
Academic Publishing and Postdoctoral Applications
UPDATED: Academic Publishing and Postdoctoral Applications Workshop 11:00-15:00, Monday 26 May, BGSMCS Library Hosted by Esra Sözalmaz Tiryaki, convened by Drs Amaan Merali and Mohammad Magout This workshop introduces doctoral candidates to the sometimes daunting, always exciting world of academic publishing and applications for postdoctoral research posts. The workshop convenors draw on their extensive local and international experience to offer insights into early-career publishing and postdoctoral opportunities. The workshop is divided into two one-and-a-half-hour sessions, the first on academic publishing and the second on postdoctoral applications. Each session will allow participants to ask questions and share their own experiences or concerns. Participants will submit a current CV when registering to attend so the convenors can offer feedback on formatting and other particularities of the academic CV. Convenors and participants will discuss the nuts and bolts of academic publishing, including journal rankings and metrics; publishing the dissertation in part or in whole; managing peer-review feedback and the (long) revision process; components of successful postdoctoral applications; different types of funding bodies; formatting academic CVs; who your contact references should be; and criteria selection committees consider when making decisions. To register for the workshop, please send an email with your name, your dissertation title, year of programme and a current CV to Esra Sözalmaz Tiryaki ( tiryakie@student.hu-berlin.de ) by Thursday, 22 May, 17:00 . The workshop is open to second-year and above doctoral fellows affiliated with BGSMCS. Space is limited and in-person participation is required. Online attendance may be possible—please explain why you would need this in your registration email. You will receive a confirmation of your registration by Friday, 23 May at the latest. Participants will earn one credit towards their degree by attending. Tea, coffee and snacks will be provided along with a catered lunch. Esra Sözalmaz Tiryaki is a doctoral candidate at the Institute of Asian and African Studies, HU Berlin and affiliated with BGSMCS. Her PhD project focuses on higher educational institutions of Islam in Malaysia and Turkey and their respective religious discourses in the 1980s and 1990s. Dr Amaan Merali is a Thyssen Fellow in the Department of History and Cultural Studies, FU Berlin. He has published chapters and articles on modern Middle Eastern history and taught at BGSMCS, the University of British Columbia and the University of Oxford, among others. His book Imperial Rivalry and Muslim Reform: The Ottomans, the Aga Khan and the Syrian Ismailis is forthcoming with I.B. Tauris/Bloomsbury. Dr Mohammad Magout is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Islamic Studies, FU Berlin, where he runs the DFG-funded project ‘Religion in the Early Arabic Press in Beirut: An Intellectual History’. Before joining FU, he taught and conducted historical and contemporary research on Ismailism, Islam and secularity, Emir Abdelkader and the Nahda at the universities of Leipzig, Erfurt and Zürich.
May 02, 2025
