The Art of Hubbing: The Role of Small Islands in Indian Ocean Connectivity, October 15-17, 2015

Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology

International Conference

The Art of Hubbing: The Role of Small Islands in Indian Ocean Connectivity

Organiser: Burkhard Schnepel

PROGRAMME

Thursday, 15th October 2015

15.00 – 16.00    Registration at the MPI

16.00 – 16.15    Welcome Address by Chris Hann, Director of the MPI for Social Anthropology

16.15 – 17.00    Welcome and Thematic Introduction to the Conference by Burkhard Schnepel

17.00 – 18.15    Keynote Lecture
Andre Gingrich, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna
Smallness and Insular Hubs: Some working hypotheses from historical anthropology

19.00 – 20.00    Dinner at ‘Prager Bierstuben’

20.00 – 21.30    Wrap-up and discussion

Friday, 16th October 2015

Chair: Mareike Pampus

9.15 – 10.00    Keebet von Benda-Beckmann, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle
Ambon, a Spicy Hub

10.00 – 10.45    Jürgen G. Nagel, Fernuniversität Hagen
Commodities and Creeds: Changing connectivity of Makassar (South Sulawesi), 16th to 20th century

10.45 – 11.15    Coffee break

Chair: Gita Dharampal-Frick

11.15 – 12.00    Ajay Gandhi, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity, Göttingen
Specks that Speak Loudly: The view from Mumbai and Ilha de Moçambique

12.00 – 12.45    Beatrice Nicolini, Catholic University of Milan
Global Indian Ocean Ports: Sailing from Arabia, to Zanzibar, and to New York

13.00 – 14.00    Lunch break

Chair: Hermann Kulke

14.15 – 15.00    Burkhard Schnepel, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Port Louis (Mauritius) and the Making of a ‘Hub-Society’

15.00 – 15.45    Tansen Sen, City University of New York
Small? Big? Island?: The perceptions of Sri Lanka in Chinese sources

15.45 – 16.15    Coffee break

Chair: Burkhard Schnepel

16.15 – 17.00    Edward A. Alpers, University of California Los Angeles
Islands Connect: People, things and ideas among the small islands of the Western Indian Ocean

17.00 – 17.45    Godfrey Baldacchino, University of Malta
Displaced Passengers: States, movements and disappearances in the Indian Ocean

19.00 – 20.00    Dinner at ‘Wildschütz’

20.00 – 21.30    Wrap-up and discussion

Saturday, 17th October 2015

Chair: Himanshu Prabha Ray

9.15 – 10.00    Iain Walker, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle
Zanzibar: A Hub in Comorian diasporic networks in the Western Indian Ocean

10.00 – 10.45    Kjersti Larsen, University of Oslo
Multifaceted Identities, Multiple Dwellings: Connectivity and flexible household-configurations in Zanzibar Town

10.45 – 11.15    Coffee break

Chair: Eva-Maria Knoll

11.15 – 12.00    Gwyn Campbell, McGill University Montreal
Kilwa Island and the Western Indian Ocean World

12.00 – 12.45    Martin Ramstedt, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
Bali and Indian-Indonesian Connectivity: Why a small island has mattered

13.00 – 14.00    Lunch break

Chair: Boris Wille

14.15 – 15.00    Vijaya Teelock, University of Mauritius
The Emergence of ‘Local Cosmopolitans’ in Port Louis: Migration and settlement in early 18th up to mid-19th century Port Louis

15.00 – 15.45    Steffen F. Johannessen, Norwegian Business School, Oslo
From Coconut Trade to ‘War on Terror’: Connectivity and disconnections in the Indian Ocean

15.45 – 16.15    Coffee break

16.15 – 17.00    Final Discussion on Conference Themes, Future Collaborations and Publication
Moderation: Burkhard Schnepel