On 13-14 July 2021, Middle East History Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti served as a Discussant for Drexel University’s Global Teach Connections Summit 2021. This conference was also supported by the University of Pennsylvania’s Middle East Center.

In the course of this conference, Prof. Al-Tikriti led discussion during the last session of the first day’s proceedings, covering Global Education issues. This participation followed his 2020 presentation to the same forum, covering his 2018-19 Fulbright year in Azerbaijan.

Here is the thank you note from the organizer, Dr. Joyce Pittman: “I want to thank you for an outstanding participation during the recent Global Teach Connection Summit 2021. When planning an event such as this, it is imperative to gain the participation of experts in the field and in our School of Education globally to reach our global teachers. Your interest and willingness to share your time by listening to our experiences and sharing expertise in the GTC project, especially the summit on global teaching competencies to advance education equity, was critical to the success of this event. The feedback from participants is most complimentary about our approach to engaging and making a difference in global education outreach and ability to connect GTC to the greater work that is happening worldwide. We were fortunate to have a wide range of participants and speakers from an international arena – K-12 education, non-profits, business, state agencies, higher education, and others. It is our collective efforts and thoughts on best practice that will bring us closer to resolving this important issue. The summit was not meant to be a single event, but a starting point for the work that must be done, especially in the School of Education to mitigate this problem once and for all for teachers and learners. Please be sure to visit the Global Teach Connect Website for videos and to connect with local University of Penn partners for future collaboration. Please visit all the resources in toolkit that was shared with you before and during the conference and use the project template to submit your ideas for future professional development, training, or research!”

Day 1 Recording: https://1513041.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/GTC+Summit+Day+1/1_ocgb6a24

Day 2 Recording: https://1513041.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/GTCDay2/1_89lgv2kl

Prof. Al-Tikriti at Khor Virap Monastery in Armenia.

From 15-24 June 2021, Middle East History Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti served as a Short Term Observer (STO) for the Organization of Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ararat Province, Armenia.

In the course of this single week deployment, Prof. Al-Tikriti observed the election process for the 20 June 2021 Armenian parliamentary elections. In the course of this observation, he and his STO team visited eight polling stations in and around Ararat City, Armenia. In addition, he was able to visit the Khor Virap Monastery, Garni Temple, Geghard Monastery, Lake Sevan, and Matenadaran Library.

Together with his Polish STO partner, Ms. Halszhka Lachowicz, Prof. Al-Tikriti completed multiple visit reports, monitored the evening count, and carried out other observation requirements as mandated by the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). Ms. Lachowicz and Prof. Al-Tikriti’s work contributed to ODIHR’s reporting.

Prof. Al-Tikriti thanks the colleagues who served with him in Ararat, as well as all the wonderful Armenian officials, activists, and election colleagues whom he was fortunate enough to meet in the course of this election observation.

In the fall of 2020, a volume edited by Tijana Krstić and Derin Terzioğlu entitled Historicizing Sunni Islam in the Ottoman Empire, c. 1450 – c. 1750, included a chapter by UMW Middle East History Associate Professor Nabil Al-Tikriti. The chapter, entitled “A Contrarian Voice: Şehzāde Ḳorḳud’s (d. 919/1513) Writings on Kalām and the Early Articulation of Ottoman Sunnism,” provides an examination of the role Prince Korkud’s writings played in the early modern evolution of Ottoman religious identity.

The chapter abstract: “What characterizes Ottoman Sunnism, and how did it come to be? The conventional view is that by roughly the middle of the sixteenth century the imperial elite came to adopt and promote a particular religious identity, which can be characterized by several overlapping, interrelated, and historically defined denominational (madhhab) affiliations, as well as a particular relationship with the political hierarchy. The favored denominations included Hanafi legal affiliation and Maturidi kalām orientation, accompanied by elite support for particular aspects of mystical thought and practice, a cooperative relationship between favored Sufi orders and the state, and advanced integration of the ulama into a state-supported madrasa system.”

“One figure whose writings reflect this coming together of Ottoman Sunnism at a nascent stage is Şehzāde Ḳorḳud (d. 919/1513), who argued a series of positions on matters of religious belief, doctrinal certainty, favored groups, and the relationship between the state and ulama. Largely because he failed to win power in the 917–919 / 1511–1513 dynastic succession struggle, the prince’s arguments left a limited mark, and several of his positions reflected a minority viewpoint. However, at the same time, his positions highlight several relevant intellectual influences at that time and place, point to factors contributing to the form Ottoman Sunnism came to take, and demonstrate the range of debate inherent in elite circles at the time.“