C O L L A B O R AT IVE RESEARCH G RO UP S I N D I A N O C E A N W O R LD W O R K ING G R O U P In di a n O c ea n
The Indian Ocean World working group meets regularly to discuss books, and plan conferences, symposia, and other events that promote research around connectivities in the Indian Ocean World. One of the group’s aims is to provide a “re-mapping” of the region through case studies that offer a variety of perspectives on circularities and identities forged in the wider Indian Ocean region. The working group features two major projects:
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ANNUAL SY MPO S IUM The Indian Ocean World working group, including faculty from GU-Q, Qatar University, and Northwestern University in Qatar, fosters scholarly exchange and provides a research platform in Qatar.
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annual Indian Ocean Research event hosted at GU-Q this year
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maps on the Re-mapping Africa and the Indian Ocean website
Symposium 2018-2019 This year’s symposium, Towards a Re-Mapping of Diasporic Circularities in the Indian Ocean World, explored and redefined the diverse cultural, economic, and historical ties between countries in the Gulf region and Africa. Featuring a panel of scholars from core team members and experts from institutions in India, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, South Africa, and the U.S., presenters explored the following issues through case studies from cities in Qatar, India, Madagascar, Tanzania, and others including: • oil and wages • pre-modern histories • Islamic revivalism networks in the Malay-Indonesian world • the role of sheikhs as community builders • mobility, race, and slavery • interracial unions and colonial ethics • turn-of-the-century maritime military history
AL-FIRIJ Taken from the Qatari word for neighborhood, the Al-Firij website provides an opportunity for discussion and open exchange between faculty, students, and the wider community. Join the Al-Firij conversation at http://firij.georgetown.domains/ Re-Mapping Africa and the Indian Ocean Created by members of the working group, the focus of Al-Firij is an interactive map-sharing platform that gives scholars the opportunity to share their research with others and hold open discussion about the subject.
Al-Firij provides a platform for additional research projects: TRACING WAQF Tracing Waqf is a resource and manuscript sharing website, that aims to reshape the meaning of waqf to its original intention. 100+ WOMEN 100+ Women is a biography sharing website that features Arab women’s lived realities of the past and present.
