Global: Migrants and making of Indian Ocean cultures - conference

MIGRANTS AND THE MAKING OF INDIAN OCEAN CULTURES

WEDNESDAY 11TH JULY 2007

10.00 am to 5.30 pm School of Oriental & African Studies (Room G50, Ground Floor)
University of London Russell Square London, WC1 (Underground Stations: Russell Square, Euston, Goodge Street)

Cross-cultural Outcomes from the dispersal and movement of peoples and cultures within the Indian Ocean will be the main theme of this Conference. Given the focus on transAtlantic slavery in 2007, we have decided to bring to the fore, the eastwards migration of Africans and also the multidirectional movement of other ethnic groups in the Indian Ocean.

PROGRAMME
10.00 am Registration & Welcome: Shihan de Silva & Clifford Pereira
10.10 am Animals as Ambassadors between India and Africa Richard Pankhurst (Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)

10.30 am Early European Voyagers in the Indian Ocean Bernhard Klein (University of Essex)

10.50 am Migrants and the Maldives: Mapping Island Cultures Shihan de Silva (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London)

11.10-11.25 am Discussion
11.25-11.40 am Coffee
11.40 am Middle Eastern cultural brokers in the Philippines from the 18th century William Gervase Clarence-Smith (School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London)

12.00 am From Rigging to Boiler Room: The history of the East African seamen employed by the British Royal and Merchant Navies Clifford Pereira (Royal Geographical Society, London)

12.20 pm The East India Company and the Lascars in India Marika Sherwood (Institute of Commonwealth Studies, University of London)

12.40-12.55 pm Discussion
12.55-2.00 pm Lunch Break
2.00 pm From the Ocean to the Lakes: Cultural Transformations of Yemenis in Kenya and Uganda Susan Beckerleg (University of Warwick)

2.20 pm The Myth of the Sultans in the Western Indian Ocean during the 19th century: A New Hypothesis Beatrice Nicolini (Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy)

2.40 pm The novel form and Indian Ocean modernity: the portrayal of migrant cultures in the works of M. G. Vassanji and Abdulrazak Gurnah Stephanie Jones (Southampton University)

3.10-3.25 pm Discussion
3.25 pm Social and Intercultural Relations in 19th century Zanzibar Ivan van der Biesen (Katholik University, Leuven, Belgium)

3.45 pm Indian music and taarab in Zanzibar Janet Topp Fargion (British Library Sound Archive, London)

4.05 pm Tawaif Singers and the Gramophone Company: Technologies of the Self and Music Recording in Colonial India Shweta Sachdeva (School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London)
4.25 pm-4.40 pm Discussion
4.40-4.55 pm Tea
4.55 pm A Discussion on the Spread and Practice of Buddhism in the Indian Ocean*
Richard Gombrich (Balliol College, University of Oxford)

5.15 pm Concluding Session: Marika Sherwood
5.20 pm Indian Ocean Galleries at the National Maritime Museum John McAleer (National Maritime Museum, Greenwich)

*Please e-mail your questions for the discussion session with Professor Richard Gombrich to Shihan de Silva ([email protected]) or Clifford Pereira ([email protected] )

Limited number of places available. For reservations e-mail the above. Registration at the Door