International Congress on:
“The Maghrib and the Western Mediterranean in the Ottoman Era”
Rabat-Morocco November 12-14, 2009
The Royal Institute for Research on the History of Morocco (IRRHM, Rabat- Morocco), the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture (IRCICA, Istanbul) working within the framework of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) organize jointly an international congress on “The Maghrib and the Western Mediterranean in the Ottoman Era” in Rabat-Morocco, on November, 12-14, 2009.
This Conference will bring together scholars from around the world, specializing in the history of the Maghrib and the Western Mediterranean during the Ottoman era and will address a variety of issues relating to this field.
The Moroccan university has already built up an important body of scholarship about the Ottoman presence in the Maghrib and in the Western Mediterranean, through a series of conferences:
- Le Maghreb à l’époque ottomane (The Maghrib in the Ottoman Era), Rabat 1992, published in 1995 by the Faculty of Letters, Rabat.
- Rencontre maroco-turque, (Moroccan-Turkish Meeting), Fès 1992.
- Les Ottomans et le monde méditerranéen (The Ottomans and the Mediterranean World), Rabat 2002, published in 2003 by the Faculty of Letters, Rabat.
- Les Ottomans au Maghreb à travers les archives locales et méditerranéennes (Ottomans in the Maghrib through Local and Mediterranean Archives), Rabat 2003, published in 2005 by the Faculty of Letters, Rabat.
On its part, IRCICA organized, in partnership with other institutions, a series of international congresses devoted to various Arab lands in the Ottoman era:
- Learning and Education in the Ottoman World, Istanbul, 1999.
- The Sham (Greater Syria) during the Ottoman Era, Damascus, 2005.
- Egypt during the Ottoman era, Cairo, 2007.
Building up on the results of these different meetings, this congress on “The Maghrib and the Western Mediterranean in the Ottoman Era” aims to follow up on the same endeavors. Morocco was never part of the Ottoman realm, nor was the Northern shores of the Western Mediterranean. Yet, the Ottoman presence in the rest of the Maghrib, to a greater or lesser degree, had an impact on all the Western Mediterranean. This Congress’ purpose is to explore new directions of scholarship and give specialists of various fields an opportunity to put together the results of their own research.
The proposed themes for this Congress are the following:
I- The state of scholarship and the methodological questions related to the topic of the Congress.
II- Crossed glances: Ottoman, Maghribi and European sources (historiography, chronicles, travel accounts, newspapers etc..)
III- Dimensions of the Ottoman presence in the Maghrib and the Western Mediterranean:
Socio-economic aspects (trade and navigation;
urban and rural life …)
Administrative and institutional aspects.
Cultural aspects (education, transmission of knowledge, architecture ...)
Political and relational aspects (a triangular relationship: Morocco-the Ottoman Maghrib- Europe).
These proposed themes are by no means exclusive of any others relating to the Congress’ topic.
The languages of the Congress will be Arabic, Turkish, English and French. Simultaneous translation will be provided.
A selection of revised communications will be published afterwards.
- December 30, 2008: Communications titles and abstracts (250 words) should reach the Organizing Committee.
- September 15, 2009: Communications full texts should reach the Committee, in order for it to send out the air tickets to participants.
- November 11, 2009: Welcoming the participants.
- November 12-14, 2009: Conference.
- November 15, 2009: Departure.