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Special theme: “What is in a Period? ‘Jāhiliyya’, ‘ʿAbbāsid’, and‘Arab Spring’ in Arabic Historical Writing”28 September 2012ISMC, Aga Khan University/SOAS, University of LondonThe Arabic historical tradition has known many different ways of marking time in the interests of religions, dynasties, nations,and social groups. Authors have used literary and rhetorical meansto create and sustain new periods, and established notions haveoften been recycled and endowed with new meaning. The concept ofJāhiliyya has been reworked many times, and dynasties such as theUmayyads and ʿAbbāsids have taken on new significance in discoursesof modern nations. New notions can come to life, such as, in the nineteenth century, the Crusading period as one of anti-colonial resistance. Today, the Arab Spring, a new period, has known its own markers of time, in Egypt, for example, named days are now partof national history, including “the Day of Rage” (yawmal-ghaḍab) and “the Friday of Departure” (Jumʿat al-raḥīl).This fifth-annual Arabic Pasts workshop calls for papers that consider periodisation as a major issue for historians. Papers can cover any time period, from the classical age to the present. We will publish the proceedings as a special journal issue.Please send abstracts of proposed papers (1 page of A4) to Dr Sarah Bowen Savant, sarah.savant@aku.edu &#60;mailto:sarah.savant@aku.edu&#62;  by 1 April 2012. Paper drafts will be due by 1 Sept. 2012.Workshop convened by: Dr Sarah Bowen Savant (sarah.savant@aku.edu&#60;mailto:sarah.savant@aku.edu&#62; ), Dr Konrad Hirschler (kh20@soas.ac.uk&#60;mailto:kh20@soas.ac.uk&#62; ), and Dr James McDougall(James.McDougall@trinity.ox.ac.uk&#60;mailto:James.McDougall@trinity.ox.ac.uk&#62; ). There is a limited budget for travel and accommodation.