The Camel Conference @ SOAS
Various Speakers
Date: 23 May 2011Time: 6:00 PM
Finishes: 25 May 2011Time: 5:00 PM
Venue: Russell Square: College BuildingsRoom: Khalili Lecture Theatre & other rooms (see below)
Type of Event: Conference
Camel Conference Video
A Two-Day Conference to be held in London on 24/25 May 2011
In May 2011 the School of Oriental and African Studies will host an international conference examining, documenting and celebrating camel cultures from around the world.
The Camel Conferences @ SOAS is open to members of the general public.
The conference will address all aspects of camel culture, past, present and future and in all continents. It will deal with both material and cultural concerns, and will cover both Dromedaries and Bactrians.
Programme of Speakers
[Please note that timings may vary]
Monday 23 May, Evening Session. Venue: Room G3
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 6:00pm | Respect the Camel Sebastian Lindstrom, Alicia Sully and Philippa Young [Independent film makers – "What Took You So Long" project] |
| Filming camels in Mali Dylan Watkins [Independent researcher, Cambridge] – An illustrated talk about the camel salt caravan in Mali | |
| Cameron’s Camel Campaign A showing of Cameron Oliver’s Powerpoint presentation about saving camels. |
Tuesday 24 May, Evening Session. Venue: Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 10.00am | The camel (C. dromedarius; C. bactrianus): an ancient livestock species with modern productive qualities for an arid 21st century Maurizio Dioli [Independent researcher] |
| 10.30am | Camel wrestling events in Western Turkey Ali Fuat Aydin [of Izmir] Download: A Brief Introduction to the Camel Wrestling Events in Western Turkey (pdf; 118kb) |
| 11.00am | Coffee break |
| 11.30am | Comparing camels in Afghanistan and Australia: Industry and nationalism during the long nineteenth century Shah Mahmoud Hanifi [James Madison University, Virginia, USA] Download: Comparing camels in Afghanistan and Australia: Industry and nationalism during the Long Nineteenth Century (pdf; 194kb) |
| 12.00am | The association between Bedouin Al-sadu weaving and the camel Keireine Canavan [University of Wales Institute, Cardiff - UWIC] |
| 12.30pm | Lunch break |
| 2.00pm | The wild camel John Hare [Wild Camel Protection Foundation] |
| 2.30pm | The status of the camel in the United States of America Doug Baum [Texas Camel Corps] [Presentation via video] |
| 3.00pm | The Weeping Camel Film [2003] – dir. Byambasuren Davaa and Luigi Falorni [Excerpt] |
| 4.00pm | Tea break |
| 4.30pm | Old World camels reproduction: Nature, current technologies and future prospects Khalid Ahmed El-Bahrawy [Desert Research Center (DRC), Cairo] |
| 5.00pm | Mangrota Camel Fair: a major socio-economic and cultural event in Pakistan A. Raziq [Camel Association of Pakistan] [Paper will be presented by video] |
| 5.30pm | The prospects for the camel in Australia Petronella Vaarzon-Morel, Glenn Edwards and Murray McGregor [Australia] Download: The prospects for the camel in Australia (pdf; 170kb) |
PLEASE NOTE: Tuesday’s sessions will end with a 30-minute concert of Camel Songs in the Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, at around 6.00pm, and then we shall go to a local restaurant to eat, from 7.30pm. All are welcome to join us.
Wednesday 25 May, Evening Session. Venue: Khalili Lecture Theatre
| Time | Event |
|---|---|
| 10.00am | Relations between camels and communities in Butana, Sudan Merijn Offringa [African Studies Centre, Leiden, Netherlands] |
| 10.20am | Showing of "What Took You So Long" video short. |
| 10.30am | Gas chromatography mass spectrophotometry (gc-ms) analysis of female camel urine extracts Salwa Elbasheir [Central Veterinary Research Laboratory, Khartoum, Sudan] |
| 11.00am | A study on camel (Camelus dromedarius) Trypanosomiasis: transmitting vectors in Somaliland Abdullahi Sheikh Mohamed Nur [Sheikh Technical Veterinary School, Somalia][Presentation via video] |
| 11.30am | Coffee break |
| 12.00am | The commodification of camel milk in Kenya David Anderson, Hannah Elliott, Hassan Hussein Kochore and Emma Lochery [The British Institute in Eastern Africa] |
| 12.30am | One hump or two? Hybrid camels and pastoral cultures revisited Richard Tapper [University of London] Download: One hump or two? Hybrid camels and pastoral cultures: an update (pdf; 258kb) |
| 1.00pm | Lunch break |
| 2.00pm | The historical spread of Trypanosoma evansi (surra) in camels: a factor in the weakening of Islam? William G. Clarence-Smith [SOAS, London] Download: Trypanosoma evansi (surra) in camels: a factor in the weakening of Islam? (pdf; 145kb) |
| 2.30pm | Camels and the Hajj: A window onto the Islamicate world in the 18th century Gagan D.S. Sood [European University Institute, Florence, Italy] |
| 3.00pm | Tea Break |
| 3.30pm | Camel culture and camel terminology among the Omani Bedouin Mohammed Bar Ingema Al-Mahri, Domenyk Eades and Janet Watson [University of Salford] |
| 4.00pm | Camel songs and dances Ed Emery [SOAS, London] |
| 4.30pm | Closing session |
Some of the participants at the Camel Conference @ SOAS on 24-25 May 2011. Photo: Alicia Sully
Organisers:
William Gervase Clarence-Smith [SOAS] Professor of the Economic History of Asia and Africa
Ed Emery [SOAS], Conference organiser
If you wish to register to attend the Conference, please send an e-mail to ed.emery@soas.ac.uk
A Registration Form will be sent by return, and also a formal invitation letter for anyone needing to apply for visas.
The fees for Conference registration are as follows:
Standard fee: £30
Students and unwaged: £10
SOAS staff and students: Free - but pre-registration by e-mail is required
Conference speakers: Free
The conference will include an evening of films on Monday 23 May, to which you are cordially invited, and a small concert of camel-related musics. Admission to these is included in the fee for registration.
You may be interested to know that we plan a second conference, to be held at SOAS in 2013, and submissions for that conference are welcome.
Organiser: Ed Emery
Contact email: camelconference@soas.ac.uk
