KHOJA STUDIES CONFERENCE III Florida International University 4-5 May 2023 Sindh and the making of communities in South Asia and the Indian Ocean: between myth and reality
Hotel: Staybridge Suites Miami International Airport, 3651 NW 25th Street Miami, FL 33142 United States
Conference venue: Florida International University, Frost Museum, 10975 SW 17th Street, Miami, FL 33199
Thursday, 4 May 2023
8:00 Pick up from the hotel
9:00 to 9:30 Welcome and registration
9:30 to 10:00 Introduction (by Hasnain Walji)
10:00 to 10:45 (Panel introduction by Iqbal Akhtar, Chair: Kumail Rajani)
10:00 to 10:15
Tacit Knowledge and Entrepreneurship: Oral Histories of the Artisans of Kachchh, presenter: Chhaya Goswami (Somaiya Vidyavihar University)
10:15 to 10:30
Disconnection and Connection: Merging Identities and Histories and Belonging in Thar Desert, presenter: Vikram Ghamwani (Heidelberg University) – online 10:30 to 10:45 Diffusion of Rosewater, Religion, and Culture from Persia to Western India: Tracing the Cultural History of Ismaili Khoja Traders in the Seventeenth Century, presenter: Erum Hadi (St. John’s University)
10:45 to 11:30 Q & A
11:30 to 13:00 Lunch at Faculty Club
13:00-14:00 Panel discussion
Topic: Trade in Indian Ocean and Entrepreneurship
Panellists: Chhaya Goswami, Hasnain Walji, Iqbal Akhtar and Iqbal Dewji
Questions:
1. In the context of early 19th-century trade in the Indian Ocean, how did Indian merchants and traders adapt to the evolving economic landscape and how did their trading activities contribute to the development and growth of the region at that time?
2. What factors contributed to the omission or underrepresentation of the significant role played by Indian traders in the historical narratives of East Africa, and how can a more comprehensive understanding of their contributions help in reevaluating the historical narrative and fostering a deeper appreciation of their trials, tribulations and triumphs?
14:00 to 14:30 Tea/Coffee
14:30 to 15:15 Breakout session (4 groups)
15:15 to 16:00 Concluding ideas and roundup for the day
16:00 to 17:30 Visiting Frost Museum
17:30 Pickup from the conference venue and moving towards dinner 18:30 Dinner at Maroosh (223 Valencia Ave, Coral Gables, FL 33134, United States)
Friday, 5 May 2023
8:00 Pick up from the hotel
9:00 to 10:00 (Panel introduction by Michael Boivin; Chair: Matthew Cook)
9:00 to 9:15
Why are Sindhis Called Multanis in Calicut?, presenter: Anjali Roy (IIT Kharagpur)
9:15 to 9:30
Sindh without Sindhu: The Making of a Place and its People, presenter: Trisha Lalchandani (CEIAS-EHESS) – online
9:30 to 9:45
Making of Sami Community in Sindh, presenter: Sindhri Saba (CEIAS-EHESS) – online
9:45 to 10:00
The Sindhi Meghwars at Crossroads: Identity versus Alterity, presenter: Mohan DevRaj Thontya (independent scholar)
10:00 to 10:30 Tea/coffee
10:30 to 11:30 Q & A
11:30 to 13:00 Lunch at Faculty Club
13:00 to 14:00 Panel discussion
Topic: Situating Khoja Studies within the study of Social Sciences
Panellists: Michael Boivin, Shiraz Hajiani, Samira Sheikh, Liyakat Takim
Questions: 1. Where does Khoja Studies fit in within larger disciplines, such as Islamic Studies and ethnographic research? 2. How do we generate greater academic and community interest in the work to make it more sustainable as a project moving forward?
14:00 to 15:00 Breakout session (4 groups)
15:00 to 15:30 Afternoon tea
15:30 to 17:00 Concluding plan for publication, public engagement and future projects
17:00 to 18:00 Networking
18:00 to 20:00 Pickup from the conference venue and moving towards Buddhist Temple followed by Vietnamese dinner at Phuoc Hue Vietnamese Buddhist Temple (16195 SW 184th St, Miami, FL 33187, United States)
End of the conference
Feedback from the Social Sciences Winter School in Karachi
Here are the main highlights of the first Social Sciences Winter School held in Karachi (21-26 November 2022). Thanks to IBA especially for welcoming the event.
More videos here :
And a gallery of photos here.
Follow us:
- Website: https://winterspy.hypotheses.org/pakistan
- Facebook page: @winterschoolkarachi
International Conference on Alexander in Sindh
Book: Urban Architecture and Local Spaces in Pakistan by Suneela Ahmed
Suneela Ahmed, 2023, Urban Architecture and Local Spaces in Pakistan, Routledge.
This book is set in Karachi, Pakistan and investigates the possibility of achieving localness through identifying urban process and their impact on built form, addressing how locals associate with the urban spaces and how they value it. Thus, the investigation, using the local terminology maqamiat, goes beyond the physicality of space and develops a framework that helps to understand the social, ethnic, economic, ecological and other the non-physical aspects of space, which are of value to the locals. The Continue reading Book: Urban Architecture and Local Spaces in Pakistan by Suneela Ahmed
Book: Le capitalisme à main armée. Caïds et patrons à Karachi
Laurent Gayer, 2022, Le capitalisme à main armée. Caïds et patrons à Karachi, CNRS Edition, Paris, 416 pages.
“Le 11 septembre 2012, 255 ouvriers et ouvrières des Ali Enterprises, fabriquant des jeans pour le compte du groupe allemand KiK, périssent dans l’incendie de leur usine à Karachi. Accident ou attentat ? La tragédie suscite des interprétations contradictoires. Faut-il incriminer les logiques prédatrices de la fast-fashion ou les méthodes mafieuses des partis politiques qui ont mis la ville en coupe réglée ? Continue reading Book: Le capitalisme à main armée. Caïds et patrons à Karachi
Book: Sindh under the Mughals
Humera Naz, 2022, Sindh under the Mughals, Origin and Development of Historiography (1591–1737 CE), Oxford University Press, Karachi, 280 pages.
“[This] book is a major contribution to the history of Sindh, and consequently to that of Pakistan and South Asia. Beyond the excellence of the research, it must be emphasized that, if the reign of the Mughal rulers has been studied in detail, it is mainly in the imperial context, namely from the centres of power they had created and developed in northern India … Dr Naz has shifted the focus, producing an innovative perspective on how the Mughals exercised power in territories relatively far from the imperial centres, but above all she reveals the leading role they played in developing historiography through the spread of several literary genres. Thus, Dr Naz’s work renews the field of Mughal studies, but at the same time, it is much more than that.”