Oriental
Institute/Graduate
Training
Methodologies
Seminars,
2009 – 2010
COURSE PACK
Course Summary and Reading Lists
Oriental Institute/Graduate Training Methodologies Seminars, 2009 – 2010
Unless otherwise indicated, the seminars will be held in the Oriental Institute (Lecture Room 2) on
Fridays at 2 pm.
Michaelmas Term 2009
Week 1: INTRODUCTION: Led by Professor Theo Van Lint (Calouste Gulbenkian Professor of
Armenian Studies, Fellow Of Pembroke College and Director of Graduate Studies, Faculty of Oriental
Studies) and Arezou Azad (D.Phil Candidate, Faculty of Oriental Studies) and the Graduate Training
Representatives
Week 2: TRANSCRIPTION AND EDITING: Led by Dr Charles Ramble (Oxford University
Lecturer in Tibetan and Himalayan Studies, Faculty of Oriental Studies) and Professor Edmund Herzig
(Soudavar Professor of Persian Studies and Fellow of Wadham College)
Unpublished historical literary and documentary texts often provide invaluable new material for the
Orientalist. In addition, literary texts often exist in multiple versions: to compare them allows the
historian to attain a more accurate time series for the genesis of a text, identify text manipulations,
and decipher markers like personal and place names. A graduate student who consults (frequently
unpublished) manuscripts may decide to produce a transcription, and/or critical edition, pointing in
the latter case to editorial differences between manuscripts. In this session, students will be
introduced to good practices in making transcriptions and critical editions of historical texts – how
to obtain them, in which format to read them, how to transcribe texts, how to choose manuscripts
for critical editing, and how to present editorial differences.
Week 3: ARCHIVING: Led by Miss Debbie Usher (Archivist, Middle East Centre Archive, St
Antony's College), and Claudia Gazzini (D.Phil Candidate, Faculty of Oriental Studies)
Many archives now allow users to make digital reproductions of their collections. Digitalisation has
its obvious advantages (reduced photocopying costs, less time spent in the archives, easy storage in
computer, etc) but can also cause some unexpected problems (poor quality images, loss of digital
files, bad file management), especially if one is not familiar with the necessary technology.
This session will give students an overview of the available archives in the UK, on-line archival
resources and copyright policies. There will also be a practical component aimed at training
students to digitization techniques (what cameras? what digital format? lighting? etc), storing
images and managing the material efficiently and effectively – hopefully saving a great deal of
frustration and wasted time. The session will also address some theoretical issues on digitalisation
and introduce students to copyright legislation.
Week 4: TRANSLATION: Led by Dr Jeremy Munday (Senior Lecturer in Spanish Studies,
University of Leeds), Professor Geert Jan van Gelder (Laudian Professor of Arabic, Faculty of Oriental
Studies) and Arezou Azad (D.Phil Candidate, Faculty of Oriental Studies)
The translation of Oriental texts into English remains a vital task for the Orientalist. Translation
Studies is a growing field that seeks to answer questions like stylistics, discourse analysis, narrative
point of view in translation, and ideology in the translation of literary and political works. The
purpose of this session is to provide students with an introduction to translation theory and the
approaches to translation.
Oriental Institute/Graduate Training Methodologies Seminars, 2009 – 2010
Reading List:
1. Jeremy Munday, Introducing Translation Studies, especially chapters 1 and 2 and 8-9.
2. Mona Baker, The Routledge Encyclopedia of Translation Studies, especially the 'history
and traditions' of the geographical and linguistic areas in which the students work.
3. Lawrence Venuti, The Translation Studies Reader, especially the introductions to each
section by Venuti.
4. Susan Bassnett, Translation Studies, which is a little dated but covers some of the key
concepts.
5. Entries in the Routledge Encyclopedia which are relevant to the students’ language
areas.
Week 5: METHODS IN ORAL HISTORY: Led by Dr. Eugene Rogan (University lecturer in the
Modern History of the Middle East, Fellow of St Antony's College)
Oral history can be defined as the recording, preservation and interpretation of historical
information, based on the personal experiences and opinions of the speaker. It often takes the form
of eye-witness evidence about past events, but can include folklore, myths, songs and stories passed
down over the years by word of mouth. While it is an invaluable way of preserving the knowledge
of the older generation, it can also be used to understand how younger generations perceive the past.
This seminar will introduce you to this methodology and Dr Rogan will be talking about his work
on the oral history of Palestine.
Reading List:
1. Paul Thompson, The Voice of the Past: Oral History (Oxford: OUP, Third edition 2000)
2. For case studies on the oral history of Palestine, I suggest:
3. Staughton Lynd, Sam Bahour and Alice Lynd, Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine
and Palestinians
4. And the oral histories on the web site, Palestine Remembered:
http://www.palestineremembered.com/OralHistory/Interviews-Listing/Story1151.html
Week 6: METHODS IN QUANTITATIVE HISTORY: Led by Dr Deborah Oxley (University
Lecturer in Social History and Fellow of All Souls College), and Claudia Gazzini (NB this seminar will
be on Thursday of 6th week, from 2 to 4pm.)
Even after one generation of use, quantitative methods are still controversial in historical research
and writing. Scholars continue to react more emotionally than rationally to the possibilities and
problems of quantification in history. Because of math phobia or hostility against technology and
numbers, few Orientalists have ever used quantitative methods. This session will give an
introduction to some quantitative methods and sources that could be successfully used to study the
history of the regions students are interested in.
Reading List:
1. Charles H. Feinstein and Mark Thomas, Making history count: A primer in quantitative
methods for historians (Cambridge University Press 2002)
2. Roderick Floud, An Introduction to Quantitative Methods for Historians (London, 1973
and subsequent edns.)
Oriental Institute/Graduate Training Methodologies Seminars, 2009 – 2010
3. Pat Hudson, History by numbers: An introduction to quantitative approaches (Arnold
2000)
4. For an example of the application of quantitative methods to a traditional topic in
Chinese history, see: Stephen L. Morgan, “Economic Growth and the Biological
Standard of Living in China, 1880-1930”, Economics and Human Biology, 2 (2) 2004,
pp. 197-218.
Week 7: WORKING WITH MANUSCRIPTS: Led by Dr Emilie Savage-Smith (Professor of the
History of Islamic Science, Faculty of Oriental Studies) and Arezou Azad (D.Phil Candidate, Faculty of
Oriental Studies)
Manuscripts are important to historians, not only on account of their content, but also of their
physical aspect. The make-up of a manuscript, notably its paper, binding, and ink, can serve as a
vital marker for the production and provenance of a manuscript. In this session students will be
given the opportunity to see examples of how to ‘read’ manuscripts as physical objects – a science
known as ‘codicology.’
Reading List:
1. François Déroche, and others, Islamic Codicology: an introduction to the study of
manuscripts in Arabic script, trns. by D. Dusinberre and D. Radzinowicz, ed. by
Muhammad Isa Waley (London: al-Furqan Islamic Heritage Foundation, 2005).
2. Jonathan M. Bloom, Paper before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic
World (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001)
3. Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006)
4. François Déroche, Le livre manuscrit arabe: Préludes à une histoire (Paris:
Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2004)
5. Francis Richard, Le livre persan (Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 2003)
6. The Book in the Islamic World: The written word and communication in the Middle
East, ed. George N. Atiyeh (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1995)
7. Adam Gacek, The Arabic Manuscript Traditions: A Glossary of Technical Terms and
Bibliography [Handbuch der Orientalistik, 1. 58] (Leiden: Brill, 2001)
8. Helen Loveday, Islamic Paper: A Study of the Ancient Craft (London: Archetype
Publications [2002])
9. The Codicology of Islamic Manuscripts: Proceedings of the Second Conference of alFurqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 4−5 December 1993, ed. Yasin Dutton (London:
Al-Furqān Islamic Heritage Foundation, 1995)
10. Scribes et manuscrits du Moyen-Orient, ed. François Déroche and Francis Richard
((Paris: Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1997)
11. Theoretical Approaches to the Transmission and Edition of Oriental Manuscripts:
Proceedings of a symposium held in Istanbul March 28−30, 2001, ed. Judith Pfeiffer
and Manfred Kropp [Beiruter Texte und Studien, 111] (Beirut: Ergon Verlag Würburg,
2007)
Week 8: STRATEGIES FOR RESEARCH USING OXFORD ONLINE RESOURCES: Led by
Grazyna Cooper (Oxford University Computer Services)
This will be of interest to those researching both the history of the Middle East and Asia and the
modern period. This seminar will introduce students to the opportunities the internet presents to
access historical documents, research tools, online databases.
Oriental Institute/Graduate Training Methodologies Seminars, 2009 – 2010
Hilary Term 2010
Week 1: MATERIAL CULTURE: USING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, SESSION 1: Led by Dr Luke
Treadwell (University Lecturer in Islamic Numismatics and Assistant Keeper, Heberden Coin Room,
Ashmolean Museum; Fellow of St Cross College)
This seminar will give junior researchers an introductory insight into material culture historical
research and will bring material culture researchers at the Khalili Research Centre and text-based
researchers in the main Oriental Institute together, resulting in more discussion – and perhaps
raising the possibility of joint research projects – between them.
Week 2: MATERIAL CULTURE: USING PHYSICAL EVIDENCE, SESSION II: Led by Dr Luke
Treadwell
We hope that this session will include a visit to an exhibition in a museum to complete your introduction
to using material culture for research.
Week 3: TEXT ANALYSIS: There will be more information on this seminar available soon.
Week 4: POPULAR CULTURE: ALTERNATIVE MEDIA SOURCES: Led by Dr Walter
Armbrust (University Lecturer, Faculty of Oriental Studies) and Dr Lucie Ryzova (Junior Research
Fellow in Oriental Studies)
Both historians and students of the politics and societies of the modern Middle East and Asia can
use newspapers, pamphlets, film, websites, blogs etc. as sources. This session w introduce the skills
needed to make effective use of these sources.
We hope to run sessions on doing fieldwork, including conducting interviews, in the second half of
Hilary Term. Details will follow.
Sarah Grey, Saagarika Dadu & Non Arkaraprasertkul (Graduate Training Representatives)