Overview of Research Programme
Arabia Asia Studies offers an expansive view of the world that provokes the imagination and inspires novel concepts and approaches in the humanities and social sciences. Arabia and Asia have been sites of intense historical interaction, connected for centuries through trade, faith, food, culture, and kinship, both across the Indian Ocean and the overland routes bridging West and East Asia. Placing Arabia and Asia within a single frame enables us to better understand themes and processes that extend beyond the boundaries of nations and regions and offers a productive lens on the world.
Our Programme is dedicated to fostering Arabia Asia Studies by working with scholars in Singapore, Southeast Asia, Arabia, and across the world to expand and deepen research in the field. Our members conduct their own research as well as lead seminars, roundtables, workshops and conferences. We are interested in a wide range of historical and contemporary themes in Arabia Asia interactions.
Our Programme keeps an eye to nurturing a nascent field of study that would bring to light the largely forgotten but deep and rich interactions between Arabia and Asia over a millennium. Besides the exchange of people, goods, and ideas, it highlights the deep human exchanges and the consequent emergence of shared families and mutually informed notions of life, death and ethics.
Given that Arabia Asia is an emerging field, the Programme takes a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, we embrace and build on the efforts of a network of Arabia Asia scholars scattered across institutions worldwide. Our international meetings aim to provide a rare, inspiring, and productive platform for research exchanges and connections for senior and emerging scholars. On the other hand, we collaborate with scholars based at the National University of Singapore (NUS) by expanding our scope from Arabia Asia to transregional studies. We thereby bring together scholars working on diverse and inter-disciplinary themes based in region- or discipline-based departments. By taking the lead in advancing transregional studies, we aim to foster Arabia Asia Studies.
To expand the empirical scope of the field, the Programme has established the digital Arabia Asia Archives with the aim of collecting, scanning, and preserving manuscripts and primary sources, especially those that are in danger of destruction. The archives have been constituted around a core collection of manuscripts of Arab communities and their descendants in two geographical regions: Hadramaut in south Arabia and Malabar in south India. It is envisaged as a portal that facilitates the dissemination of new and original knowledge on the subject and enhances future research.
To disseminate research more widely, the Programme has initiated the Muhammad Alagil Arabia Asia Studies Lecture in which a scholar who has made a significant contribution to the field addresses the academic community and members of the public.
Overview of Research Programme
Arabia Asia Studies offers an expansive view of the world that provokes the imagination and inspires novel concepts and approaches in the humanities and social sciences. Arabia and Asia have been sites of intense historical interaction, connected for centuries through trade, faith, food, culture, and kinship, both across the Indian Ocean and the overland routes bridging West and East Asia.
Placing Arabia and Asia within a single frame enables us to better understand themes and processes that extend beyond the boundaries of nations and regions and offers a productive lens on the world.
Our Programme is dedicated to fostering Arabia Asia Studies by working with scholars in Singapore, Southeast Asia, Arabia, and across the world to expand and deepen research in the field. Our members conduct their own research as well as lead seminars, roundtables, workshops and conferences. We are interested in a wide range of historical and contemporary themes in Arabia Asia interactions.
Our Programme keeps an eye to nurturing a nascent field of study that would bring to light the largely forgotten but deep and rich interactions between Arabia and Asia over a millennium. Besides the exchange of people, goods, and ideas, it highlights the deep human exchanges and the consequent emergence of shared families and mutually informed notions of life, death and ethics.
Given that Arabia Asia is an emerging field, the Programme takes a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, we embrace and build on the efforts of a network of Arabia Asia scholars scattered across institutions worldwide. Our international meetings aim to provide a rare, inspiring, and productive platform for research exchanges and connections for senior and emerging scholars. On the other hand, we collaborate with scholars based at the National University of Singapore (NUS) by expanding our scope from Arabia Asia to transregional studies. We thereby bring together scholars working on diverse and inter-disciplinary themes based in region- or discipline-based departments. By taking the lead in advancing transregional studies, we aim to foster Arabia Asia Studies.
To expand the empirical scope of the field, the Programme has established the digital Arabia Asia Archives with the aim of collecting, scanning, and preserving manuscripts and primary sources, especially those that are in danger of destruction. The archives have been constituted around a core collection of manuscripts of Arab communities and their descendants in two geographical regions: Hadramaut in south Arabia and Malabar in south India. It is envisaged as a portal that facilitates the dissemination of new and original knowledge on the subject and enhances future research.
To disseminate research more widely, the Programme has initiated the Muhammad Alagil Arabia Asia Studies Lecture in which a scholar who has made a significant contribution to the field addresses the academic community and members of the public.