Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient

04/06/2026

Kai Kresse launched the Kiswahili Edition of his book “Swahili Muslim Publics and Postcolonial Experience in Coastal Kenya”, translated by William Mkufya as “Haki na Mamlaka: Kadhia za Waislamu wa Kenya Baada ya Ukoloni", at the University of Dar es Salaam on April 14, 2026.

The book launch was organised by Prof. Hamza Njozi (MUM), Prof. Aldin Mutembei (UDSM), Prof. Issa Ziddy (SUZA) and Dr. Jackson Coy. Speakers:
Prof Helen Lauer
Dr Michael Lyakurwa (HoD)
Abdilatif Abdalla
Prof. Hamza Njozi (Morogoro)
Prof. Issa Ziddy (Zanzibar)

The full book launch can be watched here:

'Haki Na Mamlaka - Kadhia za Waislamu wa Kenya Baada ya Ukoloni' Bo...

18/05/2026

Heute ist das ZMO auf dem Marktplatz der Ideen bei der Auftaktveranstaltung des neuen Rahmenprogramms für die Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften beim Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt.

Dr. Max Kramer präsentiert hier seinen Film "Sufis Entangled", den es hier in ganzer Länge zu sehen gibt: https://hasp.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/journals/dasta/article/view/15090/14858

Außerdem können die Besucher*innen ihr Wissen über den Islam in einem Quiz testen, das von ZMO-Wissenschaftler*innen konzipiert wurde: https://www.t-online.de/leben/quiz/id_92309396/wissenschafts-quiz-wie-viel-wissen-sie-ueber-den-islam-.html

17/04/2026

Neue ZMO kitchen talks 📣

In dieser Folge spricht die Programmleiterin des Brandenburg Museums für Zukunft, Gegenwart und Geschichte, Dr. Katalin Krasznahorkai mit der Künstlerin Sonya Schönberger und der Südasienwissenschaftlerin Dr. Heike Liebau, die neben einer Forschungsgruppe am ZMO das Projekt „Das moderne Indien in deutschen Archiven, 1706–1989“ leitet. Sie sprechen über die gemeinsam entwickelte Gangaram Gurung Videoinstallation, dem Ergebnis einer mehrjährigen Spurensuche über die Lebensgeschichte eines nepalesischen Kolonialsoldaten, der im Ersten Weltkrieg im sogenannten „Halbmondlager Wünsdorf“ interniert war.

Was passiert, wenn Archive und Ateliers zusammenkommen, wenn Biografien und historische Brüche aus zwei sehr unterschiedlichen Perspektiven gelesen werden?

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ZTGEuQpBJzhGSYT9mTVzd?go=1&sp_cid=92aa8526486500b99e5067de9609b027&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=63fc3609318a46f1

ZMO kitchen talks · Episode

15/04/2026

The latest / on and its allies has wide-ranging effects. But the damage is hardly put in focus.

In this video with the Leibniz-Lab Transformationen, Dr Sana Chavoshian highlights the environmental impact of the war against Iran, as heavily polluted air and water can travel thousands of kilometres and thus affect the entire planet.

Chavoshian works as an anthropologist at Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO) in Berlin. Since 2021, her research focusses on ‘Dust-wind in Iran’s landscapes of war’, initially with the the long-term societal and environmental effects of the Iran-Iraq war and sanctions in Iran.

The interview took place on March 19, 2026, before the ceasefire between Iran, Israel and the US was announced.

The latest war on Iran and its allies has affected us deeply. But the environmental damage is hardly put in focus – although its impact even reaches Europe. ...

08/04/2026

📢 The Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past” invites applications for up to seven

Leibniz Fellowships “Value of the Past”.

👉🏽 These month-long fellowships provide an opportunity to research in the alliance’s research field and its main topics at one of the participating Leibniz research institutes and Leibniz research museums.

The interdisciplinary Leibniz Research Alliance “Value of the Past” examines the values that societies attach to the past. It focusses on processes of value creation as well as competing values in disputes over the past. In order to gain a deeper understanding of the relevance of the past for societies and the changeable historicity of values, the alliance analyses past and current practices of assessing, rethinking, raising, decreasing and harnessing the value of the past. The alliance postulates that particularly in times of political upheavals and crises, processes of negotiating the value of the past play a crucial role.

🕰️ Application deadline: 30 June 2026
Further information: https://www.leibniz-wert-der-vergangenheit.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Authentizitaet/Termine___Veranstaltungen/Ausschreibung_Fellowships_LRAVoP_2026_2027_rev.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawRDEZxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeW6hc7SWDfkFWjXMXn3HPEkLZnKOK-VJzUrKpoQ5llhv14K3dl_uMe2v_B78_aem_JSKGOszZ3iJOcanxO8l-tA

02/04/2026

Stellenausschreibung: Institutssekretariat am ZMO
(39 Stunden/Monat)

Zur Verstärkung unseres Teams am ZMO suchen wir eine engagierte Unterstützung für unser Sekretariat.
Unsere Anforderungen: Berufserfahrungen in Assistenz/Verwaltung und ein sicherer Umgang mit MS Office Programmen.
Zuverlässigkeit, Organisationstalent und eine strukturierte Arbeitsweise sind für die ausgeschriebene Position genauso wichtig.

Wir freuen uns auf Ihre aussagekräftigen Bewerbungsunterlagen!

Bewerbungsschluss: 15.Mai 2026

24/03/2026

📚Out now:

Rethinking Islamic Modernism
Religious Identity and Community in Colonial North India by Maria-Magdalena Pruss
A social and intellectual history of Islamic modernism in colonial North India. Open access 🔗

Through an in-depth and multifaceted historical analysis of one of the foremost Muslim associations of colonial North India, the Society for the Defence of Islam (Anjuman-i Himayat-i Islam, established 1884 in Lahore), Maria-Magdalena Pruss proposes a nuanced understanding of Islamic modernism as a mode of thought, highlighting its internal diversity and complex development over a period of more than sixty years. https://www.mqup.ca/Books/R/Rethinking-Islamic-Modernism

Maria has also been guest of our podcast series ZMO kitchen talks, where she talked about her book: https://open.spotify.com/episode/48A8sdwrLgtmCe3PTtNHYU?go=1&sp_cid=97a4b41801a0a1f81914a89f7777e804&utm_source=embed_player_p&utm_medium=desktop&nd=1&dlsi=a1b977080c904721

Over the course of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Muslim modernist thinkers and writers in South Asia demanded a reconciliation between Islam and European thought in response to a ...