The Center for Middle Eastern Studies (CMES) proudly presents the 2007 H.A.R. Gibb Arabic & Islamic Studies Lectures October 15-17, 2007, by Professor Doctor Jürgen Paul, the Professor of Islamic Studies at Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg.

Professor Paul will lecture on the topic of "Failed and ephemeral states in the medieval history of eastern Iran and Transoxiana". The lectures include:

State and statehood in the pre-Mongol history of Eastern Iran and Transoxiana
Monday, October 15, 2007, from 4:00 - 6:00pm

No more despots, fission everywhere: The example of the Jaun-i qurban state in the 14th century
Tuesday, October 16, 2007, from 4:00 - 6:00pm

Shared sovereignty, divided loyalties. The case of Sultanshah b. Il Arslan Khwarazmshah (1172-1193)
Wednesday, October 17, 2007, from 4:00 - 6:00pm

All lecture attendees are invited to attend a reception on Monday, October 15, 2007, directly following the lecture in the CMES reception room (Room 102, 38 Kirkland Street).

About Professor Paul: Jürgen Paul, Professor of Islamic Studies at Martin-Luther Universität, Halle-Wittenberg (Germany). PhD (Hamburg) with a study on the Naqshbandiyya sufi brotherhood in Central Asia in the 15th century. He is the author of "Herrscher, Gemeinwesen, Vermittler: Ostiran und Transoxanien in vormongolischer Zeit" (Rulers, communities, and intermediaries: Eastern Iran and Transoxiana in the pre-Mongol period). His research interests include pre- and post-Mongol history of Iran and Central Asia, with a focus on state and statehood.