The Iranian Studies Unit at the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) is welcoming abstracts for its 2024 annual conference, titled “The Social Sciences and Humanities in Iran: Possibilities and Constraints,” to be held from 9-10 October 2024.
The 2024 annual conference of the ACRPS’s Iranian Studies Unit will explore the evolution and current state of social sciences and humanities in Iran. The conference will reflect on the state of social sciences and humanities in theory, methodology, and practice, and will examine how they are taught and researched in Iran. In addition to looking at some of the key institutions that have shaped social sciences and humanities research in Iran, the conference will examine the impact of the Islamic Republic’s establishment and its policies, as well as the state’s official discourse, on research and teaching in social sciences and humanities, with a focus on the relationship between academia and politics and state ideology. It will pay close attention to the challenges that Iranian academics face when teaching and conducting research in the humanities and social sciences, particularly given the pervasiveness of state surveillance.
The conference will further discuss other issues, such as the dismissal of university professors; restricted research budgets; the gloomy state of the academic job market and high rates of unemployment among graduates; the local production of social science and humanities research versus reliance on Western concepts, theories, and methodologies; assumptions underlying the study of Arab region and Middle Eastern countries; the impact of international sanctions on research, publication, and academic exchanges; brain drain and migration of Iranian students and professors abroad; research ethics; securitization of social science and humanities research; the problem of language and access to scholarship produced outside Iran; and the inaccessibility of scholarship produced inside Iran for global academic audiences.
Interested researchers should submit their abstracts (maximum 400 words) no later than 11:59 PM, Doha Time, on Wednesday, 17 April 2024. The abstract should clearly define the problem addressed and explain the objectives and methods of the project. Only original contributions that have not been published or accepted for review and publication elsewhere, will be accepted. The abstract must be headed by the paper’s title and author’s name(s).
To submit research proposals, please fill out the online form: https://www.dohainstitute.org/en/Events/iranian-studies-unit-2024-conference-/Pages/SubmitYourWork.aspx
Following the approval of the abstract by the organizing committee, prospective participants should send their final draft of the research papers (6,000-10,000 words, including footnotes and references) no later than 1 August 2024. All the submitted research papers will be subject to peer review.
For inquiries related to the conference, please contact: [email protected]
Conference venue: Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, Doha, Qatar
Please review the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies research guidelines: https://www.dohainstitute.org/en/ResearchParticipation/Pages/SubmissionGuidelines.aspx