POST TRADITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS IN A
POST GLOBAL WORLD
Ninth Conference of the International Association for the Study of Traditional Environments
The theme of the Ninth IASTE Conference is Post Traditional Environments in a Post Global World. The conference will explore the notion of post traditional environments as spaces that unsettle the historically developed or assumed relationship between place and meaning. These changes cannot be understood outside the post global moment, which supercedes the development era of multiculturalism and multilateralism, and replaces it with the concept of a unilateral dominant culture, which shatters the information-happy notion of a singular global village. Here the past of post traditional places is not only invented but also intentionally ignored in favor of an immediate present that is assumed to be the past. Additionally, the post global era, rather than indicating an end to globalization, refers to the emergence of a different kind of global engagement that is sharply at odds with the visions of liberal, multicultural globalization. This IASTE conference is about the intersection of this post traditional condition with this post global moment in which global aspirations appear increasingly disassociated from place or nation, and the recognition that the currency of tradition will continue to circulate through global networks and capital.
IASTE’s Ninth Conference in the United Arab Emirates brings together over 130 scholars from a variety of disciplines to address these issues by presenting papers structured around three broad themes: Post Traditional Environments, The Post Global Condition, and Questioning and/or Redefining Authenticity
We would like to thank our principal sponsors in the United Arab Emirates, the Sultan of Sharjah, the American University of Sharjah, and the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley.
We hope that you will all find this year’s conference in the United Arab Emirates a rewarding experience.
Nezar AlSayyad Nadia Alhasani
Conference Director Local Conference Director
Organizing Committee
Nezar AlSayyad, Conference Director, University of California, Berkeley
Nadia Alhasani, Conference Local Director, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Erica Leak, IASTE Conference Coordinator, University of California, Berkeley
Khaled Al-Qassimi, Local Conference Coordinator, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Romola Sanyal, CEDR/IASTE Project Coordinator, University of California, Berkeley
Stephanie Kim, IASTE Coordinator, University of California, Berkeley
Kathleen Kuhlmann, Conference Administrator, University of California, Berkeley
Zaina Akl, Local Conference Administrator, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Sophie Halabi, Local Conference Administrator, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Yasser Elsheshtawy, Local Conference Advisor, United Arab Emirates University, U.A.E.
Kevin Mitchell, Local Conference Advisor, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Nada Mourtada, Local Conference Advisor, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Amer Moustafa, Local Conference Advisor, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Samia Rab, Local Conference Advisor, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Florian Techel, Local Conference Advisor, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Lawrence Woods, Local Conference Advisor, American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
Sessions Advisory Committee
Hesham Abdelfattah, Heba Ahmed, Howayda Al-Harithy, Paul Amar, Joseph Aranha, Mike Austin, Bill Bechhoefer, Anne-Marie Broudehoux, Jeff Cody, Margaret Crawford, Greig Crysler, Harrison Fraker, Mia Fuller, Mark Gillem, Emily Gottreich, Montira Horayangura, Anne Hublin, Clara Irazabal, George Jell, Morna Livingston, Keith Loftin, David Lung, Robert Mugerauer, Noha Nasser, Paul Oliver, Marcela Pizzi, Mrinalini Rajagopalan, Ananya Roy, Sofia Shwayri, Gunawan Tjahjono, Jacqueline Victor, Donald Watts
Conference Sponsors
American University of Sharjah, U.A.E.
College of Environmental Design, University of California, Berkeley, U.S.A.
Conference Site
American University of Sharjah
Sharjah, U.A.E.
Hotel Accommodations
Hotel InterContinental Dubai
Bin Yas Street
P.O. Box 476
Dubai, U.A.E.
Tel: + 971-4-222-7171
Fax: +971-4-223-7615
Email: sales@ihcdubai.co.ae
Post-Conference Tour
If you are interested in attending the three day post-conference tour to Oman, you need to contact the tour operator, Orient Tours, to reserve your space in the tour. Information about the tour was included in the conference registration packet. All reservations must made by November 25th, 2004. You can contact Orient Tours by email at: localsales@orienttours.ae
Contact Person: Tito Mathachan
P.O. Box 26820
Sharjah, U.A.E.
Tel: +971-6-568-2323
Fax: +971-6-568-1400
Email: localsales@orienttours.ae
Website: www.orienttours.ae
Conference Site
As the conference hotel is located in Dubai and the conference venue is at the American University of Sharjah, shuttle buses will be used to transport conference participants to the conference venue from the hotel. Buses will depart from the Hotel InterContinental Dubai (on Bin Yas Street) each morning at 8:00am to transport participants to the conference site, and will return participants to the hotel at the end of each day’s activities.
Please bring all items you will need with you each morning as buses will not return to the hotel until the evening.
Participants who are not staying at the InterContinental Dubai will be responsible for their own transportation to the conference hotel in time to catch the shuttle buses at 8:00am each morning. In the event of a missed shuttle, participants should take taxis at their own expense to the American University of Sharjah Architecture Building, which is 30 to 40 minutes from Dubai.
Climate and Clothing
As this is a desert climate, temperatures can be quite warm during the day but cool at night. As some evening conference activities last as late as 10:00pm, we suggest that participants bring jackets with them in the morning. It is customary for women to cover their shoulders in this culture, so a shawl or wrap may also be a useful item to bring.
Also, on the first night of conference, Dec. 14th, the opening Mejlis will involve having all conference participants sit on the ground during dinner. Please dress accordingly.