CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT

The Fourth Woodbrooke-Mingana Symposium on Arab Christianity and Islam
Arab Christianity in Iraq in the `Abbasid Period (750-1258)
September 12-15, 2001
Woodbrooke College, Selly Oak, Birmingham

Organised by the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, University of Birmingham

[1] Mingana 2001, the fourth in the Symposium series on the history and culture of Arab Christians under Muslim rule, will focus on the Christian presence at the heart of the `Abbasid caliphate, in the regions around the capital and north and south along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

[2] As in previous Symposiums, the primary interest will be on the textual evidence that sheds light on the development of Arab Christian thought and on relations between Christianity and Islam.

Speakers

[3] Keynote address
Professor Jacques Waardenburg, Lausanne, Between Baghdad and Birmingham. Minorities: Christian and Muslim, a public lecture delivered in the George Cadbury Hall, Selly Oak, at 7.30pm on Wednesday 12 September. (The lecture also marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Centre for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations in Birmingham.)

[4] Full Papers
Professor Sidney Griffith, The Catholic University of America, Washington D.C., USA, Ethics in Muslim-Christian Dialogue in Tenth Century Baghdad: the Contribution of Yahya Ibn Adi.
Dr Erica Hunter, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, The Christianity of Hira.
Professor Juan MonferrerSala, Universidad de Córdoba, Spain, The Introduction to the Escurialensis Arabic Version of the Pentateuch by al-Harith b. Sinan b. Sunbat (9^th-10^th Century) from Harran; a contribution to the study of the early Biblical Arabic Translations.
Professor Samir Khalil Samir, Université de S. Joseph, Lebanon, L'Incarnation chez quelques auteurs irakiens des 9e - 11e siècles.
Dr Mark Swanson, Luther Seminary, St Paul, USA, The Christian al-Ma'mun Tradition.
Dr David Thomas, University of Birmingham, The First Muslim Responses to Christian Teachings.

[5] Short Communications
Dr Jamal Attar, Lebanon, Study of a Medieval Portrait of Arab Christians: Islamic Norm and 'Abbasid Practices with Reference to the Works of al-Jahiz (776-869 CE).
Dr Mohammed Mustafa Bashari, University of Khartoum, Sudan, The Role of Christian Arabs in the Field of Translation and Medicine in Baghdad in the early `Abbasid Era.
Mr Mark Beaumont, Birmingham Christian College, Birmingham, `Ammar al-Basri on the Incarnation.
Dr Julian Faultless, Oxford, The Recensions of Ibn al-Tayyib's Commentary on the Gospels.
Professor Bo Holmberg, University of Lund, Sweden, Language and Thought in the First Three Chapters of the Kitab al-majdal.
Professor Lucy-Anne Hunt, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, Aspects of Artistic production by Christians.
Sandra Toenies Keating, The Catholic University of America, The Third Risala of Abu Ra'ita al-Takriti: "A Refutation of the Melkites concerning the Union of the Divinity and Humanity in Christ".
Dr Hilary Kilpatrick, Lausanne, Monasteries through Muslim eyes: the Diyarat genre of Arabic literature.
Mlle Virginie Pirens, Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, The Arabic Version of the Orations of Gregory of Nazianzus: the case of Oration 42.
Professor Emilio Platti, Yahya Ibn `Adi and the Theology of Iktisab.
Dr Suha Rassam, University of London, The Contribution of the Christians of Iraq to Translation Activity during the `Abbasid Period.
Mr Gabriel Said Reynolds, Yale University, USA, Christian sects through Muslim Eyes: `Abd al-Jabbar's 'Tathbit dala'il al-nubuwwa'.
Dr Barbara Roggema, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, Primitive monotheism and crypto-idolatry, the origin and development of a theme in Christian-Arabic and Syriac writings about Islam.
Mar Gregorios Saleba Shimoun, Mosul, Patriarch, Catholicos and Caliph: the Syrian Orthodox Church under the early `Abbasids.

Further Information

[6] Further details are available from: Carol Bebawi (Conference Secretary), tel. +44 (0)121-415-2279, e-mail. c.a.bebawi@bham.ac.uk.