SOAS Alumni Reception: Boston
Oct
2
6:00 PM18:00

SOAS Alumni Reception: Boston

SOAS Director Professor Adam Habib and Shona Aitken, Head of Advancement, look forward to hosting you on Monday 2 October 2023 for an Alumni Reception in Boston. Join Professor Habib as he reflects on the progress of SOAS’ strategic vision over the last year, with specific reference to the continued drive to establish equitable partnerships with universities in the Global South.

This event will be an opportunity to network and connect with fellow SOAS alumni and find out more about how you can engage with SOAS both locally in Boston and in London.

Date: Monday 2 October 2023

Time: 18:00 – 20:00

Venue: InterContinental Boston, 510 Atlantic Avenue Boston, MA 02210

REGISTER HERE

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SOAS Alumni Reception: New York City
Sep
28
6:00 PM18:00

SOAS Alumni Reception: New York City

SOAS Director Professor Adam Habib and Shona Aitken, Head of Advancement, look forward to hosting you on Thursday 28 September for the annual Director’s Alumni Reception in New York City. Join Professor Habib as he reflects on the progress of SOAS’ strategic vision over the last year, with specific reference to the continued drive to promote equitable partnerships with universities in the Global South.

This event will be an opportunity to network and connect with fellow SOAS alumni and find out more about how you can engage with SOAS both locally in New York City and in London.

Date: Thursday 28 September 2023

Time: 18:00 – 20:00

Venue: Rubin Museum of Art, 150 West 17th Street, New York, NY, 10011

REGISTER HERE

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SOAS Aluni Reception: Washington, DC
Sep
25
6:00 PM18:00

SOAS Aluni Reception: Washington, DC

  • InterContinental the Willard Washington D.C. (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

SOAS Director Professor Adam Habib and Shona Aitken, Head of Advancement, look forward to hosting you on Thursday 21 September 2023 for the an Alumni Reception in Washington DC. Join Professor Habib as he reflects on the progress of SOAS’ strategic vision over the last year, with specific reference to the continued drive to promote equitable partnerships with universities in the Global South.

This event will be an opportunity to network and connect with fellow SOAS alumni and find out more about how you can engage with SOAS both locally in Washington DC and in London.

Date: Monday 25 September 2023

Time: 18:00 – 20:00

Venue: InterContinental the Willard Washington D.C. - The Grant Suite, 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest Washington, DC 20004

REGISTER HERE

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SOAS Alumni Reception: Los Angeles
Sep
21
6:00 PM18:00

SOAS Alumni Reception: Los Angeles

  • The Retna Courtyard, Kimpton La Peer Hotel (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

SOAS Director Professor Adam Habib and Shona Aitken, Head of Advancement, look forward to hosting you on Thursday 21 September 2023 for the annual Director’s Alumni Reception in Los Angeles. Join Professor Habib as he reflects on the progress of SOAS’ strategic vision over the last year, with specific reference to the continued drive to promote equitable partnerships with universities in the Global South.

This event will be an opportunity to network and connect with fellow SOAS alumni and find out more about how you can engage with SOAS both locally in Los Angeles and in London.

Date: Thursday 21 September 2023

Time: 18:00 – 20:00

Venue: The Retna Courtyard, Kimpton La Peer Hotel, 627 North La Peer Drive, West Hollywood, CA, 90069

REGISTER HERE

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SOAS Alumni Reception: San Francisco
Sep
18
6:00 PM18:00

SOAS Alumni Reception: San Francisco

  • The Peterson Room and Tea Garden, Asian Art Museum (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

SOAS Director Professor Adam Habib and Shona Aitken, Head of Advancement, look forward to hosting you on Monday 18 September 2023 for the annual Director’s Alumni Reception in San Francisco. Join Professor Habib as he reflects on the progress of SOAS’ strategic vision over the last year, with specific reference to the continued drive to promote equitable partnerships with universities in the Global South.

This event will be an opportunity to network and connect with fellow SOAS alumni and find out more about how you can engage with SOAS both locally in San Francisco and in London.

Date: Monday 18 September 2023

Time: 18:00 – 20:00

Venue: The Peterson Room and Tea Garden, Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA, 94102

REGISTER HERE

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Virtual Event: "US-China rivalry in the light of pandemics, Ukraine, and Taiwan"
Oct
5
12:00 PM12:00

Virtual Event: "US-China rivalry in the light of pandemics, Ukraine, and Taiwan"

US-China rivalry in the light of pandemics, war over the territory of Ukraine and the spectre of an imminent Chinese Takeover of Taiwan

Wednesday, October 5th, 2022

12:00pm PDT / 3:00pm EDT / 8:00pm BST

Zoom (*you must RSVP in advance to attend)

This webinar will discuss the main determinant of the trajectory of our world in the 21st century: US-China rivalry for world superpower in the light of pandemics, the first European land war since WWII over the territory of Ukraine, and the spectre of an imminent Chinese Takeover of Taiwan.

Clearly, the dominant paradigm for how the West should deal with China has shifted from strategic engagement to strategic competition, and perhaps even to concerted attempts to constrain China's further development and global influence. While there are areas where the West is correct to rebut China's practices and policies, there are two main reasons why disengagement is not in the interests of Western nations.

First, China is not going to disappear; it is a reality that the West has to find a way to coexist with. Foreign business is not going to disengage from the lucrative China market, no matter how much pressure home governments might place on it. In the financial sector, the US-China engagement amounts to some $5 trillion alone.

The second reason is that for Western nations to meet their own crucial policy objectives, they need to find ways to cooperate with China. The relationships are like a multi-dimensional chessboard where one nation may dominate in one field, but no nation can dominate in all. Competition may be suitable in some realms, but cooperation is essential to meet key global priorities. This is especially true as we come out of the post-pandemic world. Who will provide the necessary global public goods?

*YOU MUST RSVP IN ADVANCE TO ATTEND: CLICK HERE

WE WILL SEND OUT THE ZOOM LINK BY EMAIL BEFORE THE CALL


Moderator: Professor Anthony Saich

Professor Anthony Saich of Harvard University is Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs there.

Currently he is guest Professor at the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, China. He was a trustee member of the National Committee on US-China Relations (2014-2020). He also advises a wide range of government, private and non-profit organizations on work in China and elsewhere in Asia. His most recent books include 'From Rebel to Ruler: One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party' (2021). He holds a master's degree in politics with special reference to China from SOAS.

Panelist: Professor Scott Rozelle

Professor Rozelle of Stanford University is a Senior Fellow in the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

He is Co-Founder and Co-Director of the new Stanford University Center on China's Economy and Institutions, and directs its main initiative - the Rural Education Action Project (REAP), which seeks to evaluate China's new education, health and early childhood development with a view to impact policy on this front. Fluent in Chinese, he has close working ties with Chinese collaborators and policy makers. Using primary data sources, he has conducted numerous survey-based field studies in China in collaboration with academics inside China. He is one of the top five published agricultural/development economists in the world and has received numerous awards in the US and China.

Panelist: Professor Steven Tsang

Professor Tsang is Director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies). He is also an Emeritus Fellow of St Anthony's College at Oxford University, and an Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House).

Professor Tsang regularly contributes to public debates on different aspects of issues related to the politics, history, foreign policy, security and development of the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and East Asia more generally. He is known in particular for introducing the concept of 'consultative Leninism' as an analytical framework to understand the structure and nature of politics in contemporary China. One of his latest publications is an article 'Party-state Realism: A Framework for Understanding China's Approach to Foreign Policy' in the 'Journal of Contemporary China' (2020), and his current research project is on 'The Political Thought of Xi Jinping'.

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Alumni Gathering with SOAS Director Adam Habib: New York
Jun
27
6:30 PM18:30

Alumni Gathering with SOAS Director Adam Habib: New York

Please join us for a special alumni get together in New York from 6:30 - 9:00pm with nibbles and drinks. In attendance will be Professor Adam Habib, in his first visit to the US as the SOAS Director, accompanied by Ms Kanina Foss, Chief of Staff and Ms Shona Aitken, Head of Advancement. The evening will be a fantastic chance to meet and network with fellow alumni as well as hear about SOAS's new strategy and plans for the future from Professor Habib.

Please note that proof of vaccination and a temperature check will be required for entry to the venue.

We hope to see you at this special alumni gathering.

RSVP: CLICK HERE

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Alumni Gathering with SOAS Director Adam Habib: Los Angeles
Jun
23
5:15 PM17:15

Alumni Gathering with SOAS Director Adam Habib: Los Angeles

Please join us for a special alumni get together in Los Angeles from 5:15 - 7:15pm with nibbles and drinks. In attendance will be Professor Adam Habib, in his first visit to the US as the SOAS Director, accompanied by Ms Kanina Foss, Chief of Staff and Ms Shona Aitken, Head of Advancement. The evening will be a fantastic chance to meet and network with fellow alumni as well as hear about SOAS's new strategy and plans for the future from Professor Habib.

RSVP: CLICK HERE

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Alumni Gathering with SOAS Director Adam Habib: San Francisco
Jun
21
6:30 PM18:30

Alumni Gathering with SOAS Director Adam Habib: San Francisco

  • Library Room, University Club of San Francisco (map)
  • Google Calendar ICS

Please join us for a special alumni get together in San Francisco from 6:30 - 9:00pm with nibbles and drinks. In attendance will be Professor Adam Habib, in his first visit to the US as the SOAS Director, accompanied by Ms Kanina Foss, Chief of Staff and Ms Shona Aitken, Head of Advancement. The evening will be a fantastic chance to meet and network with fellow alumni as well as hear about SOAS's new strategy and plans for the future from Professor Habib.

RSVP: CLICK HERE

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Virtual Event: "Treasures of the SOAS Library"
May
7
9:00 AM09:00

Virtual Event: "Treasures of the SOAS Library"

9:00am PDT / 12:00pm EDT / 5:00pm BST

Zoom

*You must register in advance to obtain event link: CLICK HERE

Please join us for a unique conversation between our distinguished Chief Librarian and a young SOAS researcher as a prelude to next year’s celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the founding of our well-loved SOAS Research Library with its unique holdings related to Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Its Special Collections include such rare finds as texts exploring Iraq’s Mesopotamian past as well as 16 botanical paintings by Richard Baron (c. 1880) from amongst the 7000 plant species he sent to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew from Madagascar. Explore with our presenters how best to provide the widest possible access to this unique trove of library treasures.


Oliver Urquhart Irvine 

Director of the SOAS University of London Library

Oliver Urquhart Irvine took up the post of Director of the SOAS Library in January 2019. The library at SOAS is one of the UK’s five National Research Libraries. Previously he was The Librarian and Deputy Keeper of the Royal Archives, from 2014 to 2019, for which he was made MVO in December 2018 by The Queen. Prior to that he was Head of the British Library Qatar Foundation Partnership and of the British Library’s Department of Asian and African Studies. Oliver began his career in book and manuscripts at Christie’s and Maggs Bros Ltd. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Ashley Crawford

Image description: Headshot of Ashley smiling outdoors, wearing formal academic dress at a university event.

Ashley Crawford is originally from San Francisco, California and is currently completing her MA in History of Art at SOAS. Her primary areas of research include Buddhist art and disability studies, and for her upcoming dissertation she is researching curatorial universal design in museums. Previously, she has earned degrees in art history and musicology from SOAS, Christ Church (Oxford), and Scripps College.



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AFSOAS Virtual Event: "Revolution, Propaganda and Art: Printmaking in Modern China"
Mar
10
12:00 PM12:00

AFSOAS Virtual Event: "Revolution, Propaganda and Art: Printmaking in Modern China"

YOU MUST RSVP TO ATTEND: CLICK HERE

VIRTUAL (ZOOM) EVENT
12:00 - 1:00pm PST
3:00 - 4:00pm EST
8:00 - 9:00pm GMT

Revolution, Propaganda and Art: Printmaking in Modern China: A talk on the revolutionary work of Lu Xun in the Chinese Modern Woodcut Movement (1930-1950).

The Brunei Gallery SOAS and AFSOAS (the American Friends of SOAS) are pleased to present a conversation between Mary Ginsberg (Curator, 'Lu Xun's Legacy') and Dr Malcolm McNeil (Director, SOAS Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art), moderated by Haiyao Zheng (Secretary, Muban Trust). The talk will be introduced by Dr Bharti Kansara(Vice-president, AFSOAS).

The talk accompanies the exhibition at the Brunei Gallery 'Lu Xun’s Legacy: Printmaking in Modern China' curated by Mary Ginsberg.

*After you RSVP, you will receive an email with the Zoom event link a few days prior to the actual event.

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Virtual Event: "Dreams Deferred: A discussion on Black entrepreneurship in America"
Feb
16
12:00 PM12:00

Virtual Event: "Dreams Deferred: A discussion on Black entrepreneurship in America"

YOU MUST RSVP TO ATTEND THIS EVENT: CLICK HERE

VIRTUAL (ZOOM) EVENT
12:00 - 1:30PM PST
3:00 - 4:30PM EST
8:00-9:30PM GMT

A discussion on Black entrepreneurship in America as embodied by the story of Brandolon Barnett in his book "Dreams Deferred: Recession, Struggle, and the Quest for a Better World", where he shares his experiences as a Black man working in the social sector.

Please join Rachael Myrow in conversation with SOAS alumnus Brandolon Barnett, as they discuss Brandolon's book "Dreams Deferred: Recession, Struggle, and the Quest for a Better World", where he shares his experiences as a Black man working in the social sector.


The Panel

Brandolon Barnett (MA International Studies & Diplomacy 2012)

SOAS alumnus Brandolon Barnett is an innovator, author, and entrepreneur. He helps build and lead products, initiatives, and partnerships that bring together tech and social impact to move resources to people who need them. He is currently the Chief Product Officer for Deed, a Y Combinator backed company building solutions for Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) efforts enabling employees at companies like Adidas, Stripe, and Airbnb to support causes through their giving, volunteering, and engagement. He is also the leader of the Democratize Ventures investing and advisory initiative supporting entrepreneurs of color in DC and New York. His previous work includes roles as the head of Corporate Social Responsibility Industry Solutions within Salesforce's Philanthropy Cloud and as the leader of the Gates funded Growfund initiative within Global Impact (mygrowfund.org). Brandolon lives in Washington, DC where he also serves as a local elected official.


Rachael Myrow

Rachael Myrow is Senior Editor of KQED's Silicon Valley News Desk. You can hear her work on NPR, WBUR's Here & Now and the BBC. She also periodically guest hosts for KQED's Forum. Over the years, she's talked with Kamau Bell, Lyrics Born, David Byrne, Kamala Harris, Tony Kushner, Armistead Maupin, Van Dyke Parks, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Tommie Smith, among others. Before all this, she hosted The California Report for 7+ years, reporting on topics like assisted living facilities, the robot takeover of Amazon, and chocolate persimmons. Awards? Sure: Peabody, Edward R. Murrow, Regional Edward R. Murrow, RTNDA, Northern California RTNDA, SPJ Northern California Chapter, LA Press Club, Golden Mic. Prior to joining KQED, Rachael worked in Los Angeles at KPCC and Marketplace. She holds degrees in English and journalism from UC Berkeley (where she got her start at public radio on the show "Film Close Ups" at KALX-FM). Outside of the studio, you'll find Rachael circling the Stanford Dish, and whipping up Instagram-ready meals in her kitchen.

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Virtual Event: "A Conversation on Endangered Languages and Their Documentation"
Oct
28
12:00 PM12:00

Virtual Event: "A Conversation on Endangered Languages and Their Documentation"

RSVP HERE: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-conversation-on-endangered-languages-and-their-documentation-tickets-188395625387

Language documentation has contributed innovative methodologies and powerful tools for linguistic research on endangered languages. It shifted the mindset that working with just one or two consultants outside of their speech community using a single method (namely elicitation) is not adequate. Use of diverse and innovative methods and well-grounded methodologies; extensive community participation both in multi-modal recording/collecting of data and in processing it, are essential aspects of language documentation. This webinar will demonstrate the positive results of such collaboration with community and practical challenges this might bring.

SPEAKERS

DR. FELIX AMEKA

Felix is a linguist working on the intersection of grammar, meaning and culture, and the description and documentation of languages in their multilingual ecologies. His empirical specialisation is on West-African languages. He is currently professor of Ethnolinguistic Diversity and Vitality at Leiden University and teaches in the departments of Linguistics, African Languages and cultures, and African Studies. In recognition of his pioneering work on cross-cultural semantics and his long-standing research ties with Australian universities, he was elected as a Corresponding Fellow to the Australian Academy of Humanities in 2019. He is also an elected Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (2015), and of Academia Europaea (2021).

After undergraduate training at the University of Ghana, Legon, Felix received his PhD in 1991 from Australian National University for a dissertation on the semantic, functional, and discourse-pragmatic aspects of the grammar of Ewe. Felix has made seminal contributions to the cross-linguistic study of interjections, editing a highly influential special issue on 'the universal yet neglected part of speech'. Felix has pioneered research on the interaction of grammar, culture, and social structure, using the framework of Natural Semantic Metalanguage to elucidate cultural scripts and interactional resources. A long-term research associate at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Felix has led a large-scale comparative project on the semantics of locative predicates and contributed to cross-linguistic work on the expression of motion and separation events. With Alan Dench and Nick Evans, he co-edited an influential collection on the art of grammar writing.

Felix is concerned with the training of young scholars interested in carrying out language documentation and description with a broad ethos of collaboration and reciprocal engagement with speaker communities. In 2008, he initiated and has (co-)organised several Summer Schools for training language documenters in Africa and elsewhere since then with support from the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP), Volkswagen Stiftung (VW Foundation) and the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

Felix is editor of the Journal of African Languages and Linguistics together with Azeb Amha. Since 2015, Felix is President of the World Congress of African Linguistics.

DR. MANDANA SEYFEDDINIPUR

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Mandana grew up in Germany. She studied linguistics and Persian studies at the Free University of Berlin and graduated with a Master's degree. She received her doctorate at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics at Radboud University Nijmegen from 2000 to 2005. Her dissertation was entitled Disfluency: Interrupting speech and gesture. She then worked as a Marie Curie postdoctoral work Stanford University from 2006 to 2009

After another short stay at the Max Planck Institute, Mandana moved to SOAS University of London in 2010, where she became head of the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme. In 2014 she became head of the Endangered Languages Archive (ELAR), which deals with the digital preservation of endangered languages and makes digital collections of endangered languages digitally accessible worldwide. In July 2021, the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme (ELDP) moved to the Berlin Brandenburgische Academy of Sciences with Mandana as its Director.

DR. AZEB AMHA

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Azeb is a researcher at the African Studies Center, Leiden University. Her research focuses on language-culture interface, descriptive linguistics and language documentation. She has extensive experience in language documentation and in working with speech community. Azeb wrote the first grammar of the Maale language (The Maale Language 2001). She led a collaborative documentation project on the Oyda language (2009-2013). Since 2016, Azeb is working on a multi-modaldocumentation of Zargula, an endangered language that is spoken in South-west Ethiopia. Through analysis of Wolaitta, one of her L1 languages, Azeb contributed to projects that aimed at developing methodological advances in language description and documentation, namely the CorpAfroas and CorTypoprojects linked to LLACAN (CNRS, Paris). Azeb wrote several articles on the grammar and typology of Omotic languages, and three co-edited books. Since 2004, Azeb is co-editor of the Journal of African Languages and Linguistics.

IDA SODOKE ASSEM

Screen Shot 2021-10-12 at 4.09.34 PM.png

Ida is a PhD student of linguistics in the University of Ghana, Legon. She has an MPhil in Applied Linguistics and a BA in Akan from University of Education, Winneba (UEW) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), respectively. Ida was a teaching and research assistant in KNUST from 2012-2013, and also in UEW in 2016. She also worked as a part-time field researcher for Associates for Change (AFC), an NGO in Accra, from 2017- 2019. She is presently a Lecturer in Communication Studies at the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), Accra. Ida has a research interest in the use of language in context, language and culture and language documentation; particularly, the documentation of endangered cultural practices. For her PhD research, Ida is currently working on the documentation of endangered indigenous cuisines and their associated linguistic expressions among the Akan and Ewe ethnolinguistic groups in Ghana. Ida is a 2019 AFSOAS Scholarship recipient for an intensive language documentation training program hosted by the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme at SOAS.

KENNETH BODUA-MANGO

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Bodua-Mango Kenneth is a PhD candidate at the University of Ghana, Legon. He graduated from the University of Ghana, Legon in 2009 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Linguistics. He did a mandatory one-year national service as a teaching and research assistant at the Department of Linguistics, University of Ghana, Legon. In 2010, he won a scholarship from the Norwegian Government under the quota scheme to pursue an MPhil programme in Linguistics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim and graduated in 2012. As part of the requirements for the MPhil programme in Linguistics at NTNU, he wrote a corpus-based thesis on Coordinators in Safaliba; a Gur (Mabia) language spoken in the Savanah Region of Ghana. From September 2015 to October 2018, he worked as an Assistant lecturer at the Department of Gur-Gonja Education, University of Education Winneba, teaching General Linguistics and Gonja. Kenneth is currently a Tutor of linguistics at the Accra College of Education. 

Kenneth is a 2019 AFSOAS Scholarship recipient for an intensive language documentation training program hosted by the Endangered Languages Documentation Programme at SOAS. He is also a recipient of the Volkswagen Foundation Travel Scholarship to attend the Lagos Summer School in Digital Humanities (LSSDH-2021) held from 9th - 15th May 2021.

MODERATOR

NACCIEM NIKKAH

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Naciem holds an MA in the History of Art and Archaeology from SOAS and a BFA in Photography from the San Francisco Art Institute. She recently finished her PhD in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on the dialogue between literary and visual language in Persian manuscripts, especially the single-page album-style paintings of post-fifteenth-century Persian and Persianate societies.

Naciem lives in San Francisco and works as an independent researcher. Previously, she was a research assistant at the British Museum, taught at San José State University, and worked as an independent curator in Northern California.

You must RSVP in advance to obtain the Zoom event link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-conversation-on-endangered-languages-and-their-documentation-tickets-188395625387

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Virtual Event: "Eco-consciousness and the Dance of the Five Elements" w/ Dr. Bharti Kansas
Sep
26
11:00 AM11:00

Virtual Event: "Eco-consciousness and the Dance of the Five Elements" w/ Dr. Bharti Kansas

Our very own AFSOAS Vice President Dr. Bharti Kansara will be delivering a talk on "Eco-consciousness and the Dance of the Five Elements" on Sunday, September 26th at 11:00am via Zoom. Please join Dr. Kansara for this free event! http://culturalintegrationfellowship.org/programs/

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83144665291?pwd=RUJZUk9hLzlBSEFVZG1rQVhYU2xGUT09
Meeting ID: 831 4466 5291; Passcode: 296641; One tap mobile +16699009128, 83144665291#

ABOUT THE EVENT
We are made up of Mind and Matter, of Subtle and Gross Energies. The Material Universe which we inhabit arises from the five elements: earth, water, fire, air and ether.  When Mind rules Matter we win. When Matter triumphs over Mind, we lose. Peering through the looking-glass, when we turn things on their head and change Me to We, then we can change the equation of life on earth from a shrinking universe and a dystopian future to an ever more radiant cosmos. Vedic wisdom teaches us to cleanse our inner environment to reflect the purity of our outer environment. In this way, we can restore the balance of inner and outer nature, and achieve the Union of Shiva and Shakti, of Pure Consciousness and Material Energy. 

Ramakrishna Paramahansa believed, ‘We are all One Consciousness.’ When we realize this, we can at last rein in the uncontrolled Mind and halt the despoilation of Nature to arrive at the summit of Being where the biosphere reflects our true Spirit. Then we will achieve the evolution of Humanity through the Cosmic Dance of Creation which will restore the Five Elements to their pristine state of beauty and joy. 

Dr. Kansara is Author and Educator at FlashpointInteract.com, which seeks to empower High School students in the study of the Humanities, so they can rise to their full potential through the use of interactive content and methods. Her past experience includes being an editor in academic publishing at the Open University in England, one of the first educational institutions to pioneer long-distance teaching through interactive media; member of the BBC’s General Advisory Council; co-director of the Academy of Indian Dance, sponsored by the Greater London Council. Dr. Kansara is also Vice President of American Friends of SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, London University).  She holds a BA (Cantab) and PhD (SOAS, University of London).

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Virtual Event: "US and China: Which is the Winning Model for World Superpower?"
Sep
15
12:00 PM12:00

Virtual Event: "US and China: Which is the Winning Model for World Superpower?"

Please join us for this online (Zoom) event at 12:00pm PDT / 3:00pm EDT / 8:00pm BST

You must RSVP in advance to obtain event link: REGISTER HERE

“Uniformity of Ethnicity and Centralized Power versus Diverse Populations and Democratic Freedoms - which is the winning model?”

Clearly, the dominant paradigm for how the West should deal with China has shifted from strategic engagement to strategic competition, and perhaps even to concerted attempts to constrain China's further development and global influence. While there are areas where the West is correct to rebut China's practices and policies, there are two main reasons why disengagement is not in the interests of Western nations. First, China is not going to disappear; it is a reality that we have to find a way to coexist with. Foreign business is not going to disengage from the lucrative China market, no matter how much pressure home governments might place on it. In the financial sector, the US-China engagement amounts to some $5 trillion alone.

The second reason is that for Western nations to meet their own crucial policy objectives, they need to find ways to cooperate with China. The relationships are like a multi-dimensional chessboard where one nation may dominate in one field, but no nation can dominate in all. Competition may be suitable in some realms, but cooperation is essential to meet key global priorities. This is especially true as we come out of the post-pandemic world. Who will provide the necessary global public goods?

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MODERATOR: Anthony Saich

Professor Anthony Saich of Harvard University is Director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at the Harvard Kennedy School, and Daewoo Professor of International Affairs there. Currently he is guest Professor at the School of Public Policy and Management at Tsinghua University, China. He was a trustee member of the National Committee on US-China Relations (2014-2020). He also advises a wide range of government, private and non-profit organizations on work in China and elsewhere in Asia. His most recent books include From Rebel to Ruler: One Hundred Years of the Chinese Communist Party (2021).  He holds a master's degree in politics with special reference to China from SOAS.

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PANELIST: Scott Rozelle

Professor Rozelle of Stanford University is a Senior Fellow in the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. He is Co-Founder and Co-Director of the new Stanford University Center on China's Economy and Institutions, and directs its main initiative - the Rural Education Action Project (REAP), which seeks to evaluate China's new education, health and early childhood development with a view to impact policy on this front. Fluent in Chinese, he has close working ties with Chinese collaborators and policy makers. Using primary data sources, he has conducted numerous survey-based field studies in China in collaboration with academics inside China. He is one of the top five published agricultural/development economists in the world and has received numerous awards in the US and China.

https---cdn.evbuc.com-images-144767849-154232289176-1-original.20210817-135550.jpeg

PANELIST: Steven Tsang

Professor Tsang is Director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London (School of Oriental and African Studies). He is also an Emeritus Fellow of St Anthony's College at Oxford University, and an Associate Fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). Professor Tsang regularly contributes to public debates on different aspects of issues related to the politics, history, foreign policy, security and development of the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and East Asia more generally. He is known in particular for introducing the concept of 'consultative Leninism' as an analytical framework to understand the structure and nature of politics in contemporary China. One of his latest publications is an article 'Party-state Realism: A Framework for Understanding China's Approach to Foreign Policy' in the Journal of Contemporary China (2020), and his current research project is on 'The Political Thought of Xi Jinping'.

**You must RSVP in order to obtain the event link for this event: REGISTER HERE

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AFSOAS Virtual Event: "Israel-Palestine: The Shift in Western Sentiment and the Way Forward"
Jul
21
9:00 AM09:00

AFSOAS Virtual Event: "Israel-Palestine: The Shift in Western Sentiment and the Way Forward"

Wednesday, July 21st

9:00am PDT / 12:00 EDT / 5:00pm BST

via Zoom (you must RSVP here to obtain event link)

ABOUT

This will be a panel discussion on how recent months may have potentially led to a shift in western perception on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Our esteemed panelists will explore how the Black Lives Matter Movement, social media, the end of the Trump administration and additionally the political dynamics within both Israeli and other Middle Eastern Countries political systems, including foreign policy, impacted and led to this shift. We also hope to offer a space to discuss where we were, where we are (the recent political developments in Israel, for instance) and where we are going (or should go) regarding the conflict.

SPEAKERS

Professor Gilbert Achcar

Professor Gilbert Achcar grew up in Lebanon, researched and taught in Beirut, Paris and Berlin, and has been Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at SOAS, University of London, since 2007. He is the author of several books, published in over 15 languages, including: The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World Disorder; Perilous Power: The Middle East and U.S. Foreign Policy, co-authored with Noam Chomsky; The Arabs and the Holocaust: The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives; and The People Want: A Radical Exploration of the Arab Uprising.

Dr Nadia Naser-Najjab

Dr Nadia Naser-Najjab has a PhD in Middle East Studies and is a lecturer in Palestine Studies at the European Centre of Palestine Studies-Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter. She is the author of ‘Dialogue in Palestine, The People to People Diplomacy Programme and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict’. She formerly taught European civilization at Birzeit University.

Professor Peter Beinart

Peter Beinart is a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York. He is also Editor-at-Large of Jewish Currents, a CNN Political Commentator, a frequent contributor to The New York Times, and a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He writes the Beinart Notebook newsletter on Substack.Com. 

Beinart graduated from Yale University, winning a Rhodes scholarship for graduate study at Oxford University. After graduation, Beinart became The New Republic's managing editor in 1995. He became senior editor in 1997, and from 1999 to 2006 served as the magazine’s Editor.

His has published The Good Fight (2006), The Icarus Syndrome (2010) and The Crisis of Zionism (2012).

MODERATOR

Rabea Eghbariah

Rabea Eghbariah is a doctoral candidate at Harvard Law School and a civil rights attorney at Adalah. He wrote several articles on the intersection of law, land, food, and nature in Palestine and led the legal case against the criminalization of za'atar and akkoub. Rabea's latest project Chasing Goats, Abducting Camels: Land, Landscape, Livestock, and the Law in Israel/Palestine explores the legal history of livestock in Israel/Palestine and received the Irving Oberman Prize in Legal History.

*YOU MUST RSVP IN ORDER TO OBTAIN THE EVENT LINK: CLICK HERE

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Virtual Event: "More Than Just Ramps: Disability and Accessibility in Museums"
Jun
15
12:00 PM12:00

Virtual Event: "More Than Just Ramps: Disability and Accessibility in Museums"

A discussion of current issues of museum accessibility in the US and the UK between alumna Ashley Crawford (Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art 2017) and SOAS's Dr. Maria Kostoglou.

This virtual event will be held via Zoom. You must register to attend this event: REGISTER HERE

12:00 - 1:00pm PST / 3:00 - 4:00pm EST

ABOUT THIS EVENT

Museum exhibitions serve as a bridge between specialized knowledge and the public. When curated well, they can deliver niche information to a diverse range of audiences. While museums are meant to cater to all attendees equally, far too often, they fall short in making their exhibitions accessible to disabled visitors.

In this webinar, Ashley and Maria will discuss current issues of museum accessibility in the US and the UK, examining common flaws in curatorial design and writing, explaining museum applications of disability rights legislation, as well as considering how to make museums more accessible through solutions such as universal design, a technique that seamlessly integrates wheelchair-accessible construction into the overall architectural structure of museums.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Ms Ashley Crawford is originally from San Francisco, California and is currently completing her MA in History of Art at SOAS. As an ambulatory wheelchair user, she has long navigated museums using mobility devices and witnessed first hand many much-needed areas for improvement. Previously, she has earned degrees in art history and musicology from SOAS, Christ Church (Oxford), and Scripps College.

Dr. Maria Kostoglou holds MPhil and PhD degrees in Archaeology (University of Glasgow) with expertise in ancient metalwork and she has been a consultant for museums and field work projects on issues related to the preservation, interpretation and display of metal artefacts. At SOAS, Maria lectures in Curating and Museology, co-directs the MA in Museums, Heritage and Material Culture Studies and teaches relevant undergraduate and postgraduate modules (often with the use of SOAS collections).

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Virtual Event: "Creating Connections for Untold Stories: Video, Films and Festivals"
Mar
25
12:00 PM12:00

Virtual Event: "Creating Connections for Untold Stories: Video, Films and Festivals"

12:00pm PST / 3:00pm EST / 8:00pm GMT

Venue: Zoom (*you must register to get the event link)

“Creating connections for untold stories: video, films and festivals as spaces of memory, identity, meaning and transformation”

A selection of films by 3 talented SOAS alumni filmmakers:

  • Film festival transformations in viral times: lessons learnt at the 2020 edition of the Tarifa-Tangier African Film Festival (FCAT, Spain), by Federico Olivieri (MA Global Media and Post-National Communication, 2009).

  • When only blood will do: the rituals of belonging of a Nepali clan, by Saprina Panday (LLB, 2013)

  • Tune Your Ears, A film about colonial brainwashing, trauma, and lineage, by Rebecca Dharmapalan (MA Human Rights Law, 2020)

*You must RSVP by registering HERE in order to obtain the event link, which we will email to you in advance of the event.

FILM 1:

When only blood will do: the rituals of belonging of a Nepali clan 

Saprina Panday (LLB Law, 2013)

(WARNING: Graphic and Sensitive Content including Animal Sacrifice) Once every 12 years, in what looks like the very heart of Nepal, a proud clan reunites on a hill to dance, to sing, to remember its ancestors. Hundreds of people travel hundreds of kilometers in cramped minivans and cars, squished and sweating against their wives, their crying babies, their husbands, brothers, sisters, and tangled relatives while dohori [Nepali folk music] and lusty Bollywood songs blast on the radio, covering the sound of screeching tires on potholed roads. On the slippery rooftop, a frail goat struggles to stand, a noose at its throat, its legs trembling. It makes no sound. I feel its terror. And I weep. I'm terrified of what these strangers are about to do to it. These hundreds of strangers who greet me with open trust, seeing me as one of them. My clan, by birth. And yet, I have never felt more foreign, more certain that I don't belong here. 

FILM 2:

Tune Your Ears (2017). A film about colonial brainwashing, trauma, and lineage.

Rebecca Dharmapalan (MA Human Rights Law, 2020)

Looking into the themes of migration, civil war, genocide and freedom, Dharmapalan explores the various tensions involved in the creation of identity. Through the tradition of oral histories, Dharmapalan believes that nuanced tone can be best articulated. From Tanzania, to Goa, to Ceylon, to the United States, Dharmapalan's grandparents explore their stories of struggle, of assimilation, and their attempt to define themselves. This film teaches us how to look beyond academic text, to instead value ancestral conversation and intergenerational listening

FILM 3

Film festival transformations in viral times: lessons learnt at the 2020 edition of the Tarifa-Tangier African Film Festival (FCAT, Spain)

Federico Olivieri (MA Global Media and Post-National Communication, 2009)

In 2020, film festivals all over the world have been forced to redefine their format into hybrid and virtual events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This short documentary project explores some of these disruptions, as well as the experiences gathered by the author at the 2020 edition of the Tarifa-Tangier African Film Festival (Spain - Morocco).

FILMMAKER BIOS

Saprina Panday (LLB Law, 2013)

Growing up as the daughter of an international civil servant for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Saprina Panday is a writer, multimedia storyteller and investigative journalist from Nepal who has lived in over 17 countries, from Somalia to Iran, Syria to Russia. This unique experience informs her thirty-year-long exploration of the concept of identity and home and what it means to belong. Her work has been published in Scroll India, Global Voices, the Kathmandu Post, the Record Nepal and France 24 while her first dramedy pilot completed in 2019 won nominations at film festivals in London, Seoul and Berlin, attracting the interest of Netflix India. Saprina has a law degree from SOAS, a BA in politics from the University of Virginia and an international diploma in political science from Sciences Po Paris.

Rebecca Dharmapalan (MA Human Rights Law, 2020)

Rebecca Dharmapalan is a filmmaker, legal scholar, and activist. Dharmapalan is based in NYC, Oakland, and London. Her passion lies in human rights and justice for underrepresented and marginalised groups. From her TEDxTalk discussing the epidemic of child sex trafficking in the United States, to speaking up when voices systemically silenced, Dharmapalan's dedication to uplifting those around her speaks truth to her dedication to her community. Dharmapalan is Glamour’s College Woman of the Year 2017, awarded Teen Vogue's 21 Under 21, and an OZY Genius Award winner 2018. She recently completed her MA of Human Rights Law at SOAS University of London, and her BA in Sociology at University of California Berkeley. Dharmapalan is currently producing her first feature length film on the Tamil Eelam diaspora that focuses on memory, trauma, & motherland.

Federico Olivieri (MA Global Media and Post-National Communication, 2009)

Federico Olivieri is a journalist, cultural manager and independent researcher whose work focuses on media, communications and the arts for social change. In 2007 he obtained a BA in Journalism from the University of Seville (Spain), followed by an MA in Global Media and Post-National Communication from SOAS University of London. After years of work for Spain’s development agency (AECID) and with different cultural non-profits in Kenya, Spain, Senegal, South Africa and the USA, in 2016 Olivieri completed a PhD in Communication and Cultural Studies at the University Pablo de Olavide (Spain). His thesis explored the history of Sub-Saharan African cinemas and the meaning of Interculturality at film festivals. He co-founded the Slum Film Festival (Kenya) and he is a member of the Tarifa-Tangier African Film Festival (FCAT, Spain - Morocco) since its founding in 2004.

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SOAS Virtual Event: "COVID-19: Addressing vaccination inequality in an interconnected world"
Mar
9
9:00 AM09:00

SOAS Virtual Event: "COVID-19: Addressing vaccination inequality in an interconnected world"

9:00am PST / 12:00pm EST / 5:00pm GMT

REGISTER HERE

SOAS Director Professor Adam Habib cordially invites you to this special event in which he will be in conversation with Dr. Peter Singer (World Health Organization), Dr. Segenet Kelemu (ICIPE) and Martin Wolf CBE (Financial Times).

It is increasingly clear that this pandemic cannot end in the developed world without addressing and ensuring that the citizens of the developing world are also vaccinated. This public debate seeks to provide some focus to the challenges confronting the developing world on vaccines and the nationalist overtones around it. But it will also touch on a broader challenge in our historical moment where all of our discontents are transnational in character and require to be addressed on a global rather than national scale.

As the world implements COVID-19 vaccinations, will countries in the global south have equal access? With a history of healthcare inequalities and enforced vaccine trials, how do we ensure global vaccination is carried out ethically and equally, and encourage governments and societies to act for the greater good? Should countries who have an oversupply of vaccines redistribute these to developing countries who cannot afford the costs of vaccines?

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Virtual Event: "Glimpses of Nauraspur" (hosted by SACHI)
Feb
26
7:00 PM19:00

Virtual Event: "Glimpses of Nauraspur" (hosted by SACHI)

"Glimpses of Nauraspur" - an upcoming virtual event hosted by Society for Art & Cultural Heritage of India, featuring the work of SOAS alum Elroy Pinto (filmmaker, curator & scholar of global cinema), will take place February 26th @ 7:00pm. Please register here to attend: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/glimpses-of-nauraspur-tickets-136870231547

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Virtual Event: "Cut, Paste, Patch: A Study Of Text-Image Relationship in Safavid and Mughal Single-Page Compositions"
Jan
28
12:00 PM12:00

Virtual Event: "Cut, Paste, Patch: A Study Of Text-Image Relationship in Safavid and Mughal Single-Page Compositions"

ABOUT THE EVENT

Please join us for this talk by SOAS Alumna Naciem Nikkhah and SOAS's Dr. Heather Elgood (MBE) And Dr. Malcolm McNeill of the SOAS Postgraduate Diploma in Asian Art program.

Cutout papers with calligraphy often border single sheets of drawing and painting from the Safavid period (1501–1736) in Iran and the Mughal empire (1527–1857) in India. While some of these images are signed or can be attributed stylistically to an artist, the calligraphy and the page compositions are difficult to date with certainty. Mounted on illuminated margins and often bound into an album, the period and the geographical location in which these compositions were produced span several centuries and across geographical boundaries.

This talk will discuss the relationship between word and image in such folios and argues that with a close reading of the text and understanding its accord with the image, some hypotheses can be proposed on the time and place of its compilation. Furthermore, the possible origins of the design and compilers of such compositions will be explored.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER - Naciem Nikkhah

Naciem Nikkhah holds an M.A. in the History of Art and Archaeology from SOAS, University of London, and a BFA from San Francisco Art Institute. She is putting the final touches to her Ph.D. thesis in Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her research focuses on the interwoven dialogue between literary and visual language in Persian manuscripts, especially the single-page album-style paintings of post-fifteenth-century Persian and Persianate societies.

Currently she writes content for an education technology startup in San Francisco, which uses AI-powered robots to teach language skills to children. Previously, Naciem was a research assistant at the British Museum, taught at San José State University, and worked as an independent curator in Northern California.

EVENT ACCESS

You must RSVP to attend this event: REGISTER HERE

Once you have signed up for the event, you will receive a link to access the online talk closer to the time of the event.

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Virtual Event: "Film Festivals and the Public Sphere: Strategies for Engaging the Public in Critical Discourse"
Nov
6
11:00 AM11:00

Virtual Event: "Film Festivals and the Public Sphere: Strategies for Engaging the Public in Critical Discourse"

Join Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival Board Chair Rob Buscher (SOAS MA Japanese Studies 2009-2010) and Dr. Griseldis Kirsch (SOAS Department Head of East Asian Languages and Cultures) for a conversation about Rob's decade-long career as a film programmer that began during his time at SOAS. As a lecturer at University of Pennsylvania's Asian American Studies Program, Rob has utilized his position with the film festival to engage the public in critical discourse related to his research on racial and social justice topics within the Asian Diaspora. This conversation will examine the function of film festivals as a facet of the public sphere, exploring specific instances from past festivals where entertainment, education, and dialogue have intersected. 

Attendance is free, but you must RSVP in advance: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

This virtual event will be held via Zoom on Friday, November 6th at 11am PST / 2pm EST / 7pm GMT. A Zoom invitation with the event link will be sent to you by email in advance of the call.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER

Rob Buscher, Board Chair of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival is a film and media specialist, educator, arts administrator, and published author who has worked in nonprofit arts organizations for over a decade. As a person of biracial Japanese American heritage who is deeply involved in his community, Rob also has an expertise in cultural sensitivity training, community organizing, and advocacy issues related to the Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. Robʼs expertise is Japanese and Asian American & Pacific Islander Cinema although he has worked as a professional film programmer, critic, and lecturer across a variety of fields. Some of his career highlights include growing the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival into an internationally recognized leader in the film festival circuit, developing the Japanese Cinema and Asian American Studies curriculum at Arcadia University, and co-founding Zipangu Fest - the UKʼs first Japanese Film Festival. Rob currently lectures at the University of Pennsylvania, and is a contributing writer at the Pacific Citizen and the Broad Street Review. Rob serves as President of the Philadelphia Chapter of civil rights group Japanese American Citizens League and chairs the editorial board of Pacific Citizen, the organization’s national newspaper. In his spare time, Rob is an accomplished guitarist and enjoys writing and performing music.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Dr. Griseldis Kirsch is Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Japanese Culture at SOAS University of London. Her research interests include screen culture and (self-)censorship in Japan, with particular reference to war memory in Japan. She has acted as script consultant for The Amazon Prime series The Man in the High Castle (series 1 and 2) as well as Giri/Haji (BBC/Netflix). She is author Contemporary Sino-Japanese Relations on Screen. A History: 1989-2005 (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2015) and co-editor of the volume Assembling Japan: Technology, Modernity and Global Culture (Oxford: Peter Lang, 2015), but she has also published widely on nationalism and identity in the media in Japan and Europe. 

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Virtual Event: "Impact & Legacy: The John Loiello Scholarship Program"
Sep
21
5:00 PM17:00

Virtual Event: "Impact & Legacy: The John Loiello Scholarship Program"

Please join us for a conversation with our previous recipients of the John Loiello Scholarship — AFSOAS’s flagship program which provides a full scholarship with housing (thanks to our friends at the International Student House London) annually to a student enrolled full-time in one-year taught Master's programme at SOAS in the discipline of their choice. Five of our previous scholars (Montita Sowapark, Sherin Nassar, Cristina Leifson, Donya Nasser & Cynthia Magallanes-Gonzalez) will share their insights into the impact that their time at SOAS had on their personal and professional trajectories. The discussion will be moderated by American Friends of SOAS President Gregory Buie. 

Attendance is free, but you must RSVP in advance: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

This virtual event will be held via Zoom on Monday, September 21st at 5pm PDT / 8pm EDT.

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Virtual Event: "Yatis: Semi-renunciant Monks in the Jain Tradition" w/ Prof. Peter Flügel & Eric Villalobos
Aug
25
12:00 PM12:00

Virtual Event: "Yatis: Semi-renunciant Monks in the Jain Tradition" w/ Prof. Peter Flügel & Eric Villalobos

While Jain ascetics typically walk on foot from town to town and are prohibited from owning possessions, Yatis can ride in vehicles, directly manage temple property, practice astrology and mantra-tantra, and, in some cases, marry and have children. Eric Villabos and Dr. Peter Flügel (Chair, Centre of Jaina Studies, SOAS) will discuss Eric’s upcoming MA project at SOAS, which focuses on the figure of the Yati, a nearly-extinct class of 'semi-renunciant' monks in Śvetāmbara Jainism. His project will analyze some of the first European colonial encounters with Jains in the 18th Century, when Yatis were more powerful and widespread. He plans to support this principal examination with fieldwork undertaken during a Hindi Language Intensive Fellowship at the AIIS in Jaipur involving some of the last remaining Yatis in India.

The talk will be held on Zoom on Tuesday 25 August at 12pm PDT / 3pm EDT / 8 pm BST (UK). Attendance is free, but you must RSVP in advance to attend. For more details visit our Eventbrite page.

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Virtual Event:  "Demystifying Shariah" w/ SOAS Alumna Sumbul Ali-Karamali
Aug
11
5:00 PM17:00

Virtual Event: "Demystifying Shariah" w/ SOAS Alumna Sumbul Ali-Karamali

AFSOAS presents this book launch with author and SOAS Alumna Sumbul Ali-Karamali. Sumbul will discuss her new book Demystifying Shariah: What It Is, How It Works, and Why It's Not Taking Over Our Country. The talk will be moderated by SOAS Alumna and AFSOAS Vice-President Dr. Bharti Kansara. 

In 2010, a growing number of anti-Shariah activists began amassing and depositing the word 'Shariah' as a scare word into the public discourse. 'Anti-Shariah' protests started infesting towns throughout the United States and Europe, despite no evidence of any imposition of Shariah – as puzzling as if Americans suddenly began protesting the Martian occupation of Earth.

But what is Shariah? If it’s as draconian and oppressive as the anti-Shariah activists say, then how can 1.6 billion people abide by it? If it requires the oppression of women, then why have at least thirteen Muslim women been Presidents or Prime Ministers in recent decades? If it requires violence, then why haven’t Muslims – nearly a quarter of the world’s population – taken over the world by now? 

The talk will be held on Zoom. Attendance is free, but you must RSVP in advance to attend. For more details visit our Eventbrite page.

SPECIAL OFFER: Anyone who pre-orders a copy of Sumbul's book will receive free autographed bookplates by simply uploading proof of purchase at http://www.beacon.org/a…/clientpages/PreorderSummer2020.aspx

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Virtual Event: Attention to the Home Front
Jul
16
5:00 PM17:00

Virtual Event: Attention to the Home Front

EVENT TIME:

5:00 - 6:00pm PDT (via Zoom)

ABOUT:

SOAS Alumna and USAID development practitioner Elisabeth Kvitashvili will be in conversation with SOAS Alumnus and Vice-Chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at University of California Berkeley, Dr. Laurence Michalak. They will be discussing the endemic problem of structural racism, the death of American exceptionalism and the dismantling of our institutional safeguards against excessive Presidential power which threatens the viability of US democracy.

EVENT ACCESS:

You must register for this event here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/afsoas-presents-attention-to-the-home-front-tickets-111122249640

Once you have registered for the event, you will receive a link to access the event closer to the day.

SPEAKERS:

Elisabeth Kvitashvili

Elisabeth is an accomplished development practitioner with global humanitarian and crisis response leadership and field operations expertise spanning more than 35 years with USAID in countries such as Sri Lanka, Georgia, Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Bosnia, Honduras, Rwanda, DRC and the Horn of Africa. Among many assignments, she served as Director of the Disaster Response Division in the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) and Mission Director in Russia and Sri Lanka. She was the founding director of USAID’s Office of Conflict Management and Mitigation which launched new ways of thinking and approaching development through a conflict lens. She later led USAID efforts in transforming how the Agency approached engagement in Non-Permissive Environments. 

Now retired from USAID, she remains engaged through a variety of international consulting assignments and Board of Director positions including with Give2Asia and CDA. She is President of the Georgian Association in the USA. She mentors USAID officers and, graduates of Georgetown University and University of London’s SOAS. Elisabeth has an MA degree from London University, School of Oriental and Africa Studies (SOAS), with a focus on Near East Studies. 

Professor Laurence Michalak

Vice-Chair of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and Lecturer Laurence Michalak is a cultural anthropologist and specialist in North Africa and Western Europe. Born in Woodland, California, he completed his B.A. at Stanford (1964) before going on to do an M.A. Near And Middle Eastern Studies 1970 at SOAS, University of London and a Ph.D. at UC Berkeley (1983). He later joined the University of California and was Vice Chair of UCB’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies and taught for 23 years before retiring in 2002. Besides Arabic, he speaks fluent French, good Spanish, and fair German. He has traveled widely in North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, and was also was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Tunisia. He has taught and lectured on the anthropology of food, tourism, migration, globalization, and problems of economic development. He is the author of books on social legislation and labor migration and is currently working on a book on informal commerce.

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San Francisco Bay Area: Nature Walk & Meditation
Feb
23
2:00 PM14:00

San Francisco Bay Area: Nature Walk & Meditation

Bay Area SOAS alumni -- This Sunday, February 23rd from 2-6pm please consider joining AFSOAS Vice President Dr. Bharti Kansara for a nature hike at Hidden Villa (a 1,600-acre reserve of pristine wilderness in Los Altos in the South Bay) and learn about & practice the benefits of Meditation. Follow the link below to register; participation fee is $10.

www.hiddenvilla.org/programs/catalog/284-walk-and-meditate-with-mother-nature/region-HV/

Please contact Dr. Bharti Kansara for more information or for any questions: bkansara@yahoo.com.

*Please note: The event starts at 2:00pm, but Dr. Bharti Kansara will be arriving at 3:00pm

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Washington DC: Alumni Holiday Happy Hour
Dec
18
6:00 PM18:00

Washington DC: Alumni Holiday Happy Hour

SOAS Alumni & Friends in Washington DC — please join us on Wednesday, December 18th for a special holiday happy hour at the Union Trust Bar DC beginning at 6:00pm.

For any questions and to RSVP, please contact Whitney (DC Alumni Ambassador) at whitney.purdum@gmail.com or send us an email at afsoas1@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you there!

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San Francisco Bay Area: Alumni & Friends Holiday Party
Dec
8
12:00 PM12:00

San Francisco Bay Area: Alumni & Friends Holiday Party

We are thrilled to invite San Francisco Bay Area alumni and friends to the SOAS Festive Season Party, which will be held at the hilltop home of American Friends of SOAS Vice President Dr. Bharti Kansara. We will be showcasing alumni talent with 2-3 short Ted-type talks by alumni on their passions, so do come and enjoy the lively discussion.

The party will be on Sunday 8th December from 12 noon to 3pm. The full address and phone number will be provided on sign- up.

A lunch of delicious Indo-Persian cuisine and mulled wine will be provided.

Please register directly at afsoas1@gmail.com with your name and # of guests to receive the full address and phone number. You can also request or offer car-pooling to the event.

We look forward to seeing you for this lovely occasion!

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London: TEDxEuston - African Ideas Worth Spreading
Nov
30
11:00 AM11:00

London: TEDxEuston - African Ideas Worth Spreading

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TEDxEuston

Embracing the Power of African Ideas

SOAS alumnae and AFSOAS London Ambassador Kirstie Kwarteng will be speaking at the upcoming TEDxEuston: LEGACY event about her PhD, which explores the transnational experiences of second-generation Ghanaians in London and New York City.

About the Event:

TEDxEuston: LEGACY - TEDxEuston is a not-for-profit TED-like event dedicated to spreading the very best ideas and innovation from across Africa and the pan-African diaspora.

Over the past 10 years, we have grown to become the largest Africa-centred ideas forum in the UK and, as we countdown to our final event, we’re looking forward to introducing you to another exciting line-up of awe-inspiring thinkers and doers from across the continent and beyond.

LEGACY is where we discover the start of something greater. As a family, we will be connecting, sowing and reflecting on what is to come. So join our speakers, our community and our all-volunteer team, for one more day of unforgettable talks, incredible food, and exceptional music as we celebrate our legacy, and invite you to inherit the spirit of TEDxEuston.

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