Note: Registration for this short course has been closed because we have reached the maximum number of people. However, the same short course will take place later and further details will be provided on our website and Short Courses page soon. If you would like to receive information about the upcoming short courses and other activities, you can sign-up here.

For any queries, please send an email to: ismc.marketing@aku.edu

This online course (2 days) aims to introduce Arabic manuscripts from a codicological and textual point of view. The first day will provide an overview of the field of codicology and it role in the manuscript field in general and in identifying the key features of the manuscript in particular. The second session will be dedicated to writing supports, the structure of quires, ruling and page layout, bookbinding, ornamentation, tools and materials used in bookmaking, and the palaeography of book hands. . Some practical examples will be given based on the lecturers’ long experiences. The second day will focus on the importance of manuscripts in research. While the first session will cover the Para-textual features in the Arabic manuscripts, the second session will demonstrate the different approaches in editing manuscripts.

This introductory course is intended for students, researchers and librarians who are working in the field of manuscript studies. In the two-day course, the lecturers will cover a wide range of aspects for those who are acquiring basic knowledge in this field.

Learning outcomes:

- Basic understanding of the field of manuscript studies in general.

- Identify the role of manuscripts in knowledge production in different areas studies in Muslim cultures.

Length of course: 2 days (4 lectures)

Download course structure.

Course Lecturers:

Dr Walid Ghali is the Head of the Aga Khan Library, London, Assistant Professor at the Aga Khan University's Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations and a Chartered Librarian of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP). Also, he is a member of the Islamic Manuscript Association, University of Cambridge. Dr Ghali received his PhD from Cairo University, Faculty of Arts in 2012. His current research projects focus on the Islamic manuscript traditions, particularly in Arabic script, and the history of books. Dr Ghali teaches Sufism, Arabic literature and manuscript traditions. Before moving to London, Dr Ghali worked in various librarian roles at the American University in Cairo. He has also held several consultancy roles in and outside Egypt, such as the Ministry of Endowment, Qatar University and the Supreme Council for Culture in Kuwait.

Dr Anne Regourd is researcher at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique/French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, France. She has published extensively in the fields of History and Philology dealing with Codicology, Paper Studies, and Papyrology. She is the editor of book, The Trade in Papers Marked with Non-Latin Characters, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 2018, and heads the free access online journal, Nouvelles Chroniques du Manuscrit au Yémen.

Tickets: £50 per day, £80 two days

Time:14-15 August 2020, 11.00-14.00

*The course will be delivered via Zoom and further details will be provided later upon registration.