The Gulf and Arabian Peninsula Studies Unit will hold a lecture titled “Jeddah: An Indian Ocean Port: From the 18th to the 20th Century”, on 6 April 2023, at 13:30 Doha time (10:30 GMT) by Ulrike Freitag, Historian of the Modern Middle East, Director of the Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient in Berlin, and Professor at the Free University of Berlin.

This lecture considers the history of Jeddah with special reference to its connectivity to the Indian Ocean realm. As a hub of pilgrimage (to Mecca) and international trade, the city’s population, some urban institutions, and most markedly perhaps its culture reflect closely its connections to the Mediterranean, but also to the eastern shores of Africa, the Gulf, and South and Southeast Asia. The development of a nation state dominated by a specific formulation of Arabness, coupled with hypermodern notions of urbanism, raises questions as to what extent Jeddah’s historical legacy can survive beyond a tourism-marketing strategy.

The lecture will be held on Zoom and livestreamed on ACRPS social media accounts. Simultaneous translation between Arabic and English will be available throughout.

* A brief biography of the lecturer and a summary of the lecture.