30 September 2024
11:00 AM - 5:00 PM London / 1:00 PM - 7:00 PM Doha
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of Qatar Digital Library (QDL), this event is a collaborative online conference organized by Qatar National Library and the British Library. This conference provides a space for academics, researchers and practitioners, to discuss their work conducted using QDL, showcasing the extensive array of material available on the platform.
The event features three insightful panels, each dedicated to a distinct theme:
- History of the Middle East
- History of Business in the Gulf
- Arabic Manuscripts
Each panel, moderated by an expert, will consist of three speakers who will present their work, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Join us for an engaging experience that offers unique insights, stimulating discussions, and the opportunity to interact with leading researchers in their fields.
To register for free, click below.
RegisterProgram
Panel 1: History of the Middle East
11:00 AM – 1:00 PM London / 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM Doha
- An Archival Journey through the Qatar Peninsula
Sue-Ann Harding, Professor of Translation and Intercultural Studies at Queen’s University Belfast, UK - Why writing Contemporary History Matters?
Mahjoob Zweiri, Professor of Contemporary History and Politics of the Middle East at Qatar University - Use of QDL in historical archaeology in Qatar
Robert Carter, Senior Archaeology Specialist at Qatar Museum - Question & answer session
- Moderator: Rawad Bou Malhab, Head of Manuscripts and Archives at Qatar National Library
Panel 2: History of Business in the Gulf
1:00 – 3:00 PM London / 3:00 – 5:00 PM Doha
- OPEC, Land Rent and the Meaning of the 1973 ‘Oil Shock’
Giuliano Garavini, Associate Professor at Roma Tre University, Italy - Ottoman Shipping in the Indian Ocean and Basra as Contrapot of the Gulf, 1650-1900
Michael O’Sullivan, Assistant Professor of South Asian History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, US - Europeans and the Gulf: Trade and Cultural Exchange through the QDL
Peter Good, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies - Question & answer session
- Moderator: Adi Keinan-Schoonbaert, Digital Curator for Asian and African Collections at the British Library
Panel 3: Arabic Manuscripts
3:00 – 5:00 PM London / 5:00 – 7:00 PM Doha
- Paper in 19th-century Iran: history, production, imports and uses
Amélie Couvrat Desvergnes, Independent paper and book conservator & researcher, Utrecht, The Netherlands - The Arab Gulf Almanac Tradition
Daniel Martin Varisco, Anthropologist and historian, former Research Professor at Qatar University - Reminiscences on the Year QDL Saved Me
Nawal Nasrallah, US-based Iraqi food writer - Question & answer session
- Moderator: Dr. Mahmoud Zaki, Information Services Librarian, Distinctive Collections, Qatar National Library
Speakers
Sue-Ann Harding
Sue-Ann Harding is a Professor of Translation and Intercultural Studies at Queen’s University Belfast, UK. Her research investigates translation in diverse contexts, particularly in sites of narrative contestation. Previously Assistant Professor of Translation Studies at the Translation and Interpreting Institute, Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar (2012-2017), she has published widely in leading Translation Studies Journals, is President of IATIS (International Association of Translation and Intercultural Studies), co-editor of The Translator and author of An Archival Journey Through the Qatar Peninsula: Elusive and Precarious, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022).
Mahjoob Zweiri
Dr. Zweiri is Professor of Contemporary History and Politics of the Middle East, and former Director of the Gulf Studies Center at Qatar University. He is the Senior Editor of Contemporary Gulf Studies Series”. Which includes Contemporary Qatar: Examining State and Society, published in 2021. The Making of Contemporary Kuwait: Identity, Politics, and its Survival Strategy, 2024. Contemporary Oman: The Sultan, the People and the Legacy of Peace, 2024.
Michael O’Sullivan
Dr. O’Sullivan is Assistant Professor of South Asian History at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and Senior Research Fellow for CAPASIA at the European University Institute, Florence. He is the author of No Birds of Passage: A History of Gujarati Muslim Business Communities, 1800–1975, published in 2023.
Amélie Couvrat Desvergnes
Ms Couvrat Desvergnes is a paper and book conservator and currently works at the KB, National Library of the Netherlands. She has also worked freelance in France, at the Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar and at the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam. She specializes in the materiality and conservation of Islamic and South Asian manuscripts and has published numerous works on the subject. She is co-author of History of Paper in Iran, 1501-1925, published in 2022 with Willem Floor.
Daniel Martin Varisco
Daniel Martin Varisco is an anthropologist and historian who has conducted research on almanac lore in Qatar in 1989 and later as a professor at Qatar University from 2014-2017. His book Seasonal Knowledge and the Almanac Tradition in the Arab Gulf was published in 2022. He has published on Islamic folk astronomy, the history of Arab agriculture, Arab seafaring, Rasulid Yemen and Arabic tribal genealogy. He is currently retired and living in New York.
Nawal Nasrallah
Nawal Nasrallah is a U.S.-based Iraqi food writer specialized in the history and culture of Arab food with special interest in translating into English medieval Arabic cookbooks, Of her published translations: Annals of the Caliphs’ Kitchens by Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq, from 10th-century Baghdad (2007); Treasure Trove of Benefits and Variety at the Table from 14th-centruy Egypt (2018); Best of Delectable Foods and Dishes by Ibn Razīn al-Tujībī from 13th-century al-Andalus (2021); and forthcoming Smorgasbords of Andalusi and Maghribi Dishes and Their Salutary Benefits, also from 13th-century al-Andalus; all published by Brill.
Giuliano Garavini
Giuliano Garavini teaches International History at Roma Tre University in Rome. His main research interests include European integration, decolonization, and global struggles over natural resources. He has published on the interconnection between European integration and decolonization (After Empires, 2012), and on the global history of petroleum and of energy, in particular on the origins and significance of the 1973 'oil shock' (Oil Shock: The 1973 Crisis and its Economic Legacy, 2016) and on the 'counter-shock' in 1986 (Counter-Shock: The Oil Counter-Revolution of the 1980s, 2018). His last book is The Rise and Fall of OPEC in the Twentieth Century (2019).
Robert Carter
Robert Carter is Senior Archaeology Specialist at Qatar Museums, specializing in the archaeology, history, and heritage of Qatar and the Arabian Gulf. His main research project with QM focuses on the Early Islamic period occupation of Qatar (Landscapes of Faith Project). Previously based at UCL Qatar, his major research project, The Origins of Doha and Qatar, combined archaeology, historical research, GIS, architectural studies, and oral histories to explore Doha and Qatar’s development. Among other books, he authored Sea of Pearls: Seven Thousand Years of the Industry That Shaped the Gulf (2012), due to be republished in 2024/5 in both English and Arabic. For more info click here.
Dr. Peter Good
Dr. Peter Good is a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. His current research focuses on the trade in Persian products around the Indian Ocean and its impact upon our understanding of the role of material and intangible culture in the adoption of "Persianate" ideas and habits. His first book, "The East India Company in Persia: Trade and Cultural Exchange in the Eighteenth Century" explored the often overlooked political and economic part played by the Company in Persia and the Gulf.