2013-14
Professor Tarif Khalidi
The Trinity Long Room Hub was delighted to welcome Professor Tarif Khalidi from the American University of Beirut.
Bio
Professor Tarif Khalidi is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. He has published numerous books, including Images of Muhammad (Random House, 2009), The Muslim Jesus (Harvard University Press, 2001), Arabic Historical Thought in the Classical Period (Cambridge University Press, 1995), and Classical Arab Islam (Darwin Press, 1996). He has also published a recent translation of the Qur'an (Penguin, 2008) and edited a collection of essays, Land Tenure and Social Transformation in the Middle East (Syracuse University Press, 1985).
Research
During his fellowship at Trinity he engaged closely with the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies and the Centre for Literary Translation in the School of Languages, Literatures and Cultural Studies. He explored the Arabic manuscripts in the Old Library while working on the completion of ‘An Anthology in English translation of classical and modern Arabic Prose and Poetry’. On Thursday Feb 13th 2014, Professor Khalidi gave the Annual Chester Beatty Library lecture on ‘Ireland and the Irish in Medieval and Modern Arabic Texts’.
Professor Khalidi gave two public lectures in the Trinity Long Room Hub:
- Thursday, 6 March | 19:00 | ‘Near Eastern Banditry: A study in History & Folklore’
- Wednesday, 26 March | 13:00 | ‘Reflections on Pre-Modern Islamic Physiognomy (Firasa) with particular reference to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (13th cent.)’ This is a detailed examination of what was probably the most famous book of physiognomy in classical Islamic culture. It ends with some philosophical reflections on the "scientific" status of physiognomy.
- Public Lecture: ‘Near Eastern Banditry: A study in History & Folklore’
- Podcast: Reflections on Pre-Modern Islamic Physiognomy (Firasa) with particular reference to Fakhr al-Din al-Razi (13th cent.)
- American University of Beirut
- Department of Near and Middle Eastern Studies
- Centre for Literary Translation
- Chester Beatty Library
An Anthology in English translation of classical and modern Arabic Prose and Poetry
