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Tahera
Qutbuddin
Assistant Professor of Arabic Literature |
Office:
Center for Middle Eastern
Studies
Pick Hall 219
5828 South University Avenue
Chicago, IL 60637
773-834-8786
|
Ph.D.,
Harvard University, 1999.
Appointment at Chicago 2002. |
Email:btq@uchicago.edu |
| SPECIAL
INTERESTS: Classical Arabic Prose and Poetry, Fatimid/Ismaili History and Literature, Arabic in India |
Current Research Projects
- The Nahj al-balagha and the literary production of Ali b. Abi Talib
- Early Arabic oratory
Publications
Monograph
- Al-Mu’ayyad al-Shirazi and Fatimid Da’wa Poetry: A Case of Commitment in Classical Arabic Literature , vol. 57 in the series Islamic History and Civilization, Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2005. Link
Journal Articles, Book Chapters, Encyclopedia Entries (all peer reviewed)
- “Khutba: The Evolution of the Early Arabic Oration,” in Terms of Understanding Classical Arabic Humanities: A Festschrift for Wolfhart Heinrichs, eds. Beatrice Gruendler and Michael Cooperson, Brill (forthcoming, 2007).
- “ India,” Encyclopedia of Arabic Language and Linguistics, ed. Kees Versteegh, Brill Academic Publishers, vol. 2, 2006, pp. 325-331.
- “Women Poets,” Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia, 2006, ed. Josef Meri, Routledge, vol. 2, pp. 865-867.
- “ Fatima (al-Zahra’) bint Muhammad,” ibid, vol. 1, pp. 248-250.
- “Zaynab bint Ali,” Encyclopedia of Religion, 2 nd ed. Lindsay Jones, Macmillan Reference USA, 2005, vol. 14, pp. 9937-9939.
- “’Ali b. Abi Talib,” in Arabic Literary Culture, 500-925, vol. 311 in series Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. eds. Michael Cooperson and Shawkat Toorawa, Thomson Gale, 2005, pp. 68-76.
- "Healing the Soul: Perspectives of Medieval Muslim Writers," Harvard Middle Eastern and Islamic Review 2 (1995), pp. 62-87.
Courses Taught
- Classical Arabic poetry
- Classical Arabic prose
- Classical Arabic Literature in Translation
- Advanced Arabic Syntax
Education
Harvard University - Cambridge, Massachusetts
· Ph.D. in Arabic Literature with departmental distinction. (1999)
· A.M. in Arabic Literature. (1994)
Ain Shams University - Cairo, Egypt
· Tamhidi Magister in Arabic Language & Literature. (1990)
· License in Arabic Language & Literature (equivalent to US 4-year BA degree; 1988)
Select Presentations
- “Contemplations on this World and the Hereafter in the khutbas of Ali in the Nahj al-balagha,” Middle East Studies Association, Boston (November, 2006).
- "The Early Arabic Khutba (Oration): Terminology, Applications, and Literary Features," American Oriental Society, Seattle. (March, 2006).
- “Arabic in India: A Sacred Language,” American Oriental Society, San Diego. (March 2004). Also presented at a conference funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, titled “Middle-Eastern Islam from Afar,” Bellagio, Italy. (February, 2003).
- “Metaphor as Manifestation: Religious Symbolism in Fatimid-Tayyibi Poetry,” American Oriental Society, Nashville, Tennessee. (April 2003).
- “Communion with God: Early Attestations of the Munajat Genre in the Poetry of the Fatimid Da’i al-Mu’ayyad," Arabic Colloquium, Yale University. (December 1999).
- "Fatimid Concepts of the Imamate in the Poetry of al-Mu’ayyad fi al-Din al-Shirazi," Islamic Studies Workshop, Harvard University. (December 1998).
