The U of A's Middle East Studies Program is proud to welcome eight distinguished historians from throughout the U.S. for a one-day conference on the Mediterranean world.

Hosted on April 14 beginning at 9 a.m. in Gearhart Hall 258, the conference, titled "Networks of Knowledge and Transmission of Ideas in the Late Medieval and Early Modern Mediterranean," will feature the latest research on major aspects in the history of the Mediterranean basin, including the evolving concepts of sovereignty, governance practices, piracy and slavery.

"We are thrilled to be able to bring some of the best scholars in the field to campus and thus make the university a part of the evolving exciting scholarly discourse on pre-modern Mediterranean history," said Freddy Dominguez and Nikolay Antov, associate professors of history, who helped organize the event.

The research presented will shed light on how historical actors of different political allegiances and faiths such as Spaniards, Ottomans and Genoese, Christians, Muslims and Jews, interacted with and viewed one another. The conference participants hail from leading research institutions such as Columbia University, Brown University, Rutgers University and the University of Virginia.

The conference is hosted by the Middle East Studies program with support from the Arkansas Humanities Center, the Religious Studies and Medieval and Renaissance Studies Programs, as well as the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences and the Honors College. 

The conference is free and open to the public.

For more information, please contact Freddy Dominguez at fcdoming@uark.edu and Nikolay Antov at antov@uark.edu.