The fifth Nordic Conference on Middle Eastern studies
The Middle East: Interpreting the past
Lund, 25-28 October 2001

Conference Proceedings

Keynote speakers:

• Bobbi S. Sayyid, "After Babel: Difference and indifference"
• Aziz Azmeh, "Islam and the history of civilization"

Uses and images of history

• Karin Aggestam, Lund: 'Reconciliation and reinterpretation of the past: The "new" Israeli historians and their critics'
• Dr. Zaid Ahmad, Malaysia: 'A Fourteen-Century Historical Narrative of Sufism: The Case of Ibn Khaldun's Muqaddima li Kitab al-'Ibar'
• Nils Anfinset, Bergen: 'The past in the present. Interpretations of the past in light of recent developments between Palestinians and Israelis'
• Svein Engelstad, Oslo: 'Historical themes in Modern Egyptian Art'
• Jakob Feldt, Copenhagen: 'The Tkuma-series: A controversial commemoration'
• Haideh Ghomi, Tehran: 'Living memories: The interpretations of the past in Ferdowsi's Shahnama'
• Noha Nasser, Birmingham: 'A reinterpretation of municipal organization in Islamic history'
• Mohd. Nasir Omar, Kuala Lumpur: 'The Concepts of Man and Society as Reflected in the Works of Miskawayh (d.1030 A.D.)'

The interpretation of early Islamic history

• Sylvia Akar, Helsinki: 'Hadith and the interpretation of early Islamic history'
• Bo Holmberg, Lund: 'Hagarism revisited'
• Knut S. Vikør, Bergen: 'The truth about cats and dogs: A debate on the genesis of Islamic law'

Arabic/Islamic nahda discourses

• Muda Ismail Abd-Rahman, Kuala Lumpur: 'The Concepts of Man and Society as Reflected in the Works of Muhammad Iqbal'
• Khaled Bayomi, Lund: '"We and History". Nahda as a Mobilisation Tool for the Welfare State in Iraq'
• Philip Halldén, Lund: 'What is "Arabic-Islamic Rhetoric"?'
• Beatrice Hendrich, Giessen: 'The Collaborative Research Centre "Memory Cultures" at Giessen University and its importance for the scientific development of Oriental studies'
• Ann Kull, Lund: 'Modern Interpretation of Islamic History in the Indonesian Context; The Case of Nurcholish Madjid'

State power, political movements and elites

• Jamila Bargach: 'The Berber question'
• Magnus Bernhardsson, Hofstra Univ.: 'Negotiating History: Nationalism and Cultural Property in modern Iraq'
• Jamil Brownson, Istanbul: 'Constructed Identities & Societal Crisis: Post-Ottoman Nationalism in an Era of Globalization'
• Pernilla Ouis, Lund: 'Pirates or noble merchants? Heritage and post-colonial discourse in the Arab Gulf'
• Rouzbeh Parsi, Lund: 'Between circles and lines. The concepts of evolution and revolution in secular Iranian discourse'
• Tetz Rooke, Uppsala: 'History and Borders: The Case of Syria'
• Leif Stenberg, Lund: 'Muslim Views on Science and Knowledge: Interpreting the rhetorics of a discourse'
• Charlotta Zettervall, Lund:

Political developments and culture

• As'ad Abukhalil, California State Univ.: 'Interpreting and narrating the Violence of Lebanese History'
• Abdulhadi Khalaf, Lund: 'Arab Volunteers in Afghanistan: The Making and Unmaking of a Transnational movement'
• Torkel Lindquist, Uppsala: 'We wage war against the terrorists'
• Tuomo Melasuo, Tampere: 'The Algerian Political Culture and the Past'

Interpreting Islam today

• Nor Hasnan Ahmad, Malaysia: 'Methods of Penalty in the Abbasid Period and the 21st Century (With Special Reference to Malaysian Law)'
• Torsten Janson, Lund: 'History, gender and identity in Islamic children's literature: The Islamic Foundation and the "Muslim Childrens' Library"'
• Haifaa G. Khalafallah, Georgetown: 'The parameters of Islamic government: A modern faqih retraces his history'
• Anne Sofie Roald, Malmö: 'The message of the two Islamic scholars Yusuf al-Qaradawi and Ahmad al-Kubaisi on the air"'

Religious movements and development

• Bjørn Olav Utvik, Oslo: 'The forgotten generation in Egyptian Islamism'
• Christoffer Ellefsen, Oslo: 'The law of homosexuality in the Islamic republic of Iran'
• Kjetil Selvik, Oslo: 'Iranian entrepreneurs: a force for change'
• Michael Irving Jensen, Copenhagen: 'Ideological invasion (ghazw al-fikri) and how Islamists try to overcome the results of the invasion'
• Tilde Rosmer, Oslo: 'The socio-political role of the Shas party in Israel'

Aspects of minority status

• Lene Kofoed Rasmussen, Copenhagen: 'Denmark-Libanon. Preliminary notes on migrants' transnational relations'
• Hege Irene Markussen, Bergen: 'The History of the Past. The marginality of the Alevi-Bektashi Community in Contemporary Turkey'

Film, media and interpreting the past

• Rasmus Alenius Boserup, Copenhagen: 'Killing the Algerian traitor'
• Jakob Skovgaard-Petersen, Copenhagen: 'Lebanon's Civil War on TV'
• Jonas Svensson, Lund: 'Playing with Islamic history: The construction and use of religious history in the Mission Survival "Islamic" Computer game'

Teaching Middle Eastern languages - past and present

• Faruk Abu-Chacra, Helsinki: 'Problems with using Arabic grammatical terminology in English and some other European languages'
• Michael G. Carter, Oslo: 'The Andalusian grammarians, are they different?'
• June Dahy, Copenhagen: 'Communication in Arabic: an integrated MSA course in media, literature and field work'
• Gabriella Husaini, Stockholm: 'Tense and aspect in modern Arabic prose - the non-native reader's dilemma'
• Helle Lykke Nielsen, Odense: 'ArabVISL: Arabic grammar on the Internet'
• Ulla Prien, Copenhagen: 'Communication in Arabic: an integrated MSA course in media, literature and field work'
• Haseeb Shehadeh, Helsinki: 'Arabic in Finland'
• Unni Kjus Aahlin, Oslo: 'Promoting National Identity: A Challenge To Palestinian Education'