The Shiʿi Studies Network is excited to announce a new lecture series, Reflections on Shiʿi Studies. The series aims to act as a forum for scholars working on the academic study of Shiʿi Islam to reflect on the state and fate of the field. Over the past few decades, scholarship on Shiʿism has grown significantly, with major contributions reshaping our understanding of the history and development of Shiʿi Islam from its emergence until the present day. However, dominant analytical frameworks still often reflect reductive assumptions, shaped by sectarian or minority-status framings. This series brings together leading scholars to critically reflect on these dynamics, share insights from their respective areas of focus, and propose new methodological and conceptual approaches to move the field forward.
Join us for the next instalment of this ongoing lecture series where we will be joined by Seyfeddin Kara, Assistant Professor of Islamic Origins at the University of Groningen.
The lecture will be held online over Zoom. To join, please register here and you will receive a link to join. You will need to register to attend the lecture. For those having difficulty registering with their institutional accounts, please use your personal email address to register instead. If you are still having difficulties, please get in touch.
Seyfeddin Kara
Assistant Professor of Islamic Origins
University of Groningen
Dr Seyfeddin Kara is an Assistant Professor of Islamic Origins at the University of Groningen. He holds a PhD in Islamic Studies from the University of Durham. Dr Kara’s academic journey includes a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellowship, with research terms at the University of Toronto, Lund University, and the University of Göttingen. He has received grants from the European Union, Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Dr Kara has also taught at the University of Durham, UK, and served as an Assistant Professor at Hartford International University, US. Kara authored The Integrity of the Qur’an: Sunni and Shi‘i Historical Narratives (2024) and In Search of Ali ibn Abi Talib's Codex: History and Traditions of the Earliest Copy of the Qurʾan (2018). He specialises in the study of early Islam, the Qur'an, hadith, Sunni and Shiʿi Islam, as well as the study of Muslims in Europe. He also works with Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models (LLMs) to develop new methods for studying Islamic texts.