WIJAD ACADEMY

2024-2026

Codicology, Critical Edition, Digital Humanities

The French Institute of the Near-East (Ifpo), the American University of Beirut (AUB), The Institute of Oriental Letters in Saint Joseph University of Beirut (USJ) and the French Institute for Anatolian Studies (Ifea), in partnership with the National Library of France (BnF), the National Institute for Oriental Languages (Inalco), the National Institute for the History of Art (INHA) and the research team Orient-Méditerranée, are launching Wijad Academy 2024-2026, their first Doctoral Academy on Arabic and Ottoman manuscripts, a project in the fields of codicology, critical edition, and digital humanities.

Wijad Academy is a two-year, 80-hour program for Master and PhD level students/candidates in disciplines that work with manuscripts produced in the Arabic alphabet. The program of the academy covers different scientific, historical, material, aesthetic, legal, and technological aspects associated with the study of manuscripts, particularly in Arabic and Ottoman Turkish.

The Academy is designed to enable the participants to familiarize themselves with manuscripts early in their academic career, and to acquire critical tools that are now indispensable for engaging with manuscripts as sources for research and publication. While exploring the different facets of the manuscript as an object, the training will focus on transforming the manuscript into a published source. Participants will thus acquire key training in producing critical editions, and will be asked to work on individual projects.

The Academy is structed around four intensive sessions of 20 hours each, plus workshops, in Beirut, Istanbul and Paris.

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SESSION 1: INTRODUCTION TO CODICOLOGY

Detailed program:

Day 1 – Introduction to critical edition (5H)

– What is a critical edition?

– The transmission of manuscripts: copies, emendations.

– Variants (typology of errors).

Day 2 – Introduction to codicology. (5h)

– Different types of writing surfaces: papyrus, parchment, paper.

– Typology of quires

– Inks, ruling and page layout

Day 3 – Introduction to paleography (5H)

– Introduction to paleography (scripts, Arabic book hands, lines of research)

– Copying the manuscript: craftsmen, copyists, equipment used

Day 4 – The manuscript: acquisition and environment (the examples of the AUB Library and the Oriental Library)

History of collections: Institutions, private collections and archives, history of manuscript circulation

Manuscript cataloguing: A brief history of the first manuscript inventories and catalogs

The notice : the birth certificate of a manuscript.

Day 5 – Restitution and preparation of the editorial  projects

Participants will be asked to choose a manuscript to work with across the sessions, with the purpose of producing a scholarly edition. Sessions will be organized for workshoping their work in progress.

The rest of the sessions will run as follows:

SESSION 2: CRITICAL EDITING, TEXT HISTORY AND DIGITAL TOOLS

SESSION 3: HISTORY, AFTERLIVES AND IDENTITY OF THE MANUSCRIPT

SESSION 4: USING MANUSCRIPTS AND DIGITAL HUMANITIES

Applications and The Selection Process
Wijad Academy will include a team of 15-20 participants selected through an application process. It is aimed at students enrolled in a doctoral program at a Lebanese, French or Turkish university in Arabic language and literature, History, Philosophy, or any other subject related to Arab studies and Arabic handwritten sources. Students enrolled in a master’s degree may be admitted, depending on their scientific project.

The Academy is open to beginners and no previous experience with manuscripts is required. However, a very good knowledge of written standard Arabic and its grammatical rules is mandatory to participate in the Academy and benefit from the training.

The applicant shall provide a recommendation letter from their supervisor, explaining how the participation to the Academy could benefit their university education.

At the end of the Academy in 2025, the participants will receive a certificate of attendance from the organizers. With the prior agreement of each university’s department, participation in the Academy could be validated as part of the student’s course.

A commitment from the participants will be required for the entire duration of the Academy, spanning from December 2024 to December 2025 (see provisional schedule below).

Accommodation and plane tickets
Shared room accommodation at the Ifpo may be available for participants from universities outside Beirut (limited places).

For students enrolled in a Lebanese university, plane tickets will be covered for both the Istanbul and Paris sessions. Students enrolled outside Lebanon will be able to request a plane ticket, if their university does not cover it. These requests will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, according to their priority, and will be subject to available resources.

Preliminary schedule
Session 1: Beirut, 18-23 November 2024
Session 2: Istanbul, June 2025
Session 3: Beirut, November 2025
Session 4: Paris, June 2026

To apply to the Doctoral Academy
Please send your resume, your cover letter and the recommendation of your supervisor by September 15 to : wijad.academy[at]gmail.com

Organizers
Iyas Hassan i.hassan[at]ifporient.org
Sébastien Garnier sebastiengarnier[at]hotmail.fr
Pauline Koetschet p.koetschet[at]ifporient.org

Scientific Committee
Philippe Bourmaud (French Institute for Anatolian Studies, Istanbul)
Eloïse Brac de la Perrière (National Institute for Art History, Paris)
Géraldine Chatelard (National Library of France)
Sébastien Garnier (Orient-Méditerranée, Panthéon-Sorbonne University)
Iyas Hassan (French Institute for the Near-East, Beirut)
Enass Khansa (American University of Beirut, Beirut)
Tony Kahwaji (Institute of Oriental Letters in Saint Joseph University of Beirut)
Pauline Koetschet (French Institut for the Near-East, Beirut)
Rima Sleiman (National Institute for Oriental Languages, Paris)

À retrouver sur le site de l’Ifpo

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أكاديمية وجاد ٢٠٢٤-٢٠٢٦ في علم المخطوطات وتحقيقها والإنسانيات الرقميّة

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