Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences - Institute of Asian and African Studies

Upcoming events

July 2024


On July 12, PD Dr. Daniel Bultmann will give the lecture "Towards an Analysis of the Cambodian Social Structure" at Paragon University in Phnom Penh.

 

On July 18th at 4:30 pm Dr. Zacky Khairul Umam of the Indonesian International Islamic University (UIII, Depok) will hold the talk "With/out Europe: Rethinking Cosmopolitan Islam in Indonesia" in room 117 of the IAAW.

Dr. Zacky Khairul Umam is a lecturer in the Faculty of Islamic Studies at UIII. He studied Middle Eastern languages, history, and philosophy in Jakarta and Canberra, and pre-modern Islamic history and thought in Istanbul and Berlin. His current research areas include the intellectual history of Islam, manuscripts, and global history, especially between 1600 and 1900, for which he received several international research fellowships. In addition to his academic work, he comments and publishes on current issues in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. His forthcoming articles include an aspect of cosmopolitan Islam in Indonesia, the Islamic manuscript tradition in Aceh, and an African theology in Sumatra.

 

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On July 19th at 5 pm Nilanjana Sengupta, Ma Thida and Johanna Neumann will hold a dinner talk about Female Voices of Myanmar in Room 315 of the IAAW. Burmese Snacks will be provided.
 
A talk that looks at how political and social forces have contributed and reinforced gender roles, inequalities and power dynamics down the years for Myanmar. It will travel back to the past to explore the structures of patriarchy and socialization which restricted women from attaining centralized leadership roles in the twin public domains of politics and religion, assess the messages of both female-empowerment and disempowerment that was represented by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as focus on the present - how women are taking the current political crisis as an opportunity to reshape the narrative of women’s role in society in addition to opposing the military takeover. Trends and pitfalls of the new era of female activism will be discussed and important insights into the debate on gender and political change in societies affected by conflict will be offered.
 
Please register in advance via email: johanna.neumann.1 (at) hu-berlin.de

 

August 2024

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On August 22 at 18:00, Dr. Theara Thun will present his book Epistemology of the Past: Texts, History, and Intellectuals of Cambodia, 1855-1970.

The encounter of indigenous history-making tradition with Western historical practice has been long neglected in Southeast Asian scholarship. Epistemology of the Past: Texts, History, and Intellectuals of Cambodia, 1855–1970 offers one of the first critical and systematic studies of the interface between these two distinctive modes of historical presentation and their impacts on society. By examining historical discourses on Cambodia through the precolonial, colonial, and post-independence years, the book presents a compelling account of indigenous scholars, with varying perspectives, who advocated competing versions of history. It argues that precolonial history-making practices persisted alongside Western historical writings, leading to the development of a unique body of knowledge with its own distinct epistemology. The book makes an important contribution to scholarship on colonial and post-independence Southeast Asia, especially indigenous epistemologies, intellectual history, transculturation and translation, and on the collective historical imagination.

 

Link for the book: https://uhpress.hawaii.edu/title/epistemology-of-the-past-texts-history-and-intellectuals-of-cambodia-1850-1970/