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Sebastian Günther

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Sebastian Günther is a German scholar specializing in Arabic and Islamic Studies.

Biography

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He pursued Arabic and Islamic studies at Martin Luther University, Halle-Wittenberg, Germany (1981-1986), where he earned his M.A. in 1986 and his Ph.D. in 1989.[1][2]

After receiving his doctorate, Sebastian Günther began his academic career at Martin Luther University, engaging in research and teaching at the Institute of Oriental Studies.[3] During his early career, he visited several institutions of higher learning in the Middle East, including al-Azhar University in Cairo,[4] the National UAE University in Al-Ain, the German Orient Institute in Beirut,[5] and the American University of Beirut.[6]

From 1998 to 2008, Günther was a faculty member of the University of Toronto's Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations as an Assistant and Associate Professor.[7][8] Since 2008, Sebastian Günther has been a University Professor and Chair of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Georg August University, Göttingen.[9][10]

Achievements

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Günther has received several academic recognitions throughout his career, including an Award for Outstanding Academic Contributions from the President of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Pakistan,[11] and in 2018, a Certificate and Medal of Appreciation for his work fostering dialogue between East and West, from the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Cairo.[12]

He has also been an Associate Member of the Lichtenberg Institute for Advanced Studies in Göttingen (2011- 2012),[13] and was awarded a Willis F. Doney Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (2017-2018)[14] and a Hans Robert Roemer Research Fellowship at the German Orient Institute of Beirut in 2022.[5]

From 2010 to 2015, he served as President of the Union Européenne des Arabisants et Islamisants (UEAI).[15]

Publications (selection)

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Sebastian Günther's research focuses on Islamic thought and Arabic literature. His works often reflect interdisciplinary approaches in history, philosophy, and literature[16][17] [18][19] to provide insights into Islam’s intellectual traditions with particular attention to the history of Islamic education.[20][21]

Some of his publications also deal with the dialogues between the Abrahamic religious traditions, highlighting the interconnections and shared narratives that have shaped religious thought in the Mediterranean across centuries.[22][23][24]

Books

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  • Building Bridges: Ignaz Goldziher and His Correspondents, Islamic and Jewish Studies around the Turn of the Twentieth Century, ed. by Hans-Jürgen Becker, Kinga Dévényi, Sebastian Günther and Sabine Schmidtke, Brill: Leiden 2024
  • Rabbinī wa-ʿallimnī: Dirāsāt fī l-khitāb al-tarbawī wa-l-akhlāqī fī l-Islām (Raise and Educate Me: Studies in the Educational and Ethical Discourses of Islam), Beirut: Dār al-Mashriq 2023, 478 pp. - ISBN 978-2-7214-8181-8.
  • Islamic Ethics as Educational Discourse: Thought and Impact of the Classical Muslim Thinker Miskawayh (d. 1030), ed. by Sebastian Günther and Yassir El-Jamouhi, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2021.
  • Lesen, Deuten und Verstehen?! Debatten über heilige Texte in Orient und Okzident, hrsg. von Sebastian Günther und Florian Wilk, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck 2021.
  • Knowledge and Education in Classical Islam: Religious Learning between Continuity and Change, 2 vols., Leiden: Brill 2020. – (Islamic History and Civilization 172).
  • Doctrinal Instruction in Early Islam: The Book of the Explanation of Sunna by Ghulām Khalīl (d. 275/888). Edition, Translation and Study, by Maher Jarrar, in collaboration with Sebastian Günther, Leiden: Brill 2020. – (Islamic History and Civilization 174).
  • Die Geheimnisse der oberen und der unteren Welt: Magie im Islam zwischen Glaube und Wissenschaft, hrsg. von Sebastian Günther and Dorothee Pielow, Leiden: Brill 2018. – (Islamic History and Civilization 158).
  • Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam. I. Foundations and the Formation of a Tradition: Reflections on the Hereafter in the Quran and Islamic Religious Thought. II. Continuity and Change: The Plurality of Eschatological Representations in the Islamicate World, ed. by Sebastian Günther and Todd Lawson, with the assistance of Christian Mauder, Leiden: Brill 2016. – (Islamic History and Civilization 136).
  • Representations and Visions of Homeland in Modern Arabic Literature, ed. by Sebastian Günther and Stefan Milich, Hildesheim: Olms 2016. – (Arabistische und Islamwissenschaftliche Texte und Studien 20).
  • Von Rom nach Bagdad: Bildung und Religion von der römischen Kaiserzeit bis zum klassischen Islam. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. 2013. ISBN 978-3-16-151679-5.
  • Ideas, Images, and Methods of Portrayal: Insights into Classical Arabic Literature and Islam, ed. by Sebastian Günther, Leiden: Brill 2005. – (Islamic History and Civilization 58).
  • Aspects of Literary Hermeneutics in Arabic Culture: Myths, Historical Archetypes and Symbolic Figures in Arabic Literature, ed. by Angelika Neuwirth, Brigit Embaló, Sebastian Günther and Maher Jarrar, Wiesbaden, Beirut: Franz Steiner [et al.] 1999. – (Beiruter Texte und Studien 64).
  • Johann W. Fück: Vorträge über den Islam. Aus dem Nachlaß herausgegeben und um einen Anmerkungsteil ergänzt von Sebastian Günther, Halle/Saale: Institute für Orientalistik, Martin-Luther-Univ. Halle-Wittenberg 1999. – (Hallesche Beiträge zur Orientwissenschaft 27).
  • Erlesenes. Sonderheft anläßlich des 19. Kongresses der Union Européenne d’Arabisants et Islamisants , ed. by Walter Beltz and Sebastian Günther, Halle (Saale): Universitätsdruckerei, 1998. – (Hallesche Beiträge zur Orientwissenschaft 25).
  • Quellenuntersuchungen zu den Maqātil aṭ-Ṭālibiyyīn des Abū ’l-Faraǧ al-Iṣfahānī (gest. 356/967) , Hildesheim: Olms 1991. – (Arabistische Texte und Studien 4).
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References

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  1. ^ "Sebastian Guenther - Scholars | Institute for Advanced Study". www.ias.edu. 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  2. ^ Grün, Klaus-Jürgen; Schmidt, Alfred; Jung, Matthias, eds. (1991). Idee, Natur und Geschichte: Alfred Schmidt zum 60. Geburtstag. Hildesheim: Olms. ISBN 978-3-487-09473-1.
  3. ^ "Orientalisches Institut". orientphil.uni-halle.de. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  4. ^ "Al-Azhar Portal - بوابة الأزهر - أكاديمي ألماني: ندوة الأزهر الدولية خطوة ضرورية لتحقيق تفاهم أفضل بين الحضارات". www.azhar.eg. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  5. ^ a b "Orient Institute Beirut: a German academic research institute of the Max Weber Foundation". www.orient-institut.org. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  6. ^ "Search". www.aub.edu.lb. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  7. ^ "Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations | University of Toronto". Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  8. ^ "Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam". Department of Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations. 2022-10-03. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  9. ^ Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen-. "Seminar für Arabistik/Islamwissenschaft I - Georg-August-Universität Göttingen". Georg-August Universität Göttingen (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  10. ^ Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen-. "Professor Dr. Sebastian Günther - Georg-August-University Göttingen". Georg-August Universität Göttingen (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  11. ^ "IRI WORKSHOP FOR POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS CONCLUDES – International Islamic University". Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  12. ^ "Al-Azhar Portal - بوابة الأزهر - الإمام الأكبر يكرم كبار المشاركين في ندوة الأزهر الدولية "الإسلام والغرب .. تنوع وتكامل"". www.azhar.eg. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  13. ^ Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen-. "Lichtenberg-Kolleg Short term Fellowships - Georg-August-University Göttingen". Georg-August Universität Göttingen (in German). Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  14. ^ "Sebastian Guenther - School of Historical Studies | Institute for Advanced Study". www.ias.edu. 2017-07-11. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  15. ^ "Contact". www.ueai.org. Retrieved 2024-08-18.
  16. ^ "Building Bridges: Ignaz Goldziher and His Correspondents: Islamic and Jewish Studies around the Turn of the Twentieth Century", Building Bridges: Ignaz Goldziher and His Correspondents, Brill, 2024-02-21, ISBN 978-90-04-69059-2, retrieved 2024-08-18
  17. ^ "Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam (2 vols.): Volume 1: Foundations and Formation of a Tradition. Reflections on the Hereafter in the Quran and Islamic Religious Thought / Volume 2: Continuity and Change. The Plurality of Eschatological Representations in the Islamicate World", Roads to Paradise: Eschatology and Concepts of the Hereafter in Islam (2 vols.), Brill, 2017-01-01, ISBN 978-90-04-33315-4, retrieved 2024-08-18
  18. ^ "Von Rom nach Bagdad", Bildung und Religion von der römischen Kaiserzeit bis zum klassischen Islam (in German), Mohr Siebeck GmbH & Co. KG, 2013-08-02, ISBN 978-3-16-151679-5, retrieved 2024-08-18
  19. ^ Neuwirth, Angelika, ed. (1999). Myths, historical archetypes, and symbolic figures in Arabic literature: towards a new hermeneutic approach: proceedings of the international symposium in Beirut, June 25th - June 30th, 1996. Beiruter Texte und Studien. Beirut: In Kommission bei Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart. ISBN 978-3-515-07101-7. OCLC 44135838.
  20. ^ Günther, Sebastian; Jamouhi, Yassir el (2021). Islamic ethics as educational discourse: thought and impact of the classical Muslim thinker Miskawayh (d. 1030). SERAPHIM, Studies in education and religion in ancient and pre-modern history in the Mediterranean and its environs. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-16-159944-6.
  21. ^ "Knowledge and Education in Classical Islam: Religious Learning between Continuity and Change (2 vols)", Knowledge and Education in Classical Islam: Religious Learning between Continuity and Change (2 vols), Brill, 2020-06-04, ISBN 978-90-04-41321-4, retrieved 2024-08-18
  22. ^ Günther, Sebastian; Wilk, Florian, eds. (2021). Lesen, Deuten und Verstehen?! Debatten über heilige Texte in Orient und Okzident. SERAPHIM, Studies in education and religion in ancient and pre-modern history in the Mediterranean and its environs. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. ISBN 978-3-16-159491-5. OCLC 1264031718.
  23. ^ Wilk, Florian; Gemeinhardt, Peter (2016). Transmission and interpretation of the Book of Isaiah in the context of intra- and interreligious debates. Bibliotheca Ephemeridum theologicarum Lovaniensium. Leuven Paris Bristol (CT): Peeters. ISBN 978-90-429-3308-8.
  24. ^ Neuwirth, Angelika; Embaló, Birgit; Günther, Sebastian; Ǧarrār, Māhir; Orient-Institut (1999). Myths, historical archetypes and symbolic figures in Arabic literature : towards a new hermeneutic approach ; proceedings of the International Symposium in Beirut, June 25th - June 30th, 1996 / ed. by Angelika Neuwirth, Birgit Embaló, Sebastian Günther, Maher Jarrar. Steiner [in Komm.] doi:10.25673/112295.
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