On Friday, 8 November, from 3 to 7 PM, the Asian Studies Centre hosted a workshop on Chinese and Arabic calligraphy, led by Dr Yu Hong and Iyad Shraim M.A.
After a theoretical introduction by both instructors, the participants were given an insight into the respective styles of calligraphy. In the practical part of the workshop, they were then able to create their first own calligraphic artworks in one of the two styles.

07 - 08 November 2024

Photography has been an important tool among the Western imperialists colonizing Asia. Having been invented in the mid-nineteenth century, the images that it captured were quiet but effective mediums of categorization, racialization and epitomization and were also used for missionary aims.
This workshop, therefore, will delve further into this topic discussing the most recent trends and perspectives on colonial photography with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. Featuring researchers from Germany, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and the United States, this event will discuss the logics behind the photographs, their relationship with religion, modes of resistance against them as well as approaches as to how to deal with them in the present.

The student councils of Arabic and Islamic Studies & Sinology invited to a Halloween Night on October 31, 2024. The event offered a great opportunity to engage in conversation with students from both departments in a relaxed atmosphere.

In addition to the festive mood and the chance to exchange ideas, there were creative costumes which made the evening even more enjoyable.

Prof. Dr. Abe Yukinobu 阿部幸信 from Chuo University 中央大学 will be a guest at the Institute of Sinology and East Asian Studies on Wednesday, 30 October 2024, and will give a lecture on the topic "Usage of local governor's seals andstate structure of the Han dynasty". The lecture will start at 6 PM c.t. in seminar room RS 23.

The first Asian Studies Centre's general meeting took place on Monday, 28 October 2024, from 6 to 8 pm at room RS 23, Institute of Sinology and East Asian Studies, Schlaunstr. 2 in 48143 Münster. The minutes will be sent to the members shortly.

Prof. Dr. Griet Vankeerberghen from McGill University will give a guest lecture on Monday, 21 October 2024, at 6 PM c.t. in the seminar room of the Institute of Sinology and East Asian Studies. The topic is "Local Officials and the Making of Empire in Western Han (202 BCE-8 CE)".

Abstract
The Western Han empire impresses observers by its uniformity, able as it was to impose administration via commanderies and counties even on its remote territories. To accomplish such rule, the court relied on a cadre of loyal officials who staffed the bureaucracy and applied court-issued legal regulations throughout the realm.
This paper will look behind this apparent uniformity and reevaluate the role played by low- and mid-level local officials in governance. They will be presented not as instruments of the will of the central government, but as agents. Attracted by the possibility of upward career and social mobility, these local officials wanted to serve; but they also brought to the official corps of complex identities rooted in local configurations of power. As such they helped the court to bridge the divide between the political-cultural world of the capital and the diverse cultures of the regions.

From September 5 to 7, 2024, the German-Japanese bilateral conference "Textual Transmission in the Islamic Manuscript Age: On the Variance, Reception, and Usage of Arabic and Persian Works from the Middle East to the Indian Subcontinent" will take place at the University of Münster.

The conference is jointly organized by Prof. Dr. Yui Kanda from the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa (ILCAA) at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and Prof. Dr. Philip Bockholt. The goal of this international cooperation between scholars from Germany and Japan is to enrich and promote the international discourse on the production, transmission, and reception of texts from the Middle East, particularly in the fields of Arabic Studies, Islamic Studies, and Iranian Studies, which are strongly represented in both countries.

We are delighted to welcome the first two graduates of the Greater China Certificate. Students Julian Sandten and Monja Anna Horstkötter received their certificates this week. Congratulations on their successful graduation!

On 10 July 2024, the event "Scientific Cooperation with China" took place in front of around 30 participants. After the welcome address by Vice-Rector Prof. Dr. Michael Quante and organiser Jun.-Prof. Dr. Anne Schmiedl, there were two presentations followed by a Q&A session and discussion.

On Thursday, July 4, 2024, Prof. Dr. Yui Kanda from the Research Institute for Languages ​​and Cultures of Asia and Africa at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies will give the third lecture in our 2024 summer lecture series. She is currently a guest at the Institute of Arabic and Islamic Studies in Münster following an invitation from Prof. Dr. Philip Bockholt.

In her lecture, Yui Kanda will talk about early Koran manuscripts that allegedly bear the signatures of the twelve imams and were donated to shrine libraries in Iran in the 16th and 17th centuries:

This study explores Shāh ʿAbbās I’s (r. 1588–1629) policy towards Āstān-i Quds in Mashhad by examining manuscripts and artworks he endowed to the mausoleum of Imām Riżā, the only mausoleum of the Twelver Imāms in Iran. It focuses on a group of ninth- and tenth-century Qurʾāns written in Kufic (angular) script on parchment, donated around 1600 and allegedly bearing the Twelver Imāms' signatures. By analyzing treatises on calligraphy, chronicles, manuscript annotations, and inventory records from the Safavid to Qajar periods, this presentation aims not only to reveal the relic-like status of these Qurʾāns but also to enhance understanding of the legacy of Shāh ʿAbbās’s charitable acts to Āstān-i Quds, extending into the Qajar era.
 
The lecture begins at 6:15 p.m. in room RS 225 (Schlaunstrasse 2, 2nd floor). The institute looks forward to seeing you there!


 

We would like to invite you to a guest lecture by Sanabel Abdelrahman entitled “Palestinian Magical Realism as Resistance Literature” on Monday, 17 June 2024, 6:15 pm.

The talk will give an overview of magical realism within Palestinian literature. Specifically, magical realism will be approached as a literary mode used to resist colonial plunders, such as that of Palestinians’ physical spaces, memory, culture, and collective identity. This approach shows that magical realism, with its strands of surrealism, political Gothicism, science (and speculative) fiction, fantasy, and absurdism, resist the ongoing ramifications of the Nakba manifested in the distortion of physical structures (including Palestinian bodies) as well as metaphysical ones, such as identity, memory, empirical senses, temporality, and hope.

In her presentation, Sanabel Abdelrahman will reference some recurring figures and tropes from Palestinian folktales and contemporary literary works, such as ghosts, mythical creatures, dreams, and nightmares, as well as processes, such as concretization (tamaddī), metamorphosis, resurrection, animism, and the manipulation of time to expound the magical-realistic impetus. Drawing on Palestinian literary texts such as Emile Habiby’s Sarāya Bint al-Ghūl ("Saraya, the Ogre's Daughter", 1991), Elias Khoury’s Bāb al-Shams ("Gate of the Sun", 1998), and Sheikha Hlewa’s Ṭalabiyya C345 (2018) as well as the folktales in Qūl yā Ṭayr (2001), she will show, for example, that Palestinian ghosts emerging from the bodies of martyrs or water bodies are actors instilled with agency, actively reminding Palestinians collectively of the Nakba while disseminating ideas of future liberation.
Sanabel Abdelrahman holds a PhD in Arabic Studies, focusing on magical realism in Palestinian literature, from Philipps-Universität Marburg. She completed her BA and MA at the University of Toronto’s Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. She is a bilingual writer and publishes essays critiquing art and literature on platforms including Fus7a, al-Akhbar, 7iber, Jadaliyya, and NO NIIN. In the academic year 2023/24, she is a EUME Fellow at the Forum Transregionale Studien.

Venue:
Institute for Arabic and Islamic Studies
Room RS 225, 2nd floor
Schlaunstraße 2, 48143 Münster

For a participation via Zoom, please contact AOR Dr. Barbara Winckler, barbara.winckler@uni-muenster.de.

On Wednesday, 12 June 2024, 6 PM c.t., Prof. Dr. Thomas Fröhlich, Asia-Africa Institute of the University of Hamburg, will speak at the Institute of Sinology and East Asian Studies on "Modern China and the 'West': Conceptual-historical aspects of a field of tension". Interested participants are very welcome!

Abstract:

For some years now, there have been increasing signs in China that the "West" is primarily perceived as an antagonist. This development marks a rupture in the Chinese perception of the West, as can be traced back to the turn of the 20th century and the first decades after 1949. The lecture will discuss the historical dimension of this rupture and at the same time shed light on the significance of the concept of the "West" for modern China.

This report presents empirical fndings from the mixedmethods study "Social cohesion in times of crisis. The corona pandemic and anti-Asian racism in Germany" and discusses them in the context of the historical background such as German colonialism and the current academic and public perception of anti-Asian racism. The results are based on a quantitative survey with 703 participants and a qualitative diary study with 82 participants from Asian, Asian-diasporic and Asian German communities in autumn/ winter 2020. The report focuses on the extent, forms, places, consequences and handling of anti-Asian racism during the pandemic from the perspective of people perceived as "Asian" in Germany. Another key topic is the intersection of anti-Asian racism with the structural category of gender. Furthermore, the results of a quantitative survey (three waves) aimed at the general German population are summarised. The question was which socio-psychological factors can promote anti-Asian racism.

The Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) awards research fellowships for stays in Japan for postdocs from all disciplines. Research stays from 1 to 12 months (Short-term Postdoctoral Fellowships) and from 12 to 24 months (Standard Postdoctoral Fellowships) are funded. Further information can be found on the Humboldt Foundation website.

On 13 May 2024, the official opening of the Asian Studies Centre took place at Heereman'scher Hof (University of Münster Professional School). In addition to the objectives and tasks of the Asian Studies Centre, the certificates and the new logo were presented. Prof. Dr. Carmen Brandt, Chairwoman of the German Association for Asian Studies (DGA) and Professor of Contemporary South Asian Studies at the University of Bonn, gave the keynote speech. The event concluded with the annual Study India Day with guest of honour Mubarak Bawa Syed, Consul General of India from Frankfurt.

 

Vom 19. April bis zum 4. Juli 2024 findet in Indien die Wahl für das Bundesparlament, den Lok Sabha, statt. Mit knapp einer Milliarde Stimmberechtigter ist die Wahl wie schon die Male zuvor eine logistische Herausforderung und innerhalb des Super-Wahljahres 2024 eine wichtige Kennmarke. Nichtsdestotrotz ist für viele hier in Deutschland Indien weiterhin eine große Unbekannte. Irgendetwas zwischen Yoga, heiligen Kühen und Callcentern. Der Indienwahlabend, gefördert vom Förderverein des Instituts für Politikwissenschaft (IfPol), setzt hier an und möchte die Wahl in Indien verständlicher machen und Interesse wecken, sich mehr damit zu beschäftigen. Es soll somit nicht nur um die aktuelle indische Politik und die Wahl gehen, sondern auch einen Bogen spannen warum dies auch für Deutschland eine wichtige Wahl ist. Der Abend wird geleitet von Anica Roßmöller, die vor ihrer aktuellen Tätigkeit als wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin am IfPol mehrere Jahre Referentin am Bayerisch-Indischen Zentrum für Wirtschaft und Hochschulen war.

Place: Institute for Political Science, SCH100.2 (Campus map)
Date: 07th May 2024, 7 PM (s.t.)

From December 2023 to April 2024, the Asian Studies Centre launched a logo competition. There were many creative and beautiful ideas. The three winners will be honored at the opening of the Asian Studies Centre on 13 May 2024.
The designs of the participants who agreed to publication can be found in an image gallery.
The Asian Studies Centre would like to thank everyone who took part in the competition!

18th - 20th April 2024

The long twentieth century has been regarded variably as a 'century of death.' The twentieth and twenty-first centuries have witnessed a proliferation of academic literature inquiring experiences of death and mourning. While much has been penned about the paradigms of death in the 'Global North,' there exists uneven temporalities in the academic reception of death, specifically in South Asian contexts. Death Studies as a discipline is widely conceived from within individualist, white Western hegemonies and through their appendant epistemologies that foreclose engagements with, among others, South Asian relationalities, belief systems, and established structures of mourning. The First International Conference on Critical South Asian Death Studies situates itself in this gap, paying heed to critical approaches to death, dying, grieving and end-of-life care in South Asia; mobilizing critical, intersectional, and radical contextualisms that emphasize distinct bio-medical, metaphorical, cultural, and social forms of death.

For further information and registration please visit the Postcolonial, Transnational and Transcultural Studies' (PTTS) website.