The Mediterranean world has a rich history of encounters between people of various cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Given the often contentious nature of current discourse on the region, it is beneficial to adopt an inter-disciplinary approach to its study. Thus the Middle East Graduate Association of the University of Cambridge is hosting this conference to bring together studies on the exchange and interaction between various peoples within the Mediterranean in areas of trade, culture, literature and relations of power. The conference will be organized along several main themes: European and Middle Eastern historiography of the Mediterranean, the Mediterranean as a trade zone, Relations of power within the Mediterranean and the Mediterranean in literature and culture.

Supported by:
CRASSH
Middle East Graduate Association (MEGA)

Conveners:
Murat Menguc (Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge)
Amina Elbendary (Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge)
Academic Advisor:
Irad Malkin (Professor of Ancient Greek History, Tel Aviv University)

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Programme:

Friday 11 February
10.00-10.30 Coffee and Registration
10.30-11.00 Welcome and Opening Remarks
David Abulafia (Professor of Mediterranean History, University of Cambridge)
11.00-13.00 Session One
Chair: Ludmilla Jordanova (CRASSH, University of Cambridge)

The Mediterranean Option
Irad Malkin (Professor of Ancient Greek History, Tel Aviv University)

The Forgotten History of Cosmopolitanism
Dr William Gallois (Mellon Fellow in History, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)

The Legacy of Mediterranean Cosmopolitanism and the Political Rhetoric of Identity in Modern Egypt: The Case of Women
Mona El- Sherif (Department of Near Eastern Studies, University of California Berkeley)

13.00-14.00 Lunch
14.00-15.45 Session Two: Identities
Chair: Murat Menguc (Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Cambridge)

East meets West: Constructing a Mediterranean Identity in Albert Camus's La nouvelle culture méditerranéenne
Neil Foxlee (University of Central Lancashire)

Orienting the Mezzogiorno: The Italian Southern Question and the Mediterranean Races, 1861-1911
Aliza S. Wong (Faculty of History, Texas Tech University)

Beirut: A Case-Study in the Limits of Hellenisation
Nadine Boksmati (University of Cambridge)

15.45-16.15 Tea and Coffee
16.15-17.45 Session Three: The Mediterranean City
Chair: Paul Cartledge (Professor of Greek History, University of Cambridge)

Grog Shop Encounters in Alexandria, 1880-1900
Will Hanley (History Department, Princeton University)

Profile of a Mediterranean City: The Case of Medieval Scutari (XIV-XV Century)
Mag. Enriketa Pandelejmoni (Department for Southeast European History, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz)

Levantine Christians and Muslims in Early Modern Venice: Communities, Networks and Identities
Georgios Plakotos (Department of Modern History, University of Glasgow)

Saturday 12 February
9.30-10.30 Mediterranean History as World History
Peregrine Horden (Reader in Medieval History, Royal Holloway, University of London)
10.30-11.00 Tea and Coffee
11.00-13.00 Session Four: Session 4: Historical Constructs
Chair: TBC

The Map of the Christian Topography and its Influence
Maja Kominko (University of Oxford)

Religious Borders, Mobility and Conversion in the Mediterranean around 1600
Kim Siebenhüner (Modern History Faculty, University of Oxford)

Trade, Western Merchants and Ottoman Law in the Mediterranean: The Evidence of a Manuscript from the Bibliothčque Nationale in Paris
Viorel Panaite (University of Bucharest)

13.00-14.00 Lunch
14.00-15.30 Session Five: Europe and the Mediterranean
Chair: Irad Malkin (Professor of Ancient Greek History, Tel Aviv University)

Similarities and Differences between the Regional Development (Policies) of Turkey, Greece, Italy and Spain as Mediterranean Countries in the Globalization Process
Levin Özgen (Süleyman Demirel University)

Trade and Security in the Mediterranean: Comparing EU and US Free Trade Strategies in the Maghreb
Jean F. Crombois (Alakhawayn University, Ifrane, Morocco)

Turkey's Straits: A Contested Conduit between Europe and Asia
Susan Allen (Providence College, USA)

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Registration
A booking form is available to download at the web address provided below.
Please return booking forms by 4 February. Please direct any enquiries about the conference to events@crassh.cam.ac.uk with your details.

For more information about the academic content of the conference, please contact the convener Murat Menguc (e-mail address follows).