The Inaugural Gingko Conference 2014

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgiM13uR6-U Inaugural Conference 6-7 December 2014 SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) and the New College for the Humanities, London Convened by HRH Prince Hassan of Jordan and Barbara Haus Schwepcke of the Gingko Library ‘The First World War and its Aftermath: The Shaping of the Middle East’ The Gingko Conference series brings together scholars from the East and the West. The Gingko conferences are designed to complement the Gingko Library, a project to publish one hundred books over the next ten years, presenting the latest work in both Arabic and English across the full range of humanities, social sciences and sciences relating to the Middle East and North Africa. The first Gingko conference, to be held in London on 6–7 December 2014, focuses on the effects of the First World War on the Middle East. Our guest speakers include Eugene Rogan of the University of Oxford, Leila Fawaz of Tufts University and Alaa Al Aswany multiple award-winning Egyptian writer of The Yacoubian Building (2002) and Democracy is the Answer: Egypt’s Years of Revolution (forthcoming). The inaugural Gingko conference looks at the immediate aftermath of the First World War with a particular focus on how the period began a long process of reshaping the identities of the peoples of the Middle East. How has our understanding of this history changed in both Western and Middle Eastern scholarship? What is the relevance of this history to the self-understanding of the people and politics of the region? What are the implications in terms of the concept of nation state and national boundaries? How did it influence the legitimacy and governance in the region? What lessons can be drawn from this period for both West and East when looking at the challenges and opportunities in the Middle East today? To learn more about the conference, or to register visit www.thegingkolibrary.com