Crossing the Indian Ocean: The Movement of People, Cultures and Ideas

An interdisciplinary collaborative research initiative, focussing on the various types of migrations that have occurred across the Indian Ocean, from the ancient past until the present, that tie the region together as a single transnational space, culturally, artistically, socially, and economically. A research network will be developed, virtually and in a real- world workshop, with the aim of producing a publishable volume on this theme.

The agenda of the initiative will be to re-focus research away from territorial and national histories and towards the history of arts, institutions, ideas, and experiences which the peoples of the Indian Ocean region share in common.

The first (online) workshop, involving an invited network of upcoming and experienced scholars actively engaged in research in the field, will take place on October 30th-31st 2021. A keynote address on the Oceanic Perspective will given by Dilip Menon, the Mellon Professor of Indian Studies in Africa at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

For further information please contact the Director, Centre for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies (SAIOS) at @email