Approaches and Perspectives for the Caucasus and Central Asia
On 11 March 2024, the Faculty of History hosted a one-day workshop, Approaches and Perspectives for the Caucasus and Central Asia. The workshop was convened by DPhil students Benjamin Sharkey (medieval Central Asia), Roman Osharov (imperial and early Soviet Central Asia and the Caucasus) and Jan Tomek (contemporary Central Asia and the Caucasus). The aim of the workshop was to provide a forum for graduate students and early career researchers working on the Caucasus and Central Asia. The participants of the workshop examined approaches to the study of the Caucasus and Central Asia and perspectives on the region in disciplines ranging from History and Asian and Middle Eastern Studies to Area Studies and Political Science, thus fostering cross-disciplinary understanding and collaboration. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Oxford Nizami Ganjavi Centre for the study of the History, Languages, and Cultures of Azerbaijan, the Caucasus and Central Asia, based at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, the Faculty of History and Magdalen College.
Programme
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9:00-9:30 |
Arrival and welcome |
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9:30-10:30 |
Panel 1 |
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Chair/Discussant |
Dr Michael Shenkar |
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Alexandra Slucky, University of York |
Culinary Communities of the Silk Roads: an isotopic and archaeobotanical approach to exploring dietary patterns in Medieval Urban Central Asia |
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Benjamin Sharkey, University of Oxford |
Writing Central Asian history from the perspective of minority faith communities: Central Asian Christians |
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10:30-10:45 |
Coffee break |
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10:45-11:45 |
Panel 2 |
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Chair/Discussant |
Dr Mollie Arbuthnot |
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Malika Zehni, IHR and University of Cambridge |
Imperial gaze and infectious narratives: recording medical crises in Russian Central Asia |
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Roman Osharov, University of Oxford |
The Caucasus and Central Asia under Russian rule - transfer of people and knowledge on Russia's imperial borderlands, 1870-1890 |
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11:45-13:00 |
Lunch |
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13:00-14:00 |
Panel 3 |
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Chair/Discussant |
Dr Tamar Koplatadze |
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Jonas Löffler, University of Cologne |
Between Colonial Rule and Local Self-Empowerment. Western Art Music in Tiflis/Tbilisi around 1900 |
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Ali Porteous, University of Oxford |
'Ridiculing fellow countrymen and heaping praise upon Europeans': The Uses and Abuses of Satire in the Azerbaijani Press (1906-1914) |
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14:00-14:15 |
Coffee break |
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14:15-15:15 |
Panel 4 |
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Chair/Discussant |
Dr Alexander Morrison |
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Matthias Battis, University of Oxford |
Stalinabad 1930: The convergence of scholarship and politics at the Tajik language congress |
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Kamila Akhmedjanova, University of Oxford |
Central Asian intellectual trends in the 19th century - case study of Ahmad Donish |
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15:15-15:30 |
Coffee break |
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15:30-17:15 |
Panel 5 |
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Chair/Discussant |
Prof Edmund Herzig |
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Sofya du Boulay (Omarova), USTA Mentorship Program |
Constructing foundational myths in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan |
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Abigail Scripka, ZZF Potsdam |
Negotiating Traditional Identity in Kazakhstan Post-Independence through Tengrism |
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Megi Kartsivadze, University of Oxford |
Nation-building and the Legacy of Stalinism in post-Soviet Georgia |
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Jan Tomek, University of Oxford |
The conceptual standing of Iran and Turkey in the nation-building of the republics of the Caspian-Central Asia region |
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17:15-17:30 |
Coffee break |
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17:30-18:30 |
Concluding roundtable |
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