Jörg Matthias Determann

Thank you so much, @tironstefan.bsky.social ! This is fascinating. I am deeply grateful that you are thinking of me.

Another issue of the Journal of Arabian Studies is out, another round of thanks is in order. I thank everyone who contributed book reviews to vol. 15, no. 1. They are @alsarihi.bsky.social, @brianjulrich.bsky.social, Christian Henderson, Luc Chantre, and others. www.tandfonline.com/toc/rjab20/1...

An astronomical amount of gratitude to Sherry Cady for publishing our “Communicating Discoveries in the Search for Life in the Universe Workshop Report” in Astrobiology 25, no. 11! I am infinitely thankful to @jordanbimm.bsky.social and Mary Voytek for leading our initiative. doi.org/10.1177/1531...

Let me give a big thank you to Gloria McMillan for hosting me on the Tucson Hard-Science SF Zoom (THSSFZ) on November 1, 2025. I was very honored to speak about “Science Fiction and Astrobiology in the Muslim World” as part of the Forry Ackerman Memorial series. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4PL9...

I am asking Gloria McMillan to accept my deep gratitude for inviting me to speak about “Science Fiction and Astrobiology in the Muslim World” at the Hard-Science SF Zoom on November 1, 2025. I am very grateful to @emadscifi.bsky.social for introducing me to Glo. us02web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Mil gracias and a thousand thanks to Fernanda Castaño of Prêt-a-Portrait for taking school photographs of my daughter Maria! If the pictures show her as thriving, it is due to the teachers she has had at home, at Doha English Speaking School and previously at Kanga’s Pouch. info.pret-a-portrait.net

Congratulations, Glückwunsch and مبروك to Amin Elfeshawi on successfully defending his dissertation on “The Individual between Jihadism and Islam Hadhari” at @univie.ac.at! Anja Zalta, Yavuz Köse, Rüdiger Lohlker and I had the privilege of asking him questions. utheses.univie.ac.at/detail/70191/

A big round of thank-yous to all who attended the October Colloquium of the Society for UAP Studies (SUAPS). I thoroughly enjoyed talking about “UFOs and UAP in the Muslim World” on Google Meet. A recording is now available on the SUAPS YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EHF...

My friend and collaborator Shoaib Ahmed Malik and I are enormously thankful to Ted Peters of the Graduate Theological Union for his continued interest in, and support of, our work. Ted wrote a post on “Islamic Theology Meets ETI” for his Substack blog. tedp.substack.com/p/islamic-th...

Thank you and يعطيك العافية (literally “may He give you health”) to everyone who contributed to making the celebration of World Space Week at Al Thuraya Planetarium a great success! Khalid Al-Sayed presented my fellow lecturers and me with trophies on October 7, 2025. qna.org.qa/en/News-Area...

May God bless you and بارك الله فيك, Rashid Ali Al Kubaisi, for enabling me to give a presentation as part of World Space Week at the Al Thuraya Planetarium in Katara on October 6, 2025. If you want to zoom into my slides, please go to Prezi: prezi.com/view/oToqbmd...

A round of thank yous to everyone who participated in the LinkedIn workshop led by Jacqulyn Williams and me in the Library at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar on September 30, 2025. Based on the success of this event, we plan to offer part 2 later this month. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

As long as I live, I will be indebted to you (من تا عمر دارم مدیون شما هستم), Parviz Tarikhi. Thank you for evaluating my @ibtauris.bsky.social book, Islam, Science Fiction and Extraterrestrial Life in the British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies 52, no. 4 (2025) www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

My great pleasure, @simonwfuchs.bsky.social ! I greatly enjoyed reading your book. It is a wonderful collection of essays. Congratulations to you and everyone involved in the making of this excellent edited volume!

Utopianism in the Middle East and North Africa Published in Mediterranean Politics (Ahead of Print, 2025)

The first review of Utopianism in the Middle East and North Africa is in: "This volume offers a rich and fascinating read to anyone interested in the possible futures of this central and quickly changing region. I highly recommend it." Thank you, @determann.bsky.social!
doi.org/10.1080/1362...

Danke noch einmal and thanks again to Rüdiger Lohlker for asking me to examine a doctoral dissertation by one of his students at @univie.ac.at! He entrusted me with grading Amin Elfeshawi’s thesis “The Individual between Jihadism and Islam Hadhari.” ssc-philkultur.univie.ac.at/studium/dokt...

Once again, I express thanks to the staff of the Humanities Research Center at Virginia Commonwealth University for allowing me to give a book talk within the Meet VCU Authors series. @cstanciu2025.bsky.social kindly introduced me and my presentation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sih...

katara.net/en/whatson/e...

May God reward you (جزاك الله خيراً), Rashid Ali Al Kubaisi, for inviting me to collaborate with you on the organization of a children’s workshop at Al Thuraya Planetarium in Katara as part of World Space Week. althuraya.katara.net

Attention students of Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar! Our Libraries offer you an exclusive LinkedIn Workshop. I thank Jacqulyn Williams very much for inviting me to join her in leading this session in our Library Conference Room (106i) on Tuesday, September 30. forms.gle/gxKzCwnJnCva...

I am euphoric in my gratitude to Michael Cifone for inviting me to give a colloquium for the Society for UAP Studies. On October 3, 2025, I will explore UFOs and UAP in the Muslim World. Adam Dodd kindly arranged my talk. www.societyforuapstudies.org/event-detail...

I am truly grateful to Peter Gould and Rehan Khan for featuring a testimonial of mine on the Tales of Khayaal website. My review is in the company of endorsements by Aqsa Khan, David Williamson, Lamya Tawfik, Mohammed Faris, Mostafa Allam and Qais Mekki, among others. www.talesofkhayaal.com/reviews

I thank Peter Gould from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to serve as Advisor on Tales of Khayaal. As one of the early readers of book one, Arön, it has been a special honor for me to provide Peter, Rehan Khan and their colleagues at Gould Studio with feedback. www.talesofkhayaal.com

As Associate Editor of the Review of Middle East Studies, I will remain eternally grateful to our outgoing Editor, Heather Ferguson, for her services to our publication. I wish her the best of luck for her new role as Co-Editor of IJMES. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Go raibh maith agat and thank you again to Seán O’Quoi for hosting me on his show Things Visible and Invisible (TVI). Another one of our episodes premiered on YouTube on August 28, 2025: “How Islam Explains Aliens: UFOs, Jinn, and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life” www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wq0...

I wholeheartedly congratulate (@mervet.bsky.social and Sami Ahmad Khan on the publication of their edited book The Speculative Route: Futures from South and Southwest Asia and North Africa (Routledge, 2026). I thank them for the opportunity to write a blurb. www.routledge.com/The-Speculat...

Vielen herzlichen Dank für diese großzügige Rezension, @grewiaktuell.bsky.social! Ich bin sehr geehrt von dieser Besprechung von Shoaib Ahmed Maliks und meinem Sammelband Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life (@ibtauris.bsky.social).

Danke zum zweiten Mal and thank you for the second time to Andreas Müller for reviewing a book of mine on @grewiaktuell.bsky.social. He wrote about Shoaib Ahmed Malik’s and my Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life (@ibtauris.bsky.social). www.grenzwissenschaft-aktuell.de/neues-buch-u...

It is with universal gratitude that I announce the release of the paperback edition of Shoaib Ahmed Malik’s and my edited volume Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life by @ibtauris.bsky.social. We will never forget Sophie Rudland’s crucial support. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/islamic-t...