SOAS (CSP) Centre for the Study of Pakistan

[SOAS] Workshop> Digital Humanities> Tuesday 13 September @ 2pm

Abstracts:

'Text Mining Medieval Charters: Perspectives from Two Projects'
Dr Roger Evans (University of Brighton)

This paper reports on two recent projects working with historians and archivists to unlock the potential of free text content in historical documents.

'The Research Environment for Ancient Documents: Digital Editions, Paleography and EpiDoc Integration'
Dr Stefan Baums (University of Munich) and Stephen White (digital humanities software engineer, Venice)

The Research Environment for Ancient Documents (READ) is a new software system for the study of ancient texts and their physical carriers. This paper will discuss the design process behind READ, intended to meet the needs of broader user communities, and its current set of features.

More details: www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/events/asia-beyond-boundaries/13sep2016-digital-humanities.html

Digital Humanities Dr Roger Evans (Brighton), Dr Stefan Baums (LMU Munich), and Stephen White (Venice)

[SOAS South Asia Institute] Conference> The Past Before Us: Heritage and History in South Asia> 5-6 September

You are warmly invited to a cross-disciplinary international conference to celebrate SOAS’s centenary.

Over the two days of the conference, over thirty contributors from India, Europe, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the US and Singapore will address questions relating to the conceptualisation of heritage, the relationship between global and local evaluations of heritage, and the contested politics of heritage in South Asia.

More details: www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/events/heritage-and-history-in-south-asia/

The Past Before Us: Heritage and History in South Asia | SOAS University of London Heritage and History in South Asia: a cross-disciplinary international conference on concepts and constructions of heritage and history in South Asia, jointly organized by the SOAS South Asia Institute in London and Presidency University in Kolkata.

[SOAS Politics] Talk: Democratic Dynasties by Dr. Kanchan Chandra, Thurs 9 June 4pm

Abstract
Dr. Chandra's book, Democratic Dynasties, by studying dynastic politics in India, introduces a new theoretical perspective on dynasticism in democracies. It argues that the roots of dynastic politics lie at least in part in modern democratic institutions – the state and political parties – which give political families a leg up in the electoral process.

Further details available here: www.soas.ac.uk/politics/events/09jun2016-democratic-dynasties.html

SOAS Politics Welcome to the page of the Department of Politics and International Studies at the School o

[The British Library] Panel Discussion: Louis MacNeice’s 1948 radio features on India and Pakistan, Thurs 16 Jun 6pm

This event will feature highlights from Louis MacNeice's superbly panoramic, but also controversial, 1948 series of BBC radio features presenting a Westerner's view of India and Pakistan following Partition. Followed by panel discussion and Q&A with Aasiya Lodhi, lecturer in Radio and Journalism, University of Westminster, chaired by Amanda Wrigley, Research Fellow, University of Westminster.

Free but registration is required. Further details available at:www.bl.uk/events/louis-macneices-1948-radio-features-on-india-and-pakistan .UwKyRVAK.dpuf

[SOAS CSP] Lecture: ISIS, Paris, Pakistan and the search for peace: conversations with an Islamic scholar, Fri 20 May, 6pm

For the CSP Annual Lecture 2016, we will welcome Professor Akbar Ahmed who will be in conversation with Professor Lord (Bhikhu) Parekh.

We will be screening 'Journey into Europe' on Sat 21 May, 5pm

Both of these events are free to attend. Registration is required. Full details and to register visit: /www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/

[SOAS CSP & SOAS South Asia Institute] Seminar: The new Pakistani consensus: Democracy as an agreed façade? by Professor Christophe Jaffrelot, Thurs 17 Mar 5pm

Dr. Christophe Jaffrelot is Senior research fellow at CERI (Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales) at Sciences Po (Paris), and research director at the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at the King’s India Institute (London) and Global Scholar at Princeton University. He has been visiting professor at Columbia University, Yale and SAIS (Johns Hopkins).

Full details are available at www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/events/17mar2016-seminar-by-christophe-jaffrelot.html

20160303 Jaffrelot Seminar Christophe Jaffrelot, Pakistan, politics

[SOAS South Asia Institute] Fellowship: SOAS Charles Wallace Pakistan Fellowship, 2016-2017. Deadline 31 May 2016

One fellowship is awarded annually by the Centre for the Study of Pakistan (located within the SOAS South Asia Institute (SSAI)) and the Charles Wallace Pakistan Trust to a scholar who has had no, or little, opportunity to conduct research outside Pakistan. The 3 month placement at SOAS, University of London should be taken predominantly during term-time (late September–mid December).

Full details available on: www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/scholarships/fellowship/pakistan/

SOAS Charles Wallace Pakistan Fellowship at SOAS - how to apply 3 month Charles Wallace Pakistan Fellowship at SOAS - How To Apply

[SOAS Dept of Politics] Seminar: Envisaging a new South Asia by
Dr. David Page, Aamir Ghauri, Ashutosh Shastri and Dr. Kiran Hassan, Mon 15 Feb 5pm

Synopsis:
In the light of the information revolution in South Asia, regional economic challenges and overstretched energy resources in India and Pakistan, this discussion aims to encourage a reinvention of intellectual approaches towards South Asia and its upcoming challenges.

Full details available on www.soas.ac.uk/politics/events/15feb2016-envisaging-a-new-south-asia.html

Envisaging a new South Asia, SOAS, University of London Seminar regarding the recent Pathankot and Bacha Khan University attacks.

[SOAS CSP] Annual Lecture: ISIS, Paris, Pakistan and the search for peace: conversations with an Islamic scholar by Professor Akbar Ahmed, Fri 20 May 6pm

*Registration open*

Biography:
Ambassador Akbar Ahmed is the Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic Studies in the School of International Service at American University in Washington, D.C. He has served as a Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and was the First Distinguished Chair of Middle East and Islamic Studies at the U.S Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. Ahmed belonged to the senior Civil Service of Pakistan and was the Pakistan High Commissioner to the U.K. and Ireland.

Further details and online registration available at: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/annual-lecture/20may2016-isis-paris-pakistan-and-the-search-for-peace-conversations-with-an-islamic-scholar-.html

ISIS, Paris, Pakistan and the search for peace: conversations with an Islamic scholar | SOAS,... CSP Annual Lecture, Centre for the Study of Pakistan, Professor Akbar Ahmed, ISIS, Paris, Pakistan and the search for peace: conversations with an Islamic scholar

[SOAS South Asia Institute] Film: Zinda Bhaag | Rachel Dwyer (SOAS) in conversation with director Dr Meenu Gaur , Fri 29 Jan 5pm

Synopsis
“‘Get out if you can’ is both the translation of ‘Zinda Bhaag’ and the credo its characters live by. Pakistan’s first official Oscar entry in 50 years is this surprisingly realistic slice-of-life depiction of life in Lahore. Three friends Khaldi, Chitta and Tambi literally beg, borrow, and steal to get by in their everyday lives while they look westward for something more than mere existence. The potential cost of this dream: Financial servitude, legal minefields, and very real emotional and physical danger.

Full details available on: http://www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/events/29jan2016-zinda-bhaag.html

20160129 Zinda Bhaag Screening and Q&A Zinda Bhaag, Meenu Gaur, Pakistan, Rachel Dwyer

[SOAS CSP] *REMINDER* Seminar: Can commerce cover the umma? National and regional taste by Reina Lewis, TONIGHT at 5.15pm

Abstract:
For many Muslim women the adoption of covered, or modest, dressing has become integral to the cultivation of pious dispositions, with new markets developing for modest apparel. Whilst professional marketers in Islamic branding celebrate potentially transnational markets for Islamic/modest fashion, this chapter uses sociological approaches to everyday religion alongside critical marketing studies to investigate the advantages and risks posed to fashion designer/entrepreneurs and consumers once Muslims are constructed as a consumer segment.

All welcome. No booking required.

Further details available on: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/21jan2016-can-commerce-cover-the-umma-national-and-regional-taste-.html

Can commerce cover the umma? National and regional taste | SOAS, University of London CSP Seminar, Can commerce cover the umma National and regional taste, Reina Lewis, Muslim fashion

[SOAS South Asia Institute] Talk: The Crisis of Islamic Masculinities by Amanullah De Sondy, Weds 3 Feb 5pm

Synopsis
In order to evaluate whether there really is only one valid, ideal Islamic masculinity, Dr de Sondy, Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Islam at University College Cork in Ireland, will explore key figures of the Qur'an and Indian-Pakistani Islamic history, to expose the precariousness of tight constraints on Islamic manhood.

Free and open to all. No registration required.

For further details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/events/seminars/03feb2016-the-crisis-of-islamic-masculinities.html

de Sondy Crisis of Islamic Masculinities Amanullah de Sondy, masculinity, Islam, Islamic masculinities

[Asia Research Centre] Lecture: Developments in Relations Between Pakistan and India by Mr Zahid Hussain, Fri 22 Jan 6.30pm

Synopsis:
Following the election of a new government in India and recent increased high-level contact between the two countries, Zahid Hussain will discuss challenges and current prospects for change in Pakistan and India’s bilateral relations.

For further details visit: www.lse.ac.uk/asiaResearchCentre/events/individual/2016/ZahidHussain.aspx

Developments in Relations Between Pakistan and India - 2016 - Individual - Events - Asia... Following the election of a new government in India and recent increased high-level contact between the two countries, Zahid Hussain will discuss challenges and current prospects for change in Pakistan and India’s bilateral relations.

[SOAS CSP] Talk: State and Nation-building in Pakistan: beyond Islam and Security by Professor Gurharpal Singh, Professor Ian Talbot and Professor Sarah Ansari, Thurs 8 Jan 5.30pm

Synopsis: The central argument of the work is that these challenges are to be found not in contemporary developments, but the underlying causes that can be traced to the creation of the state ,and the subsequent thwarted process of nation and state-building that leaves ‘wrong-sized’ and prone to insecurity, militarisation, and with a democratic deficit.

For further details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/07jan2016-state-and-nation-building-in-pakistan-beyond-islam-and-security.html

State and Nation-building in Pakistan: beyond Islam and Security | SOAS, University of London CSP Seminar Programme, State and Nation-building in Pakistan beyond Islam and Security, Professor Gurharpal Singh, Professor Ian Talbot, Professor Sarah Ansari, Dr James Caron

[SOS CSP] *REMINDER* Panel Discussion: APS: A turning point in Pakistan's war against terror?, TOMORROW, 7.15pm

The London campaign, Centre for the Study of Pakistan and SOAS South Asia Institute invite you to join us as we discuss the historical roots of terrorism in Pakistan and evaluate the measures the Pakistani state has taken post-APS, to curb terrorism, extremism and hate-speech.

Panelists: Dr. Farzana Shaikh, Huma Yusuf and Saqlain Imam

Further details available on: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/03dec2015-aps-a-turning-point-in-pakistans-war-against-terror.html

APS: A turning point in Pakistan's war against terror? | SOAS, University of London Dr Farzana Sheikh, Huma Yusuf, Declan Walsh, Ziad Zafar, Never Forget, APS, SOAS SSAI, Centre for the Study of Pakistan

[SOAS CSP] *Reminder* Seminar: Islamisation of Names in Pakistan by Dr Tariq Rahman, Thurs 26 Nov 5.15pm

*Free. No booking required*

Abstract:
This paper studies this trend with reference to the frequency of occurrence of Islamic names, or names perceived to be Islamic, in the most popular ten names among the different provinces and social classes of in both men and women in Pakistan. Further, the article also looks at Onomastic expressions of sectarianism and how it affects Shias and non-Muslim minorities. The naming strategies of the affected groups, including the hiding of names, the adoption of names shared with the majority etc—called onomastic destigmatization strategies—are also discussed.

Full details available on www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/26nov2015-islamisation-of-names-in-pakistan.html

Islamisation of Names in Pakistan | SOAS, University of London Islamisation of Names in Pakistan, CSP Seminar Programme, General Zia ul Haq, Tariq Rahman, SOAS South Asia Institute, Professor Michael Hutt, Beaconhouse National University

[SOAS CSP] Book Launch: The Shias of Pakistan: Andreas Rieck in Conversation, Mon 30 Nov 5pm

The Shias of Pakistan are the world’s second largest Shia community after that of Iran, but comprise only 10-15 per cent of Pakistan’s population. In recent decades Sunni extremists have increasingly targeted them with hate propaganda and terrorism, yet paradoxically Shias have always been fully integrated into all sections of political, professional and social life without suffering any discrimination. In mainstream politics, the Shia-Sunni divide has never been an issue in Pakistan.

Full details available on www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/30nov2015-the-shias-of-pakistan-andreas-rieck-in-conversation.html

The Shias of Pakistan: Andreas Rieck in Conversation | SOAS, University of London CSP, SSAI, The Shias of Pakistan, Andreas Rieck

[SOAS CSP] Seminar: Islamisation of Names in Pakistan by Dr Tariq Rahman, Thurs 26 Nov 5.15pm

Abstract:
This paper studies this trend with reference to the frequency of occurrence of Islamic names, or names perceived to be Islamic, in the most popular ten names among the different provinces and social classes of in both men and women in Pakistan. Further, the article also looks at Onomastic expressions of sectarianism and how it affects Shias and non-Muslim minorities.

For further details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/26nov2015-islamisation-of-names-in-pakistan.html

[SOAS CSP] Seminar: Rhyming One Culture with Another: A Poetry Reading and Conversation with Shadab Zeest Hashmi, Thurs 12 Nov 5.15pm

Pakistani-American poet Shadab Zeest Hashmi will present poems from her collections Baker of Tarifa and Kohl & Chalk, and discuss her work with poet Ahsan Akbar.

*No booking required*

For full details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/12nov2015-rhyming-one-culture-with-another-a-poetry-reading-and-conversation-with-shadab-zeest-hashm.html

Rhyming One Culture with Another: A Poetry Reading and Conversation with Shadab Zeest Hashmi |... Shadab Zeest Hashmi and Ahsan Akbar, CSP seminar, Rhyming One Culture with Another: A Poetry Reading and Conversation with Shadab Zeest Hashmi

[SOAS CSP] Seminar: The history of the Durand Line and its relevance today by Bijan Omrani, Thurs 22 Oct 5.15pm

*All welcome. No booking required*

Abstract:
Bijan Omrani will begin his talk by relating how the Afghan/Pakistan (British Indian) frontier evolved. He will examine the problems in the administration and practical governance of the line, with particular reference to the post-Independence period and the attitudes of all countries concerned, and discuss how these problems have given rise to legal doubts about the status of the line.

In collaboration with The Pakistan Society

For further details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/22oct2015-the-history-of-the-durand-line-and-its-relevance-today.html

The history of the Durand Line and its relevance today | SOAS, University of London

[The Muslim South Asia Research Forum - MUSA] *REMINDER*: Register for the Muslim South Asia Graduate Conference 2015, 9-10 October 2015, at the Royal Asiatic Society]

Thursday 8 October, L67, Main Building, SOAS
KEYNOTE: Michel Boivin, Centre for South Asian Studies, Paris. 'New Muslim Elite and the Vernacular: An Anthropological Perspective on Colonial Sindh'

Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October, Royal Asiatic Society, NW1 2HD
Conference programme:http://www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/musa/events/musa-annual-conference-2015/file105178.pdf

For more details and registration, visit: http://www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/musa/events/09oct2015-muslim-south-asia-graduate-conference-2015.html

www.soas.ac.uk

[SOAS CSP & The Pakistan Society] *Reminder* Seminar: The causes of radicalisation in Pakistan and in Britain by Owen Bennett Jones, TONIGHT, 7pm

*All welcome. No booking required*

Abstract:
‘Radicalisation’ seems to be on everyone’s lips. It is, of course, a contentious subject and spawns fervent opinions on every side. Owen Bennett Jones, the highly respected writer and broadcaster, intends to look at this subject in an analytical and measured way. He will examine the quoted causes – antagonism to Western foreign policy, the influence of such organizations as the TTP, poverty, and the question of national identity – and explain why these have such credence or are such a cause for dissention.

For further details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/01oct2015-the-causes-of-radicalisation-in-pakistan-and-in-britain.html

The causes of radicalisation in Pakistan and in Britain | SOAS, University of London The causes of radicalisation in Pakistan and in Britain, CSP seminar, Owen Bennett Jones, Sir William Blackburne, The Pakistan Society

[Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue] Video: Peter Sanders' The Art of Integration - Panel Discussion: You've Seen the Bad News, Now See the Good

Discussions included in the panel will be what does it mean to be British born and Muslim and what should our roles be in the society we find ourselves in. To watch the video visit: www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpDECKtxEzE

For further details about this event visit: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/05may2015-youve-seen-the-bad-news-now-see-the-good---the-art-of-integration.html

Peter Sanders' The Art of Integration - Panel Discussion: You've Seen the Bad News, Now See the Good

[The Muslim South Asia Research Forum - MUSA] Conference: Muslim South Asia Graduate Conference 2015, 9 Oct and 10 Oct

Overview
The conference aims to connect early career scholars and academics researching Muslim societies in South Asia and their diasporic communities, across disciplines and time periods. Our goal is to provide a platform for scholarly exchange and to showcase new and innovative thinking in this field.

Registration is required. For further details and to register visit: http://www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/musa/events/09oct2015-muslim-south-asia-graduate-conference-2015.html

Muslim South Asia Graduate Conference 2015 | SOAS, University of London Muslim South Asia Graduate Research Conference 2015, diasporic communities, Muslim, Royal Asiatic Society, MUSA

[SOAS South Asia Institute] Conference: Caste - out of the shadows, Sat 5 Sept, 9am

Overview
The conference will throw light on a subject that has been kept in the shadows. It will offer expertise for shaping appropriate policy on caste injustice, poverty and development by different development agencies.

This is a conference of vital importance to every organisation with an interest in development in South Asia - and beyond, since in today’s interconnected world caste-based discrimination is an issue of global importance.

*Ticket event. Registration is required*
For full details and to register visit: www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/events/caste-out-of-the-shadows/05sep2015--caste---out-of-the-shadows.html

Caste - out of the shadows | SOAS, University of London Caste - out of the shadows, conference on 5 September 2015

[The Muslim South Asia Research Forum - MUSA] CfP: Muslim South Asia Graduate Conference 2015. Deadline: Mon 15 Jun 2015

The conference aims to connect early career scholars and academics researching Muslim societies in South Asia and their diasporic communities, across disciplines and time periods. Our goal is to provide a platform for scholarly exchange and to showcase new and innovative thinking in this field.

For more details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/south-asia-institute/musa/events/09oct2015-muslim-south-asia-graduate-conference-2015.html

[SOAS Centre for Film Studies] Symposium: Established and Emerging Global Screen Cultures: Gender, Reproductions and Contemporary Cinemas, Weds 3 Jun, 10am

*All welcome. Free to attend*
This symposium brings together a kaleidoscope of academic approaches by addressing issues covering national, transnational and global concerns, which not only discuss a wide variety of spatial relations but also cover a diverse conglomeration of temporally specific contexts.

For more details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/established-and-emerging-global-screen-cultures/

[Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue] Conference: Trust and Islamic Capital, Sat 30 and Sun 31 May

Details:
This conference – part of the RCUK Global Uncertainties: ‘Muslims, Trust and Cultural Dialogue’ project – re-envisions how trust in the broadest sense is conceived between different communities, and especially between Muslim communities facing an erosion of trust post September 11, 2001, and non-Muslim communities. The conference turns to capital, and specifically Islamic capital deployed among the vast and disparate range of multilingual, multiethnic, multinational and multiregional Muslim communities, as the standpoint or venue through which to understand trust, conceptualize and grapple with trust and inculcate and produce the conditions to foster trust. -

For more details visit: www.muslimstrustdialogue.org/index.php/mtcd-in-business-and-finance/173-homepage-5 .YQOVrQP9.dpuf

Trust and Islamic Capital Conference (3) Muslims Trust and Cultural Dialogue

[SOAS CSP] Seminar: The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie: Pakistani liberals and the War on Terror by Saadia Toor, Thurs 21 May, 6.15pm

*All welcome. No booking required*

Abstract:
The 14-year old War on Terror has survived two different US administrations, and while it began as a neoconservative project, under Obama it emerged as a quintessentially liberal one. And so, ironically, while George W. Bush’s claim that the invasion of Afghanistan was about saving Afghan women was widely panned by US liberals, the mainstream liberal discourse today frames the WoT as a war for liberal values (Civilization) against Barbarism within which the ‘oppressed Muslim woman’ is an essential trope.

For further details visit: www.soas.ac.uk/csp/events/seminars/21may2015-the-discreet-charm-of-the-bourgeoisie-pakistani-liberals-and-the-war-on-terror.html

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie: Pakistani liberals and the War on Terror | SOAS,... Saadia Toor, CSP Seminar