Forum Presentations
Presentations at the Scholars Forum, March 14-15, 2011, George Mason University
As one of two events in the project, a Scholars Forum was held from March 13-15, 2011 at George Mason University under the auspices of the Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies at George Mason University, under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities that is part of the Bridging Cultures Initiative. The Forum brought together more than 20 scholars in the fields of Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal history and 7 leading world historians. About 100 invited guests and faculty attended the interactive sessions. In addition to forum presentations highlighting their research on the transformation of Muslim societies during this period, the scholars were invited to reflect on the paradigms of golden age and decline and offer new perspectives with a view to understanding the world historical significance of Muslim societies and their contribution to the modern period, and contribute to round-table discussions on these topics. Further reflections by the scholars can be found on this website under Forum Issues and Resources.
1. Opening Remarks
Cemil Aydin, George Mason University, Principal Investigator of the Project and Director, Ali Vural Ak Center for Global Islamic Studies
Peter Stearns, Provost, George Mason University
Robert Vaughan, President, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities
Jim Leach, Chairman, National Endowment for the Humanties
2. Plenary Panel: Art and Architecture of Muslim Societies
Gulru Necipoglu, Harvard University
Massumeh Farhad, Smithsonian Freer and Sackler Galleries
3. Panel 1: Recent Historiography on the Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Empires
Cemal Kafadar, Harvard University
Rajeev Kinra, Northwestern University
Kathryn Babayan, University of Michigan
4. Panel 2: Re-Framing the Narratives of Muslim Societies in World History Literature
Edmund Burke, III, University of California, Berkeley
John Voll, Georgetown University
Jerry Bentley, University of Hawaii, Manoa
Patrick Manning, University of Pittsburgh
Richard Bulliet, Columbia University
5. Panel 3: Countering the Main Arguments of Decline
Giancarlo Casale, University of Minnesota
Gabor Agoston, Georgetown University
Baki Tezcan, University of California, Davis
Himmet Taskomur, Harvard University
6. Panel 4: Cosmopolitanism and Political Theory in the Age of Three Empires
Hayrettin Yucesoy, St. Louis University
Husseyin Yilmaz, University of Florida
Stephen Dale, Ohio State University
Cengiz Sisman, Furman University
7. Panel 5: Islamic Law in/and the Literature of Decline
Engin Akarli, Brown University
Nelly Hanna, American University, Cairo
Andrew Newman, University of Edinburgh
8. Panel 6: New Scholarship on Science, Ideas and Philosophy
George Saliba, Columbia University
Ahmed Rahim, University of Virginia
Nabil Matar, University of Minnesota
