Seminar: “Women in the Heritage of Islamic Sciences and Arts”
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The BA Center for Islamic Civilization Studies, in collaboration with the Women Studies and Social Transformation Program, is organizing a seminar titled “Women in the Heritage of Islamic Sciences and Arts.” The event will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, 18–19 November 2025, from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm, at the Delegates Hall of the BA Conference Center.
Researchers from Egypt, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, and Saudi Arabia will participate in the seminar. The program will feature a wide range of distinguished academic topics, covering several themes such as women’s activities in the Mamluk era through the writings of travelers, women’s medical contributions illustrated by a medical recipe transmitted by an Andalusian woman to the Alexandrian community in the 6th/12th century, and women’s medical achievements in the Western Islamic world, including midwifery and obstetrics in Tulunid Egypt.
The seminar will also highlight women’s contributions to calligraphy and manuscript production—such as the Mushaf of Walida Pasha, a rare masterpiece of calligraphic art belonging to the Muhammad Ali dynasty, and women’s participation in the Qur’ans of Kairouan.
Moreover, the event will shed light on coins issued by women, noting that Sultana Razia, daughter of Iltutmish and ruler of India, was the first woman to inscribe her name on coinage.
The research papers also explore the depiction of women in Islamic ceramics and illustrated manuscripts, their roles in jewelry making, beauty practices, adornment, fashion, embroidery, weaving, and palm-leaf crafts, as well as their influence on visual culture and artistic representation—from the Islamic era to modern times, where women’s images appeared on contemporary postage stamps.
To view the seminar program in Arabic, please click here.