About
I’m a Scholar of Islam and the Modern Middle East.
My specialization is on Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula. It is my aim to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the region and collaborative research practices. I’m keen to share my research and to engage with colleagues around the world. If you want to discuss potential projects, contact me: nora.derbal@uni-hamburg.de.
I recently gave an interview with Jadaliyya, where I answer questions about what got me started on the Arabian Peninsula, what motivates my research and what advice I would give to scholars planning to conduct fieldwork in the Gulf. Read the full interview here!
I have published one book with Cambridge University Press in 2022, one book with Lucius & Lucius/De Gruyter in 2012, and diverse articles about Islamic charity, civil society and state-society relations under authoritarianism, questions of gender and women in Muslim societies, youth culture and youth activism in the Gulf. Currently I pursue two new research projects: first, I study 19th century travel practices and travel writing about the Arabian Peninsula and, second, I trace Saudi-Palestinian relations in the first half of the 20th century.
In July 2024, I joined the University of Hamburg as “Juniorprofessorin” (W1) for Islamic Studies at the Asia Africa Institute. Before moving to Hamburg, I was a postdoctoral fellow at the Martin Buber Society of Fellows in the Humanities and Social Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Huji, 2020–2025), a postdoctoral teaching fellow at the American University in Cairo (AUC, 2018-2020), and a research associate for the Orient-Institut Beirut (OIB, 2015-2016). I studied Islamic Studies, Modern Middle East Studies and History in Berlin, Oxford and Jeddah, and graduated in 2017 with a PhD in Islamic Studies from Freie Universität in Berlin. You find a full CV here (PDF).
Happening in 2024
[Outreach] “Reformen in Saudi-Arabien”
Diskussionsforum des Deutschen Orient-Instituts am 8. Oktober 2024, 18:00 – 20:00 Uhr in Berlin
Im Mittelpunkt der Podiumsdiskussion stehen die weitreichenden Reformen in Saudi-Arabien,
die international Aufmerksamkeit finden. Kronprinz Muhammad bin Salman setzt sich für die Modernisierung des saudischen Staates ein und leitet eine neue Ära in der Geschichte des Landes ein. Neben den Reformen bleibt die Menschenrechtssituation ein wichtiger Aspekt, insbesondere in Bezug auf gesellschaftliches Engagement. Wie beeinflussen diese Reformen das Zusammenspiel von Staat und Gesellschaft im Königreich? Welche Auswirkungen haben sie auf den Alltag in Saudi-Arabien und die saudische Zivilgesellschaft? Wie verändern sie die Rolle der traditionell einflussreichen religiösen Gelehrten im saudischen Staat?
[Research] “Die Welt des Islams”
Honored to join the journal “Die Welt des Islams” as book review editor
The academic journal “Die Welt des Islams” (published at Brill, ISSN 1570-0607) focuses on the history, religion and culture of Muslim societies across the world from the eighteenth century to the present. I’ve joined the editorial team as book review editor. Feel free to approach me if you are planning to write a review and look for a venue to publish your thoughts. If you are a publisher, please share relevant publications for review with me and/or feel free to add me to your relevant newsletters. I look forward to hearing from you (nora.derbal@uni-hamburg.de)!
[Research] Law and Society in Saudi Arabia
Conference: October 09-10, 2024: Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin
Very excited to organize this two-day conference together with Dominik Krell and Ulrike Freitag at the ZMO in Berlin!
Legislation, jurisprudence, and legal mobilization have undergone epochal alterations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Historically, Saudi law has been identified predominantly with uncodified Islamic law, although legal realities on the ground have been much more complex but often little understood. The two-day conference addresses the role of the law in Saudi society both in the past and present. For the full program and speakers, check out our website: https://www.saudi-law-society.net/.
[Outreach] Filmabend mit Gespräch: Die Perfekte Kandidation von Haifaa al-Mansour
August 1, 2024: MS Wissenschaft Dortmund
Herzlich Willkommen an Board der MS Wissenschaft!
Wie sieht der Wandel der Frauenrechte in Saudi-Arabien aus? Wer treibt ihn? Und wie tragen solche Filme, wie die von Haifaa Al Mansour, dazu bei? Über diese Fragen diskutieren im Anschluss an die Filmvorführung Islamwissenschaftlerin Prof. Dr. Nora Derbal und Moderatorin Susan Zare, Lichtspiel und Kunsttheater Schauburg, Brückstraße 66, 44135 Dortmund
Happening in 2023
[Food for Thought] Reading Group Postcolonial Perspectives
Bi-Weekly: DAVO Working Group Postcolonial Perspectives
Postcolonial theory calls on all scholars to critically question how and by whom knowledge is produced in academic institutions. Especially in Near and Middle Eastern Studies, a critical engagement with the colonial tradition of the discipline is overdue. It is not enough to rename degree programs from “Oriental Studies” to “Near and Middle Eastern Studies”, a deeper engagement with the colonial and orientalist continuities of the discipline is needed, if we as scholars of the Global North are to research and teach about the WANA region (West Asia and North Africa). This DAVO working group would like to facilitate an exchange between academics with a de-colonial claim and jointly reflect on how a critical examination of their own positionality and colonial heritage can take place within institutions. In addition, approaches to de-colonizing teaching and research methods will be discussed. We organize a bi-weekly reading group (meeting on Zoom, discussions in English).
[Research] The First Reviews!
Arabian Humanities, Arab Digest, The Middle East Journal
I was thrilled to come across the first reviews of my book, Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism (CUP 2022). The book has readers! Laurent Bonnefoy discusses the book in Arabian Humanities 17, 2023, Caroline Montagu shares her views in the Arab Digest newsletter (July 20, 2023), and Jonathan Benthall reviews it in the Middle East Journal 76/4 (2023).
[Outreach] Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism
June 2023: London School of Economics, LSE Middle East Center
Thank you for a great discussion of my book Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism (CUP 2022) together with Hanaa Almoaibed and Steffen Hertog. You can watch a recording on Facebook or listen to the conversation on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Soundcloud.
[Distinction]
June 12: Polonsky Prize
My book, Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism (CUP 2022), was awarded the Polonsky Prize for Creativity and Originality in the Humanistic Disciplines at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. What an honor!
[Research] Glorious Past, Complicated Present? A German Traveler and his Travelogues
May 25–26, 2023: University of Warwick, Global History and Culture Center
In this paper, I will show that the research and writing trajectory of the German Orientalist, Heinrich von Maltzan (1826–1874), stretched from the Maghreb region to the Levant to Malta and Sardinia – an epistemological approach which has recently made a comeback as the Mediterranean Sea arena (Green 2014). Like many travelers of his day, Maltzan was keen to explore both, the region’s ancient civilizations and those local communities which he encountered during his travels. This contribution examines how in Maltzan’s writings on the Maghreb region, the ancient past and the 19th century merge within one large narrative about the Middle East. Very much looking forward to the conference, “Archaeology, Antiquity, and the Making of the Modern Middle East: Global Histories 1800–1939”, at Warwick University, 25–26 May 2023.
[Research] Fieldwork in Saudi Arabia/the Arabian Peninsula
May 24: Exeter University: Center for Gulf Studies, Research Seminar
Looking forward to a conversation with faculty and students about challenges and opportunities for conducting fieldwork in Saudi Arabia.
[Outreach] “Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism“
May 23: King’s College London
Starting at 6 pm.
[Outreach] Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism
May 2nd: Haifa University
Starting at 12.15 (noon).
[Research] Saudi Arabia – Vision and Reality under Bin Salman (Panel)
Haifa University: Conference of the Middle East Studies Association of Israel
April 27, 9:30 am: I’ll be presenting a paper about “Vision 2030, the Non-Profit Sector and Civil Society in Saudi Arabia”.
[Research] Imperial Lives – Biographic Approaches as Decolonial Practice
March 30-31, 2023: Digital Conference
This international conference discusses new biographic approaches to research and storytelling as part of decolonial research practices. You can watch the recording of my presentation here: “A “German Orientalist” in Aden: Decolonizing Methodologies through the Biographic Approach”. I discusse the journey of the German Orientalist Heinrich von Maltzan (1826–74) to Southern Arabia in 1870/71. In Aden, Maltzan studied the language of the Mahra tribes, which he then presented in the ZDMG. What did philology look like in Arabia? How did Maltzan gather the language material, which formed the basis of his studies? Who were Maltzan’s informants and how did he recruit them?
[Outreach] Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Where: Mount Scopus Campus, Mandel Building. When: May 15, 4:30-6 pm.
Happening in 2022
[Distinction] Book of the Year 2022
The TLS
The Times Literary Supplement selected my book, Charity in Saudi Arabia, as one of their “Books of the Year 2022”. What an honor. Thank you, Jonathan Benthall!
[Outreach] Civil Society in an Islamic State: The Case of Charity in Saudi Arabia
The Tel Aviv Review Podcast
You can now listen to a discussion of my book on the go at the Tel Aviv Review Podcast together with Gilad Halpern and Yael Berda.
[Outreach] Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism
11 October 2022: Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient (ZMO), Berlin
Excited to discuss my book at the ZMO with an introduction by Ulrike Freitag (ZMO) and two fascinating comments. Elad Giladi (ZMO Minerva fellow/Haifa University) places the book in the context of the Saudi novel and literary approaches to poverty in Saudi Arabia. Inken Wiese (Konstanz University) locates the book in the wider context of Gulf charity and discusses the odds and challenges of conducting fieldwork in the Arab Gulf monarchies. You find a recording of the event at the ZMO YouTube channel. Thank you Ulrike, Elad and Inken for this inspiring get-together!
[Research] Heinrich von Maltzan – der Orientreisende
8 October 2022: Familientag der Maltza(h)nschen Familie auf Ulrichshusen
I’m very grateful for the opportunity to present my research to the family of the protagonist of my work.
Presenting my research about the German Orientalist, Heinrich von Maltzan (1826–1874), to ‘his family’, behind me Johann Bernhard I. v. Maltzan Frhr. zu Wartenberg u. Penzlin (1526–1569).
[Outreach] Charity in Saudi Arabia: Civil Society under Authoritarianism
5 October 2022: The Middle East Institute at the National University of Singapore
In the past, media and think-tanks have published numerous reports and papers on the social transformations happening in the Arabian Peninsula, and, more specifically, inside Saudi Arabia. However, this analysis too often focused on the changes brought about from the top, via government initiatives like the emblematic Saudi Vision 2030. Charity in Saudi Arabia takes the opposite tack. The book offers a “bottom-up” view to challenge dominant narratives about state-society relations in Saudi Arabia. In this webinar, I explain why the lens of charity offers rare insights into the religiosity of ordinary Saudis, showing that Islam offers Saudi activists a language, a moral frame, and a worldly guide to confronting inequality. The presentation is followed by comments from Dr. Jessie Moritz of the Australian National University, and a general discussion with the participants.
[Research] Reisen in den Orient: Von Forschern, Diplomaten und Abenteurern
September 2022: Freie Universität Berlin, Deutscher Orientalistentag (DOT)
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the annual meeting of the German Oriental Society (DOT), I’m organizing a panel about German travelers to ‘Oriental’ lands, which discusses the travelers’ contributions to knowledge production. Until the middle of the 19th century, German scholars of the ‘Orient’ were commonly philologists, most of whom never set foot on the lands they studied. Travelers provided the materials available for study at German universities, as well as ideas about the ‘Orient’ and Islam, available to the wider public. Travelers were important intermediaries. The panel gathers papers from Christoph Marx about Heinrich Barth (1821–1865), Stefan Knost on Carl Haussknecht (1838–1903), Tobias Völker on Andreas David Mordtmann (1811-1879), myself on Heinrich von Maltzan (1826-1876), and a commentary by Sabine Mangold-Will.
[Teaching] TAU Workshop on Israel and the Middle East
July 2022: Tel Aviv University, Moshe Dayan Center
I joined a ten-day workshop organized by the Moshe Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University that dealt with ways of and perspectives on teaching the Middle East/Arab-Israeli/Israel-Palestine conflict. Although the organizers made efforts to show multiple perspectives and to make this a fair-minded endeavour, they also made it clear from the start, that this would deliver the Israeli view. I was curious. If you have been approached and don’t know whether it’s recommended to join, do get in touch. I’m happy to share my experience. This is a link with further information about the program: https://dayan.org/content/tau-workshop-israel-and-middle-east .
Moderating a session on “The Seperation Wall. Also know as the Separation Barrier. Also know as the Separation Fence. Also know as the Security Wall, the Security Barrier, the Security Fence. Also known as the Apartheid Wall, the Peace Wall, the Isolation Wall, the Shame Wall, the West Bank Wall, the Administration Wall, the Annexation Wall, the Seam-Zone Wall, the Terrorist Wall, the Infiltrator Wall, the Saboteurs’ Wall, the Obstacle Wall, the Demographic Wall, the Territories Wall, the Colonisation Wall, the Unification Wall, the Racist Wall, the Sanctuary Wall, the Noose Wall, the Curse Wall, the Reconciliation Wall, the Fear Wall. Also know as the Pen, the Coop, the Trap, the Noose, the Protector and the Cage.”
Quote from: Colum McCann, Apeirogon, A Novel, Bloomsbury 2020, page 166.
[Research] Traveler, Intermediary, Collector? Why Maltzan Was No ‘Manuscript Hunter’
28 June – 1 July, 2022: Staatsbibliothek Berlin, International Conference Oriental Manuscripts in Germany
When I saw the call for papers for this international conference on “Oriental Manuscripts in Germany,” I was sure that Heinrich von Maltzan (1826–1874) was somehow involved in the collection of Oriental manuscripts. Maltzan seemed to me the stereotypical “manuscript hunter” or at least – given his frequent travels back and forth between Europe and the Middle East – a “middle men” between Oriental lands and their archives on the one hand, and European libraries and scholars, on the other hand. Yet, instead of showing how Maltzan was involved in manuscript collection, I began to ask “why was he not involved with Oriental manuscripts?” What can we learn about translocation processes and manuscript collection practices from somebody who fails to deliver? What did Maltzan’s collection practices look like, what did he consider worth transporting back to Europe, what was he able to acquire, how and through whom?
The paper was given at the conference “Oriental Manuscripts in Germany: Collection History between the Academic Thirst for Knowledge, Antique Trade Across the Globe, and Imperial Claims to Power” at the Berlin State Library, 28 June–July 1st, 2022. An edited volume of conference proceedings is in the making!
[Research] Islam Through the Eyes of a German Traveler? Reflections on Biography as Method
27 June 2022: The Hebrew Unversity of Jerusalem, Colloquium at the Martin Buber Society of Fellows
In this talk, I explore the potential and challenges of biography as method. Through the life and works of the German Orientalist and traveler Heinrich von Maltzan (1826–1874), my current research project investigates knowledge production about Islam in the long 19th century. I argue that biography as method (and not genre!), enables a systematic view on those structures which produced and impacted the trajectory of knowledge of a so-called Islam expert of the 19th century. Through Maltzan’s life trajectory, my book project grasps the social, institutional and political structures, in which a 19th century Orientalist developed, established and shared knowledge about Islam.
[Research] Travel Writer, Public Voice, ‘Islam Expert’: Heinrich von Maltzan (1826-1874)
11 Mai 2022: The Hebrew Unversity of Jerusalem, Departmental Seminar, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies
I’m presenting my new book project in the Deprtament of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. With this research, I investige knowledge production and the epistemic field of Islam in the long 19th century through the life and works of the German Orientalist and traveler, Heinrich von Maltzan (1826–1874).
[Outreach] Bewerbungsvortrag: Open Rank Professur für Islamwissenschaft
Der ‘Islam-Experte’ und Forschungsreisende Heinrich von Maltzan (1826-1874): Wissensproduktion über Islam und muslimische Gesellschaften im langen 19. Jahrhundert
Erstes Vorsingen. Zweiter Platz.