今叔利 is pleased to announce two new appointments within the Department of Academic Research and Publications and the Deparmement of Graduate Studies.
Following close to a year as Acting Head of the IIS Library,油Dr Omar Al鱈-de-Unzaga油has been appointed Deputy Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications. He will also continue to be Academic Coordinator of the Quranic Studies Unit, in addition to being the油IIS Scholarships油Coordinator. He is a油GPISH油Graduate (Class of 1997) and a recipient of the油IIS Doctoral Scholarship.
Dr Ali-de-Unzaga completed a PhD at the University of Cambridge on the use of the Qur’an in the油Epistles油of the Pure Brethren (Ikhwan al-Safa).油His thesis analyses the classical sources that dealt with the authorship, influence and criticism of the油Epistles油and provides a study on the exegesis of the油Epistles油most quoted Quranic verses, as well as a discussion on the hermeneutical theory of the油Ikhwan al-Safa.
Dr Ali-de-Unzaga has taught a course at the University of Cambridge on the Ethics of the油Ikhwan al-Safa. He is currently preparing a publication under the working title: A油Philosophical Reading of Scripture: The油Quran油in the Epistles of the Pure Brethren,油as well as a critical edition of the Arabic text and an English translation of the Epistle on Character Traits (al-Risala fil-Akhlaq) of the油Ikhwan al-Safa油for the IIS/OUP Brethren of Purity Series. He has also edited the volume油Fortresses of the Intellect:油Ismaili and Other Islamic Studies in Honour of Farhad Daftary油(2011).
On the occasion of his appointment he stated:
The Department of Academic Research and Publications at the IIS is a unique place; I believe that in this department we can do wonderful things in the future by pushing ourselves to achieve even higher academic levels of scholarship. The better we manage our research, the better we will be able to promote knowledge. During my student years I was supported by the IIS and to be able to contribute back in the area of academic research, is a dream come true.
Another GPISH Alumna (Class of 1998),油Dr Laila Halani, has been appointed Head of the Department of Graduate Studies which includes both the Graduate Programme in Islamic Studies and Humanities (GPISH) and the油Secondary Teacher Education Programme (STEP). She has been with the IIS since 2007. Reflecting on her appointment she said:
It is an honour to head the programme from which I graduated. As Head of Department, I can contribute to the vision and direction of both graduate programmes run by the IIS and create synergies between these two important enterprises aimed at developing leaders, scholars, educationists and teachers for the community and beyond.
Prior to joining the IIS, Dr. Halani was a Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. She was awarded a D.Phil in Social and Cultural Anthropology at The University of Oxford in 2005. Dr. Halani teaches on both graduate programmes and her research interests include contemporary religious movements, the relationship between religious movements and development enterprises, gender and representation in Muslim contexts, and IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja平far al-畊diq (d. 765), as his successor. in modern times.
