The Association for the Study of Travel in Egypt and the Near East (ASTENE)
was formally established in 1997. The Association encourages and promotes learning
with particular reference to the history of travel and travellers from earliest
times to Egypt and the Near East including Turkey, Greece and the Ottoman Balkans.
ASTENE brings together anyone interested in the subject, whether a professional
academic or not, across a wide spectrum of nations and subject areas.
In 2007 ASTENE is holding its seventh biennial conference at Southampton University Thursday, 12 - Monday 16 July. This is the first call for papers for this conference. Among the many subjects upon which we look forward to receiving papers are:
As Southampton is an important sea port we will especially welcome papers on travel modes: by sail and steam, by river transport, by rail, by camel and on foot - through the Cataracts of the Nile and beyond - The Red Sea - The Suez Canal - The Overland Route to India - Early Travel Guides - Travel in Classical times - Muslim, Christian and other Pilgrims - The travels of Biblical historians - Visiting the monasteries - The travels of Crusaders -Experiences of the Hajj - Missionary travellers - The Levant Company and travel - Traders and merchants - Scientific travellers: zoologists, botanists, astronomers, palaeontologists, anthropologists etc - Napoleon's 'savants' - Travellers' diseases and remedies - Egyptologists and archaeologists - Collectors' attitudes and activities - Artists and architects and writers as travellers -The literature of travel - Engineers and surveyors - Early photographers and their records - Travellers in the Fayoum - Travellers in Syria - Travellers to Constantinople or Athens and the Greek islands - Dragomans and guides or other related subjects - Travellers within the region or travellers from the region to the rest of the world.
Some individual travellers on whom we would welcome papers are Frederic Hasselquist - Reverend Richard Pococke - Pere Claude Sicard - Comte de Volney - Admiral Beaufort in Turkey - Frederic Cailliaud - Sarah Haight - Sarah Lushington - Luther Bradish - Reverends Waddington and Hanbury - Dr Richard Lepsius -M. Champollion - M. Ampere - John Mason Cook - Archduke Maximilian of Austria or other royal or aristocratic travellers
Papers will be grouped by theme and should be no more than 25-30 minutes (about 2500-3000 words). Please send your title and an abstract (no more than 100 words) to pa_wagstaff@yahoo.co.uk or to ASTENE, 57 Plantation Road, Oxford OX2 6JE.
Special Session : Texts and Travel
This Special Interest Session at the 2007 ASTENE Conference will bring together
scholars with a broad selection of interests, including anthropologists, geographers,
linguists, philosophers and cultural theorists, to engage in discussion of the
analysis of travel texts.
Issues to be addressed might include matters of method and theme, for example:
Speakers should feel free to expand on these topics under the general theme of 'Texts and Travel,' in papers which are limited to 20 minutes.
It is hoped that the format will allow papers to be presented sequentially, followed by a break and a round table discussion of the material presented, chaired by Carl Thompson (Nottingham Trent University).
The Session is being jointly organized by Paul Robertson (Westminster University, London) and Edwin Aiken (Queen's University, Belfast).
Offers of papers are welcome and should be submitted to pa_wagstaff@yahoo.co.uk in the first instance, with a copy to p.robertson01@westminster.ac.uk .