[Commlist] CFP: ‘Towards Global Ways of Knowing: Exploring Epistemologies of the Indian Ocean Worlds’ Research Workshops

*‘Towards Global Ways of Knowing: Exploring Epistemologies of the Indian 
Ocean Worlds’ Research Workshops *

*(Tübingen, 21-22 March 2024; Nottingham, 6-7 June 2024) *

*Call for Papers*

**

Modern human knowledge, as is known today, has been largely built on the 
epistemologies of the West and the Global North through processes of 
colonial expansion, capitalist globalisation and cultural imperialism; 
it also privileges cultural experiences in specific geographical 
locations such as the Atlantic and the Pacific. In the Indian Ocean 
Worlds which include much of Africa and Asia and where the majority of 
the Global South countries are located, a wide range of knowledge 
practices and ways of knowing have long existed. However, they have been 
underexplored or even dismissed as ‘unmodern’ or ‘unscientific’, 
excluded from the modern knowledge system. Examples include: alternative 
understandings of the body and wellbeing through traditional medicines 
and healing methods, multiple ways of feeling and knowing the world 
without privileging the visual experience, and creative modes of 
relating to the world without recourse to personal identity and the 
individual self. The project asks: What are some of theindigenous and 
decolonized epistemologies in the Indian Ocean Worlds? How have they 
been practised by people on the ground in these regions? How can these 
knowledge and experiences be successfully incorporated into global 
epistemologies, for instance, how can they be used to inform innovative 
teaching and research in global universities?

This project, jointly funded by the University of Nottingham’s 
International Collaboration Grant and the University of Tübingen’s 
Global Counters Platform and the Excellence Strategy, explores global 
and indigenous epistemologies in the Indian Ocean Worlds. It imagines 
the Indian Ocean Worlds as spaces for conceptual and theoretical 
building towards decolonised knowledge. It seeks to bring together 
researchers from the two universities and beyond to exchange ideas and 
workshop papers, with the aim of putting together an edited book for 
publication based on selected papers from the workshops.

The core part of the project consists of two research workshops, held 
respectively in Tübingen in March 2024 and in Nottingham in June 2024. 
We welcome scholarly papers from different, and intersecting, 
disciplines and scholarly fields, including but not limited to critical 
theory, cultural studies, Asian studies, African studies, Indian Ocean 
studies, Afro-Asian linkages, inter-Asian exchanges, Afro-Arab 
crossroads, sociology, anthropology, history, geography, and 
international relations.

Researchers are welcome to submit a 300-word (max.) abstract and a 
150-word (max.) biography note, together with their contact information 
(i.e. Email address) to the workshop co-organisers: Dr Hongwei Bao 
((hongwei.bao /at/ nottingham.ac.uk) <mailto:(hongwei.bao /at/ nottingham.ac.uk)>) and 
JProf Jacky Kosgei ((jacky.kosgei /at/ es.uni-tuebingen.de) 
<mailto:(jacky.kosgei /at/ es.uni-tuebingen.de)>). Please use 
‘Nottingham-Tübingen workshops’ in the subject line of your Email. 
Please also address your questions and queries to the two co-organisers.

*Abstract submission deadline: 30 November 2023*

*Notification of acceptance: 10 December 2023*

*Tübingen Workshop: 21-22 March 2024*

(Venue: Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 50 Wilhelmstr., 72074, 
Tübingen, Germany)

*Nottingham Workshop:  6-7 June 2024*

(Venue: University of Nottingham University Park Campus, Nottingham, NG7 
2RD, United Kingdom)

*Workshop Bursary*

There is a bursary to enable PhD students and Early Career Researchers 
from the two universities to attend the workshop. Please submit a 
request to the co-convenors.

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------