Fall Lectures
September 29, 2009
Christian Images in Islamic Art
Location and Time:Al Mamoura Auditorium | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Dr. Yasser Tabbaa will discuss a group of Islamic metal and glass objects with Christian images that were produced in Syria and the Jazira in the 12th and 13th centuries. Though once-startling because of their unusual iconography, these objects have become familiar in the discourse about artistic interchange across multiple cultures. Still not fully explained, however, is how this normalization occurred across the boundaries of religion and culture. Dr. Tabbaa proposes that monasteries, with their convivial atmosphere, may have facilitated the transmission of these iconographic motifs into a complex medieval Islamic ethos.
Special Series: Islamic Art and Architecture
Yasser Tabbaa Head, Department of Ethics, Philosophy and Religion; Professor, Department of History, King’s Academy, Jordan
/video/institute/09-10/092909.flvOctober 1, 2009
Le Corbusier's "Toward an Architecture"
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium | 6:30 to 8:30 PM
Published in 1923 by Le Corbusier, Vers une architecture (Toward an Architecture) was based on articles printed in the magazine L'Esprit Nouveau, founded by the architect and the painter Amédée Ozenfant in 1920. Its impact was immediate on architects throughout Europe. Le Corbusier's book affected the way his contemporaries considered the relationship between architecture, technology and history, and provoked an unending series of polemics. As new translations appear in many languages, including Arabic, recent interpretation and archival research invite a reconsideration of this influential book's genesis and structure.
Conversations with Authors
Jean-Louis Cohen Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU
Yasser Tabbaa Head, Department of Ethics, Philosophy and Religion; Professor, Department of History, King’s Academy, Jordan
October 15, 2009
Completing the Circuit: Formula 1, Yas Island, and the Future of Abu Dhabi
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
The completion of the first phase of the Yas Island development project, with the Formula 1 racetrack at its heart, is a significant step in the transformation of Abu Dhabi into a globally-relevant world capital. Our panelists will consider the potential impact of the Yas Island project and its associated tourist attractions on Abu Dhabi's economy, urban development, and emerging cosmopolitan community.
Special Panel
Introductory Remarks
H.E. Khaldoon Al Mubarak Chairman, Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management
H.E. Mohammed Ben Sulayem FIA Vice President for Sport; President, Automobile and Touring Club UAE
Moderator
Mariët Westermann Provost, NYU Abu Dhabi
Panelists
Richard Cregan Chief Executive Officer, Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management
Rand Abbas Architecture & MP Manager, Yas Island Project, Aldar Properties
H.E. Falah Al Ahbabi General Manager, Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council
Victor Matheson Associate Professor, Department of Economics, College of the Holy Cross
October 19, 2009
The Silk Roads: A New Historical Perspective
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
As global interconnections become increasingly commonplace, as sophisticated archaeological excavation brings to light the far-flung material vestiges of early trade, as political developments focus attention on the lands that connect Asia, East, South, West, and North, and as Abu Dhabi becomes a center for intellectual exchange, the Silk Roads have never been more topical. In this talk Joanna Waley-Cohen reflects on different perspectives that enrich our understanding of the continuing importance of the Silk Roads in the here and now. Among the topics to be considered are: how the Silk Roads, both overland and maritime, might look different from the vantage point of Abu Dhabi; and how the idea of the Silk Roads has retained such strong appeal down to the present.
Joanna Waley-Cohen Professor and Chair, Department of History, NYU
/video/institute/09-10/101909.flvOctober 21, 2009
Cosmopolitanism, Multiculturalism, and the Promise of Literature
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Originating in the idea of the world citizen and conceived in contradistinction to nationalism, cosmopolitanism can be understood as a way of building community by embracing rather than avoiding difference. This lecture will explore the ways in which a cosmopolitan perspective responds to problems posed by contemporary Western multiculturalism. It will also suggest that literature offers distinctive resources for the cosmopolitan thinker.
Cyrus R. K. Patell Associate Professor, Department of English, and Faculty Fellow-in-Residence, University Hall, NYU
/video/institute/09-10/102109.flvNovember 5, 2009
The Conservation of Islamic Heritage Architecture in Cairo and the UAE
Location and Time: NYUAD Downtown Campus | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Cairo's rich heritage of Islamic Monuments, consisting of mosques, madrasas, caravanserais and houses, has been under threat for some time. The Egyptian government has actively pursued the conservation of this resource since 1882. Recently, non-governmental agencies have also become engaged in restoration projects. All these endeavors have raised many questions, ranging from the causes of degradation of buildings, to the appropriateness of different types of intervention, and the intentions behind present imperatives to restore the past. This lecture, given by Dr. Nicholas Warner, will explore these issues and relate them to current conservation work in the UAE in a subsequent discussion with Peter Sheehan.
Special Series: Islamic Art and Architecture
Peter Sheehan Historic Buildings Manager, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage
Nicholas Warner Consulting Conservation Architect, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, NYU
November 15, 2009
CO2 Rising: The World's Greatest Environmental Challenge
Location and Time: NYUAD Downtown Campus | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Without carbon, we are nothing. The fourth most abundant element in the Universe, carbon is in the soil, the air, the oceans, the cells of every living thing—and unfortunately in the fossil fuels we burn. As fossil fuels are combusted, they release carbon atoms that have been locked underground for millions of years, causing gigatons of CO2 to enter the global carbon cycle. Dr. Volk asks: Can new technologies and new energy sources—carbon sequestration, biomass, solar, wind, and nuclear—hold back the carbon tide? What facts should every Earth citizen know about the carbon cycle?
Conversations with Authors
Tyler Volk Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies, NYU
Anne Rademacher Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Metropolitan Studies, Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, NYU
November 22 – 24, 2009
Teaching the Ancient World Conference
Location: NYUAD Downtown Campus,
This conference explores why the ancient world excites the public imagination and sits at the core of the liberal arts education. Leading historians and archaeologists will establish what it means to study this world globally by comparing regions as distant as Egypt and China, India and Europe, Mesopotamia and Central Asia. The ancient period, from prehistory to about 600 CE, provides a foundation for understanding much broader developments in world history that have shaped the present. This foundation may even help us gain a long-term, historical perspective on our own rapidly changing society. The conference articulates a distinctive view of the ancient world that will characterize NYU Abu Dhabi's programs and will appeal to an audience of teachers, students, and the general public.
Convened by Andrew Monson Assistant Professor of Classics, NYU
- November 22nd
- Watch videoRegional and Cultural Histories of the Ancient World
- Watch videoCross-Cultural and Comparative Histories of the Ancient World
- November 23rd
- Watch videoThe Ancient World in the Undergraduate Curriculum
- Watch videoThe Ancient World Between and Across Cultures
November 23, 2009
Mapping the Ancient World
Location and Time: NYUAD Downtown Campus | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
In the third millennium B.C.E. (5,000 to 4,000 years ago), the ancient Near East was positioned at the center of a "new" internationalism that stretched from the lands bordering the Mediterranean to the Russian Steppe in Central Asia, the great rivers of the Indus Valley and the Arabian Peninsula. Contact within the region included warfare among neighboring polities, trade in ordinary and exotic materials, diplomatic relations involving gifting and marriage alliances, and the movement of people (artisans and merchants) who lived and worked across this broad intercultural space. Dr. Rita Wright provides an account of the discovery of this "world" based on the complementary use of ancient texts from Mesopotamia and archaeological evidence.
Rita Wright Associate Professor of Anthropology, NYU
/video/institute/09-10/112309.flvDecember 6 – 7, 2009
Higher Education in the Global Age Conference
Location: Al Mamoura Auditorium
Faculty have historically participated in international networks of knowledge transmission, but 21st century universities, among them NYU, are only beginning to imagine themselves as globalized institutions, establishing worldwide presences with sites in more than one country. This two-day conference will explore issues related to Higher Education in the Global Age, with leaders of universities from around the world speaking on four panels: Emerging Educational Markets, Universities as Agents of Global Understanding, Universities as Global Networks, and Universities as Engines of Sustainability.
Convened by Hilary Ballon Deputy Vice Chancellor, NYU Abu Dhabi
- December 6th
- Watch videoEmerging Educational Markets
- Watch videoUniversities as Agents of Global Understanding
- December 7th
- Watch videoUniversities as Global Networks
- Watch videoUniversities as Engines of Sustainability
December 9, 2009
The Predictioneer's Game
Location and Time: NYUAD Downtown Campus | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Dr. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita will discuss how applied game theory can be used to anticipate policy choices whether in business or in government. Game theory is a mathematical theory of how people interact strategically. After illustrating the claim with examples of his predictions made in print before events unfolded, he will discuss how game theory models can also provide a way to engineer future policy outcomes. The talk, based on his book, The Predictioneer's Game (Random House, published in September 2009), will provide applications to several important real-world problems, including the likely development of relations between Iran and Iraq during the next two to three years.
Bruce Bueno de Mesquita Julius Silver Professor of Politics; Director, Alexander Hamilton Center for Political Economy, NYU; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
/video/institute/09-10/120909.flvDecember 15 – 17, 2009
The Arabian Nights Conference: Encounters and Translations in Literature and the Arts
Location:NYUAD Downtown Campus
This sequel to a conference sponsored generously by the British Academy in March 2008 will explore the impact of Oriental story-telling, in particular of The Tales of 1001 Nights, on western fiction and entertainment. This influence takes many rich and exciting forms, and the talks and readings aim to develop a deep understanding of the long, imaginative interactions between the Middle Eastern, Asian and Western worlds.
The conference will examine in particular the influence of the Arabian Nights on music and film, as well as on narrative literature. Among the subjects of discussion will be: Orientalism in the Far East; an Indian film genre of the 1930s known to film historians as "The Arabian Nights Fantasy"; perspectives on teaching the Arabian Nights; and adapting the Arabian Nights into music and onto the stage.
Philip Kennedy Faculty Director, NYUAD Institute; Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, NYU
Marina Warner Novelist, Cultural Historian, and former fellow of the Remarque Institute, NYU
- December 15th
- Watch videoFountainheads and Watersheds
- Watch videoTranslations and Variations
- Watch videoTranslations and Variations (Part 2)
- Watch videoRound Table: Reading and Teaching The 1001 Nights
- December 16th
- Watch videoEnlightening Wonders
- Watch videoRound Table: Staging, Performing, Representing the Nights
- December 17th
- Watch videoMusic and Performance
- Watch videoMusic and Performance (Part 2)
- Watch videoMachines of Enchantment
- Watch videoOn the Silver Screen
- Watch videoModern and Contemporary Literature and Interpretations
December 15, 2009
Read more
The Arabian Nights: Encounters and Translations in Literature and the Arts, an evening of readings
Location and Time:Abu Dhabi Intercontinental Hotel | 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
Distinguished authors from the Middle East and South Asia read from selections of The Arabian Nights and of their own work inspired by this uniquely influential corpus of tales.
Convened by
Philip KennedyFaculty Director, NYUAD Institute; Associate Professor of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, NYU
Marina Warner Novelist, Cultural Historian, and former fellow of the Remarque Institute, NYU
Spring Lectures
January 6 - 7, 2010
Genomics and Systems Biology Workshop
Over the last decade molecular biology has been going through a radical transformation from a gene-centric view to a genomic and systems-wide view. We now have the genetic blueprint of literally thousands of life forms, including humans. Studying both the mechanisms governing cell behavior and the adaptation of organisms is equally important in understanding diversity of life forms on this planet. It is also important in understanding the mechanisms underlying altering cellular states, including health versus disease states. This workshop will explore fundamental questions in the study of Genomes and Systems.
Workshop
Convened by Fabio Piano, PhD Director, Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Associate Professor, Department of Biology, NYU
Location: NYUAD Downtown Campus, Abu Dhabi
- January 6th
- Watch videoWelcome & Developmental and Molecular Systems (Part 1)
- Watch videoDevelopmental and Molecular Systems (Part 2)
- Watch videoMicrobial Functional Genomics
- Watch videoEnvironment and Adaptation
- January 7th
- Watch videoPost-Doc Talks
- Watch videoModeling Systems and Applications
- Watch videoMacromolecular Systems
January 6, 2010
The Eighth Day of Creation
The last century saw a revolution in biology with the discovery of the molecular structure of DNA, the nature of the gene and how DNA encodes information, and the study of the fundamental molecules that make up life. Today we are witness to the many fruits of this continuing revolution in molecular biology—a revolution with applications in medicine and agriculture and in disciplines as diverse as synthetic biology and anthropology. It was the start of this biological revolution that is chronicled in Horace Freeland Judson’s seminal book, “The Eighth Day of Creation”, which illuminates how scientific paradigms are shaped, and which provides an engaging narrative of the grand experiments, ideas, and conversations among the pioneers of modern molecular biology.
Conversations with Authors
Michael Purugganan Professor of Genomics and Biology, NYU
Anthony Di Fiore Associate Professor of Anthropology, NYU
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
/video/institute/09-10/010610.flvJanuary 12 –14, 2010
Future Horizons of Fundamental Physics Workshop
Leaders in the fields of theoretical, experimental and observational astrophysics, particle physics and cosmology will meet to evaluate the most promising opportunities for paradigm-shifting discoveries. The aim of the workshop is to identify ways for emerging experimental and observational techniques to be fruitfully combined, to address the most fundamental questions in physics and related fields.
Workshop by Invitation Only
Workshop
Convened by Glennys Farrar Founder and Director of the Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, NYU
Location: NYUAD Downtown Campus, Abu Dhabi
- January 12th
- Watch videoEric Adelberger "Table Top Gravitational Experiments"
- Watch videoMark Kasevitch "Testing General Relativity in the Lab"
- Watch videoPeter Fierlinger "Electric Dipole Moments"
- Watch videoBrian Odom "Precision Molecular Spectroscopy: A New Probe for New Physics"
Giorgio Gratta "Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay, Non-Accelerator New Physics" - Watch videoRoundtable on Research and Education in the Gulf and Middle East
- January 13th
- Watch videoNeal Weiner "Where We Stand on Dark Matter"
Juan Collar "Dark Matter Detection"
Rick Gaitskell "Dark Matter Detection" - Watch videoNergis Mavalvala "Interferometric Gravitational Wave Detectors"
Eric Adelberger "Lunar Laser Ranging"
January 14, 2010
Hubble Trouble: The Expanding Universe and Dark Energy Enigma
Recent developments in theoretical physics and cosmology suggest that the Universe may have unseen dimensions, and that evidence for the existence of these dimensions may be discovered in upcoming experiments at the Large Hadron Collider in Geneva. NYU’s Professor Dvali, who is responsible for much of our theoretical understanding in this field, will explain the meaning of and motivation for this hypothesis in layman’s terms.
David Hogg, Associate Professor, Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, NYU
Gregory Gabadadze Associate Professor of Physics; Director, Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, NYU
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
/video/institute/09-10/011410.flvJanuary 17–19, 2010
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The Nature of Taste
The concept of taste in aesthetics had its origins in ideas about gustatory taste, and much was made of this analogy in the eighteenth century. Recent research invites re-examination of the relations between the gustatory and aesthetic concepts. Questions about the nature of taste perception, the role that knowledge plays in our appreciation of tastes, whether we can separate the descriptive and evaluative aspects of taste judgments, and the cultural aspects of taste, all raise interesting and important parallels with the exercise of taste in other domains. The time is right to explore a range of connected issues by bringing together a number of distinguished scholars working on different aspects of the subject.
Workshop by Invitation Only
Paul Boghossian Silver Professor of Philosophy, NYU
Barry C. Smith Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Institute of Philosophy, University of London
Location: NYUAD Downtown Campus, Abu Dhabi
January 17, 2010
Matters of Taste: Neuroscience and Philosophy
For several decades, sensory research in psychology, focused on the study of single sense modalities: for example, vision, audition, and smell. Taste was equally thought of as a single sense; and yet our experience of tasting always involves touch, taste and smell.
The complex interplay of these senses, along with visual and auditory cues, affects the flavours we perceive in what we eat and drink, and recent research in neuroscience confirms that such multisensory integration is much more pervasive than previously thought. In his talk, Professor Charles Spence will explore the variety of interactions of sensory systems that contribute to, or alter, our perception of flavours. Professor Barry Smith will examine the consequences these findings have for our ability to make accurate judgments of taste, to vary in our tastes, and to think of taste as continuous with aesthetic appreciation.
Conversations with Authors
Convened by
Paul Boghossian Silver Professor of Philosophy, NYU
Speakers
Charles Spence Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford
Barry C. Smith Director, Institute of Philosophy, University of London
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
/video/institute/09-10/011710.flvJanuary 24, 2010
Strategic Issues Facing the Ports of New York and Dubai
The Port of New York, or the terminal in Newark, was the birthplace of containerization, 53 years ago. The steel boxes used in this operation, the containers, remained essentially unchanged, save for minor changes in length and height. The handling of these containers begot the containerized shipping industry, including its two main components: the containership and the container terminal. Both have undergone radical changes in size and technology. These changes are clearly demonstrated in the case of Dubai, which has developed in a relatively short period facilities, equipment and operating systems for accommodating the largest ships afloat. A review of the changes in this industry and of its most important and distinctive features provides a basis for assessing the threats and opportunities facing the Ports of New York and Dubai.
Professor Asaf Ashar Director, National Ports and Waterways Institute, University of New Orleans
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
/video/institute/09-10/012410.flvJanuary 28, 2010
Islamic Art in the Gulf Region: Collectors and Collections
Special Series: Islamic Art and Architecture
Jochen Sokoly Gallery Director and Assistant Professor in Art History, Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
/video/institute/09-10/012810.flvFebruary 9–10, 2010
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Emerging Powers, Global Security, and the Middle East
NYU’s Center on International Cooperation, in cooperation with the Brookings Institution, will examine in this colloquium the roles and responsibilities of rising powers in shaping global and regional security in the twenty-first century—with an eye to the complex security challenges faced in the broader Middle East.
International institutions designed in the twentieth century are straining to cope with new categories of threats—climate change, nuclear proliferation, threats to biological security, terrorism, conflict, and poverty and economic instability—all while struggling to adapt to the power realities of an increasingly multi-polar international order. How the rising powers will be incorporated into the global security architecture will be a defining question of our era.
Special Colloquium by invitation
Convened by
Bruce D. Jones Director and Senior Fellow of The New York University Center on International Cooperation, NYU
Strobe Talbott President, Brookings Institution
Location: Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi
February 9, 2010
Power and Responsibility: Building International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats
Bruce D. Jones, Carlos Pascual and Stephen John Stedman, authors of Power and Responsibility: Building International Order in an Era of Transnational Threats (Brookings Press, 2009) examine how the global order will adapt to face the emerging security challenges of the 21st century.
Bruce D. Jones Director, NYU Center on International Cooperation
Stephen John Stedman Senior Fellow, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Stanford University
Location and Time: Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 – 8:30 pm
/video/institute/09-10/020910.flvFebruary 14–16, 2010
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Appreciating and Advancing Leadership for the Public Well-Being
The workshop will bring together a select group of scholars and practitioners from the Middle East and from NYU who are concerned with widening the space for leadership study and action. Leadership scholars in the region have stressed the importance of looking at leadership from within, rather than transposing ‘Western’ models that seldom fit Middle Eastern contexts. A dialogue between US-based and regional interlocutors will explore cases of leadership which transcends sectors, transforms ordinary citizens into active agents of change, and opens up new public spaces for deliberation and engagement. The workshop will focus on determining practical implications for the study of leadership, higher education curriculum and training and development programs.
Workshop by invitation only
More about this workshop on the NYU Wagner web site
Video clips on the NYU Wagner web site
Sonia Ospina Faculty Director, Research Center for Leadership in Action and Associate Professor of Public Policy and Management, NYU
Bethany Godsoe Executive Director, Research Center for Leadership in Action, NYU
Location: NYUAD Downtown Campus, Abu Dhabi
February 16, 2010
Leadership for a New Era: Fostering Leadership for Public Wellbeing
We live in an increasingly interconnected, complex, and uncertain world. In this new era intellectual capital drives success, talent is often an organization's most valuable asset, and organizational survival and societal advancement depend on continuous innovation.
Leadership for public wellbeing is critical to meeting the challenges of this era. It harnesses the power of intellectual capital and collective action to advance the wellbeing of entire societies rather than the private interests of a few individuals. What are examples of this form of leadership in the Arab region, and what will it take to see more groups exercising it? Exemplars of leadership for public wellbeing will tackle these questions from the corporate, philanthropic/civil society and state perspectives.
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
Fadi Ghandour Founder and CEO of Aramex International
Barbara Ibrahim Founding Director of the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement, American University in Cairo
Asya Al-Lamki Omani Cultural Attaché, Embassy of Oman, Washington D.C.
February 18, 2010
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Texts and Textiles: Thinking Historically About Material Culture in the Medieval Islamic World
Medieval Arabic chronicles are filled with references to clothing and textiles, but no artifact from an archaeological excavation has ever been associated with a known literary reference. How, then, do medieval Islamic historians interpret the abundant literary evidence about textiles? And how do we provide an historical context in which to understand the textiles that are known to us? This lecture explores these questions by discussing how historians can use a combination of archaeological finds, Arabic literary texts of different genres, and scarce Judeo-Arabic documentary materials from the Cairo Geniza to reconstruct the meanings of terms found in literary texts, to gain an understanding of the functions and meanings of objects within their societies, and to address broad questions of historical interpretation.
Special Series: Islamic Art and Architecture
Paula Sanders Dean of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies, Professor of History, Rice University
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
February 21, 2010
Visual Reflections on Arabic Poetry
In Arabic, the term Khatt references writing as drawing denoting the dimensions of calligraphy as an art form first developed to preserve the sacred words of the Quran and adhering to strict rules and styles. The formal calligraphic tradition dominated until the 1940s, when Arabic letters appeared in modern Arab art drawn in an abstract style. These fragments of Arabic texts were a reaffirmation of Arab identity and an assertion of the personal and variable in contrast to the sacred and immutable. Recently, Arab poets in collaboration with Arab artists and artists who write poetry created works that empower the image and enrich the word. This lecture will explore ways in which cursive writing in the form of poetry is used as an element of composition to create a union between two aesthetics.
Special Series: Islamic Art and Architecture
Salwa Mikdadi Head of the Arts & Culture Programme, The Emirates Foundation
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm
/video/institute/09-10/022110.flvMarch 2, 2010
Coming soon
The Poetics and Politics of Writing
How does a writer situate himself, artistically and politically, in a world in which languages and cultures intersect and intertwine? How does one write about a country one no longer inhabits, and how can one separate the scholar who is trained to study his native culture and the artist who interrogates and expresses some of its concerns, memories and desires? Is there a particular aesthetic and politics for diaspora writers and if so, what are its features and boundaries? This conversation will attempt to answer these questions and address other related issues such as the choice of genres one writes in and the tension between being an academic and a creative writer.
Conversations with Authors
Sinan Antoon Assistant Professor, NYU Gallatin School of Individual Study
Location and Time: The Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, Abu Dhabi | 6:00 - 7:00 PM
March 14-16, 2010
Africa and the Indian Ocean
The second in a three-year series, this interdisciplinary conference will highlight and examine the major aspects of the relationships among different Indian Ocean nations as well as the relationships of Indian Ocean nations with other African nations and the Arab Gulf countries. Discussions will cover the history, politics and economics of these relationships. Sessions will be devoted to trade, land purchase, food security, oil and commodity markets, and technology for development, asset stripping and capital flight and flows in the region.
Last year’s conference focused on the evolving socio-economic relationships between Africa and the Arab Gulf. This year the scope will be broadened beyond Africa's relationship with the Gulf to the relationship with the extended Indian Ocean region which, in addition to the African and the Arab Gulf nations, will include India and the islands in the Indian Ocean as well as China and Singapore.
Convened by
Yaw Nyarko Professor of Economics and Director of Africa House, NYU
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | View map
- March 14th
- Watch videoIntroductions and Keynotes
- Watch videoAfrica and the Indian Ocean: Historical Perspectives, Contemporary Challenges
- Watch videoMauritius as a Case Study in Economic Development
- Watch videoChina's Economic Growth: What's in it for Africa?
- March 15th
- Watch videoPirates and Political Economy in the Indian Ocean
- Watch videoAsset Stripping and Capital Flight
- March 16th
- Watch videoPromoting Tourism in Africa's Indian Ocean Coast
- Watch videoMigration and Remittances across the Indian Ocean
- Watch videoMigration and Remittances across the Indian Ocean Part II
- Watch videoRemarks on research at NYU Abu Dhabi Institute
March 15, 2010
Africa, the Arabian Gulf and Asia: Changing Dynamics in Contemporary West Africa’s Political Economy
The last two to three decades witnessed significant transformation in West Africa’s relations to the Arabian Gulf and Asia. While ties to countries such as Saudi Arabia are historic, economic liberalization since the 1980s has introduced new trading partners and some unexpected developments. China, after exiting the African scene in the 1970s, is back as an economic heavyweight. Malaysia is now investing in telecommunications and broadcasting in West Africa. Dubai is on the mind of many West African traders. The outcome of these recent developments can be startling: so in Ghana, for example, India and China have overtaken the United Kingdom, the former colonial power, in investments and the number of operating companies. This presentation will probe the implications of these emerging patterns for the political economy of West Africa.
Distinguished Lecture
Emmanuel Akyeampong Professor of History and of African and African American Studies, Harvard University
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | View map
/video/institute/09-10/031510.flvMarch 28, 2010
The Magic of Words
Anna Deavere Smith will be interviewed and will then perform excerpts from her “On The Road: A Search For American Character” Series. The series features performances of little-known and well-known people whom Ms. Smith has interviewed in order to create her unique signature kind of theater.
Anna Deavere Smith University Professor, Tisch School of the Arts, NYU
in conversation with
Rubén Polendo Associate Professor, NYU; Associate Professor of Theater, NYU Abu Dhabi
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 PM
/video/institute/09-10/032810.flvMarch 30, 2010
Parviz Tanavoli: A Life's Journey
Abu Dhabi Festival in collaboration with the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute presents a lecture with the eminent artist and founder of modern sculpture in Iran, Parviz Tanavoli. Tanavoli will discuss his life's work, followed by an audience question and answer session.
Parviz Tanavoli World-renowned sculptor and writer
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 PM | View map
/video/institute/09-10/033010.flvMarch 31, 2010
The Collection and Display of Islamic Art at the Metropolitan Museum, New York
Today the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has one of the world’s most important collections of Islamic Art, the result of more than a century of collecting. This pair of lectures will focus on how that collection was formed and displayed during the first century of its existence. Many of the collection’s important early donors were men who appreciated the beauty and fine craftsmanship of the objects they purchased but knew little about the history and origin of the objects they acquired. In its early years the museum had no fixed space dedicated to the display of its Islamic collection and the museum’s small staff experimented with various approaches to the display of the growing collection of Islamic Art. Many of these questions are under review once again as the museum prepares a new permanent installation for its Islamic collection that is scheduled to reopen in the fall of 2011.
Priscilla Soucek John L. Loeb Professor in the History of Art; Director of Graduate Studies, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU
Navina Haidar Associate Curator, Department of Islamic Art, Metropolitan Museum
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 PM | View map
/video/institute/09-10/033110.flvApril 11, 2010
A Tale of Two Cities, and of Climate Change: Future Sea Level Projections in New York and Abu Dhabi
Our global atmosphere and ocean have been observed to warm moderately over the past century, and are reliably projected to warm more significantly over the coming century. The vast amounts of ice stored in the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets are thereby under threat of partially melting and significantly raising global sea level over the present century and beyond, potentially flooding low lying cities like New York and Abu Dhabi. A scientific research program is outlined that seeks to transform our present ignorance of basic earth science processes relating to ice sheets and sea level into a fundamental new understanding and predictive capability.
David Holland Professor of Mathematics, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and Director, Center for Atmosphere Ocean Science, NYU
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | View map
More about the New York / Abu Dhabi Futures lectures
/video/institute/09-10/041110.flvApril 13-15, 2010
Beyond Child Indicators: A Framework to Assess and Evaluate the Quality of Early Childhood Care and Education Settings and Programs in Global Contexts
Workshop by Invitation Only
Location and Time: Venue To Be Announced, Abu Dhabi
Recent increased investments in Early Childhood Services (ECS) signal a greater recognition of the importance of building human capital prior to children’s formal school entry. However, some evidence suggests that this increased investment is targeted toward enrollment and “slots” rather than the quality of services provided. It is critical for nations to work toward creating quality ECS because without a matching commitment to quality, intended gains for children may be lost. Yet tools for assessing ECS are lacking. The workshop aims to develop, through a participatory process, a framework for measuring and ensuring quality in ECS, across a range of contexts.
Convened by
Cybele Raver Director, Institute of Human Development and Social Change; Professor, Department of Applied Psychology, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, NYU
Pia Rebello Britto Associate Research Scientist, Child Study Center, Yale University
Hiro Yoshikawa Professor of Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Kimberly Boller Senior Research Psychologist, Mathematica Policy Research
- April 13th
- Watch videoConceptual Framework for Improving the Quality of ECS: Global Perspectives
- Watch videoReport Back: Towards a Shared Definition
- April 14th
- Watch videoECD Approaches Targeting Interventionists
- Watch videoPlenary Discussion: Working Groups: Rapporteurs' Report and Discussion
- Watch videoECD Approaches Targeting Interventionist and Parent/Primary Caregiver
- Watch videoPlenary Discussion: Working Groups: Rapporteurs' Report and Discussion
- April 15th
- Watch videoRevisit Agenda and Emerging Themes
- Watch videoPlenary: Structural Features of ECD Settings
- Watch videoPlenary: Systems Building and Professional Development
- Watch videoClosing Panel: Next Steps in Quality ECD in the Majority
April 14, 2010
Investments in Early Childhood: What Programs in the Majority World Can Tell Us
Early Childhood Development (ECD) is coming of age, globally, based on the growing body of scientific evidence and increasing attention. Dr. Ulkuer will highlight the intrinsic and instrumental roles of ECD in achieving optimal development and international social and economic development targets. In particular, she will emphasize the evidence linking early childhood outcomes and later development with respect to building human capital. Dr. Ulkuer will discuss the lessons learned from ECD interventions and programs in improving childhood outcomes with implications for national and global policies. The quality of early childhood services will be addressed both as a need and a right toward the attainment of full development of human potential.
Nurper Ulkuer Chief, Early Childhood Development Unit/PDO, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | View map
/video/institute/09-10/041410.flvApril 18, 2010
Museums Tomorrow
As Abu Dhabi endeavors to become a cultural hub of global reach, it is looking broadly for inspiration and thinking carefully about the institutions it hopes to create. How do museums of world art differ from museums of ethnography, culture, or history—or do they? What social and economic conditions gave rise to the great museums of the world, and what makes them flourish or falter? What can we learn from museums past and present as we envision the museums of the future? Our distinguished panel will discuss these key questions about the design, creation and evolution of museums of art and culture, and illuminate them with telling examples.
Moderator
Mariët Westermann Provost, NYU Abu Dhabi
Panelists
Philippe de Montebello Director Emeritus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Fiske Kimball Professor of the History and Culture of Museums, NYU
Neil MacGregor Director, The British Museum
Kavita Singh Associate Professor of Arts and Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University
John Onians Founder , School of World Art and Museology, University of East Anglia
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | View map
/video/institute/09-10/041810.flvApril 18-19, 2010
Art Museums Here and Now
As Abu Dhabi pursues its ambitious creation of a world class cultural district on Saadiyat Island, the Emirate faces essential questions about the role of art museums in the 21st century. What creative, social, and educational functions do art museums serve in our globalized age? How do they engage local populations while attracting new visitors? Should they shape arts education or work with other institutions to deliver it? Can they serve as models for the development of art and industry today? Art museums—new and old—are grappling with these issues as art from around the world is brought to increasingly complex audiences.
These topics will be illuminated by museum directors, curators, and scholars and historians of museums and cultural institutions from all over the world.
Convened by
Mariët Westermann Provost, NYU Abu Dhabi
and
Philippe de Montebello Fiske Kimball Professor, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU; Director Emeritus, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Location: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | View map
- April 18th
- Watch videoPast into Present: The Birth and Transformation of Museums
- Watch videoOld Museums for New Times
- April 19th
- Watch videoUniversal Museums or Museums of World Art
- Watch videoFor the Future: The Museum in the New Cosmopolis
April 20, 2010
Common Challenges, Uncommon Cities – Mega-Projects
This talk will outline the OMEGA Centre’s approach to the use of story-telling in its investigation of decision making in the planning, appraisal and delivery of Mega Urban Transport Projects (MUTPs) derived from a variety of projects in ten countries in Europe, USA and the Asia Pacific. It will highlight some of the key research findings from the use of this methodology as applied to the Centre's first UK Case Study—the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL)—built in a strategic regional planning corridor of SE England (the Thames Gateway) near London, much of it a massive brownfield undergoing major economic/physical regeneration. The presentation will assess the relevance of these findings to other “mature established areas” such as New York as opposed to “new virgin areas” as in the case of the environs of Abu Dhabi.
Professor Harry Dimitriou Bartlett Professor of Planning Studies, University College, London
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | View map
More about the New York / Abu Dhabi Futures lectures
/video/institute/09-10/042010.flvMay 5, 2010
A Brief History of Arab Music (with accompaniment)
Mustafa Said (b. 1983) is a renowned Oud player, chanter, composer, music researcher and specialist in traditional Arab and oriental style. He founded The Asil Ensemble for Interpretive Traditional Arab Oriental Music in 2003. He has taught Oud, chanting, the art of improvisation and Arab ensemble music (Takht) at the Music Institute, Antonine University, Lebanon, since 2006. He has two albums to his name, has participated in several collaborative recordings, set music to several works of theatre as well as documentary films, and participated in numerous music festivals locally and internationally both as solo player and in ensembles.
Mustafa Said Oud player, chanter, composer
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | View map
In Association with ADACH's Sounds of Arabia Festival.
/video/institute/09-10/050510.flvMay 9, 2010
The Relevance and Irrelevance of Muslim Political Traditions
The lecture will address the question of Muslim political traditions: what they might have been in the past, to what extent they might be considered to be intrinsically Muslim rather than common to other political traditions in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and what they are not. The past two centuries have seen fundamental changes in Muslim lands, as elsewhere. This history raises the question of what remained of the classical political paradigms, and whether what is seen to have remained is at all active in the politics of Muslim lands, and in what way.
Aziz Al-Azmeh Professor, School of History and Interdisciplinary Historical Studies, Central European University
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 PM | View map
/video/institute/09-10/050910.flvMay 11, 2010
From the World Wide Web to the “World Wide Computer”
Today there are two popular paradigms emerging for Internet applications: cloud computing and peer-to-peer. Cloud computing allows all applications to reside in few computers that are accessed by users as and when needed. In peer-to-peer systems each computer or node accesses every other computer on the internet by finding the best path through other nodes. The fundamental challenge is to learn how the peer-to-peer paradigm can be used to unite the surplus computing, storage, and bandwidth resources in computing devices distributed around the world in a way that creates a coherent, shared computing and information platform. The implications of doing so would be far reaching: the internet and the resources of all computers connected to it would effectively function as one large computer available to any user, anywhere, any time, all having access to limitless computational and storage capabilities.
Keith Ross Department Head and Leonard J. Shustek Professor, Computer Science and Engineering, NYU-Poly
Location and Time: Al Mamoura Auditorium, Abu Dhabi | 6:30 - 8:30 PM | View map
/video/institute/09-10/051110.flv