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Wijad Academy is a two-year, 80-hour program for MA and PhD students/candidates in disciplines that work with manuscripts produced in the Arabic script. The program of the academy covers different scientific, historical, material, aesthetic, legal, and technological aspects associated with the study of manuscripts. Wijad has a particular focus on Arabic and Ottoman Turkish manuscripts.
The Academy is designed to familiarize the participants with manuscript studies early in their academic career, and with the critical tools that are now indispensable for engaging with manuscripts as sources for research and publication. While exploring the different facets of the manuscript as an object, the training will focus on transforming the manuscript into a published source. Participants will thus acquire key training in producing critical editions and will be asked to work on individual projects.
Proposed by the Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo) in 2024 and supported by a consortium of eight academic and cultural institutions in France, Lebanon and Turkey, this program also aims to build an international network of specialists in manuscript sources, that can grow and contribute to the advancement of manuscript studies at the participants’ respective universities and fields.
Wijad Academy is structured around four intensive sessions of 20 hours each, which are led scientifically by an international committee of academics and librarians. The class of 2024-2026 comprises 16 candidates who will meet in Istanbul, Beirut, and Paris.
Coordinators
Iyas Hassan, Sorbonne Université – Ifpo
Sébastien Garnier, Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, UMR 8167
Consortium
Institut français du Proche-Orient (Ifpo)
Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes (IFEA)
Institut National des Langues et Civilisation d’Orient (INALCO)
Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (INHA)
Orient & Méditerranée – UMR 8167
Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BnF)
Institut des Lettres Orientales – Université Saint Joseph de Beyrouth (ILO – USJ)
American University of Beirut (AUB)
Candidates 2024-2026
| Title of research project | Discipline | Supervisor | University | ||
| 1. | Layal
ABDEL NABI |
المتخيّل التّاريخيّ وأبعاده في الرّواية العربيّة المعاصرة رواية « شغف » لرشا عدلي أنموذجًا |
Arabic Language & Literature (MA) | Hind Adib | USJ |
| 2. | Aya
AKKAWI |
العقل العربي المعاصر بين ال »لا » النقديّة التأويليّة وال »لا » النقضيّة الأصوليّة |
Philosophy (D) | Tony Kahwaji | USJ |
| 3. | Ahmadia ALNASAN | مسلية الغريب لعبد الرحمن بن عبد الله البغدادي الدمشقي المدني الحسني الحسيني. رحلة إلى البرازيل من ١٢٨٢هـ/١٨٦٥م إلى ١٢٨٨ه/١٧١ م تاريخ أم رواية؟ | Arabic Language and Literature (MA) | Hiba Chebaro | USJ – Ifpo |
| 4. | Ömer Faruk ATILGAN | Georgian Front in the War of 93: Sukhumkale Landing and Defence of Batumi | History (D) | İsmail Yaşayanlar | Douzce University |
| 5. | Hanadi
BEKAI |
Escatological Representations in Non-Canonical Arabic Literature | Arabic Language and Literature (D) | Enass Khansa | AUB |
| 6. | Nancy
EL KHALAF DIT DOULANI |
منظومة الأخلاق في الإسلام بين الشريعة والقرآن (هل أنتج القرآن شريعة فقط؟ وهل هي المنظومة الأخلاقية التي يتحدث عنها الباحثين، أم ثمة منهج | Islamology (D) | Abdul Rahman Chamseddine | USJ |
| 7. | Imane
EL KHETTABI |
Traduction et analyse du Kitāb al-ʿAdwānī | History (D) | Dominique Valérian & Sébastien Garnier | Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne |
| 8. | Bushra
FARAH |
Sīrat Sayf Ibn Dhī Yazan : Manuscrits, Traditions, Langue | Arabic Literature | Iyas Hassan | Sorbonne Université |
| 9. | Bouchra FRANGIEH | The Word of Zayd and Kaḥlā Across Scripts: A Comparative Study of Arabic and Judeo-arabic Manuscripts | Arabic Language and Literature (D) | Ensasse Khansa & Iyas Hassan | AUB – Sorbonne Université |
| 10. | Omar
JABER |
مقاربات نحوية منطقية في اعتراضات ابن هشام على أبي حيّان الأندلسي | Arabic Language & Literature (D) | Maha Kheir Bek | USJ |
| 11. | Carine MANSOUR | بناء المصطلح في الدراسات الأدبية واللغوية | Arabic Language & Literature (MA) | Dorine Saad | USJ |
| 12. | Imane
MESSAOUDI |
Réédition commentée du Dīwān d’al-Farazdaq | Arabic Language and Literature (D) | Luc Deheuvels & Mathias Hoorelbeke | Inlco |
| 13. | Mehmed
OSMANLI |
« أزمة الشرعية العثمانية في مصر )1885 – 1909(« | History (D) | Durmuş Akalin | Pamukkale University |
| 14. | Mohamad RIDA | رحلة الشيخ مصطفى اللطيفي وجميع ما رآه في سياحته من العجائب على التمام والكمال | Arabic Language and Literature (M) | Enass Khansa | AUB |
| 15. | Yamina
SI MOHAMMED |
La nature humaine et sa perfection : al-Fārābī et la théologie (ʿilm al-kalām) ašʿarite | Islamology (D) | Olga Lizzini | Aix – Marseille Université |
| 16. | Ghazwa
ZIR |
البناء الفني والقيمة الجمالية في رواية ثم لم يبق احد لأجاثا كريستي انموذجاً | Arabic Language & Literature (MA) | Dorine Saad | USJ |
SESSION 1
The World of Manuscripts : An Introduction
JUNE 2-6, 2025
Istanbul, Institut français d’études anatoliennes
Objectives
Material and technical aspects of manuscripts
Theoretical sessions, practical workshops and library visits
Trainers
Zouhour CHAABANE (Bibliothèque Universitaire des Langues et Civilisations BULAC)
Khalid CHAKOR ALAMI (Bibliothèque nationale de France)
Arianna D’OTTONE (Università degli Studi di Roma « La Sapienza »)
Sébastien GARNIER (Université Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne)
Sarah MALOBERTI (CIHAM – UMR 5648)
Athina PFEIFFER (Princeton University)
Program
June 2nd – Introduction to codicology Khalid Chakor Alami
- Different types of writing surfaces: papyrus, parchment, paper.
- Typology of quires
- Ink, ruling and page layout
June 3rd – Introduction to paleography Arianna d’Ottone & Sébastien Garnier
- Introduction and approaches to the study of paleography: scripts, Arabic book hands
- Copying the manuscript: craftspeople, copyists and their equipment
Visit to the Arabic manuscripts department of the Süleymaniye Library
June 4th – The manuscript in the digital sphere: identifying and locating manuscripts using online catalogues Khalid Chakor Alami & Athina Pfeiffer
- Locate collections (Middle East, Maghreb, Asia, Europe, North America)
- Catalogues, online catalogues, and digitized collections
- Other tools
Visit to the “Book Hospital” of the Süleymaniye Library
June 5th – The manuscript: acquisition and environment Zouhour Chaabane & Sarah Maloberti
Histories of collections:
- Institutions
- Private collections and archives
- History of manuscript circulation
Manuscript cataloguing:
- A brief history of the first manuscript inventories and catalogues
- The notice: the birth certificate of a manuscript
Visit to the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum
June 6th – Review and preparation of the editorial projects
Participants will be asked to choose a manuscript to work with across the sessions, with the aim of producing a scholarly edition. Sessions will be organized for workshopping their work in progress.
Next sessions
SESSION 2
Critical Editing, Texte History and Digital Tools
DECEMBER 1-5, 2025
Beirut, Institut des Lettres orientales – Université Saint-Joseph
SESSION 3
History and Identity of the Manuscript
JUNE 1-5, 2026
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France
SESSION 4
Manuscript Exploitation and Digital Humanities
NOVEMBER 23-27, 2026
Beirut, Institut français du Proche-Orient