Call for Papers - 3rd Graduate Conference in Civilization Studies

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF KNOWING: PERSPECTIVES BEYOND DISCIPLINES, BORDERS, AND CLASSES

14-15 May 2026, Istanbul

The Alliance of Civilizations Institute is pleased to announce the third edition of the Graduate Conference in Civilization Studies. We invite graduate students and early-career scholars to submit research that interrogates the foundational structures of modern knowledge and the ethical imperatives of intellectual life.

We convene at a time when Wael Hallaq’s critique of "epistemic sovereignty," the elevation of modern knowledge and reason to a state of absolute authority, unbound by transcendental anchors or traditional moral restraints, has never been more urgent. As knowledge is increasingly mobilized by states, corporations, and other global power structures as a destructive and even genocidal force that harms both humanity and the natural world, alienates individuals, commodifies their intentions, and erodes communities, urgent questions arise: What responsibility does the knower bear? Knowledge for whom? Knowledge for what?

We seek to explore the "responsibility of knowing" across a diverse spectrum of knowledge roles, including academic scholars, religious and spiritual authorities, scientists, practitioners, and public intellectuals.  We welcome submissions from from all relevant fields, including:

• Sociology and History of Knowledge
• Virtue Ethics and Epistemology
• Public Sociology and Critical Theory
• Islamic Studies
• Intellectual History
• Decolonial Studies and Postcolonial Theory
• Agnotology

Possible themes and questions include, but are not limited to:

• How have intellectual traditions, past and present, conceptualized the moral obligations of the knower?
• How might different philosophical or religious traditions offer alternative frameworks for grounding knowledge in ethical, spiritual, or communal responsibility?
• What virtues should guide the pursuit, production, and transmission of knowledge?
• What new ethical responsibilities arise when knowledge production is increasingly mediated by algorithmic systems and artificial intelligence?
• How might institutions of knowledge, universities, religious institutions, scientific communities, be reimagined in light of the responsibility of knowing?
• How are emerging digital spaces, such as social media, online platforms, and algorithmic infrastructures, reshaping forms of intellectual authority and the ethics of knowledge production?
• How are ignorance, uncertainty, or misinformation strategically produced and maintained within modern knowledge systems, and what responsibilities do scholars bear in confronting them?

Our mission is to look beyond the conventional boundaries of disciplines, classes, and borders to redefine the vocation of knower today.

We are also pleased to announce that Professor Cemil Aydin will deliver the keynote lecture of the conference. 

The conference will grant the Naquib al-Attas Best Presenter Award (15.000 TL) to the most outstanding research presentation.

Please submit a 300-word abstract and an updated CV by 1 April 2026 to [email protected].

We welcomed abstracts submit in English, Arabic, and Turkish. 

Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 10 April 2026.

The conference will be held at the historic Salis Madrasa within the Süleymaniye Complex in Istanbul.

Limited accommodation support may be available for participants traveling from outside Istanbul.