KYP, Universitas Islam Riau hold joint International Colloquium on Islamic studies and social science

Source: KYP. KYP MD Dato’ Norhishamuddin Bin Yaacob and Dr Hafizan Mat Som, VP of Industrial Relations & Research Development as well as Dr Azhar Jaafar, Deputy VP of Academic with representatives from Universitas Islam Riau.

Kolej Yayasan Pahang (KYP) in Malaysia has received a visit from one of its memorandum of undersanding (MoU) partners from Indonesia, Universitas Islam Riau.

The objectives of the MOU between KYP and Universitas Islam Riau are to collaborate, exchange, and share information in terms of knowledge, skills, research, paper publication, community service, student activities and other aspects that could benefit both parties.

In conjunction with the visit in early January and in alignment with the goals of the MoU, an International Mini Colloquium on Islamic Studies & Social Science was conducted at the Yayasan Pahang Complex, featuring two presenters each from KYP and from Indonesia. Muhammad Azizur Rahman Bin Ramli and Nurul Shahida Ishak represented KYP, while Dr Hamzah and Miftah Sharif spoke for Universitas Islam Riau.

“This mini colloquium is a great start for our partnership. Hopefully we will be able to enhance the quality of teaching and learning especially in the field of Islamic studies,” said Dato’ Norhishamuddin Bin Yaacob, KYP MD.

Team from Australian National University wins against native Arabic speakers in Qatar

Source: ANU, CAIS. The debating team.

A team of four students from the Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies (CAIS) represented Australia and the Australian National University (ANU) at the Third International Universities Arabic Debating Championship held in Doha, Qatar from 26 to 29 April 2015. 

Despite the challenges of debating with native speakers of Arabic, the ANU team - Yara Hussien, Thomas Randall, Derek Bayley and Andrew Findell-Aghnatios, led by CAIS PhD scholar Adel Abdel Ghafar - was commended for its performance both by other teams and the event organisers. The ANU team also won against a team of native Arabic speakers from the American University of the Emirates, which involved debating Internet censorship and democratisation. 

“I am very proud of the team’s performance,” Abdel Ghafar said. “Their performance is a reflection on both the student’s debating skills and the world-class quality of the Arabic programme at CAIS.”

This was the second time ANU students had participated, last competing in the event in 2013. Supported by the Qatar Foundation, the four-day biannual event seeks to unlock human potential by fostering a culture of discussion and debate, helping shape the global citizens of the future and creating the intellectual leaders of tomorrow. 

The championship saw a huge increase in the number of participants this year, with 67 teams representing 33 countries competing. Teams from non-Arab speaking universities came from Australia, India, Pakistan, Brunei, Malaysia, France, Poland, China, Korea, Kazakhstan, the US and Germany.

Oxford Islamic Studies Online offers regularly-updated teaching and research resource

Source: Oxford Islamic Studies Online website.

Oxford Islamic Studies Online has been updated with over 300 new and revised articles from The Oxford Encyclopedia of Islam and Politics, edited by Emed El-Din Shahim, in its Fall 2014 update. New entries include the Arab Spring, sovereignty, rebellion, as well as overviews of Central Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East.

The subscription-based service features articles written, selected, and interpreted by renowned scholars to aid research and teaching at any level. The site hosts over 3,000 articles integrated with chapter-based scholarly works, visual, geographic, and social perspectives on global Islam, including maps, illustrations, dynastic tables, and demographic charts, as well as timelines, glossaries, and other learning resources.

Available content includes the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World (six volumes, 2009), The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (four volumes), The Islamic World: Past and Present, The Oxford History of Islam, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam, Hanna Kassis' A Concordance of the Qur'an, two translations of the Quran published in the Oxford World's Classics series, and What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam. 

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