Tag Archives: Middle East

Register for “Living Communities and Their Archaeologies” conference (12–13 Sept 2019)

We warmly welcome you all to attend the conference “Living Communities and Their Archaeologies: From the Middle East to the Nordic countries” at the University of Helsinki on Thu 12 and Fri 13 September 2019.

You can REGISTER HERE (open until 5 sept) and find more information about the conference and its programme.

Conference venue: Athena 166 (Thu) and 167 (Fri), Siltavuorenpenger 3A, Helsinki. (Note that we have only limited seating available at the conference venue.)

The field of community archaeology has been growing for several decades and has been explored in many countries across the world, including countries in Northern Europe and the Middle East. One of the issues that has sprung up in this research and practice has been the fundamental issue of what we understand as “community archaeology”. This seemingly simple question refers both to the “communities” and the “archaeologies” concerned, and to the interrelations between them. Which communities are we addressing when doing community archaeology (and which are ignored)? What approaches to archaeology do we employ? Is it only excavation, does community archaeology end when the excavation season is over? How do we affect the community in which (or with which) we work? How does the community affect us, the archaeologists? And how can we measure and explain success or failure of “community archaeology” projects?

We are very happy to have as keynote speakers: Dr. Shatha Abu Khafajah (Hashemite University, Zarqa), Dr. Tawfiq Da’adli (The Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Dr. Paula Kouki (City of Hamina / University of Helsinki), and Dr. Gabriel Moshenska (University College London).

The conference is sponsored by the Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires (www.helsinki.fi/anee) and the Centre of Excellence in Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions (www.cstt.fi)

(Photo courtesy of Gideon Sulimani)

Call For Pa­per: Liv­ing Communities and Their Archaeologies, Helsinki, 12–14 Sept. 2019

We are happy to announce the Call for Papers for the “Living Communities and Their Archaeologies: From the Middle East to the Nordic Countries” conference (LiveArch2019), hosted at the University of Helsinki, from Thursday 12 September to Saturday 14 September 2019.

It is our pleasure to announce that the following keynote speakers: Shatha Abu Khafajah (Hashemite University), Tawfiq Da’adli (Hebrew University of Jerusalem), Paula Kouki (Director of Cultural services, Museums and Events, Town of Hamina, Finland), and Gabriel Moshenska (University College London)

Paper proposals can now be submitted via the EasyChair CFP platform: https://easychair.org/cfp/LiveArch2019. Please note that the deadline for submission is 30 April 2019.

The “Living Communities and Their Archaeologies” conference welcomes presentations addressing the fundamental issue of what we understand as “community archaeology”. This seemingly simple question refers both to the “communities” and the “archaeologies” concerned, and to the interrelations between them. Which communities are we addressing when doing community archaeology (and which are ignored)? What approaches to archaeology do we employ? Is it only excavation, does community archaeology end when the excavation season is over? How do we affect the community in which (or with which) we work? How does the community affect us, the archaeologists? And how can we measure and explain success or failure of “community archaeology” projects?

These questions are still to be expanded upon within the contexts of Middle Eastern archaeology and archaeology in the Nordic and Baltic countries. The aim of this conference is to think critically about relationships between communities and archaeologies theoretically as well as by discussing practical cases from cultures that are quite different from each other.

We especially welcome paper proposals that focus on the following themes within the geographical contexts of the Middle East and/or the Nordic and Baltic countries:

  • Defining and reflecting on “community” in community archaeology;
  • Archaeologists as a community in themselves;
  • Which archaeologies to employ in community archaeology;
  • Measuring the success and failure of community archaeology.

We are happy to emphasise that accommodation cost for the full duration of the conference will be covered by the organisers for all presenters whose papers are selected.

More information about the conference can be found on our website: https://www.helsinki.fi/en/conferences/living-communities-and-their-archaeologies

Organizers: Rick Bonnie, Suzie Thomas, Raz Kletter, and Marta Lorenzon

Photo courtesy of G. Sulymani.

Workshop: “Global and Local Cultures in the Roman East” (Helsinki, 28-30 Nov 2018)

Workshop:  Global and Local Cultures in the Roman East: From Domination to Interaction

Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki, 28–30 November 2018

The workshop is organized by the Globalization, Urbanization and Urban Religion in the Eastern Mediterranean in the Roman and Early Islamic period workshop series, funded by The Joint Committee for Nordic research councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOS-HS) and by the Academy of Finland Centre of Excellence Changes in Sacred Texts and Traditions, Faculty of Theology, University of Helsinki.

The workshop is the first in a series of three workshops organized jointly by the University of Helsinki (Raimo Hakola, Rick Bonnie), Aarhus University (Rubina Raja) and the University of Bergen (Simon Malmberg, Eivind Heldas Seeland).

The program of the workshop can be found using the following link: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/sacredtexts/files/2018/10/Helsinki-workshop_schedules-29102018.pdf.

The workshop is free and open to all. However, we would like participants to register using the following form before November 15: https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/93066/lomake.html

For further information about this workshop, please email raimo.hakola@helsinki.fi and/or rick.bonnie@helsinki.fi.

 

 

CSTT Meets Contemporary Studies of the Middle East: FIME Colloquium in Turku

by Jutta Jokiranta

Several CSTT members participated in the Third Colloquium of the Finnish Institute in the Middle East (FIME), titled ”Concord, Conflict and Co-existence: Religion and Society in the Middle East and North Africa,” 5–7 June, 2014 in Turku, Finland. Continue reading CSTT Meets Contemporary Studies of the Middle East: FIME Colloquium in Turku