Reclaiming History: Islam and Cultural Patrimony in the 21st Century
AbuSulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies Annual Conference
April 24, 2025, 9:00 AM to April 25, 2025, 5:00 PM EDT
Merten Hall, 1203 & 1204 | In-person and Online
Muslim communities around the world have been facing unprecedented levels of war and destruction. Apart from the immense human toll of conflicts spanning regions ranging from sub–Saharan Africa, to the Middle East, or Central and South Asia, sites of Islamic cultural patrimony have suffered a near constant stream of destruction. The systematic looting of treasured artifacts and archives and the physical destruction of civilizational sites of learning and commemoration have accelerated the immeasurable loss of historical memory. The Abu Sulayman Center for Global Islamic Studies annual conference, "Reclaiming History: Islam and Cultural Patrimony" brings together scholars addressing the phenomenon of cultural destruction and its impact on historical memory in places such as, but not limited to, west Africa, the Balkans, Egypt, Yemen and Iraq, as well as South and Southeast Asia. Join us on Thursday April 24 and Friday April 25, 2025.
PROGRAM
Thursday, April 24, 2025 | Merten 1203
Keynote Speaker | 9:30 am - 11:00 am
Trinidad Rico (Rutgers University): Global Heritage and Preservation Stewardship in the Muslim World.
Break | 11:00 am- 11:15 am
Panel 1 |11:15 am – 1:00 pm
Medieval Islamic Civilization
Mohamed Enab (Fayoum University, Egypt): The Impact of Political Conflict on Yemen’s Cultural Patrimony: Heritage Preservation, Proactive and Reactive Approaches.
Muhammad El Fiky (Georgetown University): Cultural Erasure and Social Memory: The Limits of Institutional Transformation in Post-Fatimid Egypt.
Dr. Mahdi Touraje (Kings University College, Ontario): Curated Memory: The Case of Toronto’s Agha Khan Museum.
Discussant: Sumaiya Hamdani (George Mason University)
Lunch Break | 1:00 pm- 2:15 pm
Panel 2 | 2:15 pm – 4:00 pm
West Africa
Susana Molinas-Lliteras (University of Cape Town, South Africa): Digitization as a Safeguard of Manuscript Heritage? The Case of the Timbuktu Archive.
Ali Diakite and Paul Naylor (Hill Museum and Manuscript Library, Minnesota): Cultural Heritage Preservation and Digitization in West Africa: the work of the Hill Museum and Manuscript Library.
Discussant: Maria Dakake (George Mason University)
Friday, April 25, 2025 | Merten 1204
Light Breakfast | 9:00 am- 9:30 am
Panel 3 | 9:30 am – 11:15 am
The Balkans
Harun Karčić (Aljazeera Balkans): The Destruction and Restoration of Islamic Cultural Heritage Sites in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Amer Maslo and Ajdin Muhedinović (University of Sarajevo, Bosnia): The demolition of Muslim religious objects during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992-1995) and their restoration in the early 21st century.
Besnik Sinani (University of Tubingen, Germany): Out of the cave: the many lives of surviving Islamic artifacts in post-communist Albania.
Discussant: Yasemin Ipek (George Mason University)
Coffee Break: 11:15 am- 11:30 am
Panel 4 | 11:30 am- 1:15 pm
Contentious Heritage
Peter Wien (University of Maryland): Problematic Archives: Documentary Knowledge of Modern Iraq between Ex- and Repatriation.
Farhat Afzal (University of Cincinnati): The Babri Masjid between History, Historicism, and Myth.
Panggah Ardiyansyah (University of Sheffield, U.K ): Returning Pusaka: Colonial Looting, Digitization, and Ownerships of Manuscripts from the Yogyakarta Kraton Library.
Discussant: Sumaiya Hamdani (George Mason University)
Lunch Break | 1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
Panel 5 | 2:15 pm – 4:00 pm
The Muslim American Experience
Halide Rumeysa Küçüköner (George Mason University): The Creation and Preservation of Distinctive American Ahmadi Heritage.
Hale Inanoglu (George Mason University): Digital Spaces of Cultural Patrimony: Muslim Student Associations, Social Media, and the Construction of American Muslim Identity.
Aminah Al-Deen (George Mason University): BAMI Contributions to the Legacy of Islam in America: Digital Cultural Patrimony.
Discussant: Ahmet Tekelioglu (George Mason University)
Break | 4:00 pm -4:15 pm
Closing Remarks & Reception | 4:15 pm - 5:00 pm
