Friday, 27 October 2006, 12:00 p.m.
Presented by Greg Bankoff, History, University of Auckland

Greg Bankoff, associate professor of Asian Studies at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, will describe how a meteorological phenomenon was largely responsible for the Spanish empire in the Pacific. Thinking like an environmental historian means considering not simply what happened between peoples in the past but also about how different peoples related to the inanimate and animate world around them: the earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, floods and droughts that regularly affected communities; the buildings, forts, ships, roads, fields and forests, what they were made of and how they were used; and the livestock, game and pets that men and women worked alongside, hunted and shared their homes with. In his work, Bankoff adopts an inter-disciplinary approach that combines the social with the natural sciences, theoretical insights with historical perspectives. Bankoff finds that it is working at the intersections of these enquiries that produce the most exciting research.

In particular, disasters are set to become a major new field of historical studies, receiving increasing popular and governmental attention that corresponds to their escalating magnitude and frequency. One only has to think of the impact and concern that events like the recent Indian Ocean Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina engendered to appreciate this point fully. Yet little work of an historical nature has so far been done in this area both in assessing the true extent of past events and their consequences but equally, and perhaps more importantly, in determining what role they have played in the development of human societies over time.

abstract | speaker CV

Greg Bankoff is a non-western historian with interests in the role of disasters in human societies, resources and risk management, the environmental consequences of modern conflict, human-animal relations, and the development of colonial science. Though his particular geographical focus is on Southeast Asia and on the maritime nature of Spain’s empire in the Pacific, Bankoff has increasingly become more of a global historian in recent years. Bankoff is currently a Professor of History at the University of Hull.

Friday, 20 October 2006, 12:00 p.m.
Presented by Michael Fenner, History, National University of Singapore

Friday, 13 October 2006, 12:00 p.m.
Presented by Mefi Hermawanti, Political Science, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa

Ms. Hermawanti refers to Egypt as “The City of Glass.” Egypt is a place where Ms. Hermawanti sees her history, and as it were, her future. This past summer, Ms. Hermawanti had the unique opportunity to return to Egypt. She did so to pursue her graduate research. Upon arriving in Egypt, Ms. Hermawanti organized a number of interviews with important figures and scholars, including one of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood. Throughout her trip, Ms. Hermawanti kept a journal and took meticulous notes. This talk will be more of a conversation, a reflection on her personal experience traveling to Egypt and researching the Muslim Brotherhood.

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Ms. Mefi Hermawanti was recipient of the Ford Foundation Award. Her Scholarly Interests include the Advancement of Civil Society, Political Islam, Democratization, and Decentralization and Conflict Resolution. After Viana was invited to pursue her studies at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and she is now resides at Arlington, VA. She pursuing her professional and academic career in Conflict Resolution at George Mason University.