Call for Papers

Muslim Lives in Transition: Continuity and Change in Contemporary Times

Annual Graduate Conference

The Institute of Ismaili Studies

The deadline for abstracts is Friday, 10th July 2026

The Institute of Ismaili Studies (IIS) invites submissions for the Annual Graduate Conference, to be held at the Aga Khan Centre on 28th September 2026. This year’s conference theme, Muslim Lives in Transition:
Continuity and Change in Contemporary Times, invites participants to examine how Muslim societies, communities, and individuals experience and respond to transformation.

The theme focuses on the dynamic relationship between continuity and change: how traditions are preserved, adapted, contested, or reimagined in response to new social, political, cultural, ethical, and technological realities. Transition is not unique to the present. Muslim societies have long navigated periods of intellectual, political, and social change, drawing on inherited traditions and institutions to meet new conditions. By placing contemporary transformations in dialogue with these historical experiences, the conference encourages critical and comparative reflection on what it means to live through change.

Muslim Lives in Transition seeks to create a forum for graduate students at the IIS and ISMC to share emerging research, engage across disciplines, and examine the forces shaping Muslim lives today and across history. Contributions may be empirical, theoretical, historical, or practice-based, and may draw on disciplines including, but not limited to, history, sociology, anthropology, political science, philosophy, education, media and communication studies, economics, literature, cultural studies, and the arts.

Thematic Areas

The conference invites papers on topics such as (but not limited to):

1. Digital Transformation, Technology, and Muslim Life
– Artificial intelligence, digital technologies, and their implications for Muslim communities and scholarship – Ethical responses to technological innovation, including questions of authority, bias, and
responsible use
– Social media, digital cultures, and changing forms of community and belonging

2. Migration, Diaspora, and Transnational Belonging
– Migration, displacement, refugee experiences, and the formation of transnational Muslim identities – Diaspora communities and the negotiation of continuity and change across generations and contexts – Globalisation and its impact on culture, identity, and social life

3. Politics, Governance, and Economic Change
– Political transformation, state-society relations, and the remaking of governance structures
– Economic restructuring, global inequality, and their consequences for Muslim communities and
institutions

4. Society, Identity, and Cultural Life
– Education, pedagogy, and the future of Islamic and higher education
– Heritage, memory, and the preservation of cultural and religious traditions
– Youth, generational change, and emerging forms of identity
– Gender, family, and changing social relationships

5. Historical Transitions and the Islamic Intellectual Tradition
– Historical Muslim responses to periods of social, political, intellectual, or technological transition
– The resources that Islamic intellectual, ethical, and cultural traditions offer in navigating contemporary
change
– Comparative perspectives on continuity and change across different Muslim societies and periods
Submission of Abstracts

We welcome abstracts from:

– Current students of the IIS, including STEP and GPISH students
– Current ISMC students
– Current holders of the Farhad Daftary Doctoral Scholarship
– IIS or ISMC alumni currently enrolled in a graduate or doctoral research programme related to the study
of Islam and Muslim civilisations

Please send your abstract (250–300 words) as a single MS Word file to
akcgraduateconf@iis.ac.uk. Please include your name, programme affiliation (GPISH, STEP, or ISMC),
institutional affiliation if you are not currently enrolled at the IIS or ISMC, and the title of your proposed presentation.

The deadline for abstracts is Friday, 10th July 2026. Applicants will be notified of the outcome in due course.

Presentations will be 15 minutes in length, followed by a short question-and-answer segment. Papers will be
organized into panels of two to three presenters addressing related themes. Submissions will be reviewed
by a selection committee comprising faculty and student representatives at the IIS.

Conference Information

Date: Monday, 28th September 2026
Location: Aga Khan Centre, 10 Handyside Street, London N1C 4DN, United Kingdom. The conference is
planned as an in-person event; hybrid options are under consideration.
Contact: akcgraduateconf@iis.ac.uk

Notes
Please note that filming and photography may take place during the conference and be used across our website, newsletters, and social media accounts. These could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, speakers during the talk, and audience members participating in Q&A.
Views expressed at the conference are those of the presenting scholars, not of the IIS, AKU-ISMC, the Ismaili community, or leadership. Acceptance of a paper is not an explicit endorsement of the ideas presented.