Academic Conferences & Workshops
Organizer
2019
“Sovereignty, Uniformity, and Practicability: Facets of Early Modern Ottoman Law.” Panel at the American Historical Association (AHA) Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. January 5.
2018
“Judges and Courts in Islamic History.” Panel at the American Society for Legal History (ASLH) Annual Meeting. Houston, TX. Co-organized with Raha Rafii. November 10.
2018
“New Laws and Old Trends: Hybridity in Ottoman Law.” Panel at the 3rd European Convention of the Society for Turkic, Ottoman, and Turkish Studies (GTOT). Bamberg, Germany. September 20.
2017
“Situating the Islamic in Relation to the State: A New Direction in Humanities and Interpretive Social Science Research.” Workshop paper by Anver M. Emon (University of Toronto Faculty of Law). Middle East History and Theory Workshop. May 11.
2017
“Interrogating the ‘Islamic State’: Language, Politics, and Law in the Muslim World.” Lecture by Anver M. Emon (University of Toronto Faculty of Law). University of Chicago Law School. May 11.
2016
31st Annual Middle East History and Theory Conference, University of Chicago. Co-organizer with Mariam Sheibani. May 6–7.
2015–16
Arabic Circle: A Weekly All-Arabic Language Society. University of Chicago. Academic year coordinator.
Presenter
2019
“Here and Gone: A Month in the Life of an Ottoman Judge (Üsküdar, 1579).” American Society for Legal History (ASLH) Annual Meeting. Boston, MA. November 22.
2019
“Order in the Courts: Ebussuud Efendi’s Judge’s Protocol and Ottoman Legal Documentation.” American Historical Association (AHA) Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL. January 5.
2018
“The Bloody Knife: Al-Timurtashi and Circumstantial Evidence in Islamic Jurisprudence.” American Society for Legal History (ASLH) Annual Meeting. Houston, TX. November 10.
2018
“Order in the Courts: Ebussuud Efendi’s Judge’s Protocol and Ottoman Legal Documentation.” 3rd European Convention of the Society for Turkic, Ottoman, and Turkish Studies (GTOT). Bamberg, Germany. September 20.
2018
“A Gentleman and a Scholar: Profile of an Ottoman Judge in the Late Sixteenth Century.” Great Lakes Ottoman Workshop (GLOW). Chicago, IL. March 31.
2018
“A Gentleman and a Scholar: Profile of an Ottoman Judge in the Late Sixteenth Century.” Kamel Center Research Forum, Yale Law School. New Haven, CT. March 26.
2018
“Revaluing the Price of Blood: The Economics of Diya in the Aṣl of Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī.” American Oriental Society (AOS) Annual Meeting. Pittsburgh, PA. March 19.
2017
“Sacred and secular justice in the Ottoman Empire: The Execution of Râziye and Its Aftermath (c. 1590).” Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting. Washington, DC. November 21.
2017
“Exiled from Spain: An Early Modern Muslim Perspective on the Law of Nations.” American Society for Legal History (ASLH) Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, NV. October 27.
2017
“Registered Silence: Normative Constraints on Ottoman Judicial Administration.” Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Workshop, University of Chicago. Chicago, IL May 31.
2017
“Registered Silence: Institutional Logic in the Ottoman Sicils.” Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Annual Conference, University of Chicago. Chicago, IL. May 5.
2017
“Registered Silence: The Institutional Logic of the Ottoman Sicils.” Rethinking Late Ottoman Civilization Symposium, University of Texas at Austin. Austin, TX. March 24.
2015
“The Construction and Function of Precedent in Hanafi Jurisprudence.” Middle East Studies Association (MESA) Annual Meeting. Denver, CO. November 23.
2015
“‘I Am Known to the Steed!’: Equine Imagery in the Poetry of al-Mutanabbi (d. 354/965).” Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Annual Conference, University of Chicago. Chicago, IL May 2.
2014
“Making a Story Speak: Challenges in Translation the Autobiography of Osman Ağa of Temesvár.” American Association of Teachers of Turkic Languages (AATT) Annual Preconference. Washington, DC. November 21.
2013
“Tracing the Early Ḥanafī School: A Diagnostic.” Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Annual Conference, University of Chicago. Chicago, IL. May 5.
Discussant
2016
“Development and Transmission of Fiqh in the Formative Period: The Role of Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Shaybānī (132 AH/749 CE–189 AH/805 CE),” by Aamir Bashir. Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Workshop, University of Chicago. Chicago, IL. March 3.
2014
“Discourses of Islamic Law and Philosophy.” Middle East History and Theory (MEHAT) Annual Conference, University of Chicago. Chicago, IL May 2.
Invited Talks
2019
“Teaching in Law Schools.” Conference of the National Muslim Law Students Association. University of Chicago Law School. Chicago, IL November 2.
2018
“Islamic Law: A Comparative Introduction.” IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. Chicago, IL. November 1.
2018
“A Gentleman and a Scholar: Profile of an Ottoman Judge in Late Sixteenth-Century Istanbul.” Harvard University. Cambridge, MA. May 1.
2016
“Does Islamic Law Exist?: A Historical Overview.” IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. Chicago, IL. November 8.
2016
“The Quran as a Living Text.” University of Chicago. Chicago, IL. October 6.
2015
Does Islamic Law Exist?: A Historical Overview.” IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL. November 19.
Campus Talks
2017
“Difficult Subjects: Strategies for Public Engagement and Pedagogy.” Panel discussion at the Medieval Studies Workshop, University of Chicago. May 15.
2017
“Discussion before the discussion: using online forums for in-class instruction.” A short talk as part of the Eat, Teach, Talk, Run series at the Chicago Center for Teaching, University of Chicago. March 2.
2017
“The Date and the Date Palm: Fruitful Metaphors in the Qur’an.” Talk (in Arabic) at the Arabic Circle, University of Chicago. January 13.
2016
“Popularizing Poetry: TV Competitions and the Arabic Qasida.” Talk (in Arabic) at the Arabic Circle, University of Chicago. February 5.
2015
“Onomatopoeia in Arabic.” Talk (in Arabic) at the Arabic Circle, University of Chicago. Listen at: https://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/arabiccircle/2015/03/amir-toft-onomatopoeia-in-arabic/. February 27.
Departmental & University Service
Arabic Table Organizer, Yale Law School. October 2017–present.
Search committee student convener for Assistant Professorship in Quranic Studies, Divinity School, University of Chicago. January–February 2016.
On-campus interviewer, Fulbright US Student Grant Program. Fall 2015 and 2016.
Community Outreach
“Islam in the Public Sphere: A Community Dialogue for Whitney Young Students.” Invited talk and discussion. Organized by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago. Whitney Young High School, Chicago, IL. April 17, 2017.
“Angels: Muslim, Jewish, and Christian Perspectives.” Interfaith panel talk. Organized by Southwest Interfaith Team (SWIFT). St. Andrew United Methodist Church, Homewood, IL. March 19, 2017.
Instructor of Quranic Arabic. Fawakih Institute, Chicago Chapter (Hyde Park). Weekly evening class for working professionals. Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016 semesters.
“Muslims in the Academy.” Invited panel talk. Organized by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, University of Chicago. Orland Park Public Library, Orland Park, IL. August 22, 2013.
“Understanding the Shariah.” Invited lecture. Muslim Students Association, Bradley University, Peoria, IL. February 2, 2012.
“Understanding the Shariah.” Invited lecture. Muslim Students Association, St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO. October 6, 2011.
“Aqidah: A Primer on Islamic Creed.” Invited lecture series. Islamic Society of Northwest Suburbs, Rolling Meadow, IL. April–May, 2011.
“Halal: Challenges and Opportunities in North America.” Invited panel talk. 2nd Annual American Muslim Muslim Consumer Conference, New Brunswick, NJ. October 30, 2010.
“Concept of Prophets and Prophecy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.” Interfaith panel talk, organized by Southwest Interfaith Team (SWIFT). St. Michael’s Catholic Church, Orland Park, IL. April 18, 2010.