About This Series
Over the last decade, a wave of new research has revitalized the study of Islamicate scientific traditions, particularly in the field of the so-called "occult sciences". This work has challenged the long-standing dichotomy between doctrines historically dismissed as non-rational or superstitious and the canonized sciences retrospectively framed as precursors to Western modernity.
Similarly, contrary to the perception of a stagnant precolonial scientific landscape, South Asian societies were permeated with sophisticated scientific doctrines and long-established methods of healing and prognostication. Scientific practices—including those that might be categorized as "occult" within an Islamicate framework—flourished in both elite and popular contexts. Cosmopolitan Hindu pandits and Muslim scholars practiced these sciences in royal courts, while vernacular traditions ensured their diffusion amongst broader populations. Alongside the crucial work of manuscript-based research, the persistence and vitality of non-Western scientific practices in contemporary South Asia has enabled comparative approaches combining rigorous textual philology with ethnographic insight.
This colloquium series seeks to highlight some of the most recent contributions to the field and to open critical perspectives on the intellectual and practical life of science in the subcontinent. Invited speakers will explore the concrete practice of South Asian sciences across the early modern and modern periods, examining their position within the Arabo-Persian and Sanskritic knowledge systems.
Contact and Registration
We welcome both internal and external guests. Registration is only required for in-person attendance. All talks will be streamed via Zoom (see event pages for link). For further information about the colloquium series, please contact Jean Arzoumanov.
