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My IPF Project |
Curriculum vitaeSIMEON E. EVSTATIEVAddress: Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski Center for Oriental Languages and Cultures Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies 79 Todor Alexandrov Blvd. 1303 Sofia, Bulgaria Telephone: ++ (359 2) 980 43 57 Fax: ++ (359 2) 846 51 43 E-mail: evstatiev@cisp-bg.org EDUCATION AND DEGREES• Associate Professor of Arabic and Islamic History at the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski;• Ph.D. in Middle Eastern and Islamic History obtained at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, 1999; • MA in Arabic and Islamic Studies from Sofia University, 1994; • German Language High School, Pazardzik, Bulgaria, 1987. FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS (Postdoctoral)− Grant by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the USA as Senior Researcher within the project Antagonistic Tolerance: A Comparative Analysis of Competitive Sharing of Religious Sites, Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, USA; PI: Professor Robert M. Hayden (Pittsburgh), since 2007;− IPF (International Policy Fellowships) Program of the Open Society Institute and the Center for Policy Studies at the Central European University in Budapest, IPF Fellow 2005–2007. <http://www.policy.hu/evstatiev>. Title of the project: “Islam, the Balkans and the European Neighbourhood Project”. − Curriculum development project (2002–2003) funded by the Open Society Institute and the Curriculum Resource Center at the Central European University, Budapest <http://www.ceu.hu/crc>. Title of the project: “Political and Religious Movements in the Arab Middle East”. − Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship (2000–2001) at the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, High Council for Scientific Research (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas – CSIC), Madrid <http://www.csic.es>. Title of the project: “Christians under Muslim Authority in al-Andalus and in the Balkans: Relations to the Christendom”. PROFESSIONAL POSITIONS• Associate Professor of Arabic and Islamic History at the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Sofia University, since 2006;• Research Associate at the Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, USA, since 2008; • Vice-Chairman of the Faculty of Classical and Modern Philology at Sofia University, since October 2007; • Director of the MA Programme Society and Culture of the Arab World at the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Center for Oriental Languages and Cultures, Sofia University, since 2006; • National representative of Bulgaria and member of the Board of UEAI (Union Européenne d’Arabisants et Islamisants) since 2004; • Research Director of the Center for Intercultural Studies and Partnership (CISP) in Sofia (since 2003); • Major Assistant Professor in Arabic and Islamic History at the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Center for Oriental Languages and Cultures, Sofia University, 2001–2005; • Academic Coordinator of the MA Program Arabic Society and Culture which was subsequently renamed “Society and Culture of the Arab World” at the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Center for Oriental Languages and Cultures, Sofia University, 2000–2005. • Senior Assistant Professor in Arabic and Islamic History at the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Center for Oriental Languages and Cultures, Sofia University, 2000–2001; • Lecturer in Islamic Culture the MA Program Intercultural Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy (2000–2004); • Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in Arabic and Islamic History at the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies, Center for Oriental Languages and Cultures, Sofia University, 1995–1999. • Part-time Teaching Assistant in Medieval Islamic History, Varna Free University “Chernorizets Hrabar”, 1995–1996. MAJOR PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES− Academic research project Antagonistic Tolerance: A Comparative Analysis of Competitive Sharing of Religious Sites, together with Robert M. Hayden and an international team from the USA, Turkey, India, Mexico and Portugal; Department of Anthropology, University of Pittsburgh, USA, since 2007;− Individual research project Islam, the Balkans and the European Neighbourhood Project within the International Policy Fellowships (IPF) Program at the OSI, Budapest and the CEU, Budapest, 2005–2007; − Director of the international project Religion and Education: Enhancing Christian-Muslim Understanding in Bulgaria funded by the United States Institute of Peace and carried out in cooperation with the Bulgarian Ministry of Education, 2004–2007. − Research Director the project Islam and the Media: Unveiling Prejudices and Overcoming Stereotypes funded by MATRA/KAP Programme at the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Sofia and accomplished by the Center for Intercultural Studies and Partnership, Sofia, 2005–2006. − Team Leader of the research project The Muslim Community in Bulgaria: Facing the Global Challenges accomplished by the Center for Intercultural Studies and Partnership, Sofia and funded by Democracy Commission at the Embassy of the United States of America in Sofia, 2005–2006. − Director of the international research project Islam and the Public Sphere: Global and Regional Dimensions funded by the American Center in Sofia (on March 10th 2005 in Sofia an international academic seminar under the same title was organized and keynoted by the leading anthropologist of Islam Professor Dale F. Eickelman of Dartmouth College, USA), 2005–2006; − Individual curriculum development project for a university course “Political and Religious Movements in the Arab Middle East” for the MA Program Society and Culture of the Arab World at the Department of Arabic and Semitic Studies at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, funded by the Curriculum Development Center at the CEU, Budapest, 2003–2004; − Director of the intercultural educational project Islamic Religious Education in Bulgaria: The Challenges of Partnership, funded by Democracy Commission at the American Cultural Center, Philosophical Foundation “Minerva”, Sofia, 2003–2004. − Academic expert within the international research project Tolerance and Understanding: Our Muslim Neighbors in Europe, Institute of International Cooperation of the Association of German Universities, 2002–2004. LANGUAGES• Arabic: excellent reading, speaking and writing skills.• English: excellent reading, speaking and writing skills. • German: excellent reading, speaking and writing skills. • Russian: excellent reading, good speaking and writing skills. RESEARCH INTERESTSIn the pre-modern period: Religion and politics: Islam and the public sphere, religious authority and political power in Islam; Classical Arab and Muslim historiography, history of Arabic learning and religious sciences; Islamic studies: religious and political thought and theology, philosophy; History of religions, relations between Christianity and Islam. In the modern period: Historical dynamics and the relation between the public spheres of the medieval Islamic past and modernity; secularization and desecularization; religious and political movements in the Arab world; the role of the cultural factor in politics; New types of public sphere in Islam; modern interpretations of the classical Islamic doctrine; anthropological approaches and methods from the social sciences in Middle East and Islamic studies; Islam and Europe, the role of the Balkans between the Middle East and the European continent, cultural dynamics in history; Religious studies. SCIENTIFIC SOCIETIES AND MEMBERSHIPS• Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (UEAI), member since 1998; since 2004 National Representative of Bulgaria and UEAI Coordinator for South East Europe;• European Association for Middle Eastern Studies (EURAMES): since 2004 EURAMES Contact Person for Bulgaria and South East Europe; • Center for Intercultural Studies and Partnership (CISP): Founding Director and Chair of the Board since 2003; • Deutsche Arbeitsgemeinschaft Vorderer Orient für gegenwartsbezogene Forschung und Dokumentation (DAVO) since 2001. • The International Medieval Chronicle Society, since 1999; • Deutsche Morgenländische Geselschaft (DMG) since 1998; COURSES TAUGHTCourses in the BA degree in Arabic and Islamic Studies:− Medieval History of the Arab World and Islam (1995–1995 as assistant professor and since 2006 as associate professor); − Modern and Contemporary History of the Arab World and Islam (1995–1995 as assistant professor and since 2006 as associate professor); − History of Islamic Philosophy (since 1998); Courses in the MA Program Society and Culture of the Arab World: − Introduction to Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies (since 2007); − Political and Religious Movements in the Arab Middle East (since 2003); The course resulted from a curriculum development project sponsored by the Open Society Institute / The Curriculum Resource Center at the Central European University in Budapest. − History of Christian-Muslim Relations (since 1999). − Tradition and Modernity in Arabic Society and Islamic Culture (1998–2007); Lectures in the MA Program Intercultural Studies at the Faculty of Philosophy: − Islamic Culture (2000–2004). PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL ACADEMIC CONFERENCES 1. “Justice: The Role of Justice in Building a Better World”, Istanbul, Turkey, 18–20 November 2007. 2. “The State of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Western Universities”, International Conference, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, United Kingdom, 27–29 November 2006. 3. International Academic Conference “The Modern Turkish Thinker Said Nursi – One of the Pioneers of Muslim-Christian Understanding”, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski’, November 23rd, 2006. 4. L’Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (UEAI) – 23rd Congress “Centre and Periphery within the Boarders of Islam”, Sassari, Italy, September 29–October 4, 2004, September 28–October 1, 2006. 5. “Islam and Politics in a Wider Europe”, international academic conference keynoted by Dale F. Eickelman (USA), Olivier Roy (France) and Robert M. Hayden (USA) organized within the research project of Simeon Evstatiev “Islam, the Balkans and the European Neighbourhood Policy”, Sofia, October 20–22nd 2006. 6. “Islam and Tolerance in a Wider Europe”, Washington DC, International Seminar, Woodroo Wilson Center for International Scholars, Washington DC, June 23, 2006. 7. „Around Charles Taylor. Religion and Politics. Troubles of Modernity”, Sofia Dialogues 2005, Sofia December 3-4, 2005, Sofia: House for Human and Social Sciences. 8. “Democracy and the Rule of Law – American and European Strategies and Instruments”, International Seminar at CEPS, Brussels, 20–21 June 2005. 9. Academic Conference “Arab World and Islam – Identities and Intercultural Interactions” on the occasion of the 3oth anniversary of the introduction of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, May 10–14th, 2005. 10. “Religion and Education: Enhancing Christian-Muslim Understanding in Bulgaria”, International conference with the participation of J. Paul Martin, (USA), Sofia, April 18th, 2005. 11. “Islam and the Public Sphere: Global and regional Dimensions”, International academic seminar around the leading anthropologist of Islam Dale. F. Eickelman, Sofia, March 10th 2005. 12. “The Teaching on the Religious Other”, International Seminar at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington DC, March 3–4, 2005. 13. “Religion, International Human Rights and World Community”, International Conference, New Delhi, India, 1–4 November 2004. 14. L’Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (UEAI) – 22nd Congress “Authority, Privacy and Public Order in Islam”, Cracow, Poland, September 29–October 4, 2004. 15. First World Congress of Middle Eastern Studies, Mainz, Germany, September 8–13, 2002. 16. The Medieval Chronicle, 3rd International Conference, Utrecht / Doorn, 12–17 July 2002. 17. DAVO Congress 2001, Göttingen, Germany, September 9–11, 2001. 18. “Religion, Rights and Societal Reconstruction”, Contribution to panel Religious Thought and Practice with regard to Truth in Societal Reconstruction, International Conference organized by Columbia University in New York City, Bellagio, Italy, July 1–5, 2001. 19. L’Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (UEAI) – 20th Congress, Budapest, Hungary, 10–17 September, 2000. 20. The Medieval Chronicle, 2nd International Conference, Utrecht, The Netherlands, July 1999. 21. “Islam and Human Rights in Post-Communist Europe”, International Conference organized by Columbia University in New York City, Sofia, March 15–17, 1999. 22. Deutscher Orientalistentag (DOT), Bonn, Deutschland, 28 September bis 2. Oktober 1998. 23. L’Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (UEAI) – 19th Congress, Halle, Germany, September, 1998. 24. International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, 8–11 July 1997. 25. The Medieval Chronicle, 1st International Conference, Utrecht, The Netherlands, 13–16 July 1996. 26. International Medieval Congress, University of Leeds, United Kingdom, 8–11 July 1996. INTERNATIONAL LECTURES • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Madrid, October, 2000; • Universidad Complutense de Madrid, November 2000; • University Association of Kuwait, November, 2002; • United States Institute of Peace (USIP), Washington DC, USA, 2006; • Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, USA, July 2006. INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH ACTIVITY AND SEMINARS Istanbul, Turkey (2001, 2005, 2007); Beirut, Lebanon (2003); Damascus, Syria (2003); Göttingen, Mainz and Berlin, Germany (2005); Cairo, Egypt (2006); The Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (2006); Budapest, Hungary (2003, 2005, 2006); Washington, New York and Hanover, New Hampshire (2006). ACADEMIC AWARD Rector’s Prize for Sofia University’s Junior Scholar for the academic year 2002–2003. PUBLICATIONS OTHER ACTIVITIES PRESENTATIONS OF BOOKS Translation of the Holy Qur’an, Translation from the Arabic original Tsvetan Teofanov, Tayba al-Khayriyya: Sofia, 1999 (June 15th 1999, Sofia Library, October 23rd 2001 г. in Samokov, April 27th 2002 in Shumen); Henri Corbin, History of Islamic Philosophy [in Bulgarian], Mawlana Jalaladdin Rumi: Sofia 2000. (presentation at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski May 8th 2001). Pavel Pavlovitch, History and Culture of Ancient Arabia [in Bulgarian], “Galeon”, Sofia, 2001 г. (presentation on May 16th 2001 at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski). Sayed Hussein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages [in Bulgarian], Kronos: Sofia, 2001 (presentation on June 4th 2002 in the Euro-Bulgarian Cultural Centre). OTHERS Participation and moderation of debates and work seminar related to the issues of the Middle East, Islam and interreliogious relations, organized by the Centre for Intercultural Studies and Partnership, and The Red House Center for Culture and Debate, Sofia, , as well as other institutes. Numerous participations with analyses and commentaries on the issues of the Middle East, Islam and interreliogious relations in television- and radio broadcasts. |