Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 10d

RHS Funding opportunity: Postgraduate and Early Career Research Support Grants.

Grants of up to £1000 for graduate and early career historians to undertake research projects bit.ly/4nWLNlI

Closing date for the next round: 5 December 2025

Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: current programmes - RHS

The Society currently invites applications for the following three schemes — open to historians across a range of career stages and backgrounds — with closing dates from 5 December 2025 onwards. For f...

bit.ly

40 48

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · 16d

New online and open access from @contemplevant.bsky.social: "Weaponising sectarian emotions: Iran’s mobilisation strategy during the Syrian conflict (2012–2024)" by Seyed Ali Alavi: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Weaponising sectarian emotions: Iran’s mobilisation strategy during the Syrian conflict (2012–2024)

Conventional scholarly explorations into Iran’s involvement in the Syrian turmoil (2012–2024) primarily highlight geopolitical motivations, particularly Tehran’s strategic interest in preserving th...

www.tandfonline.com

3 3

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

Matthieu Rey @mattrey.bsky.social · 29d

Dear colleagues and friends,

We are pleased to announce the opening of a call for papers for a new Forum on Palestine: Agrarian Questions Unsettled, recently launched by the Journal of Peasant Studies and guest-edited by Fadia Panosetti, Taher Labadi, and Ahmed Heneiti.

2 2 4

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

CBRL - Council for British Research in the Levant @cbrl.bsky.social · 16d

On 17–18 Sep, CBRL Amman hosted a workshop with the University of Jordan and @bristoluni.bsky.social on the role of pharmacists in tackling substance use disorders in Jordan, identifying the top research priorities, and launching a new academic network.

Read More:
www.cbrl.ac.uk/news/the-rol...

The Role of Pharmacists in Addressing Substance Use Disorders in Jordan Workshop - CBRL

With generous support from the CBRL, the University of Jordan, in collaboration with the University of Bristol, organized a two-day workshop entitled “Co-Development of an Academic Network and Researc...

www.cbrl.ac.uk

1 3

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

Social History Society @socialhistsoc.bsky.social · 16d

📢 The Social History Society Book Prize 2026 is now open for nominations!

Now in its 8th year, the prize celebrates the best books in social history & cultural history✨

More information here: socialhistory.org.uk/2025/09/24/b...

Book Prize 2026 Open

We are delighted to announce that the Social History Society annual Book Prize has reopened and is seeking nominations. The prize is now in its eighth year and is awarded to the best book in Social…

socialhistory.org.uk

24 17

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

CBRL - Council for British Research in the Levant @cbrl.bsky.social · 28d

The September 2025 edition of CBRL’s newsletter is out now! 📬

Catch up on our latest news, research, and upcoming events across the Levant. Check it out! 📰

mailchi.mp/cbrl/cbrl-se...

1 5

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · 21d

New online from @contemplevant.bsky.social: “Rethinking Wendy Pearlman’s ‘silencing fear’ in the rules of Hafez and Bashar al-Assad: an affective perspective”: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

www.tandfonline.com

2 3

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Sep 10

JOB: parental leave cover, September 2025-April 2026, Middle East and Ottoman history: www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DOQ256/l...

Lecturer in History at University of Greenwich

Apply for the Lecturer in History role on jobs.ac.uk, the top job board for academic positions in higher education. View details and apply now.

www.jobs.ac.uk

4 4

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Sep 9

New online and open access from @contemplevant.bsky.social : “You have your Gibran and I have my Gibran: representations of Kahlil Gibran, a century after The Prophet” by Ibrahim Abraham: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

You have your Gibran and I have my Gibran: representations of Kahlil Gibran, a century after The Prophet

First published in 1923, and subsequently selling over one hundred million copies in over one hundred languages, Kahlil Gibran’s book-length mystical poem, The Prophet, is one of the most popular l...

www.tandfonline.com

4 5

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Sep 7

… allow staff time to do this kind of thing but not any more, outside of Oxbridge/Ivy and equivalents.

1

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Sep 7

… member leaves/ retires or if there is a rebrand. And if you run a journal for free you still have to have editors and copy editors and proofreaders and if the publisher isn’t paying them and you don’t have paying subscribers someone else has to. Universities used to…

1 2

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Sep 7

… several years of stats to prove continuity as well, and then if your numbers drop off you have to re-apply to get re-indexed. And there is always the matter of hosting fees, because journals that are on university websites have a habit of disappearing if the relevant staff…

1 2

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Sep 7

I can guarantee it took a lot more work than that, especially if the journal lasted beyond the first year or so - when you can still call in favours from friends and the goodwill that comes with an exciting new project. Getting journals indexed is really quite hard and needs…

1 4

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Sep 7

If it was a journal it would have been an ISSN. ISBNs are for books. But believe me that’s the easy part of the process.

2

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · Sep 6

We're experiencing an unbelievable deluge of submissions. At our journal we got ~200 per year in 2020. Last year it was 600. This year it's 800 with several months to go. So that's why we're slower to get stuff out for review.

5 43 450

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

Ben Williamson @benpatrickwill.bsky.social · Sep 6

Peer reviewers are exhausted. It's common to spend *months* inviting reviewers, getting refusals, inviting more, maybe 12 or more, then 2 agree but 1 doesn't complete, so you go again. That's why your paper is in limbo. I'm very sorry, it's awful, but it's also an untenable academic labour issue.

11 110 680

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · Sep 6

Applications for SHAPE Involve and Engage are now open. This innovative public engagement programme allows UK-based researchers to work in partnership with a gallery, archive, library or museum (GLAM organisation). Application deadline is 15 Oct. Learn more: https://bit.ly/47XA41y

White banner with an image of an audience seated and facing forward. The words 'SHAPE Involve and Engage’ are written on the right-hand side.

1 11 9

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Sep 2

Still ten days to apply for this writing workshop in Ankara, run by CBRL’s partners BIAA, focused on producing peer-review-ready articles on gender/culture/society aimed at international journals:

British Institute at Ankara @thebiaankara.bsky.social · Aug 14

Dr Peter Cherry has three questions for you:
1️⃣ Does your research engage with #gender?
2️⃣ Are you a final-year PhD student at a university in Türkiye?
3️⃣ Did you finish your PhD within the last five years at a university in Türkiye?
➖
Appply at biaa.ac.uk/call-for-par...

1 3

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

POMEPS @pomeps.bsky.social · Sep 1

Announcing a call for applications for the Spring 2026 POMEPS Virtual Research Workshops! The deadline to apply is October 15, 2025. For more information on how to apply, visit:
pomeps.org/call-for-app...

Call for Applications: Spring 2026 Virtual Research Workshops - Project on Middle East Political Science

The POMEPS Spring Virtual Research Workshop convenes online discussions of groups of three thematically linked journal article-length papers focusing on topics/cases in the MENA region. To provide fee...

pomeps.org

6 4

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

CBRL - Council for British Research in the Levant @cbrl.bsky.social · Aug 31

New podcast episode!🎙️

Learning from the Levant – Ep.3

Shatha Mubaideen speaks with Muhyi Majeed on how participatory methods like photovoice & storytelling help young people reclaim their cultural heritage.

🎧 Listen here:
on.soundcloud.com/R4SUxrOfe6xT...

1 3

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

CBRL - Council for British Research in the Levant @cbrl.bsky.social · Aug 28

The CBRL Graduate Network Skills Development Seminar Series continues! 🎓🔍

Lecture 3: "Research Methods and Collecting Data"

🔹 Prof. Omar Al Ghul, Yarmouk University
🔹2 Sep 2025 | 6 PM (Amman) | 4 PM (UK)
🔹Online (Zoom)

🔗 Register:
us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

1 3

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick @mrcwarwick.bsky.social · Aug 27

Grant funding for community-focused public engagement work by "creative academics who want to experiment", including independent researchers

Got great plans or initial thoughts about archives here? Drop us a line (we're particularly eyeing up the NUM archives here but SO MANY OTHER POSSIBILITIES!)

The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · Aug 25

The SHAPE Involve and Engage programme opens on 1 September. We are looking for researchers from across the UK to deliver innovative public engagement projects working in partnership with a gallery, archive, library or museum (GLAM organisation).

Find out more: buff.ly/efUOSoL

7 7

Reposted by Contemporary Levant

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Aug 24

This is not only a serious issue for historians and not only a serious issue for academics (although it is that). It's a development that's also deleterious for the GLAM sector, for example, and part of a much larger trend nationally and internationally to restrict and dismantle access to archives.

Historians dismayed by ‘scandal’ of BBC cutting access to...

Critics say new limit to trove of information sounds knell for independent research

observer.co.uk

6 110 200

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Aug 26

In this moving obituary, Dr Loay Abu Al-Saud pays tribute to a stalwart of Palestinian local history and heritage: “Izhaq Abdel Hadi Mahmoud al-Hroub (Abu Iyad), 1941–2025: chronicler of Palestinian heritage and son of the land”: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Izhaq Abdel Hadi Mahmoud al-Hroub (Abu Iyad), 1941–2025: chronicler of Palestinian heritage and son of the land

Published in Contemporary Levant (Ahead of Print, 2025)

www.tandfonline.com

4 5

Contemporary Levant @contemplevant.bsky.social · Aug 13

New online: “The Bata Company's eastern Mediterranean business operations 1918–1938: a structuration perspective” by
Milan Balaban, Jan Herman & Dalibor Savić - a case study of trade, manufacturing and labour, especially in mandate Lebanon and Palestine:

www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

The Bata Company's eastern Mediterranean business operations 1918–1938: a structuration perspective

This paper presents a comparative historical-sociological analysis of the Bata Company's business operations in the eastern Mediterranean between the two world wars. Focusing on countries such as E...

www.tandfonline.com

1 3 8