l'IISMM

Warning: This post might be boring or long (or both). I put it in a separate post so that it can be skipped if desired.

For all of those who are curious as to what an intern can do for a Parisian think tank of fewer than ten members...

(this is a description of all of the technical/work-related stuff I've been up to for the past couple of months)

The Insitute for Islamic Studies and Societies of the Muslim World concerns itself with both teaching and support of anything to do with Islam or the Muslim/Mediterranean world to the French public, as well as members of higher education. In more detail, they're here to teach seminars, give conferences, and organize guest visits on different subjects each year, for either the public (one of their missions is to better communicate any issues regarding the Muslim world, people, or religion to the French public who, very aparently, is more ignorant than it would ever agree to admit) or for the graduate students and professors of their affiliated larger university (EHESS- Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, School of Higher Studies in Social Sciences). They also provide administrative support to masters and doctoral candidates in their areas of study (again, anything to do with the Muslim world).

Seminars from our department didn't start until about a week ago. Things have been much more lively since, and I'm finally getting a feel for what the Institute is like after everyone settles in from la rentrée- very literally "the coming back", colloquially "back to school". As my director said a few weeks ago, I "arrived at a very calm time of the year, things haven't really started yet, and no one really wants to do their work", he said this hoping that everyone might be a bit less sluggish come November, and I think this has definitely been the case. There are certainly days where everyone in the office seems exhausted, and there are others when people are energized, shouting between offices, joking through doorways, and gathering around the espresso machine for lively conversations. I'm finally experiencing the Institute in its November-May existance, and it's spectacular to understand and feel how a small think tank like this functions at it's peak.

I was told originally by my directors (in my interview, weeks ago) that my big task was going to be to help one of the employees put 15 hours worth of audio recordings onto their website. I was told that I'd have to listen to all 15 hours worth of the conferences that were held last spring on the "large/important texts of the muslim worlds" and intelligently decide where the breaks in the discourse were, so that I could edit them accordingly and prepare them for enregistrement (very literally in our situation, "the act of putting online", but it probably translates more directly to logging or uploading). Long story short, what this would have actually entailed was 1. me learning the software, alongside the employee that I would have been helping (we were both néophytes - novices), 2. very simply following her list of hours, minutes, and seconds that she had already noted as edits, and 3. using this unknown software to make the cuts and upload them to their website. A little easier than I had been told, but nonetheless kind of cool and helpful considering that this is the first time they've ever been able to upload actual conference or lecture content online, and it would have ultimately really help them in their mission to provide accessible academic information to the public.

Unfortunately, this task has sort of gotten lost somewhere in the hectic air of 96 boulevard Raspail. IISMM has undergone some serious transitions since I've been here, and although my director has been apologetic and has communicated that I really don't get to see the true and functioning IISMM, I haven't minded, and if anything it's provided quite the interesting lesson on office politics. Their go-to secretary has moved to a higher position at one of the EHESS buildings across the street. She had been with them for over 20 years (since the start of the organization) and was extremely knowledgeable about anything IISMM. We love her replacement, but she has huge shoes to fill and I'm sure it has to be daunting. The woman I mentioned in the above paragraph with whom I was supposed to work this term on the enregistrements spent my first couple weeks here in her office, a poster covering the window on her door, arriving at the office earlier than everyone, leaving the office later than everyone, and rarely leaving for lunch. Tense office politics hinted that she and the woman I share an office with didn't get along well, and she seemed unhappy doing her work over the few times that she and I talked. The first day I returned back at work from the States, the third thing that my director said to me (beyond a typically French "hello" and "how are you feeling") was "Yasmina is gone". The third statement coming instead in English. She has since left IISMM for upcoming opportunities (I've stayed in touch seeing as she's been a wonderful resource for my independent research), and althoug her replacement started work at the beginning of this week, I'm unsure if we will still be trying to continue the enregistrement project. Just another little bump in the road for IISMM, who are surprisingly handling all of this chaos with extreme poise.

After sitting in my office for the first three days without any direction from la direction here at IISMM, I was told that there might actually be other things that I could help them do. This was extremely exciting, before it became daunting, before it eventually became exciting, interesting, and aparent that I could be useful to their organization. Since the end of September, I have compiled monthly lists of recently published or upcoming publications of books in English on Islamic Studies or the Muslim World, released by a variety of publishing houses in the U.S., Great Brittain and the Netherlands. They usually do this for books published in French by French publishing houses, but because I'm here, the work being done in the U.S. and Great Britain gets a little bit of representation in their monthly bulliten... which, honestly, is kind of cool. They are interested in maintaining and increasing the global outlook of their organization and through that work and my bigger project (see next paragraph), I am contributing to their list of contacts and pool of information from the Anglophone world. Throughout this project, I've been asked to note the publishing houses contact information and I will also be putting together a list of possible/reputable Anglosaxon publishing houses for those members of IISMM/EHESS who are interested in publishing in English

On the IISMM website, they have a section of links devoted to research institutions and universities from around the world that touch on their areas of study. They are affiliated with some of these institutions and often bring guest lecturers from these selected places, but many of the links are just available as a resource and representation of the international network availble in these areas of study for interested researchers, students, and lecturers. Conveniently, no work has been done to create links to universities and research institutions in the United States. Logically, I've been charged with the helpful, albeit extensive, work of discovering (all of? the most important? this is where the daunting/uncertainty came in) the American universities that have already-etablished programs in Islamic Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, the Near Eastern World, or anything of the like. I've written several short "blurbs" in French summarizing the work, opportunities, and missions of each, so that U.S. contacts can be prepared for the IISMM website, and enregistrés alongside those from Algeria, Germany, Egypt, Spain, France, England, Indonesia, Italy, Morocco, Tunisia, Turkey, and Yemen.

Although it was not my original intent, this work has now evolved into my more extensive research project for my end-of-term requirement from IFE. The ninteen students from IFE will be preparing, over the next month, ninteen works of written research in French, comprised of more than 30 pages each, and linked to a 20 minute defense of the thesis to be held in the two upcoming weeks. I am plugging away (quite fittingly actually as keeping in touch with Carls on campus is reminding me that it's 10th week and finals are this weekend) at developping enough information for a defense of my topic which will be held on the 25th. I may eventually continue this research through comps, but that will (thankfully) come a bit later, and would require quite a bit of reverse translation.

Because of IISMM's structure and missions, they've been extremely wonderful in not only giving me projects to finish for their institution, but also in providing me with time and support to work on my mémoire de stage. There are an incredible number of researchers who have passed by asking me they could help me in any way in regards to my research, and the structure of the organization allows for a great network of support for any young researcher (Masters students of EHESS for example, or interns from IFE in my position) just getting started, or already into the drafting of a larger project.

Just one month left of all of this, and it's getting a bit crazy to think of finishing up and saying goodbye. The last month will certainly be a blur, but hopefully, all that needs to get done will be accomplished and I will be ready for the next step in the journey.