Middle East Institute

Abstract This article analyzes a pivotal historical moment for the Mevlevī order during the long sixteenth century, highlighting the impact of “Ottoman Sunnitization” on its evolution amidst Ottoman empire-building and the rise of puritanical movements in Istanbul. It questions how the Mevlevī order became mainstream within the wider process of Ottoman Sunnitization. It posits that the Mevlevī order, initially comprising largely itinerant dervishes and operating through a network of small rural dervish convents, underwent substantial transformation within the extensive politico-religious landscape, partly in response to the escalating anti-Sufi sentiment in Istanbul from the latter half of the sixteenth century. This transformation involved redefining the order as a formal institution with codified ādāb , establishing extensive networks of urban lodges, and standardizing rituals and practices, marking a shift from the order’s initial fluidity and diversity to a more structured and conformist embodiment.

African Studies grapple with numerous structural issues, including epistemic inequalities, power dynamics, and marginalisation in knowledge production. This study aims to examine the root causes and dimensions of these imbalances by analysing bibliometric data from the journal Africa Spectrum between 2009 and 2023, using it as a case study to explore broader trends and challenges in African Studies. It highlights critical inequalities, such as the limited representation of Africa-centred perspectives, the low visibility of women authors, and the thematic focus of the literature on Western-centric topics. Data sourced from the Scopus database were analysed using tools like VOSviewer and Excel, focusing on author profiles, citation patterns, keywords, countries, institutions, and funding structures. The findings reveal that only 32% of the authors are African, women authors represent a mere 27%, and the literature predominantly revolves around Western-centric themes such as crisis, conflict, and governance. Additionally, the dominance of Western-based institutions and funding sources underscores the continued dependency of Africa-centred knowledge production on external factors. These results emphasise the historical reproduction of power imbalances within African Studies, constraining Africa’s intellectual autonomy. By critically analysing the structural issues in African Studies, this study highlights the necessity for more inclusive and Africa-centred knowledge production processes.

As an abstract art form, tragic literature undergoes transformation and representation in theatrical performances through concrete audiovisual language, while also being influenced by the characteristics of different media. This study takes "Oedipus Rex" as its research subject, employing a comparative methodology of close textual reading and visual stage presentation to explore how it effectively intensifies the emotional atmosphere and the conflictual tension in character relationships through visual means such as lighting changes and scene transitions during its stage presentation. By analyzing the interaction between literary narrative and visual expression, this paper attempts to reveal the mechanisms and significance of the transformation of tragic texts into stage performances. Finally, the study summarizes its main findings and conclusions, demonstrating how tragedy manifests diverse visual effects through varying interpretations of stage direction and directorial vision, and it outlines future methods and boundaries for the recreation of tragedy, offering new perspectives for creators and directors.

The Middle East Crisis Factory, written by Iyad El-Baghdadi and Ahmed Gatnash, is a book that criticizes the political dynamics that have shaped the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in the modern period and offers solutions to the ongoing problems of authoritarianism, terrorism, and foreign intervention. As an insider, el-Baghdadi, born in Kuwait and forced to leave the country by Emirati authorities, and Ahmed Gatnash, who is of Libyan origin, bring a unique perspective to the academic literature by addressing issues that Western scholars usually discuss. The authors believe that tyranny, terrorism, foreign intervention, and the resulting political, social, and economic consequences have turned the Middle East into a crisis factory. They argue that the region constantly produces crises and that these three factors (tyranny, terrorism, and foreign intervention) continue to fuel the situation. They also state that the production of these crises is not random but is produced by foreign interventions.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of integrating mathematics into physical education. Participants included 132 fourth grade students from four physical education classes at two schools. In-tact physical education classes were assigned to intervention and control groups. Mathematics activities were integrated into the intervention group’s physical education classes for seven weeks. Data collection included three assessments of mathematics performance: mathematics grades, standardized mathematics assessment scores, and mathematics unit assessment scores. Data were collected pre- and post-intervention from the intervention and control groups, and data were analyzed using mixed nested ANOVA. Results showed that across all measures of mathematics performance students in both groups significantly improved from pre- to post-intervention. Significant differences based on the interaction of time (pre-/post-test) and group (intervention/control) were evident in mathematics unit assessment scores. These findings add to the growing body of literature of integrated curriculum in physical education.

This article positions Wael Shawky’s Drama 1882, which premiered at the 2024 Venice Biennale, as a profound, albeit subtle, critique of colonial historiography, foregrounding the constructed nature of historical narratives and the erasure of Indigenous agency within imperial accounts. By revisiting the Egyptian army colonel Ahmed Urabi’s nationalist uprising and its subsequent suppression by British forces, Shawky interrogates the subjectivity inherent in historical records, particularly those shaped by colonial power structures. Referencing Husayn al-Marsafi’s seminal 1881 treatise, which critiques the colonial use and misappropriation of key terminologies—such as nation, liberty, and governance—this article examines the premise in Shawky’s work of reclaiming an authentic, localized discourse for articulating resistance. Drama 1882 emerges as a revisionist intervention, probing historical ambiguities such as the contested causes of the 1882 Alexandria riots and their instrumental role in enabling the British bombardment of Alexandria and subsequent British imperial consolidation. This article examines Shawky’s Drama 1882 within his broader practice, situating Shawky’s work and choices of form and medium in the broader conversation of musical and cinematic history. It explores Shawky’s artistic methodology, with its marked and deliberate eschewal of overt emotionalism and conventional dramatization, which thus embodies an alternative epistemological approach to historiography. Through meditative visual and performative strategies, this article argues that Shawky reframes historical events as sites of contested meaning, emphasizing the multiplicity of perspectives and the political stakes of interpretation.

The plateau lakes of Yunnan, China boast a high diversity of Gastropoda; however, few studies have been conducted on Gastropoda in desiccated lakes. This study conducted surveys from 2021 to 2025 on five lakes sediment in Yunnan. A total of 27 freshwater snail species and four new genera were discovered at these locations. This study provides morphological descriptions of these newly discovered freshwater snails and has proposed their taxonomic status.

This book consists of ten chapters written by scholars affiliated with research institutions in Poland, the Republic of Korea, Czechia, and Germany. The contributors are specialists in various academic disciplines, including cultural studies, history, political science, and linguistics. As a result, the volume offers an interdisciplinary approach to the Korean Peninsula and addresses a wide range of issues. It provides readers with a valuable opportunity to explore lesser-known or overlooked aspects of Korean culture, history, and politics from the 20th and 21st centuries. Each chapter presents either an unexplored topic or a new perspective on subjects previously examined by other scholars. This volume makes a meaningful contribution to the international development and dissemination of Korean Studies and represents one of the significant achievements of the Department of Korean Studies at the Institute of the Middle and Far East of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków in this field.

This study aims to investigate the use of digital inclusive finance among college students in Guangzhou and its influencing factors. Through the questionnaire survey and data analysis, the popularity, willingness to use, and barriers to the use of digital inclusive finance among college students are found, and the reasons behind them are analysed and discussed, which provide references and suggestions for promoting the application of digital inclusive finance among the college student population.