My research stay is related to the project Practicing Knowledge in Islamic Societies and their Neighbors funded by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Anneliese Maier Award 2014) that I co-direct together with Sonja Brentjes. During my stay, I intend to work with her on the editing of the volume on Rulers as Authors in Islamic Societies that took place in November 2018 (Hamburg University).
I will also conduct research on two of the topics of the project:
1. Scholarly practices as related to the ‘physicality’ of the scholars (such as patterns of bodily performance and care, ways of dressing, gestures). In particular, I will work on an article on how scholars behave in the presence of the ruler.
2. The control of knowledge in premodern Islamic societies. I edited a monographic dossier on the topic in the journal Al-Qantara XXXV/1 (2014) and I am preparing a continuation that I will discuss with Sonja Brentjes.