Jörg Matthias Determann
Historian at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar. Associate Editor, Review of Middle East Studies. Book Review Editor, Journal of Arabian Studies. Author of "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Astronomy." vcu.academia.edu/Determann
- Thank you, mamnounak (ممنونك) and merci to Jad Tayah for welcoming me as a panelist within the Horizon Hub Workshop Series 2026. Organized by Hamad Bin Khalifa University, it has the theme “The Role of Data Storytelling and Generative AI in Progressive Education.” sites.google.com/view/horizon...
- Do you use Canva? Would you like to meet members of its senior leadership, including Ahmad Iqbal? If so, please join the Canva Focus Group at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar in room 216, today, February 1, 2026. I thank our @petergouldart.bsky.social for facilitating this connection.
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- I owe a large debt of gratitude to Sumaiya Hamdani for inviting me to speak at the conference of the AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies at @georgemasonu.bsky.social on Muslim Futures on April 16 and 17, 2026. I also thank @pmandaville.bsky.social islamicstudiescenter.gmu.edu/events/17717
- Un grand merci and a big thank you to Kevin Kaiser and Aaron Wright for allowing me to contribute to issue 107 of Communiqué, the magazine of the Canadian Society for the History and Philosophy of Science (CSHPS): “Preserving the History of Women’s Activism in Science.” cshps.ca/wp-content/u...
- Thank you for everything and ہر چیز کے لئے آپ کا شکریہ, @fouzsiddiqui.bsky.social ! I am deeply indebted to you and your colleagues at Scientia, and especially Saadeqa Khan, for organizing our webinar on activism in astronomy and for uploading a recording to YouTube. www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7Nf...
- Kathar Allah Khayrak (كثر الله خيرك) and may God multiply your blessings, @emadscifi.bsky.social ky.social! Thank you for reviewing Shoaib Ahmed Malik’s and my edited volume Islamic Theology and Extraterrestrial Life (@ibtauris.bsky.social) on The Liberum. theliberum.com/hotels-in-he...
- I can’t thank you enough (میں آپ کا جتنا شکر ادا کروں کم), @fouzsiddiqui.bsky.social, for bringing me back as a speaker for Scientia’s Science Writing Internship. I will talk about Writing about Activism in Astronomy. I thank Saadeqa Khan for making this possible. meet.google.com/yti-zrpw-agm
- I thank you from the bottom of my heart (أَشْكُرُكَ مِنْ أَعْمَاقِ قَلْبِي), Moe Abbas, for inviting me back as a guest speaker to the Astronomy Camp at New York University Abu Dhabi! On January 21, 2026, I will give a Zoom lecture on “Muslim Cultures and Extraterrestrial Life.” nyuad.nyu.edu/en/events/20...
- I am extremely grateful to you (أَنَا مُمْتَــنٌّ لَكَ للغَايَةِ), @amr-rageh.bsky.social, for interviewing me via email for an investigative piece on the Gulf for @scidevnet.bsky.social. I am also very thankful to Bothina Osama for supporting Amr’s investigation. www.scidev.net/mena/scidev-...
- 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....
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- 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...
- 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...
- 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...
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- 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...
- Terima kasih banyak and thank you very much to Lolyta Poniman and her colleagues in our Department of Human Resources at Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar for inviting me back to give the Academic Orientation as part of our New Hires Orientation today! qatar.vcu.edu/about-vcu-ar...
- Thank you, धन्यवाद and gracias to Pallavi Das and Pablo F. Gómez for inviting me write a review of @mjrubenstein.bsky.social’s book Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race (@uchicagopress.bsky.social) in @isisjournal.bsky.social. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...
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- Double congratulations to @mervet.bsky.social and Sami Ahmad Khan the completion of their edited volume The Speculative Route: Futures from South and Southwest Asia and North Africa (Routledge, 2025). It has been my great honor to provide an endorsement. www.routledge.com/The-Speculat...
- Thank you very much and آپ کا بہت بہت شکریہ for uploading a recording of my presentation to YouTube, Scientia! I am immensely grateful to @fouzsiddiqui.bsky.social for inviting me and to Saadeqa Khan for her support. It was a special honor to give this webinar. www.youtube.com/watch?v=fthk...
- All thanks and appreciation to Stefanie Dunning for accepting a proposal of mine for the SFRA conference at @urochester.bsky.social! I am honored to speak about “Isaac Asimov and the Teaching of Science with Science Fiction” at Panel 15 on July 31. sfra.org/conferences/...
- Míle buíochas and a thousand thanks to Seán O’Quoi for interviewing me for Things Visible and Invisible (TVI). Our episode is entitled “Do MUSLIMS believe in AlLIENS? UFOs?” It premiered on YouTube on July 18, 2025. Joanne Suyat had reached out to me back in May. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vl4B...
- I am very grateful and میں بہت مشکور ہوں۔ to @fouzsiddiqui.bsky.social for inviting me back as a speaker to the Science Writing Internship webinar series of Scientia Pakistan. On July 20, 2025, at 4pm Pakistan time, I will be honored to address the interns of cohort four meet.google.com/unb-mkgc-gof
- Thank you and 감사합니다 to Sooyeun Yang for sending me photos from the panel I chaired at the Meeting of @bshsnews.bsky.social at @cam.ac.uk. Po-Hung Liu, @jeffreykotyk.bsky.social, @busradede.bsky.social and Majideh Qazizadeh gave spectacular presentations. conference.bshs.org.uk/wp-content/u...
- Thank you very much and mulțumesc foarte mult to @cstanciu2025.bsky.social for inviting me to give a virtual talk in the Meet VCU Authors series! On September 22, 2025, I will speak on Zoom about “One Planet, One Sky: Internationalism in Modern Astronomy.” humanitiescenter.vcu.edu/events/meet-...
- A world of gratitude (یک دنیا سپاس) to Parviz Tarikhi for reviewing my @springer.springernature.com book Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Astronomy alongside Tomáš W. Pavlíček, Petra Hyklová and Martin Šolc’s volume Astronomers behind the Iron Curtain! link.springer.com/article/10.1...
- I would like to add to my expression of gratitude to @samhistsci.bsky.social by thanking him for allowing me to chair a panel at the conference of @bshsnews.bsky.social with Po-Hung Liu, @jeffreykotyk.bsky.social, @busradede.bsky.social and Majideh Qazizadeh. conference.bshs.org.uk/wp-content/u...
- I owe a huge debt of gratitude to @samhistsci.bsky.social and Jim Secord for accepting a paper of mine for inclusion in the 2025 Annual Meeting of @bshsnews.bsky.social at @cam.ac.uk: “Isaac Asimov and Science Education in Twentieth-Century America.” conference.bshs.org.uk/programme/%E...
