Professor Dionisius A. Agius FBA
Biography
Formal Qualifications
1984 Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toronto:
Thesis: "Arabic Literary Works as a Source of Documentation for Technical Terms of the Material Culture".
Supervisor: George Michael Wickens.
1977 Master of Arts, University of Toronto:
Dissertation: "A Study of the KitŒb al-Ājurr´miyya as a Manual of Arabic Linguistics".
Supervisor: George Michael Wickens.
1974 Diploma di Studi Arabi cum laude, Pontificio Istituto di Studi Arabi, Rome
1967 Diplome d'Études Arabes, Faculté de Lettres Orientales, Université St-Joseph, Beirut
Career History
Academic
University of Exeter
2007- Chair in Arabic and Islamic Material Culture
University of Leeds
2003-2007 Professor of Arabic & Islamic Material Culture
1998-2003 Reader in Arabic & the Medieval Mediterranean
1994-1998 Senior Lecturer in Arabic
1989-1994 Lecturer in Arabic
1987-1989 Teaching Fellow in Arabic
Ministry of Defence, Defence School of Languages, Beaconsfield
1986-1987 Burnham Lecturer in Arabic
Kuwait University
1984-1985 Teacher of Arabic as a Second Language, Language Centre, Kuwait University
University of Toronto
1979-1981 Teacher Assistant in Field Methods
1977-1984 Teacher Assistant in Classical and Modern Arabic
Administrative
2006-2007 Director of Research, Department of Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies
1999- 2007 Director of Centre for Mediterranean Studies
1992-1995 Acting Administrative Head of the Department of Modern Arabic Studies
Conference, Seminar and Study Day Co-Organizer (1)
Study Day: Traditional Music of the Mediterranean (17 February 2000)
with David Cooper, School of Music
Study Day: Byzantium and Islam (20 October 2001)
with Alan Murray, Institute of Medieval Studies and Josine Opmeer, School of Fine Art
Two-day conference: Arab Voices in Diaspora (1-2 July 2002)
with Zahia Salhi, Department of Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies
One-Day Interdisciplinary Seminar: The Islamic Harbour (12 May 2004)
with Lucy Blue, Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton and Francine Stone, Seminar for Arabian Studies
Three-day conference: Visualising Paradise (13-15 September 2004)
with Heather Nicholson, School of Geography and Josine Opmeer, School of Fine Art
One-Day Interdisciplinary Seminar: Islamic Burials (22 May 2005)
with Anne Macklin, Department of Arabic & Middle Eastern Studies and Francine Stone, Seminar for Arabian Studies.
Three-day conference: The Donkey (and the Mule) in the Culture of the Mediterranean in the Island of Hydra, Greece (7-9 October 2005)
with Ed Emery.
International Medieval Congress Sessions Co-Organizer (2)
Two sessions on Hispano Arabic Studies (July 2002)
with G. Crowson and the participation of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean; speakers R. Hitchcock (Exeter) & R. Arié (CNRS, Paris).
Four sessions on Islamic Art (July 2004)
with G. Crowson and the participation of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean; speakers included A. Almagro (Granada), V. Porter (London), E. Schubert (Brussels), M. Terrasse (Paris).
Four sessions on the Music of Islam (July 2006)
with G. Crowson and the participation of the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean; speakers Abdu-Noor (Yale), L. Bolat (New Mexico), S. Fatemi (Tehran), Y. Klein (Harvard), A. Shiloah (Jerusalem), D. Wulstan (Aberystwyth) www.leeds.ac.uk/smm .
Invitations to speak at National and International Meetings (1)
"What can primary sources tell us about Classic ships of Islam?"
21 March 2006, University of St. Andrews.
"The dhow of the Arabian Gulf and Oman"
24 November 2005, University of Manchester
"Quseir al-Qadim: The Islamic harbour based on Arabic documents"
30 April 2004. Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter.
"Harbour and caravan terminus: Historical and textual documentation of Quseir al-Qadim"
15 February 2004, Archaeological Society of Alexandria, Egypt.
"Excavations at Quseir al-Qadim: The Arabic documents"
13 December 2002, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium
"Word, object and communication: the language of material culture"
5 March 2002, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
"Ostrich eggs: pilgrims and merchants"
7 February 2002, School of History, University of Leeds.
"In the wake of the dhow".
11 April 2001, The Arab-British Centre, London.
"The language of the dhow".
7 March 2001, The Society for Arabian Studies and the Anglo-Omani Society at the University College London.
"Testing strategies and the L2 learner".
8 April 2000, King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
"Testing and evaluating learners of Arabic" (Two-day seminar).
17-18 January 2000, The Language Center, Kuwait University, Kuwait.
"An illumination of a 13th-century sewn boat: Travel in Medieval Islam".
1 December 1998, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Leeds.
"Traders and seamen: Ibn Bat$t$´t$a's observation of medieval vessels".
16 May 1998, School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography, University of Oxford.
"Re-examining the Medieval Arabic of Sicily".
15 November 1997, Vakgroep Talen en Culturen van het Nabije Oosten, Universiteit van Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
"Siculo Arabic: Socio-cultural and linguistic identities in Islamic and Norman Sicily".
13 November 1997, Departement Oosterse en Slavische Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
"Christian and Muslim Sicilians: Tripartite culture of Latin, Arabic and Greek".
12 November 1997, Faculteit Letteren en Wijsbegeerte, Universiteit Gent, Belgium.
"The three linguistic communities of Islamic and Norman Sicily".
10 November 1997, Faculty of Oriental Languages, University of Leiden, The Netherlands.
"Courtiers, peasants and slaves: The Medieval Arabic of Sicily".
18 March 1997, The Libyan Cultural Centre, Villa Drago, Malta.
"L'Arabe sicilien pendant l'époque musulmane et normande (Xe-XIIIe s.)".
18 February 1997, Institut Orientaliste, Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
"Is Maltese directly linked with Siculo Arabic or the North African dialects?".
24 July 1996, Institute of Linguistics, University of Malta.
"A review of the Arab and Muslim travellers' and geographers' works available and their portrayal of the region's economic and social setting".
8 April 1996, Juma Al Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage, Dubai, The UAE University, Al-Ain and The Cultural Foundation, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
"The dhow and the Gulf: Links with traditional Arab seafaring".
15 February 1995, Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter.
"Le problème complexe de l'arabe en Sicile".
14 April 1994, Istituto di Studi Arabi, Università di Palermo, Sicily.
"Tempests, roaring waves and calm seas: Travelling in the Middle Ages".
20 March 1994, School of Fine Art, University of Leeds.
"Linguistic strata of the Medieval Arabic of Sicily".
5 March 1993, Mediterranean Lecture Series, University of Manchester.
"An updating on the dhow: Traditional Arab seafaring".
10 April 1992, British Council, Doha, Qatar.
"L'arabe de Sicile: le Tath¥f al-LisŒn d'Ibn Makk¥ l-S$iqill¥".
14 February 1992, Estudios Arabes e Islámicos, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain.
"Reconstructing the Medieval Arabic of Sicily: The commoners and the elite".
28 September 1991, Centro Dante Alleghieri and the University of Malta.
"Plurilingüisme à Malte: maltais, anglais, italien".
19 February 1991, Estudis
