Our Workshops
The research objectives of this international and interdisciplinary project are structured
primarily through the scholarly and creative outcomes of three, thematic and hands-on workshops.
About Our Workshops
The framing of the term “global” is hardly ever questioned in much of what passes as global history, global literatures, and global humanities. Often, the term is understood as a concept that is by and large padded by the Anglo-Saxon academic discourse of the 90s. Within this framing of the global, connections, voices from the margins, and autonomous histories are emphasized with a hope that some kind of renewed understanding of global experience can be extracted from these diverse perspectives. All that is very noble and applaudable. Who doesn’t want equity in the way we create our discourses?
However, the problem with this kind of multipolar perspective is that it assumes that conflicting histories can be presented side by side without ever questioning the legitimacy of their larger discursive legacies. Such liberal-pluralist approaches to the global flatten the differences and reduce political projects to mere commodities while making their own politics of framing the discourse invisible. Too often, the structures of so-called global knowledge contribute more to our ignorance of non-western societies and premodern pasts than to a meaningful understanding of their differences.
One can see such a framing of the global in almost any handbook of global history, international law, etcetera, wherein these structures of thought and language remain by and large Eurocentric. Historians continue to frame the experience of time in the temporal markers of European historiography, and literary scholars are rarely able to provide a glimpse into literary imagination of a non-western past without referring to the genres that have come to be theorized from within the western literary tradition.
Our workshops hope to inspire a radical shift in the language through which we come to engage the global pasts. Only through a diversely collaborative thinking project like the Global Past Research Initiative can we hope not just to provincialize Europe, but to think outside of its given epistemologies and to conceptualize the global from the non-western hemisphere of the globe.
Workshop 1: Toronto, Canada
February 4-5, 2023
Collaborative Digital Research Space
Maanjiwe nendamowinan Building | University of Toronto Mississauga
Over a wintery weekend in February, this two-day workshop facilitated an inaugural dialogue among scholars across our four collaborating institutions, including the University of Toronto, the American University in Cairo, the Institut français de Pondychéry, and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
Taking full advantage of what we had missed and what we had learned during the pandemic, we gathered in a physical space, sat around a table, and talked while having snacks! At the same time, we were joined virtually by our fellow scholars across the globe, benefitting from the convenience of online collaboration.
What We Did
Centering our core objectives of interdisciplinarity, equity, and the value of personal histories, the workshop featured 3 panel presentations.
Among the many topics covered, Ajay Rao discussed how politics allow for and influence local and national narratives of the past. Maria Hupfield shared how the living archive of Indigenous oral history and cultural memory can be preserved, retrieved, and transmitted. Suleyman Dost revealed how the materiality of historical evidence can fill the gaps in our pictures of the past.
Concluding with a roundtable discussion, we reflected on what we had learned from one another and posed a new set of complex and significant questions: Is a truly global dialogue possible? How can we work together and outside our own fields? How can we meaningfully engage the diversity of the global pasts to inform the teachings of the modern humanities?
We will continue these avenues of inquiry in our next workshop, which is slated to take place in Cairo, Egypt, February 17-24, 2024. In a new city with a deep history and through a novel collaborative framework, we hope to challenge our presumptions, break past habits, and pave a new path for humanities research.
The Panels
Take a closer look at the topics discussed over this generative opening weekend.
DAY 1
DAY 2
8:45 AM – 9:30 AM
Opening Remarks
9:30 – 10:45 AM
SESSION 1:
Bridges into the Past: Genres of Looking Back
“Dangers of the Past: The Politics of Historiographic Epistemology”
Ajay Rao, Department of Historical Studies, U of T
“Mapping the Global through Microhistories: A Preliminary Inquiry”
Heba Mostafa, Department of Art History, U of T
“Saints and their Lives: History, Hagiography, Literature”
Amina Elbendary, Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, AUC
Discussant
Karen Ruffle, Department of Historical Studies, U of T
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
SESSION 2:
The Order of Time: Archiving the Past
“An Open Archive for Palm-leaf Manuscripts? A Few Reflections Based on Two South Indian Collections”
Hugo David, Indology Department, EFEO
“Finding Time in the History of Art”
SeungJung Kim, Department of Art History, U of T
“A Living Archive”
Maria Hupfield, Department of Visual Studies, U of T
Discussant
Walid Saleh, Department for the Study of Religion, U of T
12:15 PM – 12:30 PM
Closing Remarks
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Arrival and Morning Refreshments
9:30 – 10:45 AM
SESSION 3:
Going Global: Philosophy, History & Material Culture
“Writing on the Wall: Reflections on the Uses of Material Culture as Historical Sources”
Sulyeman Dost, Department of Historical and Cultural Studies, U of T
“Shaping the Past of Philosophy While Nurturing its Present: Challenges in South Asian Context”
Mrinal Kaul, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Bombay
“A South Italian Pilgrimage Shrine as Global Hub”
Jill Caskey, Department of Visual Studies, U of T
Discussant
Alexandra Gillespie, Department of English and Drama, U of T
11:00 AM – 12:15 PM
SESSION 4:
Futures of our Pasts: Possible New Directions in Humanistic Inquiry
A moderated, roundtable discussion, curated around the following questions:
1. What have we learned from the work of others in this workshop?
2. Is a truly global dialogue possible?
3. How can we meaningfully engage the diversity of the global pasts to inform the teachings of the modern humanities?
Moderators
Jill Caskey and Ajay Rao, Co-Principal Investigators
12:15 PM – 12:30 PM
Closing Remarks
Workshop 2: Cairo, Egypt
Throughout the week, our graduate student participants interviewed one another about their experience. Listen as they reflect on the most memorable moments of the workshop.
February 18-24, 2024
American University in Cairo
Institutional Sponsor | University of Toronto Mississauga
This weeklong international workshop was organized around visits to Coptic, Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk sites and to museums, including the Grand Egyptian Museum and Museum of Islamic Art. Working in small groups, graduate students and scholars across five institutions — including the American University in Cairo, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, the University of Toronto, Cairo University, and Ain Shams University — focused on a particular site, collection, or object and presented their observations in situ to the full group. Presentations drew upon a common list of readings selected to inspire interdisciplinary dialogue and prompt methodological reflection.
In advance of the workshop, select faculty from the University of Toronto met with Dr. Adam Talib, Associate Professor in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, to explore the potential of establishing doctoral programming in the Humanities at AUC. Roundtable discussions at the end of the workshop provided additional opportunities for group reflection and deliberation, alongside special lectures, optional site visits, and social events held throughout the week.
What We Did
DAY 1
Sunday, Feb 18, 2024
We began with an opening reception, featuring a sumptuous catered lunch at AUC’s Tahrir Campus. Situated amid the vibrant streets of Old Cairo, this historic campus exudes charm and cultural significance. In the heart of this bustling city, a single block proudly hosts a synagogue, a mosque, and an Armenian church, epitomizing Cairo’s role as a nexus of Mediterranean religious diversity.
Following the reception, working groups convened in the serene ambiance of AUC’s outdoor courtyard, collaborating in person, after months of virtual dialogue scheduled across our disparate geographies. Majestic cats weaved gracefully through our feet, adding a touch of enchantment to our scholarly discourse. The day ended with a Nile Cruise — a legendary evening of entertainment, food, and new friendships.
UofT students get ready to embark on Day 1 of the workshop. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
UofT faculty outside AUC Tahrir campus. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
Participants gather for opening reception in AUC’s Hill House Room. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
A sumptuous catered lunch! Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024 
Working groups meet in the courtyard at AUC Tahrir. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
A full circle moment. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
u0022Global Cats Research Initiative.u0022 Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
The Nile at dusk. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
The group dining out on a Nile Pharaoh Cruise. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024.
Now entering the Grand Egyptian Museum. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
A collection of ancient Egyptian relics on display at the GEM. Photographs by Katerina Bong and Yating Liao, 2024. 
Lunch at the Pyramids Lounge 9. Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024. 
Graduate student Eman Aly Selim (ASU) presents the Pyramids of Giza. Photograph by Eman Aly Selim, 2024. 
The camels of Giza! Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024 
Graduate student Yating Liao (UofT) meeting a new friend. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
The Great Sphinx of Giza. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Dr. Heba Mostafa (UofT) and graduate student Kai Wang (UofT) enjoy a candid moment. Photograph by Jill Caskey, 2024. 
Everyone say Giza! Photograph by Sarah Awni Nasr, 2024.
Prelude to the Pyramids
DAY 2
Monday, Feb 19, 2024
Day 2 kicked off with a special prelude at the Grand Egyptian Museum. While only certain sections were accessible, the towering relics of the ancient Egyptian world set the stage for our eagerly anticipated visit to the Pyramids of Giza. Exiting the museum, the distant sight of three stone giants captured our attention. Drawing closer, the sheer magnitude of these structures left us in awe. The base of the pyramids stood five times taller than the average person. Beyond their size, we marveled at the immense labour invested in their construction.
Old Cairo
DAY 3
Tuesday, Feb 20, 2024
Day 3 began at the infamous “Elevated Church,” one of the earliest known Christian worship sites. Nearby, the Coptic Museum showcased a vast collection of early Christian artifacts, including manuscripts, scrolls, architectural fragments, and liturgical instruments. Winding through the cobblestone-streets of Old Cairo’s narrow quarters, we arrived at the historic Ben Ezra Synagogue. Despite an 18th-century renovation, its interior maintains the original Torah-adorned altar, and the airy two-story structure contrasts sharply with the cramped streets outside. By noon, we arrived on Rhoda Island, intending to visit the Nilometer, a secluded gem along the Nile. Unfortunately, it was unexpectedly closed to the public. Thankfully, our colleague Heba Mostafa negotiated with site officials to secure a brief visit. Inside, we observed the ancient flood-measuring device, enriched by Heba’s insightful narration. We ended the day at the Fustat Traditional Crafts Center, delving into the rich history of pottery production techniques while exploring open-door workshops and observing artisans at work on their current projects.
The u0022Elevated Churchu0022 (Saint Virgin Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church). Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Artifacts on display at the Coptic Museum. Photographs by Yating Liao, 2024. 
The Ben Ezra Synagogue. Photograph by Ovedc, 2017, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. 
View from the winding streets of Old Cairo. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
A brief pause as participants await entry to the Nilometer of Cairo. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
On route to the Nilometer. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
Inside the Nilometer. Photographs by Katerina Bong and Yating Liao, 2024. 
Exploring the Fustat Traditional Crafts Center. Photographs by Yating Liao and Kai Wang, 2024.
Up close and personal at AUC’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library. Photograph by Eman Aly Selim, 2024. 
Up close and personal at AUC’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library. Photographs by Yating Liao and Walaa Temraz, 2024. 
Up close and personal at AUC’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Up close and personal at AUC’s Rare Books and Special Collections Library. Photograph by Walaa Temraz, 2024. 
Eman Morgan, Assistant Director for Special Projects at the Rare Books Library, discussing a map with workshop participants. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Artifacts on display at the National Library Museum. Photographs by Yating Liao and Kai Wang, 2024. 
Artifacts on display at the National Library Museum. Photographs by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Dr. Noha Abou-Khatwa (AUC) holds the floor at the National Library Museum. Photograph by Eman Morgan, 2024. 
Dr. Ajay Rao (UofT) and graduate students Yating Liao (UofT) and Harikrishnan N (IIT) deliver an on-site presentation at the Museum of Islamic Art. Photographs by Yating Liao, Eman Morgan, and Kai Wang, 2024. 
Tanoura dancers spinning for the crowd. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024.
New Cairo
DAY 4
Wednesday, Feb 21, 2024
Shifting to a more tranquil pace, we explored the serene world of libraries and museums. Inside the Rare Books Library at AUC’s satellite campus in New Cairo, we viewed drawings by the renowned architect Hassan Fathy, photographs from the Creswell collection, and an array of ultra-rare books detailing Egypt’s history. Trekking back to Old Cairo, we engaged with a treasure trove of medieval manuscripts and book-making tools at the National Library Museum. This visit offered a moment to reflect on Egypt’s role as a religious crossroads for Coptic Christians, Jews, and Muslims. The neighbouring Museum of Islamic Art displayed impressive artifacts, from portable mihrabs to ceramic doorways and astrolabes, emphasizing Egypt’s vibrant Islamic heritage. In the evening, we enjoyed a mesmerizing Tanoura performance, a whirlwind of color, light, rhythm, and folkloric dance.
City of Empires
DAY 5-6
Thursday, Feb 22 – Friday, Feb 23, 2024
Itineraries for days 5 and 6 centered on exploring the architectural legacies of the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk Empires. Engaging on-site presentations spurred rich discussions about the profound cultural exchanges between European and Islamic realms, vividly illustrated by landmarks like the al-Aqmar Mosque and the Qala’un Complex.
The al-Aqmar’s façade, adorned with pointed arches and intricate roundels reminiscent of medieval rose windows, mesmerized us. Similarly, the Qala’un Complex’s pointed arches not only embellished its exterior but also delineated its internal structure, evoking comparisons to Gothic churches and prompting inquiries into its historical roots. Despite site constraints occasionally leading to abruptly terminated floor plans, these structures maintained a steadfast orientation towards Mecca, emphasizing their Islamic identity.
On site presentation outside the al-Aqmar Mosque. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
Close up of the al-Aqmar Mosque minaret. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
View from above, Cairo’s bustling city streets. Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024. 
AUC student Sarah Nasr delivers a presentation outside the al-Hakim Mosque. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Interior courtyard of the al-Hakim Mosque. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
UofT student Kai Wang (left) and AUC student Yumna Moussa (right) deliver their presentation outside the Madrasa of al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub. Photograph by Jill Caskey, 2024. 
IIT student Himanshu enjoying life (and lunch!) at the Naguib Mahfouz Café in Old Cairo. Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024. 
UofT student Katerina Bong takes in the icon minaret at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. Photograph by Sarah Awni Nasr, 2024. 
Our shoes, waiting for us to return. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
Under the dome at the Shrine of Imam al-Shafi’i. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
Wooden cenotaph of Imam al-Shafi’i. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Gazing up at the magnificent Sultan Hassan Mosque. Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024. 
Mihrab and Minbar of the Sultan Hassan Mosque. Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024. 
Special guest Dr. Bernard O’Kane (AUC) sharing his expertise with us atop the Muayyad Sheikh Complex. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. Gazing down at the Muayyad Sheikh Complex. Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024. 
Listening attentively at the edge of the Muayyad Sheikh Complex. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
Dr. Jill Caskey (UofT) shares her insights with the group at the Qala’un Complex. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
A slice of Azhar Park. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
The group gathers to begin a private tour of the historic al-Darb al-Ahmar. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
Peek-a-boo, we see you, Eman! Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024. 
Amir Khayrbak Funerary Complex in al-Darb. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Traversing the markets of al-Darb. Photographs by Yating Liao, 2040.
Day 5 culminated with a guided tour of the shrine of Imam al-Shafi’i, led by preservation architect May al-Ibrashy. Inside, a hand-crafted wooden cenotaph adorned with Kufic and Naskhi inscriptions stood beneath the iconic dome. Scaling the minarets, we braved fierce winds to admire the breathtaking vista of Old Cairo. Transitioning to the grandeur of the Mamluk Empire, our penultimate day unfolded amid colossal landmarks, such as the Sultan Hassan Mosque and Muayyad Sheikh Complex — significant not only in size but also in historical importance. Following a rejuvenating pause at Azhar Park, our path led us through the ancient streets of al-Darb al-Ahmar. Captivated by its vibrancy, our cameras clicked incessantly, capturing the neighborhood’s pulsating creative energy. We marveled at the diverse array of goods on display, from brass lanterns and vibrant textiles to intricate glassware and opulent silk carpets. Many designs, unique to Cairo and often exclusive to this district, reflected al-Darb’s rich tapestry of creativity, leaving us in awe of its astonishing artistic output.
Roundtable discussions at AUC Tahrir Campus. Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024. 
Lunch break at AUC. Photograph by Kai Wang, 2024. 
Kitty break at AUC. Photograph by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Evening celebrations at Abou el Sid. Photographs by Yating Liao, 2024. 
Exhausted but together, and captured for posterity. Photograph by Katerina Bong, 2024.
Concluding, Yet Continuously Unfolding
DAY 7
Saturday, Feb 24, 2024
As the week ended, we held a full day of roundtable discussions at AUC’s Tahrir Campus. Engaging in thoughtful reflection, we contemplated the future of the Global Past Research Initiative with optimism and determination. Our discussions were punctuated by a joyous dinner at Abou el Sid, where laughter and camaraderie filled the air. Later, graduate students gathered at a nearby pub, their spirits both fatigued and invigorated by the week’s events, forging lasting bonds amid shared exhaustion and excitement.
Workshop Participants
University of Toronto
Rachel Al Rubai
Doctoral Student
Religion
Katerina Bong
Doctoral Student
Architectural History
Jill Caskey
Professor & Chair
Visual Studies
Ruba Kana’an
Asst. Professor & Assoc. Chair
Visual Studies
Yating Liao
Doctoral Student
Anthropology
Jessica Lockhart
Head of Research
Old Books New Science Lab
Heba Mostafa
Asst. Professor
Art History
Ajay Rao
Assoc. Professor
Historical Studies
Walid Saleh
Professor
Religion / NMEC
Kai Wang
Doctoral Student
Art History
American University in Cairo
Noha Abou Khatwa
Adjunct Asst. Professor
Arab & Islamic Civilizations
Sarah Awni Nasr
Master’s Student
Arabic Studies
Mariam Ayad
Assoc. Professor
Sociology, Egyptology, & Anthropology
Amina Elbendary
Assoc. Professor & Dir. of Graduate Studies
Arab & Islamic Civilizations
Ellen Kenney
Assoc. Professor & Chair
Arab & Islamic Civilizations
Yumna Moussa
Master’s Student
Arabic Studies
Bernard O’Kane
Professor
Arab & Islamic Civilizations
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Mutharasu Anbalagan
Doctoral Student
Humanities & Social Sciences
Rakesh Kumar Das
Doctoral Student
Humanities & Social Sciences
Smriti Haricharan
Asst. Professor
Humanities & Social Sciences
Himanshu
Doctoral Student
Humanities & Social Sciences
Sowmya Karunanithee
Doctoral Student
Humanities & Social Sciences
Harikrishnan N.
Doctoral Student
Humanities & Social Sciences
Amarjeet Singh
Doctoral Student
Humanities & Social Sciences
Invited Guests
Muhamad Abdelmageed
Doctoral Student & Asst. Lecturer
English Language & Literature
Cairo University
May al-Ibrashy
Adjunct Lecturer & Conservation Architect
Architecture
American University in Cairo
Eman Aly Selim
Doctoral Student & Specialized Conservator
Archaeology
Ain Shams University
Eman Morgan
Asst. Dir. Special Projects, Electronic Media & Professional Development
Rare Books & Special Collections Library
American University in Cairo
Ola Seif
Asst. Dir. Regional Photography
Rare Books & Special Collections Library
American University in Cairo
Stephen Urgola
Archivist & Dir. AUC Records Management
Rare Books & Special Collections Library
American University in Cairo
Workshop 3: Toronto, Canada
October 10-16, 2025
University of Toronto Mississauga and surrounding areas
Over seven days, the international workshop offered engaging hands-on sessions, panel talks, and trips to museums, library collections, and local wonders like Niagara Falls, sparking thought and discussion about what premodern manuscripts reveal about our interconnected world. Faculty and graduate students from the University of Toronto, American University of Cairo, and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay convened in tactile and dialogue-based sessions guided by readings on non-hegemonic and decolonial methods of inquiry. Collections explored include the Aga Khan Museum, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Abualy Alibhai Aziz Special Collection at the University of Toronto Mississauga Library, and the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Through this interactive interdisciplinary workshop, participants gained a nuanced outlook on manuscripts as manifestations and carriers of cultural encounters, a framework that can be carried forward in independent research.
What We Did
Books as Relations
DAY 1
Friday, October 10, 2025
The University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM) is situated along the Credit River, known to Indigenous peoples as Missinnihe, the Trusting or Writing Creek, which was a centre for mercantile exchange between Indigenous peoples and Settlers. Thus, the workshop’s weeklong intellectual exchanges suitably began at UTM, in the charming CDRS room. After a meet and greet with snacks, UofT Professors Jill Caskey and Ruba Kana’an gave welcoming remarks. Alexandra Gillespie, Vice-Principal of the University of Toronto and President of UTM, presented an inspiring Indigenous-centred framework that sees books as vessels that carry relations. A panel discussion followed with UofT faculty and doctoral students presenting the pleasures and pitfalls of research with manuscripts.
Following lunch, participants walked to the Hazel McCallion Library for an exciting manuscript handling session with the Abualy Alibhai Aziz Special Collection, led by Chris Young, Bilal Hashmi, and Aqsa Ijaz. Graduate students and professors looked through selected books from the collection in languages varying from Urdu, Persian, Arabic, English, Gujarati, and Khojki. While flipping through manuscripts on the Imamate and Caliphate, a Persian dictionary, books on Hadith, and a Mathnavi of Rumi, participants were delighted to find wedding invitations, devotional cards, and other traces left behind by the collector.
A hands-on session engaging with books from the Abualy Albhai Aziz Collection. Photographs by Hafsa Murtaza.
Participants gather outside the Hazel McCallion Library before a hands-on session with the Abualy Alibhai Aziz Special Collection. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Workshop 3 participants conversing after lunch in the CDRS room. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Welcoming remarks by Jill Caskey in the CDRS room. Photograph by Katerina Bong. 
Workshop participants spill over selected books of the Abualy Alibhai Aziz Collection that trace religious, cultural, and linguistic cross currents of the Indian Ocean. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Participants spill over books with avid discussions and discoveries during a hands-on session. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
A lighthearted moment as participants reflect on the hands-on workshop. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Participants look through a book of Hadith e Kisa’ from the Abualy collection. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT faculty Bilal Hashmi, Jill Caskey, Ruba Kana’an, and Zulfikar Hirji look at an Ismaili devotional card found in one of the books of the Abualy collection. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT student Katerina Bong holds Shah Waliullah Dehlawi’s u0022Izalat al-Khafa ‘an Khilafat al-Khulafa,u0022 which legitimizes the Caliphate. Part of the Abualy Alibhai Aziz collection amongst books that compare the Imamate and the Caliphate. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
A lighthearted moment as participants reflect on the hands-on workshop. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
An old manuscript of the Mathnavi of Rumi with elaborately inscribed margins in the Abualy collection. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Mutharasu Anbalagan (IITB), Sara Nasr (AUC), and Dr. Jill Caskey (UofT) find a wedding card from one of the books of the Abualy collection. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Mutharasu Anbalagan (IITB), Sara Nasr (AUC), and Hafsa Murtaza (UofT), discussing a book during a hands-on session. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
UofT Professor Jill Caskey flips through a book during a hands-on session. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
A glimpse into an exciting hands-on session unfolding behind the doors of a private conference room in the Hazel McCallion Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
IITBombay student Muthu and AUC student Sara during a hands-on workshop session. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
AUC graduate students Thomas Adkins and Nouran Rabie observing books from the Abualy collection. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Participants taking notes on manuscripts of various languages from the Abualy collection during a hands-on session. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Chris Young, UofT Librarian and Project Director of the Abualy Alibhai Aziz Special Collections, presenting to workshop participants. Photograph by Katerina Bong.
Group photo of workshop participants outside the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Group photo of workshop participants outside the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Indigenous Art at the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Kleinburg. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza.
Early Days: Indigenous Art
DAY 2
Saturday, October 11, 2025
Participants visited the McMichael Canadian Art Collection to view Indigenous art, paintings by the Group of Seven, and contemporary Canadian art. UofT Professors Jill Caskey and Ruba Kana’an spoke about Canada’s history of Residential Schools, which enacted a cultural genocide striving to erase Indigenous culture and people, motivated by a colonial hierarchical mindset. The workshop strives to decolonize disciplinary perspectives by embracing Indigenous frameworks of relational thinking and being that views knowledge production as a circular and reciprocal process.
In the spirit of reflecting on humans’ relation to the natural environment, participants explored the grounds of the McMichaels and hiked through the dense forest. The group then reconvened for a Thanksgiving dinner.
Voyage to the Falls
DAY 4
Monday, October 13, 2025
The Niagara River flows between Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, dropping nearly one hundred meters along the way. Niagara Falls and the dramatic river gorge are the awe-inspiring geological results. Their raw power fueled the early experiments of Nikola Tesla as well as dare-devil tightrope walkers. Surrounded by fertile fields and wetlands, the area was an Indigenous meeting place. In recent centuries, the river has defined the boundary between the US and Canada, with skirmishes occasionally erupting over its strategic importance. The river crossing was the final stretch of the Underground Railroad, the secret network that helped people who had escaped slavery in the US reach freedom.
We had to go.
Picture perfect view of Niagara Falls. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Lieutenant W.A. Nesfield, Map of the Niagara District in Upper Canada, 1815. Map, Data, GIS Library, Brock University: NMC-21587. Towns, villages, roads, bodies of water and waterways are labelled. Also shown on the map are Indian lands, forts such as Fort Niagara, Fort George and Fort Drummond, battle sites, and paths. 
IITBombay student Muthu Anbalagan and faculty members Smriti Haricharan and Mrinal Kaul with AUC student Thomas Adkins by Falls View. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
AUC students Nouran Rabie, Sara Nasr, and Thomas Adkins, with faculty Jill Caskey (UofT) and Mrinal Kaul (IITB) wearing red ponchos before boarding the boat to the falls. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
View of the Falls from the Hornblower Boat. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Collecting souvenirs at the Falls. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Group photo by the Niagara Falls. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
IITB student Muthu by the Niagara Falls. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Participants taking a picture donning red ponchos before boarding a boat to the Falls. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Hornblower Boat Ride to Niagara Falls on a chilly October day. Photograph by Jill Caskey.
In the vaults of the Aga Khan Museum. Photographs by Jill Caskey and Katerina Bong.
Mining the Archives
DAY 5
Tuesday, October 14, 2025
Day 5 was dedicated to exploring the gallery collection of the Aga Khan Museum. UofT Professor Ruba Kana’an led a tour of the main gallery, which houses architectural remnants, illuminated manuscripts, ceramics, and other forms of material culture from various regions and empires of the Islamic world. The group then gathered for a special hands on session led by Bita Pourvash and fellow conservators in the vaults of the Aga Khan museum to see select manuscripts of the collection not on display. With magnifying glasses in hand, participants got a close look at illuminations, Tiraz fabric fragments, bookbindings, and delicate manuscripts. Following a tour of the Ismaili Centre, the group boarded a bus to the Historic Distillery District.
IIT Bombay Professors Mrinal Kaul and Smriti Haricharan outside the Aga Khan Museum. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Hands on Sessions In the Vaults of the Aga Khan Museum. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Exploring Manuscripts and Miniatures. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
UofT professor Dr. Ruba Kana’an presenting manuscripts from the Aga Khan Collection. Photograph by Katerina Bong. 
Bita Pourvash presenting on the Aga Khan Collection in the Main Gallery. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
An Owl, Folio from a manuscript of Nuzhatnama-yi ‘Alai by Shahmardan ibn Abi al-Khayr Razi, Iran, ca. 1450. Aga Khan Museum, Toronto. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Exploring Manuscripts. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Viewing delicate manuscripts on pillows. Photograph by Jill Caskey. View in the digital collection: AKM266 
Participants in a special hands-on sessions in the Aga Khan. Photograph by Jill Caskey. Read more about the Tiraz fabric fragment in the digital collection: AKM673 
Exploring a fragment of a Tiraz fabric, manuscript pages, and bookbindings. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Looking through a magnifying glass at an exquisite Islamic bookbinding. Photograph by Jill Caskey. View in the digital collection: AKM392 
A closer look reveals ducks, hares, and foxes ornamenting an Islamic book cover. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Exploring Manuscripts. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
An illuminated Persian manuscript. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Participants outside the Aga Khan Museum. Photograph by Sara. 
Ruba Kana’an (UofT) courteously holding open the door. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
IITB student Muthu holding the door for others. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Participants at the Historic Distillery District in Toronto. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Katerina Bong (UofT), Thomas Adkins (AUC), and Sarnali Chatterjee (IITB) at the Distillery District. Photograph by Jill Caskey.
Parchment, Paint, and Palm Leaf
DAY 6
Wednesday, October 15, 2025
On Day 6, participants headed to the ethereal Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library for a manuscript handling session. On the red-carpeted ground floor, participants were welcomed to tables laden with selected manuscripts of diverse binding techniques and cultural resonances. UofT Professor Ajaya Rao and IITB Professor Mrinal Kaul presented on Sanskrit Palm Leaf manuscripts, which made devotional texts accessible in South Asia before parchment entered the region. UofT Professor Jill Caskey presented an illuminated Neapolitan Book of Hours, and Professor Ruba Kana’an shared insights on Islamic codices, from a loose-leaf manuscript depicting magic squares to an eighteenth-century Ethiopian Quran. Jessica Lockhart, Head of Research at the Old Books New Science Lab, led a presentation on a comparative understanding of manuscripts that urges each manuscript form to be addressed through its own histories. The session ended with graduate students taking turns using a Dino-Lite Microscope and Multispectral Imagery Software to reveal whether a text is written with vegetal dyes or iron gall and uncover erased text in palimpsests.
Head of Research of the Old Books New Science Lab, Jessica Lockhart, leads a manuscript handling session focusing on books made of parchment, paint, and palm leaf that reveal intercultural exchanges of the past. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Finding traces and shadows of interconnections in the past through manuscripts. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT Professor Jill Caskey gazes intently at a manuscript during a handling session led by Jessica Lockhart. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT Professor Jill Caskey presents a Neapolitan Book of Hours. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. View in the Fisher Rare Book Digital Collection: F4030, folio 39 
Using a Dino-Lite Microscope and Multispectral Imagery Software on a Neapolitan Book of Hours. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT Professor Ruba Kana’an presents about a loose-leaf Islamic manuscript. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Manuscript handling session Parchment, Paint, and Palm Leaf at the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
An Islamic manuscript depicting magic squares. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Manuscript handling session Parchment, Paint, and Palm Leaf at the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Professors Ajay Rao (UofT) and Mrinal Kaul (IITB) present on Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts in the Fisher Rare Books Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Professors Ajay Rao (UofT) and Mrinal Kaul (IITB) present on Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts in the Fisher Rare Books Library. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Sanskrit Palm Leaf Manuscript in the Fisher Rare Books Library Collections. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Close-up of a Sanskrit Palm Leaf Manuscript in the Fisher Rare Books Library Collections. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
UofT Professor Ruba Kana’an presents Quran manuscripts at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Accordion, scroll, and bounded manuscripts laid out at the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
A South American Baptism manuscript with an Islamic-style cover binding. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. View in the Fisher Rare Book Library Digital Collection: F7544 
Head of Research of the Old Books New Science Lab, Jessica Lockhart, leads a manuscript handling session. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT Professor Ruba Kana’an presents an Ethiopian Quran manuscript. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
An eighteenth-century Quran manuscript from Harar, Ethiopia in the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library Collection. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Head of Research of the Old Books New Science Lab, Jessica Lockhart, presents a comparative understanding of manuscripts. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT Professor Jill Caskey shares about the Inka Quipu to AUC Professors Nouha Abou-Khatwa and Amina Elbendary and graduate student Sara Nasr. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
At the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Workshop Participants listening earnestly during a hands-on session at the Thomas Fisher Rare Books Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Head of Research of the Old books New Sciences Lab, Jessica Lockhart leads a multispectral imaging session at the Fisher Rare Book Library. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Graduate students take turns using a Dino-Lite Microscope and Multispectral Imagery Software on an old manuscript codex. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT student Hafsa Murtaza uses a Dino-Lite Microscope and Multispectral Imagery Software on an old manuscript. Photograph by Jill Caskey.
York University Professor Zulfikar A. Hirji leads a handling session of a Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Surah al Fatiha, the Opening, in an East Africa Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
A sajda or prostration symbol on the margins of a Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Jessica Lockhart (UofT) uses a Dino-Lite Microscope and Multispectral Imagery Software on a Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Jessica Lockhart (UofT) uses a Dino-Lite Microscope and Multispectral Imagery Software a Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Zulfikar A. Hirji (York University) uses a flashlight to reveal a moon insignia on the laid paper of a Quran manuscript from Pate Island. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
UofT Professor Walid Saleh looks at a Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
IITB student Mutharasu Anbalagan uses a Dino-Lite Microscope and Multispectral Imagery Software on a Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. 
Leena Ghannam (AUC) and Mutharasu Anbalagan (IITB) use a Dino-Lite Microscope and Multispectral Imagery Software on a Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Jill Caskey. 
Workshop participants during a manuscript handling session at the Bancroft building. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Professors Amina Elbendary (AUC), Jill Caskey (UofT), Mrinal Kaul (IITB), and UofT doctoral students at a handling session of an East African Quran. Phtograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
Surah al Fatiha, the Opening, in an East African Quran manuscript from Pate Island, Kenya. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
AUC professor Amina Elbendary presents on her research and Student Exchange opportunities at the American University in Cairo. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
IITB professor Smriti Haricharan presents on her research and Student Exchange opportunities at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza. 
IITB professor Mrinal Kaul presents on his research and Student Exchange opportunities at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Photograph by Hafsa Murtaza.
Graduate students headed to Kensington Market for lunch, then reconvened at the Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Department in the Bancroft Building. AUC professor Noha Abou-Khatwa and York University Professor Zulfikar A. Hirji presented their research before a handling session with a Quran manuscript Zulfikar brought from Pate Island, Kenya. The manuscript revealed unique design elements, including bold colours and patterns that evoked the architecture of the region, and large stylized symbols on the margins. Jessica Lockhart and graduate students tried a Dino-Lite Microscope on the manuscript to reveal the use of iridescent Mica powder.
To introduce the GPRI’s Student Exchange program, AUC Professor Amina Elbendary and IITB Professors Smiriti Haricharan and Mrinal Kaul presented their research and the opportunities held at their respective institutions. A reception dinner followed, with a farewell to faculty visiting from AUC and IITB.
Reception dinner and farewell to AUC and IITB professors at the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations, Bancroft Building. Photographs by Hafsa Murtaza.
Exploring the City Before Saying Farewell
DAY 7
Thursday, October 16, 2025
On the last day, a writing workshop was held at Massey College, which focused on a needs-based approach to writing and included a preliminary casual discussion of individual writing challenges. The second half of the workshop explored a writing tool kit based on a set of structured free writing prompts. The session closed with a lively discussion around the research process and how to overcome common writing challenges. The workshop was followed by lunch at Massey College.
Graduate students had some time to explore Toronto before coming together again for a hearty meal and memorable conversations at a dimsum dinner.
Our Sponsors
Workshop Participants
University of Toronto
Jill Caskey
Assoc. Professor
Visual Studies
Well before I became a historian of art and architecture, I was fascinated by the remains of the distant past and how they can tell stories about their makers and original users. My interests in medieval art emerged gradually and through other endeavors—writing, music, curiosity about places beyond my hometown in Illinois, studying cities as an undergraduate. For me, the appeal of medieval art lies in its strangeness and in the relative sparseness of its documentation; this combination of features sparks my creativity. I also relish the range of legibility and expressiveness in medieval art. Some works seem unforthcoming, offering few hints to the historian eager to uncover their stories; others loudly proclaim their significance in multiple ways—through form, inscriptions, images, and materials. In my work on the medieval Mediterranean, I have looked outside of canonical contexts to examine works of art, people, and ideas that are indicative of fluidity rather than fixity, contact rather than constraint. I look forward to exploring with Global Past participants these dynamics on a larger scale.
Ajay Rao
Assoc. Professor
Historical Studies
My fascination with global pasts grows from my passion for Sanskrit, a language that I fell in love with in my early twenties. As an undergraduate, I studied Sanskrit in Puna (India) with traditional scholars and was captivated by the language’s beauty. These classes were Sanskrit-medium, and by hearing and speaking the language I felt my study of the past coming alive in the present, rather than remaining buried in a dead past. The inherent complexity of its aesthetics and how it structured perspectives on the world resonated with me deeply and I was hooked on it. This engagement with the present animates my work as a scholar, and I have always sought to connect my research with contemporary political and social realities. The Global Past Research Initiative offers powerful possibilities for scholars like me, who are focused on highly technical and specialized fields, to bring our work into dialogue with researchers working with different religious, cultural, and intellectual archives.
Alexandra Gillespie
Vice President, UofT, and Principal, UTM
English & Drama
I’m Vice-President of the University of Toronto and Principal of U of T Mississauga, where I’ve had the privilege to work as a professor of English and global book history for the past twenty years. I believe in the power of academic collaboration and community — and I love working with colleagues on big projects that make connections across different times, places, and research methods. So, my research and teaching range widely: from the poetics of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales to the history of text technologies, from scientific approaches to book history to literary theory and philosophy. On these topics I have published about fifty articles and six co-edited volumes, plus an original monograph, Print Culture and the Medieval Author. I have also had the opportunity to join several international research networks, including as co-primary investigator of a Mellon-funded project, The Book and the Silk Roads, which culminated in 2021-22 in a public exhibit at the Aga Kahn Museum. My current research project — also supported by the Mellon foundation — is Hidden Stories, which brings together more than 130 collaborators from 60 institutions to develop new understandings of premodern books through their local and global relations.
Ruba Kana’an
Assoc. Professor
Visual Studies
Growing up in Jordan was an immersive experience of a global past. I was surrounded by histories and cultures that were rooted there but always linked to elsewhere – other times, places, people, ideas, materials, and styles. I took mobility and intersectionality for granted and they stayed with me throughout my academic and professional career. Becoming a specialist in Islamic art and architecture is also an exercise in inhabiting multitudes. As an academic, I teach medieval and early modern art and architecture of vast regions in Asia, Africa, and Europe. As a museum professional I focused on the power of storytelling through objects as the connective tissue of human understanding and exchange. And as a researcher I work with artefacts, monuments, and texts to explore medieval artists and how they envisioned and created their work, patrons and the stories behind their grand gestures, and materials and how they were experienced and moved across time and space.
Liye Xie
Assoc. Professor
Anthropology
My natural curiosity about people and human cultures has followed me from the time I was an urban teenager studying among mostly suburban and rural peers in high school, to being southeastern Chinese Teochew people enrolled at Jilin university in northeast China, to becoming an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology in Beijing, on to being an Asian PhD student among predominantly Caucasian peers in Arizona, and eventually culminated in the Anthropology faculty at the University of Toronto Mississauga. I study preindustrial technologies that underwrote agriculture origins, urbanization, and social transformation during the Neolithic period and Early Bronze Age in different regions of China. My research often involves microwear analysis and intensive archaeological experimentation. Currently, I am focused on examining the impact of large earthworks in pre-Shang urban centers in the Middle Yellow River Valley, exploring how these structures and their construction processes not only reflected but also shaped both physical and political landscapes of the past.
Chris Young
Librarian, Program Director
Library (Special Collections, UTM)
Chris is a librarian and head of Collections & Digital Scholarship at the U of T Mississauga Library. He curates the rare and unique materials in the Archives & Special Collections, including the Abualy Alibhai Aziz Collection of South Asian literatures, devotional texts, and Islamicate learning. In his role as curator of Erindale History, Game Studies, and South Asian Studies special collections, he has collaborated on several interdisciplinary and international research projects, including the App Studies Initiative, the Biodiversity Heritage Library, the Canadian Research Knowledge Network’s Canadiana, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, and the Sealings and Lives of Maresha. He is a researcher of game production history and culture. His has produced scholarly work at the intersection of game studies and media production studies by adapting qualitative methods and bibliographical techniques to develop approaches to the study of game artifacts and histories. Chris also serves as Editor-In-Chief of the Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada, a double-blind peer reviewed scholarly journal of book history and bibliography.
Jessica Lockhart
Head of Research
Old Books New Science Lab
Jessica is the Head of Research for the Old Books New Science lab including The Book and the Silk Roads. Her research investigates the affect of wonder within medieval fictional writing, using “everyday marvels” such as a sports competition, a pillow, a lost puppy, a corpse, a puddle, and a field of sand to study how wonder is theorized and pressed into service in medieval texts. Her primary sources are texts from three imaginative genres — riddle, romance, and dream vision — from late antiquity in North Africa through to late medieval Britain. She is currently writing her first monograph titled, A Covered Quality: Medieval Riddles and Chaucer’s Fiction.
Aqsa Ijaz
Asst. Professor
Language Studies
I am a self-professed lover of words (philologist), at a time when philology seems to have lost its conceptual currency in modern humanities. With a long history of various border crossings, I was born and raised in Lahore, Pakistan where I was trained as a pilot and a classical musician before joining academia. I studied English Literature, Philosophy, and French in Lahore, and went on to discover the fields of South Asian and Religious Studies in Germany and the United States before pursuing my doctoral studies at the Institute of Islamic Studies at McGill University. As a medievalist, I am fascinated by the temporality of the past and diverse ways in which it elicits our scholarly and poetic attention. The drive to listen to and communicate the multilingual voices of the dead is at the heart of my academic and artistic work. It is this drive that has led me to write my doctoral dissertation on the 12th-century Persian poet, Nizami Ganjavi and the multilingual reception of his most celebrated love-poem Khusrau u Shirin in Persianate India. My research is geared toward challenging the methodological frameworks of European historiography and re-conceptualising the history of ideas from within the philological density of Islamicate India.
Walid Saleh
Professor
Religion / Near & Middle Eastern Civilizations
Walid is a Professor in the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. He is a specialist on the Qur’an, the history of its interpretation (Tafsir), the Arabic manuscript tradition, Islamic apocalyptic literature, and the Muslim reception of the Bible. His first book, The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition (2004), was the first monograph length study of al-Thalabi (d. 1035) and his influence on the history of Qur’an commentary tradition. His second monograph, In Defense of the Bible (2008), is a detailed study and an edition of al-Biqa`i’s (d. 1480) Bible treatise, “The Just Verdict on the Permissibility of Quoting from Old Scriptures,” which is the most extensive discussion of the place of the Bible in the Islamic religious tradition. He is also a specialist on Arabic paleography and teaches advanced courses on the manuscript tradition of Arabic written literatures.
Zulfikar A. Hirji
Assoc. Professor
Anthropology / Social History
Coastal East Africa has been at the center of multiple global pasts connected by land and water. Growing up in the region, I took for granted the plurality of local cultural expressions born from these historical intersections. It was only during my doctoral studies at the University of Oxford on the life worlds of an extended family network that moved between Coastal East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula over multiple generations that I began to fully appreciate the depth and reach of these connections. I was also struck by how absent these histories were in Western scholarship. Over several decades my work on East Africa and the Indian Ocean has focussed on the movements and flows of people, ideas, and material things in historical and contemporary contexts. My recent project on a remarkable corpus of pre-modern illuminated Qur’an manuscripts and other local art forms produced in Kenya’s Lamu Archipelago shows how limited our knowledge is of Africa’s global pasts and its connections to many other regions. I look forward to sharing these histories with colleagues who are passionately and critically seeking to understand the dynamics of such global connectivities and their local resonances over time and space.
Karen Ruffle
Asst. Professor
Historical Studies
Karen is a Professor of History of Religions at the University of Toronto Mississauga and the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She specializes in the study of South Asian Shiʿism with a focus on devotional texts, ritual practices, and Shiʿi material practices in South Asia. She has conducted field research in India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, and Syria. Her publications include Gender, Sainthood, and Everyday Practice in South Asian Shi’ism (2011) and Everyday Shiʿism in South Asia (2021).
Heba Mostafa
Assoc. Professor
Art History
Moving through a building or city has always had a profound impact on me. I often find myself totally engrossed in cityscapes, reading them like a book. In many ways, cities have been my classroom and laboratory. Growing up in Cairo, I had the opportunity to live and learn in one of the most fascinating global cities of the ancient and modern world. My background in architectural design has also deeply shaped the way I think about the past, especially how I approach vexing and longstanding historical problems mired in contested narratives. At the core of my practice is understanding how and why built environments form such an integral part of our human tendency to shape our reality through stories, which are often embedded in buildings and the natural world. I am especially interested in architecture that encodes high stakes, exploring how historical trauma, sectarianism, and environmental anxiety find resolution and are negotiated through the built environment. Thinking on a global scale with an international community is an exciting prospect. I look forward to the many opportunities this project affords to share experiences of immersion into global pasts, with all the contradictions, complexities and fascination that entails.
Sara Ameri
Doctoral Student
English
My interest in literature was sparked when I read Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace for the first time as a teenager; my fascination with medieval literature particularly was shaped by reading heaps of Arthurian romances (sometimes instead of attending classes!). I have since moved to study a wholly different kind of medieval literature: mystical and visionary writing. I am interested in the local contexts that produced these texts as well as the resonances they share across cultures. The other side of my scholarly, and sometimes leisurely, pursuits involve plagues and pestilences, especially the Black Death—a topic I started thinking about coincidentally a few months before the Covid-19 pandemic. I am fascinated by the different stories people tell themselves in different parts of the world to make sense of global crises and new diseases. How these stories vary, travel, and transform is what drew me to the Books and the Silk Roads project; it is also what I hope to explore further in the collaborative and multidisciplinary environment of the Global Past.
Katerina Bong
Doctoral Student
Architecture, Landscape & Design
I am an architectural historian with a special interest in building technology, infrastructure, engineering, and architectural manuals of the early modern Italy. I come from a family of engineers, my father studied civil engineering and my grandfather worked as a construction manager building dams, bridges, and highways in South Korea. Though unconsciously, this background slipped into my research which melded with my studies in art and architectural history. As a historian of the built environment, I am fascinated by the impulse towards sturdy buildings, stable cities, and a robust society (specifically the aversion towards failure, collapses, and defects) which functioned as a common driver for many civilizations across geographical and temporal scales. Many of these building knowledges were passed down as building manuals which recorded and illustrated building procedures, materials, and techniques. My doctoral dissertation examines building manuals in general, and European and Asian architectural knowledge in particular, to insert the artisanal, practical, and infrastructural knowledge as key tools of methodological enquiry in the study of the built environment.
Hafsa Murtaza
Undergraduate Student
Art and Art History
Not identifying with a singular culture or region has made me think from a young age that cultural identities are resistant to simple classification. My family has a history of migrating during the Partition of the Indian Subcontinent, and later to Canada; as such, every generation associates themselves with a different culture and language. Perhaps that is why learning about medieval cultural encounters in undergraduate art history courses resonated greatly with me. I believe medieval monuments and artworks carry significance into the present, with many persisting cultural relations discoverable through them. My art historical research explores the seventeenth-century Mughal Mehtab Bagh, or Moonlight Garden, which had an octagonal pool reflecting the Taj Mahal as if it were a carpet, flattening reality to conform to Muslim perceptual tradition. Now an archeological site, the garden was flooded and destroyed, its pool misperceived through European myths as being the foundations of an unfinished “Black Taj” mausoleum, conforming to Renaissance linear space. My artworks address this research by recreating and putting into dialogue culturally specific ways of seeing that inform Muslim and Western perceptions of what a garden is. I look forward to working with the Global Past Initiative to broaden my understanding of the past to shape a better understanding of the present.
Fahimeh Ghorbani
Doctoral Student
Art History
Growing up in Iran, I have always been surrounded by marvelous artifacts and splendid architectural monuments, palaces, mosques, bridges, and traditional bazaars. The magnificence and mystery of historic objects and ancient sites intrigued me from an early age and fascinated me with a language that I could not understand. My desire for deciphering that language and penetrating that enigmatic world of beauty and meaning led me to study traditional Iranian arts and crafts. My study examines the agency of objects and craft-making practices within the current discourses in the field of Islamic art and architecture. My research contextualizes the notion of craftsmanship within the intellectual landscape of the premodern Islamic world, in which making was often recognized as a form of contemplating and thinking. By connecting the manual processes of making with the intellectual realms, I trace a craft-oriented worldview that has its origin in medieval Islamic theology and philosophy. Methodologically speaking, my critical approach explores the need for developing a theory rooted in the culture-specific frameworks applicable to the study of Islamic art and architecture.
Dongwon Esther Kim
Doctoral Student
Art History: Book of Hours
Before my academic career, I trained as an artist and illustrator, theatre designer, and stage carpenter; I encountered medieval history by chance when I was asked to paint the set for TMU’s participation in the 2011 Chester Mystery Cycle produced at Victoria College, University of Toronto. I am now a PhD candidate in art history completing my thesis on the culture and use of books of hours in late medieval England. I grew up in South Korea in a devout Christian household, and I was a voracious reader as a child; my current project perhaps combines these two aspects of my background, as well as time spent in England earning my master’s degree and working at the University of Leeds and Birkbeck College, University of London, as public engagement fellow. Outside of my specialist area, I am interested in the interactions of medieval studies with coloniality and i/Indigeneity, disability studies, and the reception and reuse of medieval art in contemporary society.
Arkaprabha Chakraborty
Doctoral Student
English
Growing up in eastern India, one of my most prized possessions was a picture-book on ancient Egypt. The images and text that helped a child imagine what humanity has always been capable of left a trace of something I cannot describe but always feel when my studies take me back to wondering about the lives of others from very long ago. To me, the global past reminds us of the interconnections found in societies that were always outward-facing and seeking connection. Presentisms that set that past as something to be left behind obscure the humbling fact that despite everything we have gained, there is also so much that we have lost, or overlooked. This knowledge continually informs my research practices, as my work examines our material and immaterial inheritances, re-evaluating the limits of the often-Eurocentric construct of the archive. The GPRI’s exciting remit is exactly the kind of interdisciplinary spark that we need in thinking deeply about everything that has always connected us, despite everything that tries to separate us.
Rachel Al Rubai
Doctoral Student
Religion
My fascination with global history and religion was first truly sparked by a high school trip. I grew up in a small, rural community in Alberta and my family and I had saved up for a high school culinary trip to Italy. Coming from a place where escalators were a luxury, I was absolutely blown away by Florence. I came to Toronto for post-secondary and was determined to learn more about peoples, cultures, histories, and languages. However, growth isn’t an end goal for me, it’s a constant process. My research examines the interconnected networks of religious groups, and how their socio-cultural contexts shape and mold the beliefs and practices of individuals within these networks. I am fascinated by investigations of religious space, art, architecture, and ritual and love to explore the embodiment of religion within material culture and theology. My dissertation utilizes the application of network theory to analyse how women participated and influenced late antique Christian asceticism around the Mediterranean in light of limited written source materials. Outside of my research, I am a museum professional and work in collections management, storage, and conservation.
American University in Cairo
Amina Elbendary
Assoc. Professor & Dir. of Graduate Studies
Arab & Islamic Civilizations
Amina is an Associate professor of Middle East history and Chair at the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations at the American University in Cairo (AUC). Her research interests include Mamluk social and cultural history, Arabic historiography, and Islamic political thought. Her publications include the monograph Crowds and Sultans: Urban Protest in Late Medieval Egypt and Syria (2015). This book explores reports of urban protest and dissent in the cities of Egypt and Syria under the late Mamluk and early Ottoman regimes and analyzes both the historiography of protest and the intricacies of urban politics in the late medieval period. She is currently working on a research project on popularization and late medieval historiography.
Adam Talib
Assoc. Professor
Literature
I had never touched a manuscript before embarking on my doctoral research into the neglected ‘middle period’ of Arabic literary history. Up until then, everything I knew about Arabic poetry had been mediated by the great 19th and 20th-century philologists who had assembled and recreated a kind of canon. As a natural skeptic, I took to manuscripts like a convert. Here was a voluminous, romantic, and stratified archive where I could explore Arabic poetry’s diversity, longevity, and salience. Today, more than sixty countries can claim Arabic poetry as their cultural heritage, and more than a hundred are home to the manuscripts that preserve its history. After nearly 20 years with these fascinating objects, I’ve become awestruck by the world-beating scale and scope of Arabic poetry. It’s my latest obsession. I’m associate professor in the Sheikh Hassan Abbas Sharbatly Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations at the American University in Cairo and the author of How do you say “Epigram” in Arabic? Literary history at the limits of comparison (2018). I’m also the translator of Fatma Qandil’s beautiful memoir Empty Cages (Hoopoe 2025).
Noha Abou-Khatwa
Asst. Professor
Art History
Noha Abou-Khatwa is an assistant professor of Islamic art and architecture at the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations, The American University in Cairo. Her main research interests are the manuscript culture, the architecture, and the intellectual life of the Medieval Muslim world with a focus on the Mamluks. She earned her PhD from University of Toronto in Islamic Art and Material Culture in 2017. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, she worked at the Thesaurus Islamicus Foundation, where she started and directed The Dar al-Kutub Manuscript Conservation Project. She also founded the Islamic Art Network, one of the earliest projects to consider the digital humanities to aid those studying Cairo’s Islamic art and architecture. She publishes on epigraphy, calligraphy, Qur’an manuscripts, architecture and the intellectual life of medieval Islam.
Thomas Adkins
Master’s Student
Medieval Middle Eastern History
Languages were my route into the global past. Learning Arabic and Hindi as an undergraduate gave me the opportunity to speak to people, visit historic sights, and read texts with which I would never have otherwise been able to interact except through the filter of translation. Endless weekends spent wandering through the streets of historic Cairo whilst reading the 18th century chronicle of al-Jabarti in the evenings remains a formative period for me. Now an MA student at the AUC the importance of a global approach to the past has only become clearer. Neglecting the global aspect of medieval history is anachronistic and risks limiting my research to national boundaries. My research interests lie in the religious differences present in the Islamic world during the 10th to 15th centuries with a keen focus on the Cairo Geniza and documentary practices. I am excited for this year’s GPRI workshop to bring scholars together from a range of disciplines, to gain methodological insights into the work of others and to hear more about global history in the Indian subcontinent, a topic I love but unfortunately don’t have time to follow closely.
Nouran Ahmed Rabie
Master’s Student
Arabic Studies
I’d say our modern world is characterized by excessive borders––not only between peoples and territories, but also between disciplines, genres, identities, languages, and histories. Our thinking is framed by categories and distinctions. Our understanding is supported by comparisons and differences. There is something about studying the medieval world that just shatters all of this. It breaks down all these walls that we have constructed to distinguish human civilizations as well as academic specializations. I have always been curious and passionate about the past, obsessively searching for “the origin of everything”. Over time, however, I realized that the greatest reward of studying pre-modern history lies in debunking the myths we hold about our present. In my area of interest, which is food and heritage, I get to see this very clearly. So many recipes, ingredients, tools, and modes of cooking and eating that I always believed to be modern inventions and/or unique to specific areas or cuisines often have turned out to have far more complex and unexpected origins. This is precisely why I study history: to demystify the everyday lives of people who lived centuries before us and to reveal the continuities that connect their world to ours.
Leena Zahweh Ghannam
Master’s Student
Islamic Art and Architecture
I grew up in the Antiochian Orthodox church, where iconography continues to be traditionally venerated and considered an intercession of holy presence. The global past was also present in a trip I took to my mother’s hometown of Nazareth as a child, and this cradle of Abrahamic religions from which my family hails resonates and feels like a spiritual homeland and place of pilgrimage to such a massive population across the world. It wasn’t until my junior year of university that I became interested in Islamic art and architecture, and after 7 years, I am now beginning my PhD on Islamic art at Stanford University. This subfield of art history is of course present in my ancestral homeland, but I hope it will play a role in the future to garner curiosity, understanding, and compassion between groups divided by religion, race, and region. The “medieval” can feel so far from where we are now, but I believe that we live in another cycle of crusades. I hope that the GPRI becomes an ongoing project of solidarity and shared community around questions of what the heritage of the SWANA region can do to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.
Sarah Awni Nasr
Master’s Student
Arabic Studies
Growing up in Cairo I have been surrounded with countless splendid heritage, but I was not intrigued until my very first field trip where I went inside one of the buildings and had this experiential moment with it. My passion for Islamic art and architecture started then and the link between heritage and the community became my interest. A lot of historical sites are endangered and need conservation. Therefore, we must assure that our heritage — whether it be tangible or intangible — is safeguarded and transmitted from one generation to the other. This will not happen unless there is a change in the mindset while conserving to a more appropriate reuse strategy, and city management. I believe that the community is the protagonist of change, and even if it is hard to achieve this aspired adjustment nowadays with the immense challenges the world is facing, it is our duty to educate the youth about their heritage as they will be the protectors of it one day. People need to be exposed to their history to guarantee a preserved identity. I aspire to create a full album sketched about historic Cairo showing the architecture, arts, and crafts of the different dynasties and how they enriched our culture using and integrating my scientific and artistic backgrounds. This requires collaborative efforts between interdisciplinary approaches, and I look forward to sharing this with the Global Past’s diverse collection of participants.
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Smriti Haricharan
Assoc. Professor
Humanities & Social Sciences
Smriti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. Her research areas include Iron Age-early historic archaeology, popular perceptions and relationships with the past, landscape archaeology, contemporary archaeology, and experimental archaeology. She has conducted field work in Chennai, Telangana, and Madhya Pradesh. She is also the author of Siruthavoor: An Iron Age-Early Historical Burial Site (2016).
Mrinal Kaul
Assoc. Professor
Humanities & Social Sciences
The variegated and dynamic ‘lives of thinking patterns’ intrigue me; the camouflaged life of these robust and challenging ideas hides itself from our naked eye and we develop methods and insights — an eagle eye—to penetrate deep into their complex lives. I am interested in uncovering the concealed lives of these ideas in the history of South Asian thought. Being born and raised in Srinagar (Kashmir), somehow I got interested in the lives of these ideas in Sanskrit sources and thus became preoccupied with the Kashmirian Abhinavagupta (10th-11th CE) and his philosophical tradition. I began as a philologist and believe that philology shares an inherent relationship with philosophy. In the recent past my interests have grown to investigate how to think creatively using the South Asian sources of thinking. Situated in the South Asian context, why is it that we read ancient philosophy as a mummified category today? Does it have a contemporary creative life? My guide to thinking through these ideas is Abhinavagupta and his non-dual Śaiva philosophy.
Mutharasu Anbalagan
Doctoral Student
Humanities & Social Sciences
Let me take you on a journey through my life as a budding archaeologist. It all began in the heart of a charming village of Tamil Nadu located in South India, where the landscape was adorned with traces of ancient cultures. Local legends whispered of hidden treasures concealed within enigmatic inscriptions and towering megaliths, sparking my fascination for archaeology. And as I embarked on my academic journey, I ventured into the realm of history during my undergraduate studies, and later delved into the world of archaeology at the postgraduate level. With each step, my enchantment with the art, architecture, and technologies of ancient civilizations deepened. The thrill of unravelling history through exploration and excavation felt like piecing together an enthralling puzzle, drawing me further into this captivating field. My passion eventually found a niche in the realm of microliths — those diminutive stone tools that held stories of their own. This path led me to my current pursuit: a Ph.D. dedicated to unravelling the mysteries of the origin and evolution of microlithic technology in South India. Today, as an enthusiastic archaeologist, I continue to journey across the globe, exploring the diverse cultures of our world, each new exploration expanding my knowledge and igniting my curiosity further.
Sarnali Chatterjee
Doctoral Student
Sānkhya Philosophy
My fascination with re-reading premodern texts grew out of a deep engagement with South Asian and feminist philosophical traditions, emphasizing voices that remain marginal within dominant narratives. My journey began during my doctoral study in philosophy, when I explored Sāṅkhya and Tantra through a feminist lens, tracing how these schools imagine the body, agency, and consciousness in ways that challenge mainstream readings. This set me on a path of asking how marginalized philosophical traditions might offer radical, feminist possibilities for thinking about the world today. What draws me most to the premodern archive is its ability to converse with the present: to help us rethink gendered embodiment and recover ideas that resist colonial and patriarchal frames. Much of my work involves returning to Sanskrit manuscripts and layered commentaries, listening for overlooked possibilities within their socio-historical contexts. The Global Past Research Initiative resonates with me because of its commitment to de-centering Eurocentric frames and creating a space where diverse premodern voices can be brought into dialogue across regions and disciplines. I look forward to learning new methods of manuscript engagement, exchanging perspectives with peers, and reimagining together how the premodern might open fresh paths for scholarship and lived experience.