Gronemann Conference, 5-6 July 2022 PDF

review, 2024

Two books (and an article) on Sehwan /Sindh and the cult around Lāl Šahbāz Qalandar at its nationalized shrine. Astonished at the Ruth Benedict prize for a book that is silent on gay, lesbian, transgender pilgrims and dervishes.

1995

C ommenting on the Faust-Finkelstein exchange is rather like being a sportscaster at a chess match being conducted through the mail. There is limited action, the world moves on between volleys, and in the moment it all appears quite engrossing. At best such matches end in draws, with both sides making useful empirical and theoretical points. To collegially advance the discussion a sideways approach is in order.

Inscriptions, 2023

The essay offers a critical examination of what Agamben calls the 'syntagma', 'form-of-life'. This 'syntagma' becomes increasingly important in Agamben's work as a way of redeeming and reconciling the archi-political separation of bios and zōē that his project Homo Sacer undertook, as a whole, to thematise. Given its pivotal function, the attention that 'form-of-life' has received in recent years is unsurprising. The present essay aims to show the structural instability of the 'syntagma' and its implications for Agamben's ontology and politics. In doing so, it gestures towards a new path of investigation of the formation of life.

2023

Marking 200 years since the birth of Conrad Schick in 2022, our aim in the conference is to evaluate his activities in Jerusalem and his contribution to the exploration of the Holy Land. Side to side with Schick’s work, we will focus on the historical background of the European involvement in Jerusalem that paved the way for a self-educated German protestant individual to take a leading role in archaeological, geographical, and biblical research, as well as in the development of the city in the second half of the 19th century. The two-day conference will take place in the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research and in Paulus-Haus (DVHL), Jerusalem, February 6-7, 2023. In addition to paper presentations, the academic program will include a field trip to sites in Jerusalem connected with Conrad Schick.

Germania, 2022

Oliver Nakoinz, Zentralität. Theorie, Methoden und Fallbeispiele zur Analyse zentraler Orte. Berlin Studies of the Ancient World Band 56. Edition Topoi, Berlin 2019. € 33.90. ISBN 978-3-9819685-4-5. doi: https://doi.org/10.17171/3-56. 238 pages.

2020