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Department of History

Arabic Pasts: Histories and Historiography

Date: 28 September 2012Time: 9:30 AM

Finishes: 28 September 2012Time: 5:45 PM

Venue: Aga Khan University, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations 210 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DARoom: Aga Khan University

Type of Event: Lecture

Enquiries to Sarah Bowen Savant, sarah.savant@aku.edu, Konrad Hirschler, kh20@soas.ac.uk or James McDougall, james.mcdougall@trinity.ox.ac.uk.

Session 1 - 9.30am-11.15am
Chair: Konrad Hirschler, SOAS, University of London
  • Farouk Topan, Interim Director, ISMC
    Welcome
  • Sarah Bowen Savant, ISMC
    Introductory remarks
  • Fred M. Doner, University of Chicago
    'Periodization as a Tool of the Historian'
  • Parvaneh Pourshariati, Ohio State University
    'Problematics of a Periodization: When Does “Islamic History” Begin?'
Coffee - 11.15am‐11.45am
Session 2 - 11.45am‐1.15pm
Chair: James McDougall, Trinity College, Oxford
  • Antoine Borrut, University of Maryland
    'Periodizing Early Islamic Syria'
  • Peter Webb, SOAS
    'Al-Jāhiliyya: Uncertain Times of Uncertain Meanings'
Lunch - 1.15pm-2.15pm
Session 3 - 2.15pm-3.45pm
Chair: Hugh Kennedy, SOAS
  • Amidu Sanni, Lagos State University, Nigeria
    'The Arabic Literary Tradition: Effects of Periodization in Medieval Critical Thinking and Theorization'
  • Arshad M. Hadjirin, Pembroke College, Cambridge, Oxford
    'A Question of Historical Periods in View of Local History Writings in the Arabic Tradition'
Tea - 3.45pm‐4.15pm
Session 4 - 4:15pm‐5.45pm
Chair: Sarah Bowen Savant
  • Nils Riecken, Zentrum Moderner Orient
    'Frames of Time: Universals and Periodization'
  • Matthias Determann, SOAS
    'Merging Dynasties and Nations: Historiography and Periodization in Contemporary Arab Monarchies'
  • Konrad Hirschler, SOAS
    Concluding remarks

Organiser: Aga Khan University, ISMC and SOAS, University of London

Contact email: sarah.savant@aku.edu