Dana Hercbergs on the ‘Davidization of Jerusalem’

Tower of David, Jerusalem. Shared from Wikipedia under a Creative Commons Licence.

Dana Hercbergs, who spoke at our November 2014 conference Remembering Jerusalem, has written a piece based on her paper for +972 Magazine.

The article discusses the recent proliferation of images of the Tower of David as a symbol of Jerusalem.

The Tower, Dana writes, has appeared on everything from phone books to votive candles, to real estate adverts. It has reached such a level of popularity that it now seems to be replacing landmarks such as the Dome of the Rock and the Western Wall.

But why is this the case? Dana’s piece puts forward a number of possibilities, ranging from the increased visibility of settlers in the occupied City of David, to the potential of the Tower to replace the Dome of the Rock/Western Wall image with one which is on the surface (but barely, in reality) less politically charged.

You can read Dana’s article here.

Professor Nabil Matar added as keynote speaker at ‘Remembering Jerusalem’ conference

We are delighted to announce that Professor Nabil Matar, of the University of Minnesota, will join us at ‘Remembering Jerusalem: Imagination, Memory, and the City’ on 6-7 November, to deliver a keynote lecture.

Professor Matar is renowned for his research on relations between early modern Britain, Western Europe, and the Islamic Mediterranean. His many book projects include the recently published British Captives in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic: 1563-1760 (Brill, Leiden, 2014), Through the Eyes of the Beholder: The Holy Land, 1517-1713 (Brill, Leiden, 2013),  with Judy Hayden, and a forthcoming abridged, translated and introduced edition of An Arab Ambassador in the Mediterranean: Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Miknasi, 1779-1788 (Routledge, 2015).

In recognition of his “pioneering scholarship on the relationship between Islamic civilisation and early modern Europe,” Professor Matar was given the Building Bridges award at the University of Cambridge in 2012.

Professor Matar’s lecture will be entitled “Sufi Jerusalem in Arabic Pilgrimage Accounts, 13th-18th Centuries”. We will share more details in an abstract in the near future, and are very much looking forward to welcoming Professor Matar to King’s College London.

Accommodation, registration, travel grants for ‘Remembering Jerusalem’ London conference

This post contains practical information for delegates to our conference ‘Remembering Jerusalem: Imagination, Memory, which will be taking place at King’s College London on 6-7 November 2014.

Travel

The conference will take place on the Strand Campus of King’s College London. Travel information for arriving at the campus from around London can be found on the University website.

If you are flying to one of London’s airports for the conference, details about how to get from there to the conference location by train can be found on the appropriate airport websites: Heathrow, Luton, Stansted.

The nearest tube stops to the conference hotels are London Euston and Russell Square. A tube map is here.

Accommodation

We have reserved a number of rooms for delegates at three hotels close to the conference venue. These are the Tavistock Hotel, the President Hotel, and the Royal National Hotel.

The rates (per night) are as follows:

Tavistock Hotel
Single @ £91.00
Twin( or twin sole use) @ £117.00

President Hotel
Single @ £96.00
Twin ( or twin sole use) @ £125.00

Royal National Hotel
Single @ £96.00
Twin ( or twin sole use) @ £121.00

These prices include a full English breakfast, and VAT.

The hotels are managed by one company, so to make a booking, please contact the Central Reservation Office, on 0207 278 7871, or info@imperialhotels.co.uk, quoting the reference ‘King’s College London’. Slightly discounted rates are available if you book online: http://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/.

The number of these rooms is limited, and we would encourage you to book as soon as you can.

Registration

Fees for the conference are as follows:

Waged: £30 one day; £45 both days
Unwaged: £15 one day; £25 both days

Registration will be possible soon via the University of York Online Store.

Travel Grants

Delegates are assumed to attend in an individual capacity, rather than as representatives of their universities or other institutions.

Limited funds are available to support conference travel for presenters from outside the UK who cannot or would prefer not to rely on funding from their own institution. Applications to this fund are due by 30 September. Update: moved forward to 15th September.

Please send your name, affiliation (if applicable), paper title, and a breakdown of costs requested, to the network coordinator, Hannah Boast, at imagining-jerusalem[at]york.ac.uk.

If you have further questions about these topics, or others not mentioned here, please get in touch on the above address.

CFP: ‘Remembering Jerusalem: Imagination, Memory, and the City’, London, 6-7 Nov. 2014

Remembering Jerusalem: Imagination, Memory, and the City
6th-7th November
King’s College London

Organised by the AHRC-Funded Research Network ‘Imagining Jerusalem, 1099 to the Present Day’

Keynote speakers: Professor Anthony Bale (Birkbeck), Professor Eyal Weizman (Goldsmiths).

Further keynotes TBA.

Perhaps the world’s most iconic city, Jerusalem exists both as a physical space and as a site of memory, ideas, and re-memberings. In art, literature, film, and history writing; in acts of public and private worship; and in communities across the globe, memories of Jerusalem have, for centuries, been created, invoked, and relived. This cross-period, interdisciplinary conference invites paper and panel submissions on the theme of Jerusalem and Memory, c. 1099 to the Present Day. Topics may include, but need not be limited to:

– techniques of memorialisation / techniques of memory
– place, space, and memory
– souvenirs, mementoes, and memory aids
– the materiality (or immateriality) of memory
– memory and sensation
– memory, land and environment
– memory and warfare
– memory and governance
– forgetting, false memory, and fictional remembering
– narrative and memory
– memory and the archive
– national, local, and transnational memories
– memory and community
– ethnography as remembering
– ritual, repetition, and performance
– sacred and secular memory

The organisers are particularly keen to receive panel submissions which address a shared theme across more than one discipline and/or historical period.

Abstracts of c. 300 words for single papers and c. 1000 words for panels consisting of three papers should be sent to imagining-jerusalem@york.ac.uk by 1st July 2014. For more details or inquiries, please contact the same address or visit the Network website: https://jerusalems.wordpress.com/

This conference is organised by the lead members of the Network: Dr Anna Bernard (KCL), Dr Michele Campopiano (York), Dr Helen Smith (York), Dr Jim Watt (York), and the Network Coordinator, Hannah Boast (York).

Download the Call for Papers.