Loiy Hammad Memorial Lecture Series

Captured at Sea: Piracy and Protection in the Indian Ocean

February 17, 2021

Dr. Jatin Dua, Associate Professor of Anthropology at University of Michigan, discusses in his award-winning book Captured at Sea that sheds light on the upsurge in maritime piracy off the Somali coast and its impact on global shipping.

By the Sea: In Conversation with Abdulrazak Gurnah

November 9, 2020

Dr. Rogaia Abusharaf (Professor of Anthropology at Georgetown Qatar) and Dr. Coilin Parsons (Associate Professor of English at Georgetown University) join Dr. Abdulrazak Gurnah to discuss his novel By the Sea, which explores the experiences of East African immigrants in the UK deeply interwoven with memories of Zanzibar.

Imperial Mecca: Ottoman Arabia and the Indian Ocean Hajj

October 27, 2020

Dr. Michael Cristopher Low, Assistant Professor of History at Iowa State University, presents an intriguing analysis from his book Imperial Mecca discussing how the Hijaz and the steamship era pilgrimage to Mecca simultaneously became objects of Ottoman modernization, global public health, international law, and inter-imperial rivalries during the late 19th and early 20th century.

Buying Time: Debt and Mobility in the Western Indian Ocean

September 29, 2020

Dr. Thomas M. McDow, Associate Professor of History at Ohio State University, speaks about his book Buying Time, which tells the forces that shaped commercial history of the Indian Ocean and deep historical connections between Eastern Africa, the Gulf, and South Asia that were formed as a result.