The general lecture on Monday, April 20 will be held in the Rare Books Room of Hesburgh Library. All other events will be held in McKenna Hall.
SUNDAY April 19
7:30-8:30 PM (Video)
Welcoming Address: Fr. John Jenkins, President of the University of Notre Dame
General Lecture: Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd: “The Multi-dimensional Quranic Worldview: Tartib al-Tilawa versus Tartib al-Nuzul”
Response to be offered by Prof. Abdolkarim Soroush
Reception to follow
MONDAY April 20
8:30-10:00 AM – Section I. The Quran: manuscripts and variants
David S. Powers: “BNF 328a and the Mystery of al-kalala”
Gerd-R. Puin: “The Historical Dimension of the Letter Alif in Quranic Orthography: Some Unexpected Details to Learn from the Old Manuscripts”
Clare Wilde: “Christian Arabic Manuscripts: Evidence for the Circulation of Non-Uthmanic Codices?”
10:15-11:45 AM – Section II. The Quran: historical evidence
Fred M. Donner: “The Historian, the Believer, and the Quran”
Hani Hayajneh: “Ancient South and North Arabian Epigraphic Marginalia on Some Quranic Vocabularies and Expressions”
Alford Welch: “The Significance of the Fawatih al-suwar in the History of the Oral and Written Quran during the Lifetime of the Prophet”
1:15-3:15 PM – Section III. The Quran: historical linguistics (i.e. Arabic, Semitics, etc.)
Manfred Kropp: “Tripartite, but Anti-trinitarian Formulas in the Quranic Corpus, Possibly Pre-Quranic”
Shawkat M. Toorawa: “Lone Words and Loan Words: An Inquiry into the Function(s) of Hapaxes, Quadriliterals and Other Such Curiosities in the Quran”
Andrew Rippin: “Studies in Quranic Vocabulary: the Problem of the Dictionary”
Munther Younes: “Angels, Death, the Soul, Stars, Bows—or Women?: The Opening Verses of Quran 79”
3:45-5:15 PM – Section IV. The Quran as Literature
Reuven Firestone: “Is There a Notion of ‘Divine Election’ in the Quran”
Fr. Sidney Griffith: “Al-Nasara in the Quran: Some Hermeneutical Reflections”
Gerald Hawting: “‘Has God Sent a Mortal as a Messenger?’ (Q17:95). Objections to the Prophet in the Quran”
7:30-8:30 PM (Video)
Welcoming Address: Prof. Olivia Constable, Director, Medieval Institute, University of Notre Dame
General Lecture: Robert Hoyland: “The Earliest Written Evidence of the Arabic Language and Its Importance for the Study of the Quran”
Reception to follow in the Medieval Institute
TUESDAY April 21
8:30-10:00 AM – Section V. The Quran: earlier religious literature and tradition (1)
Emran El-Badawi: “The Language of Condemnation in the Quran and the Syriac Gospel of Matthew”
Christoph Luxenberg: “On the Defense of the Prophet from Accusations of Diabolical Possession in Quran 53 (surat al-najm)” (n.b. Paper to be delivered in French.)
Suleiman Mourad: “Does the Quran Deny or Assert Jesus’s Crucifixion and Death?”
10:15-11:45 AM – Section V. The Quran: earlier religious literature and tradition (2)
Waleed Ahmed: “Lot’s Daughters in the Quran: An Examination Through the Lens of Intertextuality”
Devin Stewart: “The Quran in Light of Greek Oracular Texts”
Joseph Witztum: “A Re-Examination of Surat Yusuf (Q 12)”