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This volume is meant to be a retrospective look at the field of Comparative Literature as it has developed in the past two decades, as well as a reflection on its future direction if it is to remain relevant (and innovative) as a field of study. From its inception in the second half of the twentieth century, Comparative Literature in the US has been conceived as a cross-disciplinary, cross-national, and crosscultural enterprise that brings together theoretical developments in the Humanities and Social Sciences to reflect on the most important intellectual and cultural trends from a comparative perspective through the lens of literary studies. Most of the founders of Comparative Literature were distinguished European scholars who sought a safe haven from the ravages of World War II and its aftermath and who, understandably focused on the Western literary, intellectual and cultural tradition, which at the time was in danger of being annihilated by the onslaught of Fascism and Communism. With the advent of the age of globalization the field of Comparative Literature has become increasingly diverse and must, therefore, be reoriented and recognized accordingly.

This edited volume represents the research results of two international conferences organized and sponsored by the Annemarie Schimmel Kolleg: "Environmental Approaches in Pre-Modern Middle Eastern Studies" and "Material Culture Methods in the Middle Islamic Periods". The following work consists of three parts, which correspond to the themes of the aforementioned conferences (Contributions to Environmental History and Material Culture Studies) and a third which bridges the gap between the two approaches (Practice and Knowledge Transfer). The present contributions cover a wide range of such topics as urban pollution, local perceptions of weather, rural estate economy, Sufi understandings of nature and the body and mind, houses and socialization, text and gardens, local know-how and interdependence in medieval Syrian agriculture, crop selection and the medieval agricultural economy.

The contributions of this volume aim at a new, evidence based approach to Jihadism studies. What is the structure of Jihadi online communication and the dissemination of operational material online? Which errors were made by conventional Jihadism research? Which programs, apps, etc. use Jihadis to further their online communication? Next to these questions the contributors discuss the evident inability to understand basic mathematical principles in conventional Jihadism research and consider a very important video as a case study of Jihadi online communication, stressing the linguistic and theological shortcomings of conventional research. The volume is based on the understanding of theological elements as a vital part of Jihadi communication.

»Was heißt und zu welchem Ende studiert man Kulturwissenschaften?«, diese Frage - frei nach Friedrich Schiller - war Ausgangspunkt des vorliegenden Bandes. Expertinnen und Experten diskutieren, wie wichtig und sinnvoll es in der heutigen Zeit sein kann, ein Studium der Kulturwissenschaften zu beginnen und abzuschließen. Dabei wird auch das Verhältnis von Theorie und Praxis kritisch beleuchtet - ganz im Sinne Friedrich Schillers, der vor rund 200 Jahren zwischen »Kopf- und Brotgelehrten« unterschied - und ein Dialog zwischen den verschiedenen Disziplinen der Kulturwissenschaften initiiert. Die Beiträge dieser fruchtbaren Diskussion sind unter den vier Rubriken »das Gegenwärtige«, »das Kritische«, »das Literarische« und »das Historische« zusammengestellt.

At what point is a place perceived as holy? And when does it become officially so in its definition? Inspired by the UNESCO debate and decisions made concerning holy places, the authors seek answers to these questions. "Naming the Sacred" is a diachronic excursus into the issues of perception and denomination of holy places. The volume examines historical cases in which names and places have been modified or literally eliminated and others where places were subject to policies of protection and tutelage. The work appertains to an ongoing, evolving global debate where the challenge of the reciprocal recognition of holy sites has become increasingly complex.

What is it like to be young and religious in migration society? This volume presents research at the intersection of religion, age and race. The chapters' foci range from methodological challenges to conceptual work and empirical case studies. The authors present research on various religious traditions including contributions on young Alevis, Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims, and apply an array of theoretical angles among them feminist, post- and de-colonial perspectives. Furthermore, the volume engages in the debate over novel conceptual frameworks attuned to investigate contemporary manifestations of youth religiosity, for example in digital spaces. The methodological chapters advocate for reflexivity in the context of empirical research on religion in migration society and promote a self-evaluative assessment of researchers' positionalities.